-._ | [APPLICATION] | _.- UNDERWORLDWARS: Starwind k'Treva
|| Character Information ||
Fandom: The Last Herald Mage Trilogy [ALTERNATIVELY] Heralds of Valdemar
Name: Starwind k'Treva
Age: Roughly estimated from clues given in canon, Starwind is between 70 and 80 at his canon point. However, due to the effects of the magic he all but resides in, he appears far younger.
Canon Point: Just prior to Savil's death in Magic's Price: after saving Vanyel from the leech-blade, he has returned home to k'Treva Vale.
Is this character dead? No
History: **The first part of this history is headcanon, inferred from canon remarks. Little is known about Starwind's past before meeting Savil, but several things can be assumed about it.**
Starwind was born and raised in k'Treva Vale far north in the Magic-haunted Pelagir hills, surrounded by and working with those Magics. As one of the Tayledras Mage-born, he was trained in their particular branch of Magic and educated in their mission to heal the Magic-torn earth of damages caused by the pre-historic Mage-Wars. Once he reached Adept status, he joined the other Mages in subduing threats to those under the Tayledras protection from the Magic-born creatures created to fight those wars and abandoned to the Pelagirs.
It was on one of these expeditions that Starwind met Savil Ashkevron--a Herald of Valdemar and a Mager herself--and after serious distrust, they finally became friends and Starwind taught her the Tayledras method of Magic.
Eventually, Starwind's particular talent with the Magic earned him a place as k'Treva Speaker, younger than anyone had anticipated. However, he was well enough liked to command respect from the rest of the k'Treva Tayledras, even if, in his own words, "each Tayledras rises or falls on his own" and the role of Speaker is more decorative than anything.
**The following is the actual canon history of the character**
Later, riding one of her circuits, Savil discovered a young boy with a powerful untrained Mage-Gift, lying near death next to his former lover that he had accidentally killed by summoning lightnings in an effort to frighten him into staying. The boy had then tried to take his own life, but Savil saved him and brought him to Starwind to be trained properly. The Tayledras adopted the boy as one of their own and Starwind became his mentor, his teacher, and, later, his lover. The pair lifebonded despite a drastic difference in age (Starwind was near 30 and Moondance 16) and Savil stayed until the boy, now Moondance, had been sufficiently trained. When she left, they made her a Wingsister--a blood-sib--and returned to their duties and she to hers.
Savil reappeared years later with her nephew Vanyel in tow to have his unnaturally awakened Gifts either trained or subdued. The Tayledras healed Vanyel and began training the boy to use his Gifts. There was a distinct power struggle between Vanyel and Starwind at first, and Vanyel ran away from k'Treva Vale. Without knowing that he had left, Starwind, Moondance, and Savil began tracking and eliminating a clutch of colddrakes that had been terrorizing the area. They had killed most of them when they Sensed a massive use of raw Mage-power and hurried toward the source, to find that Vanyel had destroyed the queen, untrained. They remained in the village that Vanyel had saved just long enough for the farmers to dig in their defenses again and then left with Vanyel to hunt the Mage that had brought the drakes in.
The Adepts left Vanyel in charge of the defense of the city under tacit Tayledras protection that the rogue Mage had taken over, not expecting the offender to turn up there, and left to go hunt him. While he was on his own, however, the enemy returned to his "fortress" and Vanyel was forced to face him down. He did so successfully, nearly killing himself in the process of destroying the Mage. Starwind, Moondance, and Savil found him, however, and returned him to k'Treva to heal, where he and Savil stayed until Vanyel was fully trained.
Starwind spent the next 20 or so years in relative peace with his lover in k'Treva--nothing beyond his duty as Speaker and the Tayledras duty of magically protecting the land and its people, though Vanyel and Savil continued to visit occasionally as time and their own duties permitted, Vanyel even fathering a son with another close friend amongst the Tayledras for Starwind and Moondance to raise.
It wasn't until Savil returned to the Vale after Vanyel had been injured by a magical weapon that Starwind again encountered the kind of excitement that seemed to follow his Wingsibs. Savil, with the help of Starwind's son, was able to convince Moondance and Starwind to leave k'Treva and return with her to her family home to deal with the cursed weapon as they were the only ones capable of doing so without killing Vanyel. They were able to destroy the weapon and set Vanyel on the path back to healing.
They then pulled Savil aside and informed her that Vanyel's new lover--and lifebonded--was, essentially, his first lifebonded Tylendel (whom Van had lost under distressing circumstances that he had nearly killed himself over) reincarnated. The debate then was whether or not the pair should be told, with Starwind voting for a tentative "yes" and Moondance a strong "no." Savil agreed with Moondance, and all three swore to silence on the matter.
The Tayledras stayed for several days with Vanyel's family until Van was fully healed and they had traced the origins of the Mage that had attacked Vanyel with their own magic. After speaking with Vanyel's parents about their less-than-loving treatment of the man since childhood, they returned to k'Treva and their normal duties while Vanyel and Savil returned to theirs, still leaving the Tayledras the mysterious legend they had always been.
*A lifebond is, essentially, what it sounds like. Something more than the concept of “soulmate,” a lifebond is a strong mental and emotional tie between two (or more) individuals. It ties the bonded to each other until death-and even beyond. Lifebonds are rare and considered sacred-bonding once is usually a once-in-a-generation kind of chance, but twice is unheard of. They can almost never be repudiated (and, indeed, finding anyone that would want to is nearly impossible) or broken. As explained above, a lifebond is at the very center of a person and affects them more deeply than is or can be known.
As per questions answered, Starwind will maintain the lifebond, but experience it continually phasing in and out, so to speak.
[Optional] Character Development and Relationship Transfer from previous RP: N/A
Personality: The first impression that Starwind often gives, despite his appearance, is one of age and wisdom. He has had years to obtain knowledge and to weed out things such as pride. He is highly knowledgable in several areas, most specifically Magic. He is more than willing to impart that wisdom to any who ask for it. He is a teacher and such things come naturally to him. However, he has never been known as a particularly lenient teacher, strict and hard, but kind. He would never knowingly hurt any of his students, but in the areas of Magic, his philosophy is something along the lines of "better hard now than dead later." He is, however, more gentle with friends, though not unwilling to administer gentle corrections or give opinions or wisdom.
Starwind is also intensely focused when necessary, devoted to his duty as a Tayledras Adept and as k'Treva Speaker. He never forgets that duty, or his duty to his friends, despite what happens around him. He will relentlessly pursue enemies and those who violate the unspoken ethical code of Magic use and damage the land or harm the people that inhabit it. He has no tolerance for the evil and a wide streak of vengefulness against violators.
Still, Starwind has a certain flair for the dramatic--he knows precisely how fascinating he looks and is not afraid to play it up. He has a particular flourish all his own, even in his spells. His appearance, while traditional to Tayledras Adepts, is somewhat striking and he knows it, though he hardly qualifies as "vain." He is neither obsessed with himself and, if asked, he will say simply that he looks how he does and has been made that way by the Magic that he has resided with and around for his entire life.
Though he does not especially make a large deal about it, Starwind makes no secret of the fact that he prefers his romantic partners to be men. However, he is and always has been steadfastly loyal to them, and with his lifebond to Moondance, he is not in the market for a new one. He gives that same loyalty to his friends as well--he would rather die than betray them and would give them anything they anything asked of him.
The somewhat peculiar background that Starwind comes from has contributed to a rather conspicuous lack of a personal bubble. He is a very physical kind of person, anchoring himself to the world by touch. He is liable to hug and kiss without warning, though he is somewhat more reserved around strangers and those he knows would be uncomfortable with the affection (which, honestly, is most normal people).
Skills/Abilities: Starwind is a highly Gifted Mage-Adept with Talent in several other areas as well. His Mage-Gift is incredibly powerful on its own, and his particular method of Magic is proprietary to the Tayledras and the few outsiders they have opted to teach it to. Essentially, he is able to draw power from the intersections of leylines to augment his own energies. These intersections--called nodes--prevent him from exhausting his own stores of energy until absolutely necessary.
Because he is a Tayledras-born Mage-Adept, Starwind is capable of drawing power directly from the leylines as well though it is more difficult, and is skilled enough even to move them to create nodes or augment nodes already created. However, without reason to believe that it would serve some greater good beyond his own ease of accessing the power (i.e., if it would heal or save the land or someone else).
In addition to his Mage-Gift, Starwind has a few other abilities that would be more classified as Herald's Magic instead of "true magic," though they are relatively simple. He is Gifted with Mindspeech of both types--Thoughtsensing and Projecting--which essentially allows him to speak directly to the minds of others. He can do this in one of two ways--words or images, and either at the normal speed of regular speech or all at once to save time. He can also sense the thoughts of others, though he adheres to a strict ethical code surrounding those particular Gifts. Without cause or actual need, Starwind will simply refuse to employ those particular abilities against the un-Gifted--or even the Gifted. Misuse of those Gifts especially is a serious crime, and he keeps himself well-controlled and well-shielded.
His Mage-Gift is more destructive, though similarly ethically caged. There are reasons for him to use it, but without them, he would not.
In the way of more mundane abilities, Starwind has a particular skill in teaching and in working with children, as well as counseling and advising others. He has spent most of his life teaching the young and is quite capable of handling children and teenagers, and finding a balance between youthful exuberance and their often self-centered thinking. His teaching skill is all but unmatched, though perhaps a little stern.
Unfortunately, Starwind suffers from a "strike first, ask later" mentality, as all Tayledras; highly secretive, they are more than willing to kill their attackers/invaders and are then capable of literally asking questions of the corpse. Occasionally, this blinds Starwind to other, less drastic, possibilities. He is, in most cases, able to restrain himself if necessary, but certain enemies he simply strikes down and gathers any information he might need from the dead. It might be said that this makes him difficult to make friends with, but he is not interested in revealing the secrets of the Tayledras either.
The only spell that cannot use energy from outside the Mage himself (it is not possible to use the leylines) is the Gate. A method of instantaneous travel from one point to another, all energy used to build a Gate must come from within the Mage creating it. It has been called the most personal of spells, and in order for a Gate to be created, a Mage must have seen the place he wishes to go at least once--there is no Gating to imaginary places. Gates are dangerous as they actively drain the power from a Mage instead of allowing it to be directed and should a Mage lose themselves, it would not hesitate to drain every last bit of it until the Mage dies. Most Adepts are capable of casting Gates, though choose other, safer methods of travel. A Gate is, essentially a cliched gift and curse.
Eventually during the course of a battle of Magic, Starwind will have to resort to his own energy stores instead of those outside of him--whether they are exhausted or he is no longer able to pull energy from the laylines--and that is, as with a Gate, a dangerous proposition. If a Mage is not careful, they could use all of their life energy and die, but even if they don't make it to that point, the exhaustion that comes with such efforts is crippling. Often, after being exhausted to that point, it takes days to fully recover from minutes of spellcasting, most of which are spent sleeping and vulnerable.
While he does know how to use certain weaponry, Starwind's close-combat skills have deteriorated to mediocre at best. He has had far too long that he has relied upon his Magic alone and leaving the actual combat to others. He is dangerous at a distance, and closing with him is difficult, but if one manages it, he is at a distinct disadvantage, though he is not averse to the "stretegic retreat."
First Person Sample: [The image that appears on the screen is oddly, ethereally beautiful. It probably couldn't have come out more striking if Starwind had planned it.
Because, honestly, he probably did.
Somehow, he's managed to find the precise center of the camera's view and he sits in a position that the young would envy, one leg curled underneath him and the other propped up with his slender and graceful hands resting on his knee, long white hair falling around him and across his face appealingly, all of it a stark contrast to the verdant green of his sleeveless leather tunic and breeches. His vivid blue eyes are near-visible in the shadows that dance across his face, twinkling with rare mischief.
As he lifts his face to the sky, he closes his eyes and lets a small but mysterious smile find its way across his face and addresses whoever may be watching in his musical accented voice.]
These days are rare.
[He drops his eyes to the device recording him, staring directly into the camera for a few moments, his expression maintaining that air of mystery about it and he continues.]
They shoud not be wasted.
[What his suggestion is for making the most of it, though, remains unspoken and as the video ends, a soft laugh is heard, though it dies almost prematurely, ended before the screen finally darkens.]
Third Person Sample:The darkness was suffocating him, near literally--the longer he had to stay in it, the harder it became to breathe. Never mind the necessity of it. It was frightening in ways that he hadn't imagined that the simple darkness could be. The rain poured over him, soaking his clothes, chilling him to his very core, straggling his long white hair. Starwind allowed himself a moment to imagine his doubtless fightful appearance and the lecture that Moondance would likely give him when he made it back to k'Treva but then the lightnings started and he brought himself back to the real world.
The pure white flashes didn't help to drive off the palpable entity that the darkness felt like, didn't stop it from squeezing in closer around him. If anything, the brief breaths that it gave to him made everything that much worse once the dark had closed back in, only served to illuminate and underscore the fact that he was very much alone.
He'd been separated from the other Adepts, but he couldn't say how long it had been. He might have created a Mage-Light but there was no telling who--or what--was watching for him, waiting for him to reveal himself. He might have Gated back to the Vale but for the same reason. There was no time left to risk the energy that a Gate would take. That would betray his position as surely as Mage-fire would. Whatever unnatural creatures lurked in the dark around him, he had promised his beloved that he would return unharmed.
"Ai'she'va," he breathed to nothing, his oath, thankfully, unheard. For now, it seemed, he was as safe as he could be. He stopped for breath, leaning against something that he couldn't see (though it felt like stone underneath his hand) and tried something else.
As heavily shielded as he had to be to maintain secrecy, it was doubtful that his tired thought would reach all the way to k'Treva, but he had to at least try.
:Ashke, beloved,: he tried with no answer, daring to relinquish some of his shielding for the distance it afforded before he continued. :Moondance. I need you, dear-heart.:
But there was no answer and he hadn't felt the sure contact that said clearly he had touched another mind.
He was, truly, on his own.
Fandom: The Last Herald Mage Trilogy [ALTERNATIVELY] Heralds of Valdemar
Name: Starwind k'Treva
Age: Roughly estimated from clues given in canon, Starwind is between 70 and 80 at his canon point. However, due to the effects of the magic he all but resides in, he appears far younger.
Canon Point: Just prior to Savil's death in Magic's Price: after saving Vanyel from the leech-blade, he has returned home to k'Treva Vale.
Is this character dead? No
History: **The first part of this history is headcanon, inferred from canon remarks. Little is known about Starwind's past before meeting Savil, but several things can be assumed about it.**
Starwind was born and raised in k'Treva Vale far north in the Magic-haunted Pelagir hills, surrounded by and working with those Magics. As one of the Tayledras Mage-born, he was trained in their particular branch of Magic and educated in their mission to heal the Magic-torn earth of damages caused by the pre-historic Mage-Wars. Once he reached Adept status, he joined the other Mages in subduing threats to those under the Tayledras protection from the Magic-born creatures created to fight those wars and abandoned to the Pelagirs.
It was on one of these expeditions that Starwind met Savil Ashkevron--a Herald of Valdemar and a Mager herself--and after serious distrust, they finally became friends and Starwind taught her the Tayledras method of Magic.
Eventually, Starwind's particular talent with the Magic earned him a place as k'Treva Speaker, younger than anyone had anticipated. However, he was well enough liked to command respect from the rest of the k'Treva Tayledras, even if, in his own words, "each Tayledras rises or falls on his own" and the role of Speaker is more decorative than anything.
**The following is the actual canon history of the character**
Later, riding one of her circuits, Savil discovered a young boy with a powerful untrained Mage-Gift, lying near death next to his former lover that he had accidentally killed by summoning lightnings in an effort to frighten him into staying. The boy had then tried to take his own life, but Savil saved him and brought him to Starwind to be trained properly. The Tayledras adopted the boy as one of their own and Starwind became his mentor, his teacher, and, later, his lover. The pair lifebonded despite a drastic difference in age (Starwind was near 30 and Moondance 16) and Savil stayed until the boy, now Moondance, had been sufficiently trained. When she left, they made her a Wingsister--a blood-sib--and returned to their duties and she to hers.
Savil reappeared years later with her nephew Vanyel in tow to have his unnaturally awakened Gifts either trained or subdued. The Tayledras healed Vanyel and began training the boy to use his Gifts. There was a distinct power struggle between Vanyel and Starwind at first, and Vanyel ran away from k'Treva Vale. Without knowing that he had left, Starwind, Moondance, and Savil began tracking and eliminating a clutch of colddrakes that had been terrorizing the area. They had killed most of them when they Sensed a massive use of raw Mage-power and hurried toward the source, to find that Vanyel had destroyed the queen, untrained. They remained in the village that Vanyel had saved just long enough for the farmers to dig in their defenses again and then left with Vanyel to hunt the Mage that had brought the drakes in.
The Adepts left Vanyel in charge of the defense of the city under tacit Tayledras protection that the rogue Mage had taken over, not expecting the offender to turn up there, and left to go hunt him. While he was on his own, however, the enemy returned to his "fortress" and Vanyel was forced to face him down. He did so successfully, nearly killing himself in the process of destroying the Mage. Starwind, Moondance, and Savil found him, however, and returned him to k'Treva to heal, where he and Savil stayed until Vanyel was fully trained.
Starwind spent the next 20 or so years in relative peace with his lover in k'Treva--nothing beyond his duty as Speaker and the Tayledras duty of magically protecting the land and its people, though Vanyel and Savil continued to visit occasionally as time and their own duties permitted, Vanyel even fathering a son with another close friend amongst the Tayledras for Starwind and Moondance to raise.
It wasn't until Savil returned to the Vale after Vanyel had been injured by a magical weapon that Starwind again encountered the kind of excitement that seemed to follow his Wingsibs. Savil, with the help of Starwind's son, was able to convince Moondance and Starwind to leave k'Treva and return with her to her family home to deal with the cursed weapon as they were the only ones capable of doing so without killing Vanyel. They were able to destroy the weapon and set Vanyel on the path back to healing.
They then pulled Savil aside and informed her that Vanyel's new lover--and lifebonded--was, essentially, his first lifebonded Tylendel (whom Van had lost under distressing circumstances that he had nearly killed himself over) reincarnated. The debate then was whether or not the pair should be told, with Starwind voting for a tentative "yes" and Moondance a strong "no." Savil agreed with Moondance, and all three swore to silence on the matter.
The Tayledras stayed for several days with Vanyel's family until Van was fully healed and they had traced the origins of the Mage that had attacked Vanyel with their own magic. After speaking with Vanyel's parents about their less-than-loving treatment of the man since childhood, they returned to k'Treva and their normal duties while Vanyel and Savil returned to theirs, still leaving the Tayledras the mysterious legend they had always been.
*A lifebond is, essentially, what it sounds like. Something more than the concept of “soulmate,” a lifebond is a strong mental and emotional tie between two (or more) individuals. It ties the bonded to each other until death-and even beyond. Lifebonds are rare and considered sacred-bonding once is usually a once-in-a-generation kind of chance, but twice is unheard of. They can almost never be repudiated (and, indeed, finding anyone that would want to is nearly impossible) or broken. As explained above, a lifebond is at the very center of a person and affects them more deeply than is or can be known.
As per questions answered, Starwind will maintain the lifebond, but experience it continually phasing in and out, so to speak.
[Optional] Character Development and Relationship Transfer from previous RP: N/A
Personality: The first impression that Starwind often gives, despite his appearance, is one of age and wisdom. He has had years to obtain knowledge and to weed out things such as pride. He is highly knowledgable in several areas, most specifically Magic. He is more than willing to impart that wisdom to any who ask for it. He is a teacher and such things come naturally to him. However, he has never been known as a particularly lenient teacher, strict and hard, but kind. He would never knowingly hurt any of his students, but in the areas of Magic, his philosophy is something along the lines of "better hard now than dead later." He is, however, more gentle with friends, though not unwilling to administer gentle corrections or give opinions or wisdom.
Starwind is also intensely focused when necessary, devoted to his duty as a Tayledras Adept and as k'Treva Speaker. He never forgets that duty, or his duty to his friends, despite what happens around him. He will relentlessly pursue enemies and those who violate the unspoken ethical code of Magic use and damage the land or harm the people that inhabit it. He has no tolerance for the evil and a wide streak of vengefulness against violators.
Still, Starwind has a certain flair for the dramatic--he knows precisely how fascinating he looks and is not afraid to play it up. He has a particular flourish all his own, even in his spells. His appearance, while traditional to Tayledras Adepts, is somewhat striking and he knows it, though he hardly qualifies as "vain." He is neither obsessed with himself and, if asked, he will say simply that he looks how he does and has been made that way by the Magic that he has resided with and around for his entire life.
Though he does not especially make a large deal about it, Starwind makes no secret of the fact that he prefers his romantic partners to be men. However, he is and always has been steadfastly loyal to them, and with his lifebond to Moondance, he is not in the market for a new one. He gives that same loyalty to his friends as well--he would rather die than betray them and would give them anything they anything asked of him.
The somewhat peculiar background that Starwind comes from has contributed to a rather conspicuous lack of a personal bubble. He is a very physical kind of person, anchoring himself to the world by touch. He is liable to hug and kiss without warning, though he is somewhat more reserved around strangers and those he knows would be uncomfortable with the affection (which, honestly, is most normal people).
Skills/Abilities: Starwind is a highly Gifted Mage-Adept with Talent in several other areas as well. His Mage-Gift is incredibly powerful on its own, and his particular method of Magic is proprietary to the Tayledras and the few outsiders they have opted to teach it to. Essentially, he is able to draw power from the intersections of leylines to augment his own energies. These intersections--called nodes--prevent him from exhausting his own stores of energy until absolutely necessary.
Because he is a Tayledras-born Mage-Adept, Starwind is capable of drawing power directly from the leylines as well though it is more difficult, and is skilled enough even to move them to create nodes or augment nodes already created. However, without reason to believe that it would serve some greater good beyond his own ease of accessing the power (i.e., if it would heal or save the land or someone else).
In addition to his Mage-Gift, Starwind has a few other abilities that would be more classified as Herald's Magic instead of "true magic," though they are relatively simple. He is Gifted with Mindspeech of both types--Thoughtsensing and Projecting--which essentially allows him to speak directly to the minds of others. He can do this in one of two ways--words or images, and either at the normal speed of regular speech or all at once to save time. He can also sense the thoughts of others, though he adheres to a strict ethical code surrounding those particular Gifts. Without cause or actual need, Starwind will simply refuse to employ those particular abilities against the un-Gifted--or even the Gifted. Misuse of those Gifts especially is a serious crime, and he keeps himself well-controlled and well-shielded.
His Mage-Gift is more destructive, though similarly ethically caged. There are reasons for him to use it, but without them, he would not.
In the way of more mundane abilities, Starwind has a particular skill in teaching and in working with children, as well as counseling and advising others. He has spent most of his life teaching the young and is quite capable of handling children and teenagers, and finding a balance between youthful exuberance and their often self-centered thinking. His teaching skill is all but unmatched, though perhaps a little stern.
Unfortunately, Starwind suffers from a "strike first, ask later" mentality, as all Tayledras; highly secretive, they are more than willing to kill their attackers/invaders and are then capable of literally asking questions of the corpse. Occasionally, this blinds Starwind to other, less drastic, possibilities. He is, in most cases, able to restrain himself if necessary, but certain enemies he simply strikes down and gathers any information he might need from the dead. It might be said that this makes him difficult to make friends with, but he is not interested in revealing the secrets of the Tayledras either.
The only spell that cannot use energy from outside the Mage himself (it is not possible to use the leylines) is the Gate. A method of instantaneous travel from one point to another, all energy used to build a Gate must come from within the Mage creating it. It has been called the most personal of spells, and in order for a Gate to be created, a Mage must have seen the place he wishes to go at least once--there is no Gating to imaginary places. Gates are dangerous as they actively drain the power from a Mage instead of allowing it to be directed and should a Mage lose themselves, it would not hesitate to drain every last bit of it until the Mage dies. Most Adepts are capable of casting Gates, though choose other, safer methods of travel. A Gate is, essentially a cliched gift and curse.
Eventually during the course of a battle of Magic, Starwind will have to resort to his own energy stores instead of those outside of him--whether they are exhausted or he is no longer able to pull energy from the laylines--and that is, as with a Gate, a dangerous proposition. If a Mage is not careful, they could use all of their life energy and die, but even if they don't make it to that point, the exhaustion that comes with such efforts is crippling. Often, after being exhausted to that point, it takes days to fully recover from minutes of spellcasting, most of which are spent sleeping and vulnerable.
While he does know how to use certain weaponry, Starwind's close-combat skills have deteriorated to mediocre at best. He has had far too long that he has relied upon his Magic alone and leaving the actual combat to others. He is dangerous at a distance, and closing with him is difficult, but if one manages it, he is at a distinct disadvantage, though he is not averse to the "stretegic retreat."
First Person Sample: [The image that appears on the screen is oddly, ethereally beautiful. It probably couldn't have come out more striking if Starwind had planned it.
Because, honestly, he probably did.
Somehow, he's managed to find the precise center of the camera's view and he sits in a position that the young would envy, one leg curled underneath him and the other propped up with his slender and graceful hands resting on his knee, long white hair falling around him and across his face appealingly, all of it a stark contrast to the verdant green of his sleeveless leather tunic and breeches. His vivid blue eyes are near-visible in the shadows that dance across his face, twinkling with rare mischief.
As he lifts his face to the sky, he closes his eyes and lets a small but mysterious smile find its way across his face and addresses whoever may be watching in his musical accented voice.]
These days are rare.
[He drops his eyes to the device recording him, staring directly into the camera for a few moments, his expression maintaining that air of mystery about it and he continues.]
They shoud not be wasted.
[What his suggestion is for making the most of it, though, remains unspoken and as the video ends, a soft laugh is heard, though it dies almost prematurely, ended before the screen finally darkens.]
Third Person Sample:The darkness was suffocating him, near literally--the longer he had to stay in it, the harder it became to breathe. Never mind the necessity of it. It was frightening in ways that he hadn't imagined that the simple darkness could be. The rain poured over him, soaking his clothes, chilling him to his very core, straggling his long white hair. Starwind allowed himself a moment to imagine his doubtless fightful appearance and the lecture that Moondance would likely give him when he made it back to k'Treva but then the lightnings started and he brought himself back to the real world.
The pure white flashes didn't help to drive off the palpable entity that the darkness felt like, didn't stop it from squeezing in closer around him. If anything, the brief breaths that it gave to him made everything that much worse once the dark had closed back in, only served to illuminate and underscore the fact that he was very much alone.
He'd been separated from the other Adepts, but he couldn't say how long it had been. He might have created a Mage-Light but there was no telling who--or what--was watching for him, waiting for him to reveal himself. He might have Gated back to the Vale but for the same reason. There was no time left to risk the energy that a Gate would take. That would betray his position as surely as Mage-fire would. Whatever unnatural creatures lurked in the dark around him, he had promised his beloved that he would return unharmed.
"Ai'she'va," he breathed to nothing, his oath, thankfully, unheard. For now, it seemed, he was as safe as he could be. He stopped for breath, leaning against something that he couldn't see (though it felt like stone underneath his hand) and tried something else.
As heavily shielded as he had to be to maintain secrecy, it was doubtful that his tired thought would reach all the way to k'Treva, but he had to at least try.
:Ashke, beloved,: he tried with no answer, daring to relinquish some of his shielding for the distance it afforded before he continued. :Moondance. I need you, dear-heart.:
But there was no answer and he hadn't felt the sure contact that said clearly he had touched another mind.
He was, truly, on his own.