GENERAL
Lightshifter glass wizard with a disposition for illusion and light magic. Poor second sight and close to no seer ability.
Familiar: Midnight. Midnight stalker pathera.
Familiar (merged): The Jabarrah [Name undisclosed]. Midnight stalker jabarrah.
First appearance: [B1.C1]
Wizard Age: Born 620. Has One-Eights, as of [B1.C9]
Yves studied magic at Emery Thurm but left shortly before graduation. In the pursuit of curing his deteriorating eyesight, he travels the world as an artefact hunter.
Conventional teachings and methods had failed him, so he ventured into the realms of the lost, the forbidden and the unknown. He sought travellers who had witnessed the obscure and mythical, wizards whose arcane wisdom stemmed from unconventional sources, and other peoples who honed unique skills. He was granted audiences with esteemed healers like The Wizard With Six Arms, oracles, shamans, and, in his most desperate and darkest moments, even witches.
Amongst his most valuable possessions are his two ethereal mirrors which he created from forbidden knowledge obtained at the academy. With these, he is able to cross into the Dimensional Plane of Shards.
EYESIGHT
YVES' DETERIORATING EYESIGHT
Ever since Yves had glanced upon the Rothar of an elf, the world had dimmed around him, casting an ever-growing shadow over his once-potent second sight [B1.C9]. It took a relentless barrage of skilled hands, numerous attempts, intricate strategies, and unwavering vigilance from the academy's healers before Yves regained his sight. Nonetheless, the deterioration progressed gradually ever since. Over the months and years, it had unfolded as a slow and measurable process.
He had first lost the ability to see true light fragments — the radiant structures visible to Lightshifters in the dark, which is, not in the Material Dimension but in the Alladharian Dimension. In other words, he had lost the ability to discern light fragments through second sight.
What had started with light fragments continued ever since. With the deterioration of his second sight, Yves was losing his grasp on the Alladharian dimension as a whole. His tether to world energies, to magic itself, frayed with each passing moment.
After emerging from the Mirror Dimension in [B1.C7], his first sight deteriorated significantly as well, leaving him unable to see celestial lights and anything beyond a distance of approximately 2 kilometres. As of [B1.C9], he believes that he has only weeks before turning completely blind.
Once blind, Adhar and Rothar will be lost to him. Yves might still cobble together meagre glass shards and rudimentary illusions, borne out of sheer routine, guesswork, and luck — creations as crippled as he would be, despairing and humiliating.
MAGIC
Yves is a 𝔖𝔦𝔶𝔦𝔯 [Siyir], which, roughly translated from Byrmir, comprises the Lightshifter spectrum.
GLASS MAGIC
"To this day, a small part of Yves hesitated to fully embrace glass magic as his core disposition. What if this classification arose from a simplicity inherent in glass magic, requiring less reliance on light than other Lightshifter abilities? After all, the most rudimentary shards originated from raw Adhar alone, which Yves could still perceive." [B1.C9]
Yves' shards embody an extraordinary versatility. He is aware of the duality of reality that gives glass magic the potential to influence both the Alladharian and Material Dimension simultaneously and in varying degrees.
As an ordinary student at Emery Thurm, this duality is distorted and presented to you as the — indeed, very logical as long as you were ignorant — Theoriye of Magick Densitiye, which builds on the false premise that matter and energies inhabit one singular dimension.
Consider, when defending against potent physical assaults, your instinctual response to craft denser shard walls by increasing your energy input. You engage in your craft under the simple belief that a higher energy input equated to a stronger shard structure, when the deciding factor was, in truth, not the amount but the ratio of energy transferred to the physical dimension. For the most effective shields, you need to transfer all your energy to the Material Dimension while retaining just enough in the Alladharian to sustain and control the shield. How can you come up with that on your own without an awareness of the duality of reality? You cannot. Consequently, you lose half your energy creating a shard wall in the Alladharian Dimension, an absolute waste against any physical assault. The knowledge to consciously control the energy-matter ratio of shards makes the difference between a wizard who can block a handful of beasts and one who can halt even the King Brothers’ army.
Conversely, when launching shard projectiles towards distant enemies, a novice's natural inclination is to craft lighter shards in order to gain speed and range. Yes, the slim and transparent shards that you craft for such purpose are less dense and, respectively, likely to travel faster and farther. However, if you simply use less energy in both dimensions to conjure them, they also become utterly weak and difficult to control. But of course, you accept this as the natural limitations of your craft, because your masters say it would be so, and because every other glass wizard in your grade has the same experiences as you. And because it makes sense. With a mind restricted to one dimension, you would never imagine that the knife you threw at your enemy could or should be as heavy as the massive shield you used to protect your body. However, if you understand how to adjust the ratio of transgressing energy, you can create impeccably dense shards that are close to all energy and no matter.
When such a projectile strikes another wizard, it penetrates both his material body and his Rothar. You still see the body suffer or die, but rarely because of a direct impact on the physical form. Rather, it succumbes due to the disruption or destruction of the Rothar tethered to it.
To sum this up, everything had changes when Yves found out that glass magic implied he was, in fact, acting on two dimensional planes. It marked an unparalleled breakthrough in understanding the possibilities of his disposition, in transgressing common limitations. The moment he truly internalised that his shards did not need to be less dense but only less bound to the physical dimension was the moment he discovered the potential for extraordinary conjurations, from blade discs that decapitated sea beasts to enormous structures such as the dome [B1.C6]. Yves had taught himself to create shard structures immeasurable in their density yet almost completely anchored in the dimension of energies — shards infused with light fragments.
ILLUSIONS
"Yves' illusions were experiences. They engaged all the senses, immersing through sight, sound, smell, and touch." [B1.C11]
Yves is adept at creating both visual and physical illusions.
BIRDS
Birds are among the most challenging creatures to imitate. Feathers, with their intricate structure and flexibility during movement, demand intense focus on detail. Yves excels in conjuring birds. Bird illusions akin to the Jabarrah come more natural to him than copies of Midnight.
HUMANOID PEOPLES
At Emery Thurm, Yves learned to create illusions of all major races.
PAIGEN HUNTING
When hunting paigen in the north-eastern Barnstream settlements, Yves develops illusions such as the winged norlak to manipulate and intimidate them.
AUTONOMOUS MOVEMENT
As of 645, Yves started learning how to infuse his animated illusions with routine movements such as blinking and breathing [B1.C11]. In essence, this ability entails the challenging feat of sustaining repetitive movements through the subconscious.
LIGHTSHIFTING WITHOUT SEEING LIGHT
During his initial two years at Emery Thurm, Yves found himself among the academy’s least accomplished students. To rise above the torment of his commilita and overcome his own weakness, Yves was forced to expand his abilities beyond the confines of glass magic. He had clung to the vestiges of light, delving into the exploration of phantom presences.
Through artefacts similar to the Lightgiver Wand and by tapping into natural light sources such as fire, he had learned to access light even after losing the ability to conjure it independently. Two mentors, unconventional in their methods yet champions of his progress, played pivotal roles in expanding such unconventional attempts at light magic.
Once he had gained knowledge on the duality of reality, Yves had understood that a Lightshifter conjures light that was visible in the Material Dimension by rearranging and compiling light fragments in the Alladharian Dimension. Conversely, powerful phantom presences like fire or lightning in the Material Dimension correspond to densely compressed light fragments in the Alladharian Dimension. Each individual phantom presence comprises distinct shards arranged in an equally unique structure.
Yves could no longer perceive or sense these clusters of light fragments. To access them, he needed to discern their structure from their phantom presence alone. Reaching blindly, Yves had to rely on guesswork and accumulated experience to harness light fragments from the Alladharian Dimension. If you broke it all down, he learned to guess the structures, sizes and shapes of light fragments from their phantom presences. [B1.C9] outlines in detail how he learned to adapt.
As he studied and trained fiercely to compensate for his affliction, he eventually caught up to his commilita. From there, he began to experiment. He invented creations that combined shards and light. Shards infused with light became his most versatile resources ever since. From them, he crafted potent weapons and vast constructions such as the Vicha dome.
MIRROR MAKING
"Harnessing an ever mightier surge of energy from the Jabarrah, Yves orchestrated the deciding transformation of his dome. Every one of his light-infused shards transmuted into mirrors." [B1.C6]
Prior to crafting artifacts as distinctive as the ethereal mirrors, Yves had spent years learning the highly specialised craft of mirror making. It demanded an intricate understanding and manipulation of the delicate equilibrium between shards and light
ABILITIES
INSTINCT AND INTUITION
Through their bond, Yves and Midnight impact each others' development. Through Midnight, Yves' instincts improve.
"Midnight’s senses were more refined than his, and Yves had grown accustomed to perceiving the world through her. She possessed instincts and intuition that allowed her to recognise hazards in a way Yves could not, detecting disturbances and concealed presences in their surroundings faster and better than him. Through her, he understood danger with a precision unmatched by his second sight. Feeling her instincts was more than simply hearing, seeing, tasting, and smelling more; it was a complex fusion of all senses, creating the automatic understanding that was primal intuition.
Yves had intuition, too, marked by the ominous good feeling or a bad feeling, unexplained yet distinct sensations that something was either just right or very, very wrong. He knew that his body had somehow refined these feelings through Midnight, ever learning from the impressions she conveyed to him. However, Yves often reasoned these feelings into existence. He analysed what he perceived from his present surroundings by adding his knowledge of the world, his understanding of his circumstances, and his expectations from past experiences. He thought about how these present impressions and his reason fitted together, and from that, he concluded the most likely explanation.
Midnight's intuition operated more naturally and swiftly, beyond Yves’ conscious reasoning. When she shared her intuition, he felt the results of her instincts without receiving an explanation. He had learned to trust this intuition instead of demanding or trying to dissect individual sensations. For Yves, sensing what Midnight felt had become an additional sense, as natural and prominent as any of his own." [B1.C9]
MENTAL WARDING
After bonding with the Jabarran, Yves demonstrated exceptional resilience against the intrusion of Transcender wanderers from a young age, a defence far surpassing the expected protection offered by a young familiar like Midnight.
DARKNESS
HIS PERSONAL DARKNESS
"Yves hated darkness. He hated darkness even more when he knew that it was not even there, it was not even real. There were radiant stars, and the moon with her child, and, quite possibly, distorted yet beautiful fragments of light embedded everywhere throughout the expanse — they existed, tangible energies beyond his perception."
"Yves had spent days entrenched underground, endured weeks in oppressive dungeons and caves, even delved into the recesses of the Albweiss Mountains. Yet, those experiences differed, for the darkness in these confines belonged to the places themselves. When Yves departed, the darkness remained there. This darkness, now, existed solely for him, a night that felt as if Teharun refused to set."
"The expansive sight and energies from the sky realms, once teeming with winged beasts and dragons, were now beyond his reach, transformed into an obsidian ceiling overnight. Its pillars manifested as the ominous sensation of his world contracting, the last vestiges of light fading. It felt as though he again stood at the centre of his dome, as though he never escaped, besieged by encroaching darkness — a horrendous nothing closing in with every blink of the frantic-fearful eye, this Vicha born from an elf curse. It was a nothing that took nothing yet left nothing, consuming without taking from the world, devouring from within, impossible to outrun."
[B1.C9]
DIMENSIONS
MIRROR WORLD TRANSFORMATIONS
"The transformation into the ashen being marked not an endpoint but a crucial juncture, the one chance to survive this horror." [B1.C7]
When first entering the Mirror World, a dimension that holds minimal traces of matter, Yves had learned to walk and see as a fragmented existence.
Incorporating ever-growing layers of light in [B1.C7] he gradually altered his matter-energy ratio, turning himself into a less and less substantial being. He evolved from the dark ashen being that he had first become when sealing the lighthouse passage in [B1.C3 ]to an entity of almost pure ethereal light. With this new form, he found himself at the threshold of an ethereal existence built from raw energy and compressed light.
"The more he thought about it, the more unnerved he became. Like a Worldbender transformer, he had altered his physical form. He had manipulated his appearance and even heightened his senses." [B1.C11]
CROSS-DIMENSIONAL MAGIC
After sealing the tunnel entrance in the Dimensional Plane of Shards [B1.C3], Yves realises that his actions impacted the Material Dimensions. Where he had shifted shards in the Mirror Dimension, he had moved waves in the Material Dimension. He has yet to explore this phenomenon.
FAMILIARS
MIDNIGHT
"Her absence left a void deeper than what the Vicha had consumed." [B1.C9]
Midnight, a midnight stalker panthera, is Yves' first familiar. They are bonded since Yves was born, infulencing each other's development.
"She possessed instincts and intuition that allowed her to recognise hazards in a way Yves could not, detecting disturbances and concealed presences in their surroundings faster and better than him. Through her, he understood danger with a precision unmatched by his second sight. Feeling her instincts was more than simply hearing, seeing, tasting, and smelling more; it was a complex fusion of all senses, creating the automatic understanding that was primal intuition." [B1.C9]
When realising that Midnight might leave him once he becomes incapable of using magic, dark thoughs emerge within Yves:
"He would never ask her to tarnish her pride with pity. Yves would not beg her to stay if he had nothing to offer her, yet he could not fathom how to live without her." [B1.C11]
THE JABARRAH
"Beneath raw pain, fear and seething anger, Yves could discern a novel sensation emerging within him. Amidst everything that was wrong with his body and everything that shifted around in his body, something was new. Something stirred. Something unfamiliar yet discernible had taken root, something that wasn’t Midnight or the healers’ energies, something he could not explain. It felt like a foreign presence that was simultaneously him and not him, like a third heartbeat that persisted unyieldingly through panic-induced convulsions and moments of unconsciousness." [B1.C9]
The Jabarrah was a powerful beast that, in a strange twist of fate, bestowed upon Yves a second chance at life. Ever since the battle against the elf in [B1.C9], the silver beak of the Jabarrah that had been Master Raidenbarl’s familiar is fused with Yves' left arm, merged with his elbow like two flat silver bones that grew on the outside. To the unsuspecting eye, it looks like a set of curved and connected armour pieces that run from his elbow to his hand, but it is not an external attachment; it is an intrinsic part of his arm.
This fusion between a wizard and a familiar, especially not bonded from birth, posed an enigma to the academy masters. Even in the throes of death, familiars are not known to merge with their wizards, let alone with a stranger. The prevailing consensus among the masters was that the Jabarrah merged with Yves to evade capture by the elf that killed his former wizard Raidenbarl [B1.C9]. However, the specifics of their fusion remain elusive.
Whatever the Jabarrah had intended, the masters acknowledged that his impact on Yves had been profound and transformative. The healers went so far as to credit the familiar with Yves' survival, suggesting that he had played an active role in keeping Yves alive until the masters found him.
Despite the absence of a distinct bond like that he shared with Midnight, Yves' tutors perceived the Rothar of the Jabarrah within him and observed his influence on Yves’ magic. His shards exhibited greater strength and potency compared to his commilita, coupled with an element of unpredictability in their design. As of [B1.C9], the illusions that come most naturally to Yves are not copies of Midnight, but birds, particularly those that took after the Jabarrah, with his curved beak, grand wingspan, and imposing talons. While his second sight continued to decline, Yves demonstrated exceptional resilience against the intrusion of Transcender wanderers from a young age, a defence far surpassing the expected protection offered by a young familiar like Midnight.
Amongst other abilities, the Jabarrah proved the willingness to share his energy with Yves in [B1.C6]. The aftermath of the Vicha confrontation showed the Jabarrah beak changing shape, extending into Yves' body, melting into his wounds and thus stemming the bleeding [B1.C7].
RELATIONS
EMERY THURM
Yves spent seven years at Emery Thurm but now seems to fear the academy.
After just barely surviving an elf attack in 631, Yves was extensively treated by academy healers, who saved his life and (temporarily) restored his eyesight [B1.C9].
The circumstances of Yves' expulsion in 637 are still unknown. However, he stated that afterwards, he intended to stay hidden from the academy [B1.C4]. Though desperate for advice regarding his experiences in the Mirror Dimension, Yves reasons that he could not rely on the academy:
Consulting him would entail surrendering his ethereal mirrors and would certainly lead to severe punishment for appropriating forbidden arcane knowledge. Seeking counsel from any academy master would entail rigorous interrogations on the very many things Yves should not have done. If he chose that path, his arrangement with the witch mother would crumble. He might as well forfeit his life right here and now. “Where forbidden magic appears,” as Master Blackmoor had once warned, “wizards disappear.” [B1.C11]
FEAR AND HATRED FOR ELVES
"Yves had crossed paths with an elf and lived. He had seen an elf through second sight, and whatever it was that he had seen, it had stared back at him." [B1.C9]
After barely surviving the encounter with the elf that killed Master Raidenbarl, it had taken years of meditation for Yves to direct his memory past the sickening echoes of the elf noise and to recollect at least fragments of the incident. For two months, it took constant attention from the academy’s master healers to keep him and Midnight alive and to partially restore his eyesight.
"There were days where he wished to be dead, and others where he swore to become the most gruesome elf hunter the continent had ever seen." [B1.C9]
Ever so often, the elf noise resurfaces and overwhelms him:
"The darkness drew closer, the black ceiling and the stone walls converging around him. Darkness and pain on the outside brought forth darkness and pain from the inside, and everything clashed and melded. And into the suffocating vacuum that gave Yves nothing to hold onto, seeped the haunting elf noise. And the noise grew and swelled around him and within him, and it submerged him in a maddening sea of sound." [B1.C9]
(DIS)BELIEF IN GODS
Like many wizards, Yves does not adhere to conventional beliefs in mythological Gods. He abstains from the prayers and rites exerted by some peoples. Still, sometimes, he liked to imagine the myths surrounding 𝞨𝟁𝞬, the cosmic artisan. [B1.C9] states that her art resonates with his soul. When he witnesses the emergence of night with all her mesmerising phantom presences of light that are the stars, he often imagines how 𝞨𝟁𝞬 paints them just there and then with her effulgent palette of starlight. Things do not have to be true to convey true beauty. For an illusionist, imagining and believing often intertwine quite seamlessly.
In [B1.C7], the Mirror World Stalker claimed that Yves was transgressing the birthplace of the Gods.
CROSSING PATHS WITH WITCHES
"Yes, to trust a witch was to court either heresy or folly, contingent on her true intentions." [B1.C9]
Yves' path of life had been crossed, entwined, directed, and twisted by a myriad of witches. These encounters had ranged from fleeting glances and negotiations to outright battles, once even culminating in the binding power of an Unbreakable Oath. He was one of the few wizards on the continent who had acquired a witch tear and, in one unavoidable twist, also a disturbing form of comradery. At Emery Thurm, he had delved into the craft, customs and covens of witches deeper than any other novice, learning to navigate the treacherous landscapes of these perilous engagements. To regain his detereorating eyesight, Yves made a deal with a witch mother, which involved the creation of the ethereal mirrors. From the moment her first challenge was issued, Yves dedicated his life to fulfilling her demands.
"He had faced a choice — he could opt for a noble sacrifice, confront the witch mother, and risk dying either during the battle or shortly after. Alternatively, he could comply with her demands, see his eyes restored, and live another 175 years of dedicated witch and elf hunting." [B1.C9]
TRIVIA
Yves owns a witch cauldron "and was not proud of how that came to be". [B1.C4]"It was shameful for a wizard to use witches’ magic". As hinted in [B1.C4], Yves learned how to create a concealing potion from a witch.PHILOSOPHY
ON GOING ALL IN
The last piece is reserved for the future.
"Yves gathered all available energy, drawing from chains and his last ring, from crystals in his bags and the sparse environment around him. He depleted everything but one crystal — an odd habit, perhaps, but a practiced one. If you needed everything you had, it was never enough. So, you might as well give everything but one. That one might be your lifeline in the aftermath." [B1.C6]
ON THE ILLUSION OF BEAUTY
“Can you honestly believe in love at first sight?” Yves deliberately stressed the words, “In the literal sense? How do you not see the hypocrisy in this? If you do not even know whether the person you see is real or an illusion, what more is this love than physical temptation, the call of desire in disguise?” [B1:C11]
[Aapted from B1.C11]
During Yves’ time at Emery Thurm, beauty had been a sign of progress, craftsmanship, and artistic skill of the aspiring illusionist. Once the creations' functionality, flexibility, and mobility became a given, an appealing appearance served as a reference point to compare and evaluate the students’ various works. More importantly, you did not, for dear life, want to be known as the one guy who got off by purposely creating hideous female characters. That was a reputation you would never live down.
In order to create credible illusions, Yves had learned to distinguish and show health, strength, and age through appearance, stature, and posture. He understood how to create imposing males and females for all major races' eyes — which sometimes diverged quite drastically from the common wizard’s perspective. Interestingly, some aspects were nearly universally appealing, amongst them symmetry. There were illusionists who prided themselves on creating the most remarkable males and females, especially ker and tairan. They competed, performed, and, if you would like to believe the more controversial rumours, entertained.
As of [B1.C11], Yves did not share these ambitions. Now that crafting beauty and perfection had become second nature to him, his focus had shifted. You could say that he was spoilt, because whatever ker or tairan you crowned the most beautiful on the continent, he could replicate them — and then make them even more beautiful. Any individual you found to be the most unique, he could multiply. He could create the love of your life and the lover of your most intoxicating dreams, as you would never find them in real life. He could design them exactly like you wanted them to be, with all the traits you wished to see.
But this was exactly it. It was not just about seeing. You never only wanted to see. Beneath all this distinction, recognition and pursuit of physical beauty lay the longing to touch. Within all this fixation on perfection lay the craving to claim and possess. To Yves, the fixation on external beauty was a reflection of innate desire. Such desire can be satisfied and it can be very much exhausted - especially if you find yourself curious enough to investigate all these controversial rumours. Mind you, it helps quite well to be influential and wealthy enough to afford an equal level of discretion.
But what remains after seeing and touching and claiming and possessing such perfection? Time may pass, desire may resurge to be satisfied again, but what is the point? What does beauty give you, except for momentary pleasure?
ON THE LIGHTHOUSE HIDEOUT AND HOME
"It was his refuge. It was broken and not beautiful, but it still stood. It could no longer send out light for the desperate and the daring that were lost at sea or desert, however, it still beheld the lights casted within its rooms. Over the years, Yves had transformed it into a place of his own making. Even though it offered not a comfortable life, it offered comfort. It was centre of calm amidst the everlasting storms that plagued hundreds of kilometres of monster-ridden desert coast — the first place Yves thought of when contemplating the concept of home." [B1.C3]
"In some twisted way, the undefined future did not change the feeling of pride that gripped him right now, a silent acknowledgement of the sanctuary he had built, and an innate desire to keep it hidden. If you had any self-respect as an artefact hunter, you did not want an intruder to find your prime hideout’s protection half-assed. Even if chased and cursed, you need to have at least some pride in your work.
On a more fundamental level, it was easiest to see yourself in something that reflected you. You needed a place that belonged to you, and a place you belonged to. Even broken things, existing almost invisible between the most desolate lands and the deadliest seas, could serve such a purpose. Even if this place was only yours because no one else wanted it, you took care of it." [B1.C5]
ON LOVE AND VOICES
[Adapted from B1.C11]
External beauty held no sway over Yves. It was voices. Voices captivated him.
He felt that he could not reproduce voices like he could reproduce beauty. Yves could perfect anything he saw. He could eradicate any of reality’s imperfections, and craft exemplary beauty with no comparison. He could reinvent perfection, but he could not create such voices or music.
No, that was the wrong way to put it. Yves could create a myriad of auditory illusions, infusing them with an equally wide range of emotions, both clearly distinguishable and subtle. But while he could acknowledge and even marvel at the beauty of his creations, yes, even create what appeared most appealing to him personally, Yves struggled to capture the truth he sought in the voices of strangers.
He crafted people that appeared indistinguishable from the real thing, but he could not do the same with voices. Because appearance, to Yves, was superficial; a body revealed many things, but it did not show the entirety of a person. While external appearance could change drastically over a short period of time, voices persisted in their character. To Yves, what he heard when others spoke held more truth than what he saw. A voice revealed a person from within. Even in moments of calm, you can discern underlying aggression, just as angry outbursts could not conceal inherent kindness. Voices carried characters and emotions more real than anything Yves could convey through a facial expression or pose.
Voices were the most real thing Yves could find in others. He could only imitate and pretend. Listening to his own creations felt like listening to his own voice and character, just distorted.
While desire may lie in fleeting beauty, love transcended the visual and anything a body could give. For Yves, love was in a voice that gave long-lasting comfort. It resided in heartfelt songs that resonated deep within and in voices that carried kindness — They were the rarest of all, and yet, you recognise them the instant you hear them. And even if you hear them just once, you can never forget them. Such voices held the heart, and they healed it.
The voice did not have to say “I love you”, that is not what he meant. Love was deeper, not in the words but inherently embedded in the voice. The words were almost irrelevant. They could be as simple as “I am glad you are well”, or “Take care”, or “Welcome home”.
ON SACRIFICES FOR THE GREATER GOOD
"Should he manage to reach the Barnstream villages in the North-East, rulers and adventurers would brand Yves as the harbinger of doom — a threat, a villain, or simply an egomaniac prioritising his survival over others. There was no in-between when people benefitted from your death; you were either good or bad, which meant either too good for your own good or not good enough for them. In this otherwise so complex world that was apparently oh so rich in diverse cultures and philosophies, such a crude dichotomy came surprisingly easy if the need arose; Yves was either virtuous, sacrificing himself for the greater good, or malevolent, an obstacle deserving removal. The grim expectations of noble self-sacrifice loomed over him, and failure to meet them justified any dirty hands reaching for him." [B1.C5]
TRIVIA
RANDOM FACTS
▪ As of [B1.C5], Yves has been cursed a shameful eleven times, twice with a Vicha.
▪ Yves had suffered from the scorchborn's disease [B1.C13].
▪ In [B1.C5], Midnight reveals that Yves, after crossting the Sastomian Swamplans, isolated himself for six months and got "weak and fat and sick".
▪ Yves had been a paigan hunter when staying th the north-eastern Barnstream settlements in 639 [B1.C9]. He was also "that wizard paigen-hunter" who, along with four bormen, was tasked to capture funners for Tria [B1.C14].
THE VOICES IN HIS HEAD
"When Yves was not actively thinking about something, intrusive thoughts crept in like alien voices, disrupting, disturbing and distracting. The problem with an illusionist’s vivid imagination and versatile thinking was the struggle to reduce all those strings of thoughts to one. Whatever Yves did, there was always an endless array of images, memories, and voices demanding his attention. The quiet was too loud. And if it was too quiet for too long, the elf noise emerged." [B1.C5]
POSSESSIONS
ARTEFACTS
▪ Anything Key
▪ Ardimian Chain
▪ Dice
▪ Energy crystals and rings
▪ Ethereal Mirrors (2)
▪ Feathers of Varna
▪ Futura Glass Orb
▪ Heartstrings
▪ Heartwood Staff [Levitation Staff]
▪ Lightgiver Wand
▪ Messenger Strings of the hightest quality [lifelines].
▪ Mir's Bracelet
▪ Number Abyx
▪ Pebble of Immortality
▪ Pleura Necklace
▪ Shard Bearer
▪ String of Marbles
▪ Timegiver
▪ Transcriber Quill
▪ Warding chains
▪ Witch Mother Crystal Half Ball
▪ Witch Tear
▪ Witch Whistle
+ 21 unknown artefacts taken from Halia in [B1.C8]
CLOTHING
▪ Moth Cloak [Cloak of Concealing]
▪ Hat of Invisibility
▪ Socks of Invisibility
WEAPONS
▪ Bow of Light
▪ Daggers: Two, enchanted.
▪ Lightning Staff
TOMES
Will be listed once they appear within the narration.
ILLUSTRATIONS
A growing collection of illustrations featuring Yves that appear within the narration.
While I love to include illustrations of the TGW characters and world, I would love to invite you to imagine them as you please.
B1.C4.P6 — Potionmaking in the Northlands Lighthouse
B1.C4.P19 — Yves and Midnight. Feathers of Varna
B1.C9.P32 — Yves as Emery Thurm Novice. Blindfolded after the Elf Attack
B1.C9.P33 — Yves' Elf Drawings, created after the Elf Attack
B1.C13.P49 — Yves Reading in Desert Dwelling. Afterword: 100.000-word mark
