Warrior and Mage Backstory | Patreon Weekly #185

Hey Patrons, in this weekly I’m changing gears a little and sharing some WIP backstory for the Warrior and Mage, which was previously shared in a Shattered Secrets post back in May.

If you like this backstory info, you might also be interested in today's Shattered Secrets post as well, which has some backstory for the Huntress.

Also, next week’s weekly will have an audio Q&A segment! Feel free to ask questions either here or on the Patreon discord.

Finally, the next two weeklies likely won’t release on Monday, due to the holidays. They’re more likely to come on Tuesday or Wednesday instead.

Warrior’s Backstory

Past a mountain range to the north the land becomes cold and barren, and survival can be a struggle. Some people in this land live a traveling life as nomads or raiders, whereas other try to set up permanent settlements despite the conditions and threat of attacks. The Warrior was a military commander and hero from one such settlement; he ensured that the people under his protection were safe.

Unfortunately, one day the settlement’s leader, who the Warrior was very close to, died of illness. The people turned to the Warrior as a leader, but he was ill-suited for leadership out of combat. Stress turned to paranoia, and he began to see imagined enemies in his council of honest advisors. Rather than acknowledge his shortcomings and step down, the Warrior became obsessed with eliminating non-existent conspiracies, and eventually drove his people to rebel against him. They couldn’t bring themselves to execute their former hero, and so they sent him off into the tundra with his precious seal of honor broken in half.

The Warrior enters the dungeon with a desire to redeem himself for his misdeeds, through triumph or death. He holds onto his seal both to remind himself of his shame and to help drive himself forward into a better future. Such strong willpower is a great asset.

Mage’s Backstory

The Mage was a tenured professor at a prolific magic institute to the south. He despised teaching, but the academy’s resources were very helpful in his research. The Mage sees a human’s lifespan as far too limiting and became obsessed with magic that could prolong his life. Such magic is forbidden, as it always eventually leads to madness, death, and destruction (e.g. Dwarf King). The Mage acknowledged this and wanted to find a better way.

Regular exposure to magic prolongs a person’s life a little bit, but as the years dragged on it became harder and harder for the Mage to deny his secret research. The owners of the institute finally resolved to break into his office and find, or manufacture, evidence of his illegal research. Instead, they found that he had already fled, taking all his work with him. The Mage is now running on borrowed him, as eventually news of his retreat and presumed crimes will spread around the kingdom.

The Mage enters the dungeon in search of new arcane knowledge and power. Saving the world would certainly be a nice bonus. The question remains though, just what results did the Mage’s research yield, and just how old is he? He certainly seems spry for how old he looks, and a little crazy too…