Owie I've got another headache

ethiar is technically the deuteragonist but he is my fave ^_^ basically he was found as a baby by some clergy, washed up on the riverbank, so they took him in and have since "raised" him. this was directly following the climactic battle of a long war, so its presumed that he was the child of one of these casualties and his parents moses-ed him to safety xD i use "raised" in quotes bc while they did keep him alive, it wasnt always the warmest environment.

he is a pleasant kid, quite intuitive and well-meaning, but he is admittedly a bit inexperienced when it comes to people (the chapel is a fair distance from the town, not many ppl attend it now bc the recent war caused it to fade out of common practice). for that reason, he is eager to befriend anginnia (the story protag), who has recently come to live there following her dishonorable discharge from the kingsguard; she is really annoyed with his pestering, but he is determined to be her friend lol

ethiar is also blind, has been since he was found. whether he was blind from birth or from some sort of pre-rescue trauma(??), theres no way to know. however, his magic allows him to sense life force, so he can (blurrily) "see" anything that is alive; this ability will get clearer/stronger with practice. he also has a staff which he carries around; the clergy gave it to him for mobility reasons before they realized he was not 100% blind, but he still uses it for everything else he can't see (ie floor, walls, items, etc). it has an orb at the top which is charmed to glow -- although the light does not affect/aid him in any way, at least everyone else can locate him at a moments notice :'D the orb also serves as a magical focus, and will later in the story be enchanted as a magic amplifier, giving him a wider range of spellcasting ability (magic is an explain-y post for another time, lmbo).

not gonna get tooo deep into the main plot here since idk that anyone will make it this far xD but basically the story follows anginnia and ethiar investigating a strange "plague". it isnt a typical sickness, moreso like the people have been cursed, drained of their life and vigor, almost zombie-like (without the aggression), before they become so weak that they die. it started with the clergy, then the nearby town. for some reason, anginnia and ethiar are the only two that this dark magic does not affect. fearing that this could be some retaliation against the kingdom due to the recent war (and with the hope that anginnia can get reinstated as a kingsguard for her service), the two set off to warn the rulers, at the capital. their only hope is that they can make it there before the ever-spreading curse, hot on their heels, catches up to them....!!! dun dun dunnnn ^_^