#apprentice backstory

Now it’s actually functional to read because I’m not posting from mobile! I’m so sorry about it being 10 miles long before. The actual story is under the cut!

This is my apprentice Laurene’s backstory of how she came to Vesuvia and met Marcel, the other half of the Sibling Apprentices. Laurene is Fantasy!Irish, and her culture is based on a mix of different Gaelic peoples, including the Gaels (more broadly), the Picts (more specifically), druidry, and my own experience as a pagan.

It also is heavily based on Irish mythology. If you don’t know the myths, it’s perfectly fine and you’ll still be able to understand the story.

Rating: T for depictions of trauma, but there’s no gore or explicit violence. Content Warning: Fire, claustrophobia, family death Length: 3,200 words. 

Yeah, you read that right, it’s basically a full-length novella. I got carried away a bit, but I’m really proud of it. (And also always open to constructive criticism!)

A pre-plague!Anatole drabble / He visits him, and can almost touch what it could’ve been, in another life, where he chose this.

But in this one, he did not.

He could make his way from the shop to the Consul’s Villa with his eyes closed. He’s so sure of how well he knows the way from his aunt’s to his uncle’s he would bet he could walk it blindfolded, without aid of his magic to navigate the streets — and he’s not a gabling man.

He could retell the details of the Villa’s atrium (which in reality is a traditional Vesuvian Palazzo) by heart too. The half columns in the doorways, and the exact colour of the marble floors, or the theme and figures of the ostentatious fresco which greets you after crossing its threshold.

Everything about this side of his family oozes status. It’s imposing, decadent without sacrificing elegance; it tells others: behold this family of rams, of glory made through hardships and steep ways. ‘Behold and respect us’, and he is well aware respect is just a gallantry for ‘fear us‘. All of it is, of course, very much like Valerius.

Or at least the Valerius he knows: the teacher figure who initiates his acolyte (him) into the principles of the world, and has taught him how to take his grandiloquent ideas into precise concepts. The man who has taught him how to survive, in loco parentis, just as his aunt Paris has taught him how to live. Valerius who is composed and aloof enough, cunning, witty, and full of amusing and artistically veiled insults.

Valerius’ chamberlain is as he’s always been — amiable to a default when it comes to dealing with Anatole, but at least he doesn’t call him ‘Little Lord’ or worse, ‘Master Aelius’. In Valerius’ opinion (and almost verbatim words) he had finally managed to terrorise and pester him enough into the most neutral appellative he could think of. Anatole would be offended if he didn’t know Valerius well enough to realise he was praising Anatole when he called him a pest.

There were pests, like Anatole was a pest, and pests, after all — and Valerius was a peculiar man. A complicated man of complicated tastes, of intricate communicational patterns who said ‘no’ when he meant ‘yes’, and gave almost insults when he meant praise. He wasn’t always like that, of course. He shared a roof with him until he was seven, and he is aware he spent most of his infancy following him around. He’s seen Valerius sneak his boyfriends through the back door, he’s seen him cry, and he’s held him when he needed to and went out of his way to teach him little secrets of a world he could be part of. Of a world he has always had half a foot in, whether he wants to or not.

Walking this hallways he can almost see that other self, the one who chose it. Whenever he visits Valerius (which is often) he can almost touch the man he would’ve become in another life, had he become a politician, taking after his uncle’s steps. That Anatole is a man whom most would call Aelius — his first name — who’s even more secretive and private, and all the times more charming. A man with clothes a little tighter, hair a little longer, and who at core is still himself. Despite everything and all circumstance he will always be himself, that is his fault.

That Anatole would guard who he is with a ferocity akin to Valerius’ layers upon layers of defence mechanisms. That Anatole plays chess better than him, but does less magic, and still dares to do the impossible, however with the resources he now does not have to make policy changes to the city — the mess of a city — he’s made his home of.

The version of himself he is now sacrificed political power for freedom. It’s not that he thinks the alternate version of himself would not be made of his choices, of course not. He would still be called ‘peculiar child’, he’d still choose to pave his own way. No, the difference lies in his choice of a life where he does not have to deal with Courtly intrigue, malicious gossip and lies; he chose a life where he can see Asra as often as he wants, does whatever he wanst in the way he wants to. A life with less concessions or thinking about propriety, one without having to worry if his would be fellow courtiers were trying to stab him in the back.

He wouldn’t trade the life he has now for anything in the world, it’s what he chose. His story will always be about choices and their consequences. Like Valerius had told him once, there is a certain pleasure in living by one’s own rules, in being The rule maker, the best and most unavoidable player of your own game. Living by one’s own rules is nothing other than living up to one’s choices, and owning them in every possible aspect of the word.

He doesn’t need anyone to tell him the man who he isn’t, the man who would become the next Consul of Vesuvia, the alternate version of himself which does not exist in this world, but maybe does in another one, would too not change the life he leads for anything in the world either.

My apprentice Ren's story before he died of the plague. It's something that I've been working on, slowly, since I started the Arcana months ago. Ren has a twin sister that is featured heavily, as well some other family members. I plan on writing short snippets of what happened in greater detail, but that's not here yet.

This paints Count Lucio as a really despicable person, as a fair warning to Lucio fans...

I'm on mobile, so I apologize in advance for the super long post....

Warnings - death, blood, mentions of unwanted sexual advances

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Ren 'of the Sea'

- the apprentice with a point to prove to the world.

Favorite Food - Pomegranates

Favorite Drink - Earl Grey tea with cinnamon

Favorite Flower - Periwinkle

- As children, Ren and Jazmine were regaled with stories of their clan. Of ancient ties to dragons and magic, of desperate battles and travel. Though the Dragons of the West were a peaceful clan, full of magicians, bards, and healers, they were feared by many for thier power and influence. As the years passed, it became sport to see who could defeat them. And though the clan tried to avoid conflict, they were hunted and killed like prey. The Dragons were scattered; but, slowly, faction by faction, they were taken out. Until the only ones left were Ren, Jazmine, and their father, Jolon. Their mother, Illiana, had been murdered at the hands of Morga Eirsdottir of the Scourge of the South, shortly after the twins were born.

It was an understanding between Jolon and Illiana that if either of them was killed, the other would take the children to safety and not seek revenge. And Jolon was always a man of his word, no matter the circumstance. The three settled on the coast, far from any town or city. Jolon thought they were safe. That was until Montag Morgasson found them.

Ren and Jazmine were only five years old when Montag learned of their small family's continued existence. It had been his mother who killed Illiana, and had been unable to finish the job. As a mercenary on the run from Morga, Montag saw this as the perfect opportunity to spite her. Finish what she had been unable to.

It was a chilly spring evening when Montag came to their door. If it had been any other family, he may have succeeded in his quest. However, Jolon had foreseen Montag's arrival, and would not let anything come of his children if he could stop it. Knowing that they would be hunted to extinction, Jolon sacrificed himself. He sent Ren and Jazmine out to sea in the family's small fishing boat, begging the gods to lead them somewhere safe. He stayed behind to face Montag, swearing that it would be the last death in this fickle tirade of clans.

Ren still has nightmares of that night, knowing he would never see his father again. Watching the flames engulf his childhood home, the twisted grin of his father's murderer flashing before his eyes, the vague echo of a promise to keep his sister safe and not seek revenge.

The small boat came upon a terrible storm, rattling it to pieces. Jazmine had been struck by a board, many of her memories fading into oblivion as Ren kept her from drowning, afloat on part of the broken mast. With next to nothing but the clothes they wore, and a tattered book, the twins washed up on the shores of Vesuvia.

They were found by a kindly female magician named Ilana. She took them in, and raised them as her niece and nephew, in her modest magic shop. Under her tutelage, Ren became a master magician; and though Jazmine was just as capable, she found her focus on herbology, and became an expert herbalist.

Ilana was an older, willowy woman. Her dark hair was heavily streaked with grey, often worn in a long braid down her back. She had a grey sheepdog as a familiar, named Fenrir, who was as old and ageless as his master. Though she was strict with the twins, she was lenient enough with them to let them explore and develop themselves, sending Fenrir to accompany (follow) them. This led the twins to getting in trouble...often.

Ilana kept the book that the twins had arrived with hidden in a secret space upstairs, beneath a floorboard, along with many other important things, warded with the strongest spells Ilana could conjure. They would only reveal the contents when the time was right.

Much like their father, Ilana was able to see the future. Often she would foretell the day for the twins, as well as in-depth personal fortunes. Ilana once told Ten that he would die when the beetles came and his soulmate left him. But, he should not worry, for it wasn't his true end, and he would return. It made little sense to Ren, and he struggled with it for years before coming to accept it.

Often, the twins went to the docks to play with the other orphans, or to tell them the tales that were passed down from their father. More so, it was Ren who told the stories to Jazmine, and she recited them for the orphans, due to Ren's social anxiety. It was in this way that the twins crosses paths with Montag again; though this time, his name was Lucio, and he had become the Count of Vesuvia. The twins were around ten years old at the time. Hearing the tales of the Dragons of the West, Lucio thought that perhaps he had failed in his goal of eradicating the clan (which he had). Confronting the twins, as well as a young Muriel and Asra, Lucio tried to start a fight, or at least arrest whosoever they learned the stories from. It came out that Jazmine had learned the tales from Ren, but at that point it didn't matter. Lucio had tried to hurt Jazmine, harming Muriel and Asra as they tried to intervene. That didn't sit well with Ren. He didn't speak much, or even defend himself, but when someone he cared about was threatened, it was on. He attacked Lucio, and in the process, Lucio had clawed at him with his alchemical arm. Three bloody cuts trailed down the left side of Ren's face, close enough to his eye that, due to the magic of the gauntlet, changed the original blue/grey color to a bright seafoam green. Ren attempted to curse Lucio then, to forget the interaction, to forget the stories he heard, and to forget he had even seen the four of them at the docks that day. The curse worked long enough to get Lucio to leave. However, it also caused Asra and Muriel to forget they were friendly with the twins, making then strangers, coming to the docks to tell interesting stories and nothing more. Curses were not Ren's strong suit. The curse backfired, not lasting nearly long enough. Lucio didn't permanently forget his interaction with the twins, and laid in wait for many years to exact his revenge. Ren and Jazmine were able to escape, and Fenrir took them back to their Aunt's shop. Though Ilana scolded them for being so careless, she still attempted to heal the damage Lucio had caused. While the wounds themselves healed effortlessly, the scars would never fade, a constant reminder of the day.

Into his early teens, Ren often hung around the docks. He earned a small wage helping the ship crews ready their ships, rigging and loading cargo mostly, or helping fishermen with making and mending nets. One particular traveler, a wandering bard by the name of Icarus Jobe, recognized the storyteller in him. Late at night, when Ren wasn't needed at the shop, he and Icarus would sit together on the beach, and the bard would tell Ren stories of all the places he had traveled to. They became fast friends, and Icarus became an almost father-figure to Ren. Ren managed to develop a slight crush on the seafaring bard, and learned many lessons along the way.

Nearly a year after their comraderie began, Icarus was accused of high treason against the court by Lucio, though there was next to no evidence to support this. He was sentenced to death via hanging. Icarus wasn't frightened of death, his only regret being that he wouldn't see what type of man Ren would grow into.

Ren was present for the hanging, knowing there was no spell he could find to save his dear friend in time. When the floor dropped out from beneath Icarus, his hat flew into the crowd. Ren caught the hat, placing it on his own head with finality, another blow to Lucio. The old pirate hat served as another reminder that Ren had a story to share with the world that hadn't been written just yet.

It wasn't until after Icarus Jobe's death that Ren learned he had been a close friend to his mother....

Death followed Ren like a lost dog, always begging for scraps, the lives of his loved ones.

When the twins were fourteen, Ilana passed under mysterious circumstances. It was then that they learned that Ilana was actually their biological aunt, their father's sister. They received a modest inheritance, as well as access to the hidden materials beneath the upstairs floorboard of the shop, thier father's grimoire and writings of their clan's history.

Jazmine was heartbroken, and couldn't bring herself to stay at the shop. Despite her fear of the sea, she left Vesuvia on a ship, taking Fenrir with her, to travel anywhere but home. Ren took over the shop, staying to carry on Ilana's legacy. It was in the years that followed that Ren started his relationship with Asra. Jazmine periodically visited, but mostly she sent letters and herbal lore from the various places she had been.

When the Red Plague came to Vesuvia, Asra wanted to leave, and Ren knew he had to stay. With tears in his eyes, he told Asra to go, but it wasn't goodbye, because he knew Asra would return when it was over, of that Ren was certain.

In the months that followed, Ren worked at the Palace under Lucio, in the Count's campaign to find a 'cure' for the plague. Ren became friends with Doctor Julian Devorak, and Jazmine returned to use her herbal knowledge to help. Eventually Jazmine and Julian started a relationship, often fighting and getting on one another's nerves, but somehow made a great couple. Ren could see the red strings of fate binding the two, knowing that they would eventually make it on their own path.

During one particular low point, when Ren was thinking about Asra, and Jazmine had left Julian and Vesuvia for at least the second time, they went to the Rowdy Raven together, and Ren let slip that he was destined to die soon. He ended up erasing that particular memory from Julian's mind, though it would inevitably be returned through his deal with the Hanged Man.

Working in close proximity with Lucio and his courtiers, Ren was constantly harassed by Lucio, who had developed a twisted crush. Ren was still very much in love with Asra, attempting to contact them intermittently, and would have none of it. In his down time, Ren would tell the stories of his people to the children stricken with the plague, trying to keep their spirits up with the tales of magic and dragons. Lucio often listened in, never straying far from Ren.

Ren learned by mere chance that the plague was the result of a deal Lucio had made in his youth, and that the only real cure was Lucio's death. Though the Count had given Ren many reasons to kill him, he was reluctant, and tried to find another way. After one too many times of being harassed and cornered by Lucio, Ren finally snapped, telling him to leave him alone or else. Lucio revealed to Ren that he knew who Ren was and how Ren had gotten his scars. He knew that Ren had discovered his secret, and was paranoid that Ren was going to kill him any day. Trying to escape the library where he had been cornered, Lucio pinned Ren to his chest with his alchemical arm so that he couldn't get away. Lucio crushed a plague beetle into dust and forced Ren to inhale it, knowing it was an almost absolute guarantee that Ren would catch the plague. Ren was so angry that he cast one last curse, knowing that this one would actually take without fail. He cursed Lucio to catch the plague, that Ren's end would be the beginning of the end for Lucio.

Terrified, Lucio locked Ren under the Palace with the other plague doctors to work, accusing Ren of attempting to give him the plague at the same time. Ren was scheduled to be burned alive at the Lazaret if he didn't find a cure in time. It took several days for Ren's symptoms to become apparent, Julian not even noticing until it was too late. Ren tried one last time to contact Asra, but they still wouldn't respond.

Ren managed to escape the Palace, merely wanting to settle his affairs before the guards took him to the Lazaret. At the shop, he was interrupted by Muriel. Ren ended up telling Muriel everything, but then took the memory away so that if the guards found him, he wouldn't be labeled as an accomplice to Ren's supposed murder attempt. Leaving Muriel passed out in the shop with letters for Asra and Jazmine, Ren met the Palace guards at the shop's doorstep and calmly went with them to his death.

While Ren was with Muriel at the shop, Jazmine returned, going immediately to the palace, and learning Ren's fate from Julian. Julian had attempted to stop Ren, but even he knew it was too late. Jazmine felt the moment Ren died.

Asra returned within hours of Ren dying, having felt it themselves, cursing themselves for being too late. Jazmine let Asra stay at the shop, unable to care for it herself with all the death tied to it. She stayed with Mazelinka, coming and going frequently like before.

Once Asra foiled Lucio's ritual, and Ren returned, Asra warned Jazmine that she couldn't see him. The potential that the memory of her might kill him being the strongest factor. But Jazmine, being Jazmine, didn't listen. She let herself be seen in the marketplace, around the city, all but stalking Ren. Eventually they became friends, without Ren realizing that she was his twin, though he had suspicions, especially with his dreams at the time.

It was during Asra's last trip that Ren learned the truth, but he couldn't be mad at Asra. Ren understood why they did it. He kept the knowledge a secret from Asra until the events of the Lazaret, telling Asra he had been ready for a long time to recover his memories, and had been doing so, slowly and carefully over the last several weeks.

At some point after the events of the game, Ren and Asra stumble upon the burned out remains of Ren's childhood home. Inside they found a strange grey egg, that neither could identify. Taking it back to home to Vesuvia, Faust and the stove salamander help Ren hatch it. It turns out to be a dragon egg. That dragon hatches a vivid lavender color, and becomes Ren's familiar, Veritas.

Appearance -

Pale complected, with short, dark hair. Roughly 5'8", with a narrow, sturdy build. Born with blue/grey eyes, but the left eye turned seafoam green after being attacked by Lucio as a child. Many scars from random fights, but the most vivid being the scars near his left eye; he grows the top of his hair slightly longer than the rest to cover them. Usually wears a black three-quarter sleeves shirt, green and blue scarves, black pants and boots. Wears an old pirate hat wrapped with a grey scarf when traveling.

Random Things -

Ren wears a dangling silver sun earring in his right ear, and Jazmine wears a dangling golden moon earring in her left ear to represent their twin and their connection.

At home, Ren is almost always wrapped in a sea-colored shawl, with a cup of tea and a book in hand.

Ren and Jazmine both tan very easily, but of the two, Ren is paler.

When they were young, the only way to tell Ren and Jazmine apart was through their eye color.

Before the plague killed him, Ren identified most with the Moon Arcana, seeing through illusions and the hidden aspects of life.

Ren owns a magical shawl. One side is teal with a compass rose embroidered in it so that they never get lost. The other side is black with a white lotus embroidered on it to protect them from death. When Lucio trapped him and forced him to inhale the plague beetle, the shawl fell from his shoulders, allowing the plague to take hold.

I’m exhausted after a busy weekend, but I couldn’t go to bed without drawing SOMETHING, so here you go! 

I was inspired from one of those ‘about your character’ tags...I decided that when Celeste was re-learning how to be a person, Asra gave her a notebook to draw in when she couldn’t speak very well. It became something she liked to do even when she could talk and write--she would just go out into the woods and draw pictures of animals, plants, flowers, etc.