Character Name: Nephelus
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Character Class: Wizard
Archetype: Wind Listener
Race: Sylph
Nephelus' earliest memory can be traced back to the anarchist city of Kaer Maga, ruled over by gangs and factions in a paradoxical combination of discord and harmony, each gang or syndicate controlling a single district of the city, and each holding enough power to control their turf, yet not enough to overthrow one another without riot. But beneath the city lies a mysterious labyrinth of unknown origins, holding horror, treasure, and knowledge alike; each waiting for those brave and foolhardy enough to attempt an expedition into the depths. Among these antiquated and enigmatic arcades lie what was once the chambers of the Council of Truth, a number of political refugees each banished from their homeland for crimes against hubris in the pursuit of arcane knowledge, and each of whom decided that the mysterious halls of the city's blackened vault would be perfect for the continuation of their research and experimentation... Until every single member of the Council mysteriously vanished, leaving their laboratories vacant, and all sorts of magical secrets and wonders behind.
Nephelus himself was found within these abandoned laboratories, unconscious in the middle of a large magic circle, the lines faintly glowing until a group of adventurers approached, and the faded energies powering the circle now completely dispersed. It was then that Nephelus awoke...
Nephelus had no memory prior to waking up, even his own name he had made up on his own out of necessity to have some sort of title by which he may be called, and the only clue to Nephelus' past was a tattoo on his back bearing a stylized hand with an eye in the palm. several copies of this symbol had been found throughout the area, which contradicted the Council of Truth's own insignia of a wide-eyed owl.
The adventurers escorted Nephelus back to the surface, where he began to question others on the strange tattoo, as well as if anybody could recognize him. He seeked augurs and diviners, yet none of them could look back in Nephelus' past before the point where he woke up in those defunct labs. To everyone's surprise, the first person to recognize Nephelus was a little girl, who showed him a wooden doll wearing identical clothing to that which Nephelus awoke in, even the similarities in bodily structure were uncannily accurate, down to every detail of the flowing spirals of blue commonly seen among sylphs that cut across Nephelus' pale skin. When questioned on the origin of the doll, Nephelus was directed to a toy-maker who had dozens of the dolls, each strikingly similar to him in every element. The toy-maker himself was taken aback upon meeting Nephelus, shocked to meet who looked to be a man identical to his own line of sylvan dolls... Yet there was no way he could have modeled the dolls after Nephelus because the toy-maker had never seen him in his life! But there was one difference between the dolls and Nephelus: the strange tattoo on his back. The toy-maker had said he had a customer, an elf whom wore a cloak which seemed to make a metallic rattling sound as she walked, and the silver clasp adorning the base of the hood depicted the same intricately crafted hand, with an eye opening from the palm.
Nephelus now had a new lead, and taking inspiration from the city's underhanded tactics in business, he began to grow proficient in eavesdropping and spying. Stalking information and hunting down rumors with singular veracity. Once hidden information began to divulge itself, revealing the origins of the cryptic hand, and tracing it to a cult that came about after the disappearance of the Council of Truth. The sect called itself the "Sivler Hand" and they devoted themselves to finding the secret of life and the essence of the soul itself. It would seem the cult had been using parts of the Council's dilapidated facility in order to orchestrate their own operations and analyses. It was now that a great secret had begun to crown into the realm of tangible knowledge, and the final piece of the puzzle was finding the elven woman... but what Nephelus was not expecting was for the woman to find him first.
Nephelus was at the local inn, when a note was slid underneath his door, its seal emblazoning the crest of the Silver Hand. The note itself had little to say...
"I have heard you have been searching for me, my child, and I am sure you must have many questions. If truth is what you seek, return to the chamber from whence you came, deep in the dormitories of the Council of Truth, and we shall grant you the revelation for which you so desperately yearn. We meet at dawn.
-S"
It could not be certain whether the note was a trap, or an invitation, but Nephelus could not let this opportunity pass, and he set out, back to the dungeon. Upon arriving, a group of hooded figures, each wearing cloaks that rattled with metallic objects affixed inside, parted way for Nephelus to arrive at the chamber where he was first discovered. They whispered and chattered to one another as he passed by, until eventually, Nephelus opened the door, and found an elderly Elven woman inside.
The woman introduced herself as "Solena", an Elder in the Silver Hand, and after asking what Nephelus called himself, claimed she was one of the many responsible for his conception. As Nephelus already knew, the Silver Hand were obsessed with finding what separated men from golems or androids, what truly gave them life... And Nephelus was the result of their investigations into the primal apex of our being.
It was not long ago that Solena had made a breakthrough in her studies, and formulated a ritual, that could possibly create the very essence of life itself, a soul. She purchased a doll to act as its vessel, and burned the Silver Hand's insignia into its back. The doll was taken to the under-city, deep into the Council of Truth's chambers, and became the recepticle of an intense magical procedure. Yet when nothing happened, the doll was abandoned, and the research shelved for archival as a failure... but it seemed the magical energies grew inside the doll, transforming it into a living, breathing sylph who awoke and began to call itself Nephelus.
The reason Nephelus could not remember his past before waking up in that chamber was because he had no past before waking up in that chamber, and Solena looked upon Nephelus as a mother would her son... It was all so much to take in at once, but with time, Nephelus decided to stay with the Silver Hand and live in Kaer Maga, helping the closest thing he had to a family and protecting them from prying eyes and inquisitive minds that would want to end their work; yet allowing those who could help them to gain an audience with the cryptic and secretive cult.
