Shvartzgonif

Shvartzgonif Savakiian
Status
Race	S'Kra Mur
Gender	Male
Guild	Warrior Mage
Instance	Platinum
Relatives	Shayddow, Shoshannah, Kydosha, Totendanz (Plat)

Deity of choice: Both Hav'roth, and the World Dragon are revered by him.
Home: A middle-class house in Riverhaven, 1 block away from the bank.

Appearance

You have an angular face with a flexible ridged crest which follows the shape of your skull with elegant arched eyebrows and slitted green eyes, camouflage scales with a pale silver underbelly and a kinked tail. You are archaic.

You are wearing a chain balaclava, a jadeite gwethdesuan, a kyanite gwethdesuan, a pair of bifocals with steel rims, a triskele medallion, a delicate gold pendant in the shape of a winged serpent clutching a cambrinth egg in its talons, a shadowy black mage's robe shot through with silver and red threads, a hooded red challis robe, an alabaster belt buckle, a ruby red badge stitched with "A trip to Shard and all I got was a lousy badge!", a slender black ribbon, an iron brooch encrusted with diamonds in the pattern of a purse, a Warrior Mage Guild boutonniere displaying a Scarlet Panther lily, a clockwork spider, a canvas sack shabbily embroidered with a Warrior Mage crest pattern in off-white thread, a lumpy bundle, a cambrinth-clasped leather backpack stitched with the crest of the Warrior Mage guild in silver thread, a rumpled burlap vest, a mottled cotton gamantang, a darkened hauberk accented with bright silver lightning bolts, a worn leather arm sheath tooled with the image of a cobra wrapped around a sword, a wide cambrinth armband, some enameled elbow spikes, a shalswar-hide buckler, a verdigris snakeskin bracelet, a pair of jeweled cufflinks shaped like balls of fire, some wickedly spiked knuckles, some mail gauntlets painted to resemble rotting flesh, an albredine crystal ring, a wide leather utility belt embellished by a platinum crest, a simple belt knife, a flame-red rosewood spellbook case inset with swirling ruby fireballs, a spherical variegated pouch crafted to resemble a dragon curled around Elanthia, an intricate gold-inlaid tailband set with a sinuous cambrinth dragon, a leather tailband embossed with a coiled king snake, a thigh quiver dyed in a brown and green camouflage pattern, some iron knee spikes, a silver-edged bronze knife etched with small wisps of smoke, an electrum anklet, some pitted steel-toed footwraps, some bloodstained steel-toed boots with tarnished skull buckles, some black socks studded with bone fragments forming a skull and crossbones, and an etched steel parry stick with black leather straps.

Backstory

Shvartzgonif, one of two twin brothers, was born during a time of political and social turmoil in Muspar'i. His house, which had originally been designated as gamant'hr'tys- the third house - was now relegated to the seventh - gamant hr'zhu. As such, their wealth and power had been siphoned away quite abruptly, Although they were not reduced to beggary, and were still one of the more powerful families in town, the loss of some of their more prized possessions and lands, were to the young s'kra an insult. As such, both brothers turned to crime to supplement their lost income. Especially so against the Therengian house of Dacawla, whose stranglehold against their ancestral lands were particularly irksome. His twin brother was equally adept at pilfering, each encouraging the other in deeds of daring-do. Eventually both brothers came to the attention of the local crime lords - the reign of which was before Crow took over operations. His brother joined the fledgling guild, but Shvartzgonif did not, as he wanted more - he wanted to learn how to cast magical spells, and considered the sleight of hand practiced by the guilded thieves to be mere parlor tricks. He was flattered by the offer however, and maintained ties to some known to be of that organization. He did learn a few practical lessons from his brother when it came to politics, and learned to travel to distant lands as not to be caught by those who would recognize him.

During one of these forays, he and his brother came upon a lone s'kra woman who was being mercilessly pummeled by four young human paladins. Not thinking of the consequences, but more in terms of supporting a lone woman in distress, they came to her rescue, his brother taking to the shadows and firing his crossbow, while Shvartz drew his scimitar and shouted insults at them at the top of his lungs. This more than any damage dissuaded the paladins from the pursuit of their quarry and they dispersed. He spoke to Sh'Barzlahh, for that was her name, in the S'kra Mur tongue, and discovered that she, like him, lived in Muspar'i and was not only a citizen but the former high priestess of the Dragon's Temple! He did not inquire further, so swept up was he by her beauty.

While he was courting her prior to their marriage, he found out that she was much older than himself, but still retained her youthful appearance, and her ability to bear children, due to some sort of forbidden magic that he didn't quite understand. Before Sh'barzlahh and he could be married, however, the local Dragon Temple and the council insisted that she had to give up all of her magic, destroy her books <although it was later learned that one copy survived, that she had misplaced in her kitchen> -- and swear that none of her children would be trained in magic - for such was the taint of the magic practiced during the times of the reign of Dzree. The current priests of the Temple, which now followed the teachings of Sh'kial, wanted nothing to do with the foul magic. So their marriage was conducted in both Hav'roth's Temple and the Dragon Temple, under both rituals.

Shvartzgonif and Sh'barzlahh had four daughters, the youngest of these named Shhayna. The three older daughters live quietly in Muspar'i still, never having joined a guild, and Shhyna, forswearing magic as ordered, became a guilded Barbarian. She in turn married Bahhgs, a merchant from the Dne family of Ratha, and they had four daughters, Shayddow, Shoshannah, Kydosha, and Totendanz. All four were instructed that they had to petition the governing council of the second house - the Gamant'hr'ku- if they wanted to join any of the magic guilds. No such restriction was put on Shvartzgonif, as he was married to Sh'barzlahh, not her blood relative.

The couple lived a relatively peaceful life until negotiations took place with Therengia to open up the route through Hvaral to all people. During these negotiations, which Sh'barzlahh had thought she would not be recognized at as she was much older than the human therengians -- she had the misfortune to be recognized by a visiting Elven Paladin who was a member of the Hounds of Rutilor. She was quickly arrested, tried and convicted, and burned at the stake.

Shvartzgonif, heartbroken at the news, gave up any more criminal activity and threw himself into the business of trying to keep the family together. Later on, when Bahhgs was first attacked by bandits on the way home from Theren, and then later on killed by pirates after negotiations on the island of Ratha, he took on more and more of the responsibility of head of house, finally taking over completely when Shhayna was herself killed during an attack by slavers who lived in the deep Velaka.

Therefore it was not until the girls were older, and Shayddow had returned from being abducted by the pirates but was no longer living in Muspar'i, that Shvarzgonif was allowed to pursue his lifelong dream of studying magic. He currently studies under Gauthus.