Updated Character Info

[fallendragon]

Arrakis Faylare

Arrakis is one of eight people that have been blessed with magic by a nameless goddess, who was created by humanity's imagination and desire for there to be something after death. Each mage carries a piece of that original wish inside their magic. As the air mage, Arrakis's wind magic holds the desire for the afterlife to be a better place, and the promise of better days.

→ Skills and Abilities

Mage

Magic is complicated in his world. It comes from a different realm and as such, it can’t exist in the real world without being tethered to a human otherwise it would be catastrophic. When mages are chosen, they slowly are transformed into a being of pure magic energy wrapped around an echo of their human self. This allows the magic to work past the limitations of the human body while also being contained. Mages are greatly enhanced by their magic and stand above normal humans.

Their magic is a piece of the nameless goddess's magic, which was created from humanity's imagination and desire for something after death so it's incredibly powerful. It can't fully manifest in this world though so it needs a human soul to tether it into this world. That's where mages come in. (It's also why mage's magic feels like a mirage for those who can see or sense it. It doesn't have a physical form in this world until the mage shapes his magic into their element. They technically have a near endless supply of magic but they can only access a part of it and it has to work within the limitations of their human vessel. (Think Avatar the Last Airbender's bending) Mage's aren't entirely human anymore though so the more their magic resonates with their emotions and they lean into their magic side they can push a bit further past those limits. However if their human vessel dies, so do they can't push so far that the strain would destroy their human body.

Due to their transformation, mages no longer feel human. They are similar to corpses that are kept alive by magic but their magic gives the illusion that they are still human. All of magic is fueled by imagination and mages can use their memories of being human to feel like one again, although it doesn't feel quite real, their senses feel more like looking back at the memory their imagination recreated.

Being of Magical energy

His magic side feels like an unnatural, shapeless mass of magical energy. It doesn't belong in the world and it doesn't have a form until Arrakis shapes the magic into energy. To people who can see magic, this invisible magic looks like a faint, otherworldly energy that feels like an illusion. It's not completely grounded in the real world. It feels like an idea instead of something real until Arrakis's magic gives it a physical form. Arrakis can see and hear when he resonates with his magic side but it feels like an afterthought, like when you see or hear something out of the corner of your eye. This gives his magic a weightless, ghost like feeling. When Arrakis gives his magic a physical form however, his blurred senses do become a bit stronger.

Arrakis's soul naturally leans towards his magic and it takes a conscious effort to switch back to his human memories. Also, when Arrakis's soul resonates with his magic side, the magical energy is strongest around his eyes and they glow. Arrakis can use his magic without going full mage mode, but extreme emotions are more likely to make him resonate with his magical side. Think of it as tug of war with his consciousness with a ethereal pull towards his magic.

Arrakis’s magic feeds on the world’s residual magical energy, just like how humans breathe air. Using magic drains his magic reserves and temporarily weakens his magical core, but building up too much magic can damage his human body. It’s a delicate balance and the strength of his magic is directly tied to how strong his magical energy is.

Minor Healing

Mages cannot survive without their human vessel and his magic keeps his human body alive and the magic boosts their body with magical energy. Mages don’t get sick, they have a higher tolerance for alcohol and drugs, and they heal faster than normal humans. They can still get injured, but it takes less time to recover. An injury that takes a week or more to recover would only take them a few days. However if a mage’s magic reserves are low, then there is no extra energy to heal and the boost in healing doesn’t work.

Magical defense mechanism

If his magic gets too low or his magic has to adjust due to outside magical influences, Arrakis’s magical form will take over, shapeshifting him into a small animal form. It’s a defense mechanism that allows the magic to focus all its energy on magic recovery. Arrakis turns into a white gryphon with blue eyes.

Wind magic

Mages use imagination to give the pure magic they are made up of a physical shape. Each mage controls a different element. Arrakis can shape his magic into wind. He can only manipulate his magic but he can make it seem like he can control normal wind as well by influencing the wind's current with his own wind.

All mages have a mystical power that is tied to their piece of the original wish as well. For air mages they can mix their wind with music to create a magical soothing aura that promises that things will be better and eases one's pain. Arrakis has taken the concept of mixing sound with wind even further and he can manipulate sound by weaving it into his wind so only those who touch his wind can hear it. It's a useful trick for silencing your footsteps, and in Arrakis's case, keeping his music secret.

Healing song

All mages have a mystical ability that ties into their piece of the original wish that created magic. As the air mage, Arrakis's wind magic holds the desire for the afterlife to be a better place, and the promise of better days. He can weave music and the hope of better days into his wind to create a magically soothing song that eases one's soul.

→ History

World History

Arrakis's story takes place in a version of Earth which loosely follows history but with a magical twist. Human's imagination and fear of the afterlife created a magical entity. The nameless goddess that was born from that loneliness wanted to be a part of the world that created her so she tore a hole in her dimension and gave humanity a piece of her magic. Over time, people grew to fear magic and its potential to destroy the world if it escaped the other dimension completely. Around the Victorian era, an order dedicated to protecting mankind found an ancient portal and banished the current mages and their supporters to Althiya, a desert world with aimlessly floating islands in a sea of sand. The mages magic awakened hidden crystals that allowed them to stabilize the islands and stop them from wandering.

At first, everyone worked together to stabilize Althiya but the other exiles slowly grew to resent the mages for their banishment and they worked with the locals to imprison the mages, in an attempt to control the disastrous magic that was slowly eating away at their world. When a mage died, a witch hunt was conducted to find the next mage and lock them up. This dark chapter of Althiyan history lasted for many years until the mages finally revolted and slaughtered everyone that tried to oppose them. They created a bloody tyranny and formed the noble houses to rule over the powerless people that imprisoned them. After a unexpected truce, everyone agreed to bury this dark chapter of Althiya’s history. However, there is still a strong sense of resentment towards the commoners among the nobles and fear of crossing the nobles for the common people, it’s just wrapped in layers of arrogance (the nobles believing they are better suited to rule than the weak common people), and a fear of change destroying what they have built for the common people.

Fast-forward to the modern day and no one knows the dark truth about the mages or their bloody history. Althiya is now a mix of the original nomadic culture and an oppressive steampunk-like ruling noble class who are the descendants of the first mages, with seven mages at the top who are chosen by the nameless goddess as divine protectors.


Character History

Arrakis was the unwanted sixth son of the noble Faylare house. Instead of a daughter who could be used for a political marriage, Arrakis would only ever inherit his family name so he was mostly rejected by his family. The only times they acknowledged him was during social events where he was expected to pretend that they were a happy family, or when they wanted him to do something shady that his brothers couldn't risk getting their hands dirty with. Desperate for his family's love Arrakis did whatever his family asked of him, including the occasional murder in a duel so it would seem like an accident.

Due to his precarious place in his family, Arrakis sympathized with the common people more than most nobles and he enjoyed sneaking into the city, especially during festivals. He never spoke up against the unfair divide between the two classes though for fear that it would give his family an excuse to finally get rid of him. This is one of Arrakis's biggest regrets and why he tends to hide that he was a noble.

Things started to get better when he discovered his talent for music, but he couldn’t shake the fear that the attention and affection he received was only because of his singing, not him, and as soon as he messed up, he would go back to being unwanted. Because of this, Arrakis was terribly arrogant when it came to his musical talent and he used his skills at reading people to meld his personality to what others wanted. He still desperately wanted people to like him for who he really was, not his mask, so he kept some aspects of himself unchanged like his side braid, his cheerful personality and his love of flying. This loneliness was made a hundred times worse when his friend prophesized his death. Living with the knowledge that he was going to die made him feel even more like an outcast and he was terrified of being forgotten so he buried his loneliness and resentment and became obsessed with helping his friends so he would leave something of himself behind through them.

When he was eighteen he was chosen by the nameless goddess to be the next air mage, along and six others mages who took up the role of divine guardians. He was the last mage to master his magic. He struggled with understanding wind when he couldn't see it. Terrified he would lose his place by his friends' side, he trained tirelessly until he discovered a clever way around his magic block. He still can't completely visualize wind but instead he used his imagination to visualize a dragon made of wind instead, and his skill now rivals that of other mages. When it comes to his connection to his element, he's a natural.

Soon afterward, their world was destroyed and the the mages were forced to flee through an ancient portal and end up stranded in a small town on modern-day earth. They met Skylar, a seemingly normal human who recognized them from a dream she had the night before. They didn't know it yet but she's secret eighth mage that opened the portal although she has no idea how she did it. Lost in a world they don't understand and curious about the connection they have with Skylar they accepted her help and stayed with her. Death is always celebrated with new life on Althiya and as a tribute to their fallen home, the mages chose to start a new life in this world. They changed their birthdays to the day they arrived on Earth, August 8, and started over at age 20, which is why their real ages don't quite match up to their actual age.

With the help of Skylar and Altair, who as a commoner had to fend for himself before becoming a mage, Arrakis and the other sheltered nobles slowly learned to adapt to their less privileged lives. The mysteries of their world were quickly forgotten, since there was no one to give them answers, and they slowly accepted their new lives on Earth. Knowing he was going to die on this new world, Arrakis embraced everything Earth had to offer. His happiness while exploring his new world was tainted by the realization that he wouldn't be a part of their new future here for long but he still did his best to enjoy what time he had left.

Unfortunately he knew it couldn't last and they were tracked down and hunted by the remnants of the ancient order that exiled the mages. When they captured a member of the order they learned the hidden truth about their magic, that their magic is slowly damaging the world around them and they will potentially destroy the world someday just by existing, which was why the last star mage, Sirius's father, destroyed Althiya. He was trying to break the cycle of mages by making sure no one was left alive to become the next mage. By escaping that night, Arrakis and his friends unknowingly ruined that plan and Althiya was sacrificed in vain. Knowing that they were the reason Althiya was destroyed, even if only indirectly, left all the mages devastated and the mages are now forced to live with the eternal dilemma of whether they have the right to exist when their existence is catastrophic to the world around them.

Arrakis agreed with Sirius that they should let the soldier they captured go to show that they weren't the monsters the Order thought they were. Their mercy backfired and Altair was captured. Just like Sheliak predicted, Arrakis wasn't able to escape his death and he was shot while protecting Sheliak during the rescue. Realizing that he was going to die anyway, he trapped the enemy in the room with him so the rest of his friends could escape.

→ Personality

Empathetic – Arrakis has always cared about others, a lot of times more than himself, since he feels their pain like his own and wants to keep others from suffering, even at his own expense. He will put himself in harm’s way to keep others from being hurt and he is an incredibly good listener for those that need someone to talk to.

Lonely – Arrakis felt like an outcast in his own home and his loneliness was made a hundred times worse when his friend prophesized his death. Living with the knowledge that he was going to die make him feel even more like an outcast and he is terrified of being forgotten.

Selfish – Because of his ability to shift his personality to other people’s whims, he focuses on more desirable traits that will make people like him more. Kindness comes easy for him given his empathic nature but sometimes it feels like he is kind just for his selfish desire to be liked instead of because it’s the right this to do.

Insecure – Arrakis is constantly second guessing himself, his kindness, his identity, everything. He wants to be a good person, but is that only so other will like him more? If he can put on so many different masks, who is the real him? Is the cheerful and free personality he clings to as his just the kind of person he thought he would like to be?

Guilt Ridden - The destruction of his home devastated Arrakis. The mages are supposed to protect everyone. Not only did he fail, but he was the reason everyone was killed and he's haunted by this. He's desperate to save everyone this time and he will throw himself into danger will little concern for his own well being.

Cheerful – Arrakis escapes all his fears and insecurities with a friendly and cheerful attitude. He does not want to dwell on dark thoughts and honestly believes that happiness can make any situation better and he would rather be happy and hyper, and even annoying, if it means he doesn’t have to be left alone with his thoughts.