Tory Braid
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Tory Braid
197
2nd Stars, 8098
5'7" (170cm)
Male
Wood Elf
Sage
Locksmith (formerly Cellarer of Cantor Abbey)
Cantor Abbey
Likes
Black humour, straight talk, cats, sitting by rivers and lakesides, deconstructing his food, whiskey with coffee
Dislikes
Emotional labour, responsibility, gushing or fluff, sensitive types, idealism, sweet foods, milk
Personality
Practical | Loyal | Stable | Callous | Indifferent | Lazy | Avoidant
Tory would consider himself a spectator to life, and that's the way he likes it. He calls things as he sees them - unsugared, unvarnished and patently indifferent. While he doesn't go out of his way to offend and will make easy niceties as a matter of convenience, he sees difficult emotions as too much hassle and personal investment as not worth the trouble, so simply refuses to spare any sort of time to them. Instead he brushes them off - like he does to most things - with dry remarks, cynical humour and a laid-back lack of care.
Really, his many elvish years of outliving the humans important to him has led him to a nihilistic view of life. In his mind everyone will disappear, and everything they built will fade or corrupt as generations forget the past. He therefore doesn't engage emotionally if he can help it. He refuses attachments and avoids sentimentality like a bad smell. He holds no grudges nor ambition, treating the past as little more than trivia and the future as none of his concern. He dislikes exerting effort, rejects any kind of spotlight, and hates most of all being in charge of anything. He much prefers going with the flow under someone else's direction; even if he disagrees, he'd rather hold his hands up and let it all go wrong than fight.
While his commitment is hard to win, his choices are lasting. If he truly agrees to do something he will do it well and to its end - even if that end is forever. His loyalty is deep, in some ways worryingly so; his is the kind that disregards morality and shrugs off mistreatment if he can tolerate it, and he can tolerate a lot. Deep down he likes the stability of having something to devote himself to - but time and experience have whittled away the things he finds worthy of devotion to near nothing.
History
Tory was raised by a human family as a youngest adopted sibling. His birth parents and adoptive parents were colleagues in the Flight Regiment, so when the former died in service the latter took in their new baby out of compassion. Despite the obvious differences, he grew up loved in a family who included him fully in their lives. When the parents retired in their 50s, they bought land in Amedra to start a military pegasus ranch as a nest egg for their children. Their one mistake, however, was that they failed to write a clear will. All was well for many years after their deaths, but quiet bitterness began to fester over inheritances. By the time the following generation reached adulthood, the resentments had become open conflict. Tory tried his best to bring back the unity he fondly remembered but he was just one person and couldn't succeed against people looking for a reason to fight.
Pressed to pick sides, he at last went with the family of his favourite sibling - however they fell in with questionable people and became involved with the black market. Still he followed them thinking they were good people - picking up locksmithing and shield magic for their collective safety - but they gradually got so deep into criminal business that he had to cut ties with their son, who took advantage of Tory to the point that it became intolerable. He moved on to another branch whose current generation were decent people and had reached out to him several times.
They welcomed him and, for a while, he felt that they would do the family legacy justice. He was elated when they expressed interest in buying the family ranch from the current heirs, who had hit hard times, and enthusiastically helped them succeed. He thought they'd revitalise it - but to his disappointment they simply turned it around for a profit without a hint of regret. He finally had to realise that his family had all changed and moved on, leaving him behind as just a relic.
After a few months of wrestling with this he decided it was time for him to leave too; he no longer felt, and probably could never again feel, at home with them. He departed quietly to join a friend from years past, a former partner of his criminal relative who had also cut ties. He then followed his friend's family when she died in a sudden accident as had become his habit - or he tried to. It wasn't the same any more and he was tired of changing families like clothes. He vowed to never get so attached to humans again and at last struck out on his own.
He began working for the Traders' Guild as a locksmith and shieldmaster. He did this for a few years without much trouble, but also without much feeling or thought into his future. It was there that he met a young Karmenie when she came in on an errand for Cantor Abbey. He was getting bored and looking for what to do next at the time, and so he took a shine to her more for timing than anything else. Even so, he clicked with her almost immediately; here was someone without a shadow of ulterior motives, who also had the same sharp-tongued sense of humour. He volunteered to become a trade associate for her and she accepted.
This continued for a decade until Karmenie was appointed Abbess. She asked him to join her as a new cellarer for the Abbey and he accepted. Thus began fifty long years by her side. It was the longest he'd stayed with one person and the most content he'd been since he was a child who believed in forever. So when she was murdered - while she was old but still full of vitality in his eyes - he shut down. Suddenly he remembered why he'd sworn off humans and closed off again. He moved only to tie up loose ends for Karmenie and the Abbey, and to get himself out of it. And then, he left.
Current Story
Still haunted by Karmenie's death, Tory did nothing much for a while until he decided that he would get no rest until he had found her murderer. He returned to the Traders' Guild to ply his old ties there. The search led him to Delverne, where he took up a temporary job as a church organist as a cover for sticky-nosing into the church. He never expected to be confronted with his old Cantish friends while there... or with a fawn Karmenie, not alive but not as dead and gone as he'd thought. He knew it was too good to last - but the chance to say goodbye properly was more important to him than he'd realised.
Additional Info
His preferred magic tool is mirrors. Silver is easiest, but he likes and often uses still water to channel.
As a Sage, he's rather mediocre. He has some special expertise with seals and spatial locks, but he is above all slow - he can prepare cleverly crafted seals with decent strength if given enough time, but is about as useful as Sorceror in the heat of something like a battle. He can however make and break totems.
He doesn't trust elves very much because the ones he met earlier on were often dismissive or condescending to his human family - something he can understand now that he's also tired of being invested in humans, but still lives on in the back of his mind.
Relations
Joseph & Charlise Braid
His original adoptive parents. They were very steady and practical people who treasured their family. They were fond of adopting strays as pets, a habit which made them the first ones to volunteer to take on a child in need.
