Name: Ellis Avalon (Goes simply by Avalon)

Age: 32

Transformation: A large silver-tailed hawk whose wings appear almost metallic in the light. The creature has startling grey eyes as well as formidable talons. Though conspicuous in the daytime, it appears almost invisible in the shadows and in the light of the moon. 

Appearance (while human): He has a timeless appearance though he is still relatively young. He is tall, thin and remotely effeminate looking. He keeps cleanly shaven with shoulder length silver hair and piercing grey eyes which appear constantly analytical. He has lean muscle but gives the impression of being a lightweight. His rather slight build is compensated by his stern and imposing features. He originally hails from high above the tree line in North Gandryll and has the olive complexion and premature wrinkles to prove it - the brutal exposure is never gentle to the appearance. He underdresses for his high ranking position in simple black shirts, trousers, and hunting boots. There is no need to display his station through dress as he is well-known in Gandryll. Though they are loose fitting, it's clear he's heavily armored underneath. 

Personality: He is incredibly serious and well known for his dry and deadpan sense of humor. He has a justice over mercy philosophy and he is both thorough and contemplative. He is a very well travelled and learned man and thus possesses strong logic and analytical skills. He enjoys the study of politics and economics though he was never very gifted at war. He is very loyal to Gandryll though not necessarily its monarch. He can get very paranoid and hasty to the point of sloppiness. He is not an unnecessarily mean person, only extremely committed to his beliefs, something that makes him very ruthless. He does have the capacity to feel compassion, but it is very deeply obscured by his other extremely assertive traits. 

History: Born and raised in Gandryll, he is very nationalistic and has developed a passion for the tall forests that make up his homeland. He grew up a second child to the Lord Avalon meaning that his older sister would inherit the family's wealth (the nobility in Gandryll don't discriminate against their female children, as is the case throughout Celyn.) His agility was trained by scaling nearly 200 foot trees and he never felt more at peace then when he was suspended in the sky on their branches. He still had the opportunity to study with many private tutors, eventually becoming classmates with the Crown Prince Leolin. Because Leolin had no siblings, he immediately became attached to Avalon, who would never turn such an opportunity for advancement away. 

He was summoned home urgently as a teenager and when he arrived, his family's manor appeared to be under siege and the forest below it in flames. His escorts were urged to join the fray, but they knew not who they fought and were slaughtered after shadows within the fires appeared to swallow them whole. Avalon ran into the burning castle, locating his sister in the tallest tower. As he reached her, the ground gave way and he saw her fall, her eyes wide with surprise. Frozen in utter shock, he did not realize that he was suspended in the air on vast silvery wings, rising higher every second as he caught the thermal air emanating from the heat. 

As the fires died down, he realized that he was alone and that no sign of life was to be found in the area. His transformations were sporadic and uncontrollable and he was injured as he fell from the sky during the first few. He spent weeks in the woods, living on what he could scavenge and mulling over the events that brought him to this point. As he was alone, he was able to experiment and eventually control his transformations, associating the feelings of intense fear with his certain transformation. He began to travel, feeling unable to return to his old life and spend day on end in his hawk form. Years passed and he travelled all four kingdom. He learned much about the different cultures and customs of each region. He had an almost obsessive interest in the mysterious dark shadows that devoured his home but no matter where he went, he could find nothing. 

What he did discover was his identity as a Canavar. Ofera's library contained traces of information about the Canavar, though much of it was lost after Queen Aurelia ordered large sections of the library burned. She hoped that magic would become like myth and over time, she was successful.

Avalon returned to Gandryll where Leolin now reigned. He cleaned himself up and was instantly recognized for who he was. None of his family had survived and Leolin, because of their old friendship and camaraderie, took him in. Leolin recognized the use of Avalon's vast knowledge and appointed him his Chief Advisor. Leolin caught him mid-transformation and, though taken aback, trusted him enough to hear him out. He will not reveal Avalon's secret as long as Avalon does not pose a threat to his reign. 

Strengths and Weaknesses: He is very intelligent and worldly and is a well studied in politics and economics. However, he would make a terrible general given that he prefers much quieter and discreet methods of taking care of business (i.e. espionage.) He is not a natural leader and lacks charisma given that his stern and humorless disposition is often off-putting. He has build a reputation for himself and is, at times, more respected than the King himself. He is not physically strong but possesses agility and has mastered the use of the pole arm, his primary weapon of choice. He tends to become very obsessed with things, meaning that he'll ignore other duties if he is too focused on one particular goal. His transformation of the hawk also possesses its own advantages and drawbacks. It can easily move unseen at night and in the shadows but is very obvious during the day. It's sharp eyesight and hearing make him able to see details many would easily miss. He is a fast flyer, making him able to cover much ground in a short amount to time. His talons are formidable and he is very agile, but against numerous or larger foes, he would have difficulties. 

Other: His relationship with the King is brotherly and he is often exasperated by Leolin's playboy-ish lifestyle. His interest in usurping the throne is purely because he believes Leolin will destroy Gandryll at the rate that he is depleting the treasury and earning the dissent of the lower class and nobility. His interest in seeking out other Canavar is not only for the purpose of his complex espionage and assassination missions, but also because he is deeply interested in them. He does not consider himself a separate race from human and the existence of the Canavar draws into question his views on magic.