Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft
You cannot control what you do not know.
16 | Male | Helbahnese | Noble | 7.37
P E R S O N A L I T Y
❖ [ Calm ]
❖ [ Confident ]
❖ [ Curious ]
❖ [ Dedicated ]
❖ [ Distant ]
Kaspar’s life has been marked by his tutelage. He is calm by necessity, having spent most of his youth practicing the ability to suppress his emotions, and he works very hard not to let them bubble up too much unless he’s completely alone. As such, he can often seem uninvested or uncaring. He feels his confidence in his own abilities is essential to his training and tackles everything with the belief that he is fully capable—but this can come across as cocky when he’s too vocal about it.
His curiosity and his dedication go hand-in-hand. Kaspar’s interest in gaining knowledge has driven him to many of his studies, and is the primary factor in his studies of Binding Magic, as he looks to hone his natural aptitudes. This curiosity can be concerning, however, when it drives him to study skills that others would avoid.
When it comes to social interaction, though, Kaspar is at somewhat of a loss. He’s spent much of his time away from public life, only interacting with his tutors and his adoptive parents. While he understands the general expectations of his manners as a Marquis’s son, he lacks any nuance in social interaction; combined with his typical lack of emotional behavior, he comes off as distant, anti-social, and even snobbish to some.
C H A R A C T E R A P P E A R A N C E
Kaspar’s appearance is, in many ways, misleading about his nature. He is a Bloodchild, but the mana type has been passed two generations from its origin; as a result, the only overt physical features that might distinguish it are his eyes, which hold an unusual red. His skin, though somewhat pale, is not light enough to be considered “albino”, and his hair is a standard dark brown that falls messily around his ears and eyes.
His features are not as strong as his Marquis father’s but are still enough to suggest his supposed noble heritage, despite his more common origin. His cheekbones are the strongest, set high and pronounced. His nose and jaw are softer, and his chin is more round than square. His expression is often schooled into something neutral and can seem harsh in particular circumstances. His height is relatively average, around 5’8” or 172 cm, with the likelihood of growing another inch or two, and his build is lean but not particularly well-muscled.
Kaspar tends towards fine clothes, often in red tones that draw attention to his eyes and dark colors to balance them out. He likes long coats and knee-high boots of leathers and furs. He likes jewelry but prefers to wear plain metal pieces, usually of gold.
L A N G U A G E S
Kaspar speaks Kerreman as his native tongue, but picked up Eskandish quickly enough to speak fluently. As a noble, he speaks Avincian semi-fluently and is decent at Perrench. He’s more recently begun learning Revidian and knows enough to scrape by, but is better at writing and reading than he is at speaking.
T H E G I F T
Kaspar’s first stirrings of The Gift began with an aptitude for drawing—from material sources, as is the way of Binding Magic. When it first developed, his control was lacking and often dangerous, necessitating interventions on his behalf. He’s a blackblood, and though it can be guessed at, it’s never been confirmed: Kaspar is a Bloodchild, the secondary mana type passed along from his maternal grandmother, who was revived at birth by her mother’s midwife.
His life as a noble afforded Kaspar with a selection of tutors to tame his natural abilities, and growing up one was never too far away. They worked through hours-long lessons nearly every day, trying to train him to draw from energies, but his skill there has never been as strong as his ability to draw from materials. Understanding that the options present were to limit his capabilities and use of The Gift or mold him into an individual worthy of learning Binding Magic, his tutors, with the approval of his family, selected the latter.
As such, much of Kaspar’s tutelage has centered on building precise control in his drawing. Casting fell secondary, and though he was taught low-level skills, his aptitude is not as natural. He’s also been taught and tested to develop the moral fortitude required, with heavy teachings on human anatomy and the applications of healing. He’s always been carefully watched, and often kept distant from all but his tutors.
Kaspar, however, remembers his aptitudes—and the fostering of his intellect has made him a dedicated student, with a strong belief that you cannot tame something without first understanding its wild nature. Though his moral fortitude prevents him from any desire to test these abilities on living creatures, he’s determined to understand the nature of Blood Magic as an extension of Binding Magic. He’s not a fool, though, and knows the moral and legal boundary he treads; he’s kept this realm of study to himself, allowing his tutors to believe they know the extent of it by seeking their approval on some of the fairly tame, theoretical studies that can be found on books.
With strengths in drawing control and theoretical knowledge but a lack of skill in casting, Kaspar’s primary specialization is in Binding Magic, and he’s chosen Chemical Magic as his necessary secondary specialization due to its accessibility—however, he’s pursuing his interest in Blood Magic as a self-directed… extra-curricular activity.
B A C K G R O U N D
Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft was born the only child of Helbahnese Marquis Arvid Elstrøm von Wentoft and his wife, Katka. Almost from birth, his constitution was weak and he was frequently victim to illness. He was not much of a public figure, often too sick to leave the confines of his family estate.
At age eight, Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft died.
Very few people know this truth, and are sworn never to speak it: The Elstrøms and their privileged staff, a noblewoman close to Katka, and two artisans from Kerremand.
Alaric Weber of Kerremand was born in the same year as the sickly Helbahnese noble, to his own father Ehren and his mother Lark, a tapestry weaver and a dye-maker. He, like his mother, had The Gift, and the makings for a heritage Lark would not speak of.
His Gift went unnoticed for, perhaps, the first few months after it manifested—his draw was not particularly powerful, being only a boy of eight, and so it was only small things he pulled from; bottle lids or small portions of ingredients and threads going missing, believed to be misplaced. The first time he pulled from a human, he left a small, scrape-like abrasion on his mother’s elbow, not enough for them to yet suspect his talents.
These incidents grew, though, in both size and frequency. His mother was the first to recognize the link between these occurrences, his red eyes, and her own childhood; fearing suspicion and punishment, she refused to explain these connections or seek help.
Seven months after it manifested, Alaric’s drawing became too dangerous. While playing with his father, in a fit of youthful joy, he destroyed part of Ehren’s wrist. While the amount would have been painful but fairly inconsequential elsewhere, he damaged the valuable artery. It was only through the quick intervention of his mother, minorly skilled in Kinetic Magic, that his father survived, though it would take much longer for any of them to fully recover from the ordeal.
Frightened by him and realizing that her family would be endangered if her child stayed, Alaric’s mother sought a solution. Her connections linked her with a noblewoman familiar with Katka Elstrøm von Wentoft, who arranged a meeting between the two mothers after seeing Alaric. It had been mere days since Kaspar’s death, and no public announcement had been made while the family grieved privately. Bereft, Katka and Arvid agreed to take in Alaric, who bore strong resemblance to their late son, and raise him as Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft. Alaric Weber, to the knowledge of the rest of the world, was taken in the animal attack that nearly killed his father.
Little changed about Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft; he remained an infrequent public figure to the lower classes of Helbahn. Over the years, whispers came from the few nobles who saw him that the boy seemed to grow stronger in constitution, though his once-brown eyes had taken an unsettling crimson tint. There were those who theorized he had died, or come near enough, and been saved by Binding Magic that left its permanent mark on him.
No one suspected he was simply not the same boy.
Kaspar’s memories of his birth family are faint—he was forbidden to speak of them after he was taken in, for the safety of the secret that could not be revealed. His childhood became distant, and his life overcome with lessons; those that would prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again, and those that would shape him into a proper noble. The Elstrøms treated him like their trueborn son, sometimes as though they themselves had forgotten, but his Gift necessitated a more physically distant relationship.
He wonders, sometimes, if his childhood was real—if there was ever a boy named Alaric, or if he’d simply imagined it as a youthful fantasy. He threw himself willingly enough into his studies, trying to wipe the questions and memories from his mind, and can let himself believe he’s always been Kaspar Elstrøm von Wentoft, so long as he doesn’t think too much on it. While his birth parents’ abandonment stings, he’s grateful to be so welcomed among his noble family and enjoys the comfort their wealth provides him with.
Yet he sometimes still dreams of Ehren and Lark Weber, always accompanied by blood.
M O T I V A T I O N
Kaspar, above all else, seeks knowledge and skill. His heavy training throughout childhood ingrained a desire to understand and develop his abilities to their full potential, perhaps a step further than his tutors intended. He seeks to do good, though less than he seeks to do no harm, but in many ways sees it as a tool to develop his Gift.
He’s excited to be out from under his tutors for the first time since he was eight, with an opportunity to practice much of the knowledge he only has in theory. He also hopes to find more space and information to support his study of Blood Magic, without the concern of his watchdogs always hovering.
Yet, he worries that all his pursuits will be meaningless. With so much focus on drawing magic and little skill in casting it, Kaspar fears that he’ll never develop the capabilities to truly
use it, instead being damned to only ever knowing his Gift through theoretical knowledge.
I N V E N T O R Y
❖ [ Books ]
Many of these books focus on magic, primarily Binding; some may include theory on Blood Magic, if he’s been able to find such books. There are a few selections on plant life, particularly those native to Revidia and Perrence. There are also several novels written in Revidian that are below his age level, which he’s using to continue learning the language.
❖ [ Cloak ]
A thick, black fur cloak with soft, red-dyed leather and gold fastenings. While perhaps not frequently necessary this far north, it’s an item from his home that helps him feel more confident and collected as he leaves the Elstrøm Estate for the first time since he arrived there.
❖ [ Jewelry ]
He has several rings he alternates, all of which are made of gold and lack any gemstones. Two have small designs etched into the metal, one of flowers and vines, and the other similar to a braided rope design. He has two more plain rings. He also has a plain gold necklace made with a herringbone chain pattern, that gives it the appearance of a single piece of gold unless examined more closely.
❖ [ Notebooks ]
A set of five leather-bound notebooks with ornamental, gold-inlaid designs on the front. They contain notes on his studies, written in a combination of Eskandish and Kerreman and often in shorthand. None of these contain overt references to Blood Magic; any information or notes he takes on this include copious amounts of shorthand and abbreviation, and are only denoted as a cohesive subject by the consistent label “EX”.
❖ [ Sketchbook & Charcoal ]
A leather-bound, smooth-covered book with sturdy, blank pages inside. The front third of the book is already filled; the sketches primarily consist of plant life, both ordinary and anatomy sketches, but also include human anatomy sketches and the occasional landscape.
❖ [ Wand ]
A hand-crafted cherrywood stick with a black leather grip, used as Kaspar’s focus for casting. The leather is worn in.
S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S
❖ [ Control ]
Kaspar’s crowning achievement in his study of The Gift is in his control of it—particularly over his ability to draw. But he also possesses strong mental and emotional control, cultivated by his tutors’ copious lessons. He can never want to hurt someone because he risks making that desire a reality. He has to maintain a hold on his emotions because he may be dangerous if he loses focus.
❖ [ Manipulation ]
Kaspar has learned how to predict what his tutors want to hear, and how to feed them just enough information for them to believe they know the full picture. He doesn’t seek to manipulate others into giving him items and money, but rather into giving him trust; he views it as the only way for him to continue his personal studies uninterrupted, by preventing those watching him from suspecting he’s pursuing other interests.
❖ [ Memory ]
While not eidetic, Kaspar’s memory is strong, particularly relating to things he sees or reads. It helps most often with his studies, but he can remember far more, and the applications are wide-ranging.
❖ [ Plant Identification ]
His preferred subject for sketching, Kaspar has gotten quite familiar with plant life, and his memory certainly helps him remember key identifiers. However, he also occasionally practices his material drawing skills on plant life, trying to learn how this particular aspect of Blood Magic can be both precise and devastating. He likes to understand the plants he might be destroying, as a sign of respect for their use as a learning device.
❖ [ Sketching ]
To further his emotional control, Kaspar sought a hobby to help him re-center and settled on sketching. He’s been fine-tuning the skill over years and prefers to sketch plant life outdoors, taking the peace of the location as yet another source of control.
W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S
❖ [ Casting ]
Kaspar lacks skill in casting. He’s capable and not a danger to himself or others when doing so, but hasn’t developed the same knowledge or precision that he exercises in other areas. With his tutelage focusing heavily on fine-tuning his drawing to prevent dangerous accidents and no natural aptitude for expelling that mana, casting remains one of his weakest aspects of using The Gift.
❖ [ Confidence ]
While it often helps him stay calm, Kaspar’s confidence enables him to put himself in risky situations. His own belief in his skills and his moral fortitude lead to a feeling of invincibility and his expectation that he can’t be a perpetrator or victim of terrible accidents like that of his youth, and that his interests are not immoral. Given his practice in Blood Magic, his lack of caution has the potential to lead to horrifying results.
❖ [ Curiosity ]
His curiosity can lead to choices many would consider dangerous. When Kaspar wants an answer, he will seek it out—heedless of how others may think of his actions. He won’t stoop to injuring others or their belongings, but holds a belief that actions can only hurt them mentally or emotionally if they know about it. As such, he may take things a step too far in seeking answers, particularly from those he feels may be lying to him.
❖ [ Energy-based Drawing ]
Kaspar has always struggled with drawing from energy sources, as is considered typical for most schools of magic. He’s capable of it, but is often less precise and slower in doing so, compared to his skills in drawing from material sources.
❖ [ Solitary Nature ]
Kaspar’s personality is often enough to keep him isolated from others, but he’s not the kind to seek out connections. While he’s willing to allow others to trust him, and values the faith others may put in him, he does not allow himself to exercise the same trust. He keeps many things to himself, and won’t seek out support or assistance unless even he cannot deny he’s in far over his head—and by the time he understands that, he may be too deep in.
M I S C E L L A N E O U S
❖ Color is #B8041A
❖ Alt+0248 for "ø", if anyone wants it