Here is my CS for consideration; please give some advice on what I need to do to improve it. I hope it's suitable.
Name: Roderick de Walden
Race: Human
Position: Court Sage, warlock, adviser and agent to the late King Erasmus.
Appearance: Roderick is a fierce looking man in his early 40's, with an unruly shock of black hair, greying at the edges, and an unkempt beard. He has a tanned and weathered face with somewhat gaunt features, with a thin, prominent nose and pale blue eyes. He is tall and lean, with a surprising wiry strength born more of leverage and tone than any amount of muscle mass. His hands are large and callused, with twisted nails, and a fine network of scars runs up the length of his arms.
Whilst at court he usually wears finely cut plain dark robes with an embroidered cloak, though he is often seen leaving the castle in the garb of a woodsman or hunter; sturdy boots and leggings, a plain tunic and boiled leather jerkin. He is rarely without his bandoleer - a leather strap across his chest, supporting many pouches and containers for his miscellaneous spell components. Two long knives, as much for self defence as ceremonial work, hang from the lower end of the bandoleer.
Rumours abound of him in even stranger outfits; such as the skin and skull of a stag, complete with antlers, a rude smock woven out of vines and grasses, or one one occasion, a simple loincloth and a mass of intricate black and red tattoos. However he dresses when away from the castle, whilst at Court he is always at least vaguely presentable, even if there may be a mysterious stain on the edge of his cloak, or a smudge of dirt on his hands or face.
Personality: Some deep part of Roderick will always be the feral child they dragged out of the wild woods all those years ago; hissing, spitting and clawing at those trying to drag him to civilisation. Years of etiquette lessons from his adopted father slash mentor, the previous Court Sage, have mellowed him slightly, though he still enjoys a reputation as a wild man. This is due only in part to his position as resident warlock and expert on sympathetic magic, which is looked down upon by some as a barbaric throwback which has no rightful place in civilisation.
Roderick has always worn his heart on his sleeve. He is impulsive at times, with a strong reliance on his intuition and gut reaction to a situation, a befits a warlock. He is intensely loyal to his friends, as well as the King and Court, who make up the only family he has ever known. He revels in his mysteriousness, as it sets him apart from the more mundane day-to-day aspects of castle business, in which he has little interest. Stubborn and hot-tempered at times, Roderick can be boisterous but genuinely cares about those close to him, turning his rage and skills against those that cross him, his friends or the King.
He has a wary respect for arcane magic users, even if has no patience for that kind or amount of book learning himself. He has a certain admiration for the specific, repeatable results they can achieve, though he considers the whole thing overly complicated and showy compared to his deeper, far more instinctive, seat-of-the-britches art.
Backstory: There hasn't always been a Court Sage of Altranor; the position comes and goes, falling into and out of fashion with different monarchs as times and needs change over the years. Sometimes there isn't anyone qualified and willing to take on the job; seeing as many witches and warlocks shun most trappings of society for a simpler existence. Some Sages have been simple scholarly advisers to the King, whilst others like Roderick have been elbows deep in the practice of witchcraft and the King's hand in matters pertaining to the darker arts.
It was some thirty odd years ago that Francis Calen, the previous Court Sage, was on an expedition to the outlying island of Travenor in search of certain rare spell components. Shortly after arriving he began to hear tales of a beast-boy, a feral creature that lived in the wild woods, only emerging to raid homesteads and steal food. Beset by villagers asking for his aid, and spurred on by his own intuition, Calen agreed to help. Performing a ritual on a piece of hair left behind, Calen was able to lead a small group to the creatures lair, deep in the forest. After setting a trap and waiting for it to return, they were surprised to find the creature was a boy – covered in blood and worse, feral from years alone in the vicious and unforgiving forest.
The village, somewhat understandably, was less than keen to take back the boy that had been plaguing them for months – but was able to shed some light on his identity; Roderick, the son of a family that had been killed in a bandit attack some years before. Everyone had assumed at the time that he'd been taken as a slave or the body had been dragged off by bandits. Eventually Calen announced he would take the boy with him when he returned to the capital, figuring he could drop Roderick off at a temple or orphanage. Gaining his trust with patience and gifts of food, the two departed the island.
Somehow Calen never got around to dropping the boy off, and Roderick fell into something of a routine, following Calen around on his day-to-day duties and later formally becoming his apprentice. Not that it was all smooth sailing; there were many awkward questions about Calen's new charge, and it was a while before Roderick was half-civilised, clambering over the castle walls, hunting birds and getting into fights. Slowly Roderick started to mellow, turning his attention to his studies with Calen, learning all he could about sympathetic magic and witchcraft.
A decade after first Roderick first arrived at the castle, Francis Calen went on a mission for the King and disappeared. After a month of anxious waiting, word came back that his body had been found with his throat cut. Consumed by grief and rage, Roderick packed his bags and departed the castle that morning, seeking revenge. He knew Calen's last mission had been to investigate claims of a dark coven operating out of the northern mountains and rode that way with haste, without bothering to consult with anyone.
Letting his grief and rage guide him, Roderick slashed his own arm, drawing forth his blood and mixing it with rare herbs and crushed crystal from Calen's room, adding a lock of his departed mentor's hair. Painting a vicious sigil on the side of the mountain, screaming forth his rage, summoning a unnatural storm and fog that descended on the range, cutting it off from the outside range. Hunting the coven through the driving wind and rain, Roderick managed to separate them and hunt them down separately, exacting bloody revenge. When the storm finally abated witnesses describe Roderick stumbling out of the mountains, half dead from exposure and exhaustion. It took him some weeks to recover before he was ready to make the trip back to the capital.
Presenting himself to the King, Roderick prepared himself for come what may, having made peace with any consequences when he set out all those weeks ago. He was unsure of what would happen to him now, but King Erasmus named him the new Court Sage in his mentor's place and extracted an oath of fealty. Roderick has served the King faithfully ever since, acting as his adviser to occult matters, reading portents and trying to divine the future, and acting as his agent and emissary when dealing with witches and warlocks. Roderick would spend a lot of time in the field through out his career, acting as a forward scout in wild areas, dealing with dark covens and malicious presences, and occasionally acting as magical support to mundane troops, though this was a rare occurrence.
Notable Possessions:
A sight of witchsight glasses passed down through the office of Court Sage, and inherited by Roderick when he assumed the mantle. They are very valuable and rarely used outside of the castle, as he is obviously afraid to break or lose them in his more rough-and-tumble style of practice.
A sizable collection of rare ingredients and spell components gathered over the years, ranging from rare herbs and flowers, special minerals and crystals to hallucinogenic mushrooms and unusual items and talismans.
His bandoleer of spell components and twin ceremonial daggers
