Day three of my character auditions! This continues from day two available here:

Character 3: Spellshocked Sorcerer

The countries of the Enerex Union, a number of geographically close nations that formed the core of the Alignment, were the first to be attacked and partially taken over when the expansionist Nexus started the war. Though individually they were smaller than the Nexus armies, together they were a significant force, and they tenaciously dug in and protected every mile of territory. On their own they managed to stop the march of the Nexus from taking over half the globe (which would have happened in a matter of weeks if unopposed), forcing them to fight for months for every step.

As a result, the Union fighters saw some of the longest and worst battles of the entire War.

The Enerex Union wizards focus on the natural energy elements, the creation of wind, rain, fire and lightning – the magic of movement and power. The more skilled wizards could extract energy from places, freezing whole rivers or putting out forest fires. Pre-war access to magic was tightly controlled by the schools and guilds, but when the war started in earnest and magic was needed on the front lines, the Union quickly taught a selection of offensive spells to the soldiers. These spells were rote learned, with none of the lore or understanding that would come with regular mystical education, and the these magically armed soldiers were referred to as ‘functional mages’ or simply Sorcerers. Battles on Union territory quickly became vortexes of conflicting magical energies, and the poorly trained sorcerers were frequently as dangerous to their own side as to the enemy.

Character concept:

A man in his 40’s, originally a farmer, then when the war started a solider, then a sorcerer, and now…returned to the farm. The man was a Sorcerer: Second Class, Flame Division who had spent almost the entire war on the front line and in the trenches. The Sorcerer suffers from PTSD from the blasts of demon fire, the horror of the shambling dead, and the screams of dying friends. His wife and family worry about him, as he is a deeply changed man since the war (he is frequently unreasonably angry, and drinks too much) and none of them really understand it. He refuses to sit near the fire no matter how cold it is, and his wife recently found him cowering in the stables during a loud thunderstorm, arms over his head. More concerning is the sleep walking, during which he mumbles – old conversations to long dead squad mates, prayers to gods for protection against enemies long defeated…and the occasional odd combination of words and syllables that almost sound like an incantation…

What does he want?

He is terrified all the time. He’s aware of his unreasonable anger and he is scared he will hurt his family. He is worried about the increasing severity of his triggers – the sight of flames, or loud noises – that throw him instantly back into the trenches, facing demons, the undead, the mystical. Most of all he is scared of how often he finds himself thinking about the spell words, the soft and easy chants that release the flames, and how much he really wants to say the words… just once.

Just once.

Phew. Only two more to go.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers