Kavfka Nyvaris

Physical Appearance:

Hair: high fade, braids at his sideburns with golden trinkets woven in. Black with red highlights.

Eyes: Heterochromic, red (right) and white (left). Atypical of drow (or human) because of his black sclera. It's due to his pact.

Height: Approximately 6'0"

Weight: slight, lean, 140lbs

Notable Features: Vitiligo, septum, eyebrow and ears are pierced (always gold jewelry), scars interlace over his chest, back, arms and face (from holy fire), 'Alerion' is carved into his forearms over and over in Celestial script (they glow whenever he casts spells), moustache and goatee, otherwise: looks more drow than human.

Face Inspo: none, really. Just playing with gene-mixing (see Background).

Voice Inspo: he has a Melbourne-ish accent but usually speaks very 'properly'.

Background:

Kavfka remembers being raised in a family that was "blended," for lack of a better word. His mother, Selis Nyvaris, was a fierce warrior that, despite the consequences of being born a drow, saw success as a military leader. She was posted near Yæon on leave when she raided a refugee camp to find a mate.

Kavfka's father was kidnapped and used as a means to an end, with two primary motivations: Selis wanted a successor, and also to teach the small group of refugees a lesson. Unfortunately, that child was born a boy, and grew up without a father. Selis had killed him as soon as she found out the gender of the child, and the injustice was swiftly covered up and kept a secret by her colleagues in the battalion. In a matter of years, they sought out all of the refugees who were witness and killed them all.

Kavfka was subsequently (and reluctantly) carted around to every posting his mother had from that point on, until she couldn't live with the reminder of his poor breeding any longer. Selis preyed upon the young boy as he slept, meaning to end his life with a swift swing of her sword. Unbeknownst to her, Kavfka had found a sort of... guiding light to keep him going through the continued abuse; and when he awoke suddenly in the night, it seemed to flow through him, quite literally. He managed to walk away unscathed, but she merely crumbled to ash.

That's what he remembers.

His story really begins after he's been pacted to Alerion for several years. A group of adventurers come upon him - a self-righteous individual - and over time, they transform him into someone unrecognizable. Finding friends was the best and worst possible thing to happen to this man. Sister Margaret Helena Brimstone, a cleric of Elyndra (and a nun with a gun) becomes his closest confidante, because she is one of the only people who understands what it feels like to be pacted to such an unforgiving patron. Kavfka has several crises of faith over the course of his quest, and considers abandoning his pact several times.

When the Chronos Heart is reformed, Dagaz defeated, the old gods become but a whisper in the back of his mind. The final battle haunts him for months, and he retreats into alcohol soaked isolation to keep the nightmares away. Many cities that once stood proud are now reduced to rubble, though people all over are doing their best to rebuild. All of the people he couldn't save serve to haunt him at every moment of the day. He becomes afraid of the light he once bathed in, afraid that Alerion will find him and force him to pay for not extinguishing the Void from the face of the land. Afraid that his judgement will come for anchoring a new deity and securing a timeline that benefits most, if not all. Afraid because he chose justice over judgement.

There are more crises to encounter afterward. Crises of self, of love, of desire. His story doesn't finish with the final battle.

Kavfka eventually learns of his true origins. Before the timelines were stabilized, he passed through one to another. His parents are Merynn and Roiben, from a timeline where they met, fell in love, and tried for a baby and lost it. In a way, Kavfka has been lost since before he was born, unable to claim his 'self' due to the clash of the light and the void. Luckily, he has good people around him to help file down his sharpened edges.

Quotes:

"Nothing hurts worse than mercy..."

"Here, he's here. Here, he's here. Here, he's here. Here, he's here."

"Love is simple, and it is stupid. Some kill for it, and some die for it. It's so simple that it... it can make someone forget just who they really are. It's so stupid that it can blind them. And when there's a clear power imbalance... well." [...] "People say that hindsight is perfect, don't they."

(to Margaret and Saxe)"I think feeling 'chosen' comforted me for a long time. It gave me strength and a purpose. It made me feel like even if my family didn't choose me, someone did. But... you know what they say about the other edge of the sword being sharper."

(to Feste) "[...] I'm not... some blunt instrument. I'm a person."

(to Margaret) "I'll stay, if it means I can stay with you."

Further Lore: