My D&D Character: Aura Soulsee

Greetings Vocal readers! You may know me for my main character name, Zap Aura, but today I will be introducing to you guys and gals my unofficial Dungeons & Dragons character and the majority of his back-story. So, let’s get started.

Birth Name- Unknown

Race- Air Genasi

Class- Sorcerer

Sub Profession- Artificer/Inventor

Birthplace and Date of Birth- The Forgotten Forest, unknown

Character Traits- Aura Soulsee possesses many heroic traits, including endless confidence, sporadic acts of virtue, and exceptional bravery. As all heroes, Soulsee has a fatal flaw. His is sure to be his curiosity.

Alignment- Neutral Good

Equipment: Soulsee frequently carries the following items on his journeys: Light leather gear and armor, a pouch of herbs and imperishable foods, a singular mithral ring which possesses traces of magic and dwarven symbols, and a canteen of frost-purified water.

Backstory-

Aura Soulsee grew up far from the outskirts of civilization, living in the wilds and mingling amongst the creatures he encountered. There were no houses, villages, or huts, no sign of family and noone around who could educate the genasi in any way. So, he spent much of his childhood living by shear instinct and his curious nature. He fought several hostile creatures, fending for his life with what little strength and will he could muster at such a young age. As fate would have it, the boy survived many treacherous battles in the natural world, and it was around the time he was granted sufficient memory that he received the first sign of a civil peoples.

After another perilous day of scavenging for food, the boy found refuge in a hollow tree stump, the result of a lightning crash and an already dying oak. There, he rested; bare and naked as he had been his whole life up to that point. That night, a party of elves, mercenaries, it seemed, had set up camp nearby. Exhausted and deep in sleep, the genasi did not hear them approach. It wasn’t until dawn, in fact, when the fire had been extinguished and the elves were on their way that Soulsee awoke. Just behind a few particularly thick oaks, he discovered the remnants of the campsite and examined it with intrigue. In the distance, he saw the figures that had once been so near, and attempted to chase after them. However, the thickets of trees and his short unreliable legs made it difficult to keep up with the sounds of snapping twigs. The boy found himself entirely lost, in a forest he most certainly didn’t recognize. Tears welled up in his shimmering sapphire eyes upon this realization, as he had just left behind the only sense of home he had ever known. He walked aimlessly, sobbing and now more famished than ever, not knowing what was safe to eat and what was not.

He quickly became acquainted with the fairies of the woods he wandered, who took pity upon the poor soul and guided him to a small village just beyond the timbers. Soulsee emerged from the wilds and layed eyes on a concept only found prior to him in his dreams: Civilization.

Unsettling screams erupted when the common folk saw the blue skinned humanoid. Many panicked and sought the aid of the native hunters. Slightly drawn aback, the boy attempted to retreat back into the woods, but once again his poor speed let him down. The hunters did not indeed kill the boy, but rather took him into one of the village huts and questioned him. They soon realized that he could not speak and decided to accept him into their town. He was taken in by the religious monks and was properly raised under the house of their deity, Bahamut. They taught him to speak common and clothed and fed him as one of their own. Still, not without discrimination.

Having been descended from the ancient chaotic forces of the djinn, young Soulsee’s elemental powers quickly began to manifest, usually taking the form of a simple echoic quality to his voice or candles suddenly dying for no apparent reason, even indoors, where there was no wind. Still, these feats were more than enough to appear magical. Many of the monks scowled at Soulsee, suspecting him to be a dark warlock seeking revenge for his ancestors. The young boy, in his genuine innocence, felt that this belief was hollow and unfounded, as he had no intent to practice the magical arts at this time.

Some time past and he became educated in astrology, general sciences, market trades, defensive combat, literature, and the beliefs of the church. Through secretive access to some old tomes of spells, he slowly touched on the basics of summoning and evocation, but stopped when his tutor discovered the grimoires in his dwellings.

During a trod through the town, the curious genasi stumbled upon an old tinkerer’s workshop, which had long been abandoned and forgotten. It contained the works of a masterful craftsman, clearly skilled at the forge and anvil. Though a born child of nature, he couldn’t help but marvel at their beauty and sophistication. It was in this moment that he acquired his newfound appreciation of machinery… and it was the same moment that his natural abilities fully manifested. As he strode through the shop, he set eyes on a particularly complex mechanism composed entirely of metal, which he decided to better appreciate with a touch. Sparks flew from his fingers and into the device, which exploded so great was the charge. Parts narrowly missing the child’s head, he stared in awe at his own fingertips. Later that day, he also found that he could levitate and summon the winds of the north for their aid. Though greatly feared, the villagers found use for the boy’s new powers with the coming of winter.

Soulsee was able to coerce the winter chill and discourage it from killing off the farmers’ crops. He helped out around town when needed and gained a degree of favor with a jolly old gnome, who mistook him for a common elf. The gnome taught him much that he knows regarding mechanical engineering. Still, this meant little regarding long-term bonds.

Though raised by the monks, he had no desire to take up their torch; his inventive nature and youthful interests outweighed his desire for coinage security. Unfortunately, this seemed the only suitable occupation for him in the village. He could not stay there. So, Aura Soulsee, now a young man by genasi standards, adorned a set of light leather gear and a fashioned mithral ring, courtesy of the dwarven blacksmith as payment for his assistance, and set off on foot in search of a more welcoming settlement. Having made no real friends or connections, he did not turn back.

Throughout his travels he would continue to regard Bahamut as a symbol of hope and virtue, and praise him for the triumphs he had experienced. In him, he would find great inspiration and vow to always fight for the greater good, even in the face of his greatest tribulations.

Quick Sketch:

If you enjoyed reading the backstory behind Mr. Soulsee, consider checking out a few of my other stories. I highly recommend my Flash Fiction Compilation and my short story, The Silver Alchemist. Hope you enjoy! Live long and prosper, and may the aura be with you.

~La hiena relámpago,

Zap Aura

Some of my other works (check 'em out!):