Early Life

Avenar was born into a minor noble family in the city of Ofcol. His father was a respected priest in the city and his mother was a teacher in the noble schools and a scholar of Serin history. Avenar grew up learning the clerical arts while also being quite fascinated with the history of Serin. In particular, he took an interest to the creation stories and the earliest known gods of recorded Serin history. He had many friends and learned the refined ways of noble life. As an only child, he often reached out to others to find conversation and companionship. When he did find himself alone, he took up writing. His father had gifted him a book in which to record and a special quill that had been handed down through the family. Avenar wrote of his daily life and also his aspirations to one day be among the high ranking priests like his father.

Coming to Seringale

As Avenar was approaching adulthood, an incident within the Ofcol church changed his life trajectory. Secretly, the High Priest had taken money from the church coffers to pay for extravagant personal gifts for himself. Avenar's father found out about the theft and brought up the issue with the High Priest, demanding the gold be returned. The High Priest refused and for his demand, Avenar's father was outcast from the church and branded a traitor. Avenar's family fled Ofcol and his father thought it would be safer to part ways with Avenar so the young priest could distance himself his family's now tarnished reputation. The incident had a significant impact on Avenar. These men were supposed to be honorable and good. He contemplated how they could justify such actions. It appeared to Avenar that lies and deceit can be present among all, even those who claim the path of the Light. Despite being shaken by this realization, Avenar did not turn away from the church. Instead, he moved to Seringale and began furthering his clerical training. He found solace the in path of Olyn, a god of Balance. This god's teachings resonated with Avenar: that all life was important and the Balance of such life across Serin was the true path.

Joining the Heralds

Avenar's time in Seringale quickly became eventful. He rose through the ranks of his guild, meeting many new faces along the way. Of all the people he was to meet, there were two that he found of particular interest. The first, a drow named Ravia. Strangely friendly to him for one of her race, her songs were of a particular intoxicating quality. Surely this was just the magic they bestowed. Even as a follower of Olyn, would the scales of balance tip too far should friends be made with one who walks such a path? Avenar struggled to maintain the delicate balance. And this task was only to become harder. For the second figure of interest was a Goblin named Valindra. More friendly than a halfling at times, she recruited Avenar as a Patron of the Tavern, something that took him by surprise. He decided that becoming a Patron would broaden his views further and allow him to meet more people across Serin, a privilege he much enjoyed. As it so happened, as a Patron he was introduced to more members of the Consortium. This included Valindra of course, and their most recent applicant, Ravia. Here their paths crossed once more, pursuing quite similar interests. It had to simply be coincidence. Through his talks with both Ravia and Valindra, Avenar became convinced that the path of the Heralds would lead him to discover his path among Serin. And so, he pursued entry into the Consortium, writing on the various Pillars of Knowledge and studying all those who came before him. He found a particular interest in the Pillar of History, as it was everywhere in Serin. Everything has been built on top of what came before, and Avenar yearned to understand more each day with his studies of people and places that had changed with time. Through dedicated study, and a much-anticipated chat with Ilromie, he was accepted into the Consortium. Working with Valindra on the next issue of the Serin Mystique, it was not long before his scholarship earned him a promotion into the Heralds. He felt his true studies were still yet to come.

Visions

Though Avenar remained focused on his studies and the new resources the Consortium offered him, he was still struggling with a mystery: visions. Three repeating visions to be precise. They began shortly after his arrival in Seringale. In the first, a hooded figure stalks the central Market Square of Seringale. Could it be from the past when such a Market Square existed? The figure holds a knife outstretched, about to strike an unsuspecting victim before he suddenly disappears. In the second, two dark cloud drift towards each other on a blood red sky. They slowly merge into a single dark presence. A sense of foreboding and dread accompanies it. And finally, in the third, there is an altar of some kind with a large gemstone placed on it. Avenar ascends the altar steps and reaches out to take the stone before the vision suddenly ends. Avenar has searched far and wide for the cause of the visions. He believes they are somehow connected to the portals which have sprung up around Serin and bring forth demons into the lands. In an attempt to quiet the visions, he accompanied Dwiggans and the Order of Light on a crusade to slay the legendary evil Zaikkra. Traversing the lands and collecting all the summoning stones, the visions persisted. Even after Zaikkra was summoned and destroyed by the Order, the visions persisted. As did the portals. It seemed that despite Lumubella's idea that Zaikkra was behind the portals, they were not materially connected. This left Avenar back at the beginning of the mystery, no closer to understanding the meaning of the visions.

The Fight Against Demons

Then, there was a new vision. In this waking dream, Avenar saw a set of stairs that descended down underneath the Traveller's Rest. Hidden within was an ancient library. Before he could read the books set upon the massive table in the room's center, he awoke. But something convinced him this library was real. Returning to the Rest, he began to dig. And it was not long before he came across an ancient stone stair. Something was below. Over many weeks, Avenar dug out the surrounding dirt and found the stairs led to a door. Through the door was the chamber from the vision: an ancient library, seemingly undisturbed for centuries. He began immersing himself in the hundreds of books that were shelved into the walls. Some were in languages no longer spoken and took time to translate and understand. He came to realize that the library was created by an ancient Mystic and follower of Denadlyr. There were many writings of demon wars far in the past, and a concerted effort made by scholars to preserve any knowledge they could through these chambers, scattered throughout Serin. These ancient scholars assumed the worst: that the demons would overwhelm Serin and destroy everything in their path. So in that potential scenario, they locked away all knowledge they could to keep it safe. Ironically, though this chamber survived an ancient demon war, the knowledge of its location was unknown... Until now. It was clear to Avenar that the discovery of this chamber was linked to the demon portals throughout Serin and that perhaps someone was trying to help the mortals of the land vanquish these portals once more. After many weeks of studying in the chamber, a new discovery was made. A set of bones, hidden in the dirt of the floor that seemed to contain some type of magical quality. With the help of others from the Consortium, it was realized the bones could be arranged in a certain way as to bring about a wave of emotion. This emotion was that of a haunting chill. Perhaps, it was thought, this chill was a reference to Winter, a land where demons certainly roam. A great party was gathered and set out to search the wastelands for clues. Avenar joined them on this quest. A new, deadlier demon portal was discovered and a massive battle ensued across the snowy plains between mortals and demons. The demons were led by a Demon Prince, whose hoards began pouring into Serin. Just when it seemed like the party would be overwhelmed, they finally broke through the demon line and came face to face with the Prince. There, he was struck down and with him, the hoards of demons vanished. But even after the demise of this demon prince, the portals persisted. And the bones within the chamber had a new story to tell. This time, when Avenar examined the bones, they filled him with thoughts of shadow and dread. He immediately thought of the Witchwood, where the demons of Acadia might be lurking. Another hunting party was gathered, this time heading into Emerald Forest. And there, deep within the Witchwood, they were greeted by yet another portal, the most foreboding of all they had faced. Arriving through it was a second demon leader, the Shadow Prince, immediately raining chaos and destruction down on the mortals who came to stop him. Demons and mortals alike fell as swirling winds of shadow and malice consumed the Witchwood. Finally, a final devastating blow was struck against the Prince, and he was no more. His armies disintegrated around him. And the portals vanished from Serin. With knowledge as ancient as the land itself, the Consortium had managed to strike a blow against the demon invasion and make for safer travels across Serin.