Lukas Fremantle

Background:

Lukas was born in Ferelden to a humble heritage: the child of an illicit romance between a Circle mage and an elven servant. When his parentage was discovered, only a few months after the birth, his father was made Tranquil and his mother thrown out with her child, returning shamefaced to the Denerim Alienage. Lukas spent his first few years growing up there, largely neglected by his bitter mother and ostracised by the Alienage community for his mixed heritage. He was lucky in one thing: he had been born a pretty, charming child, very much taking after his father, and so mostly managed to avoid outright abuse. But it was still far from a happy life.

His magic started showing when he was five years old, and quickly showed strong and impossible to conceal. For what little care she had for him his mother couldn't bear to give her child to the same Circle that had taken her lover, but she did get the idea that, if she delivered Lukas to another circle herself, they might take her on as a servant as well as taking him in. Mother and child thus left for Jainen, but not far from their goal they were set upon by a raiders, capturing elves to sell as slaves to Tevinter. There, Lukas's fortunes were to take a remarkable turn.

Presented at the Minrathous market, Lukas and his mother were noticed by no less than a Magister - an elven Magister, risen from the ranks of Tevinter's Circle of Magi, an eccentric but mighty woman named Lucia Cantilia. This Magister considered Lukas an exceptional curiosity, with his mixed blood, his magical parentage, and his own powers, evident even at a young age. She bought Lukas's mother as a slave, but elected to take the boy into her household as a free apprentice. Not out of kindness, perhaps - is anything, with a Magister? - but out of the thought that love bound stronger than fear or even law.

Lukas thrived in Tevinter. His mistress was unerringly good to him, though she did make sure he remembered how much he owed to that goodness, and involved him early on in her politicking and power struggling. He saw no reason to be anything but loyal, though: he did indeed love her.

Placeholder/TBA: Lucia at first trains Lukas toward First Enchanter position but with time grows closer to reformist Tevinter factions, decides to push him as a Magister (he's thrilled). Sends him to another circle to train and play politics there. Before he leaves offers him chance to free his mother, he refuses, she disapproves. Period of tension and separation. Lukas on verge of accomplishing his goal when Lucia assassinated by anti-elf traditionalists with Venatori connections. Lukas returns to Minrathous to try to exact revenge but while he is away his power base at his home circle is undone. He eventually is forced to flee Tevinter and seek alliance with the Inquisition.


Core personality:

Idealist: Magister or not, Lukas is a man of powerful principle, though he's willing to see them as ends that justify means. He has no patience for cynicism or detachment. Enjoys vigorous political debate and likes being challenged in his beliefs, though he demands that the challenge be honest. Proud but capable of change and easily humbled when struck with a blunt new truth.

Outsider: Lukas has complex feelings about his elven and Fereldan heritage. Though he's grown up in Tevinter from a young age, and loves it, he sometimes still feels his foreignness in his bones. He does not like Ferelden and Fereldans, though, and brackets himself off from them with the intentness of someone who had something to prove. He doesn't associate himself with elves but feels a kind of dutiful care towards them - benevolent, but patronizing really. Restless, often feels incomplete, strongly drawn towards people with similar experiences of complex belonging.

Man of action: Though he plays the subtle games of Tevinter with trained ease by now, Lukas retains a certain Fereldan step-to attitude, and is essentially dissatisfied with talk. Due to this impatience, which can be a dangerous weakness, he's become a careful tactician who incorporates immediate goals into his own long-term plans. He's not hot-tempered, as such, but his essential dislike of mere waiting is something he has to actively struggle to overcome.

Mage supremacist: Lukas wholeheartedly believes in the superiority of mages and their right to rule Tevinter and Thedas. It would be a benevolent tyranny, certainly, but it's self-evident to him that mage rule would be best for everyone. He's appalled by the status of mages in the South, but also considers them largely pitiful for not rising in might up until now. One of his points of impatience is with the idea of mage "rights" - he thinks in terms of mage "destiny". He knows this to be an impolitic position in the South, though, so usually keeps it to himself unless sensing that someone might be a sympathizer. His own thinking of magic is quite practical, though - he's not so much into researching ancient mysteries or furthering magical theory, as he is into developing new and immediately useful applications. He is inventive with those, though, and particularly enjoys solving everyday problems with magic.

Social animal: Lukas has always been charismatic, and always used that as one of his major strengths. He likes people and company and enjoys being the centre of attention in a very honest, open way. Tends to be a smash at parties, enjoys the occasional grand gesture, and has been known to overindulge - has never really shaken off his sheer amazement at having wealth and power, so sometimes doesn't quite know where to stop with it. Used to drawing hangers-on, he's much more selective with choosing his actual friends - as a magister-in-training, he rarely gets close to anyone before he has some kind of plan about what to do if that someone turns on him.