Disciples of the wizard king
Vol. 1
Manya Thero
4E 211
My mentor was known by many names during his lifetime; most of which he erased from history as best he could, for fear his secrets and wealth of knowledge would fall into the wrong hands. However his legend was so great, that even he couldn't fully destroy it. A forgotten man, with ancient power, known as the "Wizard King" is still sung of by bards across tamriel.
I bear testament as I write this, that he was not a mythical figure, nor did he dwell in a time so distant that his deeds have been undone, or changed beyond recognition. I bear testament to his life, and the impact he had on all of ours. I hope he would understand and forgive me, for betraying the details in the following text.
Born 3E 411 Rhans Eddamen was a street urchin from his infancy on. During his first four years walking nirn, the people of a village which he claims to not remember fed him scraps from their tables and allowed him to sleep in or near their shacks. My mentor, Rhans, always expressed a sincere gratitude, and attributed his survival when speaking of them; saying that "whatever I have become, and whatever I have given to you, is because-and only because, i was cared for by those many families".
When Rhans was five years old he stole away on a caravan, which led him to the cyrodilic city of kvatch. Without the villagers to sustain him, Rhans quickly discovered his genius for magic. He had a way of willing his wants into reality. Simply wishing to disappear would render him invisible, and by reaching out with enough earnest, he could grasp objects 50 feet away. with his power and size, he took to a life of stealing each meal he ate, and sleeping hidden away in a closet, or barrel. as Rhans aged, so did his aspirations mature. in 3E 431 after a failed attempt at highway robbery, Rhans Eddamen was imprisoned for burglary, and murder.
In prison his talents atrophied as he despaired and wilted away. Finally, after 5 months in the dungeon, a wood elf by the name of eltonin offered rhans a deal. he could fight and die in the kvatch arena or die in his cell. As my mentor described it, the feeling of hope was so instant, and he was so starved for it, that he hadn't even waited for the elven man to finish his offer before accepting. The whole deal was done in 3 days time, Rhans having been released from prison and taken to the blood-works, which housed and trained combantants. In the arena Rhans felt new energy surging through him. The blood-works was a dirty place, filled with loud fighters, drinking messily or practicing, but it was his. even if he was to die, for the first time Rhans was in a place he didn't have to sneak into, and heading up the steps to face an experienced, fully armored and armed fighter seemed more and more like a glorious opportunity then a death sentence. By the time the gates lowered, he was so full of energy that fire, and lightening were pouring out of his hands and eyes almost without his control. The match was weighted heavily against Rhans. his opponent was a war hero who had followed the neravine himself into battle, but Rhans was unflinching, and a deathly silence fell over the crowd when the hero was blasted apart by a convict. "Unbelievable! Simply unbelievable! ladies and gentleman this young man has earned his freedom, by killing one of the most powerful champions this arena has ever seen!" the announcer boomed. When Rhans walked away from the pit that day he took only one nights sleep, and then returned. from there he battled opponent after opponent, day after day. every time it seemed he had a weakness that they could exploit, he'd pull out a new dazzling trick. In mere months he'd been sent to the imperial city to battle for championship, and finally, grand championship. the opposing team was terrified of him, and implied fight fire with fire tactics; pitting him against other mages. However not only were they never close to his level, but their straight forward methods of attack bored the crowd, whereas Rhans's limits were only his imagination. after battling through other mages for the remainder of the year 3E 431 and finally defeating the grand champion who was a mage himself, Rhans was dubbed "Wizard King" by the arena. perhaps he would have remained a grand champion for the rest of his life, and eventually retired in honor and glory, but the oblivion crisis called him from peace into crusades and politics.
