Re: OOC
Alright, this is what I came up with for my backstory thus far. Let me know what you think, or if anything needs adjustment.
Rozzick was born in a predominantly human settlement to a human father and elven mother. His father was a warrior who died when Rozzick was still young, protecting their village from an invading army. His mother was a scholar and mage who had emigrated from elvish lands. After the death of his father, Rozzick and his mother moved back to "the home country" and restarted their life together there.
But it was rough for Rozzick living in an elvish settlement. The fact that he aged so much faster than most meant that he wasn't able to keep meaningful friendships for long. He often got into fights when other kids made fun of him and Rozzick quickly discovered a talent for fighting bare-handed. He trained to become a soldier, but his style was much more boorish than his elven instructors were used to, so he was still shunned despite his obvious prowess. He kept at it though, in part because it helped him feel connected to his late father, the warrior.
His mother did not support his martial training very strongly either. Mostly because Rozzick also showed great promise in their family's particular brand of magecraft. Especially transmutation magic. And physical combat and magical arcane prowess were commonly viewed to be incompatible. Rozzick found a way though, through the wonder of Still Spell metamagic. It made his magic less efficient, sure, but he could still manage spells even while he was prepared for battle in a full set of plate armor.
When he was old enough, Rozzick set out on his own. The long-lived elven community he was growing up in was too stifling for him and he knew he needed to experience the world at large. He quickly made a name for himself as a warrior mage. His prowess multiplied and his accomplishments piled up high.
Which drew the attention of powers that would have been best avoided...
Even though he was already one of the most powerful people in the land, and in his prime, Rozzick still found himself abducted by an evil Archwizard a few orders of magnitude more powerful than himself. He was whisked away to the Mage's lair, stripped of his spell power, and subjected to horrible experiments. For decades he was kept in shackles. He was denied material components, not allowed the proper sleep that would allow spell preparations, and he was not allowed to have interaction with the outside world. He was allowed to speak with other test subjects, but they rarely lasted long.
It seemed Rozzick was an exception though. The Archwizard's experiments dealt with merging a humanoid with a dragon. And on Rozzick, the experiment actually worked! Over the years, Rozzick's flesh was slowly merged with that of an umbral dragon.
It was while laying on the operating table after a particularly long procedure that Rozzick finally found a means for escape. His captor must have slipped up. Because after awaking from the procedure, Rozzick actually felt rested. His body was completely immobilized by adamantine restraints, but his mind was still keen enough to prepare spells!
Of course Rozzick didn't have a spellbook, but that was okay. All wizards knew how to prepare Read Magic even without a spellbook. He prepared that same spell dozens of times over, filling every single one of his spell slots with Read Magic. And once he had the spells prepared, he used his family's particular brand of magic to swap out some of his prepared spells with the ones he had bonded to in the past. Break, Blood Transcription, Haste, Create Armaments, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Shadow Conjuration, and Polymorph Any Object. Some of them were of the Still Spell variety.
Rozzick still didn't have any components for the spells though, and he knew the evil Archmage could return at any moment. So, through what he believed was sheer force of will, he managed to force his magics to be cast without his components. After all, if sorcerers could do it, why not himself?
And incredibly, it worked. He cast Break on his restraints on his arms, legs, and neck, freeing himself from his bonds. It was the first time in years he had had his hands free while conscious. He flexed the muscles in his clawed hands. It felt good. He did not have time to savor the moment though. He could hear footsteps coming down the hall.
He cast a couple quick renditions of Greater Shadow Conjuration to summon some invisible stalkers and had them wait in the corners of the room to ambush. When the evil Archwizard walked in, Rozzick wasted no time in Shadow Conjuring some Chains of Light. The last thing Rozzick wanted was for this foe to teleport away. Surely that would only end in Rozzick's eventual demise.
Then Rozzick watched the paralyzed Archwizard intently as the invisible stalkers whittled away the foe's vitality. He watched for any signs of magic and dispeled them as they arose. When it was clear the Archwizard was nearly done for, Rozzick finally spoke. "With the 'gifts' you have given me, I now end you." And with a deep breath, Rozzick let out a ferocious roar of negative energy. Even as he used his breath weapon, he walked closer and clamped his draconic jaws around the man's head, ending the Mage's life.
After defeating the Archwizard, Rozzick still took a long while to recover. He emptied the Archwizard's lair of other enemies and freed the handful of other prisoners. Rozzick raided the Archwizard's resources and found a stash of gems. He used these to magically craft some gear for himself. He found a few scrolls that helped him start rebuilding his own spellbook, as well as a few powerful spells drawn directly from the Archwizard's blood. In addition, Rozzick found the man's journals detailing his ascent into Archwizard-dom. Rozzick realized he also had the skill necessary to do so, except he vowed not to use his power to achieve such evil goals.
In the following years Rozzick took time to recover and retrain his mind and body. Much had changed during his time in confinement, but he eventually got back into traveling the land and accomplishing impossible tasks. Because of his new form, Rozzick developed an increased affinity for changing that form with his magic. Eventually the trauma of his past began to fade though, becoming a manageable scar that he had learned to live with. Still, he had largely become withdrawn from the world, keeping to himself and his familiar and the giant mansions he often conjured.
As he began to contemplate retirement, he met an extremely interesting character. Sister Superior Aria. Unlike most people he met, he couldn't get enough of her presence. It was like she filled a hole that Rozzick didn't realize he had. The hole only a true friend could fill.
So when he decided to create a Demiplane home away from it all, he knew she had to have a place there too. And no matter where they went, and no matter what they did, Rozzick and Aria could handle it together.
