#c:Aphelious Praxas

[apheliouspraxas]

Where:  A neighborhood Square fountain. 

Status: Open @cagliostrostart​

Aphelious knew this was technically a curse, he had been hired to resolve it after all, yet he found himself hesitating. He had spent the last week doing research on the history of the neighborhood and had figured out the curse originated from an old merchant that had set up shop on the square recently. The merchant had wanted to be the best wine seller in the entire city, and had tried to harness magic to achieve that end without paying the proper price. Aphelious had known the problem in theory, but he couldn't have prepared himself for it in person. The fountain in the center of the square was currently bubbling with a delicious looking red wine instead of the water it was supposed to be. 

The raven haired Curse Breaker stood mostly still, facing the fountain as he fidgeted with the edges of his scarf, a nervous habit that reared its head when he was anxious. Aphelious knew that in order to break the curse he would have to remove a few of the stones in the fountain and purify them. The tools for destruction were resting in a bag by his feet, yet nerves rolled around in his stomach. He didn’t want to destroy parts of this fountain, it was lovingly hand carved and he could tell the craftsman had put so much work into it. Did the harm to the fountain outweigh the harm to the neighborhood by having a wine fountain in it?

Aphelious groaned and rubbed at his forehead. He felt a headache building behind his eyes the longer he was caught in indecision. Hearing footsteps on the lightly frosted cobblestone behind him, he turned his head towards the newcomer. “What do you think? Should it stay or should it go?” He asked, gesturing to the fountain.

[apheliouspraxas]

Aphelious Intro

(penn badgley, he/they, cursed blood) to [APHELIOUS PRAXAS], the whole world looks like an open page. with a leap of faith, their ability of [SHADOW MANIPULATION] grows a little stronger.  they are a [CANE CORSO] shade aligned to [NO ONE]. for [THIRTY-THREE] years, they have survived a world of magic with both their [EMPATHY] and [SELF-RELIANCE]. they work as a [CURSE BREAKER], but if they could change their fate, they’d want to [HELP FIND A WAY TO EASE THE PAIN OF CURSE BLOODED ]. 

Note: This is mostly just Aphelious’s backstory! I will be working on a more comprehensive profile of him once I can figure out some theme coding.

Aphelious was an only child, his mother passing away in childbirth, left with a father who swore to take care of the most precious gift he was given.  It wasn’t a bad childhood per say but it was a hard one. He grew up on the outskirts of Kardia Village with farming being the small family's main source of income. Work needed to be done and Aphelious was more prone to asking how the clouds could fly than dedicating himself to plowing the soil.  His father never shamed him for his curiosity rather spent what little money they had after bills to get books to help fulfill Aphelion's thirst for knowledge. 

It wasn’t until well into Aphelious’s teenage years that a true outlet for his curiosity came along. A Curse-Breaker who had been left blind and injured after dealing with a cursed object stumbled onto the family farm, bleeding out in the field. Aphelious came upon her during the morning chores and hollered for his dad. The two of them carried the women inside, bandaged what they could see and prayed for the best. Aphelious spent every night by her side, tending to her wounds and reading out loud from the few books he had. After a week she spoke for the first time correcting the magical theory in the book that Aphelious was reading from. She introduced herself as Rhes, a Curse Breaker from Selphia and asked Aphelious about his interest in magic.

 Soon after it became a habit that after Aphelious got his chores around the farm done he would go to the house and meet with Rhes to discuss and learn about magic. This continued for three months till Rhes was finally recovered enough to depart back for the capital. She offered for Aphelious to come with her and train as her apprentice in curse breaking. It was the only chance Aphelious could see in his lifetime to escape from the simple  life of a farmer. With a tearful goodbye to his father he set out with Rhes. 

Turns out Aphelious had quite the talent for magical theory. Research and diagnosis of curses was much easier for him than actually breaking the curses. As the years wore on he was able to start taking more cases on his own and out from under the supervision of Rhes. Aphelious would send weekly letters and money back to his father, never forgetting where he came from. After about a decade of training Aphelious became a business partner for Rhes, expected to take over the business when she fully retired. 

It was well into his time as a Curse Breaker that he received the letter. An anonymous missive about a family that needed help. Aphelious had always had a soft heart and decided to go at least check on the family the letter mentioned. When he entered the home he was attacked, a frenzied cursed blood fell upon him when he walked through the door. Sinking his teeth in his arm. Aphelious grabbed the closest object he could and whacked it on the head before fleeing the house. Thinking only to close the door and run. He stumbled back home before falling unconscious to the fire that raged in him. He awoke sometime later to Rhes telling stories to him. A reversal of the situation they had once been in. She became the first person he trusted with what happened.  Ever since Aphelious has been working on hiding the golden spider web on his arm till he could possibly find a way to break his own curse.