#ill make some posts for saarkadan and aribas too

[nightmarist]

DRAGION AGE OC — Dirthadin, Elvhen Keeper of the Dead

Dirthadin — 47, he/him (concept sketch) Mage — Necromancy, Primal, and Entropy. His Vallaslin design is based off both Falon’din and Dirthamen

He has a half shaven head with straight black hair to his shoulder. His eyes are teal with a slight rim of purple. His lips and eyelids are also tattooed. He particularly gaunt, almost skeletal, at a height of 5′9″ with a deathly pallor. His accent is a central Irish one, like Cavan or Monaghan.

Dirthadin was born to the Dalish clan Shirabal and trained as its First until the death of the Keeper, Beladalin. Dirthadin took on a new First, Revaren, and attempted to preserve what he could of Beladalin’s knowledge. He studied the Nevarran art of necromancy, and learned many secrets of magic, but specifically looks for lost knowledge of the Dalish. He passed much of what he could to Revaren, but many of the clan find Revaren too inexperienced to properly lead them  There is little they can do with so few mages before Arlathvhen, however, and neither do they question him to his face.

Some find it selfish of Dirthadin to have abandoned his people and post as Keeper and are somewhat bitter about it. others think that the death of Beladalin affected him so much that he turned to necromancy through guilt and refuses to face the clan as it reminds him too much of the Keeper. All speculation, however, as he avoids the topic complete.

They trusted him to keep them safe regardless of how disturbed some found the practice, but he parted from the clan willingly and passed on the torch of Keeper of Shirabal to his First. He became instead a self-proclaimed Keeper of the Dead, finding it important to restore the knowledge of the Dalish and explore what he could on his own without putting his clan in any danger of his particularly ambitious ventures into haunted, blighted, or otherwise disturbed territories. Thus he took to communing with spirits and collecting knowledge of elves long past at their graves. At times, he digs up the corpses of those who died far from a proper burial site, and puts their body (and spirit) to proper rest.

His mage staff is special to him, the head made of the horn of an ancient halla that has been completely opalized, and the body is petrified sylvanwood inlaid with veins of opalization. The wood is dark in color, but the pale iridescent horn and veins make it stand out, and at times the opal glows with a pale shimmer when he casts magic through it. 

Despite his stark visage and chilling magic proficiencies, he is kind with a great passion for knowledge and exploration. He has a soft voice that is complemented by its depth. He attends the Arlathvhen sporadically with new discoveries, finding new means of weaving and sewing, new vallaslin designs, new pottery shapes and techniques, interesting jewelries and weapons. Nothing is too small to be noticed to him. What he cannot ethically take (such as from graves) or cant take at all (such as paintings or etchings in mountainsides) he sketches in a packed journal. He has several filled with drawings, from fabric weaving patterns to jewelry links.