“As the future ripens in the past,
so the past rots in the future --
a terrible festival of dead leaves.”
Born too early, along the Vynmur river during travel, he was the first child of his mother's. Through a vision she had during labor, she believed him to be a gift from Vynmur himself, a blessing that he lived despite being premature. Named after his great-grandfather, Luka Gofrith was a boy bred to fulfill a role. Before he even reached his first arc, he was arranged to marry a girl born soon after in House Magnus.
A perfect pawn, tutored from an early age in all manner of studies so that he would have all the necessary education for what his father, Henrik, required him to be. He had, on average, twelve tutors and three caretakers at any given time. With a life consisting of lesson after lesson, for a time he got along with his older half-brothers - those sons of his father's first wife and chosen for the Gofrith name - but as he grew older, it became clear that Luka was not like the other boys... or any child for that matter.
Luka was far too delicate.
At the age of thirteen, he received his noble gold leaf embla along his wrists. Soon after, he received his first spark from his father's right-hand guard in the domain of Attunement.
He had little choice in this decision. His father had greater plans for him and his role in society, and thus he had just as little choice when five years later, he received his second spark of Abrogation from one of his father's contacts in the Syn.
Soon after, he was married and instructed to relinquish the name of Gofrith for the House name of Magnus instead. It was a show of good faith and part of the bartered arrangement. Him and his wife, Anastasia, came to terms with each other, learned to share a bed and dine together in reasonable peace. She focuses on her alchemy and he focuses on his magic. As soon as he'd moved into the Raelian estate and provided a first child, he joined the Syns.
Between providing the next generation of Magnus and Gofrith branches to the noble trees, writing for political means, and training in the Syns, Luka has had little time left in his days to do much else but contemplate the life he leads, the choices he makes, the world around him, and if one day he'll be able to step outside the shadow of his father - and no longer be simply known as one of The Argent Lord's many sons.
Starter Quest
Luka is writing in his study one day, when he hears a giggling, bubbling up from the nearby washbasin. For a few moments, no sound issues afterward, and perhaps he goes back to writing. The more he turns to what he was doing, though, the louder the giggling becomes. If at last he allows himself to be distracted from his work, and goes to look into the washbasin, he'd find a small serpent-like creature.
It smiles with its fangs at him, if such a thing were possible, and tells him "Welcome to the Doldrums Hostel, no vacancy. On your right you'll find the river Vynmur, along with it's myriad stunning vistas as it winds its way through the valley, the woods, and down into Raellia. Come and play a while, and see what you can see."
Then, as strangely as it appeared, it faded from view. All he was left with was a basin full of water, in his lonely study. Would he continue his work for the good of the House, or entertain something in all likelihood that was a strange figment of his imagination, stress, or weariness.
Maybe, just maybe, there was something out there for him. Only one way to find out.
