Joss Hunter

Joss David Hunter.

Joss
name (rp world)	Joss Hunter (Gaera Main)
birthdate (birthplace)	1304 (Riva).
current residence	n/a
occupation	Former cultist, student.
family	Melissa Hunter (mother, deceased), Penny Hunter (stepmother), Trafford Hunter (father), Dsedh Mancutter (teacher, deceased)
race	human
typical clothing	T-shirts and pants. Sometimes wears red robes over his “civvies” and a pair of leather gloves to cover his right hand, which is covered in burn scars up to the elbow. It bothers grownups, who aren't sensible enough to know how cool it is. Around other kids he'll generally show it off.
personality	Idealistic and courageous to a serious fault. Some people find it endearing, some people think he needs to sit down and shut up. He distrusts many adults, especially those he finds to be condescending or deceptive.
religious beliefs	Formally a member of Dawn Valerian's Acolytes of the Pheonix, a cult dedicated to the resurrection of Elaith Thenswick.
drunk type	Never been drunk. He'd probably run off on some quest or another, then forget why he did it once sober again.
other	Has a tendency to latch onto surrogate father figures, particularly anyone he perceives to be a "great warrior." Stephan Hyral discovered this tendency, and has done little to discourage Joss' adoration.

Background

Trafford Hunter and Dsedh Mancutter met as apprentices under the same dwarven blacksmith. When they struck out to start enterprises of their own, the two decided on a partnership. They split duties between them, Trafford handling the basic duties, and Dsedh working on the more artistic embellishments. Between the two of them they covered weapons and armor, as well as some side projects in metal and glasswork on Dsedh's part.

When Trafford married Melissa, they moved into a house with an adjacent workroom for Trafford and Dsedh. Melissa gave birth to their first son, Joss David Hunter, and doted on the boy during the short years they had together. When Joss was two, Melissa died in childbirth, taking what would have been Joss' little sister with her. Trafford, unable to deal with the loss of his wife, turned to alcohol as a retreat from his loneliness. Disgusted by his friend's behavior and pitying Trafford's son, Dsedh took upon himself young Joss' education. He taught the boy dwarven from a young age, and set out to pass on his knowledge to the only son of his best friend.

Dsedh found in Joss a child who appreciated the artistic side of the dwarf's work, a relief after the dull, uninspired pace Trafford had set. Instead of teaching Joss to make weapons and arms, a trade that promised to bore the child to madness, Dsedh taught him glassblowing.

Joss loved the beauty of glasswork, as well as the risk of working with the forge and molten glass. There was little that Joss loved more than the mastery of fire, directing it at his will to create what he saw in his mind. Joss' greatest pride in these early years was that he never once burned himself, despite the danger of his work. The flames always seemed to... be someplace else whenever he drew too near.

Joss had more of a talent for fire than anyone had anticipated. While gallivanting through the woods in search of monsters to slay or maidens to rescue at the age of nine, Joss came across a small abandoned temple to Freneth, the elemental lord of fire. Every carving, every painting, every broken and crumbling statue, was in praise of Joss' first and fondest love: fire.

He climbed up on the altar to get a closer look at a painting of the great lady of fire, and as he stood up to see, every ancient lantern in the temple lit, even the broken ones whose fuel had long ago been exhausted. He turned in surprise, and found himself face-to-face with a being made entirely of flame: an elemental.

Joss stared in amazement as the creature spoke. "You have been blessed by our lady."

"I...have?"

"Yes. And you are destined for great things. Honor her creation as honor comes to you. You have the power of legend. Do not waste it. Do not forget it."

Before Joss could ask for clarification, the elemental disappeared. The lamps went out, and the temple was dark once more.

"...magic?"

Joss had never seen the persecution or hatred of mages in Riva, but he'd heard about it. He kept his abilities secret from his family, even from Dsedh. He continued his glassblowing work, and found that he did indeed have some control over the flames. His phenomenal luck in avoiding burns seemed to be the early manifestation of a deep bond with the element of fire.

Dsedh, being a canny old dwarf and no fool when it came to kids, realized that Joss was hiding something. Something exciting, something wonderful that Joss could hardly stand to keep hidden. He found out this secret when he walked in on Joss experimenting with his new powers. Joss was playing with the flames, making them dance, creating shapes and vague forms for his own amusement.

The dwarven smith was stunned. This boy was a mage? Against his better judgement, Dsedh discussed the revelation with Trafford. Trafford was thrilled, and briefly abandoned drink for watching his son practicing his powers. He had never seen magic before, and Joss was only to happy to show off if it would please his father.

Dsedh did the best he could for the boy with a very limited knowledge of magic. He was largely ignorant as to the mechanics of what Joss could do, but he was supportive.

Unfortunately, Dsedh Mancutter would not be around forever. In 1313, the outbreak of the Malachian War had Dsedh deeply disturbed. He died in battle, leaving Joss' father with a new devotion to the bottle. Trafford was in no position to guide or assist Joss, so the boy was largely left to his own devices for the next few years.

Joss, in the course of his studies into his own abilities, began teaching himself to melt glass with his bare hands. He delighted in this new avenue, but an early training accident caused the glass Joss was holding to explode, covering his right arm in molten glass. The severe burns were a harsh reminder that Joss' control was not perfect. He wouldn't be able to get by just...playing around. He could seriously hurt himself or someone else.

It was at this point in his young life that Dawn Valerian began to interfere. In Joss she found a student without a teacher, a student who was not a mage in the traditional sense. He was not a fire mage as he had previously thought. He was pyrokinetic. A psion. This required different lessons he could not get any other way. In short, the boy was perfect. She only had to get him within her reach.

Dawn visited Trafford, and the combination of an alcohol-saturated brain and Dawn's powers of mental control was too much for the man. With Dawn's encouragement, Trafford sent Joss on a mission to retrieve an item Dawn wanted for herself. Trafford told the boy that this item was an heirloom, stolen from their family by a group of dishonorable and malicious giants. Joss was a man now, and for the honor of his family, Joss must retrieve the heirloom. If he couldn't do it....Joss might as well not come back.

Saddened but determined to redeem his family, Joss set out to defeat the giants. He was soundly defeated and nearly killed, after which he was picked up by a very helpful Dawn Valerian. She took care of Joss, ensuring his recovery and offering him an education while he was with her.

While with Dawn, he met other children with abilities like his, abilities that their parents and even many mages could not understand... but Dawn did. They had been abused, hurt, disregarded and hated by everyone they had trusted, but they had all found a home here. Joss saw the worth in this, and quickly came to view the other Acolytes of the Phoenix as a surrogate family. He believed, as they did, that Dawn could lead them into a future where no child would be ignored, hurt, or neglected. They would teach the adults, teach the whole world, that such behavior was a mistake.

They would make the world pay for what adults had done to them.

Joss believed in this, and Dawn taught them all to stand strong despite what had been done to them, to use their hate as a weapon instead of turning it inward. She led, and Joss followed.

That is, until a party of mercenaries came to investigate the whereabouts of all these missing children Dawn had brought together. Joss saw in them adults he could respect, warriors like he would be someday. Then he was told that these people were his enemies.

He felt betrayed, hurt by these supposed allies as so many of his friends had been. When he was assigned to burn down the Jade Dragon Inn, he took the job eagerly. Here was an opportunity to prove himself and strike back at those who had earned his trust and then turned on his new family.

Stephan Hyral tracked the boy down after the inn's destruction. He explained to Joss what he had done, the people he could have killed who didn't deserve it. His faith shaken, Joss returned to Dawn and his close friends with his concerns.

Seeing Joss as a liability now that his resolve had been compromised, Dawn prepared to sacrifice Joss and one of his closest friends to Reshtaha, nearly killing both of them.

They were rescued by Joss' adventuring friends, and Joss was forced to abandon the beliefs and the mission to which he'd dedicated himself. Betrayed again.

He's currently at Gunnir Academy, awaiting the return of his only allies, waiting to learn what will happen to him, what comes next.

RPs

From the Ashes

Fics

None.