Coik/Serotan
Background
Ledaal Catala Serotan was born in Arjuf, of exalted parents high in the Catala branch of Great House Ledaal. His parents, who were conveniently travelling to the Blessed Isle for a business trip at the time, quickly arranged for him to get a permanent nurse and attendants, in some Ledaal holding and then as quickly returned to their lives as merchant-princes in the East. They had a very hands-off approach to child-rearing, to say the least, even for Dynasts. Poor young Serotan must have seen them a total of less than 10 times while growing up.
Growing up a Ledaal in Arjuf, Serotan was always surrounded by aunts and uncles, who kept the occasional eye on him, as well as many relatives of comparable age, some of which turned out to be friends, others rivals or both. Gifted with an aptitude for physical pursuits and an extremely sharp intellect, traits he got from both his exalted parents, his childhood was pretty easy, punctuated with few disappointment-related beatings. However, the lack of close parental interest did push Serotan into becoming somewhat of a loner, withdrawing into his studies and physical training, and he developed a deep sense of cynicism.
He Exalted during primary school (which he attended in Arjuf), which did not surprise anyone, really. It happened while rock climbing during a particularly demanding physical development class. In one glorious moment, he realized that he was approaching the problem from the wrong direction. He had limited himself thinking only of the cliff as potential support and the battering winds as an obstacle. In that moment, he realized that the wind too could support him, and he leapt the rest of the way up, supported and surrounded by the buffeting air.
After his exaltation, he continued his studies with twice as much effort. He also withdrew even more from the company of his classmates. Their childish political maneuverings and schemes no longer interested him in the least as he plunged into the perfection of honing his self and approach perfection. He was still somewhat gifted as far as athletics or martial arts were concerned, but it was intellectual pursuits that interested him the most, especially occult lore. His family consulted with an allied Sidereal to see what was the best career for him, and the advice was to study magic, which only reinforced his desire to study at the Heptagram.
The 5 years of magical studies at the Heptagram were the hardest thing Serotan ever did. He learned about demons, ghosts, gods and elementals, as well as how to reshape the world with sorcery. His Sidereal and Dragon-Blooded tutors at the Heptagram were satisfied by the efforts he put into learning everything they had to teach. However, he was always questioning authority and established knowledge, which often put him into trouble. Whenever confronted with a « basic truth », his first instinct was always to ask why. This did not endear him to most of the older teachers of the Heptagram, although some of them (the only ones worth anything, in Serotan's opinion) encouraged him in that (even though they warned him that while an inquisitive nature was great for the research of knowledge, it might be wise not to question powerful people quite so much in the real world).
He also continued learning about the martial disciplines during that time, as some of his tutors insisted that sorcery can't always protect you.
During that time, he also met Ledaal Kebok Deneta, Ledaal Kebok Omeger’s (Omeger is in the DB book, p.98, see also description of Ledaal Kebok next page) daughter. For the first time in his life, here was someone his age who could outthink him (sometimes). Some students were better at specific fields of study or specific kinds of magic, but few were as dedicated as those two in generic pursuits. No matter what the subject matter in class, they always came in 2nd and 3rd, or 3rd and 4th, trading places from month to month. How infuriating. It did have a positive effect on both student’s performance, for sure, as this rivalry pushed them to study twice as hard. They were too similar. It was eerie, invigorating, frustrating and highly motivating all at the same time.
The main difference between those two was that Deneta was much better than Serotan at making friends and ingratiating herself to authority figures, while he was becoming an excellent martial artist (at least, when compared with most Heptagram students, for which it was not as important a pursuit as magic and lore). Serotan will always think of her as the teacher’s pet, although whether that is fact or just jealousy and rivalry speaking is not clear. It did not help that her father was a teacher at the Heptagram either.
When he graduated, he returned to Arjuf and set about finding a way to fit in Dynastic society. He was good at the physical disciplines and at magic and research, but he had neglected his social skills too much by withdrawing into his studies and his social network was clearly insufficient to help his House much in the political arena. What to do ?
After about a year of helping with this and that, asking questions, and questioning authority, his aunt Ledaal Catala Gamam (reference DB book p.98) tracked him down and offered him a job. Mentioning about the menace the Deathlords represented for the Realm (a common House Ledaal cause), she explained that she spent most of her life investigating them in the Threshold. Now, she was needed by the House on the Blessed Isle to serve as Elder but she was putting together a network of young Ledaals to continue her work. She would fight the Realm’s domestic enemies (most of them sitting in the Deliberative) while her agents would learn about the outside threats plaguing the Realm.
It was thus that he entered the service of the Subtle Ravens, a new group of informants for House Ledaal, who scour the threshold in search of occult information about threats to the Realm, especially the Anathema (who seemed to be springing up everywhere these days. Why ?) and the Deathlords (and their minions). This role suited him perfectly well.
Now, Serotan has travelled to the North, armed with artifacts and Heartstones granted to him by his House. He travels about, a warrior scholar outcaste, investigating any lead of Anathema or Deathlord activity or joining ruin exploring expeditions to see if he can unearth lost lore. He also keeps in touch with his aunt, Ledaal Catala Gamam, via sorcerous means. They send each other messages at least every week.
Personality
Serotan is very curious and wants to know everything. He also has an unhealthy tendency to question everything, as well as a brashness which age will probably cure him of.
His main motivation is thus learning new things, whether theoretical (like lost lore) or practical (spells, charms, information about the anathema or deathlords).
He is not very religious, being too critical of the Immaculate Texts, but he does believe in the Realm and what it truly stands for (i.e. Civilization). He is also not too fond of the Scarlet Empress as a person, but respects her greatly for what she accomplished. He is curious about why the Sidereals seem to be important to the Realm, and the Immaculate Texts would seem to indicate that they should be at the top of the social ladder (being able to channel essence better than dragon-blooded), and yet their existence is hidden. He asked one of them about that once, at the Heptagram – he won't be making this mistake again.
His extreme open-mindedness means that he might be willing to talk to an Anathema, in the interests of science, instead of trying to kill them on sight.
Physical characteristics
Serotan is tall and slim, but wiry and surprisingly strong. He has really pale, almost white skin, with cold blue eyes, and white hair. His facial features are sharp. His dress is usually practical, with blue colors dominating when dressing formally (which is rare since he’s pretending really hard not to be a dynast right now). He always looks immaculately groomed (result of an artifact).
