Elki the Wanderer

The noble and mystical Bai family of Testudor had suffered many failed hatchings from their matriarch for nigh two decades, despite numerous remedies and prayers. Fearing no true heir would come, they chose to search for an heir through the kingdom’s orphanages, sending their pages to create shortlists with which they would choose the future of their house by. Elki came as the highest recommendation, cross referenced by various others. The young child though meek in manor appeared to have a great affinity for magic, even at a young age, making him the natural choice for the family. Though Elki was grateful to be homed, and in such a lavish one as that, he found the constant tutoring and coddling frustrating; he simply wished to enjoy his newfound luxury. Though for years he accepted it, finally he was given reprieve when his adoptive mother’s hatching bore fruit, and the Bai family had a true biological heir. Elki’s tutorage fell to the wayside, and though his parents still kept the young tortle in their court and as part of their family, all their attention and coddling shifted to Elki’s new younger brother, Pyke, giving Elki the freedom he had always desired. Though Elki came to become affectionate of his younger brother, he often saw him as a nuisance. One eve as Elki studied in the great library of Bai Manor, Pyke came to Elki, wishing to play hide and seek with his older brother. Elki agreed to the game, telling his young brother to go hide, though instead of seeking him out, Elki continued his studies unabated, occasionally calling to his brother and in a farce of his attempts to find him. When his studies were finished, he finally sought to find his younger brother, though to his horror, the child lay lifeless in a nook of the library, no apparent signs to what brought his demise. Elki was blamed, called a murderer and his adoptive father beat him within an inch of his life, before his mother tore him off the young Tortle. Elki was banished from Testudor thereafter, forced to wander the plains of Minera. Decades have passed since then, and the Tortle has kept a promise to himself that he would further his knowledge of magic to powerful levels, and one day bring his dead brother back from the grave, so he might live the life he was promised. A heavy guilt has burdened Elki ever since, and he believes it will only be eased through his brother’s resurrection: whatever cost that may bring to himself.