Ahriman

A new mage in town, Ahriman seeks to help those who would set things right in a world that was created by pride.

Appearance

Ahriman is about 5 foot 9 inches , with broad shoulders that don't quiet match his sleek muscles. His wavy brown hair is longer than normal and is normally well kept. His eyes are very expressive, often making up for the fact that he rarely speaks. They are bright purple, a Mark of his path.

Nimbus

Infinite perspective, when he casts you began to remember just how small you are in the grand scheme of things, just how insignificant your are, and how only your actions make the difference and even that is tiny. It is the feeling of being a cog in the machine of life, and that even if you broke there would be a million more to take your place.

History

Tom Wakefield, and his Brother Tim, were born in small town Mississippi to a large local family was very religious, very loving and very poor. Tim was born first, while Tom got caught up in his own Umbilical cord. The Doctors managed to save him but he had gone with out air for too long. He was slow to develop speech because of this, and when he did he had a lisp which he was teased about. This coupled with his natural introverted tendencies taught him to never speak unless he trusted the person or was spoken to first. This caused many people to think he was stupid, despite his good grades, and Tom always struggled against that stereotype.

Despite this Tom loved school, as his home life wasn't that great. Though his father worked his farm from dawn until dusk the family was always strapped for cash. This was mostly because what little money his father saved often went to his wife's Alcohol addiction. She had started drinking after Toms birth but it blossomed into full blown Alcoholism as Tom and Tim began puberty. It was so bad that his father had to get another job in town to cover it. She blamed herself for Tom's "stupidity. She would often rail at their father for their state, calling him as stupid as his son. She denied that God existed and called Tom and his father, the only strict Catholics left at the time, fools for believing. Still the man worked, never giving up, and Tom watched, soon growing close to the old man. He hero worshiped him for protecting the family and for doing his best despite difficulties . His fondest memories were of sitting on his fathers lap playing with his pocket watch.

Tim on the other hand resented him, disliking his fathers strict manners and his religion. Tim was a true anarchist, and would often take his mother side in any arguments that came up. He would defend his mother and would turn on anyone who tried to point out her flaws. His favorite target was Tom and The two of them fought constantly during their high-school years and when they weren't they were in a very fragile peace. This hurt Tom greatly because they were twins and had been close before the Drinking had gotten really bad. He blamed his mother.

Then one day before their 18th birthday Tim came home to find his mother on the ground, dead by alcohol poisoning. He rushed to find Tom and they took her to the hospital. Tom waited with his brother but when the news came he could do nothing to console him. When he tried his twin ran out the door and took Toms car. He was never seen again.

Tom, now with out a brother and a mother, watched as the family, once very close, drift. His sisters and brothers family moved out of state, his father fell into a deep depression, and he went to college. He would come back to see his father but the old man had lost the spark he had once seen in him. Still he would talk with him, hoping to see the smile he remembered. He spent the first semester of college this way. He had lost much but he was hopeful.

During his College time he found acceptance, and himself. He began to doubt his Catholic raising, mostly because he found himself feeling certain feelings for a handsome young man named Calvin. They were close friends and Calvin, who was an admitted liberal and someone who seemed to understand what it was like to be an outcast. He grew close, and soon developed a crush on him. He finally admitted he liked him mid October, and they began to date but it was not to be.

It was over his Christmas break that his father gave the announcement that changed toms life in a way even he couldn't stand. He had a Brain tumor, it was inoperable, and he had only Months left to live. Tom, desperate to believe it wasn't so, volunteered his money to help cure his father. He quit college and went to live with his father, taking odd jobs around town to support him. His money payed for the treatment that slowed the tumor, Yet he watched as his father slipped further and further away with each passing week, and finally, in what would have been his sophomore year, His father slipped into a coma. According to his living will he was not to be taken off life support until he could no longer afford it, because he was hopeful of a cure. So Tom stayed.

During this time Tom's relationship with Calvin waned as Tom refused to tell his family about them, and eventually it dissolved. This left Tom alone and with out support as he watched his father dying slowly in a hospital bed.

Tom could take it no longer. He put his father into a nursing home and applied for college in California. He worked for two years to earn money to get there and to pay for the College. When he was done he sold the family farm, and left, bringing only one thing with him: his fathers watch.

As he was driving across the country though he kept noticing weird things, like the Miles seemed to fluctuate, and people were looking at him every-time they passed. He could even here their thoughts! It was just weird at first but then when he got into the desert things got weird.

One night he stopped at a hotel and was given a room for the night. When he unpacked he decided to go for a walk to stretch his legs. He wandered along a marked trail, looking out over the desert as the twilight came. As he moved he came to the front of a cave, and noticed that inside was strange looking. He moved forward and went tumbling face first into Pandemonium. The underground cave was strange, with angles that belonged only in an Escher picture. Around him strange creatures moved, Demons that brought his fathers teachings back to his mind. Whats more they knew he was here and they looked hungry.

So he ran, through a maze of tunnels that had no sense to them, never being caught but never far ahead. One even managed to grab his watch from his pocket. Unable to stop He reached the tower though and signed his name.

The next thing he knew he was back on the cliff he had found the cave at. He turned to look at the cave entrance, only to find a sheer face. He began to wander back, believing it to have been a hallucination brought on by tiredness.

Yet something nagged at him and it wasn't until he was back at the hotel room that he realized he couldn't find his Fathers watch. He searched all night, and even into the morning, climbing the mountain by light to find it . There was nothing. Dejected he moved on.

As the weeks went on he settled down into college again. He met his mentor who explained what had happened and took him under his wing. He learned in college by day and by night he learned magic. As he studied the Bible for his Philosophy minor he began to think.

At first he felt that he had fallen, that his evil actions towards his Father had sent him to hell, and he was ashamed of what he was. He believed he had not respected his father by letting him die alone. It wasn't until later that he was reading of the different tales of Satan's fall and came across one where he was called "Ahriman". In this one he had been Gods lover, and had always followed his commands. One of them was to bow to not other than God. Yet when God had commanded him to bow to humans he would not because of his great love of God. He would not break a vow that he had given to his lover, and because of such God told him to Go to hell. So he went, willingly, and since then has done all he can to show the human race its flaws in his own way. Not to exploit them, but to show them what straying off the path does.

So Tom took the name "Ahriman" in the belief that he, as well as the Mages who let the Fallen world Fall, had disobeyed The supernal's commands as much if not more so than the Exarchs. Even though they had done it for the sake of the love they had for the Supernal they had disobeyed it and the world had fallen. He believed they had to make it right. He might not know how but he would defend those who did.

When he finished his degree he also was released into the world as a mage, but he was not sure where to go from there. He looked at all the orders, and finally decided on the A.A. It was a strange choice for a Mastigos but he didn't care. He proved early on he wasn't going to listen to orders with out thinking, and would often pick fights with his higher ups about stupid rulings. Still he believes fiercely in the "less stupid " tenets of the order and always strives to observe them .

Fighting style

He tends to be more a spy or a scout than a fighter, and as such tends towards guns when moving in places magic cannot be used. He rarely shoots to kill, preferring to disable with knee shots and cracks to the head, and that is only when force is necessary. After all, A.A. he may be, but he's a Mastigos none the less, and likes to fight where he has the home field advantage.

Current

Tom is moving to Sacramento to look for jobs to earn money for his Masters in Sociology as well as looking to get into the Local Consillium and settle in. He's heard there is a need for Arrows and he figures he can help with that at the same time. Hes unfortunately had to sell his guns due to the cost of moving and as such is not currently armed.