Ivan

To others, Ivan is a simple, if frivolous, man of music and art. In reality, Ivan is the devoted, self-proclaimed brilliant student of the powerful mage Mirjana Sárközi.

When Ivan was a child of just eight, Mirjana visited his hometown of Clebluff while on a tour of Taleros. While there, she frequented not the market square, but instead the corner of Ivan's street. Over only a few days, her enthralling music and extraordinary, nigh-unbelievable feats captured Ivan's heart and soul. Of course, being a woman, and expressing wondrous abilities, Mirjana was accused of being an Elliac. While this caused her audience to dwindle, it didn't stop Ivan from showing up and indulging in the sorceress' music and artistic talents. Eventually, however, word spread to the rulers, and a party was sent to oust Mirjana in the middle of a dance, with orders to resort to lethal force if she refused to comply. Under the guise of a simple traveling entertainer, Mirjane had no choice but to obey the order and leave...however, Ivan, having been the only attendee of the performance, was mistaken as Mirjana's son. When she denied this, Ivan lied, and "confirmed" the information. As a consequence, he was exiled from the city along with Mirjana.
Seeing that there was no way for the child to return to his home, the sorceress reluctantly took the wide-eyed truant under her wing, and back to her home in Flewich.

Ivan learned much during his twelve years with Mirjana. He discovered that Mirjana's "performances" were, in fact, magically influenced. More importantly, he discovered that, innately, everyone had some talent for magic; however, only the dedicated or lucky ever manifest it. Not one to pass up training from a talented mage, Ivan buried his nose into books, soaking up knowledge of magic, music, the arts, cities, politics, the Planes; anything he could get his hands on. While Ivan didn't at all rival the magical talent that Mirjana possessed, his intellect and insight allowed him to weave his magic into his music and dance, allowing him to captivate, strengthen, and complement others. Using this, and the knowledge he'd gained of magic's reputation in Taleros, he even managed to find a way to completely mask his magical abilities as simple song and dance.

This wasn't all Ivan learned from Mirjana; time after time, the sorceress brought home her "sisters" or "best friends" that was astonishingly close to. Oddly, there were never repeat visits - no girl ever came twice. It was only around the age of ten that Ivan truly began to notice this. Having read every book in Mirjana's house, including some rather distinctly not-for-children samples, Ivan deduced what was really going on. Upon confronting his mentor, instead of getting angry or telling him to mind his own business, Mirjana instead offered to teach Ivan the tricks of her less well-known trade - picking up women. Always willing to learn, Ivan agreed, and from then, was molded into who he is now - a debauchee devoted to having fun with the arts, women, and music. Still, his motives run deeper than simple pleasure and indulgence, and Ivan applies himself to spreading love where he goes. While typically short-lived, his romps are never without true passion.

Ivan didn't take much notice of Mirjana's mumbling as of late; what little he caught, he didn't put thought into. After reading the note left behind by his mentor, he decided to go to Parles, to see what this Eriel had to say that was so important, and perhaps to discover where his friend had gone.


Ivan lives to have fun with his life, and his personality reflects this. He's mild, complaisant, flirtatious, and flighty, and never passes up a good time with a pleasant lady or an opportunity for a song or dance. Despite his carefree attitude, living with Mirjana and reading stories of heroes taught Ivan that it was never a good move to give up on or scorn companions or allies.