Last Stand Builder | Crovetius Fluff

Background: Sir Crovetius has been at Castle Heilger longer than most knights can remember. Unlike most recruits, he was born into the order, the illegitimate son of a knight and a commoner from a nearby village. Crovetius was raised within the walls of the Castle, and spent his youth learning to fight with the other recruits. His magical potential was realized when, in the middle of a particularly intense training session, his wooden sword turned as hard as iron, and colder than ice. A defensive stab with a training weapon became a lethal stab with a frozen sword. After he killed the recruit he was training with, he was thrown in the dungeons until the leaders of the Order could decide what to do with him. The Knight-Sorcerer at the time, a younger man named Ealdwyn, offered to take the youth under his wing, and teach him how to harness his power. The Commander approved, and Crovetius was released. Over the next few decades, he honed his magical ability under Knight-Sorcerer Ealdwyn. However, it seemed that tragedy was never far behind the young sorcerer. Towards the end of his training, when he was 47 and Ealdwyn was 61, he was walking through the Castle library at night, trying to find a tome for his mentor. When he cast a light spell to illuminate the shelves, the spell became amplified a millionfold and compressed into a single flash. What should have been a flickering flame became a flash of light as bright as the heart of the sun. Through cracks in the castle's mortar, the light could be seen, and, for a brief time, Castle Heilger could be seen a mile away. The other knights were mostly asleep, and were saved from the flash, but Crovetius stared right into the source of the light, and was forever blinded. Fortunately, he knew his way around the castle by memory, and could hear the other members of the order as they went about their business. However, he could never leave the castle again, lest he become lost and helpless. A few years after the event which blinded Crovetius, Ealdwyn passed away peacefully in his sleep, and Crovetius became the Knight-Sorcerer of Castle Heilger, to the dismay of some who feared his magical instability. A fortnight after the death of Knight-Sorcerer Ealdwyn, and Crovetius' installment as the new Knight-Sorcerer, a she-owl flew through Crovetius' open chamber window, and alighted upon his bedframe. He did not hear it fly in, but he heard it land on his bed, and he heard its call. When he sat up and reached out for the noise, the owl did not bite him, but rather lowered its head, so that he could stroke it. After that night, he developed a bond with the owl, who he named Stella. It would fly out at night, and when it returned, he could look into its mind, and see what she had seen. Crovetius had no such bond or ability with any other creature or person, so the two became fast friends, not merely through affection, but through necessity. Crovetius cared for the owl, and Stella became Crovetius' eyes outside of the castle. Many years passed, and Stella never seemed to age, though Crovetius grew older. Now, with the threat of the Wild King rising, the castle needs Crovetius and his owl more than they ever did before, for together, there was nothing which could escape their gaze.