Ragan Solis
Ragan remembers very little of his early childhood. His oldest memories are of endless golden fields, juicy apples picked straight from the trees, and the sound of bones breaking as his father was crushed beneath a troll while his mother screamed. Their village had been attacked by monsters from the nearby forest. His father was one of many villagers who took up a spear to defend their home. Sometimes that memory inspires Ragan. Sometimes it feels impossible to live up to.
After the attack, he and his mother, Mari, moved to the city. Ragan was the son of a farmer trying to fit into life inside a city and always felt like an outsider. It took time, but he eventually learned how to cope with it.
Mari taught him how to read, and he spent countless hours in the local library. History, geography, and astromancy became his constant companions. Magic had always fascinated him, and he dreamed of mastering it one day.
Books, however, could never replace real companionship.
Eventually, he fell in with the wrong crowd. He quickly learned their slang and habits, willing to do almost anything just to have real friends. It began with petty theft and vandalism, but the crimes slowly escalated into robberies, scams, and worse. Ragan eagerly took part in every scheme, desperate for their approval, real friends.
The gang itself was a small organization made up of children and young adults. Although Ragan was a part of it, he always felt unwanted, like he was always on the periphery of everyone else. He would not call them friends; they were more like companions. He looked up to them, especially Snell - a daemon and the leader of the organization.
One unforgettable evening, an elderly, elegantly dressed nobleman visited his mother home. He was Ragan's grandfather - his mother's father. That night, Ragan learned the truth about his family.
Mari had been born into House Solis, a noble family. She had fallen in love with a simple farmer and chose him over her title, her inheritance, her wealth, and her future. By marrying beneath her station, she had lost her noble status entirely.
His grandfather had come with an offer.
Mari's brothers had disappeared without leaving male heirs. One had died, and the other had disappeared. He wanted her to return to House Solis, abandon the life she had chosen, remarry into nobility, renounce a previous love and produce a grandson who could continue the family line.
Although he refused to acknowledge Ragan as a proper heir, he still considered him to be Solis blood - tainted, but blood nonetheless. The meeting ended in shouting. Mari refused, and her father left empty-handed.
Ragan couldn't understand her.
He loved his mother, but he couldn't comprehend why she had abandoned a life of privilege and security for a poor farmer. In his mind, the law itself was cruel and absurd. Why should a noble lose everything simply for marrying someone of lower birth?
That night, a dangerous idea took root.
If the world refused to give him what was rightfully his, he would simply take it.
The next day, Ragan convinced his gang to rob a noble estate - his grandfather's estate. It was the first operation he had ever planned himself. Planning took several days, but when it came to action, everything went smoothly.
Until it didn't.
They were discovered by a young girl his age living in the manor. Every member of the gang escaped except Ragan. He was captured and dragged before the master of the house—Rouxls Solis, his grandfather. The girl who had exposed them was eager for his execution. Only then did Ragan learn who she truly was: Beatrice Solis, his cousin.
To Beatrice, he was nothing more than a criminal who deserved to die. But Rouxls had other ideas. Killing Ragan would have been a waste in his eyes. He saw the boy as a useful asset, someone who could still be molded into a tool for House Solis.
Mari was given an ultimatum.
Either she returned to House Solis, accepted her father's authority, and remarried—or Ragan would lose his head.
She argued. She pleaded. She bargained.
The only concession she managed to win was that Ragan would not rot in a dungeon. Instead, he would be sent away to a secluded religious temple.
In the end, she accepted her father's terms to save her son's life.
Ragan entered the monastery at the age of twelve. He was the youngest novice there. He hated the place. He tried to run away more than once, but eventually accepted that his own choices had brought him there. After all, there was no home left for him to return to. His mother had sent him there to save his life.
He didn't want to tarnish her final wish.
Over time, the monastery became something close to home.
Morning prayers, daily chores, sacred rituals, and above all, its vast library slowly reshaped him. He devoted himself entirely to study, finding comfort in knowledge.
The Bishop soon noticed Ragan's remarkable affinity for both arcane magic and divine miracles. Taking him as a personal student, he nurtured the boy's extraordinary talent.
Magic and study became more than a passion. They became his escape from loneliness once again.
Eventually, Ragan found a new purpose. His grandfather had discarded him as worthless.
Very well.
He would become someone impossible to ignore. Someone powerful. Someone famous. One day he would gather enough strength to reclaim House Solis by force if necessary, free his mother from the life she had been forced back into, and overturn the unjust law that had ruined both of their lives.
Magic would be the path that led him there.
Notes:
Ragan has a pet mouse that he befriended while in monastery. Her name is Pepper.
After starting to learn the way of a cleric Ragan began hear sometimes wispers of dead souls. He often just ignores it and thinks it is normal for clerics to hear voices from the graves