Ava Drozdov, Human Wizard and Artificer - Sketch (Patreon)

A wizard and artificer and pen pal of a powerful Lichking I drew on commission recently!

Character: Ava Drozdov, Human Wizard and Artificer

Ava was born in the southern portion of Cidonia, in the farming community of Fermabot. She grew up on a farm with her family, made up of her parents, three older brothers, and two younger sisters. Whereas her family and friends focused on growing food for the empire and the survival of their town, she developed a fascination with magic and machines.

When she was five years old, one of her brothers told her the story of the Lichking Mercal, ruler of the Galium city of Aval. He was described as a skeleton who rules over a city of the dead where he gathers all the secrets of magic in the universe. What was meant to terrify her instead enthralled her. To think there was another person out there in the world who loved magic the way she did amazed her, and she would often retell the story to herself when she felt sad and ignored.

She created her first trinket at the tender age of six. It was simple, a little bracelet with an image of a kitty cat that when she touched it, it lit up. People around her were impressed, but she wanted something more. That’s when she remembered the story of Lichking Mercal. She begged her parents to help her write a letter to Aval and send it and the bracelet to the king “for his collection.” A few weeks later, she received a letter in return thanking her for the fascinating piece and to “keep up the good work in research.”

This sparked a fire in her. She continued to make magical trinkets with unique magical signatures, and upon every completion she would send the final product to Mercal. He would reward her with letters filled with praise and tweaks. For nine years, she continued her research and her work until she realized the best place for her to go would be the Cidonian Imperial Academy. There, she would have access to better materials than what she could scrounge on the farm or that her parents could purchase from traveling merchants.

The application to the CIA required her to have a letter of recommendation. She asked Mercal, given his knowledge of her research and abilities. He sent back two letters, one personally for her and one on the finest parchment with wax seal and gold filigree. Ava sent in her application and found herself being interrogated by a collection of school board members who accused her of lying and forging the Lichking’s writing. Years of letters between them proved their friendship was the key to her getting into the school.

Her letters to Mercal began to shift from research to personal as she told him about her time in school. She told him about the bullying she faced, the prejudice from her poor upbringing, her fears and worries being away from home. The letters she got in return invigorated her and charged her to keep focused and, if she succeeded, she should come join him in Aval to see how her experiments have changed the way people live in his city.

She completed the course load given to her three years after entering the academy, graduating at the age of eighteen. Recruiters from the capital city of Vallitsa came to bring her to the palace to work alongside researchers there to empower the empire, but she refused them. Her community celebrated her and prepared for her technology to help with harvests, but she revealed her plan to leave for the northern nation of Galium where she would go to Aval to meet with Mercal and fulfill her childhood dream of meeting her best friend.

What do you think? :)

Full illustration soon!