Age: 24

Starting level: 4

Backstory:

Elias Holloway was born on the outskirts of Verdalis, though "born" was never quite the right word.

He emerged.

A strange, shapeless creature of living ooze hidden deep within the wilderness, far from civilization. For years, he survived alone, learning through observation. He watched animals hunt, watched forests grow and die, and eventually watched people.

Humans fascinated him.

They spoke endlessly of virtue, justice, and honor. They built kingdoms around laws and ideals. They claimed to stand for noble causes.

Yet whenever Elias observed them closely, he noticed something.

The people with power decided what was right.

The people without power suffered the consequences.

Again and again he witnessed good people starve while selfish men prospered. Honest leaders were overthrown by stronger rivals. Entire communities lived or died based on the whims of those capable of enforcing their will.

The lesson seemed obvious.

Power came first.

Everything else came second.

Over time, Elias learned to mimic human form perfectly. He adopted a name, integrated himself into settlements, and studied under druids who taught him the language of nature.

Unlike many druids, Elias never viewed nature as inherently good.

Nature was honest.

A wolf did not pretend to be merciful.

A storm did not claim to be fair.

The strong survived because they possessed the strength to survive.

There was no hypocrisy in that.

The more he studied the natural world, the more convinced he became that civilization's greatest flaw was its obsession with pretending weakness was a virtue.