Malech Neverborn

Race: Tiefling
Class: Warlock

Appearance

Malech is a tall, thin young man who walks with a strange almost-
limp.  He leans back when walking, to account for his missing tail,
but with his head held slightly forward, to balance his missing
horns.  He wears his dark purple hair long, parted in the middle to
cover the still-regrowing horns he hacked away.  His skin would be a
pleasant shade of reddish-brown if not for the months he prefers to
spend underground, studying Infernal pacts.  The lighter red color of
his skin only serves to highlight his jet-black eyes.  He stands
nearly 6′1″ tall, but with the various… alterations to his natural
form, he weighs even less than most emaciated Tieflings with their
tails and horns in tact, barely above 120lbs.  He wears the dark
colors prefered by his race, with a thin dark red leather long coat
that hides his thinness to a casual observer.  If not for his purely
Tiefling coloring, he could easily pass for an Eladrin.

Backstory

Mal was left at the Warlock’s Tower in a small forested village in a
burlap potatoe sack.  A note was left with just the words “Malech
Neverborn” on it, no clue to his parents.  His infant tail had been
cut off, blood leaked through the delivery sack, and he was nearly
frozen to death.  Living among Warlock trainees, mostly human, Malech
studied the Arcane arts, with his Tiefling nature pushing him towards
the Infernal path.  With his mysterious origin, and his innate
talents, he engendered a large amount of jealousy, bordering on hatred
from some of the older, official students.
  When a new Tiefling named Zakmos came to the school, showing the
same affinity for the Arts, Mal became the rallying point for Zak’s
clique, giving them a focus point for his bullying, taunting and
occasional torture.  Years of abuse went ignored by the Warlocks in
charge, until Mal tested a new-learned ability to burn Zak, after
which Zak and two of his human followers, Gabbe and Croyle, held Mal
down, and cut off his mostly regrown tail, cauterizing the wound with
the same infernal magic Mal used to permanently sear Zak’s left arm.  
Zak and Mal were expelled from the school, as were Gabbe and Croyle,
but Mal was allowed to stay at the school - it was his home after all.  
Mal, ashamed of his race, his temper, his loss of control, cut off his own
curved horns.  The headmaster who had taken Mal under his wing,
Westerous Paulson, decided to train Mal after hours, realizing that
Mal was well-provoked into the attack, and was too naturally talented
to let it go to waste.
  Westerous spoke at great length about a pact blade that had been
used by one of the nameless ones, taught by the renegade demons of
old.  It was a legendary magical artifact, one that is destined for
the hand of a great Warlock.  Westerous spoke of Malech as the one who
would wield the pact blade of legend, but Mal never felt the old man’s
words were true, just a set of platitudes to ease the tortured soul of
a lost, maimed young Tiefling who didn’t have a place in the world.
They studied the teachings of Ioun, finding wisdom in the warnings of
secrecy and the value of education.
  After two years of private lessons, Westerous encouraged Mal to re-
apply to the school formally.  His acceptance was reported to Zakmos,
who requested a formal meeting with the headmaster to appeal his
expulsion.  The morning of the meeting, Mal accused Westerous of
hiding that option for two years, and slowing his progress in the
Arcane Arts.  It was the last thing he ever said to his father figure,
teacher and friend.  Zakmos’s skills had not deteriorated in his
absence, and he took the headmaster by surprise, murdering him in his
office, then leaving without anyone the wiser until the headmaster
missed dinner.
  Mal left the school the next day, vowing vengenace for the only
father he ever knew and the power to stop those who would do others
harm.  The latest he had heard was that Coyle had been seen in
Fallcrest, and that is where the 16 year old man-child will begin his
hunt.

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