Cormund Augur
Cormund
An incompetent seer, a doomsayer who can't seem to get anything right. Cursed to constantly see visions of death and destruction every waking hour and be able to do nothing about nearly any of them.Appearance
The first thing people notice about Cormund are his eyes, their unusual teal seems to shoot right through a person, betraying their ability to see beyond normal sight. Most find it disconcerting to look in his eyes, labeling their supernatural quality as freakish.
Cormund often wears darker colors to make himself less noticeable, but this also depends on the weather. A fan of cloaks since they give him a sense of security. He wears his dark hair around ear level.
Cormund often wears darker colors to make himself less noticeable, but this also depends on the weather. A fan of cloaks since they give him a sense of security. He wears his dark hair around ear level.
Doomed Foresight
TL;DR Cormund sees bad things happen in the future, they're almost always wrong except when he's in fight or flight when they're only usually wrong.
The source of most of Cormund's troubles, his personal magic. He prefers to call it a curse though, and most people would agree in his shoes. Every second of the day, his senses are afflicted by visions of the future, only ones involving tragedy or injury. However, most of these visions aren't relevant to the situation at hand, and can happen from minutes in the future, to eons ahead. They also might not show the full picture, or even happen in this line of causality. There are many nuances to the inaccuracies, but it's safe to say that Cormund getting a correct vision is about 1 in 500. The chance of it being useful on top of that is 1 in 500,000. It's not much, but when he gets around 4000 new visions a day, it adds up at least a little.
When Cormund is presented with an obvious threat in a life threatening situation, however, his chances of getting a correct and useful vision shoot up to about 1 in 20. The downside to this is he loses the little control he's gained in his training, and the prophecies creep in from the periphery of his vision that he's pushed them back to. While his chances of getting a pertinent and correct vision are much higher, he still needs to focus enough to find it in the cacophony of his mind and navigate the world with dulled senses.
Recently, Cormund has made a discovery about his foresight, mainly that water acts as both a focus for it as well as a cost to narrow down visions. When Cormund looks through water, his visions condense to just a handful of relevant sights, then the water is consumed. This was the reason behind his dehydration when declaring a vision, his body having used his own water to make the fortune telling known.
After having studied this new facet of his power extensively, his proctors have made Cormund a device to control water consumption. Mainly a "monocle" made of two thin glass plates with space for water in between, and a latch on top to fill it. They call it a Foresight Focus. Cormund wishes he could wear it all the time, but they say he would begin to rely on it too much.
The source of most of Cormund's troubles, his personal magic. He prefers to call it a curse though, and most people would agree in his shoes. Every second of the day, his senses are afflicted by visions of the future, only ones involving tragedy or injury. However, most of these visions aren't relevant to the situation at hand, and can happen from minutes in the future, to eons ahead. They also might not show the full picture, or even happen in this line of causality. There are many nuances to the inaccuracies, but it's safe to say that Cormund getting a correct vision is about 1 in 500. The chance of it being useful on top of that is 1 in 500,000. It's not much, but when he gets around 4000 new visions a day, it adds up at least a little.
When Cormund is presented with an obvious threat in a life threatening situation, however, his chances of getting a correct and useful vision shoot up to about 1 in 20. The downside to this is he loses the little control he's gained in his training, and the prophecies creep in from the periphery of his vision that he's pushed them back to. While his chances of getting a pertinent and correct vision are much higher, he still needs to focus enough to find it in the cacophony of his mind and navigate the world with dulled senses.
Recently, Cormund has made a discovery about his foresight, mainly that water acts as both a focus for it as well as a cost to narrow down visions. When Cormund looks through water, his visions condense to just a handful of relevant sights, then the water is consumed. This was the reason behind his dehydration when declaring a vision, his body having used his own water to make the fortune telling known.
After having studied this new facet of his power extensively, his proctors have made Cormund a device to control water consumption. Mainly a "monocle" made of two thin glass plates with space for water in between, and a latch on top to fill it. They call it a Foresight Focus. Cormund wishes he could wear it all the time, but they say he would begin to rely on it too much.
Personality
Cormund is often times self pitying, defeatist, cowardly, anxiety ridden and spacey. At his best, he's kind, caring of others and determined to take control of this sight he was born with. Due to being put in separate magic intensive lessons for the majority of his time at the Academy, Cormund has a desperate thirst for socialization with his peers. This makes him friendly, if not awkward and easily peer pressured.
There are signs that Cormund might be more thoughtful without the constant stupor his visions put him in. Moments where he contemplates his place in the world, his future with the dreadlords, appreciating the time he spends with the people he cares about. It mostly happens when he can occasionally dull his visions with drink, but it will sometimes happen sober
There are signs that Cormund might be more thoughtful without the constant stupor his visions put him in. Moments where he contemplates his place in the world, his future with the dreadlords, appreciating the time he spends with the people he cares about. It mostly happens when he can occasionally dull his visions with drink, but it will sometimes happen sober
Biography & Lore
Cormund Augur was born to Cecelia and Darmon Talmire, a pair of aspiring Court Oracles (at the time street fortune tellers) in Vel Anir. Their powers of prophecy bloomed later in life, and weren't too great, causing them to marry for the purposes of birthing a child that could see the future with accuracy enough to elevate them into one of The Great Houses. Cormund was their very first attempt, but when he was born, he was born crying, and didn't stop until his second year.
His parents tried to coax prophecies out of him as soon as he could speak. He gave them, but they were vague even by the standards of fortune telling, and always told of horrible things. He couldn't quite grasp that they weren't actually happening to him in the moment, causing him to blurt them out in cries for help. "I'm dying, mummy!" was a common one. "I can't breathe, I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding everywhere and you are too!" The volume of incorrect prophecies and the seeming lack of understanding that there were supposed to be good ones too almost made the Talmires think he was just humoring them. Every once in a while, he would get one correct, though. He predicted the death of the family dog at the hands of a burglar the day before, and the day of the incident he predicted their fortune telling tent burning up in a fire a month later. How often he was incorrect and only prophesying negative futures were both unacceptable to the temperament of nobles. At five years old, they already had a replacement on the way, and decided that the Dreadlord Academy and a change of family name for Cormund was the best idea, so they wouldn't have to be associated with him when they reached the heights of Anirian Society. It was best, after all. For both their sakes.
So far, Dreadlord training has been as hard on Cormund as anyone else, but he's been especially challenged due to his visions. They distract him, make him vulnerable, requiring him to double his efforts in controlling his magic. A number of instructors have taken him on as a sort of pet project. "Who can make a Dreadlord out of the Augur boy". Most have given up after a while, moving on to more promising students, but one has stuck by him, helped him make more progress than any other on living day-to-day with his Foresight. Unfortunately, all this extra magic training has put him far behind his peers when it comes to combat and other skills.
His parents tried to coax prophecies out of him as soon as he could speak. He gave them, but they were vague even by the standards of fortune telling, and always told of horrible things. He couldn't quite grasp that they weren't actually happening to him in the moment, causing him to blurt them out in cries for help. "I'm dying, mummy!" was a common one. "I can't breathe, I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding everywhere and you are too!" The volume of incorrect prophecies and the seeming lack of understanding that there were supposed to be good ones too almost made the Talmires think he was just humoring them. Every once in a while, he would get one correct, though. He predicted the death of the family dog at the hands of a burglar the day before, and the day of the incident he predicted their fortune telling tent burning up in a fire a month later. How often he was incorrect and only prophesying negative futures were both unacceptable to the temperament of nobles. At five years old, they already had a replacement on the way, and decided that the Dreadlord Academy and a change of family name for Cormund was the best idea, so they wouldn't have to be associated with him when they reached the heights of Anirian Society. It was best, after all. For both their sakes.
So far, Dreadlord training has been as hard on Cormund as anyone else, but he's been especially challenged due to his visions. They distract him, make him vulnerable, requiring him to double his efforts in controlling his magic. A number of instructors have taken him on as a sort of pet project. "Who can make a Dreadlord out of the Augur boy". Most have given up after a while, moving on to more promising students, but one has stuck by him, helped him make more progress than any other on living day-to-day with his Foresight. Unfortunately, all this extra magic training has put him far behind his peers when it comes to combat and other skills.
References
In The Eyes of Others: Cormund, along with the rest of his class are given lessons in controlling their raw magic.
The Point or the Pommel: The Duel with Vittoria that followed, a discovery about his magic, and a conversation about potential.
Once Dark and Ancient Times: A visit to Vel Redynne for a festival! A more relaxed side to Cormund as he enjoys himself while helping Oryyn get drunk.
Two Legged Race: Paired with Runa in a race to return to the Academy, they try to use their magic to make it home alive (and maybe even win)
You Are Digging Your Grave: A mission with Norah, Kilien, and Vittoria gone wrong, turned into a run-in with Kraits
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