A true archetype of a Vel Anir initiate, Ivan has an appearance in line with what one would expect from a Dreadlord. He is well-built and boasts an athletic physique with muscular arms, broad shoulders, a well-defined torso, as well as a handful of scars here and there. Apart from this, he has blonde hair, and is always clean-shaven. His eyes are ice-grey.​

Armed Combat: Proficient in combat. His combat style is aggressive and relentless, waging on a quick victory through strong, vicious attacks, and a few accurate, well-placed, devastating blows. He tends to prefer heavier weapons such as zweihänders, war hammers, or double-headed axes.

Numeracy: Ivan has a very good mind for numbers, being able to solve rather complex calculations well faster than the average individual. Additionally, he also has a pretty good grasp of business practices and divining the correct valuation of products and goods.

Decay Magic: Able to rot and corrode matter. For all decay spells, the amount of effort depends on the object being decomposed, with substances like paper taking virtually no effort, while others - such as iron or stone - taking a much larger toll.

More recently, Ivan also learned to use his decay powers to craft magical diseases. Just as sicknesses and plagues decay the body naturally, Ivan's decay powers can propagate virulent, arcane epidemics. He is still very new to this however, and can only spread rather basic - even if deadly - diseases, and only through touch.

Aesthetically, all expressions of decay spells are associated with a set of dark, monochromatic colours, which range from ashen-grey to jet-black. When casting, Ivan’s hands seem to be enveloped by a faint black aura, while for visual outbursts - such as those given form in flames or lightning rays - the projection of the spell as opposed to emitting light instead seems to absorb and suppress it.​

One of the most lethal initiates the Academy of Vel Anir got to offer, Ivan is brave, courageous, and relentless in pursuit of his goals no matter the odds, nor the consequences. He does however have his own way of doing things, tends to be rather dismissive of established rules and norms, and is careless when faced with danger, all of which have granted him a bit of a reputation as a "wildcard" among peers and proctors.​

Some are born meant to chase a destiny that was never their own - for few are those who can truly claim to be favoured by fortune, to be blessed by the Gods; to be the children of destiny…

But fewer still are those who can claim to be born in opposition to the tidal waves of destiny.

When Alisa Skender became the sole heiress, and last living member, of her House, some called it destiny. Many more called it an inevitability.

Though not the oldest, nor the richest, clan in Aniria, the Skender were certainly one of the most disreputable of them all. A family of Marcher lords, guarding a remote dominion far to the South of the Anirian heartland, the Skender had been in decline for a long time.

The fragile status of the newly minted Margravine was then not so much a surprise as it was something predictable to many. A dynasty of borderland warriors, of sea raiders that looked as though fated to be brought low by centuries of blood and death. A touch of destiny, as it were.

Though many thought this cursed dynasty would die out with Alisa, she would defy these expectations a mere year after coming into her inheritance, when she got pregnant.

It would soon become clear though that this pregnancy would not be a smooth affair. It was never clear what had truly come to pass. Some said Alisa had been cursed, hexed by the unknown father's paramour; others believed her rumoured dabbling in corruptive magic was to blame, while a few more whispered that she had broken one of the five laws of magic, thus drawing doom upon herself. Whatever the case, the result soon became clear: She grew pale, her skin dried and broken, while her body became covered with open, gaping wounds as magic seemingly rotted and corroded her body from the inside out.

Predictably, Alisa did not survive labour, leaving her newborn son, Ivan, as the last living member of the dynasty. While the decay magic that had cursed his mother did not appear to have affected him at first, a magical connection of some sort did take hold during the pregnancy. This bond became obvious when, as a child, Ivan revealed himself to have a propensity for decay magic.
​