Aercus Windforger
(aka the Dragon with Goggles)
Plane of Origin: Old-Timeline Tarkir
First Planeswalk: Kaladesh
Backstory: On the old timeline of Tarkir, few dragons were born in a traditional sense, with most simply spawning fully-formed from the dragonstorm. Aercus was one such exception. The product of a likely forbidden union, Aercus hatched alone amidst a small trove of trinkets and treasures. Being an easy target for the Khans and generating much disdain from the Dragonlords, he learned early on to use artifice to even the odds. Without any friends on either side, he often only fought when his own life was on the line, and preferred fleeing whenever possible.
He was no more than two decades old when the dragonstorm lifted. Soon, his kind was being wiped out in a war of attrition they could no longer sustain. As the last of his kin continued to fight to the death, Aercus hastily scavenged the now-abandoned hoards of the dead Dragonlords. Barely evading the droves of mortals who moved in to plunder the treasures, he managed to acquire a particular set of powerful artifacts that he used to change his physical form. In a jarring blast of polymorphic magic, he warped his draconic body into that of a human- mostly. His transformation was incomplete, leaving reptilian eyes and copper scales along his face and down his back.
For a time, he concealed these features with human clothing as he moved to the snow-capped mountains to eke out an existence as the last dragon on Tarkir- if he could even be considered one anymore. He remained amidst the Temur, who valued his survivability and cunning knowledge of artifice. It was there he made his first friends, humans and orcs who preferred the more subtle, clever ways to survive in the wild apart from ferocity. He remained among them for several years, and lost track of time.
Eventually, his apparent lack of physical change over the course of time was brought into question, and the rise of a new Khan led to Aercus’s draconic features being forcefully revealed. He tried to escape but ended up only with spears in his back, hunted by those who he called friend. Backed against a wall, desperate and hopelessly alone, he fell to the ground, expecting the final blow- and sparked.
A very confused (but grateful) Aercus emerged on Kaladesh, wounded but not dead. He was soon found by a group of rebels, who mistook him as a fellow rebel wounded by the Consulate. After getting several nervous looks when asking about Tarkir, he simply listened to the rebels discuss the nature of things on Kaladesh. While Aercus didn’t know what had happened, he welcomed the chance to start afresh in a realm that didn’t want him dead solely based on his lineage.
He spent another couple of years on Kaladesh, thoroughly interested in all the workings of the plane. He slowly gathered renown among the crafters and inventors of the plane, both as a critic and a resource for rare materials. His gathering years on Tarkir made him uniquely equipped to delve into the wilder parts of the plane, retrieving things that would normally have costed a great deal of money and potentially lives to find.
His critiques often came with softer words and more encouragement than could be expected from other scrutinous eyes, and he was known for offering advice and even some ideas of his own. While he watched the rising conflict escalate between the Consulate and the Rebels, he remained non-confrontational. But he did not forget the kindness shown to him by the rebels, so he occasionally deviated his path to hinder the Consulate when he could.
Aercus loved his time on Kaladesh- he had even earned a bit of a reputation, as well as a place to call his own- but it soon came to an end. A Consulate airship had caught wind of his involvement with the Rebels and chased him down. When attempting to flee, he turned a corner and bolted, only to find himself tumbling through the Multiverse once more. He ended up in a lonely alley in Ravnica now, once again alone.
Aercus now seeks to discover the secrets behind this strange ability that keeps pulling him to different worlds, and hopes to return to Kaladesh and find his life there intact.
Personality: Having been on the run from some threat or another for the majority of his life, Aercus is skittish, hesitant and slow to trust. He finds little strength in numbers and largely prefers his own company over that of others. He is perceptive and honest, sometimes blatantly straightforward with others, but always taking the time to be kind. He has a veneer of suaveness that comes from engaging with others on a shallow level on a regular basis.
Once truly opened up to someone, or sometimes approaching a situation or topic for the first time, he loses his sense of confidence. He does not have a terribly high self-esteem, but does believe that he can make a difference- he just thinks has to work a lot and will probably fail and step on a lot of toes doing it. He stutters on occasion and has difficulty looking people in the eye, and often feels vulnerable.
He buries himself in his craft when creating artifacts or scavenging. He also enjoys scenic views, especially from very high up; it reminds him of the days when he could fly. In these moments of calm he can be heard humming a favorite tune, but rarely speaks, simply working with a content smile on his face.
Preferred Magic: Artifice, lightning, aether
Strengths: He can scavenge, identify and repurpose metal and artifacts of any type, particularly to siphon the power they inherently possess. While he prefers to build up energy over time to release in an unbeatable (and satisfying) blast, he can summon a storm of lightning in a flash to end a quarrel quickly or escape to live another day.
Flaws: He prefers to flee over any kind of conflict, and often passes up high reward opportunities due to avoiding risk. Despite this, he is almost purely driven by emotion, seeking to make others happy and improve their lives. This can sometimes lead to him getting into trouble that causes him to be stressed and anxious, and leaves him nearly penniless from supplying the needy with sustenance.
Aercus’s only home is on Kaladesh
Despite now residing on Ravnica, he continues to wear his clothes from Kaladesh. This includes an ornate royal blue cloak rimmed with gold filigree, a well-fastened champagne overshirt that covers a thick weave dark blue undertunic, a large leather belt that contains many tools for shaping, tweaking and inspecting the intricate artifacts of Kaladesh, high-cuff boots and a pair of well-crafted goggles with pale blue lenses that obscure his draconic eyes
His goggles are the only magical artifact that he keeps on him at all times. It creates a magical diversion field around him, causing others to perceive him as bland or uninteresting. Powerful beings, such as other planeswalkers, can see through this
His favorite foods are pastries, particularly fruity ones
