OOC: History

[bluephoneangel]

Affinity: Dark

Affinity Level: Adept

History:
Before: Matthew Swift was the sort of guy that you either liked or found to be a bit of a loser. Always happy to lend a hand, he had good friends that were like his family and a mentor that he respected and trusted with everything he had. His mentor had crazy, wild, but ultimately incredible theories about Chaos Storms, the Twisted, and how these things might be studied to be better understood and ultimately useful for everyone.

Matt was all for understanding. He wanted to know how he could stop the pain of so many people; how he could do something good and, if we're honest, he loved the thrill of the work.

At least, until he'd stumbled on something he wasn't meant to see. His teacher, the man he thought of as a father and a friend, was using his Magic for horrible things. All the information they'd gained over the years, the studies Matt had been so proud of, now being used to torture and harm and kill (if they were lucky) other people. Animals. Life was being snuffed out and it was all his fault. He confronted his mentor, angry, and demanded an explanation and a halt to the 'experiments'. They weren't right!

There was a fight, words and fists thrown. He didn't expect the older man to be so fast or to have such good aim. Turned out that dying hurt, quite a lot, and he was honestly frightened for the first time in his life.

If it hadn't been for the other assistant, the Space Master, he wouldn't have managed to escape.

Unfortunately, something went slightly wrong during transport (Hello Chaos Storms) and the old Matthew Swift was replaced by the mad men he became when he became one with the Dark.

------

Matthew has very few solid memories from Before. Flashes of family, of his gran and his friends. The occasional name and a face that may or may not go with it. Their first solid memory is of waking up with the taste of ozone on his tongue and an animal sniffing at his hair. No clothing, no possessions, just that taste, the smell of blood, and a head that he wasn't alone in. The horse, a shaggy brown and green creature (giant anteater/porcupine) with a set of nasty spines and huge claws, had seemed to take a liking to them, and so Matt had no qualms about wandering for a bit with the horse he named Oda.

The first village had chased them out with angry words and harsh blows. The next had offered food and clothing and a place to sleep in exchange for help fixing a few roofs damaged in a recent attack by a band of raiders. They could do that. Turned out they could do much more when the raiders returned and the voices shouted in their head to shut them all down. Things went blue in his mind for a little while and when it cleared, there was the taste of ozone again and another mess to clean up.

He was thanked for his help, paid for his silence, and asked to leave without a fuss. They were happy to do so.

After all, there was still so much more of the world to see and explore and he hadn't liked the looks of fear from people that had been so kind to him.