Before Crimeton, before the mockery and the ambition to become a spiritualist, Saul Quinn lived in a quiet, mist-veiled village near the edge of the Wyrmwood—a place whispered about in urban circles as "unreachable" and "spirit-touched." Raised by a sickly mother and no known father, Saul was a quiet, inward child. He often wandered into the forests, drawn to voices no one else seemed to hear and symbols etched into bark and stone that hummed when he traced them.
That's where he found Saul—or perhaps, where Saul found him:An old mysterious man cloaked in grey, living alone in a moss-covered ruin, yet surrounded by wards no average occultist could read. The villagers called him Corven, the Mad Oracle. Most feared him. Some claimed he was once a renowned spiritualist exiled by the Empire itself. Others said he had glimpsed the Veil too deeply and lost his mind. But Corven saw something in Saul—something even Saul didn't see.
For the next six years, Corven became Saul's secret master, mentor, and surrogate grandfather. Under him, Saul didn't study spells—he learned reverence, balance, and how to listen. Corven taught that true power wasn't in summoning elements but in aligning with them. No incantation mattered without intention. No force could be wielded without sacrifice.
For years, Saul trained in secret. While other children played, he learned to channel elemental resonance and meditate under pressure until he could merge and become one with nature and the universe. The Old Man taught without approval from the academies—making Saul's knowledge brilliant but unorthodox. It was wisdom passed from a forgotten era, not from textbooks.
When Saul finally enrolled at Crimeton Academy on a rare special scholarship, he already knew more than most juniors and even some seniors. At first, his strange powers and insights earned him praise. But brilliance breeds resentment—and when Saul's methods clashed with tradition, and his progress in formal spellcraft slowed (due to disinterest, not inability), the admiration turned to mockery.
When Saul was now a teenager, Corven gifted him a unique Blue Crystal, said to carry an amazing amount of spirit-essence. It was one of the few remnants of Corven's former life as a spiritualist. On the night of a blood moon, Corven pressed it into Saul's palm and whispered,"They will mock you, boy. They will strip you down to bone and pride. But when they do… you'll remember who lit the flame." "They will laugh. Let them. For the storm remembers the boy before the boy remembers the storm."
Shortly after, Corven vanished—either into death or back into the spirit realm, Saul never knew.