Rynel

Rynel is a Thyrsus mage of the Adamantine Arrow. He is a fellow of The Consilium by the Bay, in the cabal The Alexandrians. Rynel is part of the Orphans of Proteus Legacy. Formerly known as M'aiq, he was once in the Free Council and a member of the Rose.

Part 1: Irresponsible
Sydney Hewson (later known as Robert Harley, Gary Howe, Stuart Kenworthy, Richard Preddy, James Henry and, currently, Matt Ballard) was born into money, security, responsibility and high expectations. In his youth, however, he wasn't interested in any of these things.

Through his childhood, he was inseparable from a less fortunate lad called Arthur Hewson. Syd and Art became infamous amongst their peers, as two friends who couldn't be more deserving of each other's lives. Art was hard working, dedicated and loyal, but was born into a family with almost nothing to their name. Syd was lazy, manipulative and uninterested in doing what was expected of him, but was born into wealth, comfort and a guaranteed life of stability and success.

As a result of Art's quieter disposition and his academic ability, he was a target to bullies. It was in these moments, and these moments only, that Syd actually shone as a friend. Syd spent so much time ditching classes in his expensive private school to go and throw his fists at whoever gave Art his latest black eye that he was summarily expelled, and ended up in the same comprehensive school as his friend, much to his parents' ire.

Art was successful in school and college, when Syd didn't manage to distract him. Syd skated along by doing the minimum possible amount of work needed to pass - even if that meant bullying Art into doing his work for him. Art had planned to go to university and make something of himself, whereas Syd's parents told him in no uncertain terms that if Syd didn't go to university and make something of himself, he wouldn't see another penny from them. After a raging argument, Syd left his home town in Norfolk, determined to make his own way in life. Predictably, he dragged Art along with him.

And so the two landed in London, and Syd's systematic destruction of Art's entire life began. At first, the two worked dead end jobs, and struggled to make ends meet. After a year, however, Art was able to get himself a position in a reputable university in London, and Syd had managed to develop a taste for poker. At first, Art was able to bail Syd out when he lost everything, but this couldn't last. Money was tight even before Syd started losing ever penny he made, and there was no way they could continue like this.

After two years of study, Art was forced to drop out of university for financial reasons. Fortunately, being quite capable, Art secured a low-level job as a Police Officer. Shortly afterwards, Syd became slightly better at poker, and a shade more responsible with his money. For a time, the two enjoyed what might almost be called success. Syd seemed to be relatively stable in his job as a bartender, and Art was making leaps forward with his career. After a time, Art was made a detective.

All seemed well, until Syd returned home one night severely battered and bruised. He told Art he had been mugged, however, the resulting investigation quickly went cold. Nothing seemed too odd, until it happened again, and again. It eventually became apparent that Syd had gotten a little too bold with his money, and had put too much on the line. For three months, Syd had been hiding a debt that kept growing and growing from Art. By the time Art released what was happening, Syd owed a lot of money to the sort of people that one real wouldn't want to owe even a small amount of money to. Enraged with Syd for his deception, Art snapped, and threw him out of their home. With nowhere to go and his debtors growing impatient, Syd tried to skip town.

Unfortunately, Syd was being followed. As Syd walked through the streets of London at the dead of night, his followers were making calls. By the time Syd noticed some familiar faces walking towards him, it was already too late. As he turned to run, he was struck in the face.

When he woke up, he was in a disused industrial unit, laying on the ground, battered and bruised. A strong smell of petrol hit his nostrils as he noticed that he was soaked, and the puddle around him extended in a long line towards a man with a fuel can, who was walking backwards whilst pouring it on the ground. Behind the man with the can, two other shadowy figures stood, blocking the door. Syd realised what was about to happen and looked around frantically. He spotted a gap in some rotten boards in the wall, and a rush of adrenaline took over him. Syd got onto his feet and ran for the gap. Syd heard a yell and saw a flash of bright light in the corner of his eye, moments before he crashed through the wall into a side alley. A wave of searing heat hit him from behind and two figures appeared around the corner to his left. Syd turned right and bolted down the alley, his back burning, and found himself surrounded in lush wildlife. The yells his pursuers and the roar of the flame that had been enveloping him had been silenced and replaced with the sounds of distant wildlife braying and squawking. In front of him, stood the Watchtower of the Stone Book. Rynel had awakened.

Part 2: Indecisive
Days later, Rynel emerged from the alley, a different person. Realising the danger he had escaped, and was still in, he left town immediately. Things were different now though, Rynel had stared death in the face and escaped. Rynel was a survivor. Life was a thing to be celebrated and enjoyed, and consequences could be escaped. Rynel took what money he had and made his way to Bristol. Rynel settled into a new name (Robert) and a new lifestyle. Less cautious this time, Rynel took everything to the table and found himself able to whisper to the dice themselves. Chance was on his side, and he took advantage of it. Rynel lived the high life for a couple of months until he failed to charm the chances into going his way. When that happened, he turned his charm to those who might lend him money. Again, Rynel practiced his vanishing act. Rynel moved on to Birmingham, making a new name for himself (Gary), accumulating a small fortune and losing it, before vanishing with somebody else's. This was his life now, and for the first time, he was living it to the full.

This new pattern in Rynel's life only changed upon his arrival in Oxford. Having spent his time thus far unaware of mage society, living as an apostate, Rynel was finally noticed. Approached by Hist, Herald of the Oxford Consilium, Rynel was invited to meet with a local Adamantine Arrow cabal called The Spire. Rynel was soon accepted as a Fosterling, temporarily attached to the cabal in order to learn about mage society and the different orders. Rynel's bad habits did not change, however, and he continued to lose money faster than he earned it. After just a few months, Rynel thanked the members of The Spire for what they had taught him, and moved on to Sheffield.

Unaware as he was that Hist had called ahead and warned the local consilium of Rynel's impending arrival, Rynel was surprised to be greeted by Oak, the leader of one of Sheffield's Arrow cabals, The Crucible. Having been warned of Rynel's undesirable habits, but nontheless in need of a Thyrsus member for The Crucible. Oak resolved to try and mentor Rynel into both a more responsible person, and a more responsible mage.

Rynel was persuaded to join and train with The Crucible, but was reluctant to commit to an order immediately. As his fellow members were all members of the Arrow Faction from which the cabal name derives, Rynel was heavily influenced by that faction's philosophy during this period. The Crucible weren't Rynel's only influence, however. Discouraged by Oak from "wasting his time losing money to sleepers", and encouraged to spend more time learning from other mages in the area, Rynel elected to join the local Free Council member's weekly poker night, where he learned how to play poker a little better, though losing money and tass in the process. Though this provoked Oak's ire, Oak permitted it, as the Free Councillors did occasionally teach Rynel some valuable skills (mostly skills like how to generate tass, so they could persuade Rynel to gamble with it).

After several months, Rynel's continued refusal to commit to an order began to irritate his cabal mates, who felt that The Crucible was always intended as a cabal of Arrow members from every path. With immense pressure to commit to an order, Rynel approached Oak and asked to be initiated into the Adamantine Arrow. To Rynel's surprise, however, Oak refused to initiate him. Oak informed Rynel that he felt that the commitment to an order should be made without peer pressure, and that he did not think Rynel would pass the tests with his Free Council friends, or a cabal distracting him. As such, Oak sent Rynel to Nottingham, to make a decision and join an order.

Upon arrival in Nottingham, Rynel immediately contacted the only senior Arrow member who's contact details Oak had given him, Ash. Rynel requested admission to the Arrow, and, having been contacted by Oak previously about Rynel, Ash accepted Rynel's request.

As Rynel went through his initial testing and training, he was contacted by Father Brown, Lorekeeper for the local Free Council lore house, The Merry Men. Rynel subsequently spent much of his downtime drinking with Father Brown and learning about the history of the Free Council. Soon enough, Rynel's performance in his Arrow training started flagging. After failing several key tasks, Rynel elected to abandon his attempts to join the Adamantine Arrow, and instead joined the Free Council, and became a member of The Merry Men.

And so Rynel settled for almost a year, learning about the Free Council and taking on more responsibility than he had ever done previously. For once, he was happy, he wasn't screwing people over, and he had a place in the world.

Then, a friend within the concillium informed Rynel that an Arrow mage, who identified himself as Vulpes had been asking after Rynel, referring to him not only as Rynel, but also as Sydney. Fearful that he had underestimated the resources of his debtors in London, Rynel said his hasty goodbyes to his cabal, and fled to Lancaster, not telling his former cabal-mates where he was going. Confident that he had left a cold trail, Rynel would again engage with Mage society, but this time under the name M'aiq.

Part 3: Idiot
Shortly after arriving in Lancaster, M'aiq was able to secure a position as a member of the newly-formed cabal, The Rose.

Personality
Rynel is a gigantic douchebag.