Iskatel

Iskatel is an Acanthus of the Mysterium. At the time of writing he has recently lost the role of Acquisitor and is currently considered the lowest-ranked mage in the First Throne Consilium. He is Felix's mentor in the Tamers of Winds.

History
Iskatel got his start in Moscow; Awakening in the turmoil and hidden economic collapse of the 1980s, he fell in early with Domovoi, a man whose friendly nature would later make him a natural choice for Herald within the Consilium. Working alongside Domovoi as a lackey in his father's coffee shop, Iskatel began to make a name for himself within the First Throne as a man who could get hold of things - often before their rival consilium, the Argument, had a chance.

This got him welcomed fully into the Mysterium after almost three years trying to earn acceptance as an apostate. He was quickly trained until he could function as an Acquisitor, and it was during this part of his life that Granit noticed him and evaluated his fitness to join the Tamers of Winds.

Following the ancient tradition of most Tamer legacies, Iskatel would be Granit's only student, and worked with him closely until an argument at the turn of the millennium concerning some valuable property believed to be connected with Chernobyl. The two came to blows, Granit managing to break down Iskatel's mystic defences well enough to break his nose and cost him some teeth.

The two would never work together again, but some while later, Iskatel would take on an apprentice of his own, Felix. That partnership was also somewhat rocky, though Iskatel's endorsement sped Felix into the Mysterium proper, and he joined his tutor as an Acquisitor. The two of them therefore often spent long periods outside Moscow, hunting one valuable item or another, before dissatisfaction drove Felix to return to Britain.

At that time Iskatel began to marshal his skills and his equipment to finally go after the Mother's Bones, only to be hindered in this by a cult sometimes called the Dead Men, sometimes called the Never-Living. When Felix returned to question Iskatel, the Never-Living were in the middle of a long, slow execution rite upon him, though he was saved from them by Felix.

His actions since then are uncertain but almost certainly stupid.