Cold Mage

The Cold Mage is a minor character in Betrayal in Antara. He appears in Chapter Six.

Description
This character is a middle-aged human male with straight black hair and a face not recently shaven. He wears a long fur vest over a white tunic and black trousers, leather bracers on his forearms, a black leather belt with bands crossing the chest, leather-wrapped leg braces, and sandals. He carries at least one staff.

Biography
After scattering a four-swarm Lightning Bug attack, Aren Cordelaine and William Escobar find a frightened, aphasic mage in the swamp near Torlith, east of the Temple of Kor. The man retreats further into the swamp, freezing the treacherous surface in order to move safely. When they try to hail him, he only makes buzzing sounds. William thinks he's an insane Wilder mage kicked out of his tribe, but Aren is sorry for him and tries to speak to him.

By punctuating his speech with hand-claps, Aren manages to get the mage to speak in broken phrases. The mage identifies himself as "Cold," being a master of that element, and painfully explains that Lightning Bugs are maddened by cold and he'd been stung into insensibility by their relentless, agonizing electrical attacks.

If Aren offers him Grounding Wire to ward the bugs off, he takes one length of the wire and gives Aren a +10 Winterstaff, adding to his Cold stat and claiming that the staff will "teach Cold." He then moves deeper into the swamp, where he remains but can no longer be addressed.

Trivia

 * The sprite used for this character is reused for Mercenaries and Soldiers in various locations.