Finch

High Mage Finch is the court mage of the Escobar family in Betrayal in Antara He appears in Chapter 2.

History
Lord Escobar tells William Escobar to deliver Aren Cordelaine to Mage Finch for training. Finch can be found in the gully opposite the gates of Midova.

Finch is peremptory and demands courtesy from others. When located, he is watching Maposa beetle eggs, whose larvae have many magical uses and might hatch at any moment. He refuses to talk to the party until they obtain Chailan tea, which, he claims, relaxes him.

Upon receiving the Chailan tea, Finch tries to put it away in his robes and finds that he already had a pouch of it after all, waving off the inconvenience his request caused to the party. When William introduces Aren, Finch claims to be much too preoccupied by the Maposa beetle eggs to take on a novice apprentice, explaining that the larvae, properly harvested and processed, are an important ingredient in several potent elixirs. He tells them to come back some time later, but relents upon hearing Aren's fear of hurting someone inadvertently, pleased to see him taking magic seriously. While William and Kaelyn Usher watch the beetle eggs, Finch gives Aren some magic pointers, raising his Touch, Remove, and Area stats by 5 each and adding Self/Ally and Resist with 5 each.

After surviving his journeys, Aren does become Finch's apprentice.

Trivia

 * The party cannot travel into Ticor to progress the chapter until they obtain Chailan tea for Finch.
 * Finch knows Camille Farray, who later tells Aren Finch's nickname ("Boodgy") and is aware of his fondness for Maposa beetles.