Falcon
Real Name: V’lindor Foradain, Viscount Northbrook, House of the Falcon.
Also known as: Val Fordan, Uncle Val, Mr. Northbrook
Description: Male humanoid, unknown species. Height: 7’1”. Weight: 195 lbs Hair: Light brown. Eyes: Green, cat-like pupils. Ears have a slight point at top-back.
Origin: Elsewhere
Archetype: Gladiator
Known powers: Teleportation, some magic, high strength.
Known equipment: Sword of unusual design, 1.13 m long. Psionic shield device.

[I]Elsewhere:[/I]
I had found the lair of my quarry. I picked up and pocketed the historical novel that had been used as the basis for a book-code, and then picked up a tome on the forbidden sorcery of the Ancients. That was when my quarry found me. He cast a spell that I’m sure would’ve killed me, except that I blocked it with the grimoire. Whoever had written it, or maybe someone who owned it later, had put some hefty protections on it. It twisted the spell and used its energy to send me to a safe place…
[I]Reseda, California, 0430 17 January 1994:[/I]
It missed “safe”. Just after I arrived, the ground started heaving, buildings were shaking. The building I was next to looked like it was about to collapse. The earthquake stopped. People started to come out to see what had happened. The ground shook again. That building did collapse then, debris trapping a small child whose family had just come out. The mother screamed, and I didn’t stop to think. I ‘ported over, grabbed the child’s hand, then ‘ported us both back out to the middle of the street. The ground was quiet again, but noise continued: strange wailing sounds, mostly coming from strange objects with wheels lining the sides of the street. After that stopped, similar sounds continued from farther away.
I looked around, listened to the people. They were not quite like my race, but were shorter, and many looked like the [I]Rasari[/I] who lived on the edges of the Empire. I could not understand their speech, but the child I had saved pointed to the book I had let fall. She ran to it, opened it, and pointed at one of the titles before running back to her parents. The book was in a language I had studied, so in the strange light from atop the pole I could read the spell as well as the title: Borrow Language. I looked at the little girl, and she smiled and made an odd gesture with a clenched fist and a thumb pointing up.
I committed the spell to memory as best I could, then attempted to cast it. Partial success allowed me to follow what people were saying: “There might be more aftershocks.” “*** lines should be shut off.” “You should keep that book, you need it.” I looked back at the little girl as she continued. “But that other book you should take to Titan City. The dragon at the library will pay a lot for it.” I pulled out the historical novel. “This one?” I tried in their language. She nodded, and pointed off to the east. “Central Library, Titan City. See you later!” Her parents thanked me, and I asked where Titan City was. They told me it was on the eastern coast of their nation, towards the north, and that we were almost to the western shore, and toward the south. I said farewell, took my books, and headed east.
This country of yours is huge! It took me almost three days of teleporting along your “freeways” before I reached the eastern coast, and another to reach Titan City. But I found the Central Library, and Karhythadrizsa the Book Wyrm, who paid me quite well indeed, enough that I could live on for months while I got settled. I found I could make good money as a courier. I learned most of the safer spells in the grimoire, and some of the dangerous ones.
The little girl did see me later, about ten years later. I had learned that your race is like the [I]Rasari[/I] in another way: You do not live as long as we do. She was grown up, and was attending the University here. Afterward, she got married and built a home for herself and her wife and later their children, to whom I stand as a ”godfather”. Which means if you somehow get past their mothers to hurt them, expect me to be dropping in on you.