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Iyoas Tar'iku Esef Roh
unwanderinggirl
Member
Name: Iyoas Tar'iku Esef Roh
Age: 29 (b. Loshis 19, 2688)
Race: oshoor (galdor)
Gender: male
Place of Origin: Thul'ka, Mugroba
Occupation: Print-maker/Bookbinder
Bio:
Iyoas' mother was an Anaxi passive, and while he would surely have loved to hear the tale of her escape and journey that led her to Mugroba, to Thul'ka, and to the Turtle, she chose never to share it. He isn't even convinced that his father, an imbala bookbinder and print-maker whose shop he inherited after the plague in 2706 left him the heir to said family business at the age of 18, had any idea of the entire ordeal either. His mother was still a happy woman from what he remembers, though he lost her first at the age of 4 when she gave birth to his sister, Ama'ra, and did not survive the difficult labor. His father worked hard to raise them both, run the bindery, and be involved in traditional imbali politics and society.
His first decade was otherwise uneventful, and he and his sister have no complaints about their childhood other than missing the lovely red-head who they would have called mama. Even once it was evident that Iyoas was, indeed, galdor and not imbali, his father didn't blink an eye. Irrespective of his racial pride, he loved his children as much as he loved his wife. Instead, he sought to give his boy a skill and point him in a direction with the hopes that the label of oshoor wouldn't carry too much of a sting as long as he had some sort of craft to back it up with. While already apprenticing him around the shop and introducing him to printing and making books, his father also took the time and money to find him a tutor and quietly, privately, secretly allow for the education of his son in magical things he had neither the ability to teach nor interest in learning much about. Studying never came easy to Iyoas, and much of what he has learned in terms of magic has been self-taught and is probably wildly dangerous, bordering on the sort of experimental theorism an Amati would give their robes for if they could. However, the clandestine, illegal nature of magical study for his son put a strain on their relationship, despite Iyoas' budding love and passion for printing in his father's footsteps.
While it was almost a personal necessity to find connection among other oshoori, especially given both his sister and his father's mostly well-hidden discomfort, Iyoas still struggled to remain connected to his family. Unfortunately, the plague of 2706 claimed his father and all but ended Iyoas' choices, leaving him the heir and proprietor of the bindery and print shop at 18 as well as the sole provider for his slightly resentful younger sister. Ama'ra never said anything out loud, but it became painfully obvious she believed her brother was, indeed, cursed.
His sister, an imbala unlike her brother, was accepted into Thul'Amat half a year after the loss of their father. She did not hesitate to take the opportunity to get away from everything familiar and sad and unfortunate. Iyoas really doesn't even know what she is studying, for it's an understatement to say they don't talk much. Her desire to distance herself from loss has also included her brother, though it may also be because of her discomfort at their magical differences. Being raised among traditionalist imbali has not always been easy for Iyoas, quite aware both physically and socially of the perceived differences between himself and almost everyone else he's surrounded by in the Turtle. It was often even more difficult for his sister, having to be a buffer between the truth and the lies.
Still seen as a soulless liar as well as some dangerous mistake by both galdori and imbali, Iyoas is more than just a little jaded with progress and politics and social standards. He's happy to have the act of creating and making to give him purpose and definition instead of anyone else's opinions, and is quite content in the truth that everyone else is no more (and no less) a liar than himself. His idea of personal honor is defined by tangible things: good printing, a well-bound book, and bootstraped, self-made spellcraft. The line he walks is thin and he finds himself more often in touch with the underbelly of Thul'Ka and not it's shining face, though that's not to say he wouldn't like to see it another way. Still, he's not interested in being considered just another typical galdor any more than he is comfortable being told he's just another imbala. Neither culture seems comfortable with him in their midst, and that's okay. He can play both sides for now. Not only can he print and bind books of any number of illicit subjects, but he can offer to more discerning clients what few others in the Turtle are able to: spellcraft. It's a bit of a competing edge in the publishing business, and Iyoas is happy to exploit it whenever the need arises, though he feels compelled to study more, be it among other oshoori in secret or from another, more illicit source in the underworld.
Personality:
Iyoas is, if nothing else, creative. He is most satisfied, focused, and confident when making something, be it hand-setting type for a book order, sewing a frame, or preparing a lithograph stone for hours on end. He'd rather be making than anything else, and the process is sometimes more important to him than the end result. In his mind, his work must be as beautiful as it is functional, and this is often a source of inner conflict. Not all of what he does can be as lovely as he'd like it to be, and often his work is more treasured as an illicit commodity instead of a work of fine craftsmanship. His creativity also spills into solving problems: he's a talker, a fixer, and an improviser when all else fails. He'd rather come up with a working solution (whether in his workshop or in a social situation) than be forced into violence, though he's not necessarily afraid to step up to such measures if the solution requires such.
That said, Iyoas is also stubborn. He likes to be right, and when he is actually wrong (which is often enough that it should be humbling), he struggles to admit he's wrong, to apologize, and to make things right. His stubbornness, tempered with a deep-rooted creative sense of perfectionism, can make him rather obstinate. He's not immune to passionate fits of stubborn frustration, and it's fortunate much of his printmaking and bookbinding equipment is too heavy to pick up and throw. When pushed against the grain, his first response is not to bend, but to push back with words. He can be shaped (persuaded), but immediate compliance to something he doesn't agree with is not his knee-jerk reaction ... ever.
Iyoas is both socially and magically aware that he is a galdor among imbali, and, while he'd like to say it has never been an issue, he can at least say he's come to terms with most of the issues that tend to arise ... most of the time. Raised by imbali, growing up with them as friends, and working side by side with them in their own city has given him an inability to view imbali as anything but equals, though growing up among traditionalists on the Turtle meant he was never quite given the same consideration. He has, on one hand, experienced the prejudice of other galdori, if only because of the mythological incredulity surrounding his ability to do magic in spite of his parentage. Legally considered just another imbala, Iyoas is quite aware that his magical abilities are completely unrecognized by his galdori peers and, well, illegal in practice. Still considered just as soul-less and full of untruth as his magicless heritage, he is a living proof of that untruth. He has also, on the other hand, experienced the prejudice of imbali as well, given that his genetic abilities isolate him from the once-exiled residents of the Turtle. Socially, he exists in an awkward bubble, unable to entirely hide and yet forced to operate in often clandestine ways. Needless to say, he has been forced to become used to feeling slightly out of place in both worlds, which has made him a somewhat reluctantly private person.
It's okay, though, because his printing presses don't discriminate when he's alone in the shop with their cast iron presences and his customers still pay him handsomely enough for illicit printed materials, magical or otherwise. He's comfortable enough in his own skin, in his relationship to the mona, that he can usually let things slide off his freckled skin, but at the same time, Iyoas has chosen to almost entirely define himself by his craftsmanship in the hopes of avoiding racial or social or political definitions, consequences of that choice in current times be damned.
Likes: strong drink (be that coffee or liquor), staying up until sunrise, the smell of ink and grease, swearing like a sailor
Dislikes: disorganized things (literally anything in disarray), social gatherings without alcohol involved, dressing fancy, cooking for himself
Goals:
Aware that most of his spellwriting customers and connections are of underworld nature, Iyoas wouldn't mind a more steady contact for more regular business, especially if he could continue to study magic in the process. Writing spells and printing magical works is perhaps his form of making a political statement, though he wouldn't be one to admit that out loud any more than he is able to make that at all public. That said, the oshoor wouldn't mind an apprentice or an assistant around the shop; printing and bookbinding are slow, laborious processes he wouldn't mind sharing with someone else. Other than that, he's not very good at thinking long term, though somewhere under the ink and glue are probably curiosities about a family for himself one day.
Physical:
Iyoas is tall for a Mugrobi native, something he considers a sort of mixed blessing from the Anaxi side of his heritage, lithe and stronger than his narrow frame implies from working around heavy machinery. His features are a bit more pointed, cheekbones set just a bit higher, and lagoon blue eyes just a little more almond-shaped than a full-blooded Mug with a crooked grin and straight teeth. His skin is the color of creamed coffee, decorated rather profusely by noticable freckles and usually smudged with ink or grease. Other than a small silver ring through his septum, Iyoas has no other piercings or markings. His not-so-curly strawberry blond hair (another unasked for Anaxi-blooded blessing) is worn shaved close on the sides and long on top in a variety of braids and baubles, all contained in a scarf or a wrap to keep it up and out of the way of any moving equipment. When setting type, sewing book spines, or writing spells, he begrudgingly wears spectacles. Otherwise, they are stuffed in his apron breast pocket.
Iyoas' mode of dress is as thoughtless and functional as possible, as he finds that printmaking ruins anything fashionable with ink and grease regardless of his well-practiced level of care, though he does like the occasional bright color in his outfit choices. More often than not when leaving his workshop or his home, he forgets to remove his worn leather apron or still has a wax pencil tucked behind his ear.
Other Notes:
His print and bindery shop is on the Way of the Book, tucked into little alley off the main road on Ribbon Street. The old hand-painted sign (refreshed last by his father almost 30 years ago) reads simply: The Between Hours Press in Mugrobi (more literally In Between the Houses of Time Press). The downstairs features Iyoas' workshop and small storefront, featuring a variety of bookbinding equipment, two different printing presses, cabinets upon cabinets of type, flat files of paper, and a host of other intricate, messy, somewhat obscurely interesting things. The upstairs is his residence, which is entirely too large a space for him even if he won't admit it, considering he now lives alone. Still, he keeps his sister's room nice and cozy as a guest room and now has a little office for himself for spellwriting and studying.
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