Paul Ferens

Born in Hull, near the East Coast of England, to a Corax father and a normal mother. Both he and his brother are Kinfolk to the Corax, but Raven seems to have taken an active interest in Paul. During his pre-teen years, his father told him about the Corax, the spirit world, and the metaphysical war between the Triat. Whether he believed it or not, it stuck in his mind, and he heeded his father's warnings about not telling his mother or brother, both of whom didn't want to understand the truth.

From an early age, Raven's influence was evident in Paul, his immense curiosity at that time turning into a lust for learning. He was one of the brightest students his schools had ever seen, and his teachers lamented that he could not find the time out of school to carry on learning. He was doing, but in his own way; he was learning about life outside that which the lessons taught, devouring books at an almost alarming rate.

When he was nine, he was first introduced to the world of the computer. These strange machines that could do almost anything captivated him, and he spent a lot of time learning how to operate and program them. From the Commodore 64, through various games machines, to a shaky Amstrad 80286 that was his first taste of a PC for his 14th birthday. He was hooked. The machine was tinkered with, and optimized, and generally cared for as only a true natural could. Raven was apparently happy with the path he took, he often picked up components on the cheap as people just happened not to need exactly what he was looking for.

In the summer of 1997, Paul was introduced to the Internet, and was captivated once more. His lust for knowledge and his curiosity could be sated at last. Connecting either through his friends' relatives' businesses, or through the link at his college, he spent a great deal of time on the net. Needless to say, he did not go unnoticed. Scott McNair, a Virtual Adept, became close friends with Paul. He believed Paul had what it took to join his Tradition, and through a series of mind-bending puzzles and questions showed him the way to Awakening.

His Awakening was not all all sweetness and light. His father, feeling estranged from everyone bar Paul, had become disenchanted with the perfect life that he had thought he wanted. Seeing his son spending so much time secluded on his own, he believed that even Paul had lost his fascination with the world of Spirits and suchlike that his father often told him of. Paul spending three days straight locked in his room going through his Awakening was the last straw. Leaving a note stuck to Paul's door explaining how he felt and why, his father took off for the Deep Umbra, loosing the sun. He has not been seen since. A week afterwards, Scott was killed by unnamed sources, believed to be part of a Nephandic cult he was investigating.

Since his father's departure, the general attitude of his family changed. Paul spent his days at college or walking the streets, not wanting to be in the house. At night he would continue tinkering with his computer or net connection, constantly trying new theories. His mother and brother grew distant, and arguments between them became more frequent. Paul grew used to the idea of not having a family, instead finding a form of surrogate family with two close friends, Luke Wilson and Stewart Hamilton. The three became a force to be reckoned with, growing closer than many families in the process. His mother and brother were glad when he gained a place at Staffordshire University on a joint Computing/Mathematics degree, but Paul once more felt the terrible wound of losing the people closest to him.

He quickly realized that with his Magical training, he could ace the degree, and skipped lectures in favour of being outside, finding out about his locale. He readily helped his friends pass modules of the degree, even though he had hardly been to any lectures. Using the University internet connection, along with hardware that he had bought, cajoled or stolen, he was able to rig together a Trinary computer and connect to the Digital Web. His initial effort too up most of the space in his student flat, but once he was able to confer with other Adepts he redesigned and rebuilt a lot. The other adepts helped him understand the intrinsic properties of what he was working with, and how his particular technological style of magic could help reduce his design.

Though his Christmas holiday was spent at home, his mother hardly saw him. He was either out with a girl that she thought was his girlfriend, or being online. In actual fact, that period was a Seeking, where he made contact with his Avatar for the first time since his Awakening. She helped show him that he could mesh his father's teachings of the Corax with what the other Adepts had taught him. It was a harrowing period, which lead to a breakdown and attempted suicide upon his return to University. Dragging himself back to sanity, he successfully merged the seemingly unconnected paradigms into one, and was stronger emotionally because of it. Trusting in Raven to provide for him, he took his stuff and instead of returning home over Easter he was lucky enough to catch a cheap flight to Kansas City. Renting a cheap apartment in the slums of the city, he set out quickly to explore.

His first foray into the mazelike streets and alleys of the city brought him to the nearby ruins of the Bradford Suites Hotel. There he encountered Dara MacNeil, and after the initial shock wore off, he left with a lingering wonder if he would ever see her again. First however, he met others, including Zelda Cliff, Matt Sunchaser, and Saskia Ivierska. With Saskia's agreement and help, he has learned the language of the Corax, and more details about the supernatural entities in the area. He met again with Dara whilst walking the alleys one night, and as a result of events that transpired that night the pair started residing together. 

Depression, however, followed him like flies on manure. Because of the perceived lack of direction his life had, he attempted to kill himself. Saved at literally the last moment, a long discussion ensued, whereupon he attempted to reverse his state of mind with mainly positive results. Joining the urban 'terrorist' group known as SubTech Zero was, however, not the best idea that he ever had. Scant weeks after joining, he was accused of being tainted, and the cleansing cost him both his Trinary computer, and a hole in his chest. His mental state took another dive, and he became cold and detached from the world

Though it took months, he eventually started on the road to recovery. Over this period most of his energies were directed towards finding Logan Raines, the Euthanatos that had ruined him in the first place. Even so, the group did not share his hatred of Logan, and constantly reassigned him to tasks designed to both take his mind off the situation and do some good for the group. Unfortunately, one of them stopped his search. A drive-by shooting nearly cost him his life, but in order to avoid the Police he was forced to flee. Meeting up with the rest of STZ, the majority of that group simply vanished.

Reports later came through about some kind of time-travelling incident, in which Paul was killed, and his body was released to the Corax of the area for their funeral rites. However, playing with the multiverse is a dangerous thing, especially for Mages. Both him and Saskia were thrown through the timestream, appearing in countless alternate realities where they constantly try to find a way back to the world that they know.