Marius

Marius is an old (and somewhat moody) hedgemage, and a reoccurring character in the Unnamed Story. The go-to authority for deadly injuries, he is more than just a drunken healer. (But that's most of it.)

Personality
On the whole, healers are expected to be a certain way. Often young or middle-aged women, attractive but not pretty, they tend to be friendly, motherly and protective, with the patience and wisdom well beyond their years. By that logic, Marius is not much like a healer. In a time where people rarely live long, he is very old--older than he looks, by far--and that sort of age has consequences. More interested in writing, liquor, and gambling than "doing good," Marius is changeable, moody, and painfully arrogant when he isn't in his cups. If he doesn't know literally everything, he certainly thinks that he does. (And it's probably true.) Despite this, he is gifted in the craft, his brand of healing more akin to modern surgery and twice as effective. His admittedly gray moral code dictates who he helps out of the goodness of his shriveled old heart, with all others required to trade in coin or favors for his services. He only works for free when he stands to gain, or when it's owed--and he owes plenty, his vices leaving him in perpetual debt.

Marius shows little interest in trivial things such as the passage of time, dietary needs, and maintained hygiene. He owns three robes and they're all at least his age. The only thing that brings him around is the promise of some new discovery. He will stop just about anything to take notes, often to the frustration of his clients, and in spite of his own safety.

History
The only history Marius will not talk about is his own. No one really knows where he came from, besides the scarcely-uttered admission of "Corva," followed shortly by "a while ago." A while might be putting it lightly. What is clear from the state of his hovel is that he is (or was once) a scholar, his many shelves packed with volumes of lore and history that he penned himself, with in-progress studies often scattered about underfoot. He shows an understanding of any number of languages, his journals written in illegible script that is either encoded or a dead language. His only possession of value--his staff, Moir'gatiel--takes the form of a tree, its limbs encircling elements used in every type of magic from clairvoyance to pyromancy. An excessive catalyst for a healer, let alone one who washes once a month. All of these details indicate some long and complex history, but Marius is less than interested in sharing it. That may never change.

The Unnamed Story
Healers in the Kingdom of Kyravelle are in no short supply, but with so much ground to cover, they are difficult to reach in a pinch. Most of them, at any rate. When the Party finds their favorite defender on the edge of death, Caspian guides them across the wilds to a ramshackle hut, and there, they meet Marius. The old mage is loath to offer his services to a knight, having clear reasons for disliking the Order, but Caspian is quick to remind him of an unspoken debt, and Marius reluctantly complies. Despite the grave extent of Rainer's injuries, he wakes a number of days later, scarred and shaken but alive when he should not have been. Marius is quick to dismiss his skill as the reason, leaving Rainer to wonder at his words as the Party is shuttled back onto the road. This is the first but not the last place where the old hermit mage is met, and from then on, he just seems to be everywhere.