Draven is a lean, weather-beaten tiefling man of medium height, with charcoal-red skin, swept-back black horns, a narrow face, golden eyes, and a long tail marked by old whip scars. His dark hair is tied behind his head with frayed cord, and his travel-stained coat is patched with scraps of old military banners. A crystal arcane focus hangs at his throat, cloudy with trapped violet sparks. He carries himself like a man who expects betrayal before breakfast.

Draven is sharp-tongued, suspicious, and theatrically self-assured despite his worsening circumstances. He speaks like a lecturer addressing slow students, then quietly studies every exit in the room. He prefers intimidation and clever bargains to honest cooperation, but he is resourceful enough to make himself useful when survival demands it.

Draven was born in a provincial archive where his mother copied legal records and his unknown fiendish ancestor was spoken of only in sealed genealogies. His horns and strange eyes made him an object of suspicion, but his quick mind earned him work among scholars. He spent years traveling between monasteries, manor libraries, and ruined observatories, trading labor for access to forbidden histories. During an experiment involving a damaged planar map, raw magic erupted through him. The event burned a constellation-shaped scar across his chest and left several senior scholars dead, though Draven insists the accident was caused by their cowardice and poor preparation. He turned his new power into a profession, selling his services as an arcane mercenary to caravans, minor nobles, and desperate adventurers. For a time he was well paid, but his temper, cruelty, and habit of abandoning employers when the odds turned against him ruined his reputation. Now he travels with little more than a battered spellbook, a crystal focus, and debts owed to people who would prefer to collect in blood. Draven still hunts obscure lore, not out of academic wonder, but because he believes the right secret could restore his fortune, command fear, and finally make the world regret ever treating him as disposable.