User Profile

Name: Ben Klivian
Age: 19
Social Class: Sportsman
Birthday: September 25.
Blood Type: B-
Family: Lara, mother. Jason, younger brother, age 15.
Preferred Element: Fire

The only thing Ben remembers about his father is that he was always smiling.

The Klivians were farmers, poor in the best of seasons and barely able to last through the bad ones. When Ben was still small, and his younger brother Jason barely old enough to walk, their father died in an accident, and the family's situation became even more dire.

Their mother couldn't work hard enough to keep things afloat herself, and with the boys still too young to be much help, she did the only thing she could think of and handed them over to an orphanage. She didn't expect they'd have the best of lives there, but it would be better than anything she could give them at the moment. Eventually, when they were older, she took to returning and bringing them home with her for the harvest season - the one time there was enough food to go around and the time when she most needed help - and sending them back to the orphanage afterwards.

Ben never questioned the arrangement, although he had a sense that things had been better before somehow, even if he could only vaguely remember how or why. But he reasoned that his mother must've had her reasons, and so all he could do was work his hardest when he was home, and take good care of Jason when he wasn't.

It was an accident that finally gave him the chance for something more. When he was nine, he found an old tennis ball that had somehow or other wound up in the yard outside the orphanage. There was nobody in sight to return it to, so he kept it, and soon began to spend most of his free time bouncing it off the wall outside, catching it, throwing it at the wall to catch it on the rebound again.

The director of the orphanage eventually noticed - it was hard not to notice a thumping noise coming from under his window every day. He had played tennis himself, long ago, though he'd never made it terribly far due to mediocre talent and old injuries.

He still had an old racket in his closet, he said, would Ben like that? As long as he was careful with it, of course.

Ben was thrilled, and was soon doing his best to learn how to use it, although lack of a net or an opponent kept him from getting terribly far. Still, for what he had, he did well with it, and the director occasionally had time to watch and give him pointers.

When he was fourteen, a well-dressed man stopped at the orphanage one day and introduced himself as Mr. Halcyon (but please do just call him Hal, he said). He knew that Ben liked tennis, and he said that Ben had potential, and that he thought it would be very good for Ben to come with him and learn. Ben was a bit doubtful at first - wasn't it almost time to go help his mother with the harvest, anyway? - but Hal assured him that if he trained properly, he'd be able to make enough money as a tennis player that his family would never have to worry about farming again.

Ben agreed, much to his brother's chagrin. (They never did know how exactly Hal had found out about Ben. Ben said maybe Hal had watched him through the fence and known a good thing when he saw it. Jason said that was creepy and anyone worth knowing had better things to do than watch children through fences, and it was just as likely that the director had pointed Hal in Ben's direction and hoped to make a cut of the eventual profits. Ben said that it wasn't that creepy and that Jason's version lacked imagination, thank you very much, although perhaps what he really meant is that Jason should consider breaking his habit of seeing the worst side of everything.)

It was a whirlwind of training after that, and although a few of the bad habits Ben had picked up in absence of a proper instructor were difficult to tame, by the time he was eighteen Hal said he was ready to go knock 'em dead. He's sailed through numerous smaller tournaments with ease, and while he's not yet a household name, those who closely follow the sport agree that he stands a very good chance of becoming the Next Big Thing; he has enough talent to rule the courts, and enough presence to win over the crowds.

In the early rounds for what would have been his first major tournament, however, the testors came and informed him that he was to attend Everthorne - and as the start of next term and the dates of the semi-finals were too close to reconcile, he would have to withdraw in order to make it to the school on time.

Jason said it was an amazing opportunity and Ben should be properly grateful and go work hard and become a goddamned mage, if he knew what was good for him.

Ben said he wished he could have just finished the tournament first.

Ben strives to meet everything in life the same way he remembers his father doing so - head-on, with a smile on his face. He's a firm believer that things could always be worse, and as such, it's better to appreciate what you have and keep a good attitude about it, and his attitude has contributed to the fanbase he's begun to win on the tennis courts - he always seems like he's having the time of his life when he's playing, and crowds tend to react positively to his boundless energy and infectious grin.

This isn't to say that he never has his doubts; however, he rarely sees the point in voicing them, especially when he has a cynical younger brother who's always around to do so for him. Jason has always been wherever Ben is, almost like a shadow; they've rarely spent much time apart and Ben won't play a game if Jason isn't around to watch it, even if Jason spends half the time in the stands grumbling that he doesn't really care for tennis and goddammit Ben, don't pull so much of that acrobatic crap or you'll pop a kneecap and then where will we be? Half of Ben's unrelenting cheer is probably for the sake of countering his brother's gloom-and-doom attitude - though half of Jason's gloom-and-doom attitude is probably for the sake of recognizing what Ben doesn't seem to notice, though neither of them would ever admit it.

Ben's not afraid of taking risks and he knows he's been extraordinarily lucky to get everything he has now; however, he's privately sure that all that luck can only go so far, and he's probably burned up more than his fair share just getting into Everthorne, let alone getting out of it.

Ben looks as though he hasn't quite finished growing into his age yet; he still has boyish features and a smattering of freckles, and since he's usually grinning like a maniac, the lack of comportment doesn't help him look older, either. He has dark hair, which he's never gotten the hang of combing too well (Hal says it's fine and it looks "charming," so he doesn't worry about it much), and he stands about average height.