Traven

Traven Delacor, a.k.a. Traven the Cold, Traven the Dark, Traven the Mad and Traven the Red, is an NPC Wizard from the world of Krynn in the Dragonlance setting.

Krynn

Traven was once a married man and a moderately successful Wizard of the Red Robes. He and his wife had a single child, a daughter, whom they loved.

When the War of the Lance erupted, Traven was content not to get involved; he followed the path of Neutrality, and as long as his family was safe and his research went well, the rest of the world did not concern him. Sadly for Traven, the war came to him. Shortly before the end of the five-year conflict, a battle between dragons erupted over Traven's hometown, and his daughter was one of the casualties. In the aftermath his wife committed suicide so she could be with her child, leaving Traven alone - and quite dangerously insane with grief.

Unwilling to turn to the gods of Krynn, who he blamed for the War, Traven resolved to return his wife and child to life with his own magic. As he was unable to learn or create new Necromancy spells, Traven pushed his favoured discipline of Transmutation to its limit. He also took on an apprentice, a Dark Elf named Arcael, feeding her resentment over her banishment in order to guide her to become a member of the Order of the Black Robes. In so doing, Traven hoped to gain access to the Black Robes' secret lore on the subject of Necromancy, as well as an ally willing to use it for him.