Elijah "BearClaw" Nevaris

Elijah Nevaris is the son of Sergei Nevaris and a Irulani royal.

Early life
While much of Elijah's origin is a mystery, there is quite a bit that could be put together using the bits of knowledge present. It is believed that Elijah was born into a nomadic tribe that frequented northern Eldham between some 20 - 30 years ago. The tribe would migrate around northern Eldham, analyzing and adapting to the areas they'd find themselves inside (a unique skill that Elijah would later develop). Despite their analysis of the modern societies growing around them, they would remain traditional [unmodernized, noncivilized] at the request of the tribal elder, a choice that they would regret. During a fateful expedition southward into regions unknown by the tribe, they would be mistaken for a bandit gang and hunted down by nearby civilizations. The tribe would be disorganized and under-supplied due to their traditional nature, preventing them from successfully repelling attacks. Conflict would ensue as the tribe was attacked by said civilizations and partially wiped out, only a small portion surviving.

Elijah and his biological parents were among the survivors, along with the elder of the tribe and a few others. Elijah's parents were believed to have became outspoken critics of the elder after the attack, recognizing that his incompetence and failure to civilize and modernize the tribe was the primary reason for the fall of the tribe. In an attempt to clear his name and remove Elijah's biological family from his list of annoyances, the elder made a claim that they had sold the tribe's location out in exchange for a large sum of gold, resulting in an uproar from the remaining tribesmen, who'd believe the elder's claim and call for the death of Elijah and his family. Believed to be four or five at the time, Elijah would watch as his parents were brutally killed in front of him. Rather than outright killing Elijah alongside his parents, the tribe would exile him into the perilous wilderness without any supplies. It was believed that he'd undoubtedly die out there, yet Elijah would survive against all odds.

A young bruised and battered Elijah would stumble south, eventually being found by an man by the name of Allvar Bearpaw, who would take the child to the relative safety of Tokkotentotski in Irulan. Elijah would be nursed to health by Allvar for approximately a year, Elijah meanwhile analyzing and adapting to the viking nature of Tokkotentotski (a skill once again brought forth by his experiences with the tribe). Eventually, the royal Sergei Nevaris would arrive in the town, meeting the young boy who would eventually become his son. Elijah would prove incredibly slick and clever (eventually gaining him the nickname of Slick), often managing to sneak himself into different situations and such for both his own benefit and the benefit of others. Sergei Nevaris would eventually grow fond of Elijah, settling on adopting him. Sergei would move Elijah to Wavegrad, which would really be Elijah's first entry into prime civilization, the culture and modernization of the city being beyond anything he had really experienced as part of the tribe. Elijah would adapt quickly, adoring the wealthy modernized civilization he had been brought into.

Family
Adopted by Sergei Nevaris, the older brother of King Alphdeim Nevaris (Elijah's uncle), Elijah would join the House of Nevaris; gaining him royal status in Irulan. Elijah would become the younger brother of Stefan Andreus, gaining another brother shortly after his own entry into the Nevaris family by the name of Cheesars.

Time in Wavegrad
Now Elijah Nevaris of Irulan, he'd begin to study the culture and ideals of the new society he had been brought into. Spurred by his father and the experiences of his past, Elijah would place an emphasis on gaining knowledge about history, politics, and economics. Elijah would spend hours at a time learning new things and soaking up any information he could get. Having gained more respect and trust of his father, Elijah would be granted the position of Associate in the Nevaris Trade Company (under the control of his father). Soon, Elijah would be entrusted to quite a few projects hosted by his family, particularly his father. He'd assist his father in the excavation of an underground district in Wavegrad, with the intentions on boosting industry. Elijah, while excavating, would discover a massive gold and iron mine, becoming quite wealthy. Elijah would reinvest almost all his wealth into the many projects he was apart of, also donating much of it to the welfare of people across Eldham (particularly in Irulan). With the spare money gained from his excavation and mining operations, Elijah would purchase several properties across Irulan, with multiple properties in Wavegrad alone. Elijah would gain further influence in the city after the departure of WilyNily- as his father would become the new owner of Wavegrad. He'd ultimately call Wavegrad home.

Careers
Elijah would mainly come under the employment of his father, assisting him on major projects and exploits; the largest of which was the excavation below Wavegrad. The excavation below Wavegrad ordeal would present some unique opportunities to Elijah, having stumbled upon the rich mines below. For quite a long time, Elijah would serve as a miner, gaining tons of riches. With resources running dry in the mine, Elijah would proceed to turn to fishing as a source for further profit, striking further riches in that career. Through it all, Elijah would remain enamored with public works and ideas of helping the people of Irulan, which he'd do his best to implement. After the departure of WilyNily, Elijah would come into possession of her library in Wavegrad. Wishing to create a platform on which knowledge could be effectively transferred and discussed, Elijah would form the Irulani Public Library System (IPLS), bringing several different libraries across Irulan under it's directive. Beyond that, Elijah would wander job to job, assisting people whenever the needed, usually for little to no pay if it was for the benefit of Irulan. His many careers and experiences would feed a growing ambition for himself to enter politics. This ambition would be partially fed when he entered the office of Cascade-Wavegrad count; though it'd ultimately fall after a scandal which would result in the position being stripped from Elijah.

Entry into nobility (land ownership)
With many people becoming inactive over the years, towns across Eldham would fall into severe disarray. Multiple towns in Irulan would be impacted by inactivity. Elijah would watch in horror as many beautiful towns, formerly full of life and happiness, would fade into nothingness. The final straw would come when Mareveil docks, directly south of the Irulan capital Cascade, would be abandoned and unclaimed. Elijah would scrape together a large sum of money to purchase the lands on which Mareveil docks was located, becoming a land owner. Elijah would immediately make repairs to the main village, which had suffered minor damage as an result of scavengers and squatters pillaging it for resources. Already royal, Elijah would now join the nobility as the owner of Mareveil (not to mention his more minor scale ownership of properties in other towns), giving him further power and influence across Irulan and Eldham as an whole-- eventually leading him to his short-lived position as count. He'd later come into possession of New Cadia after the restoration of Mareveil.

Modern battle experiences
Elijah would face his first modern battle during the Ahalian [Vulperium]-Atlechian war in the city of Lazodi. Elijah and his father would both volunteer to defend Ahalia, being shipped to Lazodi to defend the city from an Atlechian offensive. The battle of Lazodi would ultimately occur on the 12th of March, 2022. Atlechian forces would hit hard, managing to squeeze troops into the city of Lazodi itself. Elijah and the other defenders would clear the city center of hostile enemy forces in bloody and ruthless close-up fighting. Many individuals would die in the first few minutes of the battle alone, Elijah himself being injured by attacking Atlechian forces during the beginning moments of the battle. Elijah, despite facing injuries and using up quite a few resources, would continue to fight. With majority of Atlechian forces inside the Lazodi city center removed, Elijah would begin to patrol the walls, facing multiple ambushes and other attacks by Atlechian forces attempting to scale it. Elijah and his comrades would face the largest Atlechian attack as they'd attempt to capture a vulnerable point on the wall in a charge, Ahalian forces ultimately being able to repel the attack and eliminate many of the charging Atlechian forces. The battle would begin to die down, with Atlechian forces being forced to fall back. The defense of Lazodi would be a success, though at a terrible cost. Over fifty-two soldiers (17 on the side of Ahalia, 35 on the side of Atlechia) would be killed during the battle. While still feeling immense honor for his role in the conflict, Elijah would continue to suffer from the traumatic events of the battle for years to come.