Basil Black

Basil Black was a young physician working in the humble mining town of Osmara in the province of Korkyra. He was later a key figure in the Philomena Uprising.

Description
A small-framed boy of fourteen, Basil has dark hair, blue eyes, and wears round iron spectacles. He possesses a formidable intellect, and is intensely interested in medicine, physiology, and the natural sciences.

Early Life
Very little is known of Basil’s origin. According to some accounts, a pale-skinned, blue-eyed baby boy swaddled in green linens was found by the wreck of a wagon on one of the harsh roads leading to Osmara. Residents believe that Basil’s parents were migrants who were attacked by mordonocs or bandits. In any case, Basil was adopted by Osmara patriarch and metallurgist Thon Black as a very young child in approximately 824.

The young Basil was not physically robust and didn’t excel at any of the sports that young boys play in Korkyran mining towns. Instead, he seemed consumed with the quest for knowledge. He acquired books, and seemed particularly interested in the natural world around him. His study of insects, birds, and work animals eventually led him to the study of medicine and health. By the age of 11, he was reading large (illegal) texts on medicine procured by a bemused Thon Black. For the most part, the townsfolk did not take his abilities seriously, although he was called on a time or two to handle sick feed animals. This changed after a mining disaster in 835, in which seven miners were killed. Several accounts from townspeople agree that that number would have been significantly higher had Basil not been on hand to deal with serious wounds.

Philomena Uprising
Basil was fourteen when his tranquil life in Osmara was suddenly interrupted. An injured messenger collapsed at the Osmara town gate, apparently poisoned by the Imperium Fleet. Before dying, the messenger informed Basil that he was a Bookkeeper, indeed one of the last ones. To do his duty as a Bookkeeper, he must find and travel on the airship known as Philomena out of Misericordiae. As the messenger dies, his pursuers catch up with him. The Imperium Fleet, headed by Grand Admiral Lysandros Rast, lands at Osmara. In the ensuing attack, Thon Black is killed. In his last act, he sends Basil on his way to Misericordiae via a secret passage.