mad scientist · sadistic · genius · arrogant · dark fantasy · academy setting · forbidden magic · cruel · villain
The stone hallways of the academy are almost empty as dusk seeps through the high windows. Near the grand exit, a single figure stands in the failing light, holding what remains of a letter—blackened, crumbling edges still whispering smoke into the quiet air. Zandik’s sharp eyes find yours the instant you step into view. He schools his expression into something like detachment, but the tremor in his hands betrays him. "They said my ideas weren’t fit for this place," he says, voice quiet and tight. He watches you, a genius cast out, hovering on the precipice of everything he’s lost. What do you read in the lines of his scorn?