("The Crow")
filius Festinatio Diligens, of House Cristofer
apprenticed 368; mage 383

Alae Fractae: 368-385
Antrum: 385-

Raised at the failing reactionary Covenant Alae Fractae by the Cristoferean "vulture" Festinatio Diligens, Cornix dealt with what many Cristoferean apprentices find an absolutely untenable position by acknowledging it frankly, often introducing himself to visitors as "one of the storm crows come to batten on the corpse of this covenant." Perhaps surprisingly, this attitude rather endeared him to the Alae Fractans than otherwise: even the oldest and crankiest among them generally agreed that he was a good egg. He remained at the covenant even after his ascension to magehood, acting as aide to his parens.

In 385, when Cristoferean investigators into Vertagus' murder came to the covenant to inquire about the movements of some of its members, Cornix privately approached them to contradict the testimony of Siccoculus' filius Simus. A confrontation ensued, which quickly escalated into violence; in the battle, Cornix was struck with a debilitating corpus spell which simulated some of the nastier symptoms of leprosy, and which even after the hostilities had ended, proved resistant to treatment. He was brought back to his parens' home covenant, Antrum, later that year, when Alae Fractae was left abandoned, and has remained there ever since.

Cornix has specialized in the healing magics necessary to keep himself alive. Not only has he never found a cure for his spell-induced condition, but over time it has grown worse. The stench of his rotting flesh is unbearable for anyone possessed of a sense of smell, and most people find it virtually impossible to look at him. On the rare occasion when he does leave his quarters, he must first apply such a wide range of personal and environmental magics in order to make it possible for others to stand his presence that he very rarely even bothers anymore. He lives in his own wing of Antrum's vast cave system, far from other human beings, and he is hardly ever seen outside of it.

Cornix is the Order's foremost living expert on magics designed to counteract the effects of sepsis and decay; a number of his spells have greatly expanded the Order's efficacy at combatting infection. Years of isolation from other human beings, however, have taken their toll on his psyche: he is rumoured by those few people who have had dealings with him to have become strange and cruel. Recently, he has been publishing far more often on how to cause debilitating injury to the flesh than on how to heal it.

His only student, the Elementalist convert Cercopithecus, refuses to answer any questions about his parens or his upbringing, as he considers such curiousity "unseemly."

Students:

• Cercopithecus, from 395 to 410

Genealogy:

• Arrians Through Cynthea: Descendants of Pullina Decapita through Tecmessa