Mordechai Rotenkopf (and his younger brother)

A dark and stormy winter's eve many scores of years ago, exactly how many is a well kept secret, the lordly couple Miranda and Johann Rotenkopf became parents for the eighth (and ninth) time. Expectations were high as the couple already had six sons and a daughter, this meaning that one of the new babes would be the seventh son of a seventh son and hence a mighty wizard of true greatness.
Upon arrival, the infant (and his younger brother) proved to be a vivid and noisy boy, and as the wet nurse held the firstborn (and his brother) high to be admired by the ecstatic parents, a flash of lightning struck the old beech outside the house. With a thunderous crash the window shutters flung wide open, a cold eerie wind extinguished the candles and blinding light dazzled nurse and parents alike. Shocked and frightened by the turmoil, the wet nurse dropped the boy (and his baby brother) on the carpeted floor.
In the following darkness, the boy (and his brother) tumbled helplessly around after the drop but soon came to rest against a soft, fleshy object (his younger brother). This was the start of an unpredicted and life-long rivalry between the two brothers as no-one could now prove who came into the world firstly.

The boys were however equally loved and raised in true Rotenkopf fashion by devote parents. They were also given a most comfortable and rather pampered childhood as that particular branch of the family lived in the posh noble district. Miranda had brought a handsome dowry into the marriage and Johann was well very connected as second cousin to no less than “the Nan.”

The firstborn son they named Mordechai after a famous Warlock of old, and already at an early age he showed proof of an immense aptitude for magic. His younger brother, who was named Gregoire after their sisters guinea-pig, also displayed talent in this field (albeit not as much as his older brother), and due to this it was soon decided that the two boys at later age would attend the Academy of Many Colours.

First to leave the shelter of home was however neither of the twins, but instead their eldest brother Anguz who turned out to be a bona-fide warrior and concupiscent womanizer. His lust for gold and easy girls set him firmly upon the path of the freelance adventurer and over the years he won great renown as dragon slayer, pirate butcher and troll whipping treasure hunting hero. With ambiguous feelings, the twins both loved, ridiculed and envied Anguz at the same time. They also both now well that blood is thicker than water.

In their adolescence the twin brothers became unruly culprits and kept on annoying family and relatives alike with jests, pranks and japes to a point when their parents decided that their job was done and it was time for the Academy and proper tutoring and guidelines. At first it was only meant that Mordechai as the seventh son should go to college, but as Miranda and Johann could not say for certain that Gregoire wasn’t the seventh son (he wasn’t in truth), the boys both left.
Arriving at the academy the brothers got enlisted in different orders as the very wise and observant headmasters directly spotted that the pair were at each others throats constantly. And so Mordechai joined the Red Order of Cosmic Might whilst Gregoire had to settle for the less intimidating Orange Order of Garden Magic.

The Orders of the Academy:

• Indigo
• Purple
• Red
• Blue
• Green
• Orange
• Yellow

However, only six of the orders are represented at the academy as the Indigo wizards have all fallen to evil practises and many heed the call of Lord Nidnatt.

After seven years, seven months, seven days and seven hours (both pushed and shoved the sibling in order to be out the seventh minute as well) the now young men concluded their education and went out into the world to do service to the Academy and gain wisdom and experience as magical apprentices.

Their first mission was to defeat and disarm Ulgoth the Occultist, who had made his lair in the Dark Tower of Keys. Ulgoth was eventually subjugated and entrapped in a magical crystal, but on the very same mission, the brothers (both accuse the other) unluckily broke the Seven Seals of Command and the daemon known as Gorrramarr the Defiler was set loose upon the world. After seven years of following Gorrramarr, the Rotenkopf brothers finally hunted him down and banished him to the Nether Worlds, but not before the foul daemon set a curse upon them that would haunt them for decades to come. Of this the brothers never speak openly and only discuss among themselves.

For many years, Mordechai and Gregoire have been adventuring in distant lands and now they have finally returned to Köping after fulfilling the mandatory years of servitude (seven times seven), and have accomplished the seven great deeds required to be appointed Magikus by the Council of Magic.

The magic hierarchy:

• Apprentice
• Magician
• Conjurer
• Wizard
• Magikus
• Mage
• Enchanter

Their foremost goal is now to gain further rank in the hierarchy and at the same time once and for all resolve who of them is the elder brother.