"Harmis Detz, this entire nation is under a curse, and will fall to the forces of Chaos and the foul breath of plague unless we can save it."
- —Averil[1a]
Averil, second apprentice of the wizard Astyanax
Averil is the youngest apprentice of the wizard Astyanax, an elementalist who lives beside a remote and forbidding tarn high in the hills at the edge of Faramond's empire.[1a]
Averil is of Tilean stock, with short black hair and black eyes. She is rather stocky and below medium height, which, when combined with her rather plain, rounded face and mode of dress, gives her a very masculine appearance. She is uncertain of her real age, but appears to be no more than 16 or 17 years.[1a]
Averil was an unwanted child, and was abandoned in Aldium to be indentured as a serving girl. When she was old enough she was bought by a pharmacist as a slave, and was taught to mix potions and herbs, though they were largely ineffectual and worthless. When her master drank himself to death she was taken in by Astyanax, whom she knew through her work, and became his second apprentice.[1a]
Perhaps as a result of her childhood, or perhaps because of her relative lack of beauty, Averil almost hates the fact that she is a girl. She is constantly trying to prove herself, and will never back down gracefully even when she knows she is wrong, as she sees that as a form of feminine weakness. Averil is unwilling to open up to people and often appears to be defensive. She especially despises male bravado and machismo, and takes such instances as a personal attack because they serve to draw attention to the fact that she is "just a girl."[1a]