"The true gift of magic is not the illusions it brings, but those which we are freed from when embracing it."

-Ivellios

Ivellios found at an early age (early being considered within the first 500 years of Nelven’s lifespan) that his ability to channel and control energy was far beyond that of his siblings and other Nelven youth. Being placed amongst the High Mages of Dhulahan, a Nelven order of elite mages, and the governing body of the remaining Nelven, Ivellios gained access to the wealth of knowledge and spells passed down from generation to generation, some said to have been written down from Dhula and Agnememnon themselves.

The trials of the mage were difficult for Ivellios. Though he was able to master any spell that was taught to him, he always felt as though something was missing, and this affected his overall performance. He couldn't fill the void in his soul with any amount of prestige he acquired through his talents. Several of the masters in the order thought that this doubt would ultimately lead to his failure as a mage. Ivellios was treated as a lesser mage compared to the older, and self-proclaimed "wiser" mages of the order, and began to resent them and their status. For a Nelven to truly tap into its potential, it must embrace its cultural heritage and commune directly with Havokk itself. Determined to prove himself to his superiors and his species, Ivellios sought newer, stronger forms of magic: spells and rituals that would be considered forbidden knowledge to those who followed the order more devoutly.

While on his quest for enlightenment, Ivellios and his traveling party encountered a group of Ytaxians. The Ytaxian forces wiped out the other members of Ivellios' party, though this mage was determined to survive and prove to the order that he was powerful enough to be considered a master among them. Nearly being overrun by the Ytaxian forces, Ivellios felt a surge of inner power and released it – the ensuing blast broke apart the fabric of reality around him, ripping shards of existence from the space around him and turning these pieces of existence surrounding him into what resembled glass shards and blades. A deadly barrage exploded in all directions from him that wiped out the attacking Ytaxians. These incredible new abilities started to flow through him naturally by the time he returned, and he had already begun to shape reality to his liking at will. Being able to bend and manipulate reality gave him extraordinary power over other mages, but also left him being rejected by other Nelven, fearing that he had been corrupted by the Ytaxian energies.

Returning to the High Mages of Dhulahan with these impressive new abilities, they rejected Ivellios, calling this magic "an abomination of the natural order" and "disruptive to existence." The leader of the order, Kinedas Liadon, was especially worried, as Ivellios’s abilities were perceived as aligning with the nearly forgotten prophecy of the end of days known to the Nelven people. Kinedas banished Ivellios from Dhulahan and the order. Feeling that the order and his peers would no longer be able to improve upon his superior new abilities, Ivellios set off on a quest to master this reality-bending magic.