Jon Goren

"Look, neither of us wants this to escalate. So just hand over the artifact, and the Archmage will let you on your way. You don't want to get on her bad side I promise" --Jon Goren to Rikkert, about the Earth Stone

Jon Goren is a supporting character in Legends of Altmar campaign. He is a magician from Fallharbour who works primarily as an emissary and enforcer for the Archmage. Typically he acts as a liaison between Fallharbour's government and the Magicians, but also acts as an extension of the Archmage's will within the city.

Biography
Jon is a magician who was born and raised in Fallharbour and exhibited magical talent at an early age. As a result he was taken to the tower and spent most of his life studying philosophy, science, and magic under their tutelage. Having a natural talent, he has been monitored by the higher ranking magicians and given some preferential treatment. Sylvannis in particular has taken a special interest in him. Due to his being raised in Fallharbour he still has regular contact with his family, and close connections to many of the city's people.

Eventually, he grew to become one of her most reliable people, and his commitment both to the magicians and the city of Fallharbour made him a natural candidate for a liaison between the city and the Magicians. While he often has to work as an enforcer for the Magicians, he is vital in keeping the peace between them and the city.

Threat From Beyond
Jon was one of the enforcers sent to the Magical Hat to collect the Earth Stone from the Legends of Altmar, after Baravio Lanar informed the Magicians that it was in their possession. When he and his colleagues arrived, he got into a standoff with Rikkert Velnaar that almost came to violence before it was de-escalated by Cal. Jon obtained the Earth Stone and gave it to Sylvannis who had it sealed in the artifact vault.

The party later saw Jon out on the town with his boyfriend Jakob. Jon nodded respectfully to the party, as if to indicate he held no ill will towards them after the earlier incident.

Personality
Jon is a somewhat understated character. He is typically calm and collected, and generally acts pragmatically and decisively. In addition he is fairly private and reserved, while he is close with many of the Magicians, he is careful about who he confides in, knowing that Altmar and Fallharbour in particular can be a treacherous place, and that that magicians are not always treated with reverence. He genuinely tries to keep the peace between Fallharbour and the Magicians, and is usually successful, though he sometimes has to resort to a 'tough guy' act which he does not enjoy. He also tries to keep his role within the Magicians separate from his personal life, viewing himself more as an employee rather than a full-time member of the guild.

Jon has strong values about what he considers to be right and attempts to live up to those ideals if he can, though he is occasionally willing to bend or break those convictions on a case-by-case basis, if it is in the name of a higher ideal, or to protect the people he cares about.

Elia Sylvannis
Jon's relationship with the Archmage is interesting. While he doesn't entirely agree with the methods she uses, he agrees with her assessment of magic as a dangerous aspect that needs to be carefully controlled and studied to avoid people getting hurt or worse misusing it. In a sense he sees Sylvannis as a lesser evil or a devil-he-knows, even if he tends to agree with her on most things. He has a great deal of respect for her and willingly carries out her orders, noting that while she is cold she does not commit atrocities, and the questionable things she does do are for a a valuable purpose that protects people. Because of his loyalty and efficacy Sylvannis views him favorably and while he is no master magician, she trusts him to carry out her orders.

Jakob Holcomb
Jon is very in love with Jakob and is protective of him. He prefers to leave Jakob to his studies when the Archmage requests him to do potentially messy work, partially because he doesn't want Jakob to be there if something goes wrong and also doesn't want Jakob to have to see him 'act like a tough guy', despite his boyfriend's persistence. When not studying or working for the Magicians, Jon enjoys spending time with Jakob and they are often seen in Fallharbour together.

Rikkert Velnaar
Jon and Rikkert got into an altercation at the Magical Hat in Fallharbour after Jon and a colleague under orders from the Archmage demanded that Rikkert surrender the Earth Stone to the Magicians. Both were willing and ready to use lethal force on each other, but Cal talked them both down. As a result the two have a mutual disdain for each other, though Jon respects Rikkert's willingness to stand up for himself and his friends, even if he views Rikkert as somewhat hotheaded and impulsive.

Appearances

 * Threat From Beyond
 * Forbidden Knowledge

Trivia

 * Jon is the first LGBT character introduced in the game
 * Jon was originally intended to be a one-off character but was developed much later after his initial appearance based on throwaway line wherein the players saw him and Jakob on a date outside of their duties serving the Archmage. The dynamic of a wizard who is pragmatic and good but also loyal to a dubious organization was interesting to explore.