Nathan Franc is a plain, freckled, low-ranked fifth-year student at the Solsein Seminary, and the first to be friendly to the exchange students.
Desperate for power, he went to the underground chapel, where the Chancellor sent him through the mirror into the trial world. There a salamander-like avatar of Vordin judged him unworthy of a crest. Nathan turned into a golden-furred, many-eyed ape-like beast that attacked the twins, until Mary Maryweather stopped his heart enough to turn him back. As happens to those who fail the trial, he lost his memories of the past years and his magical aptitude, and was expelled.