Osric is the adopted brother of Otho Halfbottom. Otho's father had found Osric as an abandoned baby elf in the woods. He took him in and raised him until he was old enough to go to wizard school. Osric has been asked to retrieve Otho's body to bring him back to be buried in the family grave site. Osric is also trying to find out where he comes from. He carries a necklace with an unknown symbol that was with him when he was found by his adopted father. Trying to find out his origin and the meaning of the symbol is the reason he went into wizarding in the first place. 

His quest to discover his origin sometimes sidetracks him from the group. The unknown magic of the symbol sometimes transports him to a seemingly random location that usually presents clues for him in his quest. When and why this happens is still uknown to him.