Character Backgrounds

[Hussar]

Tell you what. Here's the deal. I'm going to rate the backgrounds your write out of 1000 xp. A very detailed background going into family, where the character comes from, why he took up adventuring, what setbacks or adversity he has faced, what quirks and foilables he has, what goals he has, his personality, views on social issues such as religion and species, etc will give you 1000 xp. A fairly basic background stating where the character comes from, what he wants to do and maybe some personality details will get you 500 xp and a very basic background will get you 100 xp. So. Give up the goods, tell me everything about your character and maybe it will give me some adventure hooks that are more personal and maybe you will discover something about your character that you hadn't thought of before.

[Hussar]

Grimnoor

Grimnoor, is a towering specimine of muscle and poise. He was born on the fronteer, the child of a murdered Orc tribe. His mother, Kerga, was a Human woman found and raised by the Orcs out in the wilderness, his father, Grunk, was a mighty Orcish barbarian of great and savage strength. He spent his childhood as most Orcish children do, building his muscle by playing violent and unsupervised games involving clubs and rocks. It was during one such game that little Grimnoor and the other children saw smoke rising from over the ridge where their tribe was camped. They snuck in for a closer look and witnessed a scene that scarred him for the rest of his life. A band of armored Humans rode down their tribe where it camped, nearly defensless. Grimnoor watched in horror and rage as his father was shot down by the arrows of the laughing men. His mother was struck unconscious and taken by them as they rode off. The riders left nothing alive in the camp, only the children that were playing in the hills remained to burn the dead. Filled with an all consuming thirst for blood, Grimnoor and the stronger orc children followed their tracks acoss the open plane. Many of the young Orcs died, of exposure or wild beasts, but they had no where else to go. When they found at last the city where them men had taken his mother only a handfull of the children had survived. They snuck into town and searched for the men amidst the alien realm of the Humans. One night while taking out their rage on an intoxicated dock worker the children were spotted by the man's drunk cronies. They found themselves chased into a dark alley and cornered. That night Grimnoor lost the last of his family to the daggers of the men, but he was spared by a miracle. In the confusion Grimnoor was pulled by his hair from the massacre to a rooftop. An Elf, by the name of Farelir Ironbough saved Grimnoor and shortly thereafter he was knocked unconcious as he struggled. When he regained consciousness, Grinmoor found himself bathed in a clean bed in a strange place. The walls were made of paper and the clothes that were layed out for him were of bizzar design for a Half-Orc. Tieing the robes about him like a kilt he busted through the wall and attacked Farelir again. This time when he regained consciousness he was neatly dressed and loosely bound to the same bed. The wild youth was then suprised that the unmanly Elf could speak Orcish. When he was at last convinced that the Elf was not out to rape him, Grimnoor was untied and shown a tour of the temple. The monks of the Crimson Tide forged him into a thinker as well as a warrior. His great strength was hammered into line with discipline and skill. When at last Grimnoor was taught all he could learn, he was sent out to attain the next step in mastering himself, find the men who took his mother. Grimnoor was given all he needed for a long journey and was directed towards Mithril city where his journey truly began. One day he will return to Farelir to complete his training, but for now he must focus himself into a thoughtful living weapon of justice.

Grimnoor is a 6'9 foot tall Half-Orc, his long brown hair is tied back with a dragon skin bandana. He wears simple traveler's clothes accented with the dragon leather accesories and a plain brown cloak. There is a keen wisdom behind his piercing yellow eyes, like fire forged into steel. His muscles are impressive and quite capable spectacular feats of strength. His voice is deep but softly spoken with a vocabulary that shames most humans. Grimnoor is slow to anger and quick to strike when the time comes. No matter how powerful he may become, there is always a place for kindness and mercy in his heart. Grimnoor knows well what it is to be different in a strange land, he gives everyone and everything a fair chance before attacking them. His word is his bond, alliances and friendships are more important to him than his own life. The band of riders that slaughtered his tribe carried a flag of crossed battleaxes on a black field. His personal vow of mercy will be sorely tested when he finds them at last...

[Hussar]

"The Ballad of Elias Tharville"

*singing* (badly)

Twenty two years ago
on a bright summers day
a mother in full bloom
gave birth to music's groom.

Here he comes to save the world
with voice lifted high
My boy is strong and bright
his foes will tremble with fright!

At the tender age of eight
he was given a harp
and with voice lifted high
he sang and played all nigh(t)!

Here he comes to save the world
with voice and harp lifted high
this boy is strong and bright
his foes will tremble with fright!

Eleven years old was he
when first he nocked an arrow
pulling back he let it fly
and hit the unseen goblin in the eye!

Here he comes to save the world
with voice, harp, and bow lifted high
this boy is strong and bright
his foes will tremble with fright!

With a lasting hug and kiss
he said goodbye to his folks
he spent the night in the tavern
with a wench hoding his.......latern!

Here he comes to save the world
with voice, harp, and bow lifted high
this boy is strong and bright
his foes will tremble with fright!

Dashing is he, with long black hair
and clothes so fine
he can make the ladies smile
and with a grin they will carry him for a mile!

Here he comes to save the world
with voice, harp, and bow lifted high
this boy is strong and bright
his foes will tremble with fright!

He spent his days traveling
the lands ending up in Mithril
signing up with the Hand
he stoped the evil band!

Here he comes to save the world
with voice, harp, and bow lifted high
this boy is strong and bright
his foes will tremble with fright!

[Hussar]

Falen "Shadowdragon" Jones

Rogue 3/Sorceror 2

5'10" 192 lbs
18 yrs old Human Male

Shadowdragon was born the son of a ocean going merchant. He spent his youth aboard ship more than on solid land, and it was on one of these voyages with his father that tragedy struck. Pirates attacked the ship and killed nearly everyone on board. The captain of the pirates, upon finding the young lad hiding in a half-empty barrel of ale, decided to spare him and raise him as his own. Now being only 4 years old at the time, Falen could only just remember his home and mother, but those memories would soon fade, becoming only a nagging feeling that something was missing in his life. He spent the rest of his youth becoming the best pirate he could to please his "father". Until one day the pirate captain attacked a vessel flying his "real father's" colors. These brought back the memories of how his true father died and of his poor mother waiting for them to return all those years ago. He slit the mate's throat and grabbing his rucksack, jumped into the sea near one of the other ship's longboats. The cremen on the longboat were very surprised at the young man's actions. Nonetheless, they pulled him aboard the boat and managed to stay clear of the pirates long enough to make it to shore on an island. When Falen asked them about the colors they'd been flying, he learned that his mother was still alive and still in the shipping business. During his time as castaway on the island, Falen discovered that one of the crewmen marooned with him wa able to do wonderful things with magic, and he began to practice with this man, eventually becomeing a sorceror in his own right. When they were finally rescued, by one of his mother's ships, he managed to come home after 14 years!
Homecoming, however, wasn't a happy occasion as he'd thought it would be. He got home to find his mother dying of some unknown illness that even the loocal priests could do nothing for. He managed to see her off this mortal coil and she died happy, knowing he was back to take over the family business. But being a pirate and then a castaway, had spawned in him the urge to adventure. He sold the business to it's employees and used the money to buy a small fishing boat and hire a crew to fish the dangerous waters near Mithril. Occasionally he goes to the local tavern or hiring hall to look for the opportunity to once again join a grand adventure, but he's gotta eat in the meantime so he sails and fights with the horrendous creatures of the bloody sea.

[Hussar]

Also rounding out the party is Mylo, the halfling Ranger and Kelly, the Human priest of Corean, god of Law and the patron diety of Mithril.

[Hussar]

My name is Endil. Just Endil. I forsake my family many years ago. I have grown weary of the deads my race were commiting. The way I see it, everything is fated to die off eventually. We elves have been around for a long time. Now, it looks our time is up. The rest of my race seems to want to fight that fact by crossbreeding with the humans. That is a sensitive issue for me and perhaps I'll elaborate later. Suffice to say, I left the elves to their devices and traveled to the city of Mithril. There I found a transport ship willing to take me on. While aboard, I found an aptitude for charting and aided the ships navigator who also taught me more about navigation. As much as I enjoyed navigating, I found my calling in piloting. When the current helmsman was unable to pilot, I took over. Eventually, him and I got in a little fight. From what I could gather, he thought I was trying to take his posistion. But that doesn't matter. The next time we put to land, he tried to kill me. Like most humans I've encountered, he was far too slow and clumsy to be useful in a fight. I was able to hold him off untill the captain came upon the fight. The human managed to blame the fight on me and had me driven from the crew. The next day I spent my savings on a silver dagger and the next time I saw him, 3 years later in the same city at a market stall arguing with some vender over something, I called to him and drew him into a nearby ally. Aperantly he didn't rememeber me, which gave me the advantage. I managed to fool him into thinking i was a rival of the vender he was fighting with and when he was digging in his purse for coin, I put the dagger through his heart. A little retribution. I took his dagger and made it look as though he fought with another human and was knifed durring a mugging. I then took the human's purse and was astonished to see that he was in leage with the Titanspwan. He had a note that outlined an attack on a small farmstead outside the city. I returned the note to his person and slipped away. I did some other odd jobs here and there untill I got wind that a ship was hireing. I had a fair sized savings and managed to win an amazing rapier from some poor sod in a game of chance. Wanting to be back on the open sea again I signed up for this posistion and set out.

Well, shouldn't be too long till the sun comes up, should be resting now. I'll add more tomorrow.

[CosmicHorror]

well, that was in my journal...

[Hussar]

figured it worked here. If you want to add something more, feel free.

[Kelly]

I was very young when it all happened. I can remember my childhood on my father's farm. He was a loving and caring man who took good care of me. Unfortunately, I never knew my mother as she died during childbirth, but my father was a kind man. Now that I am an adult, I look back and wonder if he held any resentment for me because of her death. If he did, he never openly showed it.

My father and I spent alot of time together working the farm. I was very young, but he made sure that I attended classes in the local village and was taught to read and write by Geoffrey the local priest. We also attended religious services regularly at the local temple of Corean. I remember enjoying the singing the most, and of course seeing the other children from the area. Since we lived in a rural area and not in town, this was one of the few times I could interact with them.

When I was about 9 years old, our farm was attacked (along with many other farms) by hobgoblin raiders. The farm was destroyed and my father was killed saving me. He bravely fought the raiders while I followed his instructions and ran and hid. This time it was real and not one of our games of hide and seek. I had to watch in silent terror as my father was killed before my eyes. The raiders burned our farm to the ground and looted our property. That day my life ended, but a new life was about to begin.

After what seemed like days had gone by (probably only hours), I crept out of my hiding place. The raiders were gone and were attacking other local farms and establishments. I ran to my fallen father, and held his lifeless body in my arms. I was soon found by the local priest of Corean and militia still sobbing over his body. The militia continued to pursue the raiders and swore to me to avenge my father's death with their blood. Of course, this is little consequence to a young lad who had lost both of his parents and now was all alone in the world. Father Geoffrey stayed behind and comforted me. We spent the afternoon burying my father on his farm as he always wanted and praying over the grave.

After father was buried, I sifted through the ashes of our home and what was left of the small outbuildings. All I had left of my father was his old leather backpack and the short spear he had used to fight the hobgoblins which bought me the time to hide. Even the cow, chickens and pigs were killed or taken by the raiders. Not having any place to go and also not having any relatives alive, Father Geoffrey took me to the temple and told me that I could stay there as long as I needed.

From that time on, I lived at the local temple of Corean. I helped keep the temple clean and did some small chores to help out, and of course I continued with my education and attending the religious services. Not realizing it at the time, but this allowed me to obtain much more education than any average farm boy ever would have the opportunity to obtain.

When I was a little older and had spent several years at the temple, I was promoted from gopher to temple helper. This meant participating in the local services and helping the priests directly with their activities. Soon after, Father Geoffrey apparently noticed that I had an apptitude for the religious arts and he began to instruct me in the ways of the clergy. Having no family, I threw myself fullbore into the craft and soon started to become proficient with the ways of Corean.

Of course, this process took many years to complete. While I had a good basic education, I soon learned that becoming a priest is more than being a man with a good heart who can read. I had to learn the texts and history of Corean and of other religions as well. My training also included ministering to the masses, public speaking, learning to use clerical magic, developing various skills, and even becoming proficient in combat. After many years of training, I finally became a priest of Corean. That day was the best day that I can remember since the death of my father. I think he would be proud of me.

After I had became a priest of Corean, Father Geoffrey informed me that my abilities were much more than the average local priest. I was to go the huge city of Mithril and become enrolled as a priest in the main temple where I would be taught much more and hone my existing skills. Sad to leave the temple I had grown up in but excited to see the big city, I bid Father Geofrey goodbye and set off on my journey. As I was departing, Father Geoffrey gave me his first holy symbol (wooden) as a remembrance and wished me well. He told me to return anytime as he was my family now.

I left the small farming town confident in my abilities. I was the big fish in a small pond, but upon arriving in the city and joining the temple I found that I was only a tiny fish in an ocean. I was one of hundreds of priests in training. There were clerics there of such importance and power that I was at first overwhelmed. Once again I threw myself into my work and began to slowly rise through the ranks. My mentor when I came to the city was Father Generic and he is still a good friend to me to this day. In fact, I treat him as my informal mentor and often discuss my assignments and life with him from time to time.

Soon I was given new responsibilities and I also began to form working relationships and friendships with some of the higher ranking clerics in the temple. Our training was non-stop and the focus on combat and healing was intense to say the least. I learned many spells that I did not even realize existed prior to that point. I was being groomed to be more than a priest who administers to the masses, although I had no idea that was the case until self-reflection at a later time. Later I learned that I was to become a travelling priest of Corean. Spreading the faith on the road as well as battling evil in the name of my god.

When my training was complete, I was in my early 20s. Who could imagine it would take so long to hone my skills, but I would also never have imagined that my life would go from a farmer to a warrior priest of Corean either. I was brought before the head of the main temple of Corean and given my task. I was to venture forth and do work in the name of our god. At the time, I did not really want to leave the temple, but soon found that this role gave me much more flexibility and autonomy than my fellow priests ever had.

I was housed in the local apartments, but was expected to follow the will of Corean and do work in his name. My first task was to participate in the annual sweep of the sewers of Mithril. That is where I met the party that I travel with now and that is another story which is still being written to this very day. May Corean bless my work and our travels and may his will be done.

[Kelly]

Brief Description: Before you stands a stout human male of 23 years of age. He has blonde hair, green eyes, muscular build, and is 6' tall and weighs 189 pounds. He is wearing either the clerical robes of Corean or a dark green explorers outfit under which peeks forth the shiny silver of his light chain shirt. On his back is an old leather backpack (his father's), a waterskin, a compound MW long bow, and a quiver of arrows. At his waist hangs a MW long sword in a leather scabbard, a silver dagger in a scabbard, two leather pouches, and a small holster containing several wands. Around his neck he wears a wooden holy symbol of Corean (from Father Geoffrey) and he also wears unusual gloves on his hands. While confident and serene in nature, his brillant green eyes are alive with the light of Corean and are constantly taking in all that surrounds him.

Phobias and Quirks: Fear of failure, talkative and some unresolved issues related to the death of both his parents.

Personality: Confident, serene, talkative, autonomous, friendly, and somewhat unwilling to blindly follow the rules and structural hierarchy of the church.

Friends: Father Geoffrey, Father Generic, fellow clergy he studied with or met at the temples he has served, a few childhood friends in the farming village he grew up in (which he has not seen in years), and the party he is presently travelling with. Unfortunately, most of his other relatives and friends are deceased including his parents and his friend Knight Lazarus Moretrue.

Alignment: Neutral Good

Languages: Common and Celestial

Short Term Goals: To continue to improve himself and his skills. To spread the word of Corean and to adventure in his god's name doing his work and destroying evil.

Long Term Goals: To eventually establish a temple in an untamed region, gather followers and administer the surrounding lands (hopefully in combination with other classess that he meets during his adventures as a joint effort. For example, a druid with a local grove, a knight with shire lands to administer in the name of the king, a monk with a monestary, a wizard with a school or laboratory, and even a rogue with a guild.). Hopefully, at that point we can be involved in regional and national politics, administering our lands, going on special quests and adventures of major consequence, etc.

Views on Social and Religious Issues: Socially, I am very accepting of all species. I tend to judge each individual by their actions and attitudes, not by their appearance. Very non-prejudicial, but also very unaccepting of evil. Religiously, I can tolerate the other good religions, but obviously promote the word and goals of Corean (since he is the only truth). I am very intolerant of the evil religions and their tennants and goals since they are in conflict with my religion. Finally, I realize that each person travels to the beat of a different drummer so I tend to be tolerant and not overbearing. Of course, I will try to presuade them to see the light of Corean and will not tolerate any evil directly opposed to his agenda.

[SleepingDragon]

Physical Description
Palai is a tall, lean man with a ruggedly handsome face. His grey eyes carry a mischievous glint, and his long black hair is worn in a ponytail. Palai is heavily muscled and his hands are callused from labour and swordplay. His travelling clothes are worn and stained with wine and blood. His weapon of choice, a huge, wickedly curved falchion, is slung over his shoulder.

Personality
Quick to anger and quicker to laugh, Palai tends to act out of impulse and emotion rather than careful thought, a tendency that has landed him in hot water a number of times, and undoubtedly will do so again. Palai tends not to take things very seriously, even when they should be, and tends to be unable to concentrate on one thing for very long. The only exception to this is battle, where he suddenly becomes a paragon of focus and attention to detail. His goals in life are to make as much money, drink as much wine, and bed as many women as he can, in no particular order. As is his wont, he has no plans as to how he is going to fulfill any of his goals, but possesses a remarkable confidence that he will do so anyhow.

Views
‘Do what you want, and I’ll do the same’ is Palai’s philosophy in life. Palai drinks, gambles, wenches and does drugs, and is willing to fight anyone who tries to stop him from doing any of them. He pays no heed to such concepts as honour and law, directing his focus (such as it is) on the bottom line. Palai tries his best to treat others in the way he’d like them to treat him, tolerating their oddities and standing up to those who would try to force their views on others. Palai has always strayed clear of religion; he has never prayed in his life, and has no intention of ever doing so. Despite his suspicion that the devout are a bit touched in the head, he cheerfully ignores their faith so long as they don’t attempt to bring him into it.

Background
Palai’s mother Shemera was a prostitute in the city of Mithril, and because of his mother’s occupation Palai never knew who his sire was. Palai spent the first twelve years of his life with his mother. They were not at all wealthy or respected, but nonetheless they were relatively happy, and Palai’s carefree attitude was developed during these years. The young boy grew accustomed to the company of the nge and roguish men who sought his mother’s services, and thus from an early age he knew how to deal with rougher and more disreputable individuals.

In Palai’s twelfth year, one of Shemera’s regulars, a great drunken oaf of a man named Isil, stabbed her to death for reasons Palai would never know. Palai was away at the time, and he was incensed and dismayed when he returned home to find his mother’s body lying in a pool of blood on her bed.

Palai was already a fairly large and strong person, and some of his mother’s customers had taught him the basics of fighting, so the boy stole a sword from a nearby blacksmith and went hunting for Isil. As Palai knew all his mother’s regulars quite well, he was able to locate the man within a day of the murder. As was typical of the drunken fool, he had not even bothered to go into hiding after the murder, but had gone to his favourite winesink to drown himself in liquor.

As luck would have it, Isil was stumbling drunkenly out of the tavern just as Palai was making his way towards it, prepared to rush in and cut his way to his mother’s killer if need be. Instead, he needed only charge up to the man as he staggered towards the hovel in which he lived and hack his head from his shoulders with one savage blow.

A city as dedicated to law and order as Mithril was not willing to tolerate such violence in its streets, but Palai had come to know a number of people who knew how to evade the law. Out of kindness to his deceased mother, they helped him elude the city guards until they lost interest in finding him. One of his mother’s regulars, a sailor named Lebwiz, offered to vouch for the boy and get him employment on the ship he worked on. Having nowhere else to go, Palai accepted and became a deckhand on a ship called the Merling.

On the Merling, Palai learned the trade of the sailor, and he was taught how to use the falchion he had stolen and slain Isil with. He stayed on the Merling for three years, until it was sunk in a storm from which Palai only barely managed to escape with his life.

Palai took to the road and became a wandering mercenary and sailor. He served on many ships and fought in many battles, becoming extremely adept in the use of the falchion. In one fierce battle with pirates, Palai fought and slew the pirate captain, who also wielded a falchion. The ship’s wizard told him that the blade was magical, so Palai discarded his notched and worn blade and took the enchanted one for himself.

At length, Palai returned to his home city of Mithril, seeking employment. He learned that a ship called the Tallywacker was about to head off on a grand adventure and was hiring marines.

[aaronp]

Turjan of the Red Swamiis Part 1 of 2

Appearance
Turjan is a man of average build and medium height. He has black hair that is swept back and runs down to his shoulders. His skin is a darker, oily color suggesting that he is a man from the the middle eastern parts of the world. His eyes are brown and soft colored, except when he calls magic from another dimension, and then they begin to glow a greenish color. He wears a cloak of coarse green wool, and often wears a hood covering his head. In his right hand he carries a staff made of a cherry colored wood and shod with a piece of iron bearing a strange arcane mark upon it. Around his neck is the Sha-Heram, an amulet with a pendant of a snake. This snake is the symbol of the Red Swamiis.

Personal History
Turjan was fascinated by magic as a child. While a young boy he learned a cantrip for minor levitation and since then devoted his life to magic. At the age of 12, he took the test of the Red Swamiis. The test of the Red Swamiis is a test of mental willpower where the subject is bitten by a snake (the Sha-Heram) and then undergoes a series of illusional mental trials. The trials are different for every person, but they seek to probe the weakness of the subject.

After passing the trials, Turjan spent the next 10 years training under the Red Swamiis. At first he learned fast but he quickly reached a peak and was passed in ability by all other students. After failing his final trial for the 3rd time, he was asked to leave the school. The master set him down and told him that he possessed great magical ability, but it was being blocked and none of the older wizards could help him to release his talent. The only solution was for him to enter the real world. The master suggested the life of an adventurer, because the intense pressure of combat might awaken his latent talent.

But Turjan was afraid to fight strange beasts despite all he had learned. He then entered the service of his Uncle, Abid-Haza and his brother Hersaiajan as merchant traders. Being already skilled in the ways of the ship, he quickly became a reliable seaman. His magical abilities were also quite helpful to the ship. But he felt his ability was stagnating, so he left the service of his uncle and brother and made the journey north to Mithril.

[aaronp]

In Mithril, the economy was slow and people were not looking for seamen of rank and were especially distrustful of magic. Just when he was about to give up his search, he found the Tallywacker and began his journey.

Notes
Strengths
Not good at straightforward attacks, Turjan does like to use magic that weakens and slows his enemies.
Weakness
Turjan is often indecisice, and afraid he will make a mistake-part of the reason his magic has not released itself to ints full potential. By adventuring he hopes he can gain this strength.
Views
Turjan tries to be understanding and friendly like most people of the desert are. But he is a strong believer in unity and that the world is a bad place and we must be wary of all. He will encourage the party to act together and with purpose, not as a group of skilled but seperate individuals.
Magic is the ultimate power and the magic inside of Turjan cannot release itself. He is obsessed with finding how to release this magic. He did not take the test of the Sha-Heram to live a life of mediocrity.
The Red Swamiis
The Red Swamiis are a group of magicians that live near the deserts of the city Tehhalaran. Originaly they were nomads that used red tents and would perform magic for those in need. As time passed they settled down and began to strengthen their magic. The magic of the Swamiis involves pacts and promises made with beings from other planets and dimensions. The power of the Swamiis has been waning lately because of the death of Rhalajad, a great leader who journeyed to many new dimensions and made eldritch pacts with the creatures there, increasing the knowledge and power of the Swamiis.

[shadowbane]

CHEY:

She was born into a traveling carnival, youngest of four children. Her parents and their extended family traveled from town to town always on the road, never staying in one place more than a few days. It was this life she was born into and she seemed happy, at least at first. But things have a way of changing sometimes in ways people could never expect.

One such twist of fate occurred to the family and changed the young girl life forever, she was eight when it happened. They found a traveler wounded by an attack by the side of the road and took him in. He was a quiet one and spent long hours looking at an old book, and writing in a journal. Most of them kept away from him but she look an interest in what he was doing and went to talk to him. She got around to asking him about the book, and he put it away and took out his journal.

As he read from the journal, and she sat and listened fascinated. she was falling in love, not to him but to the stories he read. Each day as they traveled she would listen to his tales and poetry, her parents grew a little worried but know he would soon be out of their lives. He recovered from his injuries and on his last day at their camp he gave her a book on poetry and told her to find her own path. She hid the book away and still keeps it even to this day, her most prized possession.

Over the next two years she taught herself to read, snatching the odd hour here and there to be alone so she could read the few books she so carefully hidden away. She grew quieter less interested in the carnival they were part of. It was the carnival arrived at a large town, and she noticed the library there, so many books.

As the carnival set up she slipped away, and went to the library. The clerks there looked at her strangely as she entered the library and a few followed her. She sat cross-legged on the floor in front one of the bookshelves and opened the book with greatest care reading the pages and looking at the pictures in awe. They puzzled over what to do about this young girl and discussed it at length amidst themselves. They finally decided she seemed to be doing no harm and actually seemed impressed by her interest in books.

Each day she slipped away from the carnival and visited the library reading the books from opening time to closing time, the clerks there accepted her presence and within a few days they treated her as though she had always been there.

But her parents had other ideas, they were curious as to where she was going and assumed it had to be a boy, so the next day they followed her. When they followed her to the library they were confused and after a great commotion got inside and found her sitting quietly they only got more confused, they could not understand how she could be interested in such things. They grabbed her roughly and under much protest took her home.

They disciplined her severely for not helping out, and sneaking away and forbade her from leaving their camp. But her heart was set, so the next day she slipped out again to library. But once again they found her and after a heavy argument they locked her in their wagon. She stayed there until a few days later when they left town.

She was furious and heartbroken about being separated from her one true love. Over the next few weeks she threw temper tantrums, broke things, pouted, acted rebellious, uncooperative, refused to talk and acted depressed. Nothing they could say or do could calm her down or cheer her up. This continued for months and months. But finally after almost a year she recovered but they could tell in her eyes she still held a grudge.

After another year of sullen depressed behavior they stopped at the city of Hedrad, she slipped away out of their sight as she so often did these days and they found her after a search in the cities library. When they saw her thee sitting on the floor reading a book so happy they know they had lost her.

They slipped away and talked to the librarian, they were sad at losing her but knew what they had to do. After a long and confusing discussion which the librarian, which still to this day she cannot fully understand they left. Leaving the young girl in the librarians care.

The now thoughily confused librarian realized after they left they that she did not even know the girls name, and when she talked to her she found the girls understanding of common was very poor, she only knew a few words. She remembered how the girl’s parents had referred to her as Chey, and assumed that was her name. She was called her Chey by the librarian and in time the name stuck. Her parents left to continue their travels and she never saw them again.

The librarian who had never even though of having a family suddenly and unexpectedly found herself with a daughter. But Chey was as good as gold and never caused any trouble, she was blissfully happy when she was in the library and stayed out of the librarian’s way a lot when she was at home. The two got on wonderfully.

She took a great interest in the library and would spend days there, so it become natural for her to help out the clerks and librarians, doing small things at first like returning books to their shelves and sorting stuff, but soon she began to show she had a talent for this work, she became a clerk and then was promoted to help out the libraries records.

When she was fifteen her gypsy blood reawakened, and she developed an insatiable wanderlust, she became fascinated with maps and journals of explorers reading all she could on them, but still something was missing, she had to travel, she had to sea these wonderful places.

(Even though she had grown up with the traditions and customs of the city folk she felt the need to get back to her roots so started to learn about her people and culture, taking on their attire and trying to relearn what she had once known about her own kin)

She asked for a vacation, the first one she asked for in three years. She explained how she wanted to travel and see the places she read about so they let her have two weeks off. She set off joining some travelers and set out to a local range of hills but when she got there she was disappointed the maps she had studied were woefully inaccurate and the books didn’t capture the true spirit of the place.

She realized this was inexcusable so over the next day she redrew the maps of the area in as much precision and detail as she could, and wrote a report on that area as she traveled back to her home. When she got back she told them off her vacation and showed them her maps of the hills. They were so finely and accurately done that they even outshone the professional maps they had of those hills. She was surprised when they paid her handsomely for the maps.

A few days later she was asked to survey a different area and make maps of it. Properly equipped this time and with a few people to help her. She had found her perfect job; she was now a cartographer. Over the next year she proceeded to map out the lands around the city, her maps quickly becoming locally well known both for their accuracy and for their sheer beauty.

It was then that she started to get requests for her to chart the dangerous waters of the blood sea. The lure of seeing untouched islands where no one had gone before was too much and she jumped at the chance. She was to travel on the Golden swan a small ship but fast and sea worthy, the captain was asked to take her wherever she needed to go.

The ship was carrying cargo, but there was no real rush and the captain had been well paid for this unusual passenger. So they began retracing the paths of the earlier explorers as they crossed the sea stopping off at the small islands to map and record what was there.

Everything was going fine, she charted the seas in that section of the blood sea and delivered the cargo a little late but safely and headed back. She asked the captain to take a detour to pick up on an island that had been reported to exist in these waters but had never been charted.

They found it after a week and a half, and moved in to investigate but it was not to be. From no-where a terrible storm blew up battering the ship. The waves dwarfing the vessel, threatening again and again to drag the ship into the depths. Somehow the ship survived and weathered the storm and managed to limp back to port before the monsoons.

But the venture was ruined, most of the ships new cargo had been destroyed by the storm and the ship was crippled. Many of the brave crew had been lost and of her maps only half had survived, many of them had been washed away and still more had been ruined by water. Her reputation as a cartographer was under threat and the captains she asked to take her onboard to complete her mapping turned her down saying she was bad luck.

She returned to the library and worked as a librarian until the monsoons ended not knowing what future would lie ahead for her, as without a ship to sail on, she could not complete the maps she had already been paid to make. Luckily for heard she heard about a foreign ship, in docks. She had friends amongst the sailors who kept her informed of events, and it seemed this ship was gearing up for a mayor expedition.