Graz

 Unsure if its a nightmare or reality, the dream of being seperated from his family as they where fleeing something always seems to haunt me. It might be my earliest memory, it might just be something I was told when I was younger. I am unsure of what is true, but the earliest memory I am sure of is working for the Brothers Rechtic. The three brothers were real brothers. What with one being a Golaith, another being a river elf, and the last being a human. They where each played a different part: either juggling, dancing or playing many insturements. 

They travelled around the island to the many fishing villages taking there act on the road. I was the only other constant member of this act. There were a lot of temporary members that we would pick up in one town, and would leave the band in another. In those younger years, I never asked why that was. Only when I became closer to the age of adulthood did I start to understand things.

The temporary members where always the disenfranchised youth. Easy to move from one location to another, to be sold for labour. Depending on looks or skills would determine the costs. No one wanted a bugbear labourer is why I had stayed with the band for so long. This was the only life I had known for so long, I just couldn't even think about getting up and finding something else, so even after learning this I stuck arround for years.

It turns out that none of the Rechtic Brothers actually cared about me. I learnt this when I got arrested for fighting a horse. I still only remember parts of that fight, and its why I have sworn off Elven White Wine. The red I can still drink no problem. 

After getting out and being on my own, I would spend the next few years in and out of many different jails for various crimes. It was during one of these stays that I met Master Jonathan Macross, or so I was told at the time that he was a master. Seems Macross was not liked by a number of the guards. To the point where they would charge him four times the amount of other prisons for even the basics like food, and roofing. 

I saw a fellow kindred in Macross because he was built like a human dancer, and Dancing is what I loved to do in my younger days. So I shared my food with him so he could afford to get out of jail quicker without staying in jail longer for lacking the funds to keep up with the Jailer's extortion. He offered to train me if I so desired in the way of Being a Shadow Dancer.

About a year latter when I was twenty one, did I finnally find myself in Theal, that I learnt the truth. Macross wasn't the master of the academy, he was a student there in the past. He just seemed to rub everyone the wrong way and was kicked out. The fee to learn to Shadow Dance costed me, all the coins I had at that time.

Only after joining did I learn that I didn't join the academy. I joined the security for the academy, for the academy was for the heirs of some of the nobles to learn how to be noble's. The Security's job was to protect them and to be unseen as possible while doing so. This ment that my natural ability to blend in to the shadows helped. That coupled with a teacher ment that I slowly did learn some of the art of shadow dancing.

It takes a lot of dedication to keep up and improve the dancing of the shadows, but that coupled with the take downs, and punches learnt, I would say it is worth it.  So thats what I did for the next decade, is protect heirs and heiress from the shadow. Due to the fact that teenager's have a ton of energy, or play on the team, means that in order to keep up with them, I also had to be an athlete.

Something was missing, life was dull, so to figure out what was missing I started to use my skills I had gathered to start burglering homes. Gave life thrill learning the way around a thieve's kit, as well as learning how people thought. For example, some family's who came into a wealth via a fluke, tending to leave the upper floor's windows and doors unlocked. Thinking that the hieght and the security patrolling the grounds would be enough to stop theives.

Twenty four days after the thirty third birthday of mine I learnt how lucky I had been tell that point. For it was that day, that I learnt the hard way that the cities Profesonial thieves, or at least the ones I ran into, did not like me opperating in there city, without there special language. Being better organized, and in charge of most of the under belly of the city put me in a bit of trouble.

Enough trouble that I was run out of the city, without being run out of the city, if that makes sense. Common sense it I survived on for a few weeks tell I found a farming village. Falling back on my childhood days I put on a one man show with music, dancing, Juggling and more. The part that the crowd loved the most was a specific dance I did. Thats the one where you get your ass low to the ground and kick your legs really quickly infront of you. I could make it even better than normal by playing the music that goes with it on my Lyre behind my back, with these long arms of mine.

I made enough money to buy some fish at the general store. I was also able to convince a tiefling lady, Ms. Cellina, to let me stay with her for the fall and winter months. Helping her out around the house in exchange for food and shelter. It wasn't my plan to stay at her place for two and half years, but she was a very nice person.

Probable would of stayed even longer, but one day while out with Ms Cellina, a rowdy group of adventures where harressing the general store. I distracted them and decided to join them, for the quest to investigate an old tower deep in the Wode was intregring. To be honest with you, I am unsure if I left with or without saying good bye to Ms Cellina.

The adventures where mostly human: Cedric the holy man of Lezeferkin, Bella the Brute, Paladin the sell-sword, and the Erine Mage Marriona. From what I learnt after joining them, they did have a Satry named Tony who was not only the groups thief but also the one who organized this adventure. Though he had died in some type of encounter that went south. 

Getting through the Wode to the tower was not an easy task. Really glad that Marriona new the way there. Not sure what type of Mage exactly Marriona was but she did love her dark energy blasts. The tower was clearly old, but no one in the team being a mason, we could only guess that it was at least three hundred years old.

The first floor there was various traps that I was easily able to disarm, or get Marriona to activate from a safe distance if they where magical in nature. That and the Gargolye defenders, which if we solved the puzzle, probable wouldn't of animated and attacked. Getting through the first floor was the good thing, not how we did it. 

We took a rest on the stairs between the two floors for what felt like forever. Marriona need to recharge her limited ability to cast bigger spells than her dark energy blasts. It was about half way through the second floor while working on a mundane trap, I accidentally triggered a status field. Due to my agile nature I was able to keep half my body out of the trap, but it was still awkward being half frozen in a trap like that.

With Marriona hitting the trap with her dark energy blasts, and Cedric using the power granted to him from his faith they were able to overload the trap. The issue was the backlash and explosion that caused me to go to a forced sleep, though when awake from the sleep my soul felt different. The others had took all the loot and disapeared, I knew that without others I could no longer explore this Tower. And with my wildreness sense I knew that I would not be able to find it again.

It took some time to get used to the ability that my shadowdancing and the magic touching my soul. The ability to make sounds and images. Though not at the same time, was something that could I do at will. It took digging into my soul to get access to the ability to cast spells, and could only have a few spells relating to my ability to dance between the shadows. 

(Graz, Short for Grazithican))