BACKGROUND
What follows is some background and history for blending all the PCs together into a group and up into the present day. I'll do a general section first with each PCs specific background afterwords.
General Background:
Very recently the group of characters has been officially recognized by the police department as being a valuable team of investigators. To show their appreciation they leased a building to house their operations in along with a small staff of scribes and guards at the investigators disposal. The building is not very large but it is clean and free of vermin, along with being housed in a relatively clean business section of the city. The beginnings of a residential block of housing is south of the building where many of the investigators are housed. To the east and southeast are some slightly more rundown sections of the city but with the help of the city guard housed in a barracks nearby and their new Captain, a Mr. Ernest Deningrate, conditions have begun to improve. The PCs are expected to investigate more complicated crimes in this "slums" area when the city guard cannot do the job themselves in addition to crime associated with the rest of the city. (The PCs new building was chosen, in part, to be located here because of a rash of strange murders that have been occuring in the rundown section).
The IC thread will begin with the characters being introduced to the guard Captain of this section Ernest, along with their police liaison to the Mayor (Mr. Arthur Pettigrew). After introductions a tour of the surrounding area will begin.
Specific Background for Telsar's PC - Inspector Natalie Bayne:
Natalie had already been working with the police department for a few years before meeting any of the rest of the crew. Thanks to the connections her semi-retired foster father, James Neabaum, has with various organizations Natalie was able to request and receive help in various areas of law enforcement when required. At first she largely did her job on her own but after a few brushes of violence with some local thugs her foster father insisted she work begin working with other people more. After a few failed partners Natalie obtained the assistance of Orum, an accomplished soldier, and Anton the warrior-tracker. A few months of solved and unsolved crimes passed and the intrepid band encountered a difficulty of having to break into a well guarded house of an underworld criminal. Some time was spent negotiating with contacts within the police department and a suitable candidate to help with the job, Quilan, was presented. The job went off without a hitch and another compatriot was found.
Months again flowed by until the resolution of a large case involving an extortion ring was brought to a close. In recognition of all the hard work and long hours put in by the tired band the police department gave them the lease to a new building to begin an official investigative group. Natalie was hired on for her brilliant undercover work and knowledge of arcane magic. Given a cozy upstairs apartment with a nice skylight that Perspie would enjoy, Natalie prepared herself for her new job.
Specific Background for Gramcrackered's PC - Orum Holt:
Conscripted into Viaki soldiery at a young age Orum was quickly singled out from the other recruits for a more arduous training program. Many months of tired slogging through exercises clouded his mind and he began to forget bits and pieces of his day. An onslaught of migraine headaches made him forget about this however as he attributed it all to the stress of his training. Orum's discharge from the training program came a few weeks later after an incident with another trainee. One evening after drinking a bit too much Orum and his disagreeable peer got into a wrestling match at a local tavern and where both promptly thrown out into the rain. Orum staggered back to his bunk to sleep off the drink, but awoke later to find himself towering over the broken and wheezing body of his opponent from the tavern. Confused and still slightly drunk Orum fled from the scene, which was strangly covered up by his superiors. To spare themselves an embarassment Orum's commanding officers rushed him into service of the town guard before any questions could be asked.
Orum worked some of the typical patrols and guard stations for a few months after leaving training. Becoming a bit bored with all the tedium he applied to the special bodyguard position for an up and coming investigator that people were speaking of. Pleasantly surprised when he got the job Orum soon became intrigued with the intellectual work of solving crimes that was so much different than what he had learned in his soldiery training. The job was not without violence however and Orum found himself busy more often than not.
After a break in a long and tiring case Orum was invited to lead the small guard detail for the new investigative unit that was being established. Honored to take the position Orum moved his personal belongings into the barracks he was assigned to and prepared to tour the area.
Specific Background for Salzorin's PC - Quilan Dryburough
Quilan's, or "Quill" as his friends call him, humble roots began with a travelling circus. Other performers encouraged him to become a buffoon because of his rediculously short stature made for a comical appearance when wearing the proper costume, but Quill had a particular talent for throwing things and soon apprenticed to the knife throwing act. Mastering the complicated routine in a short amount of time Quill soon became bored with the act and looked for new thrills to entertain himself. After viewing some of the rich atire of audiences in certain locales Quill decided to try his hand at burglary. Using the circus as a distraction for his marks Quill took to breaking into houses to amass wealth to spend on grandiose dreams and frivalous things. His small size and nimble hands made breaking and entering child's play, until he was caught breaking into a police officer's home in Viaki however. Resigned to his fate of being executed Quill was surprised when the police offered to hire him on to infiltrate secure criminal establishments. Unable to refuse the offer Quill was soon put to work breaking into the homes of criminals instead of the innocent.
Years passed and Quill became annoyed with being unable to gain the respect of many of the police he worked with. Constant "short jokes" annoyed him to no end, but he soon found people to work for who respected him when he was hired by a group of investigators looking to break into a well guarded criminal home. Pulling off the job flawlessly Quill was given steady work, and respect, from the group of investigators.
Months of work culminated in a string of investigations into an band of criminals that was extorting money from many local businesses. Many weeks of hard work ended with Quill and the rest of the group rounding up the last of the villains and throwing them into jail. As a reward for his dedication Quill was given a new apartment to live in, bigger than the broom closet he used to hang his hat in, and a job as "Specialized Infiltrator" of a new anti-crime organization. Quill couldn't pass up the offer, not with a name like that, so he moved his belongings into his new home and got ready to explore his new surroundings.
Specific Background for Fangor the Fierce's PC - Alyson (and her assistant Kalri)
With the pain of her father's death still fresh in her mind Alyson took to the work of being a disciple of Ezra with a particular "zeal". When not busy with prayer or study of the faith she would pour over books and manuscripts about every aspect of the mortal body, dead or alive. Time spent reading old memoirs of a detective from long ago detailing how to determine the origins of a crime from what is left at the scene or on a dead body gave her a lot of clever insight. The local police soon came to call on her for help dealing with crimes of violence, whether it was to help heal the sick in the aftermath or to examine the bodies of dead victims. Finding time spent with other acolytes of Ezra to be tedious and time consuming she soon began to withdraw to her own room more and more to pursue private studies of old literature.
Eventually she became to come out of her shell slightly when she was able to apprentice under a local Anatomist, Phineas Kuint, who was getting on in his years and wanted to pass his knowledge on before he retired. It was here that she met Natalie and the rest of the group because her Anatomist mentor was often helping the police by studying bodies and violent crime scenes. As the months progressed Alyson often did more and more of the work required of the investigative group or the police as her mentor Phineas was getting old and spent more time reading than working. Phineas soon granted her the title of being a full Anatomist and declared his retirement from the profession. He is still called upon occasionally for a particularly puzzling case but can be most often found in his garden tending flowers.
Alyson was forced to take on an assistant to help with the load of violent crimes and corpses that were stemming from a large and violent extortion ring in the area. Alyson did not regret the help of her new friend, Kalri, however as she found her to be well versed in many different areas of study. Soon Alyson and the group of investigators were able to break the case and bring the perpatrators to justice...and she was granted a full promotion for her part in the work.
Alyson was hired into the new investigative unit as their primary medical investigator, along with being a liasion to the city's morgue and hospital where she had often worked before. Given a small house to live in with enough bedrooms for Kalri and herself Alyson spent time moving her personal belongings into it...and her tools of the trade into the special section of the new office given to scientific study.
Specific background for Pyrex's PC - Anton Laurent Bronislaw
Joining the town guard at such a young age has given Anton a lot of time to see the various plagues that have come to Viaki and gone again. Undead hordes, outlander bandits, and even rioting among starving peasants have all been seen by him and beaten back with the collective strength of the Guard. His squad captain complemented him on his inborne tracking abilities used against a group of fleeing criminals in the city, and soon singled him out for more specialized training. Anton spent several years working as a Guardsman while training to be an urban tracker, or thief-catcher as they are sometimes known, under a few different mentors.
He soon felt confident enough to begin taking on tasks above that of a common soldier and so began inquiring around for jobs suited to a thief-catcher such as himself. A few months of less than satisfying assignments and tragedy occured for several of his friends within the Guard as they were quietly assassinated and disposed of to cover up some dealings of the Kargat. The Darklord Azalin's secret police both frightened and angered Anton and he vowed revenge on them one day. In order to avoid their notice for sometime he landed a job working along with the investigator Natalie and another guardsman named Orum. His specialized ability in reading the trails of people within the city was very valuable to his new comrades and he found himself enjoying this new job much more than his routine guard duties.
Time passed and the Kargat faded into the back of his memory as he concentrated on using his talents to sniff out criminals wherever they lay. A long and bloody campaign to end an extortion ring in the local area led Anton to uproot many a thieves' den in search of the proper thugs. All the time and hard work put in finally paid off one fateful day when they rounded up the ringleaders of the band and arrested them all.
Recognized by the police department as heroes Anton and his friends were gifted with a new office and official title as an investigative organization. A new apartment in a new part of the city made Anton excited for his prospects for the future. He moved his things into his new home and prepared to go meet the rest of the group for the grand tour.
