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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Scotley" data-source="post: 2962939" data-attributes="member: 11520">Here is background Jazick Shador a chaotic good rogue. Mechancial details to follow. Let me know what you think. [sblock]Appearance: Jazick Shador is a tall thin young man of twenty-two summers. His skin is fair and his hair black. He has fine features suggesting a highborn birth and bright eyes of green that carry a hint of sadness. He carries scars of the fire on his back and the left hand. There are other scars earned more recently—a product of his life on the street. Fingerless gloves of black kidskin are perhaps the finest and least worn of his clothes.  He wears a worn gray tunic over a light mail shirt. Brown leggings and soft low comfortable boots cover his legs. A once fine black cloak lined with a russet and silver herringbone swallows Jazick’s narrow shoulders. A careful observer will spot sword and bow under the cloak. He wears a low brown felt hat with a broad brim at a rakish angle on his head. He can move with grace and speed, but more often his movements are furtive as his slips from one shadow to the nest. He works to appear ordinary and anonymous on the streets. When he speaks his voice is surprisingly cultured and educated. History/Background: Jazick Shador is the son of a once prominent family in a once prosperous neighborhood. Candlestick Lane was a thriving district of artisans. The area produced candles, torches, lamps, scented oils, soaps, and other goods sold in fine storefronts and to other shops in neighboring areas. The area was known for its beautiful old wooden building with ornate carvings, elegant shops and sidewalk cafes. Situated on the northern bank of a major canal, trade was good. Though a small community, it was a relatively happy successful one. The Shador family ruled with a gentle hand, settling disputes, encouraging trade and protecting the neighborhood from their large chandlery and the adjacent stone tower on the waterfront. Things changed dramatically for Candlestick Lane on a hot dry night ten summers ago. No one is sure how the fire started. Any number of banked forges or cook fires could have thrown a spark in the hot breezes blowing that night. The people acted quickly, but the canal was low from the long dry season and the buckets of water had to be hauled up the steep bank. A dry wind drove the fire deeper into the neighborhood igniting tallow, wax and oil in the old wooden buildings. The blaze devoured every wooden structure in the region. Only the brick and stone buildings of abutting districts stopped the flames. In the dawn all that was left of Candlestick Lane was heaps of smoking ash and the stone tower, its interior walls and floors largely burned away. Many of the citizens perished as well, most fighting to save their neighborhood. The families of Candlestick Lane lost everything they had. Some moved on chasing the prosperity they had once known while others stayed digging charcoal from the ashes and selling it for coppers where they had once earned gold and silver. A shantytown of lean-tos and tents replaced the fine houses and buildings. Rabble from other areas poured into the vacant space. Soon the area was just a lawless pit. A few businesses rose from the ashes-brothels, taverns and less savory businesses crept into the lawless region. Young Jazick survived the blaze along with his mother who was burned badly yet lived. His father, siblings and all other family were lost. His mother turned to drink to ease her pain and heartache. She and Jazick were alone in the burned out tower. In the early years like everyone else, Jazick struggled just to survive and find enough for them to eat. As he grew into a man his mother became increasing out of touch with reality. She expected Jazick to be a proper lord ruling his people. She talked endlessly of honor and duty to the son who caught her rats for dinner. In the remains of the tower he found a few things that survived. I fine shirt of mail and a rapier were untouched by the flame. Jazick would have sold them for money to buy food and healing for his mother, but she insisted that they were Shador family heirlooms that were his birthright. As ruler they were signs of his office and he must preserve them. The armor saved his life on more than one occasion as he prowled the warren that had been Candlestick Lane. He ran afoul of cutpurses and muggers, but his agility and fine armor and knowledge of every alley and rooftop allowed him to escape. As a lad he had been educated and knew how to fence, but quickly learned the rougher arts of fighting for your life. He grew strong, but never bold. Jazick was not a violent youth and preferred to avoid a fight. If he was forced to fight he would strike with speed and stealth. While Jazick at first just fought to survive, his mother’s words began to haunt him as he roamed. He saw many injustices and finally began to take action. He fought to defend others and even worked to drive evil men from the district. He rarely confronts others directly preferring to act from the shadows. In order to further his causes and help the people Jazick will collect ‘taxes’ from wicked men profiting from the people of the neighborhood. He keeps little for himself given most of what he steals to help the people of the neighborhood. He considers his territory all the area that falls under the shadow of his burned out tower as the sun makes its way across the sky. After his mother died a few years ago, Jazick took to living near the top of the tower where he restored a floor. This was both for safety and to provide a vantage point from which to watch the surrounding neighborhood. Jazick is sometimes referred to as ‘Lord Shadow’ at first mockingly, but now with some reverence among the simple folk of the neighborhood. He has many friends: Judith Tulley daughter of a once wealthy family that has regained some small part of their former wealth as sellers of charcoal and torches. They are of an age and Jazick is given to romantic notions about her. Willie a simpleminded begger boy orphaned and disabled in the night of the fire. Rory a baker who’s oven survived the fire. He often gave young Jazick day old bread in the difficult days after the fire. Another is Margra an old woman who discovered that flowers grew well in the soil enriched by the ashes. She scrapes by selling flowers from a stand on the corner at the edge of the neighborhood. Father Lunley a homeless sidewalk preacher who also works tirelessly to help others. [/sblock]</blockquote>

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