Makuvin Lirado - water genasi monk, practitioner of the Undying Way (Unearthed Arcana pg. 52)
I was born in a in the midst of a stormy sea, and if my blood hadn't run thick with water, I would have died before my first breath. Breath of water that is. My father was a triton, and rescued my mother from drowning, a terribly romantic story I'm told. They lived on an island nearby, growing in love and understanding of each other, and eventually joined together. Many months later, my mother was pregnant with me, and a ship was sighted. Though my mother loved my father, they were both concerned about the child growing up all alone. My father said he would take my mother to the ship, so she could give birth amongst her own people.
Sadly, a terrible storm blew up out of nowhere, and my mother lay in labor in the bottom of a tiny rowbot, as my father looked on helplessly. I was born as the boat sank, and my first breath was of water, not air. My father cradled me in his arms as his lover sank to the bottom of the sea. Though I was raised fairly and well by my father's people, there was always a sense of meloncholy about my presense in the village.
I was clearly not a triton, though I had faint webbing between my fingers, bluish skin, and hints of fins, I could walk upon the earth without pain, something no triton could do. My own differences meant I could not swim as fast as my playmates, but I was hardy and hale, more so than most other tritons. It was finally my father's sister who suggested that I would be better off in the human lands. Though there was no malice in her request, I knew she had my best interests at heart, I had recently learned of the circumstances of my birth and realized what I painful reminder I must be to my father.
I swam to the next ship that appeared near my old home, and traded vigorously with the captain for safe passage to the next human community. They had had dealings with waterfolk before, and demanded a high price in pearls to take me. I conceeded, what else could I do? And before two moons were out, I was a student at the monestery of the Inexerable Tide. Perhaps befitting my tragic origin, the masters their taught a form of fighting that taught patience, persistance, and outlasting an opponent. Surviving a fight was the truest win, for as long as you remain alive, so does your honor and spirit in this world.
It was here I met others of my kind, aquatic elves mostly, along with a few others with odd watery linages; fellow water genasi. My odd customs and habits, my curious ways of address; here they were not an issue. I was accepted, and as long as I dligently practiced and learned, I had a place.
It is now many years later, I have mastered the basic techniques and passed my first tests. But now comes the truly hard part, facing the world. I hope I am ready...
