Bio

Faded Memories

Batoru was a six year old changeling boy, living with his parents at the edge of the forest. As was the normal weekend routine, he splashed around in a nearby reflecting pool while his father tended their garden and his mother did chores inside of their quaint cottage-home.

Batoru was blowing bubbles and making faces at himself in the water, as a changeling boy he was quite the master of that. Suddenly, a bone-chilling unnatural screech came from the forest and before he could cry out in fear, Batoru saw his house explode in a flash of green and purple flames. His father, wielding a common hoe, charged into the dark forest screaming Batoru’s mother’s name.

Batoru ran. He ran until his legs turned to jelly and he collapsed in a puff of dust by the roadside.

A wagon rolled by and came to a stop. A robed goblin man stepped out and picked up the exhausted boy, putting him into the wagon’s rear seat. No words were spoken.

As the wagon rolled down the road toward the coast, these memories dripped out of Batoru and faded into the wild.

The Shadow Sword

Batoru was taken to an island named Tawagoto, a shithole of a place — full of crime and criminals. This was to be his home, his training ground, his hunting ground.

The goblin man, named Shi-no, was the lead enforcer for the Warlord Waru who ruled the island. Shi-no trained Batoru in the art of killing and swordmagic. Batoru was trained how to blend in, a skill that came easily to one with a changeling heritage. He was taught how to close the distance between himself and his prey in the blink of an eye. He was taught how to kill with a stroke of a blade. He was taught how to fade away once his job was done.

Batoru made his first professional kill at the age of 11. Following Shi-no’s orders, Batoru killed the targets of Waru. Debtors who failed payment, dissenters who spoke out against Waru’s rule, challengers that sought Waru’s position; all fell under his sword.

Though he was never seen, nor recognized, due to his ability to blend – his actions became legend in Tawagoto. Whispers of the Shadow Sword spread out across the island. Embellished stories of his killing were told to children to make them obedient – misbehaved children were told that the Shadow Sword would get them if they didn’t shape up.

Rebirth

It was when Batoru was ordered to kill an entire family, and Shi-no could give him no reasoning behind the order, that Batoru’s mind began to awaken. He saw his masters as evil men, without honor. But Batoru was well trained, he left on his mission, completed his job, and faded away — just as he was taught.

But this time, he did not return to Shi-no. Instead, he stowed away on a sailing ship, destination unknown. This was how he came to arrive on the island of his birth, a land overtaken by a wild fey forest. A land he did not remember, but a land he swore to protect.

As he stepped off the ship and his feet met sand, he was reborn. He was no longer Batoru the Assassin, nor the Shadow Sword, he was Batoru Erito.

Just Batoru Erito.