aka Kirin, aka Daen Redeker, aka many many names
Caiphys was born in the Bloodstone district of Graywall, the second largest city in Droaam. Bloodstone earned its name for the red bricks salvaged from the Dhakaani ruin of Korash Khaar and used in its construction. The area’s inhabitants come from a broad variety of races, most of whom have decided they would rather live apart from the more civilized cities of the east.
Born as the boy of fraternal twins (boy/girl) he had a childhood that one probably wouldn’t call typical considering the community he grew up in. Apart from the members of the more common races, Bloodstone included goblins, minotaurs, shifters, changelings, ogres, and orcs. Living in Graywall is a toughening experience for a child of any race. You had little choice but to learn to fend for yourself and watch your back. While the various races here live with a level of accepted diversity that the 5 Kingdoms probably would find hard to believe there is still no shortage of tension and distrust. In Graywall the strong survive and the weak are left behind; if they are left alive at all. This drove Caiphys to decide that he wanted to become someone who commanded respect. Someone, who he believed, in his as yet, limited microcosm, would be acknowledged for their strength and power. Getting ahead in Graywall required people to recognize your right, by whatever means necessary, to be on top. He wasn’t yet sure how he was going to go about it, but Caiphys knew he had it in him to succeed at this goal. Something in his blood told him so.
Caiphys at a young age learned to handle himself amongst the ruffians and bullies of his district. He developed an acute ability at observing his surroundings and sizing up the people in them. In Graywall, failing to do so would get you into hot water fast. A tough and strong demeanor was necessary even as a child. It further helped to develop a sharp tongue in order to appropriately reply to the insults and taunts of other children in the street. If you don’t properly return a young orcling or goblins rather colorful reference to your heritage with an equally insulting jibe than expect them to bully you relentlessly for as long as you continue to know each other.
He noticed early on that he excelled in certain ways during certain times of the day or night. He couldn’t really explain why this seemed to happen but, as he grew older, he learned to pay attention to these “phases” and use them to his advantage. He grew to readily accept change as the natural order. People, Belongings, Seasons even the Moon and Stars shifted and changed as time past. It was sometimes for the better, occasionally for the worse, but all seemed to come back around eventually. Everything seemed to have a cycle. He determined to master this ebb and flow however it decided to manifest in himself as he grew. He focused on it, trying to understand it better. He would talk to people about his ideas, well people willing to listen to the prattle of a youngling, when he thought they might have some insight worth hearing. His twin sister, Carric, was definitely different from him in this regard. She was very capricious when she was young and this developed into an even further wild streak as she grew into a young woman. This got her into some serious trouble on a number of occasions but she always managed to get herself out of them, sometimes with Caiphys’ help.
He was growing into an enduring and resourceful young adult. This was about to become an important factor in his continued survival in Graywall. Although unaware of what was about to occur he could nonetheless feel the impending shift in cycles about to play its part in his life again. He just had no idea it was going to be such a significant change.
His sister took it rather hard the day their mother disappeared. They had just come of age and Caiphys was beginning to look towards his future. His mother went out one morning, mentioning she had something she needed to do in an area of Graywall known as the Kennel. It wasn’t uncommon for her to need to run errands there since the merchants who braved Droaam through the Orien Highway came into the city and sometimes sold there wares from there. Its just that this time, she never came back from those errands.Caiphys and his sister, knowing something was wrong when she didn’t return home by sundown, waited up all night for her. When morning arrived the next day they went and scoured the Kennel for any sign of what might have happened to her.
They spoke with every Merchant who would acknowledge them but very few remembered seeing a woman that fit the twins description. Caiphys thought he saw one or two, gain a strange look in their eye when asked if they had seen a woman fitting the twins description. He was certain the merchants weren’t telling them everything they knew but there wasn’t much a boy of 15 could do to persuade them. His sister wanted to tell someone. Get someones help in tracking down their missing mother. Graywall wasn’t exactly known for having any kind of official Watch and the mercenaries of House Tharashk wouldn’t concern themselves with something as simple as a missing person. Not unless there was some coin in it for them. People disappeared all the time here and there was very little enforcement of what someone might recognize as standard city laws, unless they were significant enough to disturb the community or upset the status quo in Graywall.
