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Dad taught me a lot of things. But the most important thing he taught me was how to look inside, to see my inner strength, to see my Ki. He taught me how to call forth my Ki, to channel and shape it.
Dad said this technique has been practiced among the free peoples of Eriador for millennia.
But that was a long time ago. We used to be a happy family, mom, dad, sis and me. That was before the bandits along the road attacked us.
Dad decided to move us to Bree! Dad said with the "King's Peace" along the roads there were much better opportunities for us at the crossroads [Greenway and the Great East Road] in Bree. Dad was a fairly skilled alchemist. We could do well there. We had spent the last few weeks moving down the greenway. We were just outside of town when they attacked.
I watched Dad kill three of them before they knew what hit them. Mom was screaming as she was tackled by one of the bandits. Dad looked at me, threw me his cloak [Cloak of Elvenkind] and growled, "Run son! Take your sister and RUN!". I was just a kid. I was scared and confused, and I trusted my father... so, we ran! I've always been lucky and somehow, we got away; we hid near some trees under dad's cloak. We heard them laughing while they robbed and murdered our parents.
Dad got his final wish. We were living in Bree. I was 13, Sis was only 6.
And I did whatever I had to do to take care of Sis! I stole, I burgled, I blackmailed, I lied. Sometimes worse. I was pretty good at it too. A lot of the techniques dad had taught me really helped. I started making deals, joined a "guild" if you call it that. Learned the "thieves cant". Robbed the rich. At times I was a highwayman. Usually, I was a burglar. Bree was bursting with trade. It was good.
I learned to be careful. I did this for years. I eventually had a nice little house on a quiet little backstreet. Sis and I lived there. She had just turned 13, same age I was when Mom and Dad died. We never talked about it. I don’t know if she remembered that day. I couldn’t forget it.
We were doing well. I had enough money set aside now that I could get into a legit business. An alchemy shop like dad always wanted. Just one last job. A big job!
A big shipment of magic items! A new client had some inside information that was going to get us in. A fence was already waiting. It was all set. It sounded like a great deal! It was going to be a LOT of money.
I've always been lucky, but that night my luck ran out. The job was anything but smooth. The information was bad. Some people got hurt. My partner was killed. It was messy, but lucky me, when it was all done, I still had the goods.
What saved me was finding a pair of 'Boots of Speed' in the loot which I promptly donned and fled while I could. When the fence failed to meet me at the rendezvous spot, I knew I had been double crossed. This was going to get even messier and the first place they would look was my house. I decided to try and ambush them there.
I rushed home staying hidden and set watch outside my house. A poison bolt nocked in my crossbow, there was only one way to end this. Sure enough, within the hour our "new client" with the bad information was knocking on my front door. It did not occur to me that the door would be answered so quickly or that my target was so skilled. My bolt missed my target, but did not miss my sister. The bolt pierced her heart. She died instantly.
I stumbled out of the shadows unable to accept what just happened. My target fled as I rushed to her lifeless corpse, sobbing. I don’t know how long I wept there. The street was quiet. I didn't even go into my house. I dropped everything and ran.
And today Callon is still running. His heart is filled with inconsolable grief.
[End]
The items this character would start with are:
Cloak of Elvenkind
Boots of Speed PDF of current character