Eyrikh Guile (Currently known as Balogun Tarr), was born almost 24 years ago where he grew up in Stormhaven amidst loving parents.
His father, Dallis, was a sailor and crew master who worked at the docks, often leaving the city for weeks or months at a time. He was married to the love of his life - Catalina.
The Guile family was by no means wealthy, but they made ends meet, and they lived a simple happy life.
Only two years after the birth of Eyrikh, Catalina was with child yet again, and the Guiles eagerly awaited the new member of the family with excitement and joy.
However, every bit of justified happiness within the Guile family soon came to an abrupt end.
The child was born, but Catalina died tragically in the process. And if that were not enough punishment from the gods, the newborn child, Brayan, was born with an illness no known healer could cure - only mitigate with an extremely rare herb, that unfortunately did not come cheap.
This tragedy changed the Guile family ever since
Following the death of his wife, Dallis had to put his life behind him, and he managed to get a job as a cook and mansion caretaker for a Theodrin Vamlyn that he’d met working as a sailor. While the pay was nothing special, it presented a chance for him to stay with his children in the city.
Ten years went on with Dallis working tirelessly to care for his two children, and specifically the rare herbs that Brayan so desperately needed. Often he had to work double shifts at the harbor just to make ends meet.
Eyrikh was now twelve, and most of his days were spent helping his father with various different tasks at the mansion.
His father was close with both of the boys and spent the few hours he could muster not working by teaching them about the world he had seen as a sailor, the value of family, and helping those who aren’t as fortunate as others.
One day late in the evening, Eyrikh noticed a man sneaking into the mansion grounds in the cover of the night.
The man managed to sneak past both guards and servants of the mansion without a trace, even into the quarters that were off limits - with Eyrikh on his heels - seemingly unbeknownst to the intruder.
After a while, the man had snuck into the lords chambers. Eyrikh followed him, and once inside he saw the man rummage through various paperwork at the lord’s desk. Eyrikh stood in silence watching the man, when suddenly he stopped, and a he spoke:
“I knew you were following me… how did you do it?”
The man turned around, putting a paper into his pocket, staring at Eyrikh who was practically frozen by fear of what the man might do next.
“Few can keep up with me, and none ever notices my presence. You have a special talent boy… a talent you should put to good use.”
He walked towards Eyrikh, determined and kneeled down in front of him saying:
“Today is your lucky day… I will offer you this one chance out of poverty, out of an ordinary boring life… you will meet me at the northgate tomorrow exactly at noon…
And do not worry about your brother and his illness, this chance will ensure his future, as well as yours”
The man smiled, and placed a gold coin in Eyrikh’s pocket, winked and tapped it three times... then with a snap of his fingers, he vanished into thin air, and the only thing left in the room was Eyrikh and the silence.
Almost too good to be true, this encounter would change Eyrikh’s life forever
With his father’s blessing, Eyrikh met with the man the next day at the northgate at noon.
The man introduced himself as Master Felden, a man living in Stormhaven, employed with the faction known as the Farwalkers, and it was quickly obvious that Eyrikh was to follow in his footsteps.
No time was wasted, and Eyrikh became the apprentice of Master Felden where he performed various tasks for both him and the Farwalkers.
In addition to the various assignments, extensive physical training was required, and Master Felden did also teach Eyrikh the importance of magic, to sometimes solve what sheer physicality and stealth could not.
Eyrikh was also taught the secret language of thieves and how to blend in with any crowd, both common and noble.
The apprenticeship with Master Felden was a very secretive job. Felden owned an apothecary shop at the outskirts of Stone Market. The shop which was really sponsored by the Farwalkres was rarely open, and Felden only sold to a select few in the city. (often messengers of various guilds and organisations)
Eyrikh did not even know his master’s real name, and the only one who knew about Eyrik’s own job in the Farwalkers were Master Felden and Eyrikh’s father.
But regardless of the tasks, the apprenticeship helped with supplying the medicine for his brother as the Farwalker clan were one of few vendors of the rare herbs required. This finally allowed his father to spend his time with Brayan instead of working tirelessly.
Eyrikh continued as Master Felden’s apprentice for nearly nine years
As Eyrikh grew older, his skills as a rogue had improved drastically, and his talents finally started to manifest.
But as fate would have it, he soon discovered that the pretty surface of the Farwalkers were hiding something much different from what he had come to believe. He learned more about the immoral acts that not only his master performed, but some of the most adhered members of the organization as well.
Eyrikh did not condone this, but Master Felden was indifferent to his worries. He believed that his teachings and subsequently Eyrikh’s skills belonged to the Farwalkers, and it was not an option to simply deny that right to the organization that helped built him.
Knowing that he was so deep within the organization and due to his knowledge about Master Felden, Eyrikh knew that the only way to ever escape this position he had ended up in, would be to disappear… completely.
Eyrikh decided to fake his own death
Eyrikh shared his intentions with his father, and while he was devastated, he understood the need for protecting both himself and the rest of the family.
Soon after, Master Felden gave Eyrikh a new task, and during an underhanded dealing with criminal tabaxi smugglers in the docks, he did not deliver the acquired items to the agreed location, but instead kept them himself (an elemental gem), and staged his own death.
Finally being free from the Farwalkers and his masters, Eyrikh had to leave his old self behind.
Sadly, this meant that he could not see his father and brother openly anymore, as he feared the Farwalkers might find out.
From this point onward he scarred his own face and changed his name to Balogun Tarr.
Balogun Tarr was ‘born’, and so was a new chapter in his life
While Balogun was now free of the Farwalker’s obligations, his brother and father still needed his help getting enough medicine to his brother.
Skilled in infiltration however, Balogun had come into possession of potential locations where some of the herbs that his brother needed might be.
He kept low just long enough to acquire items for the road and leave Stormhaven behind. Allthough he had left the Farwalkers behind, he still keeps the amulet they gave him. It might come in useful at some point. (It looks like a burning sun rising above dark waters)
Seeking out the nearest point of interest, he was heading towards some old ruins when he came upon a beautiful lake, and decided to settle for the day and start a campfire.
But before he knew it, a small group of naiads were infuriated by his trespassing and he used his elemental gem in desperation to summon help from the elemental.
But to no avail, the naiads froze himself in place as well as the elemental he summoned.
Alone and in terrible danger, Balogun could really use a helping hand right now…
