Egan Pell

Egan Pell was born in the city of Rastegar to James and Naomi Pell. James Pell was an Associate for the local Magistrate. Egan lived a comfortable life, knowing the comforts of security and friendship. At a young age he grew to know and love his childhood friend, Rachel Corson. Both Egan and Rachel’s fathers were close friends and coworkers, so it was natural for the two to look out for each other. It was during his 15th year that his life changed. One summer morning, Egan awoke to his mother's screams, James was found poisoned in his bed.
James spent his career as a magistrate fighting an operation that moved drugs such as opiates and barbiturates into Rastegar from Seiryu Province. Months before his death, he discovered corruption within the magistrate's office. Egan would eventually find out, much to his dismay, his father's life was stolen away by his closest friends, David Corson, for petty reasons. James's friend had been bought by high coin members of the drug cartel. Egan was messing up a good thing for David, who was ordered by his financiers to end Egan's investigation.
Naomi took to blaming those within the magistrate for his murder, her claims were never officially founded. Her open accusations tarnished the family’s name and drove her to deep depression. Eventually she turned to drugs her husband fought to keep out of the city in order to escape the debilitating depression. Egan spent many nights crying, his hand clasped tightly around his father’s wedding ring, his only true memento of the man.
Calloused by the cruelty he felt had been turned on a man who did not deserve such a fate, Egan sought revenge. He knew as his mother had that his father was taken by someone in the local government. Rachel tried to comfort him and Egan would accept these comforts, the more physical things. But emotionally Egan turned Rachel away. He needed answers and closure and her path was to move on and to try and forge out a life together. There was no good end to that story.
Digging deep into the dark underworld of Rastegar, Egan eventually found his answers. If justice couldn't be attained with law he would seek it elsewhere. He slowly learned to live in the world of liars and thieves. In time, Egan stumbled upon a gang known as The White Vipers. Halbiorn Svanson, a large Vendaran man who was the boss of these misfits, promised Egan answers so long as he'd work for him. Information gathering and investigation became his life. All Habiorn cared about was knowing the ins and outs of the nobility of Rastegar and what their vices were. Egan learned it all. Even the most pure-seeming knight had a dark side.
It would take three years before Egan would avenge his father's murder. When given the evidence that David Corson murdered his James Pell, he was overcome with distrust and anger. He learned the very important lesson that anyone could be bought, no one could be trusted. Egan didn't hesitate when he opened David's throat. A more experienced man would have known better, but it felt good. Resolved that his father had been avenged, Egan tried to flee from his dark past. His troubled soul could take no more. He couldn't bare the guilt of seeing Rachel experience the same pain he felt. To see her suffer from his misdeeds. Distanced and isolated Egan turned to drinking. He wrote Rachel sorrowfully, empathizing with her loss. He would write her fictional stories of lands he'd seen and the people he had met. Egan became his lies. He despised the monster he had become. His vengeance brought him only more pain after he'd learned to realize what it meant.
Halbiorn refused to let Egan retire in spite of his service. Egan was good at rooting out corruption, like he was born with the knack. Halbiorn needed this ability to observe the city which he had slowly come to rule from the shadows. Egan was one of his most important sets of ears and eyes. The city was alive with travelers. Egan would quietly move from street to street listening to the morning’s gossip. Egan observed everything, his desire to know and understand no longer fueled his compulsion. This was a job, one driven by the fact that his boss knew his dark secret. And a bounty sat at the magistrate's office for five thousand gold coins for any information on David Corson's killer.
His favorite location became The Sweet Misery, a local tavern in the district he lived. Many a wench spilled their gossip during their morning routine of preparing him morning breakfast. It was there he'd fine his only time of peace in his otherwise busy day, but even in that he would listen. His routine would involve surveying the city in a morning walk. Each day a different attire. He began to try out many different personalities. It’s as if he was them all at once. A web he created in his own fantasy world, creating actors upon his stage. His driven focus to find the killer of this father had changed him. A world of hidden meaning lay before him and he had no choice but to obey his compulsion and his master to pry and know. Could he trust them? Will they try to sabotage him? Will they outright KILL HIM? Do they know if they will?
The price on his head was heavy enough on his mind. Yet a deep numbness sat heavy on his chest. A guilt he yet dare not face. Revenge is a boiling fester and it swelled and hide deep in him. The anguish he felt overwhelmed him. Many a night he would wonder who he had become or he might have under the tutelage of his father. The web gossip and rumors left him. His self-centered thoughts plagued his ritual. Each sound rang sharply through his mind, bringing him back to this debauchery of his tedious game of learning everyone. In what way can we decide who to extort or abuse for profit was a common question he asked himself for the sake of his job. Every word buried deep in his consciousness and remembered. It would take months to drown out the white noise. No matter how hard he tried he could hear each word and phrase. He could recite his findings every day. He did so in a late night library. A scribe scripted the day’s events for him for his report to Halbiorn, giving form to the chatter, making it deliberate and concise. The time of each event was well-documented. The reciting of such events sat well in his memory, the events told in a perfect stanza, almost poetic.
The years of persistent observance paid off. It was no longer a habit or hobby, it was a career. It consumed him. His curiosity became him, “Egan must know everything” is something Halbiorn would say of him. Those who didn't know Egan like Halbiorn did assumed Egan was a smart ass. Halbiorn knew it was more a motto explaining his desire. Egan's world created of paranoia and suspicion created him. He wished selfishly for the death of a criminal and in that wish he sealed his fate to service. Egan knew his dark process and sought to change. He convinced Halbiorn to allow him to join the Academy of Rastegar and to enlist in the Association of Tal'na Mry. Halbiorn was a smart man and knew that status could only increase Egan's abilities and that following in his father's footsteps would temper Egan like a fine lens.
The Association taught Egan to see the world differently. To see it as it was and to not prejudge it as he had learned to do. Everything he had learned in the past was learned with a goal in mind. His studies in The Scepter erased those preconceptions, because he was taught that everything had merit. After his classes concluded, Egan was recruited as an Associate of a Magistrate in Rastegar.