Barraka

Barraka was born an orphan in the streets of Anhk Morpork, on the Morpork side. Affiliated with the Thieves Guild of Anhk-Morpork, Barraka is a professional theif and skilled ranged fighter. One of Elaria's final students along side Olaf Brittlebrick, Heath Scandar and Orthnag, he currently still travels with them, along side Lyra Zylro, Bladon Pikren and Silas Blackmoore.

## Biography

### Early Life

One of Barraka's earliest memories was being arrested for speaking infernal to a noble while begging for food at the age of five. He had not learned common yet, and did not know the law forbid Tieflings to speak to nobles using their native tongue. No one bailed him out.

He never knew his parents and he doesn't know if he has any siblings, and he never felt the need to take a surname. It is assumed he wasn't sold, since he can't remember anyone taking care of him, although it is possible someone did before he developed memories. But for the most part, he was alone growing up and had to learn the fend for himself. Barraka started to steal food around this first visit to the town jail, out of hunger. It grew to be a way of life. Even before he joined the Thieve's Guild, Barraka became a familiar face as a child to the various residences of The Shades, and he befriended many thieves, cutthroats, brawlers and other unsavory characters this way.

When Barraka was thirteen, one of his many break ins went disastrously wrong. Breaking into a noble's home looking for food, a sudden noise in the house scared him, causing him to knock over a gas lantern in the house. The fire quickly spread, Barraka managed to flee the house, the occupants however were not so lucky. The noblemen, his wife, three kids and entire staff of servants died in the resulting blaze. No one ever questioned Barraka regarding the fire, and he never told a soul.

One of Barraka's few close friends on the mean streets of Morpork is Marthur, another Tiefling orphan. Marthur and Barraka watched out for each other when no one else did. Marthur eventually became an apprentice of the Assassins Guild.

### Apprenticeship

Tiberius Cain, a high ranking thief, had been watching young Barraka's progress. When Barraka turned fourteen, Tiberius took him in as an apprentice as part of a small thieve's crew, the other members being Draxel and Gishna Tumblebelly. Tiberius was a good trainer but also a cruel one. Rarely encouraging, Tiberius was emotionally and physically abusive to his pupils. His own drinking and often erratic behaviour did not help matters, and many a time Barraka would catch the back of his hand for no reason at all. Still, he was considered one of the greatest thieves in the guild, and his three pupils thrived under him.

When Barraka was twenty, Tiberius accompanied the others for the first time on a major heist in the home of an Ahnk noblemen. The heist went poorly, as Tiberius, who was drunk, knocked a vase over causing the noble to wake up and summon the guards. Barraka, seeing his chance to escape the clutches of his cruel master, fled, leaving Draxel, Gishna and Tiberius to their fate. Barraka knew that if he left now, not only would he be hated by all his former friends, but banished from the Guild as well. He chose to take that risk.

### Life after Exile.

After the fleeing the botched heist, Barraka headed in a random direction. Having never left the confines of the city, it took several weeks for him to adjust, and had to mug a few travelers on the way to ensure he didn't starve. He eventually came to Parabor, where upon seeing the master's house, figured it would be an easy steal for some food or possibly some shelter. What he didn't know was that the master, Elaria, had seen him casing the house, and was expecting him. She saw him great potential, and thought that his temperament and skill set would perfectly compliment a particular class of students she was training. She "caught" Barraka, and much to his surprise, didn't try to get him arrested or even seem upset, instead she offered him a place to stay. He accepted, and became a pupil of Elaria along side Olaf, Heath and Orthnag.

Barraka has been part of The Party since the very beginning, and witnessed many historical events with them including the death of Venice, Hirsa's fall from grace and the death of Tyshma. However, a few elements effected Barraka in a personal way. Eventually, the party returned to Ankh-Morpork, where Barraka discovered that Tiberius had been released from prison, but couldn't find out where he was. Then, he was poisoned by his old friend Marthur, who told him that he had but a few weeks to live. The party scrambled to find an antidote, while at the same time, were trying to organize the theft of an important relic from a noblemen's home. To do this, Barraka secured the reluctant aid of both Gishna and Draxel, the former having warned him that Marthur was gunning for him, seeing as someone had put a contract out on him (that someone turned out to be Tiberius). During the heist, the party discovered that Tiberius had been working as the families security detail for quite sometime, and had captured Draxel and nearly killed him. A fight ensued, in which Marthur, unwilling to allow Barraka to die by any other hand but his, killed Tiberius, thereby nullifying the contract. Marthur also helped secure the remaining ingredients needed for the antidote.

With Tiberius dead, Gishna and Draxel both agreed to petition for Barraka's re-entry into the guild, and were eventually successful. Although many of its members still eye him with some distrust. Barraka, having effectively caused the death of the closest thing he's ever known to a father, had mixed feelings about his mentors death, feelings he rarely feels the need to share.

Another development was the growing relationship Barraka has developed with a cursed sword he found, one Bloodletter and the sword's occupant's lover (trapped in a cursed crossbow) Arcane Piercer. The mysterious voice that only Barraka can hear has lead him to discover more and more of his inert Tiefling abilities, and continuously hint at his "heritage" and "blood line" as being important. Although this sounds dubious, the sword did lead Barraka and the party to a rare Barcidian artifact which was to aid Bladon on his quest to return home, so Barraka has chosen to at least partially trust the sword, for now.

## Traits and Personality

Barraka's reputation is somewhat of a brutal one. Known for using any and all means to acquire information or achieve his goal, the other party members have often cringed at and in some cases prohibited his methods. These methods included cutting off fingers, tongues, gouging eyes and other methods of torture. Barraka is not above killing prisoners as well, as he was against the release of Kratt the kobold king (who eventually betrayed the party.) While the others regard these methods as extreme, Barraka sees most of them (Silas being an exception) as soft, although kind hearted. Heath especially, represents everything Barraka never had and likely never will, whereas Bladon's prejudice against non-humans kept him at arm's length. Olaf's religion, however tenuously followed, is still miles away from Barraka's moral compass, who is generally dismissive of Gods in general. This knack for brutality has earned him the nickname "Taker of Tongues"

Barraka's attitude towards magic is one of dismissal and willful ignorance. Largely stemming from an inferiority complex, Barraka regards magic as "fancy," something practiced by the rich and powerful to control everyone else, and consequently has great respect for those who live by their own hands and wits, while also being cautious about learning any magic himself. Although he will use magic items (such as scrolls and relics) and through his heritage, knows a few infernal spells.

Twitchy, slow to trust and a loner, Barraka has white hair, red eyes, and two horns protruding from his forehead (the left is slightly crooked, and he was often teased on account of it.) He fights mainly with a crossbow (Arcane Piercer) and a short sword (Blood letter). He smokes a pipe, and is something of a chain smoker.