Issran

Occupation
 Affiliation
 Gender
 Race
 Status

The royal cook for the Abunese court. A old Kalss man, who's early life saw him a career in piracy. His fur is of a light shade, with graying around his facial features and on the ends of his limbs. His forearms are burned and scarred from a long, hard working life.

Very obviously WIP by Shep.

## Youth

Like many men growing up in Kol, **Issran** began working as a sailor at the age of 14. His father had been taking care of them in the same line of work, but after his sudden death the young Issran was required to step up and care for his aging mother. The Kalss initially found much trouble maintaining an income in this work, and throughout his stay on many shipping vessels, the stories of piracy were always in his ears. Stories of great wealth to be gained from the raids of foreign vessels and ports.

He embraced piracy with one of the sailors with whom he worked with, aboard a Kalss fishing vessel. The two would often exchange stories they had heard or even made up, as well as fantasize about what they'd do with their fortune. At age 21, Issran's mother passed away, prompting him to branch out further from home. He began to take work further from Kol, to the banks of Endran. One night, his friend of whom they used to fantasize about becoming pirates, took him to a tavern where he was introduced to a group of pirates who had stolen an Abunese merchant vessel, sold the product, and murdered the crew. They showed him the jewels and the Sid that they took from the crew. He was ecstatic: he lived in poverty for all his life and just the idea to have all that power and wealth made him almost drool. Greed overtook his judgement, and Issran never returned to his fishing vessel and enlisted with the gang of pirates.

## Piracy

Initially, he adjusted well to the new life style he had adopted. The Kalss was still a young man, though working for the pirate gang was very profitable work comparative to his old jobs. He didn't often participate in the raids, at first, however gradually his behavior became more violent when confronted. His first kill was that of a Krani marine, who had seemingly leapt between the vessels with intent of scaring off their invading crew. He drove a small boarding dagger directly through her neck, but it hardly slowed the Krani down, even as her visceral green fluids splashed Issran's fur. It took many more stabs before she stopped, and the scars of that first battle never fully healed on the Kalss' body, as well as stories of him still being told among various crews.

In a couple of years, he managed to become a feared pirate. He learned how to use the dagger and begun to drink more and more, getting drunk easily. Somehow, the other men of the crew seen him as a sort of authority, even more than the captain himself. He had a very commanding voice, and a very high tolerance to alcohol. But he could keep level when the situation called for it. Issran was the man who led the fights and the plundering, and his dagger sliced many throats, inevitably even challenging the former captain himself, a old Tokaya man, to a duel. When the Tokaya refused, Issran leapt in rage on him, claiming he deserved a fight and shouting all manners of challenge against him. The two tussled on the deck where no crew dared interrupt, and the battle seemed to be going against Issran until he drove his dagger into the gut of the Tokaya, throwing him off and shouting at his crew to lift the former captain to his feet. Pulling the jewelry- And his blade -from the defeated man, and wiping the blood from his muzzle, he had the captain thrown overboard. Questions against his loyalty were often rectified in similar manners following this event.

For many years, Issran's crew continued this reign of terror across the southern seas of Nakti. They were very efficient, ruthless, and of course as a result rich. The crew and their vessel had no uniting name, nor race or gender. Surviving sailors from ships they raided were given the choice of joining with them, or left to drift to their own devices. They traveled from port to port, knocking off vessels they found, quite often driving them to the depths. Their ship was of Kalss design- A very fast ramming vessel with enough agility to easily escape into deep seas.

But something changed his life forever. One day, mid summer, after his gang plundered a Khalaii ship, a huge storm begun. They were located south to the island of Nysdra. The sea rendered the ship uncontrolable, and despite all the efforts of the crew, the ship was crushed against the rocky shores a small island. All the crew is believed to have perished in the accident, except for Issran. He awoke on the sandy shores surrounded by drift wood and torn fabric, all that remained of his old vessel.

## Nir

The sinking had left Issran with a nasty case of amnesia. He remembered much of what he had done, but only slivers of the man he was during it and the shipwreck itself was barely present at all. He was stranded on this little island, apparently devoid of civilization. For a while, instincts took hold of him, a primal desire for survival. He managed to live alone as a castaway for three months, all by himself, until three Tokaya men found him while they were on their handmade rowboats, fishing. They were glad to take him to their settlement, just on the other side of the island.

Without their intervention, it's quite possible Issran's story would have ended there on those shores. While their society was very simple, they welcomed him like if he was a member of their village. They had a tribal structure and worshiped the sea, the sun and the moon as their gods. They were oddly hospitable, as well, it felt like a bit of a shock to him to be treated so warmly. The island community, called the **Nir**, were quite isolated from outsiders and consisted entirely of Tokaya, but they were culturally similar to Kol. The "people of the sea" as he called them, took him in, and he worked for them in return around the village by fishing, gathering, and farming.

It was during this time that he was first attracted to the art of cooking, while watching the women of the village prepare for an end of summer feast. Even during his previous life as a pirate, he enjoyed a good meal and was fascinated by exotic recipes. He even kidnapped a Delhangite cook during one of his expeditions. Thanks to this, he managed to earn the respect of the islanders. He'd begun to cook dishes for marriages and funerals in the villages, and quickly earned quite a name for himself with that. No one cooked good meals like him. He brought unique flavors to the members of the village, and even to the point where fathers of the village would offer their daughters to him as compensation. He would often accept these women, however strange the practice felt to him.

Issran lived with the village for about 3 years before he met **Dahati**; A spunky, free spirited Tokaya women of 19 years old. How exactly the two met is unclear, but it is known that they only ever met up in secret after their initial meeting, as Dahati was the daughter of the village chief and her marriage was promised to the son of another. They fell for one another immediately, and began spending the night's together alone on the beaches. Truly they didn't even sleep together for quite a long time, allowing their relationship to really blossom. During their long talks and cuddles, she gave Issran a reason to leave the island; she wanted to see the world he talked about. Her father was enraged by the suggestion, and demanded Issran's banishment from the village despite Dahati's protests.

So they fled. In the cover of night, taking enough goods for them to trade their way to the mainland and even the royal jewelry of Princess Dahati herself. They also made off with the chief's own ship, an extremely fortunate storm driving them clear of the island before it was even known they were gone. After a few weeks, they reached the shores of **Hat'Ny**. They were homeless, living out of their ship, but thanks to the Princess' jewels they were able to stay fed. Above all, though, they were finally happy and free to be together.

## Hat'Ny

Issran had friend connections in Hat'Ny, specifically in the capital of **Tilat**. He and Dahati were offered work in the tavern of a man named Osen, a former sailing partner who was unaware of Issran's previous career choices but willing to help regardless. From there the Kalss made his living as a cook, while Dahati herself worked tending bar as well as apprenticing under Issran's culinary teachings.

The couple had the dream of raising a family together, having finally been settled in a relatively stable economic position, and living in a loft above the tavern, they started trying for a child. Despite their best efforts, however, the genetic differences of a Tokaya and a Rourd'ken made healthy childbearing impossible. The two were devastated, not being able to pass their bloodlines along.

## After Dahati's Death

Prince letting Issran explore the world for him and Dahati, honing culinary skills, working for Ty, Samhon, and Nylus

## Abun

Working for Kalss court, acquisition by the Abunese, relationships with the court.