Anthony Woo

## **Early Life**

As a child, Anthony was an orphan in the mountainous region of Overlook Ridge just outside of Rumney Marsh, and has no recollection of his true parentage. His earliest memories were of traveling with a group of small-time thieves who would share whatever food and coin Anthony helped them steal. He proved a natural at sneaking up on others and pickpocketing them, and so he began searching for wealthier-looking targets with each new outing.

Anthony was nearly arrested and most likely would have been severely punished when he was caught in Rumney Marsh attempting to pickpocket a local restauranteur, Peter Woo. When a city guard offered to take Anthony away to rid the streets of another thief, Peter insisted that the boy was only trying to feed himself, and said that he had an alternative in mind for the boy.

Peter offered to feed and shelter Anthony in exchange for hard work at his restaurant, The Birdcage, and they soon developed a very close bond. When Anthony turned thirteen, Peter officially adopted him as his son.

Years later, Anthony would discover a secret about his adopted father, in that Peter had been using his small restaurant as a front for fencing and smuggling operations throughout the Suffering Coast. When confronted about it, Peter admitted to Anthony that his cunning and fearlessness the day they met was a large reason why he took Anthony in... So he could train an apprentice. After this, Peter began to impart a life's worth of mental and physical combat techniques onto Anthony, knowing that his life could eventually be in danger as the son of a criminal.

## **Inheritance & Adventuring**

On Anthony's 18th birthday, The Birdcage was destroyed by a cataclysmic tornado that ripped through Rumney Marsh, with Peter still inside. Anthony was returning to The Birdcage following a completed delivery only to see the rubble and ashes that were left behind just moments prior.

Anthony played a large part in the rebuilding effort for Rumney Marsh after the tornado, and returned to The Birdcage's ruins to try and recover any personal effects of his father's. Anthony delved down into the cellar of The Birdcage, which was largely caved-in, and noticed a letter written by Peter Woo himself, explaining to Anthony that he intended to give a set of heirlooms to him as a gift that very day. The posthumous letter went on to explain the value of the intricate set of armor that Anthony had before him, and how Peter saw from a young age that Anthony would one day don the equipment to carry on his legacy. Before him were his father's meticulously crafted leather armor and a gorgeous pair of daggers, The Fogcutters, which had intricate golden hilts, ivory grips wrapped with rich leather, and large rubies inlaid in each pommel.

From that day forward, Anthony decided that he'd no longer allow the Woo name he had adopted live in the shadows, and that he'd dedicate his life to helping others in the name of his late father - and vowed that he would one day help the Woo name rise to prominence in the Suffering Coast.

Anthony spent the next three years traveling through cities close to home, garnering some coin and reputation collecting bounties as a sellsword. Anthony had not exactly fulfilled his promise yet, as his reputation developed more into one of a womanizer, excessive drinker, and swindler rather than a hero. Since the only home he'd ever known was now a pile of rubble, Anthony made the Speak Liberally Tavern in Rumney Marsh his temporary home.

## **Marauders of the Marsh**

Anthony joined a ragtag group of adventurers that would later come to be known as the Marauders of the Marsh to defeat a group of goblins that had overrun The Misplaced Lighthouse. The call-to-arms was issued by a halfling, by the name of Sergeant Slaffter, who stormed into the Speak Liberally Tavern to rally any able-bodied adventurers in Rumney Marsh who could clear the goblins out.

The Marauders of the Marsh would later go on to seek out godly artifacts during the Trial of the Champions, and would go on to slay the masters of the chromatic and metallic dragonflights during the Return of the Dragons.

## **Ascending to the Crown**

In the aftermath of the Trials of the Champions and the Return of the Dragons, the surviving three members of the Marauders of the Marsh were confronted by the Ten Great Gods, who descended from the heavens to congratulate them on their salvation of the Suffering Coast. Desna spoke for the group, and promised to grant them each a single wish as a reward.

Anthony's wish was to be crowned of the King of the Suffering Coast - and it was granted. When he arrived at Scollay Keep in The City of the Three Hills, it was decorated in the Red and White trappings of House Woo, banners that had not flown over any wall higher than his father's old restaurant. It was here that The Age of Heroes came to a close.

Knowing full well that he needed a Queen to solidify his reign over the Suffering Coast, Anthony searched high and low for a suitable wife. It was not until The Great Harvest, a cultural festival that Woo had established to foster a better connection with the Suffering Coast's indigenous peoples, that he met Tala, a beautiful priestess, and daughter of a man who led a shamanistic tribe from the west. Sparks instantly flew between the up-jumped noble and the mysterious woman, and after months of correspondence via letter, King Woo invited Tala back to court to be his Queen.

A few years later they introduced their son to the world - Prince Petyr Woo.

## **Legacy**

Anthony and Jecht Valhalla worked together over the following centuries to rule and protect the Suffering Coast, and is known for ushering in the first Age of Prosperity that lasted the entirety of his reign. Anthony Woo fathered four heirs during his lifespan.