Obi

After finding their way to the city of Nim'Gurynshii, Obi and Rosara take a much-needed rest. Upon waking, they find themselves in a dangerous situation, surrounded by warring factions. Not wanting to be caught in the middle of it, Obi and Rosara decide to go shopping for supplies and less obtrusive clothing.

### Background

Obi doesn’t know who his parents are. He remembers bits and pieces and sometimes he can cobble together complete pictures from flashes of imagery and emotion, but these pictures feel like parts of someone else’s life. He has deduced his family was from Kal-Barr, bankers of some sort often called to service accounts in various affluent port cities in Mog-Anesh. He knows they spent a great deal of time at sea, and he knows they took him with them.

He loves the sea.

He knows what his father’s eyes looked like when the light faded and the blood from the ragged gash in his throat ran in black rivulets on the deck of a ship. He can still see the terror in his mother’s eyes when they clamped the manacles on her wrists. It is the last image he has of her before they pulled the burlap sack over her head and cinched it tight.

Slavers. He doesn’t remember much about them other than cruel eyes, sharp blades, and chains.

He knows he was taken to a different ship, and he remembers weeping for hours until the tears stopped coming and he lay silent in the dark, clustered with other children. It is the last time he remembers crying.

Knowing what he knows now, he understands his delivery was odd. Slaves are auctioned on the piss-stained blocks of Port Cor’Vitarr on the north coast of Tekinesh, but as a child, he never saw the blocks. Within hours of landfall, he was separated from the other children and delivered, alone, to Marius the GrassHopper. Marius is an infamous name, but when asked, the Grasshopper laughs and says, “I am Marius, but I am not stupid enough to say I am ‘The’ Marius.” (A running joke in Tekinesh that only few understand.)

Before we can continue Obi’s tale, you must know a few things about Port Cor’Vitarr and the chaos lands of Tekinesh. Tekinesh is a massive island, yet tall cliffs, jagged rocks and hidden reefs make landing large ships nearly impossible. Even landing a small vessel is a treacherous undertaking only skilled navigators should consider. The vaunted Iron Fleet of Nov Romara discovered this the hard way. Because of its deadly coast, there are only eight port cities with even moderately navigable waters: Cor’Vitarr, Cor’Markul, Cor’Klimazz, Mar’Villa, Mar’Misseala, Mar’Bagarra, and Skul’pratla.

Actually, there are only seven. Skul’Pratla seems to have disappeared from Tekinesh’s business and politics, and no one with reliable knowledge seems willing to speak of whatever calamity seems to have befallen the place. I would advise you to be careful of the company in which you choose to broach the subject as it seems to be a touchy one.

Anyway, Obi found himself in Port Cor’Vitarr which, among other things, is best known for its slave markets. All Tekinesh ports trade in flesh, but Cor’Vitarr’s proximity to Oaknesh makes it a particularly active point of distribution. But as with all Tekinesh’s Ports, Cor’Vitarr serves more purposes than a simple flesh market. It is a base for smugglers, privateers, shady organizations of assassins and hired muscle, and a plethora of other undesirable elements more strictly controlled in civilized society.

Obi found himself immersed in this den of vice and villainy, under the wing of the crime boss, Marius Grasshopper, and he still doesn’t know why.

At first, Obi was largely ignored, but as he grew up among Marius’ house of pickpockets, burglars, and smugglers, he caught onto the street politics of Cor’Vitarr quickly and Marius eventually noticed his natural affinity for the business. A minor himself, Marrius understood the value in anonymity. He understood how to stay small and unnoticed until the moment is right to strike, and over the years he taught Obi the fine arts of subterfuge, stealth, and the well-placed knife in the back.

He also taught Obi how to mix various poisons, potions, and how to brew a special green liquid known on the streets as, Streak, a drug popular among soldiers which, in small doses, it was used to stave off the effects of sleep deprivation. In larger doses, it was used recreationally as a hallucinogen. Regardless, it is powerful and highly addictive. Among other skills, Obi had a talent for chemistry, eventually surpassing all the alchemists at Marius disposal, and could cook batches of Streak so pure they tripled the house’s profits. His skill eventually earned him a position of responsibility within Marius’ sprawling organization.

Marius’ affection for the boy grew, and he took Obi with him various business excursions well beyond Cor Vitarr’s streets. During these trips Obi discovered his mentor’s true love, the hunt. Yes, Marius ran pick pockets, prostitutes and drugs, but these operations funded his true passion, the search for rare and exotic artifacts and knowledge from what he called, “The real Gregoor Sheav.” His tendency to chase the esoteric, the rumored, and the legendary earned him the title, Grasshopper, for he hopped about the world chasing conspiracy and ancient lore. Yet some of his most harrowing journeys were right in his backyard, in the wild Chaos Lands of inner Tekinesh. He took Obi on some of these excursions as well, but that is another tale.

Late at night, aboard creaking vessels, Marius told Obi strange stories of the Heralds and of Kyborr the mad who quickly became Obi’s favorite. Kyborr had a quality Obi respected and aspired to; Kyborr just didn’t care.

In these moments, Obi felt a kinship with Marius, a strange and alien feeling that softened the hard shell he’d built around his heart. He wondered, ‘is this what it feels like to have a father?’ He would learn the truth of it when this father abandoned him to the wolves.

It began with a visitor. This visitor bore letters and had long conferences with Marius, and after each of these meetings, Marius brooded and thought and seemed out of sorts. Obi knew better than to inquire, but as these visitations became more common, he began to worry. When Obi finally asked, Marius smiled sadly and deflected the conversation in the best way he could.

“Isn’t it time we inked you in?”

All other thoughts fled. To be inked in meant he would be marked as a full-fledged member of the Pettet Star, Marius’ organization, something unheard of for boy of 18. What’s more, Marius marked him in his inner chamber, away from the eyes of anyone else in the house. Normally, such things were ceremonial, with a party afterwards, a show of family and loyalty that everyone knew was something of a farce. It seemed so much more personal—special.

As Marius worked the needles, he whispered, “You are the only one I trust, Obi—the only one.”

When Obi woke the next morning, his back felt raw and sore, and when he looked in a mirror, he marveled at intricate patterns splayed on his skin, more beautiful and detailed than any he had seen on other inked members of the Pettet Star. Excited, he went to find his mentor, but Marius was gone.

Not just gone. All his possessions, all his house staff, all gone. And in the weeks that followed, Obi found all of Marius’ businesses, his fronts, the gangs he sponsored, his smugglers, his mercenary contacts, all clamoring for information, all abandoned.

Word spread quickly and the sharks began to circle. Hard men who had once patted his head and marveled at ‘Marius’ young prodigy,’ now measured Obi with their eyes, looking for weakness, looking for anything to exploit. Rivals made moves on territories, street thugs looked for new sponsors, the whole of his new family cracked as the bonds Marius had cultivated for years began to unravel. Obi could clearly see the writing on the wall, the eager knives waiting for him to drop his guard, the hunger of scavenger who smell blood.

He had to act, and he knew how, but first he ventured into a hidden space in Marius’ house, the one room even he wasn’t allowed access. He bypassed a series deadly traps, nearly getting himself killed in the process, but found his way into a small office.

Empty, like everything else.

But just before despair set in, he spied an envelope between floorboards, overlooked, lost. It was empty too, but the broken seal stamped onto the paper displayed an eye wrapped in serpentine tentacles. Every letter Marius visitor delivered bore this same seal.

Obi pressed the seal together, giving it the illusion of being whole, and he felt like it stared at him. He imagined it laughing at him. A clue with no context. It would have to be enough.

### Affiliations

Marius’ organization was referred to locally as the Pettet Star. Pettet was the main street where his house was located. The star referred to his sphere of influence, several streets and alleys extending toward the docks and the inner market district of Cor’Vitarr. When seen on a map, they collectively look like a star. The organization is now defunct, but many might remember it as it was a prosperous syndicate in its day.

Obi travelled with Marius extensively and has at least a rudimentary knowledge of all Tekinesh ports.

### NPCs of Note

Marrius the Grasshopper, who may or may not be alive.

The messenger who carried the sealed envelopes will come to be referred to as the Observer, a term Obi will use once he discovers (or because he already knows) of the nature of the Eye seal on the envelope he recovered.

In Cor’Vitarr, Obi is well acquainted with drug networks, slave merchants, pirate captains, pimps, and all sorts of undesirables.

### Psychology

Kindness is a performance. All actions are transactional. Everything can be bought and sold, even one’s soul if such a thing exists (Obi has his doubts).

He wants to know his place in the world. In Cor’Vitarr, he was good at what he did, but know knows he is meant for more. He feels like a piece of himself is missing. For a brief second, when he stared in the mirror at the kaleidoscope of fractals Marius painted on my back, he felt a sense of discovery, of ‘knowing’. It didn’t last. He needs to know who he is supposed to be.

### Vices

Obi is addicted to Streak. It is a manageable addiction as addictions go, but it is always at the edge of his mind. Ironically, he has a fair supply, and the sheer strength of his derivative means his collection of vials can last him quite a while. But he loathes using it. He will, when necessary, as the potency of his product goes beyond a high and gives him measurable boosts in quickness, alertness, and reactions, but when he takes too much (which he usually does) he pays a price. Each time he uses it, he runs the risk of falling back down the rabbit hole. He is essentially a functioning addict who has found a balance, but still walks a thin line between control and surrender to his demons.

### S1E1

Obi left Cor’Vitarr with a bang. He maneuvered all the factions working to devour Marius' legacy into tearing each other apart.

He got out of the city with a good supply of Streak, some other valuables including some journals and notes Marius left behind, and whatever valuables he could lay his hands on. He burnt several bridges when he left, and these things may catch up to him if the party finds itself back in Tekinesh.

At this point, he has been traveling for a handful of years, looking for clues as to Marius’ whereabouts and the nature of the observer.