Sasha Korvindor

Sasha’s early years as a young boy were unremarkable. His parents were lowly farm workers and travelled around wherever they could find employment. Sasha does not know his original birth place but remembers that up to the age of 6 years old he called a large farm near Whistledown (Varisia) his home. His parents were both kind but simple souls. His father was a large rugged man with strong shoulders and arms. His mother a humble caring woman of immense beauty. His father often described looking into her eyes as being lost in a waking dream, for they were as fathomless as Storval Deep. There were no other children living at the Collo farmstead, so Sasha had to make do with his own imagination. He didn’t mind though, he has happy memories of that time, playing in the wheat fields while his parents worked. Climbing trees and fantasising he was a great warrior like those in the stories Syran Collo, owner of the farm he lived on, would tell. He recalls his father’s bear like hugs that would comfort him when he fell from the oak trees. His mother’s sweet voice that would sing him gently to sleep at night. They were indeed happy days for Sasha. That would all change. Two weeks after his 7th birthday Sasha’s world changed forever. Syran Collo died of old age and the farm was sold off. The buyer was Robert Sagelius, a ruthless and selfish man who placed profit and power over the lives of anyone who stood in his way. He wore little armor as he was protected most of the time by hired guards, but he carried a long sword at his belt. On his left hand he wore a gold signet ring with the Sagelius family crest intricately carved into it. Later people would say it would in fact leave a permanent mark, like a brand, when Robert became heavy handed and you were unlucky enough to receive beating. With Robert came his family, 2 brothers and their wives, his 3 young sons, his 2 daughters and numerous henchmen. All of them as unkind and heartless as Robert himself. In fact, they became known by the other farm workers as the Sagelius cartel. No one knew for sure but there were strange comings and goings by men during the night. People went missing and there was talk of the farm being a front for a darker operation. It was however the arrival of the new children that gave Sasha his first experience of how cruel the world can be. Sasha had inherited much of his looks from his father, he was not an ugly man but neither was he handsome in the classic way. From his mother though he had inherited her eyes. They were not the serene deep purple that you could get lost in, they were darker.... much darker. Not altogether black but there seemed to be something forbidding deep within them. People could look at his mother and feel calmed by her gaze, not so for Sasha. Behind both his and his parents back the other farm workers would in hush voices speak of how they felt uncomfortable in Sasha presences, as though there was a malice behind his eyes clawing to get out. Those that spoke of these things could not of been further from the truth. There was no malice in Sasha, he was a kind and thoughtful boy who would not harm a fly. Also, Sasha was completely unaware of this and how he made others feel. Protected by his mother and father from any vicious words, and by old farmer Syran, a religious and warm-hearted man; who would have no such talk from the other farm workers. The children of the Sagelius family were not so kind. They teased and mocked Sasha, calling him names and on many occasions beating him for being different. This however was not what caused his world to come crashing down. Sasha grew a thick skin to the other children’s taunts and largely grew to ignore them. For it was Robert Sagelius’s liking for women and especially to Sasha’s mother that wasthe slippery slope for Sasha and his family. His mother of course refusedRoberts coquetry but as all the farm workers knew, Robert took what Robert wanted. Robert became infatuated with her and his advances became more and more forcefully. Sasha’s father was a big man, but he was also peaceful and timid, he certainly was not trained in the ways of fighting. It was all he could think of to do... they must leave the farm. Sneaking away (or so they thought in the dead of night) they tried to make their escape. Robert was not about to let his prize go so easily and had expected such an act. He had his mercenaries watching their every move and on the night they were caught trying to flee he showed his true callous and ruthless nature. Sasha’s father was beaten to within an inch of his life before being hung. His mother was dragged to a barn by Robert and his henchmen. To this day Sasha does not truly know what happened to her (for his mother never spoke of it) and although Sasha has a pretty good idea he pushes it far from his mind. All he really knows is that she was not released for 3 days and when she returned bruised and blooded, the look of serenity in her eyes was gone... now there was only sorrow. In one final act of cruelty, and with the truth finally coming out of what Robert and the Sagelius family business was truly about, Robert imprisoned and sold Sasha and his mother to slave traders. It was months later while traveling in a slave caravan through Druma that Sasha’s mother died. The slavers kept them well fed and healthy (no one wants a slave who cannot perform their duties, so Sasha to this day surmises his mother died of a broken heart. Sasha was 8 years old now and with the last part of his early happy life torn from him, here was a small boy thrown into slavery... he was truly alone. Some weeks later after the death of his mother, as the caravan passed by the southernmost tip of the Five Kings Mountains Sasha over heard one of the slavers say he, along with all the other captives, were to be sold to the highest bidder in a place called Ostenso in Cheliax, a land of extreme tyranny and diabolism. Luckily for Sasha he would never arrive there. That very night under the shadow of the mountains the caravan stopped to camp as it had done every night. The slavers had lit their campfires and were drinking, lewd songs were sung by the mercenaries. Their gruff voices came drifting through the air to Sasha’s caged wagon. He had heard the songs many times over the last nine months and could himself remember each one word for word. There was nothing unusual to any other evening but as dusk began receding intothe darkness something different did happen. The mercenaries singing stopped. For a moment there was a deathly silence and then the clash of metal as swords struck armour. Cries of agony rang out. Crude arrows whizzed through the air, some hitting Sasha’s fellow slaves. A mercenary in leather armour fell to the ground clutching his neck, he was desperately trying to stem the flow of blood gushing from the wound. He bled out, his eyes staring blankly into the night sky.One of the slaves reached through the bars of the prison wagon and grabbed the keys from the fallen man’s belt. Hastily unlocking the cage door, he climb down and ran off in the darkness. Others followed. Sasha was bewildered with fear, what was out there? Did he try to run like the others and if he did where would he go? The sounds of battle were fading. Sasha could just see in the dimly flickering fire light bodies strewn on the dusty and blood soaked ground. He was sure the slavers were dead or had fled. And then he heard a voice in the darkness, “Do you like being treated like an animal little one”. Ajari Maque was an Ifrit. He was an old man in Ifrit terms, with golden skin and scales on his fore arms and calves. It was Ajari who took Sasha in, it was Ajari that brought him up as one of his own, teaching him the art of the sword and survival in the harsh mountains. It was he who introduced Sasha to the teachings and religion of Calistria, and it was Ajari who taught Sasha to use his looks for means of getting his own way... whether by seduction or by fear. For thirteen years Ajari looked after Sasha as if he were his own son. Upon his death the Ifrit had made Sasha into a man. No longer a timid boy but a man and in Sasha’s heart adventure yearned. But for the moment he had one thing on his mind. Revenge. After fifteen long years it was time for Sasha to return to his homeland, Varisia.No one in the area of Whistletdown knows what really happened to Robert Sagelius one night about 18 months ago. The rest of the family quickly covered up his death. The family business had been largely wound down and they were enjoying the spoils of their sick trade. After the death of Robert Sagelius rumours are rife amongst the farm workers, some say a madman escaped from the sanatorium not far from his farm and murdered him. Others think he may have crossed one of the gangs he dealt with on a regular basis and he had been apid back in kind. But the truth is he was found naked in his bed chamber bound to a chair. His throat had been slit and his nether regions removed with a dagger. They were to find his private parts had been forced down his throat, probably while he was still alive. Some months later Sasha made his way through Varisia, stopping off at different towns and places of interest. He eventually came upon the White Company, who were looking for new recruits and so with a thirst for adventure he joined up. One evening after a hard days training, a young man named Ash introduced himself to Sasha and they spoke for a while. The chatted about the days events and exchange other pleasantries. After a while they retired to the baracks. “Well nice meeting you, I hope we can be friends?” said Ash. “Indeed” replied Sasha as he prepared for bed. “By the way... nice ring.” said Ash pointing to a gold signet ring hanging from a chain around Sasha’s neck. “Where did you get it?” Ash enquired. “Oh, this old thing...can’t remember.” After a long adventure and losing his only friend Ash and the party of hired mercs just like them he wandered for a time before settling down in a realm called illadiths he was sent there by the partys wizard a baffonish human by the name of malenta who failed the spell so badly that he was sent to another realm instead of inside of the castle walls he never learnt what became of his team he only assumed they died