Hasia Cristal

## Inferiority

Born into slavery within a small town in northern Brevoy, Hasia’s future was bleak. His family was owned by a brutal merchant, who upon the birth of Hasia, separated him from his family and began teaching him to harness the innate power Ifrit’s are born with in order to make a profit off his arcane power. As he grew older, he watched his parents bodies begin to give into the years, though he had little time to mourn their mortality as his head was constantly thrust into the ground by the merchant or his teachers for failing to follow his lessons, stealing food from the kitchens, or other assorted defiant acts. The merchant was replaced over time by his son, though that did not change the grim circumstances that Hasia was in.

When he was around 50 years old, his parents finally died to the strain of their work. No funeral was given, they were simply given to a church of Pharasma to be disposed of. By this time, Hasia was becoming adept in spellcraft and in the small tricks and displays that brought flocks of people to view him, earning his owner a pretty penny. But he was not content to be his masters plaything, and he began devising a plan to flee this place and create a new life for himself. It took him several more years to make contact with members of the crowds he attracted, creating friendships with the guards and other slaves, and stealing books that detailed the surrounding area before he finally made his move.

At the ripe age of 68, Hasia fled his home. He stole the various items that his master allowed him to wear during performances to enhance his power, stole gold, blasted apart the servants quarters, and left. He moved from city to city, staying at the homes of those who had agreed previously to keep him safe should he ever find himself free, until after a year he had fled to Restov.

It was in Restov that he began to make a name for himself and refocus himself on acquiring power so as to never become the tool of another being. He worked freelance, unaffiliated with any guild as an adventurer for hire. It was slow going and the guilds of Restov did not take kindly to an outsider practicing their trade, but over time he managed to gain a small clientele that would hire him out for escort, monster clearing, diplomat, or conman work. It was also here in Restov that he met his best friend, Forest, a river wandering elf.

## Trouble in Varnhold

Hasia spent several decades in Restov earning his keep and spending time with Forest. Forest was more capable than he liked to believe, so Hasia bullied him into tagging along on several monster hunting expeditions. The pair of them synergized far better than either of them had anticipated, with Forest taking the initial force of the attack while Hasia blasted away the beasts with balefire. It was due to these decades of work that when Restov received word that Varnhold had ceased all contact, the pair rose to the challenge. Restov would not send any forces to investigate, the near civil war taking all of their attention. The pair announced they would find the source of the communication break themselves, and set off to the south. Believing that this would be a chance for him to make a name for himself and be a hero in the eyes of the people, Hasia was eager to prove himself to everyone who'd looked down on him for the past century. The scene upon their arrival was an interesting one. They'd rode the river down until they reached a crossing between two halves of Varnhold, and the moon lit up the empty streets as they disembarked their ferry. They found what they thought to be the source of the disappearance at the town inn where two undead centaurs stood guard over the door.