Legend of Shai Silsi

Shai Silsi is regarded as the greatest Blood Cult Assassin to ever live. His story was an unusual one, detailing the life of a man that was exiled to the desert only to return in secret to the Blood Cults after having mastered the art of Blood Sands Thaumaturgy without being taught. Later, Shai Silsi would be trained as an assassin under the Blood Cult protected by Ramaltas Meri-amen Neb-nefer and would be used to execute the most daring assassination ever recorded in the history of Indagar.

## From Birth To ...

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The legend of Shai Silsi spans from birth to death -- just not his own death. It was, however, the most important death that the Blood Cults of the Sand Seas have ever claimed, and Shai Silsi found himself responsible for it. This is because Shai Silsi was and is the most celebrated Blood Cult Assassin to ever walk the earth, and the shadow that he casts on all who aspire to his greatness is longer than the hottest days of dual summer. His story doesn't begin as one who was destined for greatness, and the journey that he took to achieve such a notorious honor as being a great Blood Cult Assassin is one of legend.

Shai Silsi was born without a name to a mother who never existed as far as history can remember. His history doesn't begin until the age of seven, where he recalled that he was placed in the care of Khabash Sut, a villainous leader of an underground Unbodied group within the city-state of Kiyaratta. Shai Silsi never reported anything else of his past prior to that event. Some say he simply couldn't remember. Others tell taller tales that perhaps Shai Silsi simply did not want the world to know exactly who or what his mother was, perhaps a demon or a Blood Mage gone rogue. In any case, Shai Silsi rarely spoke of anything, let alone his history, and when he did, his words would cut sharper than his daggers. Therefore, asking Shai Silsi to elaborate further wasn't something that one simply did.

Khabash Sut was not a bright man, and he had arisen to be the leader of the poorest Unbodied group in Kiyaratta. Those that served under him were the outcasts of other guilds, typically the worst thieves and mercenaries to be found within the city-state. The den of thieves and bandits that he controlled were barely controllable, usually drunk or incompetent to the highest degree. Why Shai Silsi was given as a child servant to Khabash Sut, none can say, but what is known is that Shai's upbringing within the Unbodied did shape his understanding of the dark underworld that lies just beneath the surface of every city-state. Although, we can say that this understanding was garnered not by good tutelage but rather by Shai's uncanny ability to absorb the workings of the world around him in but a glance. In short, this chapter of Shai's life, besides giving him his new name, Shai Silsi, was where he learned the ways of life and of the kinds of people who live in the darkest corners of society. This would serve him well in the turmoil that would follow.

## Exile

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The incompetence of Khabash Sut was well known throughout Kiyaratta. His guild was so derided that even the Ramaltas had heard of it, for all the wrong reasons, of course. So, when the opportunity came for a rival leader to set-up Khabash Sut and his followers to take the fall while working to assassinate one of Kiyaratta's aristocrat captains, it was easy to set-up. Needing to remove a potential rival, the Ramaltas ordered the execution of a fellow aristocrat allowing the blame to be placed on Khabash Sut's head. And so, as Shai Silsi was just getting to an age where he could be respected, the guild to which he served was declared in exile and its members were being hunted like dogs in the streets. Most of the fellows that Shai knew were killed, but Shai was much too clever, even then, to be caught up in this turmoil. He escaped from Kiyaratta under the cover of darkness, running into the desert where he was sure none would follow.

Life in the Sand Seas, however, is difficult for a wandering man trained to find shelter and water. It is laughably impossible for a barely grown boy who has never left the comfort of a city-state, and to make it worse, a boy who was a wanted man in the city-state from which he came. Shai had one advantage though in that neither the Ramaltas nor the forces that had stacked against Khabash Sut had very much concern over him as a boy of the guild, and as such, they never bothered to chase him, especially not into the Sand Seas. Provisioned with enough water for just a day, Shai fled through the desert, surviving the scorching, dry heat of the day and the bitter cold of the night. He managed to walk for three days, an amazing feat for even a grown man, before he collapsed while trying to climb yet another dune in a seemingly endless landscape of sand.

For most people who collapse in the desert, their stories come to an abrupt end, with flesh rotting away and bones being bleached by the sun. However, Shai had a destiny, and before he could pass, he was discovered by Kakau Sam-ta, a nomadic, mercenary of some notoriety who happened to be wandering that area of the Sand Seas with his band of raiders. Not typical of raiders to lend a helping hand to anyone lost in the desert, Kakau felt sorry for Shai being not more than a boy and decided to spare his life. The raiders took Shai back to their encampment, a crude village of lean-to tents and mud structures buried into a sand dunes. The village was built around a well that had been dug deep into the earth and provided life-giving water in an amount enough to support Kakau and his raiders.

Shai was nursed to health by the raiders and was quickly given a slaves job of maintaining the encampment and defending it while the raiders were off on the business of one Ramaltas or another, typically guarding, or just as often raiding, trade caravans. He was tasked with this lowly job as repayment for his rescue, but Shai did not complain. Kakau Sam-ta was a powerful and cunning warlord, and he brought great success to his raiders. As a leader of men Kakau, commanded respect either through simple martial skill or by making sure that any potential rivals found themselves on the wrong end of a cunning plot. Shai watched him intently when he could, interested greatly in his interactions with those that followed him and how he maintained control. One day, as Shai was watching a planning session unfold in the middle of the encampment, another caravan raid, Kakau noticed Shai and called him over. Intended to be an example to his men of how even a boy could understand such simple orders as he was delivering, Shai surprised Kakau with instead detailing a better plan by which the caravan might be overtaken with fewer risk of casualties. Impressed, and laughing heartily, Kakau directed his lieutenant to see that Shai no longer be left cleaning tents but instead be trained in the ways of the desert raiders.

So Shai trained, and he was a natural fit for the life of a fighter. Within a few months, we was adept enough with a blade to best most of the men in the camp. Within the year, he was a regular on all missions, an invaluable asset to Kakau Sam-ta and respected as perhaps the most valuable warrior in the encampment. They spoke of him as having a speed so fast and agile that he could seemingly dodge grains of sand as they blew in a storm. After that year passed, Kakau began to further Shai's training, teaching him in the ways of the Blood Sands, a mystical art that many of Kakau's position held close to them. Using the Blood Sands, a person could unleash a great power bottled into a vial by dropping his own blood onto the sand. This sacrifice would activate the latent Blood Magic found within the vial and unleash powerful magics. Kakau would purchase his sand vials from Blood Mages in nearby city-states and had learned from them its fantastical and terrible use. Shai was of course, a natural at this as well and learned quickly.

When next Kakau returned to the Blood Cults, Shai went with him, but Shai had brought a surprise. In the long nights, he had been at work in lantern light, studying the blood sand vials that belonged to Kakau. In a fit of inspiration, Shai had used the blood of a dagger he had not yet cleaned from a previous battle and produced a blood sand vial of his own. Kakau did not know, but when the were invited into the house of the Blood Cult, Shai showed the vial he had made to a Blood Mage named Amun Aegyptus. Amun, shocked, ordered his guards to detain Shai, and Kakau was forced to leave without him. Kakau, the closest thing to a real father Shai had ever known, swore he would return for him, but Shai was not worried. In fact, he would find Kakau himself, when he was ready.

## The Blood Cult

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Amun Aegyptus was a wiry man with a gaunt face. His eyes had dark circles nearly surrounding them which gave him the appearance of the dead. He interrogated Shai about the blood vial demanding to know why Shai claimed he had created it. Amun did not believe such a thing was possible of someone who had not been trained in the ways of Blood Magic, but Shai continued to insist that he had indeed made it himself. In disbelief, Amun smashed the vial sending the sands spilling to the stone floor of the Blood Cult compound. He grabbed Shai by the wrist and with practiced speed, sliced his palm letting blood drip on the sands. Before he could react, Shai vanished into thin air.

Shocked, Amun spun around wildly looking for Shai, but he was not to be found. In a panic, he called for his guards, but before the call could be made, Shai's shallow laughter came to his ears. Shai was still in the room, but he could not be seen. The Blood Magic had made him invisible. Astonished, a wide smile came to Amun's face as he understood what had happened. This vial had been real.

Shai immediately came under the tutelage of Amun, and Shai discovered that Amun was a powerful Blood Mage who had been with the Blood Cult for nearly twenty years. The cult served under the great Ramaltas, Jafar Al-basir. Amun continued Shai's training in the ways of Blood Magic, teaching him how blood sacrifice could be transformed into powerful magic. With a nod to Shai's already incredible martial skills, Amun and several others began his training, usually a training reserved for a growing child, in the ways of the Blood Cult Assassin.

Shai progressed with incredible intensity and speed in his training. He mastered the shadows, able to slip into them as easily as one might slip into a piece of clothing. He mastered stealth, able to disappear almost instantly in a crowded room. Further, he mastered the use of blood sands and of Blood Magic, able to use the power of blood to cast spells of great potency. It was not long before Shai was being hired by Jafar Al-basir for various clandestine tasks. Shai was a quiet man whose words cut when he spoke, and they began calling him the "Ramaltas's Razor" both after his wit and after his blades.

It was through his fame and skill that Shai received the mission which would immortalize him.

## Death to the King

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During the War of Kings, the Kingdom of Grandia had invaded The Republic, seeking to conquer the lands of Arkland and the plains of the east. The Mad King of Grandia was said to be filled with blood-lust and a misguided belief in himself as the son of a god bent on controlling the world. The armies of Grandia attacked in the year 318 AF, arriving as a naval armada and invading the Arkland Peninsula. This was the first real test of foreign invasion that The Republic had faced, and even Jafar Al-basir had sent mercenaries to assist in defending Indagar. By 325 AF, the Kingdom of Grandia had been defeated and thrown back into the sea, but the Mad King of Grandia was not through yet.

Word spread that he was raising another invasion fleet in 330 AF. It is speculated that this word actually came from turncoats within the Kingdom of Grandia as the barons who controlled the lands there were now also of the belief of the madness of their king. Unwilling for another protracted war, the Counsels came to the Sand Seas seeking the famed Blood Cults for a mission to assassinate the Mad King. It was on this quest that they heard of the Ramaltas's Razor, and they came to Jafar Al-basir asking him to release Shai Silsi to them so that they may task him with the impossible, traveling the seas to Grandia and cutting the throat of the king. They offered an enormous sum of gold for the service, and when tasked, Shai also demanded access to power Spirits which were infused with blood.

Shai left Indagar on a trading vessel bound for an island village near Grandia. He disembarked there, found his way onto a boat headed towards Grandia and completed the voyage without incident. None who carried Shai on this journey remembered him as Shai, using Spirits and Blood Magic could wipe the minds of those that had seen him. When he finally arrived on the shores of Grandia, he paid for his journey before wiping the mind of the merchant who had transported him and made his way to the capital.

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Infiltrating the city was as easy as walking in wearing a commoner's clothes, but infiltrating the castle was another feat entirely. The Mad King, well aware of the discontent of his barons had cloistered himself within the castle and posted guards at every entrance. His guards were elite soldiers, well trained in counter-espionage and the ability to thwart would-be, internal threats. However, neither Grandia, the Mad King, nor his guards had ever witnessed the shadow of a Blood Cult Assassin. It took over a day to scale the exterior of the castle without being seen. Shai slept, hidden both by Blood Magic and by stealth within the window sills of the castle as he could only climb at night.

That next day, as he come over the castle wall and infiltrated into a nearby tower, Shai was exhausted but still running. The creed of any good assassin is to kill only your target, and Shai spent the rest of that day darting from shadow to shadow to avoid the eyes of guards and those living within the castle proper. By following servants he was able to disguise himself as a servant and also eventually learn the way to the chamber of the king. He crept into the chamber when possible and took to the shadows of the rafters of the room, hiding in the darkness above the king's bed. That night, when the Mad King retired to his room, Shai dropped silently from the ceiling and plunged a poisoned dagger straight through the Mad King's heart. Then, as per orders, he strung the King's bed sheets around his ankles and dangled his corpse off the king's balcony so that when the sun rose, the entire city would see the Mad King's corpse swaying in the breeze.

Shai disappeared after that. He never returned to Jafar Al-basir and never made his presence known. Some say he went to find Kakau and to re-establish his relationship with the man he considered his father. They say he re-joined the raiders, eventually taking command of his own men. Others say that Shai returned to Indagar and found his way onto the plains of the Stars where another legend says that the lineage of Shai Silsi can still be found. Another legend says that Shai stayed in Grandia at the request of the barons who had wanted the Mad King killed and that he was given land and riches. All that is known is that Shai's dagger ended a war and quite possibly saved The Republic.

--Neil (talk) 18:41, 19 October 2016 (AST)