"I want his head on a pike!" Pasha Kylar shouted at his grunts. "That stubby-fingered bastard lifted my cloak last night whilst I slept! The first one to bring me his head will be handsomely rewarded." All of the eyes in the crowd gleamed with anticipation; all of them except for one. Caelyn had been the closest thing to family that Tomas had ever known. Now he was charged with bringing in his head. The two of them went back all the way to their days in the orphanage. "Ah, the orphanage..." Tomas wiped a tear from his eyes.
Caelyn was always the pasha's favorite, but with that favoritism came extreme criticism. Tomas recalled a time when the pasha paid very heavily for some intel on very large score. He sent Caelyn of course, and when one of the lackeys that accompanied them got caught, Caelyn rushed in to help. He got everyone out alive, however the guards arrived and they had to pull out. Instead of blaming the grunt for the error, Caelyn took blame. He knew that if Kylar found out that a grunt cost him this big of a score, he'd never allow him to live. Caelyn knew the only chance of anyone getting out alive was to own up to the error. Caelyn did manage to save everyone's lives, but the trade off could not have possibly been worth it. This was some lowly pickpocket, and the center of Kylar's retribution was the orphanage.
To her defense, the madre did not scream as he ordered her whipped. "I'm going to take all the money that you cost me out of her hide!" She just gunted with each.... Ah, that's enough dwelling in the past. "Are you going to just stand there? Or are you going to do what I have asked?!" "Oh, sorry boss was just lost in thought for a moment." Tomas said. "Well if you don't get going, thought won't be the only thing you'll be getting lost in!" "Uh, yes sir!"
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Arrows flew over head as Caelyn ducked down an alley. "Phew that one almost got me head! Seems a bit overdramatic for a durned cape." Caelyn shook his head. "What have I gone and done this time? Oh well, serves that dolt right for killing me madre. He's gotten too ruthless for his own good, and he thinks he's immortal. No wonder he's so upset, someone actually got the best of him." If I can get out here alive, Caelyn thought to himself. Ahead of him was a wall. He summoned what energy he had left in attempt to scale it. He felt his legs pumping and as he got to it he jumped with all his might. To anyone watching, it would have looked as though he kept running, but to Caelyn it felt as if he was flying through the air. Luckily, the wall was made of this soft substance known as wood. And unfortunately for the wood, Caelyn was made of a tough substance known as dwarf. In an intense clash of will, the dwarf was victorious and punched out a huge hole in the wall. Coming into a roll, Caelyn sprang back to his feet. All those years of cat-burgling did have its advantages.
He kept running until he put what he thought was a sufficient distance between him and any of his other pursuers. "Nice job you did on that wall back there." an all too familiar voice called. "Aye, did you see the air I got on that jump?!" Caelyn replied with a hearty chuckle. "You know why I am here Caelyn." Tomas stated. "Aye that I do, and what might ye be thinking o'doin 'bout it?" "I can not betray him Caelyn, he will surely kill me if I do." "Come with me, and we can both start out fresh!" Caelyn pleaded. "Caelyn we both know that we have seen too many awful things to be given a new start. I think my stars have already been plotted for me brother, and I intend to stay alive."
Caelyn squinted the tears from his eyes, then wrapped himself up in the cape, and vanished!? He saw Tomas looking around in panic, and Caelyn wasn't about to miss this opportunity. He bull rushed Tomas, and the moment he made contact with Tomas it was as if he re-appeared. Quickly, Caelyn drew one of his hatchets and smacked Tomas in the back of the head with the flat of the blade. "Aye brother I intend to keep ye alive, too."
Sprinting on, Caelyn soon became exhausted, dwarves don't do well running quickly after all. He pushed himself to his physical limit, actually too hard. Caelyn's vision became blurred and then everything went black.
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When he came to there was more black? It must have been night. "How long have I been out?" Caelyn spoke aloud. Although he soon realized there was no one around to hear him. A quick scan of his surroundings and Caelyn understood that he was not where he rememebered last. Instead he was in a mountainous forest. So thick that the smell of nature almost offended his Dwarven senses. "Bah! I'd rather be smelling a donkey's backside than this!" It was like the air was toxic, likely had to be bad. "I'm sure this would tickle an elf's fancy, all these trees for them to hug and what not." Caelyn laughed to himself.
Unfortunately, for Caelyn that would be the last time he laughed, because he soon realized there was no quick or easy way out of this. Thorns clawed at his body often ripping everything on him, except for the cloak. "This durned cloak, this is the whole reason I am in this mess." In a fit of anger, Caelyn snatched the cloak off of his back and tried to rip it. With all his dwarven might, he couldn't even pop a stitch. "Bah! Stupid son of a jackal's monkey's ugly cousin!"
Days led to what seemed like weeks, and possibly a month. He cursed and prodded and kept pushing. His physical body was beyond exhausted and his mental body was almost nothing. He knelt and he prayed. His madre used to tell him, "Sometimes the only way we can be found, is if we completely let go." So there in that snowy pass, Caelyn confessed any kind of wrong act he had done going all the way back to when he met the Pasha. He had amazed Caelyn with some simple prestidigitation. An easy sleight of hand that he could do in his sleep now. He hadn't realized that he closed his eyes. But when he had opened them, he saw a light? "Ah durn! I guess me prayers were heard. Sure is a small light for me end." He soon realized there was more to the light. There was some kind of house in the middle of a pass? "What the..." Not taking time to question it anymore, Caelyn slowly rose to his feet and pushed on, thankful for his madre's inspiring words. He knew now that their was a second chance for him in this place, and he intended to make the best of it... Up ahead, he saw a sign in front of him that says: "Warm Food, and Good service, some of the time." Following the light further you come upon a very large inn. It has a sign on it that says "The Unorthodoxy". When you open the door, you are greeted by a hearty dwarf with a booming voice. "Welcome to The Unorthodoxy." With a smirk on his dried out chapped lips, he mustered his energy and shouted a hearty "Hello!"