Backstory[]
Early Life[]
Voriel was born 4691 AR as the youngest of 3 siblings; Varasian performers who sought to rise above the thieving stereotype commonly associated with their people. Voriel was not graced with any talent for music or dance, so his life was filled with chores, encouraging crowds to join in his families performances, and occasionally spying on Harrowings performed by his mother.
Korvosa[]
At the age of 15, Voriel's family traveled to the city of Korvosa in Varisia. While Voriel's family set up the performance area, Voriel's mother performed harrowings. The last customer of the day left the tent yelling that Voriels mother was a fraud, but the family let it go as the occasional dissatisfied customer was not uncommon. During the families performance, a crowd member was brought up to dance with Voriels sister, Zeldana.
Midway through the dance, the crowd member noticed he was missing his coin purse. The man revealed himself to be a noble and summoned a guard. The guard attempted to arrest Zeldana, but Voriels father intervened, saying there was no evidence against Zeldana. The guard attempted to push past Voriels father, but Voriels father wasn't going to give up his daughter without a fight. over the course of the fight, the two ended up grappling on the street, each trying to gain the advantage. The guard suddenly yelled out "He's going for my knife!" from the families vantage point, they could see that their father had done no such thing, and that in fact the guard had reached for his weapon first. Both men reached for the weapon, but the guard was faster. Before anyone else could react, the guard stabbed Voriels father in the chest, killing him instantly.
The guard picked himself up and began advancing on Voriels family again. Voriels older brother Silviu screamed at the guard for murdering his father. Silviu picked up a lute by the handle and charged the guard, swinging the lute at the guard's head. The guard merely ducked and stabbed Silviu in the chest, again killing a member of Voriels' family instantly. Voriel's mother told Zeldana and Voriel to run, handing something to Voriel as he ran past. A bystander yelled out that the boy had the purse. Voriel and Zeldana ran in opposite directions, hoping at least one of them would get away. After taking a couple of turns, Voriel came around a blind corner and tripped over some debris, causing a loud noise. Voriel tried to stand and run again, but couldn't get more than a few steps before collapsing again, his ankle giving out. The guard caught up to Voriel, still holding the knife. Determined to at least face death on his feet, Voriel stood and faced the guard. Shocked by Voriel's bravery, the guard slowed his advance. Taunting Voriel, the guard admitted that he intended to kill the entire family, even before receiving what he called a "false reading" from Voriels mother earlier that day. The guard pulled a coin purse from his vest and gloated about how the reading said his wrath would be his downfall, but that this was going to get him promoted.
Something snapped inside Voriel; his family murdered for a promotion?! Voriel screamed in rage at the guard, and everything slowed down. The world lost all color, and the Guard stood motionless, outlined in a black aura. The knife he was holding carried traces of light around the edges, and a faint trail of light lead from the knife back down the alley, out of sight. There were trails of light leading from Voriel to the guard, and from each of them out to unknown locations, much like a web of light. Not knowing what he was seeing Voriel reached out and grasped the strand between the guard and himself. The guard's aura pulsed weaker and seemed to be drawn into the strand. Voriel kept pulling, trying to break the connection to the vile guard. The black aura reached towards Voriel, and the line snapped, along with all of the others attached to the guard. Color returned to the world, and the guard dropped to his knees, his skin already growing pale. As the guard fell on his face, Voriel, adrenaline fading away into shock, fell unconscious.
When Voriel awoke, he felt damp and constricted in his clothes. Puddles surrounded him and the guard, suggesting it had rained recently. Voriel cautiously walked over to the guard and rolled him onto his back. The guard rolled much easier than expected, and Voriel discovered that the guard had decayed, almost mummified, to just skin and bones. Voriel grabbed the guard's coin purse, leaving the stolen purse for someone else to find. Nearby, Voriel spotted the guard's dagger, washed clean by the rain. He picked up the dagger and debated whether or not to just toss it into the refuse lining the alley, but he decided against it, not wanting the weapon to cause any more harm. With him, it could be put to good use. Leaving the alley, Voriel caught sight of his reflection in a puddle, and immediately stopped to examine himself. He had seemingly aged six years since he lost consciousness. Voriel couldn't make sense of it, so he carefully made his way towards the main thoroughfare and discreetly asked someone what day it was. He actually had aged overnight. Armed with his built in disguise, Voriel searched the city for Zeldana, but with no luck. Searching was going to draw attention before long, so Voriel decided to head somewhere new and try asking any Varasian traders he came across about information on Zeldana.