Registered Member #1239
Joined: 6:37:24 pm GMT 01/20/08
Posts: 1292
In a simple town in the middle of nowhere, there was a tight community of halflings. Like most hin communities, they lived in relative peace, playing, farming, drinking, and the like. The mayor of the town, a nobleman by the name of Bippin Teatherhead, met a lovely hin lass of noble birth by the name of Zura Cobblepot. She was a free spirit by nature and because of her noble upbringing she was arranged to marry Bippin. The event was celebrated by all, and it was a joyous and grand occasion. Everyone in the town was invited.
A few years later, after settling down into their family life, the couple gave birth to their first child, a healthy boy they called Malakai. His father decided that as soon as he was old enough to learn, that he would be sent to the temple so that he could train to be a priest. His life had been planned out to the letter. However, even as a small child he became rebellious; his father was not one to tolerate such insolence, and so he started a varied string of punishments to try getting him back ‘in order’.
The corner treatment was effective for a while, until he was about five years old. At the age of five his sister Mirabella was born and he became even more rebellious because he was feeling left out. The corner punishment was upgraded to the empty room treatment, where he was to sit in the middle of the empty room with no contact of any sort. When Malakai was fifteen he was so out of control that his father had to become even stricter with his reprimands.
So, the first of the whippings began. Mirabella was only ten at the time, but was naturally concerned at the way her brother was being treated; however, she did nothing more than tell her mother when such things happened, and then was off to comfort Mal whenever his beatings were over. Because of this she never willingly spent much time with their father. She was partly scared that he would do the same to her, but was also angry at how he treated her big brother. She couldn't stand to be with their father unless they were all together as a family. The beatings only ever happened whenever Malakai was alone with his father, but Bella had all sorts of hiding places around the house and often witnessed Mal's horrid beatings.
Over the next three years, there had been numerous attacks on the town. Many people went missing, and others were found dead in their homes. Rumours circled around that it was a monster kidnapping some and killing the others for food. Others claim that it was some tall-folk stalker that was using the captured halflings for weird rituals. Whatever it was, one dark night the mysterious creature broke into the Teatherhead mansion and brutally assaulted Zura and Bippin; fortunately, the Teatherhead children awoke to the sound of their parents’ screams. Malakai told Bella to hide under the bed and went to go see what was going on. As he entered the room, he saw it: a huge Were-Tiger was in his home, brutally mauling his parents. As the creature turned, its eyes locked onto Mal; fearing for his life, he bolted back into his room. After grabbing Mirabella and instructing her to be quiet, he jumped out of the window. Making sure his sister was safe and unharmed from the fall first, Malakai and Mirabella made their way to the nearest city.
After finding a temple of Brandobaris that took pity on them, Mal finally began training to become a priest so that he and his sister could stay there. Bella on the other hand didn't think what little funds the temple could provide them (for support of a trainee) would be enough for them to be 'comfortable'. So, she spent a lot of time lurking in dark corners, swiping loose-hanging purses, and the like.
They spent the next seven years like this, and, to say the least, these years were rough on the two siblings. Malakai’s training was long and very difficult, and Mirabella continued to hang out in dark corners swiping people’s valuables in order to make their own lives a little more comfortable.
After these seven years had gone by, Mal had completed his priest training. He was given an assignment in a city across the vast sea. Bella, having been (mostly) raised by her brother during this time, didn't want to be left behind, and so she travelled with him as well, clinging on to him whenever she had the chance. However, as the boat came in to dock at its last stop before their destination, the ship was attacked by pirates. Mal and Bella got up on deck and noticing the dead crew around them, they both dived into the water... which turned out to be the right decision, because moments later, the ship exploded, knocking the siblings out cold.
Malakai washed up on a beach, cold, wet, and alone, with no Mirabella in sight. He groaned as he got up and tried to get his bearings, which apparently included several angry dogs, approaching slowly and growling. Not in any condition to fight, Mal ran away as fast as his tired little legs could carry him until he ended up by a building called the “Trade and Tackel”. Worried sick about Mirabella, there was nothing he could do but make small talk with a couple of people sitting at the fire. A few hours later Bella finally showed up, her clothes indecently tattered, but otherwise perfectly fine; muttering a prayer of thanks to Brandobaris, he and Bella got a room at the Trade, wondering what would happen to them in this strange new land...
Registered Member #1239
Joined: 6:37:24 pm GMT 01/20/08
Posts: 1292
Afew months of being on the island where good enough for Malakai, his priest training was coming along nicely and him and his sister had settled down nicely. One day he came into Bence's to sell off some stuff, when Bence handed him a letter addressed to him, smiling he paid Bence for the letter and went off to his room to read it.
Dear Malakai Teatherhead,
We are in need of you help brother, I am in need of your help. A series of strange attacks were made on the temple by a horde of Lycanthropes, but here is the problem. I cannot trust anyone here in the temple to help us. Because who knows how many had hidden bite and claw marks from us, then changed into one of them.... we just don't know. Since you are the only priest that wasn't in the temple when the attacks began, we need you to return and hunt down these wretched beasts.
Head Priest, Kahlor
Sighing lightly he pack up his things said goodbye to his sister and warned her to stay out of trouble, then left by the next boat. After a week long boat trip he made port and headed directly to the temple of Brandobaris, there is found a shocking sight, the head priest was standing around a sea of bodies trying to call Brandobaris to heal them. Malakai frowned deeply and rushed up to help out. After five exhausting hours the people where healed and given a special soup for the troubles. Malakai knew to keep his mouth shut, that was no soup, it was a potion to stop them becoming infected with Lycanthropy. They said nothing to prevent a citywide panic, the head priest gave Malakai all the information he could find on the attacks and sent him in the direction of where the beasts always seem to come from.
[ The Island of Thain ]
Tales of the Teatherhead Clan