Mordeus

 I was born many years ago in a land far to the north called Fostall. Don't bother looking on your maps you won't find it. Most explorers don't go that far, nor have any desire to as the land is desolate and dangerous.

 I was born to Daeronus, my father, and Illyanys, my mother. I remember little of my early childhood. Mostly I remember running.

 Constant running.

 We would move our small tent from place to place, hoping to outwit the marauders that traveled the land. We lived off of the few animals and plants that grew in the region and relished the few happy moments that came to us.

 One fateful day, my father, who was weakened already from a fight with a rogue the evening before, fell in a dry river bed and broke his leg. We continued to travel that day, but we were slowed down by his injury and were unable to escape the marauders that night when they came upon us. There were too many of them for my parents to fend off, and I watched them both defeated and executed before my very eyes. I, however, was destined for a less pleasant fate. Or so I thought.

 I spent the next few years working as a slave. When I wasn't pulling carts or mining, I was being used in pit fights for my captors' pleasure.

 What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

 I gained skill through the pit fights and strength through my labor. I had become good at fighting with my bare hands but I hated being forced to kill. Luckily, my life was about to change.

 We moved into another mining camp, and I was sent down with a pick and shovel to work. While I was down there, a young boy, with barely eight summers under his belt, made the mistake of tipping over a bucket of the raw ore we were mining.

 I watched the salve-driver stand over the boy, whip in hand, and begin savagely lashing the child. I could stand no more, and I pounced on the evil man, beating him with my bare hands until the life was about to leave his body.

 That's when another of them, apparently alarmed by the screams, jumped me from behind. Before I knew it, several of them were upon me and within minutes I was bound and delivered to a cage outside by the river.

 I was in the cage for several days, with the cool, life-giving river waters just out of my reach. I thought for certain that my life would end in that wooden cage on the river bank.

 But, on the fifth night after being locked up, it began to rain. I opened my mouth towards the sky and let the wonderful droplets of water wet my dry and cracking lips and mouth.

 The rain came down harder and harder and the wind howled around the wooden bars of my cage. What had seemed a blessing at first was quickly turning into a curse.

 The river waters were rising and were mere inches from my cage. I thought for sure that I would drown that night. But a miracle happened.

 As the water rose around my cage, it began to move. Before I knew it, my cage was tumbling down the river smashing against rocks until, at last, with a loud crack, it shattered. I was finally free.

 But it seemed I would soon die if I couldn't get to the shore. Try as I might, the current was simply too strong, and I kept being swept towards the center of the river.

 I finally gave up and managed to catch hold of a piece of what had once been my cage. I entwined my limbs through the bars and prayed that I may live through the night.

 I was in the middle of one of my prayers when my makeshift raft and I tumbled over a small waterfall and I was greeted at the bottom with my skull cracking off of a rock. Everything went black.

 I awoke the next morning to a throbbing head and a beautiful sunny sky. I gathered in my surroundings as I tended the cut on the back of my head. I was on a beach bordering a jungle to the east.

 Not being the type to allow life to simply happen, I decided to strike out southward through the jungle. Several times I narrowly dodged horrid perils from wolves to wild men.

 Finally, after picking my way through thick underbrush for several days, I came upon a trail that led south. I was overjoyed when I spotted a town within hours of following it.

 To the east was a mountain fortress, to the west was a volcano, and to the south, in the center of town, I saw the temple. It was a sight so beautiful, I nearly came to tears.

 I made my way into town and was soon enrolled in the local warriors' academy. The skills I had learned in the pit fights aided me and soon I was finished and with my diploma in hand struck out on my own.

 A few days later, I met a man named Breoghan, who introduced me to the clan AfterShock. I am grateful to him to this day for showing me the right path to take, for AfterShock has become the driving force in my life.

 The clan gave me a purpose in life, and a kinship among its members that finally helped fill the void left by the slaughter of my family.

 It finally showed me that the world isn't completely consumed by evil. That there are still a few candles holding the shadows at bay.