Elsus

Elsus is an even-tempered young man, given to neither extremes of emotion nor acting out, believing that actions taken in the heat of the moment will always be regretted by the survivors. In fact, to many he appears to be emotionless, his acid green eyes flat and face permanently schooled into a cold mask. He is supremely self-confident in his abilities, to the point where he can come across as overly harsh to those who don't measure up to his standards of ability or effort.

Underneath the emotionless mask he always wears, Elsus remains even-tempered though more soft-hearted than his cutting words would have others believe. Truthfully, though, all anyone needs to see as proof is the way he dotes on his many and varied pets, having turned to them as "less foolish" than many humans. He is a romantic at his core, though it takes effort for anyone to see beneath his masks.

Elsus is a short and skinny brat, with hair that starts out black at the roots and shades to deep blue at the tips, acid green eyes, lightly tanned skin, and a strange silver birthmark, shaped like a claw, at the base of his neck. His hands are calloused from hauling nets and assisting in sailing his father's ship from a young age, though he prefers his land-bound life to that of a fisherman.

Though his clothing is nothing fancy, it is clean, and he refuses to allow himself to "wallow in filth" - he may not be a priss, but he refuses to remain dirty for longer than he absolutely has to.

The newest addition to his appearance is a rather dramatic scar that starts at his right hand and winds its way up his arm towards his shoulder, legacy of a rather bad decision on his part, to tangle with someone completely out of his league.

Elsus is the second son in a family with four children - one elder brother, one younger brother, and one little sister. His father is a fisherman, his mother died in childbirth with his little sister, and his eldest brother practically raised all of them due to his father's obsession with hunting the legendary Skyfin.

Of all his siblings, Elsus is the strangest - his black hair is a testament to the fact that he was born at exactly midnight, his even temperment and scrawny body stands out amidst the rowdy and powerful fishermen that he grew up with, and his penchant for the... less legal side of the law has him at odds with everyone of his family who knows what he does when he's not at home. On top of that, he has a distinct fear of both the Goddess and Her Aspects. Elsus neither worships nor pays tribute to any of the various Aspects that walk the world, and considers himself well off if he can permanently stay off all of their radars - after all, why would the Goddess or any of Her Aspects care about one lowly fisherman-turned-bandit?

At the age of four, Elsus' father began dragging him along on various fishing trips, in an attempt to "bulk his scrap of a son up proper-like." Though reluctant, Elsus complied and learned as best he could, though he never seemed to gain a "proper" build no matter how much work he did. This led to him spending as little time at home as possible, spending it with his neighbor who had a son, Siged, his age. The two boys quickly grew to become best friends, and as Elsus grew older, he practically lived with his neighbor instead of his own family.

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Siged and Elsus worked for Siged's father as runners - passing messages back and forth between the varying and scattered parts of the business that the man ran. It was during one of their runs that they ran - literally - into a young girl with sky blue hair, strange amber eyes, and the finest clothing they'd ever seen before. In fact, it was immediately clear to them that the clothing was too fine - no one in Skallara had the wealth to give such expensive fabric to a child their age!

Castia - for that was the girl's name - turned out to be a priestess-candidate for the Goddess, dragged along on the trading mission in order to "learn something of the world" but otherwise left to her own devices because the adults had too much to do by themselves, without the added burden of caring for a young girl. Amused by the girl's attitude - it was clear to them that priestess-candidate or not, Castia had at one point lived fairly close to the streets - Elsus and Siged took to dragging her around on their errands and playing with her.

Eventually, however, the delegation was to return to their city, and Castia was to go with them. Before she left, she promised to keep in touch however she could.

Time passed. Castia kept her promise and wrote to both Siged and Elsus often, though the two boys had to go to Siged's father for help in reading and writing those first few years.

As they grew older, Siged began to covet wealth - not for wealth's sake, but for his father's sake. His father was aging, his business always running just on the edge of failure, and one bad season of trade would destroy them. Too, other traders had decided that Skallara was a prime location to trade from and set up their own companies there. Siged's brilliant plan, as he explained it to Elsus one night, was banditry. They would go out and rob the other companies blind, leaving his father's group the only one left unmolested.

Elsus hesitated at first, but eventually gave in to Siged's pleading look, and so the Cathaili Bandits were born. Ignoring the fact that they were only thirteen, and only knew street and knife fighting, Elsus and Siged gathered a small group of close friends and went out into the world. They stuck to the small caravans at first to gain experience. It wasn't long before they had given in to childish enthusiasm and created elaborate disguises for themselves reminiscent of the creatures they had named their group after, the cathaili - giant feathered beasts vaguely reminiscent of felines, with long silver claws, venomous fangs, and an affinity with lightning. The cathaili were well known for considering humans prey, as well as their acquisitive natures that led to them stealing anything that captured their interest.

Their outfits began simply - merely artistically cut rags and blank masks with prominent fangs - but the more they stole, the more elaborate the outfits became as the group settled into their roles. Siged's mask gained the first additions, as the boy added real feathers along the edge, but Elsus soon followed suit with whiskers made of thin, exotic feathers.