![[Note by Luminescence]](./images/note.png "[Note by Luminescence]")
Castick Hand
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Birthdate: 19, Spring, 501 AV
Birthplace: Sunberth
Character History
As it is with most boys that have not yet reached their twenties, Castick has precious little history to recount. He knows that he was born in Sunberth to a loving mother and father, whom, as far as the boy is told, were descended from a fairly humble miner's family. Along with Castick's now ten year old brother Benton, they lived an unassuming life in the Sunset Quarter. There was no money to truly educate either of the lads, and Castick remembers helping in performing household chores and taking care of his toddler brother from a young age, learning mostly by doing and his mother's kind instructions. The boy's happiest memories are those of his mother reading him to sleep from The Men of the Mines, a collection of short tales from the Sunberthian folkore.
Life took a nightmarish turn in Summer of 513 AV. Castick cannot exactly recall the events of that night - or perhaps he has pushed the images away, to never relive the trauma. What remains in his recollection is a kaleidoscope of violent thuds resounding through the safety of their house, angry shouts of too many strangers, and the smouldering smell of a starting fire. Urgent hands that thrusted Benton, barely a toddler, into his hands and guided him bluntly towards the door. Smoke that blinded him on the way out, welding sharply into his nose and turning him teary-eyed before he stepped out into the night sky with his insistent new handler, whom he would later come to know as Mecker Flint, a low-ranking Brother of the Daggerhand.
After walking swiftly away from the gleam of the fire behind them, they were outside for quite a while. Castick remembers the sharp eyes of strangers assessing his shivering frame from underneath the shadows of hoods, the murmur of discussion that rose from his unknown appraisers afterwards. He clutched the scared Benton tightly in his arms as the boys were eventually carded off on a small wagon, concealed under roughspun hides, towards a decrepit cottage in a corner of Robern's Reaches. Once there, Benton and he were thrust onto a dirty bedroll in the corner of the room and told to stay there.
He learned that his new caretakers, the brothers Mecker and Ulen Flint, were Brothers of the Daggerhand. Mecker specialized in intimidation, while Ulen operated in the more subtle business of contraband. Over the next few years, the boy slaved from one chore to the other, living only off what the brothers saw fit to give them in food and clothing. Usually, that was next to nothing, especially after sharing with Benton. Once Castick reached fifteen years of age, the brothers started sending him on errands outside, delivering less important messages or performing as decoy in scams or set-ups. Later, he was also introduced to cutting purses and pickpocketing from accessible targets, like travellers and others with a certain naïveté towards Sunberth's mode of society.
Through time and obedience, Castick has formed an uneasy symbiosis with the Flint brothers. Although they are threatening and coarse-of-mouth, the thugs do not abuse the children and have thus far made sure that Benton and Castick do nut suffer true starvation. In turn, Castick has proved a valuable tool for the more menial tasks with which the Flints are loath to burden themselves, slowly learning about survival in the gang-ridden city in the process. Why the Flint brothers chose to take the brothers in that night, however, has until now remained a mystery.
Appearance
Castick's appearance mirrors the squalor of Sunberth's more impoverished districts. The combination of puberty's forced growth and continuous malnutrition has left him more thin than slender - a skeleton of ropy muscle, with calloused feet on downtrodden soles. His skin is a slight pallor, though often masked with dirt and grime and the tan of a life mostly spent outdoors. Inside his livid irises rest sparks of curiosity, marred by alertness to Sunberth's lawless reality. Alertness that creases the thin brow and forms dimples to loom over a long, straight nose.
Rushing through the smaller aisles of a destitute mining town and blending with beggars requires the practicality of millimetered hair, or at least as far as cutting one's own hair with a Brother's second blade allows such pretense. Castick has not yet dared to apply the same treatment to his barely emerging facial hair, leaving an unkempt trail of addled facial hair to frame an unimposing jaw. It seems to befit the face of a youngster that was tethered to adulthood in too little time. Dark circles pull at his eyes and his cheeks have collected myriad mementos of dust, sweat, and youthful fisticuffs.
Character Concept
Castick's life, actions and choices are fully instructed by the need to ensure the survival of himself and his younger brother. Such a goal might seem basic, but the paranoid conflux of Sunberth's turf wars and thievery makes it very much not so. Castick shares the eternal precaution and prejudices of his fellow citizens. He does not know the world outside of Sunberth or any of the political struggles that torment it; the micropolitical vendettas of Daggerhand, Sun's Birth and Night Eyes are difficult enough to keep track of as it is - and more prone to have a direct effect on his own well-being.
The need to survive keeps Castick and his brother close to the two Daggerhand thugs that afford the boys a place to sleep and crumbs of food. This dependence slowly but inevitably pulls the boys into the confused freedoms of low-rank gang activity. Running errands, pickpocketing and more conventional forms of theft have thus become a pattern in Castick's life, whether it is on the command of one of his caretakers or in the name of his own or his brother's sustenance. He is not yet mature enough to see how his actions further the agenda of the Daggerhand, nor does he aspire to be inducted into their ranks. His decisions are informed by the need of the day, not by sophisticated schemes for the future.
Although the decor of Sunberth's corrupt society and the lack of law enforcement have left Castick feeling rather unrestrained in his thieving, larceny sometimes gnaws at his conscience. This last vestige of internal morality likely follows from the vague childhood memories of being told stories about more immaculate characters by his mother and father. These memories forged a fascination with books in the boy, and Castick's true dream is to one day learn how to read these books for himself. Unfortunately, Sunberth's grim day-to-day allows for only brief glimpses of such dreams before more basic needs set in.
Castick is seldom aggressive, having learned that winning one fist-fight often leads to dire consequences of group revenge. Every group in Sunberth dispenses its own justice, after all - usually in the form of clubs, knives, or worse. The boy prefers to escape situations with long legs or sharp wit before they take a turn for the worse, even if his vanishing is to the detriment of the people he is with. All in all, however, the boy, at heart, means no harm to other people. His lack of maturity as of yet shields him from the insight that in the long run, his actions - as a petty vanguard of Daggerhand agendas - indirectly do cause injury and even death.
Language
Fluent Language: Common (speech only - no reading or writing)
Skills
| Skill | EXP | Total | Proficiency |
| Endurance | 10 SP, 15 RB | 25 | Novice |
| Larceny | 15 SP | 15 | Novice |
| Subterfuge | 20 SP | 20 | Novice |
| Unarmed Combat | 5 SP | 5 | Novice |
Lores
Lore of Sunberth Street Layout
Lore of The Daggerhand
Possessions
1 Set of Clothing
- Worn-out shirt
- Worn-out pants
- Worn-out shoes
1 Waterskin
Heirloom: The Men of the Mines. A timeworn book full of short tales and Sunberthian folklore that once belonged to Castick's mother. Although Castick's memory of his parents is dim, he treasures the vague recollections of being read to sleep from its pages.
Housing
Location: Robern's Reaches. Although Castick and his brother have not been formally initiated into the Daggerhand, the Flint brothers allow them shelter in their quarters and bare minimums of food in return for begging, spying, performing chores and running menial errands.
Ledger
| Purchase | Cost | Total |
| Starting | +100 GM | 100 GM |
| No property | -100 GM | 0 GM |
Important note: Any gold or item that Castick collects is instantly confiscated by the Brothers that offer him refuge, unless he expressly (and successfully) hides it from them.
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