Sil Myste

Born in Ashton, Navati to parents who barely noticed she was alive among her 13 bothers and sisters except to tell her how worthless she was in comparison, Sil Myste was never impressed by her home. The small village on the outskirts of Longrel was notable for nothing except being home to the worlds smallest volcano. Barely taller than the tallest trees the small gurgling menace never erupted but it was a constant source of ash in the air, which Sil hated. Her family made it no better by insisting she aid in the family get rich quick schemes none of which worked but it did instill in Sil the idea that money was the path to all of life's joys. As soon as she was able she left for Longrel, the city of Bards. Amid great disapproval from her family who tried to convince her to stay because she wasn't good enough, or guilt her to help the family, but ultimately they disowned her and wished her a life of misery She wasn't really interested in becoming a bard but she was interested in learning bard tricks, magics and slight of hand. Though she had no skill with magic She had always had a bit of skill with the other abilities and wanted very much to learn how to use them to make money. Over time she traveled across the lands and across the seas learning illusion and the art of the con and made quite a bit of money. But she also developed very fine tastes and spent her money as fast as it came in. She didn't mind that. It just meant finding another "mark". She loved fleecing money out of people but she loved even more seeing their faces when they realized the trick; at least when she wanted them to know they'd been tricked. She knew every con, hustle, twist and rigged game but she also knew how to entertain and banter, She'd alternate between clean and worked cons so she'd always have reasonable doubt; One day would be three card Monty the next would be stage illusion in an inn. She was working the towns and villages of Southwest Forlornia when she came upon a particularly dour township, even for Forlornia, called Dawslot. While there, as was her custom, she researched a fine estate and masqueraded as a long lost relative newly in town. She convinced the lady of the house, Mme Rebica Dawreign, to take her in. While she was there she had free reign of the house and the servants ,food, and a bed. For her part she would have Breakfast and Nightcaps every day with Mme Dawreign and spent hours listening to her tell tails of her adventures. Sil thought those tales were all made up because of how fantastical they were but she liked the old woman and understood the fun of making yourself out to be more than you are. It was during her stay with Lady Dawrweign that Sil had ice for the first time, being from a southern nation, Ice and snow were not things they had in Navati beyond stories. Mme Dawreign had ice brought in weakly to cool her drinks. Sil loved crunching ice under her teeth and tongue and would often just chisel a piece or two off the weeks block to carry in a cup for chewing. After a few months of working the streets in and around Dawslot Sil felt it was becoming time to move on, she had learned at some great personal peril that staying too long in a place could bring serious trouble to someone who lived and made there living the way she did. Sil was about to leave when Rebica took gravely ill. Worried about this woman she'd developed such affection for, Sil decided to stay to care for her until she was strong enough to care for herself. Sadly Mme Dawreign never did get stronger. Before she passed away Mme Dawreign told Sil she knew she wasn't really a relative but that she wished she was because Sil stayed with her when none of her real family had even bothered to visit in years. As she lay dying Mme Dawreign said "I have a gift for you, give me your hands, Over the last months I have come to love you as the daughter I never had and regardless of how you have felt toward me to love someone is the greatest connection a person can have." Sil's throat tightened up at the outpouring of personal love so often absent in the mass of her own family. She wanted to say she loved Rebica back but her words would not come. Mme Dawreign saw this and grasped Sil's hands. She said "Try to be a better person, not everyone will see through your many masks to all the goodness inside of you." A warmth burst from her hands into Sil's hands, "Use it well, they'll want it back. But they can't have it" and she began to chuckle before closing her eyes and dying. Sil arranged the funeral and put the woman to rest in the Town Cemetery. As far as Sil could tell the entire township attended the ceremony which is where Sil learned that Dawslot was named for Rebica Dawreign who had been a great sorceress who had saved hundreds of lives and dozens of towns from deamons and monsters and all sorts of evil. When she came to this town, which she had saved from a Lich King, to settle down they renamed it after her. Sil felt odd staying but she didn't want to leave this place that felt more like home than her real home ever had. So she continued on, thinking that if Rebica had known she was an imposter and let her stay anyway that she was welcome. So Sil continued as before and one day while she was a town or two away conducting a rather prosperous cups and balls game she became distracted wishing she had some ice to chew on. As she made the ball pull she felt something inside of her spark out into the flagon beside her. When she looked, the flagon was filled with pieces of ice. And it stayed that way, everytime a piece of ice was taken out another would appear. She knew she had made it happen but she didn't know how. The more she tried to replicate the power the more frustrated she got. She began to doubt the magic had come from her at all. Then it happened again, this time as she was on stage performing illusions in a pub. A rather annoying heckler was creating a ruckus and she felt that spark again. A disembodied hand appeared near the man, picked up his drink and dumped it on his head. Knowing this could become a problem if she didn't find out what was going on, she sought help from magic experts. The nearest guild of arcanists was three days away, so she made the journey to discover what was happening. When there it was found that she did not use magic like a wizard or channel it like a cleric or syphon it like a warlock, instead she had magic within her; a constantly regenerating supply of magic that would grow over time. Unfortunately she was told she could not be taught, she could only learn since sorcery is inborn; no one's connection is the same and must be discovered by the individual. Their best suggestion was to undertake a life of adventuring which would give the greatest opportunity to use the gift and to expand it. They asked if she knew how she had gained such power but Sil told them she had no idea even though she suspected Rebica's gift had been more than love. Sil thought an adventuring life might be fun and Mme Dawreign had said to use the power but she had no idea how to do either of those things. On the trip back to Dawslot, Sil used some of the exercises in focusing the mages had taught her that they thought might help her find what spells she could utilize. She did indeed find a few spells on that trip and by the time she got to the estate she could cast mage hand at will along with a few other spells. when she arrived she noticed there were visitors at the house. They were removing items from the home and loading them on a series of carts. When Sil asked what they were about they identified themselves as Rebica Dawreign's sons and daughters in law and that they were taking what was theirs. The local magistrate was there and confirmed their identity having grown up with them. Sil protested saying she had been with Rebica when she died and that her wish was that her relatives got nothing. To that the two men and their wives began to shout that SIl had stollen from them and to give it back or tell them where it is. The magistrate sided with them and had SIl arrested. Over the next day and a half the sons of Rebica discovered what SIl had done to gain access to the Dawreign estate and uncovered a good many of her cons. With that, no one believed Rebica had known the truth and invited SIl to stay and everyone wanted Sil punished. The Sons continued to press Sil about whatever it was that she had taken or hidden. And during one fierce interrogation the older son grabbed Sil, when he did she felt that same strange transfer of warmth from the point their skins touched. Sil felt the magic inside her grow just a little. The son jumped back as if stung. "she has it" he shouted, "I don't know how but she has it in her." The sons and Daughters in law came to Sil regularly after this but they never touched her again. They let her know that their mother had been incredibly powerful, unnaturally so. They had been born with slight sorcerous power but nothing like their mother. Their mother had promised them that when she died she'd leave her power to the one of her children most capable of using it well. They did not know that Sil could use the magic, they just thought it was being held like some reliquary so they tried to make deals with Sil, threaten her, Beg her, but Sil wanted to uphold Rebic's dying wish and always refused. The day before she was set to go on trial, presided over by the Sons' magistrate friend, where she would face a number of charges some of which she had actually committed and a much larger number she had nothing to do with the sons came to her. They told her she was guilty and would be sentenced to death regardless of what she had to say, the only way to save herself was to give up the power. Even if Sil knew how she didn't want these two to have it, so she refused. That night she spent hours in meditation focusing and found something inside her, a kind of list. The list was more like a feeling, an idea of what she was able to do with the proper ingredient or word or hand gesture. She gathered herself made the proper hand movement, said the right words and out of her hands erupted a thunderous wave of sound that broke down the wall of her cell. Before anyone knew what was happening she was gone into the night. Now a fugitive Sil was being actively sought through the lands of Forlonia. Thankfully she was skilled in disguise and was able to pass from town to town unnoticed. She ultimately made it to the Yadril Ocean where she boarded the first ship she found, the Flying Dutchment on route to Thawl-Anon in Initia...