Caspien [Revamp]
Jun 13, 2021 21:38:53 GMT -7
Post by Promeleon on Jun 13, 2021 21:38:53 GMT -7
The Devil Made Me Do It
But I'd Do It Anyway
Caspien
6'04"
145 Lbs
29 (Unknown to him)
Male
Neutral Evil
Land of Fire
Non-ninja
Taijutsu Master
Art of Throwing
Dian Xue Shu
Open
Clan Non-Specialist
Open
Open
Miscellaneous
Jack of all Trades: Miscellaneous
Jack of all Trades: Taijutsu
Jack of all Trades: Taijutsu
Alchemist - Demolition
Technician
Monster Trainer
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
Ancestry: Dokkalfar (Alfar of Darkness)
Rank: "C"
Skill: Heritage Trait
Effect: User is descended from the Dokkalfar, the Alfar of Darkness who reside in the mountains of Svartalfheim with the Dvergar.
Special: ---
Drawback: Cannot gain any other Ancestry Traits.
Description: Ancestors of the Dokkalfar lose +2 points to any 1 IMPACT-L, however, they gain +2 Agility, + 2 Charisma, -2 Toughness. Ancestors of the Dokkalfar gain low-light vision, and thus can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. The Dokkalfar gain resistance to Necrotic damage equal to 2 per Class Level. A number of times per day equal to their Class Points, the user may infuse their weapon or a single Jutsu to deal Necrotic Damage. This effect lasts for 5 rounds per Class Level. Due to Dokkalfar long natural life, descendents can live twice as long as a normal human being.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.
Cynic
Rank: "C"
Skill: Regional Trait
Effect: Use has seen all manner of people claiming holy motives, and they have learned to judge them by their deeds, rather than their words.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: User gain a +5 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks, and gain a +1 per die roll when learning the skill. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.
Cosmopolitan
Rank: "C"
Skill: Regional Trait
Effect: User's exposure to many people and tongues have given them a particular facility for speech.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: User gains a +5 trait bonus on Linguistics, and they gain a +1 per die roll when learning the skill. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.
Trap Savvy
Rank: "C"
Skill: Regional Trait
Effect: Growing up in a dangerous area, the user was constantly surrounded by traps that had been set up to defend their lair from intruders.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Sometimes these dangers were so densely packed that the user could not go more than a couple feet down a tunnel without encountering a new way to die. This trait replaces 1 Freebies. User gains a +5 trait bonus to Engineering, Identify Traps, Disable Device, and Demolitions. User gains a +1 points per die roll when learning the skill.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.
Coincunning
Rank: "C"
Skill: Regional Trait
Effect: Whether from working with merchants or being one themselves, the user has developed a distinctly business sense.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The user receives a +10 trait bonus on Coin Pile Numerical Approximation. User also gains a +10 trait bonus on Observation checks to notice coins, gems, jewelry, and valuable trade goods. The user gains a chance to notice such goods whenever they pass within 3 meters of them, whether or not they are actively looking. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.
Stalker Resilience
Rank: "C"
Skill: Combat Trait
Effect: Through their upbringing the user has learned how to observe a target and strike with the most amount of damage.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Through careful observation the user can strike harder in critical strikes. For every round the user observes a target without attacking, the user learns how the target moves and searches for weaknesses (maximum 10 round observing). After the 3rd round the user learns how to attack within the kinks of armour, bypassing Hardness. Every round of Observing the user gains +6 to Attack Damage when they hit with a Critical strike. Observation only applies to the first attack. Afterwards the user will have to observe for at least a full round again. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.
Dealer
Rank: "C"
Skill: Regional Trait
Effect: User worked for a dealer in illicit substances.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: User worked for a dealer in illicit substances, either by selling on the street or helping to organize shipments to other regions, which involved a certain amount of smuggling. User gains a+5 trait bonus on Sleight of Hands, and gain a +1 die roll when learning the skill. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.
Criminal
Rank: "C"
Skill: Social Trait
Effect: User has spent their early life robbing and stealing to get by.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Sleight of Hand. User gains a +5 trait bonus on that skill, and the user gains an additional die roll when learning this skill. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.
Ever Home
Rank: "C"
Skill: Heritage Trait
Effect: You have lived in many cities and after you have departed from each, you have taken a small token remember it by.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: You have lived in many cities and after you have departed from each, you have taken a small token remember it by. You gain a +10 trait bonus on Direction Sense, Sleight of Hand checks. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.
Will of Men, The
Rank: "C"
Skill: Faith Trait
Effect: Men are creatures of will; their will carries them through a harsh world of politics and physical dangers.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: User gains a +1 trait bonus to all Will Saves. At "C", "B', "A", and "S" Class level, gain an additional +1 trait bonus. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.
Able Learner
Rank: "C"
Skill: Social Trait
Effect: The user has great aptitude for learning.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: When learning a skill, the skill states how many times a die roll may be applied to show how much they learned within that skill. Example, when a user learns "Botany" they gain 5 die rolls. This "trait" increases the amount of die rolls by 1.5 rounded to the highest number at 1 die roll per learning, however any number higher than 1 die roll is rounded down. For example: User learns Botany and gains 5 die rolls. With this Trait they will gain 7 die rolls. However if a user learns Lockpicking they normally get 1 die roll, however with this Trait they will gain 2 die rolls.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 2 Freebies.
What could be described as a particularly poor case of kleptomania has developed a personality and a body around it. Caspien is a creature who strides the world following his fancy for shiny things and tricks. Though he has no true calling in his life, he enjoys challenging his skills of thievery, taking pleasure from the act of stealing more than from item itself. The thief lives in a world of deceit and trickery, only telling the truth when he wishes that truth to be believed as a lie. There is no time for friends or enemies for him, merely targets and associates that can be used to further his goals and to line his pockets. There are few who understand that attempting to understand the rogue is a waste of energy, as he does not wish to be understood nor does he care to, he will merely manipulate the feelings of those who wish to get close and use them instead. This is not to say he is emotionless, he does experience them, yet his skills in acting give him the ability to suppress them and manipulate them instead.
Greedy and selfish; Caspien is a man who thinks of himself before anyone else at any given time. There has never been a single instance in his life that he has put someone else over himself, and it is unlikely that there ever will be a situation where he will risk his neck for another. The thief is the kind of man that would take the last dollar of someone who called him a friend without a regret, then blame it on someone else, using his skills of manipulation to turn friends against each other. He is an ally only to himself, if someone relies on him, they better hope that the goals of the two are similarly aligned, otherwise they may find themselves without the shirt on their back and left out in the cold when the thief decides that the person has outgrown their usefulness. A good way to get his attention is to drop a large sum of money in front of him and promise it as a reward, but make sure to keep it out of reach and behind a lot of locks, if the task is more troublesome than the effort he could expend to acquire the reward, he will always follow the path of least resistance.
Mischievous and sly to the point where trusting him with any task becomes difficult, Caspien is a man of many faces, and all of them are lying to you about many different things. It is impossible to determine whether or not his words are the truth, as he speaks with such confidence that he could explain anything with such certainty that even those who have mastered that particular field will stall for a moment. His tricky fingers will often find themselves in places that they should not be, and his endless curiosity has always overcome any doors or locks that have stood between him and the object that sparks that curiosity. Sometimes his actions are not even driven by greed, though these times are rare, and he will do something most will consider maligned simply to see the reaction and watch the events unfold for his entertainment. If someone is able to pull the wool over his eyes, he is more than happy to concede their skill, as he appreciates mischief in all forms.
Observant and always watching for openings, his sharp senses are always ready to catch sight of something out of place. Usually he is on the lookout for the next score, whether it is in the form of over loaded pockets or if a store is doing particularly well this month. His skills in the art of sleight of hand are unmatched and he will combine his incredible senses and sticky fingers to offer people reprieve of their unnecessary items. With Barghest causing a little bit of trouble every now and then, the two of them are very capable of causing trouble enough to make it very difficult to see what Caspien is doing, and what trouble he is about to cause. His powers of observation are not merely limited to cause mischief and thievery however, he will often map out the area he is in to ensure that there is always an escape route, or at the very least, somewhere to hide if something goes horribly wrong.
Insensitive and callous, Caspien does not have time or patience to listen to or care for what other people have to say. The only thing he cares to listen to is details about something shiny and difficult to steal. He will often say something upsetting to others simply to get a rise out of them, knowing that an irrational mind is a malleable mind. There is no filter between his thoughts and his words, and often he will ignore someones name in favour of a humorous nickname that he just makes up according to something about them. Ethics and morals are not words he really chooses to understand, when someone asks him how he can be so callous and casual about his thievery, he usually dangles their wallets in their face and thanks them for it. He will laugh at your misfortune and unless there is something in it for him, will not provide a helping hand. If another person offers him help, he will gladly take it and abuse it as much as possible, often promising to return their kindness, only to turn his back.
Sentimentality is something not many would expect to be a facet of his personality, but he is a three dimensional man with character. Though he has not quite mastered the art of appraisal, he certainly has a keen eye for what is valuable and what is useless. Though his consideration of valuable definitely regards more than what a shop keep may view as valuable, as he has a tendency to collect things. Though he is a thief, he rarely keeps anything he takes, only pocketing the items that he finds amusing or worthy of his sentiment. Everything else is either sold or abandoned once the theft-inspired fervor wears off. This sentimentality spans as far as items, though maybe he feels something towards Barghest, but he has not quite decided whether or not the dog is entertaining enough for him to feel anything other than a master servant relationship with it. Though if anything were to happen to the dumb mutt, he would not take to kindly to those who spurned it.
The Reveal
There are those that have described the slender male as devilish in both looks and personality, and they are quite right to do so, as everything about Caspien is unusual and designed to make you feel uneasy, as if nothing was quite right. From his gravity defying blonde hair that stands in defiance of basic laws of physics to the manic, toothy grin he wears that is a constant reminder that he is friend to nobody. The way he carries himself can be alarming, as he does not so much walk as saunter; taking large steps, his shoulders swaying as he moves. Though lithe and wiry, he has a solid foundation formed through many years of running away and causing trouble, and is able to move swiftly and with little trouble in places that many folk would not expect. His slender fingers make for the thieves second best weapon. A man of his nature needs to stand out in a such a fashion that one does not quite pay attention to him, but is shocked when he calls for their attention, as though it would have been impossible to miss him.
Unpredictable is a term that is often used to describe the mannerisms of the light-fingered larcenist; and yet even that does not invoke enough mystique to fully explain the enigma that is Caspien. By looking at his forever confident smirk, and eased pose, you could never quite understand what is going through his head. Many suggest it is a far more competent process than it actually is. Such dedication as he has towards his art, his body reveals none of his emotions nor actions thanks to his pristine will power. To try and read his actions is to attempt to focus on an illusion that plays with the periphery of your eye. Forever searching for truth in something that is simply untruth in itself. His fingers are ever searching for the next little treasure, his body moves like a shadow of a shadow. Such confidence does he have with his own abilities, that he often moves with his fingers tucked into his pockets.
Fluid movement is the key to his longevity. Though he is quite capable of keeping himself from the eye of those who are searching for him, there are times when even a shadow must face the light. His skills in the arts of annexing the possessions of those around him have not always been the profound actions that must have been so infallible the only way to describe them was as though they were destined to happen, a fixed point in the multiverse. At many times during his life has he needed to find a way to escape what would surely be a painful beating, and through taking a lot of beatings he became quite adept at avoiding them. With his skill over his body and his lithe frame, he is gymnastic and snakelike, preferring to dodge and run when presented with a challenge he is knows he cannot win. This does not mean he gives up easily, no, Caspien just takes a loot at the problem from a brand new perspective to see if he can sort it out.
Toned and limber, Caspien is not as weak as most people would be led to believe. His capable hands and mouth are his primary weapons, using tricks to confound and distract, but while he may seem weak and cowardly, he is more than capable with his body. As he is incapable of using chakra to form techniques, he adapted with his knife throwing and his physical prowess. While he is not trained in any sort of proper martial arts, his own brand of escape artist combat has given him quite a foundation to work with, and he will not fall easily. As tough as anyone else who is trying to make their living out there in the world filled with shinobi, he does not scare easily in regards to a physical challenge. Training his body is important to him, as his reflexes are what he relies on most to keep him out of trouble, the more natural and responsive his body is, the easier it is for him to liberate belongings. Of course, one would never be able to tell these aspects by looking at him, he hides it all too well.
Coalescence is the game that Caspien plays. Blending in with the crowd when he needs to escape unwanted eyes, yet remaining a completely separate substance from anything he touches. always able to remove himself from the mix whenever his presence is needed. The blonde has never been known as the same person with each town he has visited and it has been so long since he has told the truth that he does not truly understand who he is any longer. To those that see him with only their eyes, they see what he wishes them to see. The powerful posturing that displays confidence and stability even when the odds are stacked against him. His features are called demonic, yet he is only human, with such skill in the act that he is able to bend the perception of the people so that they believe that Caspien is beyond human. Black is the first choice of clothing usually, it allows him to blend with a crowd and with the shadows.
Sickeningly pretty is an unfortunately accurate term that he has heard describing his features. He abhors the nonsense that his looks are discernible from anything other than devilish. Much like the dark pit of his conscience, his eyes are endless pools of onyx nothingness that pick through his targets with great efficiency. His facial features are symmetrical if rather pointed, giving him a constant smile that sets people on edge. Pierced through the flesh of his ears are five aluminum rings; two in his right ear and three in his left. All in all he tries to avoid the pretty look that many people spend their lives trying to maintain, though he cares for his appearance, as he understands that it can be used to his advantage too. The blonde locks that rise in a manner akin to fire has kept that same style since well before he left his home as a child, as he always wanted to stand out, and it became a symbol of his authenticity and uniqueness.
Past Secrets
The man without an identity is a man whose past is so clouded in secrecy that to try and discover his roots would be like trying to catch smoke with bare hands. Caspien is much like the snakelike vapors of a dying fire, his presence is dangerous, yet when everything lies in ruins around him, he is easily able to do as he wishes before disappearing without a trace. To piece together the story of his past would be like trying to force the smoke to drift back into the fire. Not only is it impossible, but due to his penchant for lying, any information that one could receive about the mysterious thief is usually a falsification and thus, no help. The only true source of information detailing Caspiens affairs in his life is his own, but memory is fickle, and not even he recalls all the moments that he has lived through. Even if he possessed an idetic memory, much of the information of his background is lost, unlikely to never be revealed. He is a man without a family name, and a man with no true origin, blessed to dwell with the weight of no other man upon his shoulders.
Her arts felt as though all the weight in the universe was bearing down upon them, and the ache in her heart grew at the thought. Her newborn child lay upon the sheets in her lap and she was too weak to even hold her sweet baby boy before she passed. The elderly midwife looked upon her sadly, watching as this unnamed vagrant woman shed tears, knowing that the only thing that had kept her alive to this point was the sheer willpower and desire to keep her baby alive. Now that the infant had been born into the world, she was slipping away unwillingly. The infinite potential of their life before them, and yet this was their story. The final words from her lips before her head lolled softly back against the pillow was his name, which the wrinkled hands of the woman assisting her worked quickly to write his name down and place it within the folds of his blanket. The woman was deeply saddened, knowing that this child was to be left with the orphanage in the town close by, where his life would be filled with discrimination and hard work. If he was lucky, he would be taken in by a nice family, but she knew the chances were slim.
His early childhood was spent in an orphanage close to the border of the Land of Fire, though he does not recall much of it, he understands that growing up in the conditions that the orphanage presented him, gave him the much needed time and chances to master his thievery skills early on in his life. From a young age, he understood that being adopted and living a happy and fulfilling life was not to be his path, and he was grateful for that, as it sounded boring. His earliest memories are waking up to the loud crashing of the door to his room opening as the matron stormed in, trying to ready the children for some prospective parents. He felt no urge to ready himself for adoption, so he simply planned to cause a little trouble when they arrived. The scar on the back of his hand is a humorous reminder of how lacking his skills were back then, believing that pick pocketing was not the art it truly is, but simply something anyone who lacked the moral core necessary to do it, could perform. The lashings had been fearsome, and the folks had been so put off by his actions that none of the other children in the orphanage took kindly to him after.
Caspien was not sure how old he was, or how long he had been stuck in this dreary orphanage, all he knew was that he was bored, and that the dirty bandages covering his left hand needed to be changed, as he was fairly certain that his wound should not itch as badly as it was. He was currently hiding in the closet from the larger children, and he had been here so long that he was trying to figure out his age out of sheer boredom, and wondering why no one would have told him yet. Maybe it was because he did not ask, but people were pretty upset with him, they even turned a blind eye to the beatings he received daily from the others. The beatings did not bother him, he was getting pretty good at avoiding them or even talking his way out of them, managing to turn some of them against each other for long enough for him to slip away. The matrons did not seem to like it when he tried to talk his way out of trouble with them, they refused to listen to him and just showed him the painful end of the stick. It was probably why his hand was still wounded, even after being bandaged a month ago. He puffed out his cheeks in frustration, wondering if escape was a good idea.
The barely audible voices grew a little louder, and the steps of his hunters grew nearer. The little blonde thief held his breath and willed his heart to stop beating so loudly, It was unlikely he was going to be able to get away with talking his way out this time. His fingers had not been able to resist the shiny collection of bottle caps sitting on the bed frame. They all knew it was him. It could not have been anyone else, as he had been the only one missing from whatever games they had been playing out there. He knew it was a dumb move; after all, he would instantly be framed as the culprit even if he had not done so. The closet was the best hiding place because of all the dark rumors of children being locked in there when they were naughty. Most of the boys and girls believed them to be true because it was a story that had apparently been passed down through generations of kids in the orphanage, when in actuality, Caspien had simply wanted a place to call his own where they would not bother him, so he had started the stories under the guise of hearing it from an older child. The story had eventually become self sustaining and had added the extra benefit of making the children distrustful of their caretakers, meaning the two sides would not help each other when it came to his discipline.
Caspien did not enjoy those years in the orphanage, and upon his return to the location he discovered it to be ransacked and empty, along with the rest of the town. He did not know what had happened, but he was under the impression that bandits had rolled over the town and taken everything of value. He recalled discovering a small collection of bottle caps. Not the same few that he had pocketed years ago, but another smaller collection that some child had begun to cherish as their only possessions before they were mercilessly killed or kidnapped and sold. Senseless. The thief did not care for the destruction, and he felt nothing in regard to his childhood homes destruction, but it was an unnecessary action to destroy a place that protected children. The art of theft was so much more intricate and beautiful than the art of war. Any chance of him discovering anything about his past before the orphanage was lost when the building was burned to the ground, and the information that may have been held here burned with it. He did not know what he would have done with the information anyway; his mother was dead and his father was likely a drunkard who would only disappoint him.
His breath was caught in his throat and he watched the people of the market mill around aimlessly, none of them knowing what had happened yet, but he was certain that things would go wrong soon. Caspien sat on the roof of a nearby building that provided an excellent vantage point that would give him a perfect view of the consequences of his actions. In order to test his skills, he had broken into the lock box of the local armorer and deposited her prize helm amidst the supplies of the alchemist. No one had noticed him do it, but with a little effort, anyone would see the helmet and thing would go south quickly. Grinning madly he watched as the armorer began to look through her possessions, trying to figure out where that helmet had gone. After a few minutes he could see that the short tempered blacksmith was at the end of her rope and she was glaring at everyone around her, investigating any booth that she came across, until finally she saw what she needed to see in the pile of materials the alchemist kept in sacks. The little blonde thief could hardly contain his entertainment as she stormed over to him, seizing the weedy man in her large calloused hands.
People quickly tried to intervene, attempting to prevent the powerful woman from tearing the mousy man in twain, as she shouted accusations at him while he begged her to stop, pleading to her, begging her to understand that he had no idea what she was talking about. From atop the roof, Caspien cackled in glee. His life after his escape of the orphanage had been relatively boring thanks to his sticky fingers and his beguiling words, and he had not had any difficulty surviving or finding places to sleep. This had spurned him into using his skills to cause a little trouble for his own entertainment, and it had the added bonus of helping him perfect his skills. When he was able to pickpocket for fun instead of survival, things were so much more entertaining. He only took what he needed, and everything else was just a tool he could use to cause a little bit of chaos for everyone else around him. His laughter faded as the poor alchemist was nearly in tears as the large woman grabbed her possession from his pile, threatening to do horrible things if he came close to her again. It was not even his pick pocketing and lock picking skills that were being benefited from his trouble making.
He was getting quite adept at getting into places that he should not be. His skills with wordplay and his surprisingly exceptional talent with make up made for an excellent combination that helped him get where he needed. So far he had found that if he spoke with enough authority people forgot the rules and let him do what he wanted. Even with his short stature he was capable of intimidating the toughest of men as long as he flexed the right threats. This place was probably going to become hostile to him pretty soon, he had not hid himself and there were plenty of people who saw him laughing to himself while he watched the scene unfold. It would not be long before they put two and two together and figured out that the blonde shit stain who had wandered into town was behind the thievery. Once they found out that their stuff was missing anyway. Caspien was usually tricky enough to cover his tracks, but when he got bored, sometimes he would try and leave hints to make sure he could really get some value out of his time.
There were many places around the world that he had visited, and his pockets were lined with memories of each, small treasures picked from the pockets of memorable people. On their own they were worthless, but as a man without a home, he had developed a sort of raven-esque mentality regarding small shiny things. A lot of these items were worthless on their own, but to him they were sentimental and invaluable. Unfortunately he did not always have room to carry these, and was limited to a couple at a time; as it made for pretty compelling evidence of his deeds. Usually it was nothing special, like the vintage steel bottle caps he had picked up in a small town in the Land of Whirlpools. There were three of them in all, one was a silver cap that was so worn from being fingered that the pain was gone completely, and he always felt curious about what the art could have been. The second was a cap from a long, long time ago, from a time where bottle caps must have been fairly new, as the edges were so dull and worn that it was practically round. It was mostly silver except for the few black paint chips left on it. The final cap was his favorite; it was bright red and just said @$#& in black letters.
Caspien had learned his lesson about keeping more valuable items on him when he had been arrested in the Land of Wind for liberating a nice pocket watch that he had his eyes on. Arrested was a loose term for what happened. It was more along the lines of being dragged into a tent and beaten to within an inch of his life right after they stripped him of his clothes and his possessions. This had been the closest to death he had ever experienced, and at that time he was certain that these merchant assholes were going to kill him, but his mind was ever calculating the probability of escape and survival, and things had not yet reached hopeless status. They kept him alive in the spirit of the birthday of the merchant kings son, an arrogant and idiotic monster no doubt. He kept hearing the name Diomed, repeated by the guards and people who walked by his tent in reverence, as though this person was some sort of god. This just pissed him off more. There he was in the middle of what could have been the greatest score of his life, and due to his silly penchant for the dramatic, he had gotten himself captured while some idiot merchants lived an easy life of luxury and comfort. The cuffs that bound his slender wrists dug into his skin, but his nimble fingers worked ever against the bondage, attempting to free him.
There were not too many places on his body that he was not bleeding from. His nose -surely broken- leaked thick blood over his lips and chin, and with each thick breath more blood spattered onto the floor around him. It looked worse than it was. Though he was a lithe figure, his body was tough and resilient, and he was not going to allow some affluent assholes stop him here. Sitting naked on a pile of sacks with his wrists chained together behind his back, Caspien felt this was his greatest challenge yet, perhaps his first true life or death situation. He was lucky that there had been plenty of refuse on the floor for him to dig through to get something solid enough to work the cuffs. This was not the first time he had been tied up and left off to the side, and he was almost insulted that they believed it could stop him. His fingers worked the lock with a small metal sliver that had been dug from the sand. These cuffs were metal and bound to him incredible tightly, so escaping them with a little contortion was not possible, but his picking skills were possibly the best in the world, and even though he was doing this blind, while tied up, and with a few broken ribs, he was certain that he would overcome this shoddy locksmithing. Grimacing as he tried to ignore the pain of his broken ribs, he was granted gratification when the cuffs clicked and he felt the pressure against his wrists loosen. A heavy sigh of relief escaped him, which made him wince more.
Rubbing his wrists, he swore under his breath, looking at the torn skin and the dried blood from the metal biting into his skin. This was going to be hard to cover. It did not help that he looked very out of place among the darker skinned inhabitants of the desert, but his wounds and his lack of clothing were even more of an annoyance. Carefully he crept to the opening of the tent, shifting the fabric aside ever so slightly, trying to see what the guard situation was like. Two of them were posted at the entrance, and both were armed to the teeth. Reaching out slowly, his fingers deftly picked out the daggers from their waist sashes, giving him at least four weapons to defend himself with. His skill with a knife was primarily an extension of his skills with sleight of hand, but he was a capable combatant with them if push came to shove, and in this moment he was willing to do anything necessary to live. It was lucky that he was in the desert, he was not sure if he could sneak around as deftly as normal with his injuries, but then his thirst crept into the back of his mind. He had been baking in this tent for a while, and even if he was going to escape, he was going to be escaping into what seemed to be an endless desert in the middle of the day with the burning sun beating down on his naked back. To coin a horribly cliche phrase, he was out of the freezer and fucked.
He could not be sure how long they were going to wait, so this was going to be him thinking on his feet. Using one of the daggers he cut swiftly through back of the tent and burst out, instantly falling into a woman who screamed, alerting every single person at the party. Swearing more loudly this time, he rolled off of her, stealing her sarong, and leaving her without bottoms to her outfit. Half sprinting, half stumbling while there was chaos and no one was quite sure what was happening, he heaved himself over a few barrels and into a stack of firewood that made him yell out in pain, but the firewood was stacked high and it began to fall, right over another tent which caused more screaming and confusion. The firewood was so dry from being in the desert for so long that it caught on fire before the thick fabrics of the tent. People tried to grab him from his writing position on the pile but he lashed out with the knife and took off at least a couple fingers. Rolling away, he spat blood into the eyes of an approaching guard and hopped over him, falling into the sand and yelling in pain. Horses were starting to freak out from the fire and confusion and one ran by. Grabbing at the stirrup, he was dragged through the sand as it fled into the desert. Arrows buried their heads into the sand around him as the guards tried in vain to stop him, and he fought against the cloudiness of unconsciousness long enough to drag himself up and onto the back of the fleeing horse, wrapping the stolen fabric around his back and tying himself onto the horse before passing out.
Caspien was not sure how long he had been on the horse, all he had known was that when he came to the horse was strolling through a wooded area that was incredibly moist and relieving. Unhitching himself from the beast he fell off the side and hit the ground hard, wincing but feeling amazing as the cool water of the puddle enveloped his overheated and injured body. The sounds of a river had alerted him and he had dragged his exhausted body to it to drink. Having the daggers paid off, and he was able to catch some food and thankfully the horse had stayed around, allowing him to search through the saddlebags to find a tinderbox and some other basic survival tools. This had been a hard night, but he had managed, and already by the morning he felt much better. The injuries were not something he could fix, but at least tending to his hunger and dehydration and exhaustion was enough to get him back onto his feet. He had stayed in the forest for a few more days before he had taken the horse and ridden out and found a village after four days of searching. In the village he clothed himself and found a doctor tend to his injuries, it was not much but he was getting back to full health, and until he managed to recover completely he was stuck in this place, as the doctor refused to let him go anywhere without an escort.
"Dad says I can't let you out of my sight"
Caspien could not roll his eyes any harder than he was. The small brunette sitting across from him was too chipper and obedient for his liking. This was the doctors daughter, Cassidy, a sixteen year old girl who was studying to take over her fathers practice and who was consumed with her research. When her father had tasked her with making sure that the blonde did not do anything to irritate his injuries, he was fairly certain that the old fart had seen right through him and just wanted her to make sure that he did not steal from anyone.
"Did he also tell you to be as annoying as possible?"
She scoffed at him.
"No, I decided to do that on my own"
He sat cross-legged with his back against the wall of the doctors office, waiting for her to get bored and leave so he could pilfer the town and be on his way, but this did not seem like it was going to happen any time soon.
"How much is going to cost to get you to leave me alone"
She made a disbelieving sound.
"You couldn't afford it, besides, I know you're broke, so you're stuck"
His features sharpened and his eyes grew dark as he stared at her, using his skills of intimidation to try and levy a break from her.
"How about this then, you get lost and I leave this town and I don't take heads with me"
His daggers flashed from under the cover of his sleeves to give the threat some ground. Her cheeky expression hardened and she sat up a little straighter, seeming to get the point. He grinned maliciously and stood up, moving towards her, trying to read her, but strangely he was unable to. When her fist struck out and caught him in the ribs it became apparent that she was not scared, she was toying with him. Stepping back and holding his ribs with one hand, he brandished a knife with the other, still trying to maintain his threat, but her next blow came like a bolt of lighting as her heavy booted foot caught him between the legs, hitting him with such force that he was lifted off the ground momentarily, his eyes widening and his body immobilized by pain. He could not even cry out in pain, his lungs had emptied themselves of air and he was in shock. The pain all washed over him at once and he found himself on the ground, writing in pain.
"So I'll tell dad you're gonna be staying for a bit longer?"
She smiled sweetly and grabbed him by the foot, dragging his incompetent ass back to the doctors office. After this his knives were taken away from him, and he kept a wider berth from the girl until he was given permission to leave to small village, which he left gladly and with great speed as the townspeople watched and waved, like he had been a wonderful guest as opposed to an ungrateful little shit.
To this day, that village was the only location he had ever been to that he had been incapable of taking a memento. He had every intention of returning and taking what should have been his, but there was plenty of time for that, as his face was too fresh. He left fully with the intent to return one day, hopefully before the old geezer died and his daughter left the shitty village. It was not long after his defeat in the village that he found himself in the Land of Stone, wandering in a forest that a nearby town had called haunted. Caspien did not believe in ghosts, a thick veil of skepticism followed separated him from the world. The woods were thick and the air was heavy, and to the weak of heart, the depths and silence of the blackness that seemed to slowly swallow surroundings around a man would certainly be mistaken for mystical. To the thief and his sly mind, it was merely excellent cover to sneak around in. Through the silence tore roars and growls that shook the branches of the trees, and each time his body froze solid, as though not moving was the only thing keeping him from behind devoured by the creature that lived in the darkness. The slender blonde considered himself a skeptic, not an idiot.
The dog was monstrous for such a small form, but even from his hiding spot in the trees he could tell that the little shit was going to be a pain in his ass. His right hand fingered one of the blades up his sleeve. Moving swiftly he closed in and the ginger beast turned to face him. The dog growled and moved quickly, but the blonde was quicker than any mutt could be, and his knife pressed against the soft flesh that was the inside of the canines right nostril. A trickle of blood seeped down his short knife, but the dog did not seem fazed. Another blade flicked out and eviscerated a large fish in the water, drawing the attention of the dog. Giving it permission to dig in, he watched as the muscly eyebrow went to town on the flesh. Caspien was not aware of it now, but he had just found himself a follower. The dog had decided that it was easier to make the blonde do the work and feast on the remnants, and in order to protect its investment, it would use its voracious appetite and vicious tactics to protect the hand that fed him. While also occasionally biting it. The next few nights of travelling through the forest with the dog were fraught with sleepless hours, as one eye always remained trained on the dog, as its appetite did not seem to ever be sated, and the blonde did not want the four legged eyebrow to eat him while he slept.
With the dog by his side, anything that usually troubled him was kept at bay by the crazy look in the small canines eyes, and it was perfectly fine for Caspien. The dog set people on edge and he was perfectly okay with letting people pay attention to the dog while he helped himself to their belongings. The dynamic between the two of them was incredible, and with such a fearsome distraction at his disposal, the blonde thief found that his profit increased incredibly. Even when making a mistake he had plenty of time to spare while his newly named canine companion attracted the attention. Barghest was an excellent pet for him, a good guard dog and a great cover. It was while he was in the hidden village of Kirigakure that he did discover the way to really increase the green lining his wallet was in the drug trade. His sticky fingers were perfect for sneaking into places that they should not be and then finding places to put them for the most money, and he sneaked through the village with his every growing supply and a list of who demanded it. His goal was simple. Profit. His tactics were sneaky and underhanded, much like himself. In order to have his reputation spread, he started a rumor that the group that ran the new trade in town were hardened nuke nin that had gone rogue from various villages, and simply talking about he knew who they were got people speaking his language.
The language of coin broke through all vocal languages, and everything was within his reach from his small corner in paradise. His stay in the village was the longest time he had ever been somewhere, and the traffic that slipped through his long fingers was enormous. He had created a network with merely his word, and he had become a king of sorts, though his kingdom happened to be the seedy underworld. Though the reputation of his organization spread, his own name and face never seemed to stick, just as intended. He relished in the riches while he managed to stay off the radar, like a good thief would. One would believe that with all he had to lose, he would not risk it by being caught on the street doing something stupid like attempting to pickpocket a shinobi of the village, but the thrill had made the opportunity simply too difficult to pass up. For the first time in a long time, his slick moves were detected and he had been caught red handed. Carelessness had been the cause of all this, and now he was sprinting through the streets of Kirigakure, avoiding the deadly techniques of the village Shinobi. Compromised and with a growing crowd of pursuers, he did what any clever thief did, he lost them in a crowd, disguising himself among the throng of people who were going about their business in the city.
Caspien swore at himself as he weaved a path between the people of the crowd, trying to look as inconspicuous as one could whole they tore through the crowd. It may not have been completely obvious that he was a criminal, but it was certainly obvious that he was running from trouble, and some of the people through the crowd seemed to realize the connection between him and the various shinobi that were now prowling the area, searching for something. He realized things looked really bad when a howling caught the attention of the crowd as Barghest began to cause a scene. The howling turned to snarling and he dashed into the crowd, throwing people left and right. The shinobi changed their course, and the blonde managed to lose his trail as he vanished into an ally filled with garbage and down on their luck people of the city. These homeless people were his kindred spirits, and by dropping coin into their pockets as he moved, he ensured their cooperation, and the knowledge that they had not seen anyone come down these streets. Though his pockets were a little looser, he was going to be able to leave the village safely. It would not take long for the dog to escape the ninja either, though he was stupid and violent, he was a pretty capable animal that the blonde knew well to put his trust into.
