Kazai's Character History


Kazai began his martial arts training at an early age, as dictated by the Thrallin tradition, studying dilligently under Overmaster Tres. A strict master and even harder disciplinarian, Tres showed the rare Thrallin trait of fairness to his students. It was fortunate that Kazai found fairness from his teacher, for his parents were far from it. Part of a respected line of officers in the Thrallin military, they demanded a great deal from Kazai in all aspects of his life. In the end, their expectactions deeply effected him, causing him to be harder on himself for perceived failure or weakness. This is a trait that he has tried to shake over the years, but still haunts him to this  day.

Kazai's training lasted until the age of seven, when an unknown force of soldiers attacked his village, killing nearly everyone he knew, including his parents and siblings. Near the verge of death, he was found by a group of adventurers from Dargon's Haven, returning from a dungeon crawl and drawn to the destroyed village by smoke from the burning buildings. The cleric of the group, Kostra Torellain, was a follower of Hale, and took it upon himself to bring the young Trallin from the edge. Even with the powers of the Goddess of Healing behind him, it was still an almost impossible task. Nevertheless, the boy did respond to the healing and begin to  recover. In a few days, Kazai's wounds were healed enough that he could be mobile. Now an orphan, the party easily realized that the boy's chances of continued survival were slim. It was decided to take him back to their Dargon's Haven until they could determine what to do with him.

In time, Kazai was adopted by the human Kostra and his elven wife Ashlyn, a mage in the adventuring party that saved his life. They found it a challenge to raise a child from neither of their cultures. The child was argumentative, and prone to cause trouble with children his own age. Many times, they had to stand up for Kazai, even when they knew he was in the wrong.

But raise him they did. They tried to teach him the ways of the world, and of concepts alien to most Thrallin, such as kindness, respect, and patience, all with varying degrees of success. The greatest impediment to them reaching him was in overcoming the desire for revenge upon those who destroyed his life that burned deep within the Trallin's hearts. It was a desire he kept locked away from the Torellains, feeling it was something they could never truly understand. In secret, he continued practicing the martial arts, trying to refine skills already learned, and expand beyond those into new areas.

Still, by the age of fourteen, Kazai began to seriously considering joining the clergy. Kostra's abilities were otherworldly to him, even beyond the magics wielded by Ashlyn. With them, Kostra had been able to save his life. The idea that he could have control over life and death, that he could have possibly saved his family and some of his people was all too attractive to him. Kazai would have taken on the cloth if not for the fortuitous arrival of Tres in the village of Dargon's Haven.

Tres had survived the attack, managing to fight as many of the soldiers off as he could before being wounded by an arrow and left for dead. Through his abilities developed over many years, he healed himself and began his own search for the attackers. He had wandered far and wide, looking for some clue that would guide him. In the end, his travels had brought him to Dargon's Haven, and an unexpected reunion with a pupil thought long dead.

Neither Thrallin had known that the other had survived the attack, but it didn't take long for them to resume their relationship of student and master. While Kazai had hidden his desire for revenge from everyone else in Dargon's Haven, it was impossible for that passion to remain hidden from Tres for long. For some time, it was hard for Tres to deal with the boy's ferocity for revenge. Eventually, Tres helped him to deal with those emotions, teaching him to concentrate that energy upon making himself into a disciplined practitioner of the arts. He convinced the boy that only by becoming a focused weapon could he ever hope to learn who was behind the attacks, and when the time came, deal with any threat they may pose. The Torellain's viewed Tres' involvement with their adopted son's life with mixed feelings, but could easily see the positive influence the Thrallin held over Kazai, dealing with him firmly as a young Thrallin had to be. The boy was less brash, more disciplined, and even more respectful of others. They eventually realized it was more jealousy than fear of an actual danger to Kazai's well-being that caused them to feel as they did.

Now, Kazai's training is complete. He is prepared to leave the village and enter the world, in hopes of finding a lead as to who killed his friends and family, and bringing them to account through some form of justice.
 


Kazai's Main Page

Tides of Evil

Tomb