Hxrl

Born far west of Arcas in a place now forgotten to even the captains of trading vessels who would’ve once ventured there. His birth-town did not see much trade with Sutica, but was a worthwhile second-stop on long trading routes that visited other ports on his coast. Because of the long voyage, it was very uncommon for these ships to carry living cargo, but Kai’s father – a trade captain – chose to make the family one of these exceptions, fearing the onset of dangerous politics in their hometown. Despite only spending a third of his current life there, many of Kai’s limited remaining memories are of his true home. Like Sutica, his hometown was mixed race and open to new settlers, with a population mainly made up of humans and dwarves who lived alongside each other in an unusually integrated way. Many of his friends were Dwarven, which gave rise to a jokey title ‘The Boy who should’ve been short’ since, in his homeland ‘Kai’ was short for Kaimbe, meaning ‘Warrior’. Since both short and warrior were suitable ways to refer to a Dwarf, and the majority of those he got along with were too, it seemed like it would’ve been fitting for him to be a Dwarf. That’s what his friends thought anyway.

In spite of many seeing him as intellectually gifted as a child, his young age prevented him from being able to comprehend the reason that his family fled to Sutica. Growing up has allowed him to see reason in what details he can still remember, and he has been able to come to terms with it, but the confusion the journey imparted on him still holds influence over him, as he believes it is the cause of his weakened memory. The journey has more than just mental toils, the week long travel being bombarded by frequent storms. One such storm saw harsh waves and carelessness combine, as he found himself caught out on deck amidst the dangerous weather. As his parents later told the story to him, they came above deck with just moments remaining to see him swept straight off the deck by the ferocity of both wind and sea. The crew claimed it was a miracle that they were able to get him back from the water’s grasp, but an older man overheard and simply chuckled ‘With a father so determined, the two might as well have been attached by a string.’

Even years later, his parents found always refrain from telling the gritty details of that story. He would always find himself trying to find the reason they would withhold such information, but these questions were lost in the same waves of forgetting as the story itself. By all accounts, that was the first time he developed a rash after contact with water, and that attribute would never leave him. His parents would go to many doctors in search of some rationale for this, but they would all say that it must merely be coincidence and that the cause of this reaction was unique and unknown. By his 8^th birthday, stories of these events became the only way he would ever know of them. By 11, much more of his memory decayed around it, as if that incident was a black hole which pulled in any memories around it. By 16 this effect came to full fruition, and has remained unchanged in the 5 years thereafter. He is able to grasp at only a few long term memories, and occasionally loses short term ones too. In some sort of exchange, he very rarely gets incredibly short yet very accurate premonitions about future events. Typically, these will only involve one type of sense, be it sound or sight, or even taste. They tend to not give away any useful information, but instead bring about a strange sensation when he experiences the snapshot in reality, which he can associate to how he felt in the premonition, allowing him to make a rough judgement of whether he should be cautious or aggressive, making it quite similar to acting on instinct. He isn’t sure if the premonitions are real, or whether he makes that part up in his head without knowing just to make his immediate instinct seem more trustworthy.

The peaceful nature of Sutica has allowed him to thrive comfortably in spite of his flaws, and he has done his best to make himself into an educated man. His daily struggle with water has invited some self-loathing into his mind, and almost all conflict he has ever experienced has been within himself, or within training halls with others who took interest in combat as a sport rather than a means. Despite his academic interest he is untrained in all forms of magic, but has often suggested to his peers that he would be capable of learning should there be a need for it, “necessity will always grant me determination”. Beyond his studies, his life has been fairly uneventful, mostly due to his negative state of mind. He is dead set on breaking this chain. To this end, he first ventures out into the unknown to find unique knowledge and perspectives that he could not have interacted with inside of his studies, the first phase in a very rough plan to decide what lifelong adventure he truly wants to live.
 

He first chooses the long journey to the Kingdom of Haense, hoping to avoid tension with their stubborn nature by not having his own views encroach on learning theirs. The disparity between his own way of life and their considerably more violent pasts is what he hopes will bring him fresh perspective. Preparations made and goodbyes given, he is not far from the gate when a masculine voice calls out to him “Your mind is your answers”
Initially startled, he looks back, to find no sign of life beyond 2 plants and a domestic cat sleeping on a sun-bathed table. Confused about the reality of the one way interaction, he turns back to his path and continues.

Perhaps these 5 words are among the few he will be able to remember.