Markus was born in a travelling circus made of performers. His mother was the chef and his father was an audience member who he would never see. Travelling through the lands of Arcas meant he would see places that other kids would only dream of. Such as the Elven lands of Irrindor to the colourful and beautiful sights of Rubern. He watched the actors, dancers and acrobats, believing one day he too could become like them. His mother gave him very little attention as she was so busy, so he found his own entertainment. Performing shows by himself in the middle of the nowhere, pretending to entertain a crowd of hundreds!
This was the norm for him for many years. Markus never was able to perform in the circus as he was too young and showed no potential, so in a tantrum he planned on running away. But that was not needed for what came next.
One day the circus had set up and was performing in a village when a tragic set of occurrences fell on them. An acrobat duo had drunk too much before a show and had miscalculated when throwing and juggling torches. Two had landed on the vulnerable cloth that sheltered the audience and the main tent went up in a blaze which spread to the other stalls they had. It happened so fast and many were injured and some dead. However Markus was in the forests, performing by himself while this all happened. He had no idea until he returned to find nothing but smoke and fire. Markus ran down to find his mother but to this day has never known if she ever survived the accident. Filled with grief, Markus ran away. He did not stop until exhaustion took him and he passed out alone, in the middle of the night.
Markus was found by a family of serfs who worked fields and tended to animals. Never having a father figure before made it difficult for him to take orders or understand things, he never was the smart type. But this is where he was raised. Learning trade, basic tending of animals and crops. Eventually making enough coin over the years until it was time for him to live his dream as a performer. So he gathered all he could and set off to Helena, the capital of the Empire of Oren, not knowing which way to go at first, but time will tell.
