3. Baernan Loque's story

Baernan Loque's story

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    Login: Desdinova721
    Character name: Baernan Loque

    Baernan was born to a wealthy family near Waterdeep, the youngest of five siblings. His parents, both layabout socialites and drunkards who had never seen a day of real work, tormented him - he sought refuge in the tales of epic adventure and heroism told by his favorite uncle, Borev, the only member of his immediate family he did not grow to despise. After a particularly vicious encounter with his drunken father, where the older man chased him out of the house with an axe for some imagined slight - the 12-year old Baernan found himself disowned and abandoned on the streets of Waterdeep. He turned to petty thievery to survive, spending his days pinching coins and food off of local merchants, and his nights fleeing for his life from the city guardsmen. As he grew older the young man learned the hard way about the sheer brutality of life on the streets; more than one encounter with vicious street gangs left him beaten within an inch of his life.

    His salvation came in the form of the retired warrior Kennas Nevelin, who took pity on the boy and took him in. He taught the boy how to make an honest living, put him to work in exchange for a roof to sleep under. He taught Baernan how to handle a sword, and the meaning of honor and responsibility, and Baernan learned great respect for the old adventurer. Unfortunately, Kennas was murdered by an old enemy on Baernan's seventeenth birthday, and the young man suddenly found himself back on the streets, although in a far better position to support himself. He found work as a caravan guard, a mercenary, and a cook - the only marketable skill he had picked up during his old life - but without the influence and oversight of his mentor, he soon slipped into vice and depravity. Every copper he earned was soon squandered on ale and loose women, and he made more than a few dangerous enemies within Waterdeep's seediest dives. One night, in a drunken stupor, he insulted the honor of a particularly nasty half-ogre brigand he had mistaken for his father,
    and he was soon fleeing for his life.

    Once he sobered up and realized the gravity of his situation, Baernan correctly assumed his only option was to get out of Waterdeep fast, so he joined the crew of a merchant ship and left the city of his birth for the last time. He spent two years plying the waters of the Sword Coast, picking up knowledge of seamanship while working in the galley as the ship's cook. Unfortunately, this too would not last; after two years, the ship was attacked and overrun by pirates. The crew was murdered and the ship scuttled, and Baernan was kept alive only because none of the pirates knew how to cook. Despite being technically a slave, he was treated
    relatively well as his skills were, at least temporarily, indispensable. However, as the vessel neared port, he figured that they'd take on replacements for the casualties they'd suffered, including a new chef, and dispose of him in some unpleasant fashion. He soon began to formulate an escape plan, which was complicated by the fact that he spent every night chained up in the galley. Seeing no option but to fight his way out, he backstabbed a pirate to death with a kitchen knife, stole his key, unlocked himself and made for the hold, hoping to hide undiscovered until he could jump overboard and swim to shore. Unfortunately, he was discovered, and soon found himself fighting desperately against a shipful of angry pirates; he fought with skill and bravery, but there was no hope of success against such odds. Then, to his surprise, he heard the guttural laughter of the pirate captain, who signalled his men to stand down. The captain, it seemed, had taken a liking to Baernan's cooking, and since he obviously had learned how to fight, he gave him an offer he couldn't refuse: to become a member of the crew, keeping his position as cook but also taking part in boarding actions and battles, and earning a fraction of a share of the loot, the alternative, of course, was to die. Baernan chose the first option.

    Baernan became an enthusiastic pirate; although not exceptionally skilled with a sword, he could handle two weapons with natural ease and was well-suited to fighting at close quarters aboard ship. His skills also made him a natural choice for a scout when ashore. A year later he was regarded as a full-fledged crew member and generally respected by his shipmates. For the first time in his life Baernan was truly happy; visiting a different exotic port city every month, enjoying the heat of battle, fighting for treasure or against the horrid denizens of the deep, every night full of song and drunken revelry, living the life of excitement and high adventure he had always yearned for. Ultimately, this too could not last forever. During yet another tavern crawl ashore, the rogue found himself talking his way into the bed of a woman from far-off Cormyr. Unfortunately, her father was a powerful archmage and was less than happy to see his daughter associating such a man; after being confronted he found himself fleeing for his life yet again. Obviously, it was not difficult for the wizard to track him down through magical means, and a half an hour later Baernan realized he was truly finished. Luckily for him, he managed to talk the man out of killing him - the Archmage gave him a chance for survival, albeit a very slim one. He teleported Baernan away randomly, probably hoping that he'd rematerialze inside solid rock or a thousand feet in the air. But, for one of the few times in his life, Tymora smiled upon him and let him live - he appeared, shaken, disoriented, but very much alive, in the city of Peltarch. Now, hung-over, destitute, and with no knowledge of the nature or customs of this strange land, he has resolved to survive anything else the realms can throw at him. Whatever happens, at least, he knows, it will not be boring.


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