Jaired (prime)

Jaired Delone Portrait of Jaired and Cat Artist: Created by the uploader with Midjourney

Origin

The subject of Jaired's parentage has always been a rather taboo subject. His mother was a half-Sylvan, half-Tehir Seer. This was already considered an anomaly amongst the Tribes, but it was easy to look past considering her talents. She herself came to her particular tribe at a young age through a trade. She quickly gained respect as a shaman, and eventually became considered one of the tribe's leaders. It was in fact one of her visions that lead her to find Jaired's father, whom was a disgraced Palestra that had gotten lost in the Sea of Fire. His father was tracking a particular Demon in an attempt to regain his honor, as it had killed the Summoner his father was charged to protect.

Near death, the Tribe took Jaired's father in at this insistence of his mother. After he was nursed to health, it wasn't long before he was practically considered part of the troupe himself. It is uncertain how many years he lived with them, but eventually they picked up the trail on the Demon he had been seeking. With the help of his new family they were able to track it down and gravely wound it, but they were unable to deal the final blow. Unfortunately, it fled into the cursed ruins of Bir Mahallah. It was soon after this that they caught wind of a detachment of Faendryl that had been seen searching the Sea of Fire. There was little doubt they had been tasked with finding him and bringing him home to face the consequences of his failure. For this reason Jaired's father reluctantly left the tribe to protect them, and the life of his unborn child, from the certain annihilation that they'd face. A Faendryl half-breed would never be tolerated. Thus the entire tribe was forced to secrecy, and Jaired would not learn the truth until much later in his life.

Upbringing

In many ways Jaired's childhood was ideal. Aside from never being told the truth of his father, he was more or less treated the same as the rest of the children of the tribe. It was obvious that he aged slower, and that he was certainly different from his peers, but this was a subject that was firmly discouraged. Despite all of his mother's efforts, he shared none of her talents as a seer nor did he have any interest in being a shaman. Eventually she turned his tutelage over to another of the Tribe's elders, who also happened to have been a good friend of his father. It was with this old man that Jaired would learn how to navigate the dunes of the Sea of Fire and become a raider himself. Plagued with a healthy mix of impatience and wanderlust, it would eventually be his knack for getting into trouble that would be his first undoing.

During what could be considered his teenage years, Jaired was captured trying to sneak into an Imperial camp that the Tribes had been contending with. Realizing that he had already seen their maps and plans, the captain of their forces decided to burn out both of Jaired's eyes, then discarded him into the Sea of Fire to die as a sort of cruel punishment. Fortunately, his mother was able to use her gifts of sight and send his mentor to recover him. Though the revenge on the Empire's camp was swift, Jaired was left blind and crippled for many years.

A Mother's Gift

It was in his blindness that Jaired began to finally get visions. In them he saw, time and time again, naught but suffering and death at his own hand. In a decision not of his own his mother told him they were going to attempt to restore his eyes. What he didn't know was the price that would be paid. Upon the ritual's end his new eyes opened and the first thing he saw was the face of his mother with a veil over where her own eyes had been. Tears stained her cheeks, and to this day he can't decide if they were from sorrow or joy. What he didn't know then was that his mother had seen what Fate had in store for him, and that he would need every advantage that she could give. So she gave her son her eyes... and hopefully the gift of her Sight. What she could not have foreseen, however, was how sideways even Fate can go.

During the time that followed their roles were effectively reversed. Jaired's mother had to adjust to being blind and he had to adjust to suddenly being thrust into, once again, training to be a shaman. The sudden departure of his long time mentor, and the only other link to his father didn't aide things along. His mentor had taken his Spirit Walk, which was a last rite of sorts where one would walk off alone into the dunes when their time was at an end. If one were to return from this journey they would be labeled a Spirit Walker, and be ultimately cast out of the Tribe, as this was considered a profanation. The Tehir can be a superstitious lot, and one should not return from death less they be considered a wraith.

This disillusion combined with a series of horrible visions came as no small part as to why Jaired would ultimately leave. He would not return to the Sea of Fire until his mother's death.

Wandering the World

Artist: Created by the uploader with Midjourney

The first civilization Jaired encountered was the streets of Solhaven. He struck out an early living running with a small gang of street rats. It was during this time he proved his worth as a pickpocket and a rather effective cat burglar. Eventually Jaired caught the attention of a rising Thief's Guild lead by a notorious assassin known simply as The Onarian. For many, many years they forged a close kinship as the Guild rose in power and influence. The Onarian was the enforcer and Jaired was the infiltrator. This relationship soured in an instant once Jaired realized they had begun dealing in trafficking slaves. Instead of reaching their destination, Jaired betrayed the Guild and set them free. This angered a few rather powerful benefactors and spelled doom for everyone in the organization. To try and save face the Onarian swore revenge, and Jaired was forced to conceal his identity and flee to an outpost on the frontier called Wehnimer's Landing.

In spite of having to start all over again he took to the task with a sense of renewed optimism. He took quickly to life on the frontier and the opportunities it presented. It is important to note that during his entire time away from the Sea of Fire, he had not been afflicted by a single vision, but this didn't stop Jaired from succumbing to some rather destructive habits. He took to drink along with an early vocation as a locksmith, but he eventually made new friends and started striking out on his own adventures. In the back of his mind he knew he could be uncovered at any time, so he began training more and more to ready himself for the inevitable confrontation with his old cohorts. Namely the Onarian.

Reunions

Cat was the Familiar of one of Jaired's oldest, best friends that had since moved on. The feline's sudden presence seemed to coincide with the return of Jaired's visions, and explained that he had been sent to watch over him. This is only a partial truth, however. Cat isn't in fact a Familiar at all, but rather the manifested will of a spirit that coopted the appearance and demeanor of Cat, since it was someone familiar to Jaired. Deep down Jaired knows this, but goes along with it nonetheless. The origin of this spirit and its ultimate intentions are still unknown, but there is no doubting their friendship.

Cat informed Jaired when his mother took ill. It was time to return home. This reunion was bittersweet, and Jaired stayed with his mother while she laid in her death bed. It was there, after decades of being apart, that she finally told him the truth about his father and of the Demon still hiding in the ruins of Bir Mahallah. It now fell on him to finish what had been set into motion so long ago. Demons could wait, however, and Jaired instead spent the time catching up with his mother and telling her all about the stories of his adventures. Before she passed she gifted Jaired the ahmdir blue veil that had belonged to his father for a time. With nothing tying him to the dunes aside from a fate he bitterly accepted, he returned home to the frontier.

Spirit Walker

Artist: Created by the uploader with Midjourney

Some time later, Cat warned Jaired of the Onarian's arrival to Wehnimer's Landing, and the two prepared for the inevitable clash. The plan ultimately worked and Jaired was able to defeat his former compatriot, but at the cost of both of their lives. It was there, at the intersection of life and the path beyond the Ebon Gate, that he experienced another undoing. In an instant the visions gave way to the moment his father was saved by his mother, and then to the moment the demon flew off towards Bir Mahallah with his father's blade still impaled through its chest. When Jaired awoke he was on the streets of Solhaven just outside of Charl's temple. He was greeted by Cat along with the realization that something was wrong. He was still dead. He was a wraith.

In this new, apparently undead state, Jaired was guided by the visions and memories that came to him wave after wave. The torment and death he had seen for so long were laid bare as he floated over the scorched fields of Bir Mahallah. Wailing spirits of the dead surrounded the ruins for miles, wandering aimlessly save for one lone Lich that seemed compelled to befriend Jaired. The Lich, its phylactery hanging from its neck, served as a guide through the ruins and into the Spire. It was in the deep that it lead him to the Demon, and it was there the trap was to be set. Cat's voice warned him before the Lich could act on its plan, and Jaired dispatched the Lich by reaching his clawed, ethereal hand through the Lich's back and stabbed through the phylactery. The ashes and sands within the phylactery coalesced and returned Jaired to his corporal form.

Fate was finally playing itself out. By fleeing here the wounded Demon was safe, but it had effectively marooned itself with no way to restore itself. The Lich's plan to deliver it a soul had failed. Instead, it delivered its end. There would be no great final battle. Instead, it all came to finality in a whimper as Jaired pulled his father's blade free. The Demon's essence would at long last bleed away into one last, fleeting shadow.

Epilogue ...?

With his apparent destiny fulfilled and his father's sword in hand, Jaired ventured out and followed the last of his visions to a quiet outpost near the Demon Wall. This is where he would finally find his father. The former Palestra was half-expecting a fight, but that notion became quickly dispelled as Jaired returned the sword and then stated, quite simply, that he owed him a drink. A request his father was more than happy to oblige.

Jaired eventually returned home to the Frontier. He never did quite get the knack of his mother's gift, and his ability to use it seems to diminish more and more over time. Now he focuses on his more natural talents and wanders the world free from the shackles of Fate.