Backstory

11 years ago, in the shit-hole of Novis-Mar there lived a girl. At the age of 14, life for the girl was hard. She was nameless, as her drunk of a father didn’t want to put any ideas in her head. She was lucky though, luckier than her mother. Every night was the same: the drunk would stumble in, make a few snide comments, and proceed to beat the girl’s mother if she made any comment. The girl was berated with insults for her lack of speech, though she didn’t speak out of fear of being hurt like her mother. After an extremely violent encounter, one which nearly killed the girl’s mother, the father left. He was gone for a week, and it was the best week in the girl’s life, even if she had to help her mother recover. But it did not last. The father returned in a flurry of insults. But just as he went to lay into the mother, there was a knock at the door. The father stared daggers at the girl, and she quickly understood that she was to answer the door. On the other side, there stood a human man. The girl had seen humans before but never talked to one. He knelt down and offered the girl a candy, which she took hastily as she never had candy before.
 
“Is your father home sweety?” the man said.

The girl nodded slowly and stepped aside as the man entered her home. Upon seeing that a man had entered his house the drunk began hurling a tirade of insults toward the man.
 
“Who the fuck are you? And why the fuck are you in my house? I could have you arrested you piece of shit! Get the fuck out!”
 
As the drunk yelled and made a fuss, he walked closer and closer to the man. Then, he stopped. He stopped moving and yelling, and then he looked down. The girl followed his gaze, directly to the dagger protruding from the drunk’s chest. The drunk fell, gasped for breath a few times, and stopped moving. The mother screamed from shock, and whimpered to the man:
 
“Please, take anything you want. We don’t have much, but please don’t hurt my daughter!”
 
The man chuckled and knelt beside the dead thing.

“I am not here to hurt you or your daughter. I am sure this comes as a shock, but your husband is not a good man. He beat a young barmaid to death for refusing his advances, and the town has placed a bounty on his head. I am simply here to collect.” The man said with a wry smile. “Here, for your troubles.” He laid a small leather pouch in front of the mother. He then rose and left the house.
 
So many things passed through the girl’s mind. They were free, free from that awful thing, free to not be afraid of it anymore. This freedom was something to love, and something to share. A glance into her mother’s eyes was all that was needed for the mother to understand what the girl wanted to do, and with tears in her eyes the mother nodded in sad encouragement. The girl bolted from the house and followed the man back to his safe house. She snuck inside, and confronted the man. Surprised by the girl, he quickly turned to reach for his weapons, but he stopped upon recognizing her.
 
“Did you follow me here? And how did you get in?
 
“Hole in roof” the girl answered shakily. Visibly afraid that she might have insulted the dangerous man. “I want be like you. Help people, stop monsters like the drunk.”
 
“Well you certainly have some skills, but are you sure this is the path you want to follow? There are risks in my line of work. People die. What’s your name anyway?” the man asked.
 
“I sure. No name, never given.”
 
“Well, we’ll have to change that, the name’s Bertram Rethral.” the man said. “Welcome to boot camp.”
 
The girl trained with the man named Bertram for 5 years. In those years, she flourished and discovered she had a knack for the bow. Bertram named the child Silent Arrow in Flight in the traditional ways of the girl's people but usually referred to her as simply Arrow. During her training, she traveled around the entire territory with her master. She met a pair of elven brothers with the names Elrin and Rinly Torrend. They were around her age and became quick friends with Arrow. They were skilled mechanics, whose father Taegen assisted Bertram from time to time. When Arrow was badly injured in an explosion that mangled her arms, the twins fixed her up with custom automail to replace the damaged limbs. In the fifth year of her training, a target got the better of the pair and while they managed to kill the target, Bertram was gravely injured. Before he died, Bertram told Arrow about his identity as the great bounty hunter Never Death. He told her that his master bestowed this title upon him just as his master’s master had done before, and it was now time for him to give it to Arrow. He also provided her with his black book of contacts and told her to speak with Taegen about any other information she needs.

“I’m proud of you kiddo, you’ll do fine.” These were the last words Bertram spoke, and Arrow will never forget the compassion that her master showed her.
 
Before returning to Rockbell to speak with the Torrends, Arrow made the long journey back to Novis-Mar, a trip she had avoided since she left. She needed to see her mother again, and the memories would not stop her. Finding her old home was simple, she remembered the way as if she never left. She found her mother, bedridden, with a doctor nearby. Upon seeing her mother, she explained who she was to the doctor. She was told that her mother’s condition had been deteriorating for years. The damage done by the drunk never fully healed, and she was dying. In her mother’s last hours Arrow sat with her in private. She explained where she had been, she spoke about the good she had done. By the end of her story, her mother had tears in her eyes.
 
“Silent Arrow in Flight, this is a good name. You have grown to be such a strong girl, my darling. I am so proud that you did not let him ruin you. You are so special, and I am so proud of you, my sweet.” These were the last words her mother spoke before drifting off into an endless slumber. Arrow will always remember the fondness and caring of her mother.
 
She left Novis-Mar for Rockbell shortly after the burial. When the Torrends saw Arrow arrive without her master, they quickly understood something had befallen the old bounty hunter. After relaying her story to them, Taegen took Arrow through the basics of functioning as Never Death and taught her to read the encryption that Bertram’s black book contained. A final gift was presented to Arrow by the Torrend’s. A gift left to her by Bertram, and given to them for safekeeping until she finished her apprenticeship. Whispered Death. A beautiful metal bow that held magic properties. With all of Never Death’s contact’s at her disposal and the gift that her master left her, she set out determined to continue her master’s legacy.