Rok Noteleaf
Rok's Life Story
I was the third of five children, born in the home of a family friend. The community was your typical homestead settlement, where everyone knows everybody else. Growing up I had a generally happy childhood with several friends. I have fond memories pretending to be adventurers with them. Occasionally, my father would take all the boys on a weeks' long fishing trip.
When I was, about 11 years old, a celestial visited me in a dream. In the dream, I saw crops stricken by blight and many people starving and dying. My parents assured me it was only a dream and not to worry, but to me it felt like a warning. The next year, the crops of my home community were overtaken with some unknown disease. Many starved, including my youngest sister, Cara. A few weeks later, my father was found hung from a tree on the edge of the wood. His death was ruled a suicide, but I am not convinced. To this day, I have not forgiven myself for ignoring the warning I was given.
After my sister and father's death, we moved to Nardof. There, we grew up in a modest apartment in a run-down neighborhood. My mother and the oldest siblings all stepped up to be able to afford even those passable living conditions. Living in the city, I observed how nobility and the city guard oppressed the less fortunate. Never letting us get off the ground, in a manner of speaking.
As a young man in Nardof, I met a woman, and was actually married. Not long after we wed, I was drafted into <<Some war>>. I survived the war without much physical injury, but I still suffer from terrible nightmares where I relive the experience. When I returned, these nightmares interfered with my marriage and my wife eventually met me.
While wandering from tavern to tavern, I picked up a lute one day and instantly discovered I could play it. Having a source of income again, almost immediately, I was shaken down by the local authorities for their "fair share". This was my "ah-hah" moment. Using my newfound skills to charm and distract, along with my knack of fighting, I felt a calling to become a smuggler. As a smuggler, I would be able to fight the tyranny and oppression by helping those in situations that mirrored my upbringing.
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