Born much like the sewage filtered out by the Cinder Ports' blue sluice gate, Banuk entered this world on an assumption of care. Raised communally, it did not take long for him to fall in with the local gangs of Sonshan's Blue District, and it was in such company that he thrived. Adolescence passed him by mildly: he learned to read sparingly, to cook from what he could scavenge, to make the most of his days in an abundance of boredom. He also learned to bargain, barter, lie, steal, and fight, but those came as natural consequences of station more than from any special exertion of will.

As a young adult, one of the family heads selected him for a program. A shady shaman of unknown origins offered them a needle infused with a cursed Raakgui, and instructions with how to apply it for best effect. Of the dozen chosen youths, Banuk adapted at an acceptable rate and took to the training that followed with relative ease. At the very least, it did not leave him crippled (two others suffered from that, though in return they boasted greater proficiency in utilizing the Raakgui housed in their flesh). He earned the title of shaman. A back-alley shaman, yes, but it afforded him some measure of prestige amongst his peers all the same.

Later, he was selected again. Summoned before the head of his family, made to kneel and proclaim what loyalty he might feel. And told that he would take the fall for a string of murders. Not ones he committed, of course. Those were much lower profile; the trust extended to him only went so far. No, these murders involved members of the Feather Clan and a Morikami delegate. Not so easily hidden. Someone had to take responsibility, and after much heated debate and consideration it was decided that Banuk was a satisfactory delegate for the task.

Stripped of his citizenship, he was sent to labor at the behest of the Morikami for several years, only to return as a guest of the Intendant Family after his dues were paid. Upon finding his feet stuck fast to the muddy streets of the Cinder Ports again, there was nothing else for him to do but hunt down each of the family heads that abandoned him. A matter of course, really. Only... Banuk never was as clever as he thought. Local authorities, having caught quickly on to his actions, apprehended him before he could finish the work.