Kade's upbringing was one of meager means.

Born to a poor family in a poor neighborhood of Ragash, his mother worked for a mid-level merchant as a fruit seller and his father worked as a stonemason. When he was old enough, he had begun to help his father and to learn the trade of being a stonemason himself--it helped bring a little more coin home, even if as a child there was only so much he could help with.

Then, seven and nine years after his own birth, his mother was blessed with two more children: Kade's younger sister Aisha, and youngest brother Tahir. And it was here that Kade's sense of responsibility truly took hold. Mom and Dad had been scraping by with just him, and now there was his little sister and baby brother that needed to be taken care of. Kade needed to find a way to do something, to make ends meet. He had to be their big brother, to be there for them, because sometimes Mom had bad days of selling and Dad and him didn't bring home enough either.

And it got worse when Dad lost his right hand in an accident.


So, one day, Kade decided to steal. Just a single coin, left on a vendor's stall, a simple swipe and pocketing of it when no one was looking. And that coin bought Aisha and Tahir something to eat for dinner that night. And Kade has never forgotten their smiles of pure joy.

More and more, Kade spent time away from the quarry and the masonry and patrolled the streets of Ragash, looking for opportunities. A hell of learning curve to being a common thief with nothing but his feet and his wits to get him out of a bad situation. Kade learned quick because he had to, took his lashings when he got caught and almost had both of his hands chopped off--that would've been a disaster.

Then he had the incident. The run-in with some other youths, much like him--pickpockets and coin snatchers. They saw him and at first they were friendly, and they all shared names. Kade shared his. Then one among them, the smallest, riled up the rest. They all pounced upon Kade with a ferocious desperation and they fought and Kade, outnumbered, ended up on the ground. The smallest demanded to know where the Gem was. What gem, Kade asked. The Anvar Gem. And Kade said he had no idea what the hell he was talking about. An argument started among the other kids, and Kade got away.

Kade asked his Dad about that, the Anvar Gem. And Dad looked at him for a long moment, and said at length what it was, or rather what it was supposed to be: an immaculate ruby, enormous and perfectly shaped, a natural wonder worth a king's fortune. Dad sighed, said it was nothing but a tall tale about their family that such a gem was in their possession--perhaps in the Age of Wonders, but certainly not now. He told Kade to let the story go.

Kade did. But not completely. Maybe the Gem was fictitious or lost forever to time, but he could still dream big couldn't he? He could find a way to lift his family out of poverty. He could do that. It was what a good son, a good big brother, would do.


Before Gerra of Molthal conquered Ragash and established his Empire, Kade caught the attention (in a somewhat embarrassing way) of the renowned alchemist Master Jalil Ruubin. Kade didn't give up his common thievery, but he did quit his apprenticing in the craft of stonemasonry and instead began to gather alchemical ingredients and reagents for Master Jalil. It was something he was rather good at, finding and picking the herbs in question. His new vocation also came with a little more regular coin than he used to earn at the quarry and masonry, and also gave him a better front for walking about the streets of Ragash so much.

For someone like Kade, a young man without any touch of magic about him at all, alchemy had the potential to open a lot of doors. To even the playing field enough for him to be an adventurer, a true fortune seeker. There was a figurative Anvar Gem out there in the world, somewhere, just waiting for Kade to grab it and bring it home.


Now, at the age of eighteen and with Ragash under the banner of the Empire of Amol-Kalit, new opportunities are arising. Yes, the streets of Ragash are busier and wealthy than ever, always ready for a quick grab if need be, but Kade knows that he has to think ahead, to beyond what's for dinner tonight if he's to have any real hope of helping his family live a better life.

Become more daring as a thief. Improve upon his alchemy skills with Master Jalil. Work toward becoming a fortune-seeking adventurer. All viable choices.

But as well, another choice in this new Imperial landscape: service.