Kato Ades Francis Kura D'Motte was born in Fal'Addas to a loving (if somewhat eccentric,) family. Bucking generations of martially focused familial tradition, the boy proved to be a prodigious scholar. He spent all of his free time, hours upon hours, studying all that there was to study, reading all that could be read.

In his younger decades he discovered a love for languages, which would lead him to spend 23 years in Vel Anir. During that time he worked as a translator and record keeper for the Anirian Guard. In Vel Anir, Kato perfected his Common Tongue and discovered just how different two dialects of the same language can be, especially when it came to Orcish.

Frustrated by how little he got to practice his Orcish within the shadow of Vel Anir's prejudice, Kato eventually left Vel Anir. Thus began a 9-month long walking tour of the Aberresai Savannah and the Taagi Baara Steppes. The trip across the Savannah arguably could have been shorter if Kato hadn't spent so long with a wonderfully interesting caravan of Komodi merchants who taught him their rare ancestral tongue, in exchange for giving the caravan lessons in how to sound professional when speaking Common, and taking out the caravan’s trash. (Literally dumping garbage, he didn't kill for them.)

The Taagi Baara Steppes were a little more terrifying; Kato had fewer friends, the terrain was unforgiving, and multiple Orc Tribes he met along the way were more interested in skinning him than explaining the nuances of tribal dialect mutation. It was all worth it, though, when he finally arrived. Bhathairk.

Life in the famed stronghold suited Kato much better than Vel Anir had. Surrounded by a myriad of differing tongues and peoples, life was good. More than that, it was exciting, engaging, and ever enlightening. Kato spent much of his time with the Shamans, keepers of the oral history and tradition of Bhathairk. It was in their company that Kato first began musing over magical theory.

Kato, being as well-read as he was, had of course read treatises on the mechanics of Elven magic. But the Shaman’s craft didn‘t seem to follow the same mechanics. It was entirely different. Every time Kato attempted to ask a question after the finer points of why Shaman magic worked the way that it did, the Shamans would invariably give an answer that was both wise and unspecific. Kato’s mind burned for a satisfactory understanding. Growing desperate, Kato sent a letter to the College of Elbion inquiring after the subject. The response he received was an invitation from one of the maesters to travel to Elbion and begin his own studies.

Kato was a pretty normal kid, if a bit of an introvert. He was born CE221 as the youngest of 5. His older brother and sisters all followed in the footsteps of their mother, who trained rangers and guards for Fal'Addas' Thorn Group, a public safety task force.

Never one for free-running through enormous trees while twirling sharp things, the young Kato found solace in the beautiful libraries Fal'Addas had to offer. In order to read more, he needed to read faster, so he learned to read faster. Many scrolls or books used strange words and letters, so he sought out kindly teachers who would train him in Trade, or the Common Tongue. But the boy was learning something else, too. He was learning HOW one learns a language, and what he'd need to do if he ever found himself in this situation again.

His family thought perhaps, as the decades went on, that Kato would tire of his books and his lessons and take to the trees, begin his training as a ranger. But his thirst for knowledge and stories never abated, and neither did the texts, for the elves have a love of words.

By the time he was 50 years old, Kato was fluent in Trade, Elvish, and Orcish, and though it was probably an overstatement, he thought he'd read every dusty tome, aged scroll, and scrap of parchment in Fal'Addas.

At 52 Kato D'Motte was hired on as a translator and record keeper for the Anirian Guard‘s Army of the East. Elvish workers are usually in high demand in Vel Anir, since the place gives elves the creeps and most won't go near it. (Gee, wonder why.) But Kato's ability to read and write in 3 different languages was much more important to his superiors than his race, even if he was occasionally derided. It didn't matter to Kato; he was in a new place, full of new things to read! Native Common speakers were absolutely everywhere, and Kato learned that one can't actually claim to be quite fluent in a language until they've lived among native speakers.

Probably his favorite diversion in Vel Anir was when an Orc or group of Orcs was involved in some kind of incident or misunderstanding, usually at the very edge of the city limits. Kato would often be called upon as a translator, so that he might diplomatically prevent violence, and get everyone’s side of the story for the city watch. Opportunities to practice Orcish were rare, and Kato quickly began to comprehend just how different 2 dialects of the same language could be. His understanding of Orcish was flipped on it's head, and he began to map out the nuances of the base tongue in order to quickly decipher new subgroups when they appeared.

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