Played By: Nathan Tukiendorf
Character Name: Drex Blackstone
Gender: Male
Class: Rogue
Age: 28
Race: Human
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Green
Occupation: Bounty Hunter, Mercenary, Hunter, Survivalist. A Bounty Hunter with his own sense of justice, with a side job as a mercenary.
Known Skills: Skilled Swordsman, Adequate Archer, Excellent detective skills (good at finding people/objects)
Birthplace: Port city of Aldoria.
Appearance: Dark clothing, Composed, Shaven or sometimes with a small beard, observant.
Notable Traits: Piecing Green eyes, Quiet, Inquisitive, Excellent listener. Dark clothes/ looks Dashing
Relationships: Was the son of a wealthy merchant in the port city of New Aldoria, Former son of Sir Helmsworth from Aldoria. Used to own a Shipping Company. Age 16 was married, killed a person in duel, then divorce two months later resulting in the “Helmsworth Scandal.” Investigated, released and lost inheritance, went searching for the truth of what really happened. Found out and went searching for my former wife. Spent years wandering Mardrun. Changed name. Lost the naive, spoiled child persona and developed a sense of justice for finding villains that would ruin the lives of other people. While handing them over to the authorities and getting paid. Hoping to find my cunning, former wife.
Rumor: Fallen Merchant. The result of winning a duel. A few whispers say the reason for the duel was because of a woman, and she took every penny he had after he was jailed. As soon I was released, I left New Aldoria. Drexel Helmsworth was not seen as for 12 years. Drex Baern, the Bounty hunter, has been around for 6 years.
Prologue
In Crows Landing on a late spring afternoon. A man in a dark hat and clothing was standing in front of an inn looking at the wanted posters and bounties. It seemed, I was standing there for an awfully long time looking at the bills, because when I noticed it was suddenly dark. Dam! Can’t decide whether to go with a regular job or join up in the Stormjarl and Prince’s Contract.
I was about to go get a drink to think on it, when I saw two guards coming down the street with what looks like new posters. I waited there a few more moments to see what was going up on the board. The older guard saw me and gave the posters to the younger guard, telling him to hang them up on the board. As soon as he made sure the young guard doing his job, he went towards me. He looks familiar.
“Hello Drex, been a few years. How’s business?” asked the old guard. Now I remembered him. I handed him a few bandits when I was here a few years ago.
“ Business has been good Waylen, though not as good as I would like. I was thinking about the Contract up North, when I saw you coming down the street, and decided to wait to see what you post on the board.” I responded.
“ Besides the Summer Market on Fire Isle this year, a fifteen silver bounty for a murder and burglary at Lady Awen’s home.”said Waylen.
“Lady Awen’s home?!” I asked “Was it the Master Awen that owned a shop and a boat, that was murdered?”
“The same.” he answered. “It was a three man job. They broke in late one night while the lady and the children were visiting relatives. They picked their way in and crushed his head, while he was reading in his lounge room. They knocked out the maid, tied her up and stole into the night with the goods.”
“ When did this happened?” I asked
“ About 5 days ago. Family is still in mourning.”
“ Is the maid still here?”
“No, she left about two days after the crime. She says that she blames herself, and decided to look for employment elsewhere. Family were sad to see her go, except for her ladyship. Lady Awen had numerous good maids before this one, but for some reason she had a hard time with the last maid.” Waylen answered.
“How long was the maid there?”
“ Barely four months.”
“ Waylen, my friend. You were right that it was a three man job. However, it was two that got in and one was already in the house. Did Master Awen’s lounge room have one entrance and did his chair face the door or away?”
Waylen’s eyes bulged at this new information. He responded “Yes, and toward the door next to the fireplace.”
“ I’m sorry to say sir, but the maid did it.” I said “ She let them in. Master Awen would have seen them come in, once they entered his lounge. There would be no way they could get behind him without him noticing them. He would have put up a fight and a struggle. Was there a struggle in the lounge?”
“No.” he said with a sigh.
I responded with “ Master Awen knew his killer, but did not suspect foul play.” As I finished that sentence, I saw Waylen’s guilty face, as realization dawned upon him. The weight hit him like a cart of bricks. He let the maid go, as if he helped with the murderer itself. I felt a little guilty so I threw him a bargain.
“Look Waylen, I’ll help you out. I’ll take on the bounty, but I will go after the woman first. Can you give me a general description?”
His face changed rapidly from depressed to one of hope. Hope was shining on face when he asked “Why the maid?”
“Because she is the real prize for the other criminals. In order to keep the money flowing into the pockets. She gets into the rich homes as a maid and sets up the crime. I wouldn’t be surprised if she is actually in charge of this group. Plus, did the Lady send her off with a recommendation for other employment?”
“Blimey, Drex! Your mind is sharp. I’m not sure if Lady Awen did give a recommendation to the maid. We can go see her before dinner and you can ask her what you need to know. Shall we?”
“Ha! After you Sir Waylen. So, what does this maid look? Old? Young?” I asked
“She has the face that still looks young, but she was approaching her 30th summer. Her height was about to my chin, about five ft six inches. She did turn heads with her long, curly red hair and steely gaze of hazel. She also had a nasty scar on her left hand.”
As Waylen was describing this mastermind, I listened intently. As he continued with the description, I began to get a nasty chill and my steps became slower. When he described the scar on her hand, I stopped as I felt my stomach drop. No, it can’t be her. Could it? I thought to myself. I must have looked shocked and staring off into the distance, for Waylen stopped ten steps ahead of me, turned, and asked me “You okay Drex?”
I focused on Waylen’s face.“Waylen. Did this maid have a demeanor of someone with noble birth, arrogance, if you will? And did she have a way of capturing an audience, as if the people were under a spell?”
Waylen flinched at the sound of my voice. I must have sounded angry and I was. I took a deep breath to control my building fury and waited for an answer.
With a slight tremble in Waylen’s voice he answered “ Now that you mentioned it. She did act like she was better than everyone else, but she didn’t have that behavior with the Awen Family. She seemed nice in their presence. As far as spell casting, we didn’t see any channeling of mana, but when she was talking to a crowd, they did seemed enthralled with her words. Do you know this woman Drex?”
Fuck! It was her. After all these years she finally surfaced. Must have run out of money. I must make sure it was her and talk to Lady Awen. I reached from my former life as Lord Drexel Helmsworth and I brought forward a commanding voice and directed it at Walyen.“Waylen, take me to Lady Awen immediately!!”
He saluted and for a moment wondered why he did that. He asked with a perplex look “Drex! Whats going on? Why do we need to the hurry?”
I began striding forward. Closing the gap and moving past Waylen, not waiting for him to catch up. He caught up with me and matched my speed. I explained my thoughts to him. “Speed is necessary, if I want to catch up to her. She has a three day head start. If she is who I think she is, multiple people are endangered, including their families. I wouldn’t doubt her partners will not see any of their profits when they’re done. For she will not stop until she has quite the sum of money to tie her over for years. Like she did before. Twelve years ago.”Waylen paled at the last statement. He immediately moved a step ahead to lead me toward Lady Awen’s home.
Lady Awen confirmed my suspicions. She described the person I knew to exact detail. She did give the maid a recommendation to a rival merchant of her previous husband’s business at New Aldoria. I shared my thoughts to Lady Awen about her previous maid. She paled, but didn’t look surprised. I think she knew something was wrong, but she couldn’t prove anything. She sent the maid to a rival instead of a friend. Smart woman!
We left after an hour of questioning. As I was walking out the door, Lady Awen told me to do my best and that my reward will be waiting for me when I returned. I asked “How do you know I will succeed?”
She responded “The look in your eyes tells me you would stop at nothing to catch this monster. For I can see she has done terrible things to you as well, sir. I wish you a safe journey.”
Waylen and I walked back toward the Inn. I took the bounty poster off the board and asked him to change it to add the woman. He took it back towards his building while I got some supplies for the journey. He returned an hour later with two copies, one for the board and one for me. I was grateful and bought him a few drinks before I left. As I was walking out, he put his hand on my shoulder and asked “Who is this woman to you Drex? You make it sound like she is a devil in disguise. What happened?”
I looked at him and thought about telling him, but decided against it. I did not want to get into my past, plus I was far behind by three and half days. So I told him this, with a grin. “Waylen I hope to see you soon. I’m off to go capture my former wife.”