Sterksain Family/Trystrem

Trystrem Sterksain

The oldest and the troublemaker of the Sterksain family, he wasn't just a bully, he did down right wrong things, and he did them often. He was surprised by his parents that they didn't get rid of him sooner. All of his actions revolved around the arts of the shadows, even though he wasn't professional... it was good enough to make trouble around the town.

The Influence

Growing up, Trystrem was always the type that would steal the cookies from the cookie jar, although that was never one of the tricks he played. In the earlier years, he was actually a good kid, but watching some events in town happening first hand had swayed his decisions. When he was 6 he had crept out of the house and had wandered the streets. He was amazed that there was still so much activity in the late hours of the night. Yet, it wasn't the same kind of activities. Instead of the cheery hustle and bustle of merchants and commoners, now the grunge of the night walked the streets. Drunkards toppling over as they slowly made their ways home, women dressed in scant clothing, others hung about in alleyways smoking their troubles away. As he walked he saw a guy force himself upon a woman. She was crying and was trying to scream, but the man had stuffed a cloth in her mouth. He turned another corner, and he was nearly trampled as woman was running from some police. He didn't know what the woman had done, but obviously it was bad enough for the police to notice. He walked halfway down the street, when he had come up to a bank. He looked at it, and noticed the door was open. He decided to creep in, and he saw an infiltrator. He was breaking into the safe of the bank, and when Trystrem had gotten closer, the infiltrator had succeeded. He grabbed about 40 gold, and Trystrem wanted to attack the man, but he decided against it as it would only get him killed. So he hid away under a desk and waited until he had watched the infiltrator leave. He did so, and then ran out after him. He watched the infiltrator turn, then his eyes widened. The guards had come back, and began chasing after him. The man, had started to climb up the side of the building to get away. He was successful in his attempt, for as soon as he hit the rooftops, he bolted off. The guards had no choice but to let him go. They turned and began to walk away. Trystrem had stayed there, and noticed that the infiltrator had not left yet. He looked at Trystrem, and put his finger to his lips indicating to Trystrem to be quiet. He did so, and watched the infiltrator lower himself down behind the last guard, and snapped his neck before he could make a noise. The other guards kept walking on, so he killed another, then another, until all 6 guards were on the ground dead. Then he walked over to Trystrem, as he stood there, a look of awe over his face. The infiltrator came over and spoke to him. "Don't you ever tell anyone about this. If you do I will personally come and get you." With that, he jumped into the shadow of a nearby alley and disappeared. Trystrem walked home, and went straight to bed. He didn't care if his parents had found out what he did, he thought his trip was worth it.

Personal Change

Ever since that day, he had been wondering how hard the life of an infiltrator was, and what it would take to become one someday. Also, once or twice every week, he snuck out again in hopes he would find that infiltrator again. He would walk around, visting the bank and other buildings that would be profitable for someone like him to pillage to see if he was there. Yet, no matter where he looked he had never seen him again. This went on for about a year. One day he looked at a bulletin board and found out that an infiltrator had been captured, and was slated for the guillotine in an hour. The message had said the man's name was Dargun, but he didn't know if he was the same guy or not. This swayed him to go and see if it was. So he went to the town square, and watched as some men were clearing up the area for the upcoming event. Some people had already gathered to get a good view of the beheading. He walked up to the side of the stage, and he waited. Five minutes passed, and the crowds had grown tenfold as they all stared at the incoming cart. The cart had the infiltrator standing up, chained as he was being brought to the stage. The guards had pulled him off the cart, and pushed him up the stairs, then tied him to the plank that would become his death bed. They placed him underneath the guillotine, and then everything stopped. The executioner had walked up the stairs, and started his speech. He was holding a small axe in his hand, and walked over to the guillotine, where some rope was tied to a stake in the stage. This rope held up the giant knife, hoisted above Dargun's head. Dargun then looked up, and Trystrem was given a good look at his face, and sure enough, it was the same infiltrator that he had seen that day. Dargun had spotted him in the crowd and gave him a wink. The executioner had screamed aloud, "NOW GO BACK TO THE PITS OF HELL FROM WHICH YOU WERE SPAWNED FROM, DEMON!" and with that, he cut the rope with the axe, and the guillotine fell, splicing Dargun's head from his shoulders. His body lay on the plank, squirting blood all over the place, as it spasmed. While this was happening, the executioner had taken up Dargun's head from the basket, also squirting blood as it drained from his brain, held it up high, and then set it upon the spike of a pike. He and the guards then began to march down the street back to the prison with the head and body so that he may be buried or whatever it was that they did with the bodies of dead infiltrators. Trystrem walked home, never to see Dargun again, but one thing was for sure, he knew he wanted to become an infiltrator, and decided to seek out someone who could teach him some of the basics of this new found art.

Finding a Teacher

Since the day of Dargun's executions, he thought we would start small, and just go to a local library to find something that could teach him some of the basics of infiltration. He got there, and began to look around. He looked at several different books that looked promising, but nothing told him of infiltration. So he looked some more. Nothing was found, so he asked the librarian, and her response was one he was hoping not to hear, "Are you mad! Of course we're not going to carry any books on that matter. That would be ridiculous. If anybody could get their hands on those kinds of books, then everyone would become one. You'll just have to go somewhere else." With that he looked around in stores, and in the market. He found nothing there either. Except for this one strange merchant dressed in all black. He was selling strange and rare artifacts. Among these was a book. This was the book he was looking for. When he asked the man for the cost, "The cost of that book of infiltration, is too much for you to even dream of at such an age as yours. But, if you really must know, the price is 10,000 gold." This disappointed Trystrem just a little bit. So he stomped off home, and decided that was not the best course of action right now. He had though of stealing the book from the merchant, but with no knowledge of the shadow arts, that would end up in a big mess. That night, he had snuck out of the house again, visiting all of the usual places to find another infiltrator. He found one lurking the streets, but wasn't doing anything. So he decided to talk to him. He ran over and tapped his arm.

"Are you an infiltrator?"

"Yes, yes I am. What do you want with me?"

"I would like to know if you could teach me the arts of the shadows. I would like to become an infiltrator myself when I grow older."

"I could teach you, but I'm not going to."

"Awww... Why not?"

"Because you are too young."

"When will I be old enough?"

"Come back when your 13. I can train you then. I will still be here. I'm actually a Taran infiltrator, on duty to attack enemy infiltrators."

"Awesome! Don't forget now!"

"OK, OK. When your old enough just come to see me. My name is Hunter. Don't forget."

Trystrem was so eccentric that he couldn't sleep for the next week. The only thing he didn't want to do was wait until he was 13. That meant waiting for four years, as he was only 9. Nonetheless, he would learn how to become an infiltrator.

The Later Years

Trystrem waited out for a few years, trying to stay out of trouble as much as possible as not to make his parents angry at him for future things. Anyways not much really happened in those last couple of years. Once when he was 12, he tried to see if he could take down his brother Aethelmaer and put him into submission to show that he was the best child in the family. He tried hard yet, he failed and to the shock of his father, was grounded for the next year. He was so enraged, he decided he would take it out on him later, after he was trained well enough. Over the next year, everything that Trystrem did was supervised and he was hindered from starting his training with Hunter. So one night, he snuck out of the house, found Hunter and told him about what happened. Hunter saw the problem and decided to sneak into the house to teach him. This worked out quite well, he only taught him the basics, nothing to important just yet so that his parents wouldn't find out. Once the basics were learned, he was able to sneak out of the house efficiently and was taught the more important things. This included weapons, how to use them, stealth techniques, among other things, and generally the way an infiltrator is supposed to think and act in certain situations. Trystrem was learning well, and learning fast. Hunter had said that he would be a decent infiltrator one day, and was well on his way. He would be able to do any stealthy action, and well enough to do it.

The Test

Hunter had set up a test for Trystrem, he first left a note stuck to a tree that they met near for training. The note had said:

"Trystrem,

You have learned much, yet there is still so much more you need to be taught. I am unable to teach you anything else, as everything else you need to learn is from experience. To see if you really have learned well, I have set up a test. I have stolen a special box from a neighborhood house. The house was about six houses down the street. Yes, I was able to get into the mansion. Now, to test you, I have placed the box back into the mansion, and now you must steal it. Be careful as some surprises await you. When and if you finish I will meet up with you in the town square. Good luck, and Happy Sneaking!

Signed,
Hunter"

Trystrem was eccentric, and immediately ran off to start his mission. When he got there, the house loomed over him. He didn't think it was this big, and now thought that he wouldn't make it. He started by taking Hunter's advice for the first time, as now he understood why Hunter does it as he would tell him he'd understand one day.

The Mansion

Trystrem stood in the shadows of the trees across the street from the mansion. It loomed over him in the moonlight, and brought upon him a gloomy feeling. Carefully studying the surroundings, it looked like nobody was outside, and all the lights inside were off, indicating that everyone had went to sleep. He creeped slowly towards the front door, and picked the lock with such efficiency and silence. He opened the door, and inside was a vast and expansive lobby. Trystrem looked around the lobby in search of the box. With nothing to be found, he crept upstairs, making sure he didn't make any noise. He reached the top, and with one step, a creaking noise came from the floorboards. He stopped dead, and awaited to hear noises from the nearby rooms. At first he thought he heard someone waking up, but it was just the wind howling from outside a window at the end of the hall. Trystrem started at one end of the hall, opening the first door and peeking in, seeing that it was the bedroom of a small child of maybe only 5 years. His mind was tempting him to leave his mark, and kill him, but he squashed his temptation back as he reminded himself of his mission. With that he quickly looked around, and found nothing resembling an intricate box of any sort. So he entered the next room in the hall, this room seemed to be a trophy room. A glorious room filled with all sorts of trophies, awards, medallions, and in the center of one of the showcases, a small intricate box. Before Trystrem came closer to it, he studied the floor carefully, and not finding anything resemling something to spring a trap, he entered the room and went up to the glass showcase. He reached his hand up, and as soon as he put his hand on the case, it spun around with him on the platform, and flung him into a small slide that sent him to a small cave. He looked around, and found that it was pitch black, and that there was nothing he could use to light his way. He'd just have to feel his way around. He first tried to find a wall, and with that he felt his way until his hands hit a rack. This rack contained pegs with keys on them. He took them all with him, and then later found his way back up a flight of stairs leading him back to the lobby. Each keyring had a label, and on one keyring that only had one key, was labeled Trophy Room. He took this key ring and placed all the rest back on their pegs downstairs. Going back up, he entered the trophy room again, but this time he looked around for a keyhole, and finding one, he quickly slipped the key in and turned. This opened a small door, with an inscription on the wall behind it. Instructions showing how to open the case without triggering the spinning door trap. He followed the instructions, stepping in certain places sort of like a dance. This brought him facing the case, the final step, to press a button on top of the case. The case clicked and the door opened. The box just sitting there in all its beauty. He picked it up, closed the door, and quickly made his way out.

Success

Hunter greeted him as soon as he exited the building. With a pat on the back, and a congratulations, he told him to keep the box as a token of his finished training. Hunter had told him now he was as able to freely do as he pleased. This sparked an idea in his mind, and he quickly ran home to think of a plan. Once home though, the first thing he did was study the box. It looked quite familiar to the ones his brothers had found and this intrigued him even more for his plan to succeed.

The Plan

Trystrem sat in his room all of the next day, just planning his attempt to take his brother Aethelmaer's life. It originally began as just a murder, but now it's a murder and theft of both of his brothers, and their boxes. He kept going over his plan, but little did he know, his door was slightly open, and just outside it, his younger brother Grimbaldus was listening in on him. Trystrem was too deep in thought to do anything about it, or even care.

The Night

Trystrem waited until the dark of night to start the execution of his plan. First, he took a quick peek inside Grim's room to make sure he was asleep, and there he was lying in bed sound asleep. Same with his parents, and Aethelmaer too. He quickly entered Aethelmaer's room, quickly and quietly to make sure nothing would be noticed until he was far away from here. He crept up to Aethelmaer's bed, and with a dagger at the ready, he placed it at his throat. He hesistated slightly thinking if it was really the right thing to do, and in that small moment, 'WHACK!' He was brought down to the floor from behind, the collision of the attack flinging the dagger from his hand, stabbing itself into the nearby wall. Trystrem tried to fight with all his might to see his attacker, and when he rolled over, found that it was Grim, and the closet door was flung wide open. In the course of this fight, Grim yelled out loud waking Aethelmaer from his sleep. He saw Trystrem and Grim fighting, and quickly dove in to help stop the fight and to make sure Trystrem was held down. Once Trystrem was stopped, Grim woke his parents, and Trystrem was in some deep horse crap.

The Next Day's Departure

The parents had made sure Trystrem was tied securely to the wall, and that they would deal with him in the morning. All night long he had stayed chained to the wall, no way out, and it was all because he tried to take his brother's life. The next morning, his parents had the police come, and take him away, but instead of bringing him to jail, his parents had him deported to the far away island of the South East. The war island they hoped would change him.

His Career

He was sent to Sandalak on the South East Island, where he commanded under the brutal leadership of Boswick. He and his infantry fought through some tough times, but came out on top of the whole island victorious. Near the end of his stay on the SEI, he began his career in the shadows. Starting his training, he then left for Atamara, specifically Tara, in hopes to finish his training and finally get another chance at killing his brother Aethelmaer. His short stay there, brought about 3 serious woundings, 1 small wound, 1 miss, and a number of stealing taxes, he found that Tara just wasn't the type of place for him. He returned back to the South East Islands where he is using his training in the shadow arts, to help Sandalak once again.

The Box and His Brother

Trystrem held the two small statues in his hands, and all he could think of was his brother Aethelmaer. He was dead and he couldn't believe it. He felt two different feelings at the same time. He was sad because he was dead, but he was enraged because he was not the one who killed him. Trystrem had longed to kill his brother in revenge for family issues, but now his chance was gone. He then remembered that he held a small trinket himself for his memory of Aethelmaer and decided that is was to be sent to Aethelmaer's grave. A small intricate box, with no way of opening it. It had inspired him before to kill both of his brothers and take their boxes that looked exactly the same, but failed and was all that was left. He quickly gathered a messanger, gave him the package and told him to deliver it to his brother's grave in ASI. Trystrem stood by the pier with the two small statues in his hand, wondering if he should send one with him to, or wait until he could formally place it on the grave and decided the latter was the better choice. He waited for the ship to sail, and then turned and walked away, retreating to his room in the inn, where he placed the two statues on the table, leaving them there for when they were needed.

Roleplay

Trystrem and Kurohyou