Neill Family/Corin
Corin; son of Carr
Contents
Age at Death: 43 (Deceased?)
Class: Trader, Warrior
Weapon of Choice: Short Sword and Shield, Bow
Last Titles: Founder of the Fatmilak Trading Company, A Trader of Some Renown
Titles Held: Count of Libiddo, Baron of Fatmilak, Earl of Fatmilak, Founder, Owner, and Operator of the Fatmilak Trading Company, Captain of the Gilded Dragon
Religion: Loose faith that he rarely speaks about
Unique Items Held: Elemental Scythe of Bloodletting
Realms Served: Everguard, Astrum, Ibladesh, Grand Duchy of Fissoa, Madina, Aurvandil
Personal Heraldry
As a young viking nobleman with nearly no combat experience, aside from the hunts of his childhood, he used only the rune given to him at birth and various stylized ravens. The was the symbol of the sun and of power and Corin's parents adopted the raven as his animal the day he was born after an encounter on their doorstep. It was, perhaps, his parents hope that he would grow to live by the qualities of the rune and rule over the land as a just and powerful viking lord.
Upon leaving home and attaining various lordships, the rune was often painted on the front of his tunic with a simple raven painted beneath it. It was usually found in a similar arrangement upon his shield. Troops under his command typically flew a combination of local heraldry with a basic badge of a raven somewhere on their armor or shields.
Childhood and Teenage Years
It has been said, though some who knew Corin will dispute these claims, that Corin Neill was born on a bright winter day some time when the sun was highest in the sky. It is said by his parents that when they brought him outside to see his first glimpse of the sun two ravens flew from the clouds and settled on a nearby tree. Convinced it was Huginn and Muninn, Odin's two ravens of legend, they were certain Corin was blessed by the gods and sure to live a long and healthy life.
He spent the rest of his childhood as a rather unremarkable youth. He performed slightly above average during his training with weapons and brawling and quickly learned his reading and writing. When it came time for him to go on his great hunt, a tradition for his particular branch of the family, to prove his coming of age he prepared himself and went into the forest with his father. For hours they searched the frozen trees until finally they came across a set of boar tracks. Corin's father clapped him on the shoulder and sent him ahead to deal with the animal himself.
For nearly an hour Corin tracked the beast until he came to a small burrow dug into the shallow earth and surrounded by branches. The boar emerged and for a moment stared Corin in the eye. He drew a single arrow from his sheath and slung it onto his bow. With a steady aim he let the arrow loose and watched as it smacked harmlessly into the boar's side. The boar charged him then and he turned to flee when his father suddenly stepped out from behind the boar and fired another arrow into the beast's front leg. The boar tripped and rolled onto the ground before trying to stand...only to meet Corin's short hunting blade on his throat.
With his coming of age completed, and a brand new boar skin blanket on his bed, Corin was given a choice to stay with the family or go study at the academy in the trade city of Sale. Corin spent a single night deciding his future before deciding he would travel across the Barony to Sale. For several years he spent his time there learning a great variety of subjects and practicing his swordsmanship. When he neared the age of 17 he returned home and spoke to his family of all the tales of riches he had heard of from the tradesman who inhabited the docks of Sale and an obvious desire to seize those riches for himself.
Realizing what was coming, Corin's father gave him leave to travel if he wished it, as long as he kept his family in his heart and stayed on a true path. Corin agreed quickly and left a week later on a boat for Dwilight out of the Makar Harbor. After a great deal of time at sea he landed on the shores of the Kingdom of Everguard where his new life would begin.
Adult Life
After a few years spent behind the sword he began dabbling in the business of trade in his free time. Remembering the joy it brought him when he studied the subject in the Academy he soon found himself joining the ranks of the Traders and searching for profits. In his travels he met with the nobles of Astrum, a people eager to bring him into their business, and on the eve of rebellion in Everguard, Corin decided to swear fealty to the banker of Astrum.
After a few years of dedicated service to his liege and many weeks spent on the trade routes his loyalty was awarded with the lordship of Libiddo in the Duchy of his Duke. His interests in the local faith of Sanguis Astroism also grew until he decided to pledge his faith at the temple in Libiddo and learn more of the Blood Stars. Despite his interest in the Blood Stars and his pride in being chosen lord of Libiddo, he soon found himself discontented. The nobles of the Sanguis Astroism bickered endlessly causing him to yearn for the simple stories of the gods he knew as a child. Coupled with the excitement he felt when listening to extravagant tales of lands beyond that the merchants he did business with spoke of stirred something within him. Though hesitant at first, he soon decided it was time to leave Astrum behind. After speaking only with the one knight who served him and the Duke he swore allegiance too, he hired a ship and sailed to the East Continent, prepared to once again start anew.
Corin's time of the East Continent proved far less then profitable. While he attempted to peddle his wares across the lands, the war that tore Ibladesh and their neighbors apart made travel difficult and those who needed the food most cared little for his prices when they needed to spend their coin on steel and men. Hoping to acquire his riches in less then orthodox ways, Corin spent some time skulking about as an infiltrator until he was captured one too many times and sent back to Dwilight aboard a prison ship. Upon arriving he covered up all evidence of his deeds in the East Continent and set about reestablishing his reputation as a self proclaimed "Trader of some renown."
For those who knew Corin prior to his trip to the East Continent and after his return, his transformation into the "Trader of Some Renown" marked a radical change in his behavior as well. While he pursued his typical affairs with gusto, he seemed to have abandoned some of his more reserved behaviors while ignoring other proper noble customs altogether. While none spoke of it with him directly, some whispered behind his back that the trip abroad must have broken something in him.
Still, his return to Dwilight proved to be the most profitable time of his life. He sold to any who would offer a fine price, or would accept his own, and traveled across the southern portions of the continent making deals and reaping in the profits as he went. Eventually, he found himself in the service of the Baron of Fatmilak in Madina who shared his love for profit. When the Baron eventually left, Corin took his place and the foundations for the Fatmilak Trading Company was set into place. While his customers were many and varied, the beginning of the Fatmilak Trading Company also marked the beginning of his more serious trading ventures into Zuma territory. These trade missions he always carried out himself, partly out of curiosity for what he would find each time he entered the twisted lands and partly because none of the trader beneath him would accept the contracts.
Between wars and allegiance changes, the Company grew and with it his clientele. Soon, the Company had a small mercenary army in its employ and a sizable merchant fleet that was led by the Aurvandil commissioned carrack the "Gilded Dragon". Drowning in wealth, Corin one day awoke in an odd mood that none of his servants could explain. He spoke of a contract he used to carry out with the terrible Zuma in the north and how something called for him to return to those fel lands. Taking a large portion of his personal horde with him, Corin set out for the Zuma lands, leaving the Company in the hands of Barriston Alacyl, his second in command.
The Fate of Corin and The Company
For years after that day, Barriston spent a large portion of the Company's profits trying to determine the fate of Corin Neill first at the behest of Corin's wife and later, after her death, to satisfy his own obsession. While he occasionally came across eerie stories about a trader from the Zuma lands that fit Corin's description, nothing solid ever led him to a conclusion. Eventually, as old age came to claim him and and his investors tired of his misuse of resources, Barriston went to bed one night almost ready to give up on his search for Corin. They found him in his bed the next morning, a dagger in his chest, his bedroom picked clean, and ownership of the Company in another's hands. With him ended the story of Corin Neill, only to be remembered as the Founder of the Company and, as always, a "trader of some renown."
