The Dormitory

Darwin's background

Our story begins in a small farming community. A small child is born in a simple farming hut on a rather ordinary day. The mysterious mother simply showed up a few days ago, and the farmers offered their hospitalitly and assistance. She gave birth two days later. Assuming she was resting peacefully, the farmer and his wife tended to the child. The next morning, his mother was missing, disappearing just as quickly as she had appeared, knowing nothing of her, the farmer decided to take care of the child until someone came for him, or if no one ever did, it would be another set of hands for the farm.
Two days later, a large carriage appeared outside of the farm. A well dressed man with streaks of grey in his hair stepped out, and approached the farm. He addressed the farmer as a superior, and the farmer, having no reason not to, listened and obeyed. "I come for the child. I am his father."
The farmer replied, "Very well, I shall bring him." Minutes later the nobleman left with the child in tow.
Upon arriving home, the father named the child. Darwin would be the name of his only son. The years passed as they tend to do, and Darwin grew into the man he was to become. Spoiled from birth, Darwin was taught that money produced power, and with power, a man could get anything he wished. That was the little he saw of his father, occasional visits to check on him and to bestow his limited knowledge upon him.
Reaching adulthood, Darwin felt a yearning. He has been rather secluded his entire life, and did not know much of anything outside of merchanting and being noble. He decided to have some fun with his father's money.
He began living frivolously. Drinking all hours of the day, sleeping with all manner of women, and spending as much of his fathers money as he desired. He was generally liked by the townsfolk because he had a tendency to spread around his wealth, buying drinks wherever they were needed and lending gold to whomever asked.
One night, a month into the winter season, Darwin's life took a new course. As he lay freezing, dry blood cracking on his face, he blinked to clear his blurry vision. He couldn't help but laugh. The bitch was good, but she wasn't good enough. Quickly he recapped the events of the evening while his head stopped spinning. He had been drinking heavily, enjoying a party his father had thrown for some nobleman's birthday or some such occasion, when a woman approached him claiming to be all he needed in life. Being drunk and horny, he followed her to a room where she proceeded to pleasure him, and was unimpressive at best. After a few harse words, she produced a dagger from under the bed, and charged at him.
His hand quickly caught hers and with full force, threw her off of the bed to the ground. Laughing at this attempted assault, he slapped her, and told her of her stupidity before he slit her throat and placed her body in the bed, pulling the covers over her to conceal the body. After sliding into his clothes, still half coherant from the alchohol, he heard a knock, followed by a pounding, then a crash as the door burst open. Running into the room was a very large man, with an axe in his hands. He took one look at the scene and burst out, "Ya bastard! Das me wife!!" Going into an insane frenzy, he lurched for Darwin.
Quickly sidestepping the first swing, the large man relentlessly continued. Without a weapon to parry or armor to deflect blows, Darwin needed to find a way out, so he quickly dove out the window and ran behind the nearest building.
Without a cloak the winter wind was chilling to his bones. Taking a few alleyways and eventually arriving at an Inn owned by a friend of his fathers. As he went to slip around to the front, blackness accompanied a shard stabbing pain in his scalp.
As his vision finally cleared, a quick appraisal of the situation showed he had been stripped naked, and was nearly frostbitten everywhere. His entire body was numb. Touching his head, he remembered the blow recieved to get here. Some of the blood was still warm, so it couldn't have been too long ago. Trying to move felt like dragging a a team of dead horses. The snow was nearly halfway to his knees and the wind was beginning to get the best of him. He had to find shelter and quickly. A look in all directions and all he could see was endless white plains in all directions. Picking the direction of the sun, assuming it was near morning and west was most of civilization. After nearly two hours, Darwin fell, desperately trying to get to his feet but his strength and body had failed him. It was here he was going to die. His vision blurred as his muscles stopped burning, and quielty he murmered a prayer to spare his soul. He realized his life had been for naught, and he had accomplished nothing in his short life. Tears began streaming down his cheeks. Then blackness descended..
Silent, cold, blackness. He awoke to a warm blanket and fire in what appeared to be a small cottage. There was a bowl of stew on the nightstand and a pitcher of spiced wine next to it. Darwin couldn't help drooling, until he realized, he should be dead, what the hell happened? Rolling out of bed the pain of the cold hit him. His skin was dark red and blistering in some areas from windburn, and even the slightest move felt as if he had fallen into a pit of millions of tiny spikes. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he noticed some clothes layed out at the foot of the bed. Donning them as best he could, he quickly consumed the stew and downed the wine. Searching the room for a weapon produced nothing.
Suddenly the door opened, and he froze...standing before me was a woman that defied description. More beautiful than any noblewoman could wish to be in a million lifetimes, her gaze would astound a nymph. He gasped as he realized, he had one hand in her cupboard and the other was on a hot stove. "It couldn't be! You are a myth! No human has laid eyes on this place in two millinea!" Her voice was like hynotizing music from the sweetest flute ever made played by the finest bards ever known... "It is I, I have come for what is rightfully mine, and I will take it! And you will help me. But first, you must recover your strength. Rest child." Blinking dazedly, the shock overtook him of who he had just seen, again Darwin fell to the floor, unconscious.
Blinking off yet another headache, Darwin squinted from the blinding light overhead. Where the hell was he now? And what were these strange thoughts in his head? As if someone else was thinking them. An answer he could seek later, now he needed to figure out what the hell was going on. Clearing his vision, he glanced around the room. He was back home! In the temple! A man he recognized but did not know was sitting next to his bed. "Ahh good, I was beginnign to wonder if you were ever going to come around."
"How did I get here?"
"One of the acolytes found you about two miles outside of town, nearly frozen solid, and with barely a pulse."
"So I was laying in the snow half dead?" How could that be? He was there! In her home! It could not have been his imagination, he had seen it, felt it, SMELLED IT!
"You could put it that way. Your father arranged for us to care for you, and you should be up on your feet in a couple more days. I will leave you to rest, food will be brought shortly."
Darwin nodded, confused, and laid down to think. A nagging thought in the back of his head kept telling him, "Get up, go find it now! You require it, without it your are nothing! Your ancestors demand it! It is your birthright!" He fought the voice inside his head, suppressing it finally to a dull murmer. The voice has been there ever since.
Had she put it there? Impossible! She was only a myth, he had to have been imagining it! Maybe i'm just going insane. Or maybe i'm being forced to attone for my past sins. Either way, I need to get the hell out of here!
Darwin left a few days later. And returned home, locking himself in his room, secluded to think until he knew what to do. A month later he emerged, and went to work on his new plan to find whatever the hell the voices were asking for.
Using his fathers money and his fathers contacts, he began by renting a small house in the slum area of town. He began paying all sorts of men to assist him. The "undesireables" of society. Assasins, thieves, and the like. The sort most men would not even speak with, he payed to assist him, and he payed them well. Two months later his plan had finally formed reality. The Guild of the Shadow. It's sole purpose, information and its distribution. They quickly began gaining knowledge. Books, rumors, stories, anything that spoke of items of power, or artifacts. History and knowledge being its main dealings. He needed to discover what he was looking for before the voices drove him insane!
And then his father found out what he was doing, and immediately cut off all funding and his allowances. This is the same time she walked into his life. A beautiful woman, of middle years, Darwin immediately fell in love with her. He had never seen anyone able to captivate a man such as she. And she wished to aid him. She said she knew how to save the guild. She quickly explained her plan, and Darwin being a man in love, let her quickly assume a secondary control position of the guild.
Being in its current position the guild began to take on small jobs on the advice of the Silver Queen. Common thievery, merchant wagon ambushes, assasinations, whatever their members were best suited to in order to fund Darwin's search for knowledge. Unbeknownst to him, one of the lesser members, a man named Marnak, had began undermining him with the assistance of the Silver Queen. And then one day it all crashed down.
Marnak challenged him to a duel. And by his own codes and laws governing the guild, if he lost, Marnak would take control. Darwin used the few days before this duel to find out what had happened. His most trusted friends would tell him nothing, all he could discern was his guild of knowledge had became nothing more than a petty thieves guild! He also was alerted to the fact that the woman he loved, the Silver Queen had masterminded it all. He wanted nothing of it any longer. He was sick to his stomach and just wanted to disappear. And when the day of the duel came, he lost. He merely swung once, a deep gash across Marnak's left cheek. Which is scarred to this day. Then he forfeited the duel and walked away.
He had no contact with his guildmembers from that day on, untill two months later he was called for a last favor. Stalking through the chill winter air, Darwin came upon the house among the many he had come searching for. It was a small nondescript shack to those who knew not what to look for, covered in chipping paint and a roof covered in rotting wooden shingles. Darwin approached the back of the home, knowing well the penalty for knocking on the front door, and rounded the home to gain a lump in his throat. Waiting in the backyard for him was the woman he sought. Short by most standards, and normal by some, she was a middle aged silver haired woman decked in a tight white dress that hugged some features close enough to leave little to the imagination. Her grey eyes were her only feature that stood out among other women, few times had Darwin seen such enchanting eyes, and this pair he could never forget, or forgive.
She raised a hand, alterting him to the danger of speaking. Turning gracefully Darwin had no choice but to follow. She led him a few houses down, to a similar house, though not quite as dangerous, and opened the door to the cellar. Leading him down, she bent a produced a lit torch from a small silver chest. Using it to light the remaining torches on the walls, she placed the torch back in the chest, latching the lid. The room was fairly simple, save for a few distinguishing features, and the man waiting.
The walls were emtpy save for cracks and other signs of the buildings age, and the furniture of the room consisted of a large stuffed sofa on the far wall, and a table with twelve chairs surrounding it. At one time, Darwin sat at the head of this table, and led numerous meetings from this room. Now he was merely a pawn, being held by his word to the worthless bastard who sat across the room on the couch.
His name was Marnak. A medium sized, middle aged man, he was well muscled under the old leather tunic he now wore. Darwin knew him far more dangerous than he appeared. This man once fought Darwin in aduel of honor for control of the very room he now occupied. Darwin managed to leave a permanent reminder of his scarred honor by leaving a scar on the cheek of Marnak. A constant reminder that Darwin could have bested him if he wished, and it drove the man insane with rage. But now he needed Darwin, as much as he hated it, he could not stop the events he had set in motion and came to the only man he knew could, his most hated enemy. Darwin's smug look did little to settle his stomach, which was sickened by the mere sight of Marnak. "This will be the last deed, then it is done!" Darwin exclaimed.
"Very well, if that is how it is viewed by the Silver Queen. A slight tilt of the head barely perceptable showed a nod from the silver haired woman, agreeing. "I wish for you to stop the assasination, I need him more than I origionally planned, and killing him would stop the wheels already set in motion, but you know as well as I, we hired Akban, and he cannot be found when he is at work, until the job is done." Darwin's rage was well hidden, only slightly revealed by the smirk he sometimes wore when keeping extreme emotions under control...
"So...YOU need him more than YOU origionally planned? What of the collective? Have they had a say? Or do you now kill all who oppose you?"
Silence gripped the room for a moment. The tension building. "I merely mispoke, we are still a collective organization, and I merely the figurehead. But do this job and be done with us, Darwin, if I see your face again, it will be on your death warrant." Darwin nodded, and restrained the urge to spit in the mans face and slide a dagger into his heart.
"It shall be as you wish. By the end of two moons from this night, Akban will be relenquished of his duty, and your...'target'...shall still have his life. And I will be done with you and the organization forever!"
Darwin quickly learned what he needed from them, and his face froze. The target was his father! No one knew of course, becuase he kept his own history shaded from the guild. But they were going to kill his father. He could not stand for it. He left in a blind rage.
Stalking immediately to where he knew his father would be and spotted Akban on the opposite rooftop bow in hand. He climbed to the top of the inn he was perched on, stalked up to him, and slid his sword through Akban's back.
Too much needless killing. He was finished with it. And one day, he would come back for the rest of the guild.
Darwin fled the city in a rage. He wanted to go kill them all right now, but dying would solve nothing. He walked into the woods, away from all civilization. Three days later he came upon a small shack in the middle of the woods. Nearly out of food he decided to press his luck here. He knocked on the door and a middle aged man answered. Shock lit the man's face. Then quickly vanished. He smiled and greeted Darwin. And called him in.
The man's name was Richard. He was a ranger and a scholar. He immediately took Darwin in, and Darwin was amazed by his uncanny resemblance to himself, but pushed it aside thinking nother of it. Darwin spent the next few years learning from Richard and being trained by Richard in the Rangerly arts and learning all he could from him. It was here Darwin found a new obsesion. The voices in his head were less frequent, but more defined. They kept speaking of something of immense power he had to take from someone, but they were never more specific. One day he came upon an old tome in Richard's library that spoke of Porn lore. And he immediately thougth he had his solution. Reading of a man named Fagan he quickly became entranced in the history. Reading everything he could about him. He wanted Fagan's power! Then he would be able to stop these voices and find out what he needed to get to stop the voices!!!
Richard took notice of Darwin's interest in Porn lore, and became worried. One day he approached Darwin to speak. "I have something I need to tell you Darwin."
"Sure, you know you can always talk to me"
"I have been holding something from you Darwin. I know who your mother is and who your true father is. I have been holding it from you for fear of hurting you, but with you taking such an interest in Porn lore, I have to tell you! You must know!"
Suddenly the voice in Darwin's head went insane! Screaming that Richard had to die! He could not be allowed to do this! It was blashphemy! He must not listen to him! Darwin must kil Richard now! Before its too late.
Darwin screamed, "I WILL NOT!"
The voices simply relpied then we will for you! Richard stood looking confused, asking Darwin if he needed any help. Darwin shrugged him off and said he would be back. He ran into the woods to quell the voices. After a few hours, he managed to stop the screaming. He returned to the shack to find utter chaos. The shack was burnt to the ground, and Richard's body was being feasted upon by some shambling mound of rotting flesh! Flying into a rage, Darwin raced to it, and cleaved its head off. Weeping over Richard, he found the area to be scattered with rotting corpses, as if they attacked out of nowhere. Richard managed to kill most of them, but he died fighting them. From that day on Darwin swore undead would die at his hand whenever he met them. He spent the rest of the day burning the rotting corpses and burying Richard.
Gathering his things, he decided it best to leave and return home and confront his father. Darwin returned home and his father was only slightly worried. He never did seem to care much for Darwin. When he confronted his father about what Richard had said, his father denied everything, but Darwin continued asking, and a week later. His father forced him to leave. He gave him enough gold to establish himself elsewhere, and told him to leave. Looking in his fathers eyes, he knew Richard was telling the truth, he wasn't really his father. He had to seek answers.
He left town the next day. With only what he could carry. He decided that the best route to go is sometimes the most dangerous. He set out to find a group he had read about in his studies of Fagan, the Fanix. They would have answers or the means to pertain them! And he had to know the truth, no matter the cost.

Usagi's Background

Usagi was lost as a baby and found along the coasts by the motoyoshi clan among the ship wreckage. There has been no information (found or relvealed to usagi at least) about his lineage or anything about his parents. He was raised by the clan as any other ninja. He received the traditional training with the added attention of being the only elf in the clan. This helped him substantially with the arts of stealth and he quickly rose in the ranks being one of the more adept ninjas and utilized for some of the more important missions of the clan. The most important being retrieving the stolen artifact Pornazashi. This is mission that has kept Usagi on the run for the past 2 years.