Camas Washougal's page

In Restov, Katherine was a maid for the Greenbacks, a wealthy merchant family. Her family had been with them for several generations and were quite proud of this. When Katherine became pregnant out of wedlock it was shocking. The Greenbacks all assumed it was a member of their family that was the father but Katherine assured them that it was not but would not name the father.
She raised the boy alone and was a very caring and loving mother. She would never talk to him about his father no matter how many times he would ask. When he was young, he noticed that a man would come and visit his mother late at night sometimes and would look in on him in his bedroom. One night he asked the man, "Are you my father?" The man smiled and slowly closed the door. Years went by and the man never came back.
Camas's life was hard because the other children in the area would not let him forget that he was a bastard. This lead to many fights. As he grew taller and stronger the fights became fewer but he still felt the scorn of being a bastard. He worked for the Greenbacks in the stables, tending to the horses and doing hard labor around the grounds. He developed a friendship with the house guards, Liam and Hans. Both men liked Camas and taught him some skills with weapons and armor. They did not seem to care that he was a bastard. They would also tell him tales of their adventures in The Stolen Lands chasing bandits and goblins.
One day Katherine fell ill and the healer stated that there was nothing they could do to help her. As she lay there dying, she called Camas into the room and told everyone else to leave. "I love you, son." she stated, "And your father loved you too." Camas was shocked by this revelation from his mother. She continued, "He was a noble prince in the House of Rogarvin. I meet him one night when he was visiting the Greenbacks and we fell in love. It was a secret love since he had a wife. I became his mistress and he would visit me often. I knew that we could never become more than that. The disgrace to his family would have been too much and they would have had us both killed. When you were born he was so proud to have a son. His wife was barren and bore him no children. His plan was to adopt you as his son when you were old enough to understand but something when terribly wrong. In the Year 4699 the House of Rogarvin disappeared. No one knows how but they all just vanished. You were only 8 years old at the time. Forgive me for keeping this secret from you but it was the only way to keep you safe. You are a man now and you need to move on with your life and find your fame and fortune in this world. You are of noble birth and others will follow you as they did your father." With that she fell silent and Camas held her through the night. She died without ever waking again.
Camas had heard that charters were being given for those who wished to go south and settle unexplored lands. This may be his best chance to get out of town if he can go with one of these caravans.