Bazim Porter's page

Step 1
-Bazim prefers to be overlooked. Ideally, his enemies should ignore him entirely.
-While Bazim prefers not to fight, he's no coward. If his magic and his guile both fail, he won't hesitate to pull out his sword.
-Bazim is drawn to people he suspects are destined to achieve power.
-To keep up the image of being powerless, Bazim loads his backpack with far more than he can comfortably carry, and uses his sword cane as a walking stick.
-Bazim will most likely keep up the appearance of being a slave of one of his fellow party members.

Step 2
-To gain powerful allies he will be able to manipulate
-To place his existing allies in positions of power

Step 3
-Only Bazim and his closest allies are privy to his powers of manipulation.
-Bazim himself is unaware that since leaving his master's service, his master has caught on to his ruse, and would like nothing more than to have Bazim's head.

Step 4
Ally: Lissum Roth, abolitionist. After leaving his master's service, Bazim took advantage of this woman's sympathies, and allowed her to smuggle him to Longacre.
Ally: Belick Tanner, former slave. Came from the same "batch" of slaves being smuggled as Bazim, and now works at the tannery.
Enemy: Dazimus Kretch, Bazim's former master. While not an especially powerful man, Kretch certainly has the resources to hunt down his deceptive slave.

Step 5
-Bazim typically stands hunched over on his walking stick (sword cane), making him look more pitiful.
-Bazim affects a stutter whenever he finds himself in a "stressful" situation.
-Bazim is prone to overestimating his powers of manipulation. Even if someone proves resistant to them, he's likely to keep pressing his luck.

Bazim, like many halflings in Cheliax, was born into slavery. As soon as he was old enough to work, he was sold to a man named Dazimus Kretch, in Westcrown. While Kretch's father was a self-made man, he himself was content to rest on his laurels and squander his family fortune on frivilous pursuits. Life as a domestic servant was comfortable, but Bazim was destined for more.

His powers manifested subtly, at first. He had always had a mind for the best thing to say in any given situation, but in time, he discovered his true ability to bolster his words with magic. And who better to test his newfound hypnotic powers on then his master?

For well over a year, Bazim practiced his magic on his poor Master Kretch, keeping the fool under his sway all along. Eventually, though, he felt that he had nothing more to learn as a slave, and began to seed his master's mind with thoughts of setting him free.

Once Kretch took the bait, and set his deceptive slip free, Bazim sought out a woman named Lissum Roth, a lesser noblewoman with abolitionist leanings, who was rumored to smuggle escaped slaves out of the country. Those rumors were quickly confirmed, and along with a small party of other halflings, Bazim was soon on his way.

Being an easily contented folk, most of the halflings tired of the journey and settled down along the way, which suited Bazim just fine. Unfortunately, they never quite made it out of Cheliax. After learning of an increase in border patrols, the group decided to lay low in the small town of Longacre rather than risk being found. Lissum Roth's agent suggested, before they left, that they choose a new profession, and make a surname of it. Thus, Bellick became Tanner, and Bazim became Porter.