Charlie Heiyabusa's page

About Charlie Heiyabusa

While very feline in appearance, Charlie has learned to tame the beastial nature within him. He was born and raised in Westcrown, a major city in Cheliax. As a young Tiefling who stood out in a crowd he learned that being different was rarely a good thing. Often he was picked on by human children, who would pull on his tail and tear clumps of grey fur off of his body. And when he would have enough and lash out it was him who would face punishment. While in school he studied hard and he was an avid reader of anything dealing with the arcane arts. He also enjoyed running and climbing whenever he could get outside. Being fast and nimble came in handy when he was escaping torment from other children.
As he grew older Charlie happened upon a traveling show group which contained other strange-looking individuals that would perform for crowds. He watched several of their performances in awe, wondering how these individuals became so loved by an audience which seemed so hateful towards those who were different. One night after a show he approached one of the performers and asked many questions about what they did and where they traveled to. Taken aback by his acute interest the performer took Charlie to the leader of the show group. The leader, a dark haired human with a strong jaw who went by the name of ‘The Boss’ took one look at the Rakshasa Tiefling before quickly setting to work on a contract. Without much thought Charlie agreed to the work terms and was quickly whisked off to meet the other performers. He felt welcomed by all the unique individuals around him, and he got the feeling that he would be happy being in the company of the other performers.
Over the next several months Charlie learned how to set up and take down the equipment of the traveling show group, a job that kept him behind the scenes most nights. It was not what he was expecting when he signed on to work, but he liked the physicality of the work. Most of the performers, however, pretended that he was not part of the group. He was just another physical laborer and not a star like the rest of them. Disgruntled by the sudden change in treatment from the others, as well as the disappointment of not getting a chance to show on stage, Charlie confronted The Boss one night about the work and the treatment. Feigning interest in the Tiefling’s plight, The Boss told Charlie that he was working on an extra special performance just for him and did not want the others to know about it. But it was going to take time and special one-on-one training for the show to be a success, and he had to be patient. Hungry for the spotlight Charlie bought into the story and left in a better state of mind about his place in the traveling show group.
A year passed and yet nothing had changed in the show group for Charlie. He tried to wait patiently for The Boss to figure out what the special performance would be, but as time passed he grew more restless. When he thought he was almost at wits end he was surprised by The Boss one evening while the group was relaxing after a performance. He was taken aside and told of a performance where he would be the star and would get to showcase his physical prowess to a captivated audience. However, as he had been told before, the training would be rigorous and he would have to learn to control the beast inside him. At last the chance to be a star had arrived, and Charlie was eager to start training. Little did he realize that the special training would involve shouts, lashings, and restraints to keep his unbridled rage from controlling his actions. The Boss envisioned an open stage where he himself would stand unafraid of this raging beast and would have Charlie terrify the crowds with his roars and threatening behavior. They would duel one another, The Boss with a whip and chair, and Charlie with his fierce claws. They would go back and forth across the stage, and maybe out into the audience if Charlie could learn to keep control of himself. The fight would look like the ferocious beast would win, but then The Boss would use his “otherworldly powers” as he called them to tame the beast and would climb aboard Charlie’s back and use him as a mount to end the performance. It was a show to rock the ages, The Boss would tell Charlie in these training sessions. The only downfall to the spectacular performance would be if Charlie lost control of his rage, hence the rigorous training exercises. Night after night for three months he endured the pain of the restraints and the lash of the whip on his back, all the while striving for this greater goal. He learned to control his rage, focusing it into determination to achieve control over himself. Finally when he proved that he had mastered control of his anger Charlie learned his place in this performance. Everything looked like it was ready to go, and he was excited for this opportunity. The first several months of shows went well with only minor hiccups here and there. But one night Charlie accidentally swiped the arm of The Boss and drew blood. The crowd roared with delight, thinking this was part of the performance. But The Boss was much less pleased with this mistake. That night he took the whip to Charlie harsher than he ever had before, and Charlie knew in that moment that the spotlight he received was not worth the abuse he suffered backstage. But simply leaving the traveling group was out of the question, as The Boss never let anyone leave. So he had to come up with a way to escape once and for all. He knew that the group was scheduled for a private performance in the upcoming month. That would be the perfect opportunity to execute his plan.
It took a lot of patience to wait for that performance, and The Boss had kept Charlie busy around the clock with other performances and more “training” as it was called. But finally the night of the show arrived. Before the show began The Boss pulled Charlie aside, and with a strong threat informed the Tiefling that if there was any funny business during this performance than he would personally see to the demise of the cat man. It was now or never for his grand plan. When the finale began Charlie played his part beautifully, right up to the very end when he is supposed to back off and let The Boss win. Instead of backing off he tore into the man, causing him to panic and attempt to fight the beast off. Charlie allowed The Boss to escape from his clutches and grab his whip for defense. The fight drug on as Charlie toyed with the man who had tormented him for so long, and the crowd loved this display of twisted violence much more than the rest of the show. In the end Charlie stood triumphant over the mangled but barely breathing body of The Boss, and delivered the lines he had heard so many times before. “The Beast has been tamed!” He received a standing ovation from the onlooking crowd before he departed for the backstage area. His idea was to flee the scene, but he was met by a few guards who insisted on escorting him to meet a very important person. Disgruntled by the thought of having to linger in this place longer Charlie tried to resist the guards, but one of them was able to land a strange spell on him and he passed out.
When he came to Charlie found himself in the company of none other than Paracountess Zarta Dralneen, who had attended the private performance for her own amusement. She was interested in the prowess of the tiefling and thought that since his former work ventures were at an end that he may be interested in a new one. She spoke of an organization which traveled far beyond the reaches of Cheliax with their work of recovering artifacts or tracking down persons of interest. She suggested that if the venture was of more interest he could travel to Absalom and learn more at a place called the Grand Lodge. From there he could contact her should he decided to join, as he could be of personal use to herself and her particular interests. Seeing no better venture forth Charlie agreed to visit the Grand Lodge and see what this Pathfinder Society could offer him.
It did not take much convincing to acquire passage aboard a ship heading to the City at the Center of the World, and once Charlie arrived he was greeted by a plethora of new sights. He visited the Grand Lodge and learned about the Pathfinder Society. He thought he would give the work a try and soon fell in love with all the traveling and missions he received. Though his favorite part of the job was the special praise he received from his Paracountess when he completed special assignments just for her.