Ellios Glint, the son of a successful fisherman of the Midlands was never on good terms with his parents. He had little interest in his father’s profession, and held a dream of becoming a successful performer.
Ellios would often sneak away in the middle of the day, and make for the Wrecks, the one part of town he knew his father would avoid like the plague. Like many other aspiring artists, he knew it to be a good spot for street performers : The city watch forbade unauthorized performance within the Midland, and he could not hope to afford the license required. Meanwhile, the Wrecks offered a free stage, one which the more adventurous patrons of the art often frequented in search of new talent. There, he earned some pocket money, and began making a name for himself.
As fate would have it, however, his father one day caught him in the act. "No son of mine will be a burden on society, begging for money!" he roared. The two traded vicious words for a long time, and could very well had come to blows had a member of the city watch itself not come to mediate between them. In the end, Ellios dared his father to disown him, challenging the man to choose between allowing him to pursue his dream or to be the one to cut ties.
His father chose the latter option. "If you like performing here so much, I’m sure you’ll fit in just fine with the vagrants and the thieves!"
Feeling more liberated than abandoned, Ellios wasted no time making a life for himself. He moved into a small apartment with a few friends, and redoubled his effort to make a name for himself with his songs, to minor success.
Amongst other achievements in the lyrical arts, he found that his song was of a certain appeal to the marine wildlife, and most particularly to the dolphin pods which often came coasting above the city streets in hopes of being given food from passersby.
One of these dolphins, day to day, appeared to be paying particular attention to Ellios as he sang. Noticing the animal, the singer began giving it morsels of food daily, and building a relationship of trust. Before long, he and the dolphin had formed a bond of friendship and music, and the animal would often come to join him in performance, whistling and clicking in rhythm. This had a great impact on passing audiences, growing Ellios’s popularity surely and steadily.
Before long, his reputation grew; he was able to afford a license to peform, joining the street entertainers of the midlands, and truly making a living through his music. He did not, however, forget his poorer origins, and was always on the lookout for ways to help the people of the Wrecks, his friends and former neighbors.
Out of a need to defend himself from the occasional rowdy heckler, Ellios sought martial training in the art of fencing. Though he was unable to obtain lessons from the renowed Orsini Academy, he sought out some references on fencing from the owner and his greatest pupils and, over time, trained himself into a reasonable imitation of Orsini's own style.
Though Ellios was no longer on speaking terms with his father, he had not cut family ties entirely. Ellios enjoyed a great relationship with his mother’s sister, his aunt. He frequently visited her and her young daughter, and she often helped him out in times of tight finances or illness.
One day, however, the shadow of an infamous man was cast upon Ellios’s life. As he was in the middle of a song, his aunt came careening down the street, well and truly panicked.
"She’s gone! Nellie’s gone!"
Nellie Glint, Ellios’s nine-year-old cousin, had disappeared during a trip to the marketplace. When the city watch had failed to locate Nellie, her mother had turned to the one she thought would best be able to help. She implored Ellios to try and find his cousin, and he immediately accepted.
Over the last year or two, Ellios had built a network of friends and colleagues; the artists of the Wrecks and the midlands all knew one another, and many of them were very resourceful people.
With his street smarts and the help of fellow artists, Ellios was confident he would find Nellie in no time. Several weeks’ time would him wrong, but he refused to give up on the search. He owed too much to his aunt to abandon it.
Emboldened by tales of the fabled hero Blackjack, Ellios left no stone unturned, and yet, he found no trace of Nellie.
As luck would have it, however, fate would soon smile to him…
