Gerinel's page

Gerinel is a tall, lithe man, garbed in leathers and scarves like many Varisians are, along with a voluminous blue cloak. He has the olive skin-tone typical of his people, as well as colorful Varisian tattoos. His long, dark hair has occasional streaks of blond running through it, and he wears it loose most of the time. At his side are both a longsword and a starknife, while around his neck he wears a wooden amulet of Desna's holy symbol, one that looks like it was split and repaired, with a large crack still visible across it.

Gerinel usually tries to make good impressions on anyone he meets, as one never knows who'll they'll be sharing the road with, and it it always pays to make friends. He does, however, not flinch when it comes to standing up against bullies and the cruel, never wanting another innocent to suffer like he had at Gaedren's hands, and a bully with a badge or a uniform is no exception. His faith in Desna is unshakeable, and he is ever grateful for the turns of fate she blesses him with. When bad luck comes his way, he takes it in stride, knowing it is inevitable that his fortune will turn good just as quickly. He also greatly enjoys singing and watching the stars at night.

Gerinel's childhood was like that of many Varisians and many orphans in Korvosa: a second-class citizen forced to turn to crime just to survive. He barely remembers his parents and the series of uncles, aunts and cousins he bounced around from after their untimely deaths, until he came into the "care" of Gaedren Lamm. Life among the "Little Lamms" was harsh and painful, but in Gerinel's eyes, any night he went to sleep with a meal in his stomach and bruises that weren't too painful was a blessing. He couldn't imagine another life...at least not until someone showed him one.

A caravan of Varisian wanderers was passing through Korvosa, and Gerinel watched them curiously. He'd never seen or met Varisians from outside Korvosa, ones who hadn't been broken by the city, and he was entranced by their vibrant dances, their joyful music and the clear love they shared for one another, a love that Gerinel had never had a chance to know. One of the caravan's elders noticed him watching, and asked him to sit by her. She asked him questions about himself, what his life was like and how his family fared. When Gerinel informed her he didn't have one, the elder was saddened, and told him "No child of Desna should have to face the shadows alone." She offered him an amulet of a wooden butterfly, and told Gerinel that even as the shadows gathered, the stars would still light his way.

The experience changed Gerinel, and over the course of the next year, he found himself staying out later, seeking any vantage point he could find over the haze of the city where he could see the stars. He began to feel a sense of awe, as if he'd never noticed their beauty before, and in time discovered local faithful of Desna willing to share more of her way with him. That this world was dark and frightening, but Desna had given mortals the ability to dream of a better world, and the power to make those dreams real in the waking world. For the first time in his life, Gerinel felt like he had a future.

Unfortunately, one night, Gaedren had Gerinel followed to see where he went at night, and upon discovering the boy's clandestine meetings with priests and wanderers, began to beat him savagely, cursing him and the priests who'd filled his head with such foolish dreams, raging that this life was the best an orphaned moth brat like him could hope for, and that no one was going to save him. Gerinel took the blows, fixing his gaze on the sky above and the stars watching over him, even as Gaedren screamed for the boy to look at him, even as he ripped the amulet from his neck and cast it to the cobblestones, breaking it like a cheap bauble. It was only when strangers investigating the noise came that Gaedren ran like a frightened hare, leaving Gerinel lying bloodied in the street, but mercifully still alive.

It was around this time that the caravan Gerinel had watched the year before had returned to Korvosa, and he immediately sought out the elder who'd spoken to him before. He showed her the broken amulet, showed her the still-healing wounds he bore and he begged her to take him with the caravan. He feared that if he stayed in the city even one more night, Gaedren would make sure he did not see the next sunrise. She reassured the wailing boy, and spoke with her kin, who welcomed Gerinel as if a long-lost cousin, and when the caravan did depart, he came with them.

In his years with the wanderers, Gerinel grew into a handsome and proud man. His adoptive family taught him more of Desna's ways, as well as how to defend himself and his new family from the dangers of the road, and he was surprised when his dreams turned prophetic and he came to see how Desna's blessing had been with him all his life, keeping him from the worst of Gaedren's wrath and allowing him to survive. As he grew into manhood, his dreams began to manifest in the waking world with the powers of a priest, a day of joyous celebration for the caravan. In time, they returned to Korvosa once more, a time Gerinel used to dread, but now welcomed, as he felt it was now time for Gaedren Lamm's luck to run out. When a letter came to him shortly after his arrival asking to meet someone else Gaedren had wronged, he smiled a grim smile, for it seemed fortune was guiding him towards the justice he sought...