Atys Maglavant was born in Galt, not far from Isarn, in 4667, the year of the revolution, the son of a woodsman who had served a minor noble. Many of his faint memories of his infancy are of violence and terror as the Red Revolution swept his country. Nonetheless, he and his family survived, and even thrived.
His grandfather was a bard who had come to Galt from Oppara, and was full of stories about the glory of Old Taldor. From an early age Atys came to love the concept of the Taldane Empire, spreading it’s great culture throughout the Inner Sea Region, and he idolized heroes like Generals Arnisant and Porthmos, as well as other Taldanes like Iomedae. He came to view Galt’s revolution as a breaking away from an unnatural relationship to Cheliax, and as an opportunity to perhaps make Galt a part of Taldor once more.
Atys was caught up in the revolutionary fever as a young man. Against his father’s warnings to avoid politics, the charismatic young man soon became as famous for his fervent speeches as he did his skill in archery contests. But Galt was mad in those days, as it still remains, and despite his good intentions, Atys made enemies. He spoke out against the wrong people, and his view that the Revolution should forgive many of the nobles who had fled the country, as well as to seek warmer relations with Taldor, were not taken well in certain circles.
Only thanks to the warnings of a friend with close ties to the Revolutionary Council was he able to avoid being captured and tried for treason against Galt, and he fled Isarn for his family’s home in the countryside. However, agents of the Red Revolution beat him there, and he found his homestead aflame and his family dead. With nowhere else to go, at the age of 25 he took his few belongings, including his father’s bow and his grandfather’s motley, and headed for Oppara.
A fool he had been, or so he thought, to believe he could make changes to his homeland of Galt. So a fool he would become. He took up the name Tanglefoot. Though a path to any sort of living as such would be long. For many years he lived on the streets, scrounging and busking for every meal. But he found Oppara’s politics fascinating, and eventually he became known for his biting sense of humor regarding the comings and goings of Oppara’s elite.
A minor nobleman eventually took pity on him and took him into his household, where he served as a jester entertaining the family. After over a decade of obscurity, he began to find himself gaining notoriety in certain circles, and his patron’s parties were well-known for the fearless fool who would increasingly take on big targets in the nobility, if they were being foolish themselves.
At the same time, Tanglefoot grew to love Oppara like he had never loved any other place, and he learned the ins and outs of the town’s politics. He gradually gained greater and greater patrons, until his star was truly rising in the city. But rumors had it that he was drawing negative attention to himself. So it was that when Lady Martella Lotheed offered him a job as an covert agent at the Grand Day of Exaltation, he leapt at the opportunity for a change.
