A Conglomeration of Misc. Characters and plots

Get out of the city. Away from the persecution of being found guilty of attempted murder. Somewhere where nobody would know him. The man shields his face as he looks back at the red rock city, fading in the desert’s sunset. It wasn’t home anymore. He turns his back. The knowledge that his friend took his place in prison… the general would have bounty hunters scouring the desert by morning. The city square’s sand and ampetheater will be forever stained by their blood, slain where they stood for a crime they didn’t commit.
The stranger wakes up, gritty and just as exhausted as he had been when going to sleep. That nightmare again. Always the same. But he can’t settle. This city is ruled like Tumai was… figurehead government with something at the top, like there. Humans enjoying the top while “elected”. Bumph. He was tired.

Accompanied by Caiman, Draenix, Nimbus?
Restarting her spirit journey as she starts heading back up north off continent to return home.
Dune eye lives with his mother down in the canyon of eterra
Everyone else is cared for by an old and damaged trod, with no ribbon connections remaining.

Iskhash's backstory

The spoils from their latest raid turned out well. Shiny objects made good trade. Bits and bobs to spoil the little rats, er... kappers. Books for the ones who could read those stupid words of the humans. They made better choices to steal from, if you didn't get caught.
There were nine of them. Two beastwalkers, three kappers, a ssashirk, a panite and two ersatz.

No, ten. An avian joined the ring not long after the deal was made. Not a normal one, it had no wings. Reminded us of an old, crippled human at first, but it had a beak. The avian is mostly molted, with a face crowned with feathers, four larger feathers poking off the back of their head. Its not really known how they got into being leader of the ring, but it happened. This avian has a voice that seems to hypnotize for a short period of time. We've used it to advantage for many a time.

The beastwalkers are... safe to say, terrifyingly quiet creatures. They chose to keep away from all of the rest of the ring, taking their jobs as 'bodyguards' seriously. Only the leader seemed to communicate with them enough to get something across. One thing can be said, their pelt colors aided in hiding in dense undergrowth.

The panite didn't participate on the raids, but served as a distraction. The foolish humans usually were interested in trading for the panite's 'baubles of luck and fortune', and he charged rediculously high prices of gold. The kappers would pick their pockets for anything worthwhile just after the trade had been made, taking back the baubles and any leftover gold, and they would rush away. Needless to say, the panite's got a penchant for being a swindler. He and the kappers work like a well oiled machine with some exceptions.

The rats, er... kappers used to number higher, but the younger reckless ones got themselves killed. The three who remain were two males and a female. Can't tell the difference, except that they follow the female with hardly a peep of dissent. They enjoy picking pockets, favoring the theft of wallets and money bags. Baubles were just a bonus. They have a hoard of bits and bobs, and make odd things from them. They tink, they smith, and they snitch and they swipe. The only thing that tells them apart is the female has tiny wings poking off her head, like ears.

The ersatz pair hadn't seen the best of life. Poor, malnourished and desperate for work, they took anything that was thrown at them, literally. The leader did not need much to emplore them to join the ring. The short quilled one could break any lock, using a quill or five to pick them in less then a minute in human terms. A strange liquid coated teh quills, and made decent darts for bringing down guards from afar. The other ersatz had pointed ears and a full mouth of sharp pointed teeth. This ersatz specialized in long range combat. Darts or arrows would rain from afar upon the raiding sight, causing panic and dissent while the others would race in undercover. This one can't talk at all, but uses different tones of a grass whistle to convey simple messages, such as "Danger" in rapid tweets. Lockbreak and Whistler, they go by.

Lastly, the close combat specialist, the ssashirk. Resembling an alligator, this thief moves with the speed of a striking cobra. Armed with a short sword, teeth, claws and a thick tail, the ssashirk serves as the first line of attack and defense. If a trade goes sour or the group is caught, the ssashirk jumps into action. Unfortunately, their intelligence barely stands above a lashak draconic. All instinct, less thinking. Doesn't always work against a strategic set of opponents. They call the ssashirk Lug, for inability to pronounce their real name. Its unknown if Lug is male or female.

Their first job involved the capture of a caravan along the major traderoute between the East and the West, connected to the city of Tumai. The traders were easily dealt with, stripped of everything, save for their flesh. Hypnotized into believing that they were robbed by a clan of kappers, the ring took over the caravan wagon. Lug did end up eating one of the traders out of spite though, just as they were rolling away. Upon investigation of what they had swiped, the ersatz found a locked chest. Inside laid an opalescent stone, the size of a dish detergent bottle. The biggest shiny stone any of the ring had seen.

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To the group's surprise, it hatched a number of days later while camping out at the next caravanserai. A ssashirk, from the looks of him. Truth be told, none of the thieves had been parents, so a 'baby' seemed as large a task as teaching common to Lug. However, leaving an infant on the side of the road didn't appeal to the leader, as that would give them away. The leader reluctantly decided to keep the infant. However, if it proved troublesome, they could trade the hatchling for a decent price. Humans were always looking for another willing slave.

Each of the thieving ring took turns in raising the hatchling, despite no experience in child raising. The grass-eaters of the group found out quickly that the child ate meat, and very little else. His appearance differed greatly from other ssashirk that the others had met, including Lug, who could barely remember what xie had for breakfast. For instance, the only reptilian that had 'hair'. The horn extending from his forehead to sweep back over his skull.

Generally, the kappers took great interest in the 'small reptile boy', being about their size at his hatching. The wing-eared female, entertaining the idea in having kits of her own someday took possession of him rather quickly. She had long fingers for picking pockets. She took part of feeding the hatchling, and teaching him to use both hands for doing tasks. One task he seemed to enjoy watching them do was picking Lockbreak's pockets for fun. The 'fun' didn't last when he tried it for himself, and nearly lost his clawed hand to Whistler when he got caught.

Whistler and Lockbreak had little to add into the raising of the young ssashirk. However, due to the extra bend in his legs, the hatchling proved dexterous for climbing and squeezing into small spaces. Lockbreak showed him better spots for hiding in the wagon when they were undercover. He avoided Whistler though. Sharp teeth they might have shared, but Whistler simply tried to ignore him. If he contributed anything to the hatchling's life, it was the interest in magical items.

The panite hadn't participated in his tribe's dance, so raising a child hadn't been part of his life. He had lost his way during the time of the hunt, shamed for not being able to bring back a fanged beast. Lured and kept in by the hypnotizing sound of the avian's song, the panite made the best of his life now. He prided himself on his baubles, as well as his speed. He taught the young ssashirk how to run fast, and avoid those who chased him. The male kappers found this 'game' to be great fun, chasing the ssashirk when he wanted to run, and taking his baubles when they won.

Lug tried to eat the young one on multiple occasions, but through the influence of the avian, Lug taught the child how to fight with his teeth and claws.

Being young, the ssashirk hatchling did not understand why the beastwalkers never interacted with him. He would bother them constantly until either one of them would choose to play, or snarled and scared him off. If one of them did choose to interact with him, they taught him to be sneaky, and use the surroundings to his advantage. One taught him the basics of tracking, should he have to catch his own prey.

Despite the multitude of languages spoken within the thieving ring, the avian worked hard to keep either Common or Ssakash as their main spoken word. Written didn't matter, half of them could barely read. She taught the hatchling his scholarly works, sharing her knowledge in the magical arts. He proved completely void of any magical properties though. It frustrated him to try a spell and not have anything happen.

Magic continued to be a source of great interest of the hatchling as he grew up. Still unable to work any form of magic, he took to hoarding any magical items he could snitch from the others in the ring.