Legends of Belariath
Naumil
Naumil isn't what one would call violent or destructive, at least in compare to others of his breed which was a problem for him. In the Nethergloom where he was bore and raised violence and general destructiveness were not only prevalent but such things were almost expected. But this dark elf had no taste for such things not that he was incapable not by a long shot he simply would rather not. The fact remained that some act of deception and backstabbing was expected even from a male as proof that he sought to better his status. Without such he may as well be a slave and there seemed little doubt that the female dominated society would have no problem with putting him in chains as a show of power and evidence of what becomes of the weak. Though unlike his brethren he really had no interest in bettering his status since nothing he does in that world would ever raise him above even the lowliest female so why bust his ass to be the best of the worst, but he did slip into a quiet like of deception and trickery which was enough to keep him from being viewed as weak.
The life of a thief is rarely a pretty one nut the life of a -con man- had its way of looking very attractive even when it wasn't. There was no better way to strike back at those that had held domain over the moriel society than to trick then one by one out of everything that they had. Over time he became quite adept at the lies able to look a victim square in the eye and utter such beautiful lies and manipulations of fact that even the the most cautious moriel would have trouble not trusting his words. His stealthy deception and caressing lies easily brought him wealth and even a bit of power when the mark was influential enough. And this would turn out to be his downfall in the end such skillful deceptions and impressive rate of success had made him grow arrogant and an arrogant thief is a clumsy thief and he would soon learn what carelessness would get him in the gloom.
With previous successes under his belt he set his sights higher this next job would get him something he had never thought important before but now with the swell to his ego he couldn't resist the temptation of going after money ... power .... and reputation that would surely boost his status beyond anything he had dreamed of or so he thought at least. With the arrival of a small group from a highly influential and quite powerful house the decision seemed to be made for him. Observing at first like a wolf watching the flock he culls the weakest as he saw it within the group before making him move. When the woman was alone he moved in and Naumil laughed and made nice actually quite charming and kind he with relative ease gained her confidence. They saw one another in secret for weeks having convinced her it was best that the rest of her house not know of their relationship yet. And over those weeks he milked her like the cash cow she was to him for money and favors. That is until the excited woman let slip about this secret affair to another of her house thats when things went south for Naumil. The truth of the con was soon figured out and the hunt for the con man was on after all they couldn't let their house be humiliated that way.
Finding him had actually been easy since Naumil wasn't about to just let go of his little prize so when the woman sent message that she wanted to see her he was more than happen to meet with her and maybe get a little something for his trouble. He never saw it coming and walked right into their trap that they had set for him on his approach he only saw the one but others from her house soon ambushed him and bound him in a flurry of cackles and taunts. Dragged off to a dark room and chained there and left to stew for several days though he doesn't know the exact length of time. When they returned he was told he was going to be beaten for his little game to a twenty count which he figured was nothing he'd take it and get the hell out of there. When the whip fell on his back he took the sting without a sound though the more that fell the harder it was to bare. Three more strokes and he would be home free thats when he groan in pain and the next count stroke that was announced was ... One... thats then they informed that every sound he made would restart. He suffered under the whip for hours trying to keep his silence though failing repeatedly when the twenty count was reached his back was a bloody mess and he was drained of strength. Tossed into a cell the group smirked, a gaze of self importance painted on their feature. Then it was put simply to him 'tomorrow you are a slave' he was being sold into slavery to recoup the woman's losses. Well even in this defeated state Naumil would stand for that the fortune he had accrued over a lifetime was about to be gone. Bargaining with the guard that held him he traded his fortune for his freedom once free of the cell he took the whip that had been used to beat him so viciously to remind him what he was running from. With that thought fresh in his head he headed off making his way for the surface and freedom where he knew those that pursued him would undoubtedly refuse to follow him.