Legends of Belariath
Takao
Takao, an interesting Chirot to be sure. He has, at the time of this writing, not been present in the inn for much more than 2 months. Yet, in that time he has made many friends, as well as many enemies. But, who is he really? Why does he act like he does?
Takao grew up in the mountain ranges to the north, inside some hidden city of the Chirot. The name of which is most likely unknown to those outside of his society and certainly has not passed his lips in idle conversation. The young Chirot grew up in these mountains, inside his hidden city. Little time was spent outside for the Chirot, his time having been dedicated to training ever since he was born. Of course, a great deal of time was also spent listening to the stories. Stories of Kiroan oppression, of how the Chirot had been made slaves by the winged races, of how, even after coming to this plane, the Chirot were still oppressed, looked down upon by many other races.
These stories interested the young Chirot a great deal. He would spend hours, days in the libraries, reading every single book he could get his hands on. Of course, a good amount of time was dedicated to his training, after all, what good is someone who had great knowledge of Chirot oppression if he could do nothing about it? As a result of his constant studying, he had made very few friends, mainly a select few with the same interests as him. One of these, a female chirot by the name of Rossalyn, became a very good friend of Takao's. She ready with him, even sparred with him. She, ultimately, is the reason for why he acts the way he does.
A young Chirot who has spent almost all his time with his nose buried in books knows little of courtship and simple social concepts. Rossalyn, however, seemed near an expert in these things. She taught him. Taught him to dance, taught him to be polite and kind, taught him about women. Of course, these lessons had a second effect on him. Takao learned to be subtle, to bide his time and wait for the perfect moment, a thing that Rossalyn had a preference to do. At this time, Takao is only about 14. He had been getting jittery, ready to see the world, to explore.
Takao bided his time. He waited. Rossalyn had said she would explore with him, travel around and visit places all over, help him to hunt down Torians even. The pair began to take small trips into the area surrounding the mountain. Each one taking them farther away from their home, keeping them away longer.
One of these trips took the pair too far though. They wandered into a Torian camp by accident. Takao, 16 by now, was ill prepared to fight three pissed off Torians. His sword little use to him, muscles not near as developed as the two Torian males. He and Rossalyn did the only thing they could. They ran. But, alas, they were not fast enough. A fight broke out. Takao, flitting about madly, trying to dodge hits, was hit by the flat of a sword. It knocked him out, sending him plumeting to the ground below. By the time he regained conciousness there was no sign of the battle left, other than the pounding in his head and the ache in his shoulder. Rossalyn, vanished, gone. Hopefully she had gotten away.
Takao wandered along, hurt, searching for the campsite again. He found it eventually, and the sight he had stumbled upon was most disturbing to him, almost permanently warping his mind. There lay Rossalyn's body, mangled, the wings cut off. Takao did the only thing he could do, he fell to his knees next to her and weeped. Mixed feelings conflicted within him. His only true friend was gone, yet, she was gone to the next plane, to help Sheara. He remained by Rossalyn's body for a day, preparing her body for cremation. That night, he lit the fires, sitting closely and watching as she burned away.
Takao made his way back to the mountain, back to the city. He told his story, teams of Chirot scouts were sent out after the Torians, but with no luck, they were long gone. Takao, consumed by grief and confusion, went straight back into his studying and practicing with more vigor than ever. It was the only solution really, the only way to keep his mind away from his troubles. He would lose himself in his work. A simple answer really, if you have no friends, you can't lose any. But then, one can't go without friends for long. One cannot go through the same routine day in and day out without becoming bored.
His attentions turned once again to the outside world. Yes, that is where his calling lay. He would go there to train. Go to a place with a lot of different people. He left his home without much ceremony, heading south. He took very little possessions with him, only his sword and the clothes on his back. It was fate though, that once he had arrived at the inn, he would make new friends. And so he did, friends of all different races and stations. Yet his goal is still ever present in his mind. Become stronger, better than the others. If he can, then maybe he won't lose his new friends either.