Bai

Some years ago a young lord took his new wife to live in the beautiful southern city of Avalon. Together they bore three children, the youngest Bai, while living in splendour among the towers of the magical courts.

But under the surface all is not beauty in Avalon, there are many factions within the Lords. Some even plot with enemies outside the realm to bring down Camelot. These dark lords fight their battles with rumour, back-stab and deceit. In one of these silent battles Bai's father was implicated and brought down, stripped of his money and titles.

Bai's father was not a strong man and while innocent of the charges, he suffered fate badly. He took to drinking and gambling. Night after night he would stay away, in despair Bai's mother was forced to take a seamstress job to support the family.

Young Bai knew little of this and cared even less. He was a solitary child, inquisitive and studious. When he had to leave the grand school he took to playing with potions down by the marshes. Combining them this way and that and then to focus his mind on the results. Slowly, slowly he learned that his mind had a power over inanimate matter. He could control the very atoms at its core and create beings to do his bidding. He knew then what he was; he was a Cabalist.

In Avalon, as Bai knew, he would not be welcome. There many magic arts are studied but practitioners of Cabalism are treated with suspicion. The only place where he could openly practice his art was in the League of Shadows.

Bai joined the League on a dark autumn morning. The rain was falling hard and he knew his grace would become as dim as his vision. Still he worked hard in his training under his Magus, also running errands through the brothels and gambling houses of his new masters. Many times the young man in a hooded cloak would see his own father but never did he acknowledge him.

He learned quickly and could soon conjure from his mind a large Amber creature to fight his enemies. Many times this was used as a distraction as he and other league members robbed tourists or looted merchants.

One evening after one of these raids Bai returned to find his Magus dead and the League house sacked. The League of Shadows like the Lords also had factions. Unlike his father, this time he knew his enemies, the Dark Table of Midgard. They plotted against Camelot and twice now had shaped Bai's life. He knew the next time he had to be stronger.

For the first time ever, Bai removed his cloth armour and openly pulled a mage cloak around him He picked up his Cabalist staff and walked straight through the gates of Avalon heading north. His face was smiling and he walked with a jaunty step. However, if you could see his eyes, they held only determination. Now the enemies of the realm were the enemies of Bai.