Stephen Daedalus History
From Changeling Venue
Contents |
Pre-Abduction
At a very young age Stephen's parents, multimillionaire philantropists, both died in a plane crash while they were exploring the jungles of the Congo. Stephen, now orphaned, was sent to live with his eccentric uncle residing in a secluded estate overlooking the ocean. His uncle, a harsh taskmaster, forced him to engage in strenuous exercise from from sunrise until dinner, and then study every subject imaginable through the evening until bed. Ultimately, this served to begin training Stephen to be a true hero.
At least, thats the way he wished his life story would have started. Instead, his father, Theodore, was a professional banker handling loans and business accounts at the local branch, while his mother was a relatively unremarkable housewife, who stayed home tending to Stephen and his sister (UNNAMED). Stephen was not the most athletic youth, seldom getting picked first for any team. Rather, he spent most of his spare time either studying, reading the ten cent novels he collected, or listening to Orson Wells portraying a masked avenger on NBC radio.
His family was a healthy one. Occassionally he'd step too far out of line and he'd get his hide tanned for it, occassionally his father might have one drink too many and fall asleep in the den, but it was a happy life. This all changed twelve days before Stephen's fourteenth birthday, when Japanese aircrafts attacked a US naval base in Hawaii. The entire family was shocked as they heard the news, but none more so than Theodore and Stephen who both were spurred to action. On the Monday following Easter, Stephen's father wished his family goodbye and shipped out to fight for America in the war, leaving Stephen as the 'man of the house'.
Things got a little bit tighter without his father working, but the investments were still good and the war just pushed many of them higher. Stephen began actually working out, wanting to be able to be like his father all the more. As he was entering into High School, Stephen took extra time in gym class, hoping to bulk up enough to pass for older than he was. The months flew by and Stephen found himself making very little headway towards his goal. For all his efforts, his daily workout routine, he only managed to look like a very wiry beanpole.
Stephen still refused to give up, working even harder at his studies and his exercise. It grew harder to keep up with, between the chores he had to do at home, the school work, and the extra time working out, but he had little else to do. His family continued plotting along until one day, a week before Thanksgiving. A dark car pulled up in front of the house in the morning, and two soldiers in uniform walked up. Asking to speak with Mrs Van Whittaker, everyone already knew what they were going to say. Mr Van Whittaker had died in service overseas, having been wounded by shrapnel and subsequently dying of infection. The usual speech about benefits and arrangements.
Needless to say, the family was pretty well shocked. Stephen's mother went about her routines as though nothing had happened, it becoming more and more obvious to those around her that she was heading over the deep end. Stephen threw himself into his workout all the more, and on his birthday went down to the Recruitment Station. Admittedly, he was more than a little underage, but he knew more than a few of his classmates who'd lied about their age and gotten in just fine. Unfortunately, when he went through the processing line, they wouldn't let him enlist, citing both his age and his physical stature being lacking.
Over the next few months, Stephen pressed his workout to a nearly fanatical level, still not gaining any appreciable mass. He was fast enough, strong enough, but he simply did not look old enough to get a blind eye turned to him. Attempting the impossible, he traveled to four different cities, trying to enlist via their recruitment office, each time being turned down. The biggest of the disappointments occured on the day following Easter, in 1945. He walked into a Houston recruitment station and had not made it five foot in when one of the soldiers looked him in the eye and said "You'll never be a soldier. You don't have what it takes", before then less than gently pushing him back out the door.
And so things fell into place.
Into Arcadia
His hopes shattered, Stephen went to the park to sit and brood over this disaster. While he was sitting there a young woman, about his own age, sauntered up beside him and settled down with him. She asked him what was on his mind and he gave a polite dismissal of the question. Still, she persisted and before long he had explained the events of the past few years, adding that all he wanted was to be a hero. There was a sparkle in her eyes, something about the way she smiled that drew Stephen's attention. It was obvious that she was clearly interested in him now.
"So, what is it you really want? To finally see yourself as that hero?"
"I suppose, yeah...I just want to be able to stand up and be proud of who I am and what I do"
"Well, thats not hard at all. I could help you do that....what would you give for me to help you?"
"What would I give for you? I mean....for you to help me? Anything"
"Really now? Anything is an awfully high price"
"Well, just about anything."
"Okay, I'll help you, but you have to be mine until then"
"Be yours? Okay, deal. Whats the downside?"
"Oh, you'll see...."
And with that, she took his hand leading him off into the woods. He stole a brief kiss, a fond caress, and things began to lead further. Each time he'd grow more eager, she would draw away a little bit more, dancing off deeper into the woods and making him follow her. It wasn't long before he felt the first prick of a thorn in his leg, although with this mysterious girl dancing in front of him, her buttons undone just enough to almost allow a peek, he didn't let it bother him. The next few moments were all a blur to Stephen. He couldn't go any further without the thorns tearing him more, he called out for her, and next thing he knew she was pulling him through the thorns, feeling the terrible pain as they tore at him, before he finally blacked out.
The Durance
Most of what occured in Arcadia remains clouded in memories and dreams, unable to quite recall the finer details. What Stephen did know was that when he awoke, he had found himself in little more than rags on the side of the road. Two men were walking by in Victorian era explorers clothing and helped him up, tending to his wounds. Agreeing to see him to the next town they knew of, they gave him a set of clothes and began on their way.
Along the way they explained there would be a slight detour, as they had to retrieve a book for a gentleman from an old estate. Stephen agreed, not really having much other choice in the matter, and traveled with the men down the winding road. As the hedge thickened around them, the road grew darker and more sinister. Approaching the house, seated high upon a hill, the sound of wolves howling could be heard clearly in the distance. Stephen, growing more concerned, asked his compatriots if it was safe. Their answer, "Probably not", did nothing to settle his nerves, nor did them handing him a pistol and telling him "You may need this"
Taking the pistol, Stephen backed nerveously towards the door of the manor house, looking around cautiously. The two adventurers with him walked boldly towards the door, holding their weapons at ready as though this were as normal a thing as any to them. It was then, as if spoken out of his worst nightmares, one of his companions said "You guard the door, we'll be back with the book. If we're not out in ten minutes.....we're probably dead".
As the men vanished inside, Stephen remained outside shaking in fear, his gaze never leaving the woods just beyond the manor's yard. Taking deep breaths, he tried to calm himself, starting to pace a little in front of the house, hoping to ignore the faint groans coming from behind the boarded windows. Off into the shadows he heard a rustling noise and spun to look, crying out in terror as a monsterous wolf lunged at him. Squeezing off several rounds, he was forced onto his back, pinned beneath the bloody corpse as it crashed into him. Laying there struggling for several minutes, he was finally rescued by the two men, giving him a hardy pat on the back and remarking on his starting to grow a set.
-
It took them little more than a few hours to make way back to a small town from the manor house, stopping in at a dimly lit pub to speak with their employer. Laying eyes on the woman that had hired his companions, he recognized her immediately. Storming across the floor to her, he pulled the pistol he had on her, pointing it at her head. Demanding to be sent home, the ebony haired maiden mearly laughed.
"Thats not part of the deal. Still, I can tell you're confused so I'll do you a favor free of charge. What you are going to do is put that pistol away and pick your next job."
"Well, I choose not to do that. Send me back home"
"You don't get a choice in the matter, not really. If you don't go out seeking the danger, the danger will come seeking you. Oh, and if it comes seeking you....innocent people get hurt in the process."
"You bitch, why are you doing this to me? Just let me go back home"
"Oh, White Knight, you'll get home as soon as you earn that shining armor. But look at the time, I really must be going"
And just as simply as that, she faded away into mist, leaving him standing there bewildered with his companions. They helped him get his bearings, teaching him what they could. They two had once been just like him, taken to serve some unforseen purpose to this maiden. As the year passed, Stephen found himself more assured of himself, able to fight and defend, and capable of handling many jobs on his own. Then one day, the two simply did not come back from their last adventure...and nobody shed a tear.
-
For seven long years, Stephen endured his punishment, cursing the woman who brought him. He raged against every task, pushing himself harder than he ever knew was possible, all for the intent of getting revenge. As the years passed, Stephen grew into a man, his lanky form becoming wiry and powerful. He was faster, stronger, more daring than he ever dreamed possible, and still he could only manage to curse his Keeper's name. Never once did he pause to think about how far he'd come, the adversity he'd overcome, and how he'd grown as a person, his mind was fixed soley on vengence for his unjust suffering.
Sometimes Fate conspires against us, at other times Fate works in our favor. Stephen was blessed one night when it was the latter of the two that occured. After a typical bar fight, he found himself in the company of a young woman, helping her try to find her way back to her father's farm.
(Details about the contract ending)
The Escape
Post Escape
Gilded Aspirant
In 1998, Stephen had been working for several years doing harvest runs with Vladimir as well as the occasional other client. He wasn't exactly an unknown party, having built himself some acclaim already by this point, a reputation for being one of the best. It was on a private run, a harvest attempt for a little personal profit, that things became a little confusing.
Everytime he would find a plant growing that he wanted, he'd stop and begin trying to carve it away from the hedge, but it was as though the hedge itself was reshaping to stop him. Growing more annoyed, Stephen began focusing his own will, forcing the hedge to shift in accordance with his desire. In an instant he knew that was a bad idea, as behind him he heard the snorting roar of a great hedgebeast as it began to charge him.
Stephen tumbled aside, his leathers providing some protection from the beast's sharp tusks. Reacting quickly and needing the edge, Stephen threw his left hand ahead of him, focusing a blinding light ahead of him. As the beast stumbled about, he ducked out of the way, calling forth that very same light to protect and empower him. The two met quickly, striking and dodging around each other in a battle only one could survive. When the light had faded, Stephen's blood dripped from his gouged thigh, his arms and chest scraped and bruised, but it was the hedgebeast that lay dead at his feet.
Only as Stephen began clumsily bandaging his wounds, cursing under his breath did he hear another sound. Light feet trampling through underbrush and the sound of clapping. Standing up quickly, his left hand coming up once more he saw the face of a woman. Her face bent into an amused smirk. She would introduce herself as Soran, a member of the Sacred Band of the Golden Standard. She had been watching him for some time, seeing if he really was all that she'd heard, and she had been duly impressed.
As she helped him bandage his wounds, she explained about the Order. She was not the most egotistical of them, she confessed, prefering to earn the acclaim and let the deeds speak for her, but she thought it could help him. Aided by the sway that a Gilded Aspirant gains, she argued, he could rise to great power within the Courts. So he agreed and on his own blood they swore and he joined their ranks. To this day, while he enjoys hearing his tales being told, he remembers that blood he swore on and doesn't forget what goes into those legends.
