Io - Servant of Sarenrae

·         Io was conceived in a rite by Souleater priestess of Szuriel and one of Szuriel’s Deacons.

·         His mother led a cult of Szuriel worshipers

·         Cult had been growing for years and was planning a significant act of destruction

·         When Io was three the Martial arm of the Church of Sarenrae intervened.  They raided his mother’s stronghold and killed or captured most of her followers.  As the attack took place she was preparing to sacrifice Io in a particularly nasty ritual.   She escaped, tossing Io bodily at the Sarenraites as a distraction.  Attack was led by Dawnflower Dervish bard who took it a personal challenge to raise and redeem Io.

·          Io was raised in a Sarenraite temple and grew up in the faith.  Growing up, he knew that the payment he could make to his savior was to overcome his heritage and become a force for good working in Sarenrae’s name.  To this day he struggles to feel worthy and tries twice as hard others to bring good to the world. Largely this is motivated by his belief that he must be tainted by his heritage.

·         He trained in the temple as a Dawnflower Dervish.  But, despite his dedication he was barely “passable” in most of the skills.  His spell casting was unremarkable, he was found to not be particularly gifted in song, dance or other performances (likely self sabotage b/c he didn’t believe the others would overlook his heritage and be moved by his performance).  However he excelled at the scholarly aspects of bard craft (knowledge skills) and the special fighting style of the dervish dancers.

·         as a young adult his training was completed and he left the temple to spread the word of Sarenrae and do good “works”

·         He adventured with a group that included an elven wizard.  Io became interested in the alternate method of prepared spells for working arcane magic.  Under the tutelage of this mage he worked his first arcane cantrip.  He quickly demonstrated an aptitude for this methodology that far outstripped his ability with bardic spells.  After a few years with this group he had written a number of cantrips and minor spells into is very own spellbook.

·         The groups rogue perished on one of their adventures.  Being naturally stealthy (a gift of his heritage)Io inherited the rogue’s role as scout and disabler of traps.  In addition, he inherited her beautifully crafted thieves tools and other implements.  While he was never formally trained, Io worked hard to hone his natural aptitude for stealth, sleight of hand and working with small intricate devices.  His natural dexterity, intelligence and generally curiosity have served him well in place of formal training in the roguish arts.

·         After a long period of adventure Io returned with the elf to visit his homeland and continued his arcane education.  They found the elf’s village had been taken over and enslaved by Orcs.  As a reward for helping to save the village Io was gifted with a fine suit of studded leather armor made from rare elven darkleaf cloth.  Asa personal thanks his mentor gifted him with a magical pearl that enhances Io’s arcane abilities.

·         During his stay as he continued his studies he became aware of the elven practice of blending spell casting with various fighting techniques; arcane archer and spell dancers.  He was determined to learn how best to blend his own fighting style with his budding arcane talents.

·         After several years, with helpful advice from the elves, he perfected his new style and moved back into the world alone to continue his good work in Sarenrae’s name.