The Quest For Excalibur

Hector- The Cunning Thief

Once upon a time, there was a mysterious island that was rumored of throughout all of Titerra. Few have seen it, and even fewer have come back to tell the tale. Many claim it exists, but almost all accounts of it vary greatly. From it being a hellhole created by demons to trap unsuspecting sailors, to holding endless riches for those brave enough to take them.

All of these rumors are untrue; However, such an island does indeed exist. For it is the harborer of one of the most powerful weapons that can be found throughout the world... Excalibur. This legendary sword was said to have been wielded by the king of an ancient civilization, long forgotten by the people of this world. The power it holds thought to be able to kill even a god. On this island lived the protectors of the sword. How these protectors came to be known as such is a story for another time, the real adventure begins with a young man named Hector.

Hector was born in a very poor island and lived in a village cast away from all other civilization; where the worst of the worst prisoners are sent to rot forever. The official name for this island is "The Island of Exile", but the people who lived their mostly just called it the Hellscape. For as long as he could remember, Hector had lived on this Island. Hector was an orphan, he never even knew his parents (Which was commonplace around these parts). Growing up as an orphan in this small, crime ridden village wasn't easy though.

Children are kicked out of the local foster home at the age of 10, since even they don't have enough money (or food) to feed all of those children (especially during droughts where mass starvation and famine was extremely common). Many die soon after being kicked out of the orphanage, be it from disease, starvation, or even murder in this place with few guards and many criminals. There was one trait that did put Hector apart from all of the other orphans, and that was his quick hands.

By the age of 12 he could pick pockets on the streets in broad daylight without anyone noticing; by age 15 he had mastered the art of lock picking and could pick a lock better than most master criminals. Hector had never really thought of his stealing as bad necessarily; there were never any jobs in this village for regular villagers (and even fewer for starving orphans) so stealing just became part of his daily routine, to eat... to survive. In his free time, He had loved to read or cause chaos, he had always aspired to be one of the great adventurers in the books he read. To live life on his own terms; to become a famous wealthy adventurer undefeatable in combat. This dream of course, was very much so out of his reach, and reality itself. Until one day something very unexpected happened to Hector's little village.

A large merchant ship called the Lupresigna made an emergency stop at his villages port to restock on food and usable water. The ship held many wondrous Items and riches. The Captain stated that the ship would stay there for no longer than two days before its departure. Word of this spread quickly and eventually reached the ears of our notorious thief, Hector. Quickly gathering all of his stolen gear that he had collected from the years that had passed since being kicked out of the orphanage, he prepared for his great escape. He had waited till midnight of the second day before he made his move. Under the cover of darkness he had easily snuck onto the ship undetected, soon sailing away from his home.

Hector was now a stowaway. As Hector looked from his hiding spot to the island village that he had lived all of his life, he now had time to think to himself and ponder what awaits him on his journey. What would it be like to traverse the desert plains, or sail the many seas? What would he do when he got to wherever this ship was sailing? What side would he strive to become like in the great fight of heroes vs villains? Good? Evil? None of these meaningless titles mattered to him. The only title he strove for was the one of a successful adventurer, rich and powerful but most important of all, free.