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[attr="id","sybariscol"]Daniel Caim

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I should’ve been dead.
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S’what happens when ya ain’t got parents at a young age. ‘Specially when you live mostly on ya own in a place like Vale. Wasn’t always like that, though. Had a mom and pop like any other kid. We live in this old building where a lot of the poor and desperate ended up. Not like we were homeless or anythin’ like that; just a step or two right above it. Kinda like walkin’ a tightrope over a spike pit. Wasn’t much, but it was home.
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We were barely gettin’ by at the best of times. Mom spent most of her time workin’ some hole-in-the-wall bar and dad did . . . well, I ain’t totally sure. Said it was somethin’ like taking out trash or somethin’. Found out later that the old man’s job was more like murder for hire and the ‘trash’ was people the underworld didn’t like or weren’t convenient.
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See, thing is that the Vale didn’t just turn in ta the way it was overnight. Nah, that was all already there from the beginning. Just like any other place where lots of people get squashed together. The crime. The assassinations, or at least the attempts. The corruption. Ya still had all of it. It was just a little harder to find now.
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Anyway, off-topic. So, one of the people dad ‘took out trash for’ didn’t like a job he pulled. Something about a body shownin’ up where it shouldn’t’ve. That was a no go, so he ended up in the ‘trash’ like a lot of other people. Didn’t know that at the time, but mom sure as hell did. Ended up tellin’ little Daniel that his pops had just ran out of both of us. Real hard for me ta hear at the time but better than tellin’ me what really happened. Must’ve been what she thought. Didn’t matter that much cuz mom ended up workin’ herself into the ground ta keep me in school. She died the day before I turned fifteen.
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Now, here’s where the story gets fun. Lots of little coincidences make it all work out the way it did, but it’s all true. Trust me on that.
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Seems like right after my mom kicked it was when the monarchy went caput and democracy reigned supreme. ‘Bout a year after that was when the Vale’s crime families started gettin' more active. Making big moves. Bein’ a kid with no real prospects in a kingdom turned democratic cluster, I ended up fallin’ in with one of the gangs. At the start of it all, I was just another grunt slinging drugs and whatever else on the street corner. Once I started getting older and working my way up, I graduated to extortion and whatever other dirty job needed to be done. When I turned twenty, I graduated again to ‘erasure’. That’s where I found what I was born ta do.
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I was real good at my job. One of the better killers in a gang full of ‘em. Also didn’t have nearly as many scruples as most people. I was out for number one like any good gangbanger and didn’t much care about anyone else. Helped me rise a little in the ranks with my gang. Wasn’t much, but it was better than where I’d been, that’s for sure.
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Then, the gang pissed off someone they shouldn’t’ve. Don’t know exactly what it was, but it was enough for whoever it was to hit us hard. Pretty much wiped us out.
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I got lucky. Wasn’t at our base when it happened. Still didn’t mean I was safe, so I got out of there and used everything I had ta get a place in Delphi. Pledged to Sybaris right after ta add another layer of protection. Better ta be with the winnin' side, but even then I wasn't safe.
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Laid low for a while ta throw the scent. Let whoever was hunting me think I’d died with the rest of my old crew. Had a looooooooooooooooooot of time ta think. Mostly ‘bout all the people that I’d ‘erased’. ‘Bout how I was kinda a monster.
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After some soul-searchin’ I came up with a personal code. Just some rules ta make sure I didn’t slip back into the monster I’d been.
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Been tryin’ ta follow that ever since…"