Here's the background information Shane received at the beginning of the first game:
You and your family were traveling along the shoreline of Kizmir, from your home of Solku to visit relatives in the harbor city of Okeno, when your ship was beset upon by Mazini slavers, seeking young meat for the flesh pits of Katapesh. You and other children aboard your ship were taken. You are uncertain what became of your parents, but fear the worst.
You were bound for Katapesh, when bad weather forced your slave ship off course. Further foul luck plagued your captors, the sailors and Captain O’Takan Farastay of The Ocean Thunder. Naval ships from one of the maritime nations were spotted, and the slavers decided to hide in the only place they knew they could lie low for a time: in an island chain called The Serpent’s Teeth.
Your father prayed to Abadar, Master of the First Vault, like many other merchants and traders, pious and irreverent alike. However, your mother was fond of the mysterious goddess of illusions, Sivanah. A minor goddess in most realms, her presence in Katapesh is actually much stronger, particularly in urban regions. Many Katapesh thieves’ guilds keep shrines of her in safe houses—although they aren’t necessarily devout, they do see the “Seventh Veil,” as she is also called, as an advocate of their lifestyles. Sivanah’s symbol is a ring of knotted scarves. Her noncleric worshipers are usually bards, rogues, and wizards (particularly illusionists), and many gnomes worship her as well. Your mother gave you her own knotted scarf before the pirates took you, and you fingered it like a prayer chain throughout the voyage. You took the ensuing events to be the actions of Sivanah on your behalf.
They docked in a town called Libertyville, and this is when you took your chance to flee. As a few of the pirate crew began pursuit, but were stopped at the docks by a shout from a wild-eyed dark haired man carrying a brace of pistols, hanging in their holsters like bandoliers. Panicked, you only caught snatches of what the man yelled. Something about unwelcome, Mazini slavers, and how Caxton might be long dead, but “your kind isn’t welcome here now any more than then.” Many other men and women, similarly, but not so amply armed stepped out, weapons drawn, to face the slaver ship. O’Takan Farastay and his crew withdrew, and you found yourself at the mercy of “Evil Eye” Fleagle. Somewhat eccentric, Fleagle took you in for a few days until a ship called The Menagerie came to Libertyville, and he sent you on your way with it, with 3 silver coins in your pocket and a loaf of bread and a slab of cheese.Upon arrival in Freeport, the merchant-owner of the ship, Sarien, took you to stay with Omar Nkota at his home in the compund of Fang and Claw, a business dealing in buying, selling, trapping, and training wild animals. The market for such creatures is variable, but Fang and Claw had managed to stay in operation for more than a dozen years. Nkota had you stay overnight until he was able to arrange for you to stay at Cleaves’ Home for Foundlings and Wayward Children. He has made arrangements with Eugenus Cleaves, the proprietor of the Home, for you to come and occasionally work at Fang and Claw cleaning stables or doing other odd jobs, to earn your keep at the home.
You have been at Cleaves’ for one week when the game begins.
You have the following background feat:Merchant's Blood (Background)You descend from a powerful merchant’s family.Benefit: You gain a +2 competence bonus on Diplomacy checks and a +1 bonus to your Leadership score.Contacts:Omar Nkota: Omar is more comfortable with animals than he is people; he keeps negotiations brief and tries to make certain the beasts he sells will be well tended. Although well into his fifties, Omar still has the skills of a longtime hunter. Fang and Claw operates out of a compound in the north of Drac’s End that spills out of the vague city limits into the cleared sectionaround Freeport. A high iron fence surrounds the compound—partially to keep out thieves but, more importantly, to stop escaped animals from getting out and rampaging through Freeport. Inside the compound, the primary building is a combination of an office, living quarters, an infirmary (injuries are all too common), and equipment stores (Nkota sells many animal training tools and accessories). Cages, warrens, hutches, pens, and other animal habitats take up the rest of the compound. The exact composition of Fang and Claw’s stock varies considerably over time, but on any given day, one can find multiple native birds, smaller animals, and mundane beasts. More unusual creatures such as land sharks, giant lizards, and the like may also be present, depending on what Nkota and Sarien have recently trapped or purchased.
Sarien: Omar’s elven partner in Fang and Claw. While Omar stays in Freeport and keeps things running, Sarien captains a small ship, the Menagerie, which travels to and from the Continent transporting exotic creatures: a somewhat nervous character, constantly eyeing the animals, as if worried they will escape.
“Evil Eye” Fleagle: A denizen of Libertyville, on the nearby island of Leeward. He’s a weapons merchant, not a pirate, but he holds to the spirit of the pirate code and something he referred to as “the Movement. “ His small shop in Libertyville is crammed with inexpensive swords, axes, knives, guns, crossbows, and every other kind of weapon a buccaneer could want.
