"Tell me to put shoes on one more time and I'm breaking both your kneecaps."

EARLY LIFE

Leo was born in the deep sea city of Esylrin as the third child to the highborn family of Makor, and as is custom, was immediately given to the Order of Rel, the city's holy protectors. They grew up amongst the other children given to the Order and considers them all their family, even the ones that flunked out of training.

Leo struggled as a teen when they began training, even though they had a good amount of talent. Young Leo could often be found goofing off with friends, playing pranks, terrifying the younger kids, or getting drunk on smuggled Buoy Fruit. Only their mentor Rannas seemed to care if Leo was thriving, but they often butted heads over training, duties, and Leo's overall bad attitude. Rannas had to save Leo from getting expelled several times over their antics, but he never seemed to give up hope that Leo would one day become one of Esylrin’s greatest protectors. Leo in turn resented him for the pressure that expectation put upon them, but secretly strived to fulfill it.

Surprising pretty much everyone but Rannas, Leo managed to pull their head out of their ass just in time to become Exalted (graduate) with the rest of their class. They received their markings (all full Order members have something similar, though all are unique), and took up their duty of protecting their city from the threats of the world around them.

THE FALL OF ESYLRIN

However, Leo had been Exalted only a few months when the city was attacked. No one saw what happened, just felt a static shock rumble through the city, and chaos erupted. In waves, the people of the city began to choke on the water they usually breathed with ease, and chaos spread quickly as people started to panic. Leo was training with Rannas in the Temple of Rel when it happened, and Rannas managed to save them even as he was drowning. He pressed the Order of Rel's sacred teaching scroll into their arms and pushed them out of the temple with his last bit of strength.

Leo fled the city, swimming desperately for the ocean's surface as they too started to drown as the bodies of their people began to fill the water around them. Once they broke through the waves, Leo started swimming for the nearest but still distant port town of Opahl, too afraid to dip beneath the water lest they continue to suffocate, or worse, see the fates of those left below.

CURRENT PATH

Borne by the tides and currents, Leo made it to the shore exhausted, traumatized, many miles away from Ophal, but alive nonetheless. For days they sat on that empty beach, scavenging for food in the surrounding jungle, too afraid to enter the water to fish, hoping against hope that more of their people would make it to shore as they did. After nearly a week of waiting however, Leo faced the horrifying realization that no one else was coming, stuffed all their feelings into a tiny box at the back of their mind, and at last set out to Opahl to figure out what the hell to do now.

Leo labors under the assumption that none of their people survived, instead of hoping that some did and being let down with the truth later.