Nikos Cirillo

The town that Nikos was born in and called home for so many years was a rather small quaint town. It was nestled in a valley of a rugged mountain range that sat along the coastal waters of a cerulean sea. The community was tight knit and treated all of the town’s citizens as if they were one big family. Everyone knew everyone and when times grew tough, either due to the storms that would destroy their homes and livelihood or a bad year for harvest or fishing, its people would come forward and help. Outsiders were an unwelcome sight within this town, something that he remembers clearly.

Nikos was an only child, raised by a loving mother, father and grandfather. They were a close family, consisting of Humans and Starborns, and showered one another with love. He was a very well loved child. At a very young age, Nikos exhibited a wandering mind and often had trouble focusing on the tasks given to him. His grandfather had found it endearing, considering how young he was, and while the old man worked in the family shop, he would fill the boy’s hand with wonders and creative stories. The family shop was ran by Nikos’ grandfather and father, both being skilled craftsmen when it came to jewelry. Hours had been spent in that tiny shop attached to their family home, Nikos standing on a stool watch his grandfather pick out the beautiful local pearls or other native gems to their home that he would use for the day.

The pieces made from the pearls were always his favorite.

The boy’s mind did not grow calmer as he aged from a young child to a young teen. It wandered more and more, lost in the worlds that he would create in his own head, fed by the stories his grandfather would tell him or what he read from books.

A noticeable change in Nikos’ demeanor happened when he was around the age of ten. His mother had warned him not to go too far, the skies dark and foreboding. He was a curious child though and played along the rocky shores, searching for pearl oysters that some of the fisherman had missed. Perhaps he would find one of those ancient coins his grandfather always spoke about… Or a scale of a mermaid! He was completely oblivious of the thunder that rolled over head or how the wind grew deadly still. Nikos barely had time to take shelter among the large rocks before the storm hit that afternoon, fast and fierce.

The damage had been done though, parts of the sea town destroyed and some people lost.

Nikos had been curled up into a ball and was partially sheltered by the overhang of cliffs when his mother and father finally found him. He was shaken to his core, clinging to his mother and afraid to let go. The fear in his eyes was heartbreaking to his mother who cried for hours holding him, afraid to let go. She would be the first to notice that something had definitely changed in her once adventurous curious child.

As he aged out of his youth and into his late teens, Nikos’ fear of the storm stayed deeply embedded in him. It dug its nails in deep, clawing at his heart and mind. To deal with this new fear and stress, he built his own escape from the chaotic world that now laid outside his family home. He withdrew from the few friends he had made as a child, instead creating his own ‘friends’ and fantasies that would distract him for hours. His grandfather never did judge him for this new found quirk or how when the world got too loud, his grandson would shy from it all. He embraced it and helped to guide that wandering mind even further, the best that he could.

He did learn the craft of jewelry and metalsmithing, and truly excelled at it, finding comfort in the bend of the metal, the soft gleam of gems and warmth of the hearth. Nikos was quite skilled at the jewelry, adding his own little twists and designs to the delicate pieces of jewelry that would often be sold in the market by his mother and father. They were a hit, well loved by the community.

When his grandfather had passed, Nikos felt… lost. The one person who had understood him was now gone.

The town grew more weary of him after that as he strayed further and further into his own realty, many stating their unease to his parents. They hated how he would talk to himself or to the very air itself around him. His parents tried to argue how brilliant and curious their son was, that they had nothing to worry about. He was truly a normal boy once you got to know him and got past a few of his little quirks. The looks that the people would give him did hurt though, making him feel as if something was truly wrong with him. There was nothing wrong, he had thought… but perhaps there was? People avoided him more, and avoided his family.

Everything came to head when another storm blew through the town. Homes were destroyed, boats lost at sea, and their beautiful shore slowly eaten away by the storm's rough waters. Nikos’ mother, worried for their home, their livelihood, and her son, made a decision. She had heard of this up and coming town, Gale’s End, further inland and far from their own home. There was no doubt in her mind that she wished for Nikos’ to leave, find a new place. Perhaps it would be a good place to start over for all of them, they could all go, but Nikos’ father did not wish to leave their home. He did not want to desert this community, who he had grown old with and had taken care of them during rough times. This town by the sea was family to his mother and father, but not to Nikos’.

He was no longer welcomed and it was painfully obvious to his parents.

So, with a broken heart, Nikos’ had ben urged and practically sent away by his mother to this unknown land called Gale’s End.

Nikos arrival to Gale’s End was a quiet and lonely affair. He had come alone, his parents choosing to stay in their hometown and promising to write. The train had been so fascinating but also extremely unknown to him, leaving a bubble of unease deep within his stomach. He remembers how he stood quietly on the train deck, staring around him at this unknown with only a suitcase and a chest of tools.

What was he even going to do here?

Perhaps this was truly a terrible idea?

What if people thought he was just as strange as he had been before?

He steeled himself though and with a bit of trouble, made his way to the town where his mother’s hope of him starting a new life pushed him forward.

• Nikos LOVES to read. If you cannot find him in his studio, tinkering away, he will most likely be curled up in a chair with a book.
• Scatteredd along his body are several beauty marks, but for the most part he does keep them hidden under clothes.
• Nikos is known for hyperfixating and will sit in his studio for hours working on pieces of jewelr or poloishing gems.
• He is not a huge fan of his perosnal space being invaded and grows incredibly uncomfortable with it.
• When talking about his craft or ideas, he does grow extremely expressive and excited. He will be more expressive and over all excited.
• He is really big into trail and error, and experimenting with new ideas and techniques.
• Nikos owns a rather large collection of gems, metals and cystals. In this collection, there are even a few older pieces of jewelry that he has found along the way.