Pip Glimesk

- MANY SPOILERS, don't read if you're in a game with pip! -

- Backstory -

Pip was born to human parents in Gleia, a small town at the end of a river in Borum. Once the townsfolk found out Pip was a changeling, they forced their parents to abandon them. Pip's parents were reluctant, but chose to send them down the river rather than be ostracized from the village.

Pip floated down the river for a while, becoming weaker and weaker as they went. However, they were eventually picked up by a strange, dark bird with soulless white eyes. The bird brought them to a long-abandoned temple and laid them at an altar there. The second Pip touched the altar, the temple shook and Pip disappeared, shocking the bird. Ever since, Pip has had dreams about this bird, though they never knew who it was and why it mattered to them.

Pip was teleported into a random stranger's home when they disappeared from the temple. This stranger happened to be Han "The Admiral" Glimesk, professional con artist and Pip's future mentor. When Pip first saw Han, his face morphed to match Han's, which A) was hilarious and B) turned Han onto the fact that he had a changeling on his hands. Han was unfamiliar with changelings due to the secrecy surrounding them, but although he didn't know what this child was, he knew that its shapeshifting ability would certainly come in handy. So, he decided to take Pip in and raise them as his perfect sidekick. He named Pip and taught them all the tools of the trade, from pick-pocketing to convincing people to give them money.

Pip had always done strange, almost supernatural things (aside from the whole changeling thing, of course), but they didn't know they were magical until they were around 10 years old. When they were 10, they triggered their "first" wild magic surge while trying to control some of their latent magical ability. Ever since, Pip has been triggering weird things with their magic, sometimes good, sometimes bad, and most of the time just very annoying. Luckily, it didn't happen very often at all. However, when they were 12 and practicing some new spells, they cast something and immediately dropped unconscious. They were bombarded with strange visions and awoke knowing a brand new spell. They assumed this was just another weird magical effect, and happy with their new spell, they carried on as usual. They did find that their magic glitched just ever slightly more often, however, and the birthmark on their back changed.

Once they discovered that they were a sorcerer, Pip started practicing with their magic and used it during scams. Pip and Han's scams were able to get even more elaborate. Pip used things like Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, and Charm Person when scamming civilians. When they were dealing with less savory types though, they had some damaging spells available to threaten people (thus sort of being the "muscle" of the duo). Through a combination of changeling disguises, magic, and Han's expertise, the two of them were able to pull off some of the most effective scams either of them had ever seen (at least when Pip's magic didn't surge). They became richer and richer, but with both of them being the greedy bastards they were, they continued to scam more and more. Unfortunately, their relationship also suffered as they got richer, since despite being a good team while scamming, afterwards they would always argue over the spoils. Han considered Pip as more of a sidekick than an equal partner, and therefore constantly took the bigger share of whatever they earned. It also didn't help that Pip was also going through their rebellious teen phase.

One day, when Pip was around 17, they, along with Han, were scamming a very wealthy noble out of a sum of their fortune (Pip was pretending to be their 'supposedly' dead daughter). Pip cast their normal 'charming' spells (quickened, of course, so there were 2 in a row). Unfortunately, these spells triggered a terrible wild magic surge that left the noble dead and Pip unconscious. This was the worst surge that Pip had ever gone through. After what seemed like a night of terrible visions, Pip found themself in prison with no Han in sight. With some quick thinking and some changeling magic, Pip managed to escape from their cell. When they were leaving though, they saw Han in another cell. Pip had been thinking about going solo for a while (they'd gotten overconfident after so many of their scams had gone well, plus Han didn't pay him enough) and it would be risky rescuing Han, so they chose to just leave him behind without a word.

After that, Pip struck out on their own. It didn't take long for Pip to start feeling guilty about leaving Han behind like that. They also realized that without Han, they had a hard time coming up with good scams on their own (since Han was the one who thought of all of them, Pip just carried out his orders).  Pip wandered around aimlessly for a long time, guilt-stricken and useless. Their magic also glitched a lot more often, so scamming was especially difficult.

Eventually, they resolved that they would make something of themselves, even without Han. They built a persona around an interesting and unique aesthetic Pip remembered from when they were younger. They used this persona to build a reputation for themselves as something other than Han's changeling sidekick. They did what they did best: using their high charisma to get what they want (which mostly consisted of seducing people into one night stands and stealing money after, since that was the best they could come up with most of the time). They also became more notorious in the underground for their strong and volatile magic, and took on jobs for people who wanted them. Among the common folk, they became known as "The Prince," with a reputation for providing an excellent night in bed, but leaving their partner penniless afterward. A lot of people hate them for it, but they do have a few, uh... "fans".

At the same time, in order to curb their guilt over leaving Han behind, they decided to raise money to bail him out of prison. They do it sporadically and spend their savings often, but they still hold that goal in the back of their mind. They've never checked up on Han since leaving him in prison, being too guilty to face him. Their grand plan is to show up out of nowhere, bail Han out, then Han would be so grateful that he wouldn't be upset at them for abandoning him in the first place.

Recently, Pip heard rumors of a grand treasure deep in Resham. They know that Resham is a terrible desert that no one ever returns from, but since they've been doing pretty well with magic the past few years, they decide that they're a strong enough sorcerer to brave the desert. There's also the fact that the desert is pretty much devoid of life, so there's no chance of getting arrested (lmao). They planned to use the money to finally bail Han out of prison. Unfortunately, things never go quite to plan...