Bill

Born as Solomon Kingfisher to Hashira, an indentured servitude firekitsune, and an unknown father (although it was rumored their father was a wealthy voidkitsune traveling from a faraway land) it was clear that Solomon was a prophet for a dark god from birth. Not wishing her son to be subjected to the same conditions as well as her superstition regarding their voidkitsune nature, Hashira attempted to smother Solomon but her will faltered and she could not bring herself to take an innocent life. Spending most of her coin, she had her only child smuggled out of the city to extended, free relatives in another town but succumbed to a severe case of pneumonia a few weeks later.

Obligated to take in Solomon, they were destined to grow up a large and chaotic family perpetually on the brink of poverty - and their presence only added further financial strain. Considered to be a lost cause, Solomon’s schooling was minimal and they were left to fend for themselves most of the time in the poorer part of town. Using their quick wits and natural inclination towards performance they were able to bring in extra coin. They would eventually make friends with an aged, bardic Elf named Alfred who took a qusai parental role in Solomon’s life. Wanting to pass on his bardic knowledge and seeing that Solomon had natural talent, Alfred began to tutor them in the ways of the bard eventually gifting his accordion to Solomon when they announced they were leaving town to make a life for themselves. (This accordion would end up becoming Bill’s prized possession, one of the very few things they value above all else).

Life on the road was difficult, more difficult than Solomon anticipated and they found themselves ill equipped for the arduous trek across the Katapesh. Ambushed by a member of a Yog-Sothoth cult one dark night, a female halfing, Solomon impressed her enough that she offered them a place of respite for the night in exchange for a bit of company. Solomon accepted, quickly finding themselves swept up in the cult yet unwilling to leave since they had a sick longing for family, so deeply entrenched that they allowed their left eye to be removed during their initiation ceremony.

Using their charisma and power hungry nature, Solomon quickly rose through the ranks to a position of power where they were to oversee new initiates and weed out the weak willed. This brought them closer to the cult leader, Micca, an imposing elven Oracle who had managed to hold onto sanity through her immense willpower, channeling energy from the Dark Tapestry for her own purposes. An arrogant and often needlessly cruel women, she and Solomon were an odd pair to lead but excelled in playing off each other’s strengths until Solomon became too ambitious and tried to usurp Micca in an unexpected coup d'etat.

Outraged by Solomon’s arrogance, Micca slaughtered those who supported them and cast a curse on Solomon, intending to open a portal to bring something from the Dark Tapestry into the Material Plane to possess then kill Solomon. Having picked up enough knowledge to rebuff most of the curse, they were able to escape with a souvenir: a one way portal to the Dark Tapestry in place of their genitals in the form of a miniature eldritch abomination (a writhing nest of tentacles with many sickly yellow eyes set into them, a squid beak at the center filled to the brim with teeth from which whispers of dark secrets and ill intent pour forth).

Solomon fled, shaken from their near brush with death, immediately made to put as much distance between them and Micca as possible. For several months they lived a life on the run, pursued by cultist members until they were finally able to shake their pursuers by taking a shortcut through the harshest part of the Katapesh desert. Amidst the shifting sands, Solomon underwent a religious experience (part legitimate, part dehydration hallucination) and pledged themselves to Ymeri for the protection of a powerful deity and for a more offensive way to protect themselves.

Casting off their old identity, Solomon became Bill and struck out to establish a new life with renewed vigor. They joined with a traveling band of merchants first as an entertainer and then as something of an apprentice until they had picked up enough knowledge to set up in the city of Katapesh with enough coin to open a small stall.