And We Got Older

Childhood

Shade was born to two parents who named him Asterin Sheridan and who loved him dearly. Shade’s childhood was filled with bedtime stories, playing with children his own age, and going to classes to learn about the world. He quickly earned the nickname “Shade” due to his habit of falling asleep under the shade of trees while reading. Shade was a happy child who easily made friends and was frequently found running around with a gaggle of other children playing pretend. As Shade approached his teen years his family chose to move away to another town. Shade’s parents were merchants and managed to find a contract that was favorable in another region that Shade had never heard of; most people had only heard distant rumors of the area. The Mirewood Forest. It was north of Candletown, far north of it, and parts of the forest stretched to the sea. Shade found himself walking amongst trees so massive and such a rich purple color that he was stunned into silence. Shade would later choose to stay even after his parents left the area to pursue better merchant ties. 

Teen Years

Shade’s teen years were filled with him learning about the merchant trade alongside his parents. He learned how to negotiate a good deal, how to spot frauds, and how to carefully cultivate trade partnerships that would last a lifetime. Shade even managed to learn a few tricks from locals who traded with not only his parents but also those that passed through the area. He learned that people who lived in an area knew to watch out for certain types of merchants that even his parents were not always clued in on being suspicious. But even he, being young, was able to be tricked; at one point he traded someone for a mystery box of something “collectable” and after opening the box found a mango with a face drawn on it with a tiny tag that read “mangee”. Shade at least got a laugh out of it after his parents began cackling over the item. 

When Shade was not learning from the various merchants that entangled his life he was off running around with the local teens his own age. A few times he got into some true proper trouble and was escorted home by his exasperated father but most of the time it was honest fun. Running the trails and climbing the great trees of the nearby Mirewood Forest. Shade was never a small individual by any means but this came to his advantage when he was making friends. As most of them were too short to reach the lower branches of the Mirewood trees, he was able to lift them up before scrambling up as well. So Shade did not grow up lonely even when his parents moved several times to secure better trade deals from within the various towns and villages of the Mirewood. There were times that he was frustrated though, he often had to reforge friendships once or twice a year depending on how often his parents changed contracts. It was never easy being the new kid in a community; it always felt like you were learning all the social rules last second with no chance to actually catch up. But overall, Shade did well in his teen years, never really resenting his parents for the constant moving about but always a little sad whenever he left an area never knowing if he would ever get the chance to come back. He did enjoy getting to see new places all the time though. 

Young Adult

As Shade reached early adulthood he separated from his parents and went out to start walking the roads with other merchant groups in an effort to explore the mirewood more as well as learn how to be an adult among the world. Shade spent a lot of his young adult years traveling. Mostly this was traveling with various merchant groups, helping with the wagons, helping unload supplies, and generally just learning about influences outside of his family. As Shade traveled he came to appreciate a good, warm, inn to pull into at the end of a long journey. Slowly Shade began to form a plan with what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. So Shade began forming strong friendships and business partnerships by strategically choosing which merchant groups he traveled with and kept an open eye out on the areas he traveled through. It took some time before Shade found an area of the Mirewood that suddenly and fully felt like home. He parted ways with the merchant groups then and began to put down roots. 

Adulthood

Shade finished the building and furnishing of his Inn in the small town known as RookHaven two years after settling into the area. It was deep within the Mirewood and well within the estate range of the Lady Mirewood but he never met the Lady prior to her disappearance. Shade managed to build a solid reputation early on for having a good warm meal and comfortable rooms after a long trip. There was just enough traffic from those walking or traveling the inner roads of the Mirewood that Shade was able to maintain the Inn to a respectable level. He would never become wealthy by any means but he was able to live comfortably in his own section of the Inn. 

Years later he met and then quartered the Painted Satyr that would become his life partner; Vale. Shade quickly came to love the other Painted Satyr dearly, even traveling the extensive cavern network that Vale lived in to bond with his partner. Shade even dealt with the bittersweet partings every time Vale left to work as a mercenary. Shade knew that every time Vale left the Painted Satyr would return with stories of their travels but it did not make the parting any easier. Nor did it make the long stretches of time less lonely. But Shade often found that messages would trickle in from travelers who would be passing through. A letter or a package would find its way to Shade via a merchant or mercenary who had run into Vale during their travels. Shade did always look forward to these little surprise gifts; one of these was a replacement Wing Cloak after Vale learned of Shade’s having gone missing. 

So time passed, Shade’s Inn thrived, and he met every morning with the hope that Vale would arrive at his doorstep once again to visit for any number of days. Whenever Vale returned Shade would whisk them away to spend the rest of the evening listening to stories and laughing over events that had transpired during their times apart. Shade had finally found a place to call home and the missing piece that had been needed despite the edges being filled in by the Inn itself. 

The Future

Eventually Shade and Vale grew old together while working at the Inn. Vale stopped their wandering as a mercenary and settled into the quieter life as the partner of an Innkeeper. Vale’s weaving and woodworking skills created an opportunity for a tiny giftshop to be set up in the main sitting area of the Inn. Shade found himself looking back on life with no regrets as he spent many evenings drinking tea in the garden with his partner Vale with their Aprico Brus and Sol Roc Caelum napping under the flowering bushes.