Clothed Reference

Baat was born of a slave couple, and much like his parents he suffered the same fate. Creatures like him are very rare, but Baat since a very young age wasn’t willing to cooperate, his bright colours and unusual looks made his masters often stay their hand when it came to punishing him for his transgressions, which allowed him plenty room to operate. Baat learned to talk his way out of trouble and to twist words until it seemed that he was on the right.

That particular trait eventually lead to his words reaching the right ears and sneaking enough coin to buy his own freedom. Once free, Baat learned combat from bandits and curs, and from them he also learned of the market hidden from the view of the commoners. He learned to navigate it and started from the bottom, doing the runs nobody wanted to do, but that paid off, as the rarest of spices and flowers all came to him to manipulate and him alone; along with an added job: freeing other slaves much like he had freed himself, buying, sometimes stealing or ‘inheriting’ following the mysterious passing of the masters.

Baat hides his true business under the guise of a traveling trinkets and textiles merchant, and his power over routes and rarities along with his crafty mind put quite the beak on him (see what I did thurr huehue). Unfortunately one day he couldn’t quite talk his way out of an argument with a local slaver that refused his offers, and the beetle threw acid on him. He blocked the blow, but his feathers practically melted off his arm on the spot. His trusty bodyguard took care of the offender, though the damage was already done.

Years later, Baat still continues his shady dealings, the wounds left by the incident healed, and while the smuggler doesn’t trully mind the looks of the aftermath, the ghost of the burning pain he felt still wakes him up in the middle of the night every now and then.

Baat is a character in WhiteMantis's world of Shattered!