Back ground

The mystery of how an infant child was found in the wilderness outside Magnimar, alone and unclothed, yet unmolested by the local wildlife, is a mystery which will likely never be explained.

A travelling merchant of some renown, and his contingent of hired guards came across the child, bearing a strange birthmark in the shape of a leaf on his chest. The merchant being a ruthless, spiteful man saw no coin in caring for a child or searching for his parents, despite Magnimar being their next destination and only half a day away.

Luckily the decision was removed from his hand by the leader of the hired guards, a fierce warrior named Sabine, who insisted the child be taken to town.

And so it was the child was taken to Magnimar and lodged at one of the towns orphanages. Sabine had named the child Gavroche after her cousin. Sabine and her loyal warriors donated a portion of their wages to ensure the child was accepted in to the orphanage, each departing with clear conscience once their good deed was complete.

Magnimar like many cities had an abundance of orphans and whilst a chosen few were paced with local families, many were not. Gavroche did not appear to have luck on his side, and as he grew the orphanage appeared to shrink until at (approximately) age 8 he decided to make how own way in the world. One of the older boys claimed he had a way to make some of his own money and late one night Gavroche stole away with 2 of his friends.

They fell in to ‘paid’ employment easily enough with one of the local street gangs. The pay was in food to eat and a mat to sleep on in a small abandoned warehouse near the docs. The gang was ‘sponsored’ by a heartless, evil man named Finnegan who arranged the sale of items stolen by the boys (taking a hefty cut in the process). It was rumoured he had connections with the local Sczarni, and he saw the boys as little more than tools to use for his own benefit and advancement. He enjoyed beating the boys at the slightest provocation, and cared little when the odd boy was taken by the guards. It was cold, dirty work keeping lookout for local pick pockets and running interference with the town guard. Many a guard heard the story of how ‘Little Gav’ lost his mummy and daddy, buying precious minutes for the gang boys to slip away from the guards.

By the age of 10 Gav was starting to show signs of the man he would become. Taller and strong than the other boys, he had started to assist their Sponsor in enforcing breaches of their territory by other ambitious gangs. Using threats, intimidation and the occasional beating, they held their territory with an iron grip.

Everything changed one fateful day soon after Gavroche’s 10th birthday (in reality the 9th anniversary since he was originally discovered in the wilderness). Gavroche was in a secluded alleyway with Finnegan ‘convincing’ a rival gang member to stay away from his territory when it happened a passing guard decided to relive himself in the very same alleyway. The guard immediately spotted all 3 and gave chase, the other gang member skittering down a side passage as the guard stayed on Gavroche and Finnegan. As fast as he was, he was no match for Finnegan who surged ahead. The g