Panzley

Introduction
Panzley, the nickname of Sakhe, was a famed trader in Sparwood and beyond that rose from poverty. He was a member of the expeditionary groups that explored the New World, before settling down in his homeland.

His appearance is unknown as there are no living witnesses of him.

Early Life
Sakhe was born in Sparwood, TE 71.

His specific birthplace is in the southern peninsula connecting the Akratian Peninsula to Sparwood Major. Sakhe’s species was Human, with the ethnicity of Cakan. The Cakan people live mostly in the south-west coast of Sparwood, with the largest amount of Cakan people living in the swamp known as Vindivegg. For more on Cakan and Valoorian culture see here.

The town Sakhe was born in was called Khepon, which no longer exists. As a child, he was taught by his parents the skills a Cakan needs to survive and thrive in their sparse peninsula, often fraught with war, violence and despair. When he was 12, he began fishing as an assistant to his father. His father, a kind and patient man, was able to teach young Sakhe all he needed to know about fishing and navigating a Cakan ship.

Adulthood and Career
At the age of 18, when Sakhe reached adulthood, he decided to steer his life in a different course as the rest of the Cakans. He wised to escape the chains of poverty, and raise his family in comfort with funds to sustain them to do whatever they pleased.

After bidding his family goodbye, he traveled with a trader to the lands of Akratia, where he sought an apprenticeship with famed shipwrights. After being rejected half a dozen times, he finally got what he wanted and obtained an apprenticeship with a small ship company in Friholm.

It was there where he saw true ships, not the rafts which the Cakan people used centuries ago and still do now. The docks in Friholm when Sakhe arrived were full to bursting with trading ships and military vessels from all over Rathnir.

Soon, Sakhe learned the arts of mastering and captaining such large vessels and was given a small trading vessel of his own.

From there Sakhe went from success to success, gaining progressively larger and larger vessels to trade and sail with. He soon gained a small fortune and became a well-known trader in the regions he often traded in. He bought a fast and noteworthy vessel called the Spring Crest which he “loved like family”, according to his journal.

However, he was often homesick and visited his family and friends in Khepon very often, and he would decide that when he retired, he would go back and raise a family after finishing his career. In addition, he was even a part of the many expeditionary groups that first explored the New World, now known as Eldham. Upon his first visit, he described the land as having an “eerie and strange” feeling, different from the feeling that Rathnir apparently gave him. He described in his journal (which is the only source on his life) that “In Eldham, it felt like there was something beneath, something watching… I do not like this place.”

Retirement
After the expedition to Eldham, he married a member of the Chlagn family in Cakan and settled down in his old town of Khepon, where he raised a son and a daughter. He realized his dream of raising a family with sufficient resources and materials to care for them, which he stated "made me very content, I had everything I could ever want."

During this time, Sakhe described the effects that the New World had on the town. In his journal, he described “Upon hearing of the new land, they were struck with an obsession in their minds… of which nothing could persuade them otherwise”.

Sakhe later on illustrates how the majority of his town and friends moved to Eldham in search of a better life, with his view on Eldham becoming increasingly more and more negative. He stated that “It drew them like a corpse draws flies… Nothing could deter them from a New Land, not even their homeland, family and friends could convince them to stay”.

Even Sakhe’s own son decided to leave his father and family for Eldham at the age of 15. At the time, Sakhe’s town and many others in Rathnir had been depleted of their citizens and people due to vast migration to Eldham.

One of his final journal entries tells how a plague from Eldham swept across Rathnir and killed Sakhe’s wife, among 8 other remaining members of Khepon.

He writes, “Eldham has taken almost everything away from me… I shall find solace in my remaining daughter and friends, little as they are.”

Death and Life Beyond
Sadly, on a Summer night of 131 TE, Raiders from Rodinnbrok, which had colonized a small island close to Khepon, had a massive party and then proceeded to raid the village and burn it to the ground.

In his journal, Sakhe writes “Me and my daughter escaped onto my boat the Spring Crest, but they are chasing… I know we do not have long left. Eldham has truly taken everything from me, all that remains is my ship, daughter and mine own life, which will all depart soon. I shall see my wife again soon... it has felt like millennia without her.”

This was his last journal entry. The journal was found in the possession of a Rodinnbrok soldier in the isle of Orcadas on Rathnir, in T.E 201.

Due to unknown sorceries, Sakhe still roams these lands as a violent spirit, where many believe that he wishes vengeance upon all Eldhamites for what their continent has done to him. However, Sakhe is simply trying to get to Eldham to see his son who left 80 years ago.

OOC Character Explanation
I had thought of this Character long before the contest. I had always thought that most Characters on Stoneworks were relatively the same, part of a noble house, rich with no explanation, and does something significant, with a happy ending. I wanted to explore some themes with my character, mainly Bias, Discrimination, and starting in Poverty. Instead of making my character being discriminated towards, I thought it might be a fresh take to have my Character discriminate others (Eldhamites). I believed that it would be logical for an old man have tragedies befall him, all somewhat connected to one thing that he already dislikes, which forms a bias. I also thought it would be healthy for my character to have a Rags to Riches storyline, all due to his own hard work. This was also partially due to how most characters on Stoneworks are Foreign travelers wandering into Rathnir, or part of a rich aristocracy. I believed that to have a character start in the lowest of the low to work his way up to marry into a Rich Family, and have it all taken away would be bittersweet ending. This is what I thought would be the best story for Sakhe, who deserves so much and in the end had so little.