View source for Jarod Nightingale

== Description ==


Many people have said that Jarod is too pretty for his own good, and there may be a great deal of evidence to support this notion. His mother was a known beauty, and his father was of Eastern descent, the result of this mixing of genes providing him with a look that is both lovely and somewhat exotic.  With short black hair, fair skin and deep blue-violet eyes, Jarod has a rather striking look. His eyes in particular, with their thick lashes and intense, almost hypnotic appeal, stand out as his most noticeable and attractive feature. He stands at 5'10", with a slim, elegant build. While not a muscular person, he does have a tightly accentuated physique. 

Jarod has three tattoos: an eastern character on the back of his neck, a twisting design that crawls down the length of his right forearm and onto the back of his hand, and a similar design around his navel.  He also sports four piercings, though only the small platinum ring in the cartilage of his left ear is visible.  Preferred clothing is always attractive and of the highest quality. Everything is tailored to fit his exact shape with soft fabrics and deep colors. Black, burgundy, forest green, dark blue and deep purple are favored, while muted pastels and warm shades are particularly disliked. 

Jarod is extremely attractive, and he's only too aware of it. He has a very graceful, elegant quality to him, but it's suffused with a masculine sexuality and a confident awareness of exactly who he is and what he is capable of.


== Parents ==


'''Jarod Nightingale''' was born the only son of [[Ilana Nightingale]] and [[Hai Chenglei]].  His mother, a native of [[Derry]], was the beautiful daughter of a skilled healer, and in addition to picking up some of her father's skills, she became a weaver and an herbalist.  She was well-liked among the people of her small town and could have had her pick of suitors, but in the end she surprised everyone by eloping with an exotic travelor from the far East and running away to live with him in a small but well-built and homey cabin in an isolated part of the [[Sikasoon Mountains]].  This, of course, was Jarod's father.  Chenglei was the first-born son of an Eastern noble family, and would have inherited rulership over his family's province but for the fact that he despised court life, both for its hypocrisy and what he saw as the restrictiveness of an indoor lifestyle.  Chenglei had developed a close relationship with his grandmother, a [[Sarkan]] (a tribe of [[bastet]], or werecats, native to the Northeastern mountains and closely related to snow leopards) elder who took him under her wing once it became clear that he too had inherited the gift, and when she died he simply saw no more reason to remain at home, so at the age of 20 he set off traveling.  His journey eventually led him to [[Amasynia]], and Derry, and of course Ilana.


== Early Childhood ==


Six months after moving into the mountains, Jarod was born.  During his early years, Jarod was doted on by both of his parents, who adored him beyond measure.  Those were happy times for the young boy, but sadly they would not last long.  A rumor had begun to spread through neighboring towns and villages that the family in the mountains were dangerous witches.  It was not normal, they thought, to live so isolated, and in such inhospitable terrain.  Whispers were made about a man who could turn into a white leopard, and soon these rumors reached the general of a band of crusaders who had been traveling through the area.  No one really knows why the crusaders altered their course to pay visit to Jarod's family, or if they had intended to slaughter them, or simply put the fear of God into them (so to speak).  Not even Jarod knows, for he had gone to collect herbs for his mother and was not present to witness the deaths of his parents.  When he returned home, the ground was covered in blood and the lifeless bodies of a handful of soldiers... as well as those of his mother and father.  Jarod was ten years old.

Jarod did the best a little boy could at giving his parents something resembling a proper cremation.  At least, what he understood a proper cremation to be.  The whole process took about two days, and afterwards he decided he had to get as far away from his home as he could, to run away from the nightmare which had become of his family.  His father had taught him well how to survive in the wilderness, but he was only a child and winter was fast approaching, so he did not fare well during the month he spent wandering about on his own.  When a slave caravan found him in a small cave off the side of an ill-used road, he was half-starved and in no condition to put up much of a fight.  This was how he came to be captured and taken to a city very far from home, and everything he had known of the world until then.

[[The Golden City]] was capitol to one of the wealthiest provinces in the world.  Located on the Southernmost tip of the continent, their major source of income was a tremendous gold mine which gave the city its namesake.  Slaves were particularly popular in this region, as most of the citizens could afford at least one or two, and the wealthier townsfolk regularly made use of child servants (some for menial tasks, some for less savory ones).  Jarod and the rest of the adults and children in the caravan were put on display at a market in the center of town and sold to the highest bidder.  Had things turned out differently at this point, Jarod may have had a very different life.  As things turned out, however, a buyer for [[Castus Auratus]], the King himself, was there that day, and he spotted Jarod almost immediately.  It was commonly known that the King liked to surround himself with beautiful boys, and Jarod was, even at that age, uncommonly beautiful, so he was selected along with a handful of others to be taken to the palace.


== Late Childhood ==


Many would later tell Jarod that luck was shining on him the day he was brought to the King's palace, but that rather depended upon your view of things.  At any rate, the moment Castus set his eyes upon Jarod he knew he had to have him, and he wasted no time in doing so.  For his part, Jarod dealt with the shattering of his innocence with as much strength and dignity as any child could manage, but not without more than a few adverse effects to his emotional well-being.  For the next four years, he remained the King's favorite past-time, and was frequently required to accompany him wherever he went.  Of course, he also enjoyed an otherwise luxurious lifestyle, complete with the finest tutors to educate him in all manor of subjects, from academics to etiquette.

At the age of fourteen, Castus decided it was time to officially begin Jarod's training to become a palace courtesan, so he turned him over to Delila, a woman whose task it was to teach Jarod everything he would need to know to entertain both men and women.  She did her job well, and Jarod was a particularly adept pupil, so he became very popular at banquets and parties.  One of the perks of his new position was the lessening of Castus' personal interest in him (though he certainly delighted in showing him off to his guests).  Another was the fact that he could now earn gold to keep towards the eventual purchase of his freedom (which every slave in the Golden City had the option of doing).  It wasn't long before Jarod had acquired a sizable savings, and with popularity and experience he also gained the freedom to do as he pleased within the castle walls (so long as what he pleased did not displease the King).  He was even allowed out into the city on numerous occasions, but only under guard.

Jarod was sixteen when he first discovered that he had inherited his father's feline bloodline.  It was an exceptional stroke of luck that his first traumatic shift from human to cat happened while he was alone in the King's vast garden.  The damage he unintentionally inflicted was blamed on an escaped lion from the palace zoo, and Jarod was able to keep his secret safe for the time being.  Unfortunately, no one was around to help him understand how to master his new abilities, so he dealt with his situation the best he could on his own.  The physical aspect of it he got under control relatively quickly, but he missed out on a great many things he ought to have been taught, and therefor never developed a connection to the mystical world or his own kind (at least, not during his formative years). 

A few months later, another major event in Jarod's life ocurred: he met the first person he ever fell in love with, [[Wesley Voralia]].  Wesley was a prince from a neighboring province.  His kingdom was larger and of more political importance (not to mention their superior army), but did not have the wealth that Castus possesed, so the Voralia family had decided it would be pertinent to develop a friendly relationship with their neighbor, and one that would be mutually beneficial.  So it was that Wesley (then 17) and his older sister [[Celeste Voralia|Celeste]] were sent to stay in the Golden City for six months as special guests of the King.  At first Wesley was reticent and aloof, generally prefering to spend his free time alone, but an uneasy friendship slowly developed between him and Jarod, both of whom felt trapped by their position and responsibilities.  This friendship quickly turned into a passionate love affair, but when time drew near for Wesley to return home, the foreign prince told Jarod that he was to be married soon, and could never acknowledge any sort of affection for a courtesan (least of all a male one).  This came as no real surprise, but was still extremely painful for Jarod to deal with.  He had spent so many years building up a resistance to emotions, and now he was practically drowning in them.  The night before Wesley and Celeste's departure, Celeste summoned Jarod to her room to talk.  She too was upset, and a little drunk, and the two of them ended up sleeping together out of a desperate need for mutual comfort.

A few months later, Wesley returned to the Golden City, this time accompanied by his father.  This visit was only a short one, but while the two were there a rumor began to circulate that Celeste was pregnant with Jarod's child (which, in fact, she was).  When Castus found out, he had Jarod beaten severely to appease the neighboring King.  Both he and Wesley were present for it, and the prince never once attempted to defend his former lover.  Of course, Jarod could have defended himself, but he did not ever lift a finger to do so.

Physically, he recovered from the beating surprisingly quickly (so quickly in fact that had anyone in court known better, they might have suspected he were not human), and he returned to his former life as if nothing had ever happened.  At least it seemed that way on the surface.  In reality he was more determined than ever to buy his freedom and leave the Golden City (and all of its memories) behind.  One day he heard that Celeste had had a miscarriage, and though this news was painful for him, he buried it deep under an icy veneer.  His last two years in the palace were spent in near-total numbness, until finally he had saved enough gold to free himself from Castus' whims.

Of course, things would not be so easy as they had been promised.  Despite the law requiring that slaves be freed if they met their buyer's price, Castus refused to let Jarod go.  He was cruel and stubborn, and saw Jarod as one of his most prized possesions.  He wasn't about to simply let a commodity like him just walk out the door.  That night, while alone with Castus in his bedroom, Jarod snapped.  Losing his temper, he shifted without realizing it and tore the King to pieces.  Quickly realizing the danger he was in, Jarod managed to slip away silently out the bedroom window and scale down the castle wall to disappear into the city.  He was lucky in one respect: that no one ever thought to suspect him in the King's murder, for clearly no human being could cause that sort of damage.  This was probably the reason he managed to make it out of the city with relative ease and escape into the wilderness beyond.  (It is often rumored to this day that Castus Auratus was punished by a demon for his sinful ways, and in fact not long after his death a civil war broke out in the city between the monarchy and a quickly-growing religious sect.)  This was the eve of Jarod's eighteenth birthday.


== Traveling ==


After escaping the Golden City, Jarod traveled a long way to reach the place he remembered as his childhood home.  The cabin was still there, practically untouched but for the absence of blood and death that had surrounded it the day he had left many years before.  He stayed there for a few days, simply allowing himself to remember the life which now barely seemed more than a dream, and while he was there he found one of his father's weapons: an ancient blade resembling a huge knife covered in strange, tribal markings.  At the time he had no idea what the significance of the weapon was, but he kept it and took it with him for safe keeping, along with a few other artifacts of his lost family.  Then he left to continue his travels.  He had no set destination in mind, only to follow the road until he felt like stopping.

Not long after he set out from his childhood home, Jarod made contact with his own kind for the first time since his father's death.  An exotic old woman named [[Nima]] found him and offered to teach him more about who he was and how better to use his gifts.  Though initially distrustful of her, Jarod allowed himself to become her pupil and the two of them lived together alone in the wilderness for the span of a few months.  His education ought to have lasted a great deal longer, and it would have if he'd been found at the proper age, but Nima had other duties to attend to and Jarod found himself feeling extremely restless, so the two of them parted ways (though they would meet again many times).

At this point, Jarod's travels took him to [[Myrken Wood]].  The bastet part of him did well in the wilderness, and to a certain extent did not mind the isolation, but a very different, more human side of him craved city life.  He had an unmistakable taste for urban culture, and to a certain degree he missed the luxury of his former lifestyle, so when he finally stopped in [[Myrkentown]], he went to work at an Inn doing the one thing he knew how to do exceptionally well: prostitution.  All things considered, Jarod did extremely well for himself.  He was certainly the most popular among the male courtesans of the area, and also by far the most expensive.  Unfortunately, Myrken was not nearly as large or wealthy (nor as fond of people in his profession) as his previous home, so after awhile he packed his things and moved on to a city he found much more suitable for his career: [[Waterford]].  

A coastal city to the North of Myrken Wood with a large, heavily frequented port, Waterford was a bustling center of commerce.  Most importantly, however, it was home to a particularly classy, exotic Inn called the [[Blooming Orchid]].  The Orchid was a perfect location for Jarod to conduct business, and he prospered there, but he continued to make trips back and forth between there and Myrkentown.  This was partly due to a desire to relax in a quieter town, but also to visit with a few friends who lived in Myrken.  With Nima's help, Jarod found a way to travel quickly between the two cities (much faster than he could on horseback), and eventually he would call them both his home.


== Myrken/Waterford ==


By this time Jarod was 23, he was the Blooming Orchid's most sought after commodity, able to pick and choose his clients as well as when he worked and what he did while working.  Most importantly, he could (and did) charge practically whatever he wanted.  He had a large, luxurious apartment in the city as well as a pleasant home in Myrken's countryside.  In Waterford Jarod was careful who he spent time with (after all, he could hardly charge such high prices if it were easy to acquire his company for free), but in Myrken he felt no such restrictions, so he soon developed the reputation as being an incorrigable seductor, both with women and men.  In particular, he had the rather unforgivable habit of temporarily stealing away proper women from their husbands.  Jarod had a vindictive streak when it came to certain types of men (namely the ones who disapproved of his lifestyle), and he made a particular point in targeting them, though this frequently got him into trouble and to this day he is not well liked in Myrken by its male citizens.

This was when Jarod first met [[Evan Greene]].  Evan was a seventeen year old boy from a small village to the South of Myrkentown which he had run away from after a heated argument with his father (the village blacksmith) over his desire to become a painter (as well as his many other unmasculine characteristics).  Initially, Jarod did not pay the boy much mind, but Evan seemed quite determined to attract the beautiful courtesan's attention and eventually he succeeded.  Of course, attracting Jarod's attention once and attracting it permanently were two very different things, and Evan was sorely disappointed to find that Jarod had no intentions whatsoever of pursuing a relationship with him.  For that matter, Jarod had no intentions of ever pursuing a relationship with anyone.  Still, that didn't stop the boy from doggedly pursuing his goal, and slowly, painfully, he managed to wind his way somewhat into Jarod's life.  Jarod would not admit it at the time, but he was gradually becoming rather fond of Evan and even got used to having him around on a semi-regular basis while he was in Myrken.

At around the same time that Evan came into Jarod's life, so too did [[Aislinn]], a blind and unusually innocent elf maiden who quickly became as much of a friend to Jarod as he was capable of having.  Initially he flirted with her, charming her as he did everyone who allowed him to do so, but eventually his conscience got the better of him and he backed off.  She was too kind and fragile, and he could sense somehow that being with him would be harmful to her.  Unfortunately, this decision came too late, and one night Aislinn told him she was in love with him - a sentiment he could not, or would not share.  This, and Evan, caused a rift in their relationship which he greatly regretted, but in the end he assumed she would be better off (though he continued to defend her whenever he saw she was in danger.)

By the time Jarod was 26 and Evan 20, their relationship had developed into something far more serious than Jarod had ever intended, and he was finally forced to admit that he did indeed love this sweet, talented, determined little farm-boy.  Of course, any relationship for him would not follow conventional rules, and both he and Evan continued to bed other people, but in spite of this they had become exceedingly attached to each other; so much so that Jarod eventually allowed Evan to move into his home.  Life settled down somewhat for Jarod, but it would not remain that way.  One day, much to Jarod's unpleasant surprise, someone from his past showed up at the Broken Dagger: Wesley Voralia.

Wesley brought with him some rather surprising new: that Celeste's child had not died, as Jarod (and everyone else) had been told.  Celeste had given birth to a daughter, but the child had been spirited away into the care of foster parents in an attempt to hide her existance.  Not long after her daughter had been taken from her, Celeste had jumped from her bedroom window and died, so Wesley was the only member of the family to ever pay the girl any visits.  He also named her, in an uncharacteristic show of sentimentality, after Jarod's mother, having thought perhaps that this was the name Jarod himself might choose.  All of this news hit Jarod rather hard, as did seeing Wesley again, but what made matters even more confusing was that Wesley had brought [[Ilana Nightingale|Ilana]] with him to hand over into Jarod's care, for her foster parents had died in a fire and no one was left to take care of her (certainly not the royal family, who would likely have just as soon had her killed).  After a few days, Wesley departed for home, leaving the ten year old Ilana with Jarod and Evan.

Ilana resembled her father in almost every way, except that her eyes were a bright, silvery-grey much like her mother's.  She was an aloof and quiet child, well-behaved and unusually mature for her age, but hesitant to trust or show affection.  Jarod of course had no idea how to properly raise a child (nor had he ever wanted to), but he found himself surprisingly fond of the strange little girl and he did a much better job caring for her than anyone would have expected.  Evan, of course, adored her, and he was often found enticing the child out of her shell to laugh and play.  Soon it became clear to Jarod that his current profession was not at all compatible with parenthood, so he took his sizable savings and purchased the Blooming Orchid from its original owner (who had been looking to retire).  Having finally given up being a courtesan, Jarod took to management rather well, and the Inn did as well under his supervision as it ever had.

The next two years were likely the happiest, and least eventful, years of Jarod's life since before his parents had died.  He, Evan and Ilana made for an unusual sort of family, but a family they were all the same.  Jarod even dared to believe that things might stay that way; that perhaps he could have a normal and happy life like other people had but that he had never imagined for himself.  In fact, this is what happened, but eventually everything in life changes.  After awhile Evan began to become restless.  He was young yet and desired to go traveling.  Perhaps even have an adventure or two.  So when an opportunity came up for him to join the crew of a merchant ship, he took it and left Jarod and Ilana behind.  

Not long after Evan's departure, Nima once again payed Jarod a visit, this time to request that he allow Ilana to apprentice with her and another Sarkan woman named [[Rashona]].  It seemed that Ilana possesed a great deal of latent power, and they believed her to be of particular importance to their tribe.  As such, they wanted to begin her training as soon as possible.  Initially, Jarod angrily refused their request, for he had always been on the fringe of bastet society and was not on the best terms with most of them.  Furthermore, he had no intention of letting his daughter go so soon after the loss of the other member of their family.  In the end, however, Ilana expressed her desire to go with the other bastet and learn what they had to teach her, so Jarod put aside his own feelings and let her go.  She still visits him whenever she is able to, but most of the time his apartment, and his home in Myrken, remain depressingly empty.


[[Category:Characters]]