Editing Character:Silk (section)

==History==
''"Sort of man they're like to send believes hard. Kills, and never asks why."'' -- Shepherd Book, "Serenity"

Silk was born in Chu, one of the desert kingdoms south-east of the Varang City States. His memories of his parents and of living with his family are unaccountably blurry and disjointed. Clear memories of his childhood begin only with being part of a group of seven children aged four like himself and sitting through long and boring hours of teaching broken up by much more interesting periods of physical exercise. An aura of sadness and an undercurrent of fear flavors those memories - he'd learned quickly, that the Cult of Harama's Dancers didn't look kindly on their young initiates crying or even mentioning his family and that following their every instruction was the easiest way to escape punishment. Forgetting about his parents who had sold him to the cult was probably the easiest way to cope with his situation. In any case the endless lessons and competitive games under the constant supervision of hard-eyed adults comprised much of Silk's - who at that point had not yet earned any name - childhood and adolescence. In time the subjects shifted from cult indoctrination to actual learning and exercise became training in truth. He learned the name and teachings of Harama, the Southern Goddess of Assassination, and of the things she demanded of her cult in return, he learned the lay of the human body and its vulnerabilities, he learned the dance of shadows and how to use them to his advantage, he learned to keep body and mind to strict discipline and how to use that body to kill with efficiency. With 16, now called by the name of 'Silk', he began to take part in the duties of these hard men and women that had taught him. The cold gleam of fanaticism in his eyes he was ready to do anything in the name of the cult and the kingdom of Chu that sheltered it.

And Chu's king as well as the masters of the cult made good use of their investment: Spying on the kingdom's more powerful nobles and later on foreign powers, delivering secret messages or intercepting them, blackmail, threats, and of course the highest of the disciplines, assassination. Initially he kept count of successful operations but as he grew in experience he abandoned the practice, consigning himself entirely to the pursuit of efficiency. Carried by singular determination his skill improved greatly and he rose quickly in the ranks of the cult, becoming a solo operative and then with only 24 a cell leader. It was only then that he began to notice things around him, became aware the precepts he'd been taught weren't always put to use. And where an off-duty life of decadent luxury might be excusable the discovery of factions in mutual conflict existing within the organization stood entirely against the singularity of purpose demanded of its members. After numerous attempts and finding him unable to do anything about it without being drawn into the conflict himself Silk reluctantly had to accept the state of affairs as reality and that particular principle as only theory. This was the first blow against his faith and it wouldn't be the last. Even harder hit him the desertion of Sari One-Hand, one of his mentors and - as far as that was possible within the cult - his friend, a few months later. Silk volunteered for the team to go after him, most to hear from Sari himself why in the world he'd do something like this, but the older man wasn't a master for nothing and the trail went cold quickly and he was left with only questions and no answers.

It was in this confused state of mind on a mission to the neighboring kingdom that Silk met Teja, a healer's apprentice living in Ilá's capital city. Where at first confusion reigned quickly fascination followed, then love blossomed between the unlikely couple. When Silk was recalled a month later he was conflicted but in the end indoctrination won out. He returned to Chu both happier and more sad than before, but also for the first time in his life with a secret he kept from the cult. Over the next few years Silk used every opportunity to get assigned to Ilá and be with Teja as long as his missions allowed. By the time his daughter Leah was born he had already stopped thinking about the split loyalties inherent to his situation, aided by the lucky circumstance that the two absolutes never met in outright conflict. In any case, the days he could spend with Teja and Leah were his happiest, an entirely new dimension added to the life of efficiency, the only joy of which was in an assignment well done. This state of affairs could have continued for a long time if Silk's superiors hadn't become - perhaps inevitably - suspicious of the all the time their star pupil was spending abroad. Convinced after covertly investigating the situation that he'd become ensnared by their opposite agency's trap they send a full cell to 'resolve' the matter.

And so when Silk returned to Teja's house one evening he found her lying dead in her bed, the shadows full of cold, judging eyes and Leah simply gone. From the moment of realization to his former colleagues' attack it was barely a second, but in that second his world burned to the ground and shattered into pieces along with all the faith in the cult he had left. His silent cry of pain  vow of retribution for this injustice might have been enough to make Harama frown, but is wasn't she who heard it. Instead Silk was heard by Sol Invictus himself who smiled his perfect smile and in an instant derailed destiny's carefully laid plans. The cell assigned to Silk's liquidation died within seconds of the eruption of shadowed golden light, within a week much of the cults command structure was annihilated and Leah was the first child in decades to be freed from their clutches. Silk might even have gone after Harama herself, hat he known how to find her. After ten days only scattered cells of the once mighty cult remained and the kingdom of Chu had lost its most potent weapon against the now invading armies of Ilá, in whose wake traveled a Wyld Hunt. Now beyond caring for such things Silk along with his daughter left the falling kingdom behind and began his flight, choosing the East as his destination just as Sari One-Hand had done years before.

Several months ago, just after leaving Nexus behind him, Silk realized to his horror that among the things he'd tried to teach to Leah were not only some of the basic lessons that he himself had received from the instructors of the cult but also part of their indoctrination. His motives had been entirely noble, namely to help her remain beneath notice and keep up the disguise hiding the two of them from possible pursuers. But hidden among the simple techniques had been the roots of mental shapings that were the very reason he had fought to keep her away from the cult. Concluding that his own upbringing and one-sided education made him ill-equipped to be a good father without help from others and in fact even dangerous to be around too much - especially if he was indeed still pursued or if he started implementing his more ambitious plans - he searched long and hard for a good foster family for Leah. Finally he found a family in the city of Northeast Spoke that had already taken in one foster child to raise among their own children and appeared (in background checks and shameless spying) both compassionate and just. Although he visits her often it was a painful move for both of them, but Silk is certain that it will be for the best.