Corin Thalor

Corin was eight when his parents died on a dungeon run. He had already shown a rare aptitude with the crossbow, and his uncle took him in. By eleven, under his uncle’s instruction, Corin was an excellent shot with strong stealth, tracking, and woodsman skills; his knife work was coming along well.

At twelve, his Half-Elf heritage and latent magic began to surface. Shadows gathered around his hands, and loose stones shifted when his temper rose. That same year, dogmen attacked his village. His uncle hid him in an underground bunker, but everyone else was killed. Corin survived alone in the forest for several months before reaching a small city.

For eighteen months he lived in a narrow crevice inside a restaurant wall, stealing food and pickpocketing to survive. He found a disused storeroom and used it to practice with his crossbow, knife, shadow magic, and earth manipulation. At thirteen, older urchins found him and beat him severely. An ex-delver recognized his family name, nursed him back to health, and brought him to the Adventurers’ Guild.

The guild sent him to a nearby adventurers’ school. Corin is now seventeen and has spent three years in formal shadow training. His instructors have developed his infiltration skills, recognized his natural gift for long-range shooting, and begun shaping him toward the work of a sniper, infiltrator, and thief. His eagle eye has become a defining part of his marksmanship. He is now working toward shadow step—the ability to vanish into one patch of darkness and emerge from another. He can sense the path in brief flashes, but cannot yet complete it reliably.

Corin is reserved and sees no reason to speak when a glance, gesture, or well-placed bolt will do. He studies windows, rooftops, and hands before settling into a room. He maintains his crossbow in silence, taps a finger once against his stock when judging distance, and rarely boasts about a successful shot. His Chaotic Good streak shows in the rules he breaks: he steals from people who exploit others, ignores orders that put innocents at risk, and chooses a dangerous rescue over a clean retreat.

He has developed a deep fondness for Seraphine Veyr and is fiercely protective of her, though he hides those feelings behind practical favors and careful silence. He is also physically attracted to her and sometimes catches himself watching her figure, then looks away before she notices. The attraction embarrasses him because it feels less controllable than his affection. He does not treat it as a claim on her; he simply carries the desire privately, uncertain whether confessing it would strengthen their bond or cost him her trust.

Corin assumes every shelter has a hidden cost and every kindness will eventually be collected as a debt. He steals small, unnecessary objects when anxious, then hides them rather than admit what he has done. He rarely asks for help until exhaustion makes the decision for him. Threats against children or helpless companions can pull him out of cover and into fights he has no chance of winning.

Corin wants to master the shadow step and become a marksman who can reach any firing position, deliver one decisive shot, and disappear before the enemy understands where he stood. He is drawn toward infiltration and theft because locked doors, guarded vaults, and powerful men have never seemed like good reasons to stop him. He wants to discover what truly happened on his parents’ final dungeon run and why the dogmen destroyed his village. He also wants Seraphina safe, though he has not admitted how far he would go for her.

Corin is three years into the Adventurers’ School’s shadow-magic path. His Half-Elf senses give him unusually clear vision in dim light, and his developing eagle eye lets him read distant movement, spot weak points, and judge a target’s position through clutter.

His first year focused on concealment: dimming a small light, blurring his outline, muffling a footfall, and throwing a false silhouette across a wall. During his second year he learned to form a short-lived black screen, wrap a bolt or knife in numbing shadow, outline a creature he has clearly seen, and fold darkness around his body for a heartbeat to turn a solid hit into a glancing blow.

His third year has turned toward movement and control. Corin can now flatten himself into a patch of darkness for a breath, slip beneath a door’s shadow, and emerge several steps away. He cannot yet cross open ground or travel through a target’s shadow. The distance must be short, both points must be connected by unbroken darkness, and panic can leave him half-stunned at the point of departure. His instructors call this the first gate of shadow step. Corin has reached it twice in practice and failed it often enough to know that wanting the power is not the same as possessing it.

His current shadow techniques include: - Shadow Veil: reduces his visibility in darkness or broken light. - False Silhouette: creates a fleeting decoy moving in a chosen direction. - Hushed Footfall: swallows a brief sound from his movement or equipment. - Umbral Bolt: coats a bolt or knife in numbing shadow, making the wound difficult to judge. - Black Screen: raises a temporary curtain of darkness across a narrow opening or firing lane. - Hunter’s Mark: outlines a creature he has seen clearly, allowing him to track it through ordinary darkness for several minutes. - Gloaming Guard: folds shadow around him for a heartbeat, turning a clean hit into a glancing blow. - First Step: the unreliable beginning of shadow step, carrying him a few paces between connected patches of darkness.

Corin’s earth and rock manipulation remains modest but practical. He can loosen a stone, shift gravel, seal a narrow crack, raise a low ridge, anchor his boots against a shove, or shape a fist-sized stone into a wedge or caltrop. He uses these talents to prepare firing positions, jam mechanisms, hide tracks, and create escape routes. Bright open ground weakens his shadow work, extended casting leaves his hands cold and numb, and strong emotion can make the darkness lash outward before he has chosen a target.

Second Year — Applied Shadowcraft

Corin’s second year turned concealment into fieldcraft. He learned to shape a short-lived black screen across a doorway, alley, or firing lane; wrap a crossbow bolt or knife in numbing shadow; and mark a creature he had seen clearly so its outline remained visible to him through ordinary darkness. He learned to fold shadow around his body for a heartbeat, turning a clean hit into a glancing blow. His instructors also drilled him in moving between pools of cover without breaking rhythm, choosing firing positions by available darkness, and using a false silhouette to make an enemy look in the wrong direction. His earth magic supported this work: he learned to shift gravel without noise, loosen stones from old walls, and raise a low ridge for cover.

Fourth Year — The First True Shadow Step

The fourth year is projected to focus on completing Shadow Step. Corin will learn to identify a viable destination by its darkness, hold his body together during the transition, and emerge without losing his weapon or balance. Early exercises will limit him to a few paces between connected shadows. Later work may allow him to cross a room, pass through a barred opening if its shadow reaches him, or retreat from a failed assassination attempt. He will also study countermeasures: recognizing magical darkness, detecting creatures that hide in shadow, and resisting effects that pin or unravel him during transit. His marksmanship training will pair with the technique, teaching him to step into a prepared firing position rather than simply flee.

Fifth Year — The Vanishing Marksman

The fifth year is projected to combine movement, long-range shooting, and infiltration. Corin will train to fire immediately after a shadow step, relocate before an enemy can triangulate his position, and maintain a chain of prepared firing points through a building or woodland approach. He will work toward a longer-lasting shadow veil, silent manipulation of locks and mechanisms, and the ability to leave a false trail or decoy presence behind him. His earth magic may develop into subtle structural sabotage: loosening hinges, shifting stones in a wall, collapsing a small section of cover, or sealing a pursuit route. The school will also teach him restraint, target identification, and extraction, since a sniper who cannot leave with the evidence or the rescued captive is only a murderer with better distance.

Projected limits remain clear. Shadow Step will require darkness, line-of-effect through connected shadow, and concentration. Bright light, magical wards, exhaustion, and emotional panic will interfere with it. Corin is expected to become a dangerous sniper and infiltrator, but not an unstoppable one.