Bayani

We first meet Bayani when he's a young struggling orphan on the streets of Kinrai, the capital of Royal Seyla. The city is known for its beauty, wealth, Companions, and as the Seylan Queen's seat of power. Every powerful city has a dark underbelly though, and Kinrai is no exception. In the shadow of this wealth and power are the street urchins. Children left behind by ships, abandoned by the needy, or born to those already on the streets.

Bayani was born to a young destitute mother, who died in childbirth, by an unknown Am'ayim sailor. He was a "Shore Child," a derogatory Am'ayim term for those born out of the sea and are only half Am'ayim blood. This relegated him to being cared for in a commonwealth house until he was old enough to be kicked out. The commonwealth houses of Kinrai only take care of children until they can fend for themselves on the streets. A brutal side effect of difficult economics. After this he spent the rest of his childhood on the streets, inside of the urchin gang run by an older youth named Armor. The life of a street urchin in Kinrai is a hard one. Starvation, murder, fights, and being sold in underground slave markets are all everyday occurrences.

Bayani was a clever child, but few make it out of Kinrai's streets alive, and he would have been no exception. Except for the intervention of a mysterious stranger. The strange man appeared out of nowhere, gave Bayani what he needed to not only survive but fight his way out of the streets, then vanished just as quickly.

After this event Bayani spent most of his time learning Kali, the native stick fighting style of the Am'ayim in a local school, while learning what he could about working aboard a ship. Until finally he was ready and approached an Am'ayim ship known as The Ariela.

Over the next few years Bayani proved himself a valuable crew member, both as a sailor, and as a ship's nightwatch. He even earned four earrings of rank, an almost unheard of feat for a shore child.

Recently he has begun to court another crew member. Am'ayim vessels welcome women sailors as commonly as men. This however is a unique case because she is not only the captain's daughter but an heir to the Masudo Family. Will Bayani's persistence, strength, and willpower prove enough? Or do the tides hold a different future for this young man?