Long Story
Please note that spoilers are divided into sections. You don't need any of the spoiler sections to understand Marsius's character or draw him. Each section adds another chapter to his life that will eventually be written out in the story. If you do end up reading a spoiler section PLEASE do not reveal the information to anyone else. If you want to illustrate anything from the spoiler sections, that's okay (it's why the spoilers are included!), but please don't reveal the spoilers in any image description, or if you must, protect them with spoiler warnings and keep the info as minimal as possible!

Marsius is from Erle, the hometown of the cannibal bandits. When he was a young man, he left Erle and traveled extensively across the continent, visiting the great libraries of Gotha and the universities of Dracin in Loki. He met many interesting people and had many adventures, none of which is worth noting here. During his travels he met a half-elf named Cinn-Xaren who eventually traveled back with Marsius to Erle.

While the cannibal bandits are all quite well-traveled, none were as widely-versed in other cultures as Marsius and his expertise soon turned the bandits' occasional trading into a profitable enterprise. He earned much respect among his people and eventually became the de facto leader of the bandits. Under his leadership the bandits prospered for many years. In the summer and early fall they terrorized trading caravans and obtained loot and riches, then returned to Erle for winter, and in the spring that loot which was not needed was traded back for new supplies.

[spoilers]It was during a standard summer raiding run that the bandits captured Neesa and while at first they were planning on eating her, when she stepped up to take the place of their recently deceased cook her life was spared. Shortly after, the bandits also captured Daerinnid, Tetra Xida, and Edwin, Daerinnid and Tetra both having been wounded during their altercation in the woods. At Neesa's insistence (and given the fact they were freshly-supplied and -fed from a caravan raid) the bandits did not eat these guests, either, though they very nearly ate Tetra at first.[/spoilers]

[morespoilers]Instead, a minor squabble erupted about who should get Tetra's magical gems. The victor in the squabble ended up being Daerinnid, who stole off with the gems in the company of Shizuka, one of the bandit assassins, who was trying to cover up the fact he had poisoned one of the other bandits during his own attempt to steal the gems. Together they stole off in the middle of the night.

When the theft was discovered in the morning the bandits immediately mobilized to pursue Daerinnid and Shizuka with Tetra, Neesa, and Edwin in their company. They lost the trail temporarily when there was a heavy rainstorm and they were forced to stop and weather it, though they were able to determine Shizuka's final destination based on the direction. Edwin, frustrated by the delay, stole Marsius's horse and rode off alone towards the City of Rakkel.

Remobilizing after the rainstorm delayed the bandits a few hours, much to Marsius's dismay, as he was now determined to wring Edwin's neck for the horse theft. When they finally arrived in Rakkel they managed to locate Shizuka, Daerinnid, and Edwin (who had been captured by Daerinnid) but learned that they were already guests of the Duke in the castle which was heavily protected by the Castle Guard, City Guard, and Rakkel Assassins' Guild.

Marsius's old friend Cinn-Xaren, who had begun a sexual relationship with Tetra, was determined to get Tetra's gems back for her as she would die without them. He broke into the castle on his own and a small battle broke out in Daerinnid's rooms in which Cinn-Xaren lost an arm. He returned to the cannibal bandits after the battle for aid but soon left them once more to assault the castle yet again.[/morespoilers]

[yetmorespoilers]This time, Marsius went to the castle as well and stopped Cinn-Xaren with his magic-piercing arrow, saving Daerinnid's life. In exchange for Marsius's general cooperation Daerinnid convinced the Duke that Cinn-Xaren's attack had been aimed at the duke and not at Daerinnid, and that he and Marsius were heroes for having stopped the crazy half-elf. (Daerinnid also "forgot" to mention that Marsius's group were in the fact the cannibal bandits and not a mercenary band.) Without her gems, Tetra died and was unceremoniously eaten by the bandits. They ate Cinn-Xaren, too.

Thus Marsius and Daerinnid were forced into an uneasy alliance. Marsius knew the truth about Cinn-Xaren's assault and about the fact that Shizuka had orchestrated an attack on the Assassins' Guild a few days earlier, and Daerinnid knew that Marsius's band were criminals. So long as they both kept quiet they were safe.[/yetmorespoilers]

[stillmorespoilers]It was in Rakkel that Marsius met Whiskers and his wife Olivi. [/stillmorespoilers]

TBC