Jinnai Halfmoor

Jinnai Halfmoor
Race:	Human
Appearance
Hair Color:	Black
Eye Color:	Brown
Additional Information
Aliases:	Reznai, Moorjin
Occupation:	Former Bounty Hunter

Character Background

Halfmoor has a very colorful history. He was largely responsible for the defeat of a goblin horde in the year 468. he is most well known for his skills as an archer.

Other Information

His Own Words

From the notes of an unknown party,

The following biography is the result of more than a year's extensive work in expanding the profile of Jinnai Halfmoor I originally received. For posterity, I must herein record that my own prowess and resourcefulness was not the sole obtainer of the wealth of information enclosed. Mages, information dealers, other assorted specialists, and a stolen artifact known as an Elephantine Tome were used to facilitate the creation of this profile. The process was considerably arduous, expensive, and, I believe, ultimately fruitful.

ON HIS PEDIGREE

In order to proceed chronologically in the history of Jinnai Halfmoor (aliases include Reznai and the oh-so-inventive Moorjin) the first year I must cite is that of 410, the estimated birth of Josiah Teneer. Josiah Teneer, I learned in my research, was the trainer of Jinnai Halfmoor and a surrogate father to the youth. The name and its province of birth was quite easy to obtain, the old man having visited Halfmoor twice in Drache. With the name of Teneer and the home of Ruthmarna established, I was able to find Census documentation of a Teneer family in the small mining town of Sarkath (Teneer's unarangothian names are likely the result of the town's dwarvish influence, but may have suffered the same bastardization as Halfmoor's. See below.) While the town no longer exists, I discovered through tax records taken by a local lord twenty years later that Josiah was no longer resident of the town by 430. I must theorize that he either left of his own volition or was driven out by the townsfolk. Nevertheless, Teneer's next recorded mention was a prison record in the city of Millabratel for 432, in which Teneer was arrested for thievery. Soon after, his name appears on the roster for a trading ship departing for Elluria from a coastal port.

The name of Jinnai's true father, which I have discovered is Josef Halfmoor, was harder to track down, as the last Transdarianian census before the Alysian period was in 400. However, a ship's roster in the year 435 leaving from an Aranian port lists a Josef Halfmoor from a small peasant farming area in the south. As Halfmoor is not a native Arangothian name either, I was curious as to whether or not it was an alias. By examining the Transdarianian provincial census, however, I discovered a Lossef Ul-Mitrif Alfrimorre registered in the area of Varerelk. With this admittedly slim evidence, I have theorized that the father's name was something closer to Gossef Alfrimorre (the Arangothian language has no 'J') but was muddied by the illiterate peasant and a confused ship's clerk. In any case, I have guessed the elder Halfmoor's birth-year as somewhere around 415.

Knowing of Jinnai Halfmoor's extra-continental origins, I inquired among merchant and pirating circles as to Eastern expeditions in a specific time period. These expeditions being relatively rare, I was able to acquire a pirate ship's roster in the city of Kagamki and gain the information I sought. Somewhere in the late 440s, Josef Halfmoor was enlisted on a pirating expedition to the far east - a place the sailor I interviewed claimed was called Panguro.

Panguro, popularly known as The Sword Islands, lies across the world, and consists of an island archipelego, whence comes much of the west's silk and katana swords. Apparently the pirating expedition made its base in the ports of Nipangu and carried out extensive and rewarding raids along the coasts of Nipangu's rival nation of Sai-No-Gu.

While there, Josef Halfmoor apparently frequented a prostitute, known as jo-Takama-shi-Makie. This much is apparent from verbal accounts by Jinnai himself, though other information is all second-hand and much of it is unreliable.

What is clear, is that in the year 449 Makie refused her madame's abortive medicine and gave birth to Josef's son, Jinnai Halfmoor. According to information obtained by questioning former pirates involved in the expedition, the usually quite amoral Josef was so struck by the child that he talked widely of giving up the pirating life and securing land in Transdariania for his new 'family.'

The expedition returned in the summer of 450 and there are records at Millabratel in the fall concerning Josef Halfmoor's dealings for a plot of land outside the hamlet of Drache. However, less than a month later, Josef's name was enrolled on yet another pirating expedition and several others for the next few years. There is no further evidence that he had any contact with Nipangu or made any other attempt to secure land. This is not surprising, as many pirates and other seamen find the life hard to give up, even if he had originally intended to settle down.

Also on the roster of this early 451 pirating expedition was Josiah Teneer himself and almost all of the consecutive expeditions in the next 3 years involved both men. I conclude that the two became comrades or friends.

((OOC: The post 'The Pirate's Grin I' takes place at this time.))

In the early winter of 453 there are judicial records in Millabratel involving the trial of Josiah Teneer for a stolen bag of silver. However, upon my own examination of the evidence, and by now, my knowledge of the two men, I came to the conclusion that the crime was more probably perpetrated by Halfmoor, but that he fled before they were caught. This betrayal ended any partnership the two might have had, and there are no further reports of the two working together.

The next significant expedition for the elder Halfmoor is one in the summer of the year 454 involving the raiding of shipping routes between Ethcabar-Antara and Elluria. While fleeing from authorities, the ship containing Halfmoor was caught in the Hell's Eye whirlpool and was drawn under. All hands were lost according to the report of the pursuing ship.

ON HIS BOYHOOD

The year before, a four year old named Jinnai Halfmoor was enrolled in Romanek's Orphanage for Boys in Ethcabar-Antara. The Orphanage is now closed, and the proprietor deceased, but I was able to obtain access to a storage facility where the orphanage paperwork was kept. The records give his father's name as Josef Halfmoor, his place of birth as Neepank (some bastardization of Nipangu), and state that his mother was killed by what is called the 'Whore's Pox,' a common name for different venereal diseases.

The enroller was a ship captain who had recently sailed to the west from Nipangu itself. The likely explanation is that the brothel where Makie lived had no use for the child, but was unwilling to expose him, and had him taken back to the east and his father. It is doubtful the ship's captain had any desire to track down Josef as he was charged - since he had already been paid - and enrolled Jinnai in the orphanage instead. The city of Rispith, or the nation of Thontaran would have been a much more likely point for the captain to unload his unwelcome cargo, and his reasons for choosing Ethcabar instead are unknown.

Described as a trouble-maker and a petulant youth by former Orphanage workers, Jinnai joined several other boys in escaping the orphanage in the year 457, and personally stabbed the headmaster in the leg. Informants in Ethcabar then have his name placed as a member of the self-titled Vast North Ethcabaran Street Gang, along with the other boys, bringing that organizations membership up to 12. Informants seemed to remember the 'Vasters' as fierce, but rather small and pathetic in an amusing sort of way.

As did many street-rat gangs, Jinnai's suffered from a plethora of adversaries, including severe emotional and psychological trauma, bad hygiene leading to chronic sickness, malnutrition, rivalries with other gangs, and conflict with the authorities.

It is not surprising then, that according to contemporary informants in Ethcabar, the current (as of Sun's Dusk [November], 469) state of the gang is less than exemplary. Of the twelve original members, three were murdered or executed, one committed suicide, two were jailed for extended periods of time and disappeared after, and one became a cloistered monk of one of the Gods of Peace. Two or more entered major crime guilds and are still operating. The two remaining are unaccounted for, but believed victims of plague.

A significant point for Halfmoor during this period comes in the year of 459, when Jinnai killed his first man. The victim was apparently a neighborhood thug who had been assaulting one of the gang members. The Ethcabaran Watch listed the murder as unsolved, but through the Antaran underground, I was able to discover the truth.

ON HIS APPRENTICESHIP

In the year 462, with the gang already disintegrating, Jinnai was caught and successfully convicted of stealing, his third such conviction, and was sentenced to have his right hand cut off. According to Watch records, he shared a jail cell that night with none other than Josiah Teneer. Teneer had been arrested for causing a public disturbance while drunk, but his occupation was listed in the records as bounty hunter. This is curious and merits examination.

I have theorized that as early as 454 Josiah recanted his 'life of sin' and sought a way to atone for his career of murder, rape, and thievery. Obviously unsuited for life as a Watchman or monk, Teneer became a bounty hunter in a different sense than most. Instead of unscrupulously hunting down men for money, Teneer's version of bounty hunting was seeking out criminals and turning them in to the authorities (or in some cases, killing them) for a reward, a romanticized private-sector lawman. Through this, he may have hoped to bring enough evil men to justice to tip the scales in his own favor once death came for him. Neremis' old statement rings true, 'Nothing drives a man towards doing good faster than selfishness." But I digress.

Prison records declare that Halfmoor's hand was indeed severed that morning, yet the man himself has both extremities intact and Teneer by all accounts is missing his right hand. It appears that Josiah turned himself in to the prison guards as Jinnai and had his right hand severed, while Jinnai was taken for Teneer and released with an admonition not to drink so much. This sacrifice appears to be the beginning of their mentor-protege relationship as most future accounts figure the two together as bounty hunters or vigilantes.

For the next four years, the two's movements are hard to track down. Those records that do exist are scattered around the continent, as the duo obviously travelled a great deal. The locations of Rispith, Aslar; Garusk, Leturia; Secca; and Taranor/Telemenx are all confirmed. It is during this period that Halfmoor apparently obtained both the majority of his skills as a fighter and lawman and his primary weapon, a dwarf-made and gnome-tinkered heavy crossbow of exceeding quality. According to recent correspondence, he has since added a number of modifications to the weapon, as well as having an impressive collection of other crossbows.

((This is also when parts II and III of 'The Pirate's Grin' take place))

ON HIS BURGEONING CAREER

Early in Jinnai's sixteenth year, the calendar year 466, Teneer returned to the Arangothian province of Ruthmarna (where, until recently, he has lived since) to continue hunting but cease his travelling. He apparently encouraged Jinnai to carry on without him, as the boy's career turned solo.

As a parting gift, Teneer apparently arranged for Jinnai to be leased an apartment in the fledgling city of Aran Keep by an old friend of his, an Aranian merchant named Ran Del'Kazioth (possibly from 'ul-kaxatod,' son of the foreigner?). The merchant's son, Ferrio, became Jinnai's roommate - a state which continued for the rest of the year.

For most of the calendar year 467, Jinnai's movements remained relatively stationary. He did ply his trade in and around the city, according to locals, but usually worked around the established authorities, rather than with them. Ferrio, a year younger than Halfmoor and described by neighbours as being 'a clean-cut, well-behaved, and handsome youth,' worked for his father as a caravan guard, and was an amateur swordsman. Witnesses proclaim the two were close friends and often inseparable.

Here Jinnai's tale once again becomes hard to discern, owing to the refusal of Aran Keepers to talk of Ferrio or his father in regards to the events of April 467, even under pressure. While torture may have procured more information, time was pressing and I largely dismissed the month.

Written records do indicate that Ferrio Ul-Ran Del'Kazioth was registered on one of his father's metal-goods caravans to the countryside near Sresar Vale, and his fiance Sara Ul-Kenglith Asprolta (a cousin of the Asprolta bluebloods) was reported missing early in the month. She was never seen again. Subsequently, the loss of the entire caravan - including goods, horses, wagons, and men - was quietly covered up. Ferrio as a citizen seems to have ceased existing, both in legal records and in the minds of city-goers. Upon being pressed, one citizen did admit that from then on Ferrio lived with his father. This is curious, but as the lease on the apartment expired and Jinnai left, it is unimportant. As an adendum, however, the elder Del'Kazioth died in the year 468 and Ferrio soon turned up in Drache, completely mad. The Del'Kazioth trading network has absorbed by the larger Asprolta empire.

The bounty hunter, apparently shaken by the month's mysterious events, traveled south to the Isle of Myst, where the Rhydinian immigration was also impacting. The Dragon Myst Inn's records, carefully obtained, document Jinnai obtaining a room and staying in it for the last half of 467 and the first half of 468. He was in a considerably stable position with regards to money at that time, not having lost much with the low rent on his and Ferrio's apartment.

It was during his stay on Myst that Jinnai Halfmoor encountered a young elfmaid by the curious name of Drache Blackrose. The girl was a similarly 'tortured' soul with an unpleasant past and according to locals interviewed, the two soon became a couple.

The Dragon Myst Inn also saw the meeting of Jinnai and another one of his close friends: the ranger known as Sephyr Bridges, who now lives in Drache and continues to be close to the archer. It was with these two comrades that Jinnai ended the life of the notorious Aranian assassin known as Facade. An illusionist, Facade had encountered the bounty hunter a number of times earlier, and had become slightly obsessed with him. Poor planning, an unstable mind, and an underestimation of Halfmoor seems to have been Facade's undoing, and any future thrusts at the Hunter would do well to be planned with this in mind.

A few months short of his nineteenth birthday, the bounty hunter ended his relationship with Blackrose and boarded a ship heading back to Ethcabar. The cause, while hardly important, is rather easy to discern. By some small investigating into Blackrose's past, I discovered that not only was she wanted in a number of cities for serious crimes (including Mysthaven, for the murder of a Senator) but that she was a 'Mystic Elf.' Mystic Elves (a clumsy translation), I was told by a Rondissian mage, are a tiny offshoot of the elvish race with an unnatural aging rate and several innate magical abilities, including that of shapeshifting. Adding her criminal record and her very nature to the peasant lawman sensibilities of Halfmoor (which not only hated crime, but abhorred magic), only a fool or a poet would come to any conclusion save that the relationship could not last.

While there is no way of knowing how the hunter felt, it is only logical to assume that he was once again shaken by the breakdown of any attempt at a normal relationship, be it friendly or romantic. Also, knowing that Halfmoor suffers from recurring bouts of deep depression, it is likely that the few weeks he spent in Ethcabar were hardly enjoyable.

Halfmoor's path then turned north, towards the free trading city of Taranor. He is listed on the guard roll of a merchant caravan traveling along the foothills of the Dragonspine, and so we must assume he was nearing bankruptcy, judging from his usual methods of travel.

In Taranor, however, it appears his luck took a change for the better. The city-state of Taranor, or Telemenx, is controlled by merchants, and has hardly any organized law enforcement to speak of. Smuggling and banditry are both rampant and severely punished, an environment in which bounty hunters flourish. Lawmen who knew him indicate that the young Halfmoor took in a remarkable number of bounties in the few months he resided there.

ON HIS COMING TO DRACHE

During the summer of the year 468, and now nineteen, Halfmoor undertook a hunt for an infamous Rashnaditz bandit by the name of Delgado, who fled the area soon after. The hunt apparently took Halfmoor south-west, through the sparsely populated areas of Eastern Arangoth down into the more lush Transdariania. While in Eastern Arangoth, it appears that Halfmoor sent word that he was in the country to the nearby town where his mentor Josiah Teneer picked up correspondence. It is through this letter, obtained through the magical abilities of the Elephantine Tome, that much of the past few months' information comes.

From here, the story becomes somewhat easier to discern, seeing as how I myself was present in Drache at this time. Supplementing my own knowledge of events, with those of witnesses and informants, I can form a basic outline of Jinnai Halfmoor's past two years living in Drache. A full breakdown, however, I consider a fruitless endeavour better left to those with more sands in their hourglass.

Halfmoor's Drachean career began when he pursued Delgado to the outskirts of the city, only to lose the bandit to a horde of recently raised zombies and other undead that were marching on the city. According to sources, including Jinnai's own boasting, he was useful, if not 'instrumental,' in defeating the unholy army. Halfmoor would later use this aid in petitioning then-Captain of the Guard Jaonos Mistwinter to allow him to bounty hunt in the city. It is telling of Drache's peculiar nature that this army became known as only the First Undead Horde.

After recovering from injuries sustained from the battle with the aid of the recently-arrived Josiah Teneer, Jinnai Halfmoor began stepping on powerful toes...or hooves as the case may be. Impatient to be licensed by the Royal Guard, Halfmoor began to make discreet strikes into minor criminal outfits *before* being licensed. Proper 'legitimate' evidence of these strikes are potentially a useful blackmailing tool.

Unfortunately, the minor criminal outfit he targeted happened to be one of the key legs of a smuggling route used by one of the most notorious crimelords in Drache at the time, a goat-legged Sigilian known as Coldhands. I, myself, have had experience in dealing with Coldhands, and can only chuckle at the fate Halfmoor had gotten himself into.

Never known to lack in testicular fortitude, the Sigilian crimelord carried out a daring personal attack on Halfmoor and Guardsman Eric LeCarde ((recently deceased)). While LeCarde was able to survive the attack with little damage, Halfmoor was hit by a poisoned dagger just under his upraised left arm, severing his axillary muscles and poisoning his entire limb. He subsequently lost the use of the arm for several months, regaining it only with the help of a mysterious healer in the Drachean Forest Preserve.

Halfmoor launched a vendetta against his attacker, and actually succeeded in cutting into Coldhands profits rather significantly for a crippled man. During this vendetta he gained the acquaintance, and later partnership of former Circuit Courier and now freelance informant Lex Kaisa. Kaisa, now his closest friend and confidante (the two refer to each other as 'partners', but is not exactly a business relationship), is likely the most dangerous of Halfmoor's associates and merits caution. Coldhands was eventually incarcerated along with his partner 'The Demon Mask' at the hands of a group of vigilantes.

(As a sidenote, however, word has recently come from Drache indicating that the Sigilian has escaped the Guard's clutches, and is currently at large.)

ON HIM AND HIS RECENT ACTIVITIES

The loss of Coldhands as an adversary proved of little significance to Halfmoor's embattled career. In the past two years, he has proven a magnet for the city's darker elements, either on his own or simply being drawn in with Kaisa's even greater magnetism. His enemies have included demons, such as Arin'Tar (deceased ad infinitum), Lady Oiachi (deceased), and Xaosa; dark mages, such as Creed (deceased) and Morgaine (dissappeared); assassins and murderers, such as The West Drache Assassin Ring (now defunct), Vaeziell Dixon (incarcerated), Three-Fingers (deceased), and Cade 'The Ripper' Lozen (deceased). The current state of these enemies speaks volumes at least for Halfmoor's allies, if not Halfmoor himself. He has been severely wounded, crippled, and even physically duplicated by unknown forces in the course of his stay in Drache but has somehow always recovered.

On the other hand, he's made a number of close friends and dangerous allies. Lex Kaisa herself, the aforementioned Sephyr Bridges, Talis Casiatin, Sir Gregory of Alorin, Royal Guard Arms-Corporal Sune Kadmos, elven bowmaster Antequeroth Elmstepper, and a number of others. He's also surprisingly had two student archers under him, the always-deadly Shyne Blake, daughter apparent of Morgaine Kurakolis, and the young Tallia Casiatin. (See individual entries, File #39)

Halfmoor's relatively successful bounty hunting career in Drache, and Captain Mistwinter's institution of the Licensing seems to have sparked a number of fellow hunters to follow suit and consequently given him a pool of potential allies. The Devil's Eye guild recently felt the strength of the Hunters' combined efforts, though they have not worked together since.

One must grudgingly admit that Halfmoor's long history of victories both by himself and working with comrades proves his considerable ability. He is regarded by many in the know as one of, if not the best marksman in Drache. As well, he is a skilled tracker, a perhaps only adequate pugilist and knife-fighter, and possessing a remarkably vulgar and inventive tongue. He has also, as a surprise to many, evidenced an aptitude at inventing, though at a rather rudimentary and specialized level. Like many crafts-masters, he has shown an interest in the mechanics of his chosen weapon. Halfmoor has developed several crossbow modifications, and created specialized boltheads for his quarrels, which have aided him quite well over the years. Those I have reports of being used in action are custom ceramic boltheads which can contain either holy water or kerosene to deposit in the wound.

Although he apparently prefers to keep his home address secret, he would be well advised to use his usual mail pick up for his favorite publication, the Sigil-published 'Archer's Quarterly' scrolls, a newsletter for the elite of several worlds' worth of archers. The subscription rolls of this indulgence, obtained once again through the Elephantine Tome, list his residence as the attic apartment of an apartment building on Narmo street in the north of Drache's Wharf District.

The longer Halfmoor continues to live in Drache, the more skilled and seasoned he may become. With a new adversary threatening the apocalypse every few weeks, the archer has already improved considerably since he came to the city. Such a climb in the subject's danger level should be factored in if one plans to confront him in the near future.

Cross Reference File #34 (On His Ways and Habits) , File #36 (On His Fighting Techniques and Paraphernalia) , and File #39 (On His Friends and Associates)