The Density of Gold (Turik al-Qaziir ibn Ruhrsark Meshaankt)

Turik al-Qaziir ibn Ruhrsark Meshaankt was born, a fleshy child, in Almraiven, of a comfortable and aspiring merchant couple, Rurhsark and Shesarra Meshaankt. The Meshaankt family had a long and illustrious past in Almraiven, tied to a successful trade in tapestries and exotic spices. While they had few ships, they were among the earliest to navigate the perilous journey into the hinterlands of Chult, setting up a small trading base and securing a modest, but reliable supply of spices and plant oils that could be found nowhere else.

Over a short time, this trade, augmented by a covert trade in a substance known as krrf, a hallucinogen favoring by the interior tribes of Chult for its ability to innure warriors against fear, secured the Meshaankt clan the wealth and power to consumate a long-planned move to the capital of Calimport. A move thought to be facilitated by the familial ties of Shessara, a daughter of the reknowned clan, Tybalin, that had ties, though tenuous, even to the Pasha.

This move, began first modestly, with the opening of a shoppe in the bazaar of Calimport, began with an auspiciousness. However, when Rurhsark began trying to infiltrate the black markets of Calimport with his trade of krrf, things began to get.....complicated. While the Meshaankt clan had been amongst the first to ply the Chultan hinterlands, they were not -the- first.

The Paalwyn clan, whose position as foremost amongst the black under belly of Calimport had been secured as long back as the Shoon dynasty had preceeded them; and took not lightly to what they considered as a scurrilous encroachment. As with many machinations in the ancient nation, the tactics used against the interlopers were oblique. The Paalwyns, instead of striking directly against the Meshaankts, used their considerable influence to close many markets, both legitimate, and illicit, to the clan Tybalin.

Without so much as a word to his son-in-law, Baraak ibn Soor-Kael Tybalin secured the services of Black Lotus Assassins and had Ruhrsaark, Shessara, and several members of the Meshaankt clan brutally murdered, clues left to implicate a cult of Bhaelros.

Turik, who had shown a remarkable facility with the Weave, now aged eighteen, had been engaging in studies in the Cloister of the Temple of Azuth within the seedy city. His horror at seeing the fate of his clan was stilled by his ever-rational mind, and he returned to the Temple, seeking out a senior diviner to see past the charade of the Bhaelrosian attack. The Azuthians were able to learn the truth behind the brutal murders but were unwilling to make a case before the Pasha, instead counselling the lone scion of clan Meshaankt to flee. And flee Turik did, vowing someday to return and avenge the deeds. His vow was not spoken in heat, but with an even more binding coldness, an embrace of patience and dedication. The lesson learned set deeply in his youthful mind: Blood may be thicker than water, but paled greatly when compared with the density of gold.