Charaktere

Kal Zukatan
A thrifty merchant noble who had a small streak of bad luck... some very bad luck.

The whole investment had been a mistake, of course. That was obvious now, but then most things were obvious with the benefit of hindsight, even if you only had one eye to look back with. The deal had started off very well; the return forecasts were high, the unforeseen expenses low, and the workers seemed reliable enough. Some of the workers' backgrounds looked a little sketchy, but that wasn't unusual when one hired for cheap.

But then the 'accidents' started; the tools were ordered but never arrived, shipments were lost on the road despite the hiring of guards, negotiations with the locals broke down again and again, and on and on. The bills of sale were real enough (his purse could definitely confirm that!), but there was clearly something fishy going on, and it was high time he got to the bottom of it.

The problem was clear as soon as he arrived at what should have been the main site... only it wasn't. There was nothing there: No marker pegs, no supply piles, and certainly no sign of the outpost walls that should have been constructed by now. The overseer was summoned at once and arrived in short order, which would have been commendable, if he had not also brought most of the workers and a group of bandits with him.

Kal knew that he should leave immediately, but he had his pride, which would sadly prevail over his common sense that day, and it was only by virtue of his trusted retainers (and a very fast horse) that he survived that lapse in judgement. The loss of his eye (to a drunkard wielding a stake, of all things) would turn out to be of little consequence to him however, for these bandits and their ringleader had had the use of his seal for two months, and they had most certainly put it to use.

The criminals were swiftly punished of course; such was the nature of things when one had noble connections, but there was nothing to be done about the consequences of their activities. It all had to be paid for. The bandits themselves had no money of course (or limbs, in the case of most), and so it fell to his purse to issue the necessary compensation. It took little more than a month to exhaust all that he had spent eight years to earn.

But Kal Zukatan was not the type to lie down and die after experiencing misfortune; it would take time to recover of course, but he would recover... just not in this land. His reputation was destroyed, and there were no prospects for one that had suffered such a blow if they remained in the same place. So it was then that he travelled to Eorzea, with only a small pouch of Gil and his two loyal retainers (they had refused to leave his side) for company.

He would seek his new fortune as an adventurer, and his first order of business would be to master the use of the Lance - because nobody was ever going to get close enough to put out his remaining eye.