Lowkey Darkstalk was born Ben Sorenson in a very small Hamlet south of Canterbury, England in 1474. His parents actually met at a Faire in Canterbury where Ben was conceived, they were both there to make money from their own individual talents and to see the King and Queen and their court. His mother was a mid-wife and �witch� and the local healer for surrounding Hamlets and even some of the area �Nobility�. He learned from his mother at a very early age how to work with herbs for healing, and in this also learned the damage herbs can do as poisons as well as healers. His father was something of an entertainer/actor/acrobat/magician and through his early years he spent time learning about costumes, acrobatics, sleight of hand and more. Ben was born with a very natural ability for anything physical and through the early teachings of his mother and the plays of his father developed his mind and ability to think in creative ways and convincingly put on characters. Six years later he accompanied his father to another Faire outside of London as an acrobatic partner and entertainer. During the journey his father confided in him �in sooth� (which in their way was an oath of absolute privacy and truth) that his father also made a living from pick-pocketing, filching and conning people at these events. During the long journey Ben learned the skills of a thief that he would build on and survive on for many years to come. He and his father partnered at many fairs and even in cities they would travel to in the local markets and town squares.
As Ben continued these talents with age, he discovered he had something of his own dark side. He would for enjoyment and challenge, stalk people at night. He learned this skill initially by stalking prey in the woods of his own Hamlet. He found it challenging to hunt by sneaking up on his prey and attempting to catch it by hand. He later turned this into a game with people. He would often just then pop out on the person, or throw pebbles and make noises in order to cause a reaction of fear. He took pleasure in the game and on some occasions when it seemed he could do it safely and the person would not recognize him, he would then pickpocket, pilfer or even rob the prey. He had not realized but part of the reason he had such ease using this night-time stalking is that he had extremely acute night vision and hearing so he could often hear himself making a noise before his assailant would and would stop before actually tipping himself off.
As Ben continued these talents with age, he discovered he had something of his own dark side. He would for enjoyment and challenge, stalk people at night. He learned this skill initially by stalking prey in the woods of his own Hamlet. He found it challenging to hunt by sneaking up on his prey and attempting to catch it by hand. He later turned this into a game with people. He would often just then pop out on the person, or throw pebbles and make noises in order to cause a reaction of fear. He took pleasure in the game and on some occasions when it seemed he could do it safely and the person would not recognize him, he would then pickpocket, pilfer or even rob the prey. He had not realized but part of the reason he had such ease using this night-time stalking is that he had extremely acute night vision and hearing so he could often hear himself making a noise before his assailant would and would stop before actually tipping himself off.
Through the next three years Ben became a valued scout to the Lord. Ben also learned from other �men� who were part of the lord�s militia how to hold his own fighting in hand-to-hand combat, his talent as an acrobat and his ability to use either hand equally helped him to become skilled at even beating men much larger than himself. He became an adept runner able to work into and out of other camps and virtually un-noticed. He also found it to be a game in which he liked to collect souvenirs from his unaware adversaries. He also discovered that he �loved the kill�. Frankly he did not do it that often, but when he did he reveled in it. The feel of an opponent�s blood running through his fingers from a slit throat, or the last sputter of a breath from a surprised victim became rather drug like and brought a different level of pleasure to the �hunt� he had not experienced before.
At the age of sixteen Ben became weary of working for this lord and being the slave of others, he yearned for freedom and more plentiful places to prey upon the unknowing. He had not seen his parents in several years. When sent out on assignment in the vicinity of his home hamlet by his lord, he chose to pay his family a visit. It was the day before the new moon in what we now know as Samhain, or All Hallows Eve. When he came to his home he found his mother looking older and very tired. He came to discover his father had died during the summer when on a journey to the Summer�s Festival at Canterbury. It was claimed that he had robbed a noble of a family heirloom and tried to pawn it with a wealthy merchant. When discovered he had supposedly run from his captors and was cut down before he made it 10 yards. His mother did not believe the story, but Ben thought it was the truth. His father, although he taught Ben virtually everything he knew, was never the best thief and bound to be caught.
But, his mother alone and aging quickly worried him. He knew of an herb that helped slow the aging of a person but was only available during this time of year in a circle of stones that formed naturally in a clearing of a small island upstream from a waterfall. He knew that he could get the herb for his mother and although it was on the land of a very feudal lord which was patrolled frequently. So under the cover of the new moon on the night of Samhain in the year of 1490, Ben left never to see his home again. Sneaking to the rivers edge under the cover of night posed no threat to him, swimming the river was simple, although very cold for the time of year. Finally he made his way to Circle of Stones that appeared as if by magic there in the open. As he entered the Circle a heavy mist fell upon the river and the Island. It was as if it was a dream, his mother had spoken of the veil between the worlds, but Ben had been a Cynic about such magical enchantment. But here on this crisp night Ben in the mists of Samhain, with no moon to light the way saw a shimmer of light appear before him. As if a wall between the worlds had suddenly appeared. With his curiosity heightened and in a trance like state he approached the Veil of Magic. His breath tightened, he could see the shapes of creatures flying by, as if pulled by some great force. He held his breath and stepped into the Veil leaving his own time behind and being hurled through space and time in a blur of a heartbeat and the thought of a breath. When he came to his world had changed. The trees now gone, the light of the many small stars like stationary fireflies set upon the horizon. He was no longer in his home but in a place so foreign he though at first he were dead, until he heard the screams of a man, a man being killed slowly by some terrible means, as if he were being pulled apart piece by piece. He knew these sounds from battle and even some of his own victims cry in the darkness, but never had he heard such pain and agony in a scream. It went beyond all known fear and to the bones of Ben, who curled up quietly by a rock and waited for sunrise.
When the Sun arose, Ben carefully made his way from his cover. He hiked for not more than 15 minutes when he came across a small area amongst eh rocks that looked as if a great fired had burned a crater in the earth. Within this crater lay the bodies of a handful of men, or so Ben believed. The bodies were so disfigured and mutilated it made Ben lose what little sustenance he had in his boy. The bodies had been ripped, torn, partially eaten and left rotting in their burnt out grave. Scattered around were also items of metallic nature like none he had ever seen. He gathered several of these items that appeared to not be damaged or entirely broken and placed them in his pack. He continued away quickly when he began to hear a drumming noise in the distance as if a large metallic drum was being beaten in a steady heartbeat rhythm, but moving closer. He stashed himself away in the rocks nearby when he realized he was not outrunning the sound. He watched as the shape of a giant spider with the body of a skull came into view. He was now certain he had landed in the Hell of the Christians and wished he had paid more attention to the prayers and sermons he had been forced to go to as a child living with his lord and teacher just a few years back. Then as if it were a wagon the Spider stopped and gave birth to several men. He watched these men pull out items and examine the area. He was certain one had looked straight at him, but seemed to pay no mind. They then climbed back into their Skull and moved on. Ben was confident with the noise this creature made that he could follow it un-noticed and observe these men more. He followed for nearly a day without rest, seeing a landscape unlike the forests of his home, but mostly green none-the-less. The forests would clear out for very small villages, and occasionally large areas that appeared as if large battles had taken place raping the land of any life. Finally exhausted and hungry, he saw a town ahead. He slipped for cover as the Spider-Skull came to a halt and one of the men climbed out. The man approached Ben�s hiding place, turned looked at Ben, pointed an object at him and something sprang forth from the item. Like a magical wave of electricity, Ben could feel his hair standing on end and a vibration charging his entire being then he fell unconscious.
When he awoke, he lay in a cell. Food sat by a door and no others could be seen. He ate ravenously and then again fell asleep. He woke a second time to a very large man entering his chamber with another plate of food. The man spoke and although it was English it sounded like no dialect he had ever heard. The man introduced himself as Alan and stated he was a Captain of the Coalition Forces Grim Legions. He was being held at the prison at Radford Military Base on the border between Tolkein and Iowa. The man requested to know the name of the person who had for a full day tirelessly followed his scouts from the Rift. Ben, knowing not to use his real name thought quickly of the Tales his father had told of the Divine Beings of the Nordic Races and that there was one who was a trickster called Loki. So that is the name he gave himself in his new world. Lowkey. Only knowing the name and not the spelling, he figured it out grammatically and thus came low-key. When asked for a last name he used the nickname many of the men in the former lords infantry had called him which was Dark Stalker, thus a last name of Darkstalk came to him. The man stated to Lowkey that it was made clear on the recording of him following his men back to the base that he was a skilled stalker and he could have some use for such a man in his mercenary ranks. A choice was laid before him; either swear allegiance to the Grim Legion or die. Lowkey readily swore allegiance and began his service in the coalition.
The next 6 months were a blur for the out of place Lowkey. He had stepped into a world so magical and unfamiliar that it overwhelmed him at times to a point of needing pain to bring him back to the reality of life. He discovered tattooing. The magic of putting a picture on a mans body fascinated him. Beyond receiving tattoo�s he convinced the shop-keep and tattoo artist to teach him as well. He in the full two years he would spend in the coalition forces would receive 22 tattoos on various parts of his body. Many ranged from blades, to pictures of animals and mythic deities, to militia emblems for his special forces. He began training as a soldier and honing his skills as a �skulk� as the mercenary scouts were called. Alan Greyfin, the captain of the Grim Legion forces that Lowkey belonged to recognize his natural abilities and pushed him hard to mold him as a soldier. Impressed by Lowkey�s incredible physical prowess in hand to hand combat and his ability to get around un-noticed by other trainees in training exercises raised this interest. Alan decided to make Lowkey part of a special group of forces who were trained to do low profile excursions to make kills quietly and return before enemies were even aware of their presence. So Lowkey began learning about camaflouge, escape, picking locks with the new magic (technology as they called it in the world) and also the use of guns. His sharp eye made him especially adept at sniping, but he was trained with many weapons. Once he had completed this training, he began to put his training to use. His outfit would weekly do quick trips into Tolkein territory destroying villages, ambushing small groups of scouts and traveler�s and spying on enemy activities. He learned the faith and belief system behind coalition drive and why they believed the Tolkein Nation must fall. He learned about the mistrust of magic and DB�s, but kept it quiet at all times that he believed that their technology was no more magic than the magic of sorcerer�s of the Tolkein. But knowing no other way to survive he continued with the group for survival and quite honestly companionship. He was alone in this world.
After almost two years of service, he had made quite a name for himself within the ranks and was highly counted upon for most missions, but realized he was being used as an expendable pawn. Then one day after returning for slaughtering a village that appeared to be nothing but farmers, he beheld something that he would never forget. It was what they called a Deathhead Transport. A virtual floating city that could have carried 4 of his little home hamlet�s within it�s walls. It was a cold winter day when the monstrous vehicle came into view and he never forgot the fear it struck in his heart. Burdened with guns and bustling with activity. Surely this could have destroyed many times more men and villages than his little band could, yet they were sent in and often many died in their raids, his contempt for the coalition ways was increasing. Several hours after the Great Ship had landed came a group of what were known as Skelebots. There were 20 of them in all. The word had gotten around that there was to be a major attack upon a sizable community in the Tolkein territory where it was said that mages and witches were gathering to create some great magic. The first group to go out would be led by Alan Greyfin himself and would be an all out search and destroy mission which would leave no survivors.
The enemy city had been located and the offensive had begun. It was an absolute slaughter in which Lowkey saw the ridiculous power of the coalition state used against people of nature. The city was amongst the trees and the people fought with crude weaponry compared to the technology that he had become to know. The magic which was supposedly such a threat was more a threat in the minds of the attackers than a physical threat against the overwhelming destructive power of the Skull Walkers, the dozen Skelebots and guns of the coalition. Lowkey, even with his enjoyment of the hunt, the thrill of the kill and pleasure of pain was disgusted to his very core.
His small band was assigned to stay and mop up any stragglers who had escaped or tried to return to the area once the kill force had left. It was the middle of the night when there came a sound from the perimeter of their small encampment. The same scream he had heard when he first same to this dreaded world and it struck fear into his heart. Then like a whirl-wind of energy men near him were being picked up and ripped asunder. He heard the Sergeant of his group yell Elemental just before his tongue was ripped out of the back of his head and his body seemed to explode. Lowkey, in a tree not far from the annihilation, clung tight to the bark, hoping to blend in and go un-noticed, he did. Once the creature had moved on he stayed there for hours, not moving, not breathing awake looking at the destruction the monster had left in a matter of minutes. Once he felt he was safe he climbed to the ground gathered everything he could and ran. He ran for nearly two days before he happened along to Windsheim. All he knew was that he wanted as far from Iowa as possible, he realized he had the perfect opportunity to disappear from the world he had been sucked into. He knew he may not survive, but he hoped he could live more freely and maybe even find someone to fight against the people who had become such killers of innocent in his eyes.
Now he�s been in Windsheim for only a brief while. He�s fit in as a pilgrim to the Cathedral. He�s surveyed the town and its inhabitants and he likes the community that he has discovered. Now it�s a matter of trying to fit in.