Baldo Banski

The vibrant and boisterous Baldo is the most famed and popular of the Glass and Steel Brotherhood. A halfling, Baldo is part of a rich and colorful culture that places a heavy importance on adventure and experiences of varied forms. Baldo was known for being a subtle and notorious thief of great skill and cunning, but he has turned aside that life for one of celebrity, Baldo is the most desired host and speaker in the northern Empire.

Early Life
Baldo was born the twelfth child of a family of river traders. He spent his youth playing tricks on the various towns he visited, and gained a reputation for bravery and skill beyond elders twice his age. This desire to play tricks became an obsession for trouble-making, and with this habit came encounters with local agents of the law. With this came pressure upon his family, and Baldo broke free. Leaving the rivers of his home, Baldo traveled across the Empire, engaging in the greatest spree of minor crimes the Empire has ever seen. Stolen eggs, repainted signage, shaved goats, clothes turned inside out. Eventually, Baldo Banski came across a knight too pernicious and stubborn to let him escape. Lord Durak of the White Owls captured Baldo Banski and gave him an option, either he is imprisoned and works in the mines of the Empire, or he joins the military as a scout in the auxiliary branch of the military. Baldo decided that military service would be superior to mining and began a career as a scout.

Military Career
Baldo was not a creature born for military service. He was lazy, emotional and an unrepentant prankster. Baldo was constantly reprimanded for improper use of resources. For punishment, Baldo was transfered to one of the worst assignments, the Goblin Wars. His unit was made of the ill-tempered, the incompetent and the hopelessly green. Baldo quickly realized that this assignment was a death sentence and sought the quickest and most secure way to desert his unit. Trapped by hobgoblin guerillas, Baldo fled right before the battle was to begin. Unfortunately, he fled underground into a nest of goblins that had burrowed beneath the troupe. Baldo was captured by the Goblinate Despotism and dragged off to the deep mines.

Life as a Slave
Baldo was ill-suited for slavery or mining. He was lazy, emotional and an unrepentant prankster. Punishment forced him deeper and deeper into the mines, and eventually Baldo was one level removed from the lava flows. Knowing that he would not survive the heat and pressure, Baldo came upon a plan to escape. Faking a contagious illness, Baldo was placed into solitary confinement. When the goblin medic came to check on him, he knocked them unconscious and disguised himself. Well organized, the goblins quickly discovered the deception and a chase began. Baldo had learned the layout of the mines from the gossip of the guards and made his way to an underground waterway. Surrounded by guards, Baldo chose a quick death and possible life over a slow one by torture and leaped into the waterfall. For two days and nights Baldo was battered by the waves and rapids of the underground river until he was washed ashore and found by river scavengers. Recognizing him from his youth, the Banski clan was contacted and Baldo finally returned home.

Merchant Career and Dissatisfaction
His family, ecstatic at his return, forgave Baldo for the trouble he brought upon them and was quickly offered a job in their trading business. Baldo excelled as a merchant with his genial charm and ruthless tactics. But the adventure of deals and compacts paled to the frantic nights of soldiering and breathless escapes from guards and monsters. Baldo grew rich and grew ready to marry and build his own fleet of river craft. When presented with possible brides, Baldo politely and firmly turned all of them down. Baldo handed his business over to his family and once again began a trek across the Empire.

Master Thief and the Brotherhood
Baldo turned back to the one thing that gave him excitement, thievery. Baldo sought to become the greatest thief that ever lived. Whether it was heists, burglary or pick-pocketing, Baldo did it all. He gained a reputation for two things, only filling one bag with valuables and never killing. Baldo created a correspondence with local guards, he would post letters in public places describing just how he performed these impossible robberies. But Baldo sought greater and greater risk. A group known as the Glass and Steel Brotherhood became famous for their work as monster slayers and bandit busters. Knowing that they were smart, cunning and brutal, Baldo had the perfect target. Creating a banquet in their name, the celebration lowered their defenses and enabled Baldo to rob them completely blind. Quickly uncovering the trick, the band hunted down Baldo, who fled to a boat he had hidden in a cave by the river. Try as he might, Baldo could not shake the band and was quickly surrounded in his cave. Finally caught, Baldo swore loyalty to those who had done the impossible.

Appearance
A typical halfling of middle age, Baldo has a wide, cheery grin, a rotund stomach and a shock of frizzy hair that sticks out from a simple boaters hat. His splayed gait is marked by a slight limp, one of many injuries gathered throughout his many imprisonments. Despite his wealth and prestige, Baldo dresses in a manner more suited to a dock than a banquet. A broken nose separates his gaze, where two pools stare into the soul of whoever matches them. Though his eyes are a light, ordinary brown, a combination of manic energy and an unnerving stillness shines through them.