This is not 100% done, still needs some fleshing out!
¶ Early Years
Alistair Kincaid was born in 1463 DR in the bustling metropolis of Baldur’s Gate to Rameus and Danica Kincaid, a prosperous merchant couple with ties to the Calimport trade routes. The Kincaid family owned several ships that plied the southern waters, and Rameus, a retired adventurer with a taste for the sea, often chose to captain his flagship, Fortune’s Favor, personally.
Alistair was raised in a well-appointed estate in the Upper City, alongside his younger sister, Camille, who was five years his junior. Though his father was frequently away during Alistair’s early years, the boy received a top-tier education. He studied economics, history, languages, and statecraft under private tutors, all while receiving practical instruction in swordplay and self-defense from the estate’s guards. Despite his structured upbringing, Alistair was prone to daydreaming—longing not for coin or comfort, but for the thrill of the unknown.
When Rameus returned home during the off-seasons, he brought stories of bustling ports, dangerous waters, and the politics of distant courts. These tales fed the flames of wanderlust in young Alistair and solidified his desire to one day follow in his father's footsteps—not just as a merchant, but as a man of the world.
¶ To the Sea
At the age of 10, Alistair’s dream became reality when Rameus allowed him to join him on his voyages aboard Fortune’s Favor. Over the next couple of years, Alistair sailed with his father along the Sword Coast, into the Trackless Sea, and across the Shining Sea, visiting ports from Waterdeep to smaller towns on the banks of the Lake of Steam. He quickly became a fixture on deck, learning the ways of wind, tide, and trade. His keen mind absorbed languages, local customs, and sailing skills with ease, and he gained a deep respect for the sea and its untamed beauty.
His happiest memories were of those years at sea—watching sunrises over unbroken horizons, hearing sailors’ songs in every tongue, and watching his father navigate with both compass and cunning.
But those years of wonder came to an abrupt, brutal end.
¶ The Black Tide
It was a bright, clear day when Alistair’s life was torn apart. He and his father were aboard a merchant vessel, heading south to Calimport with a cargo of rare spices. The journey should have been a simple one, but it turned into a nightmare when their ship was attacked by a notorious pirate ship known as the Black Tide. The pirates swarmed aboard with the bloodthirsty efficiency of wolves. Alistair’s father was killed during the raid, and he was taken captive.
The Black Tide was led by Captain Zareth, a cruel and calculating pirate lord with a reputation for turning captives into useful tools—or disposable assets. Alistair, still a boy, was taken as a prisoner along with several other survivors from the wreckage. The pirates, seeing potential in him, spared his life, but only to use him for their own ends. They branded him with a mark—a jagged skull across his chest—to show that he was a part of their crew, bound by the Zareth's blood magic to serve him.
Alistair quickly learned that the crew of the Black Tide was not ordinary among their peers. They operated in the shadows, taking up covert missions all over the Shining Sea region—spying on merchant ships, sabotaging trade routes, and gathering information for the highest bidder. They didn’t just steal goods; they stole secrets.
Under the ruthless training of the crew’s spy master, a former diplomat turned rogue named Sylvara, Alistair was taught to blend in, lie convincingly, and gather intel with ease. Sylvara was incredibly skilled in manipulation, seduction, and assassination, and under her cruel tutelage, Alistair was molded into a weapon: multilingual, adaptable, and coldly efficient. His natural talent for languages made him a valuable asset, and he soon became the crew’s primary agent when they needed someone to infiltrate foreign ships, seduce wealthy merchants’ daughters, or steal important documents.
¶ A Life in Chains
For nearly 20 years, Alistair served Captain Zareth, slowly losing his humanity in the process. Serving as a spy, saboteur, and infiltrator, he was forced to participate in all manner of morally reprehensible acts: assassination, blackmail, theft, and espionage. He became adept at the arts of subterfuge—he learned to manipulate people, read their tells, and influence outcomes from behind the scenes. The more he did, the more numb he became to the acts of cruelty. He felt trapped in the life of a pirate, but his options were few. Every time he thought of escape, he would remember his branded mark, a constant reminder of his imprisonment.
He was sent to infiltrate merchant houses, sabotage rival crews, extract information from nobles, and even assassinate key targets. Over time, he became one of Zareth’s most trusted operatives. His past life as the merchant’s son faded into a haze of smoke, blood, and whispered lies.
But deep down, something of the boy who longed for the sea and stars still lingered—quiet, buried, but not dead.
¶ The Breaking Point
It was a mission in Memnon that finally shattered Alistair’s loyalty. He was ordered to seduce Elira Vahalem, the daughter of a powerful merchant-lord, to gain access to her family’s vaults. He expected another cold and clinical job. Much to his suprise, he was mistaken. Elira was different—sharp, kind, and unafraid to challenge his lies.
As weeks passed, Alistair found himself genuinely caring for her. For the first time in years, he saw hope. He considered running. Leaving the Black Tide behind. He knew he could not, however, because the blood magic bound him. The distraction posed by this internal conflict caused him to make his first misstep in years, with Elira's father discovering his intentions as a result. During the resulting battle, Elira attempted to intervene and save Alistair, and was fatally struck by a house guard's arrow in the process. He caught her as she fell, frozen in horror as he watched the light leave her eyes. Broken, his instincts kicked in and he was able to make his escape in the resulting confusion.
Watching Elira die that way, and being helpless to stop it, shattered Alistair’s soul. The guilt, the shame, and the horror of what he had become flooded his mind. It was then that he made a decision: he would no longer be Zareth's puppet.
Upon returning to the Black Tide, Alistair confronted Zareth, and was badly beaten in the attempt. As punishment and a reminder to the rest of his crew about how disposable they were to him, Zareth had Alistair bound, beaten to within an inch of his life, and cast overboard in the middle of the Shining Sea, presumed dead by the crew he once called family. The last thing Alistair saw was the clouds of a terrible storm rolling over him, and then nothing.
¶ Stormborn
Weakened and on the brink of death, Alistair woke beneath the shade of an ancient, towering tree. It was then that he felt the crackle of energy in the air—a strange, otherworldly force, pulsing with raw power. A voice, deep and resonant, echoed in his mind: "You are not meant to die here, child of the storm."
From the shadows emerged a massive, bronze-scaled dragon—an ancient creature whose eyes crackled with lightning. The dragon was Violatharaz, an ancient protector of the seas who had been watching the rise of the Black Tide with great concern. Violatharaz saw in Alistair a potential for greatness, a spark that had long been buried beneath years of torment.
With a touch of her claw to the mark on his chest, the dragon broke Captain Zareth's blood magic hold over Alistair, and imbued him with a fragment of her own essence, granting him sorcerous powers that were an extension of her own. Alistair's body overflowed with newfound energy as the storm within him awoke. The dragon told him that he had a greater purpose—one that transcended his past as a pirate and assassin.
In his weakened state, Alistair swore an oath to use his newfound powers for good, to right the wrongs he had committed and to seek redemption.
¶ The Road to Aureltaran
Alistair’s journey took him north, where he wandered the lands of Faerûn, honing his newfound abilities and learning how to control the storm that now roiled within him. As his powers grew, so did his understanding of his purpose. He became a mercenary of sorts, working as a covert operative for various factions who needed someone skilled in espionage, infiltration, and assassination. He used his talents now only for causes he believed in. He turned down coin when it came soaked in innocent blood. Slowly, he began to build a name for himself as an operator who walked the line between shadow and justice.
Eventually, Alistair was drawn to Aureltaran, a glittering city where politics and power danced in the open—ripe for someone with his particular talents. There, he found quiet employment under House Savelli, a noble family embroiled in clandestine rivalries. It was then that he ceased to be known by his birth name and used only his surname: Kincaid. To the public, he is an unassuming steward, but to his employers, he is something far more valuable.
Though Kincaid now works in the service of Aureltaran's nobility, his past still haunts him. He’s a man who lives in the shadows, a walking paradox—one who can manipulate storms yet seeks to weather his own turbulent past. Deep down, Kincaid knows that the road to redemption is a long one, but he is determined to walk it. The lightning that courses through his veins is a reminder of both his curse and his salvation.
Now 36, Kincaid walks the halls of Aureltaran as a man of many faces—nobleman, rogue, emissary, agent. Beneath his composed exterior lies a storm, coiled and ready, waiting to be unleashed upon those who would plunge the world into darkness.