Warslinger, Johnny Stillcreek

[Tekill]

Name:Johnny Stillcreek
Race: Strongheart Halfling
Gender: Male
Age: 40
Build: Average size and weight with an athletic build.
Eye Colour: Very dark Brown
Hair Colour: Black
Gear: No armour- dressed in warm muted gray and black travel clothing. A couple slings holstered at his waist.
Distinguishing Marks: None, but he is starting to show his age.
Place of Birth: Stillcreek Manor, Corm Orp
Occupation: Scout, Warsling Sniper

History:
Johnny was a member of the Stillcreek family, growing up at Stillcreek Manor and Winery. The name Stillcreek came from a small natural water spring and creek that ran just on the outskirts of Corm Orp. The first hin that settled in the area became the Stillcreeks of Still Creek.
For many generation, the Stillcreek family successfully managed the Stillcreek Winery making sour wine from the locally grown 'Blue Eyed' grapes. The water for the wine was taken from the natural spring at Still Creek which really gave it its unique signature flavour.

A young Johnny Stillcreek, the youngest of three, was content to allow his older sister and brother run the winery, while he became a protector of the people of Corm Orp. He was the youngest hin to ever sign up and serve on the local Corm Orp militia. As a young idealist with a stout heart and good intentions, he discovered it was satisfying work, serving his community. From day one, he showed a lot of promise. So much promise in fact that his superiors ended up honoring him by submitting him for training as a Warsling Sniper.

A Warslinger is not just your typical halfling rock flinger. You need to be more than just good with with a sling. For a hin to become a Warslinger, they need to give up themselves, sacrifice it all to a calling that remakes young hin, into exceptional soldiers, snipers, and guardians.

Not much was known about his training, as the hin tend to not talk about such matters publicly and especially with tall folk. Such discussions are not proper and much better left unsaid.
But, a little known rumor did spread having started in the tavern at Gullykin, that a certain trainee Johnny Skillcreek, broke all the sharp shooting records during his Warsling Sniper training. One record having previously been held for almost a century- until shattered by this upstart strongheart from Corm Orp!
Again, just a bit of foolish gossip, pay it no attention, as it matters little.

What did matter was that Johnny completed his training, returned to Corm Orp, continued his duties in the militia, and became well respected in the community. He then got married, and settled down with wife and children back at Stillcreek Manor. Life was not perfect but it was good- he was happy.

Then the war broke out between the Zhentarim and The Lords Alliance. Under strong pressure from his peers in the militia, and living under the shadow of Darkhold, Johnny, no longer the idealist he once was, understood it was in his and his families best interest to enlist with the Zhentarim.

During the war he was enlisted as a sniper scout. He had a particular talent for taking out other enemy scouts. It was bloody and hellish experience filled with pain suffering and death. But even with his 'successes', as his Zhent superiors put it, his mostly human fellow soldiers had little respect for the halfling scout. The lack of respect afforded by a bunch of Zhent troopers and assassins mattered little to Johnny who was far more tormented by the all the death around him. Still, he kept going, fortified by the knowledge that his family were somewhere safe, away from the carnage.

Tragically though, this turned out to be not true. Corm Orp itself fell under the full occupation of the Zhents, and somehow during that occupation, Stillcreek Manor was mysteriously burned to the ground. Most of the hin from Stillcreek Manor, including his wife and children did not survive the fire.

The details of the fire where never made clear to Johnny but it did not matter. While away fighting a war he did not even believe in, he lost everything that ever mattered to him. Upon hearing the news, he deserted his post, fled the war and turned his back on The Zhentarim forever. He returned to Stillcreek manor only long enough to confirm what had happened. It was as if he became a mere shadow, lingering among the ashes of a once great home, equally absent of life as he now was. And just like a mere shadow, fading at dusk, one lone halfling, was not noticed nor missed at all during that time of upheaval, chaos and devastation. In fact, it was later discovered that his remaining family, peers and even his Zhent superior officers, had figured Johnny was simply missing in action and presumed dead. They did not even bother searching for a body.

Every once in a while a halfling slinger, introducing himself as Johnny Stillcreek, can be encountered wandering aimlessly along the Sword Coast. Will he find purpose or meaning once again, or is he really just a mere shadow, ultimately fated to fade into darkness?