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Darik has little memory of his parents, as they disappeared when he was young. They were a well-respected couple with few enemies but they were not wealthy. Their disappearance is a mystery. With no one to care for him, he was left to fend for himself.
Thievery was a practical necessity. In the beginning, he was caught a number of times and chased from towns. Stuck in the wild, he was forced to learn to survive off the land. Each new town offered Darik the chance to hone his thievery skills and increase the gains from his skills.
Part of surviving off the land required Darik to become proficient with a bow in order to survive and live with a comfortable diet. Years of hunting for food have made him an exceptional hunter and tracker.
Darik’s lifestyle often meant that he came at odds with armed opponents. Preferring to flee when the odds were stacked against, he sometimes stayed to fight if the odds were in his favor. As he grew older, more daring and more proficient with weapons, Darik would find that traveling along the roads would yield better rewards by preying off of merchants and weary travelers.
The bow he currently has was something he managed to procure from an old man on horseback near the town of Foabur last year. It was expertly crafted, and it has served him well. He didn't originally to kill the man, just to knock him unconscious, but for some reason the man seemed more dangerous than your average old man.
Whenever he came upon a merchant or traveler, he would offer his victims the chance to surrender their goods with the promise to let them live afterward, preferring not to shed unnecessary blood.
Though this would change under Tradek’s leadership.
Darik had done things solo for several years, but one time in the midst of observing a passing caravan, he witnessed bandits ambushing it. It was a narrow road, and both paths were cut-off by the bandits. Suddenly bandits rushed in and in less than a minute the entire caravan was taken out, every single soul killed, whether it be man, woman, or child.
The bandits looted the entire caravan, taking everything of value. It was a bigger haul than Darik had ever seen at one time, and he decided that he wanted to join them.
It was an awkward situation at first, but after he showed them his skills with the bow, they saw how useful he would be and kept him around.
Throughout the next six months, he earned the trust and admiration of the rest of the 25-man bandit pack. He was unofficially considered by many to be second-in-command to Tradak, who led the group with an iron fist.
Now, there camp was a few miles from a large clearing that had a road going through it. It was the only road leading from Nalvo to Foabur, and they had been watching it for the last week, waiting for an unsuspected caravan to pass through.
Tradak has split the pack into three groups. Two with 8, one with 9, to alternate watching the road, so that no matter when the caravan approaches it can still be targetted. Most caravans are rather small, so 8 would usually be sufficient.
Darik was in the same group of 8 as Tradak was, which was further split into three smaller teams. Tradak and two others took the south, blocking the exit of the clearing. Three others took the west. Darik and one other handled the northeast. The plan was to trap a caravan in the middle of the clearing and ambush it from all sides.
Around midday one time, a caravan approached. Tradak and the two other with him blocked the road, and the panicking caravan circled into the clearing, just as expected. However, it was a larger caravan than they had thought it would be: nearly twice the usual size.
Darik and the bandit beside him crept forward out of the brush, toward the caravan. They needed to get into range for his bow. He could see through the gaps between the wagons that huddled in the middle of the circle were numerous women and children. Since the caravan was larger than usual, so to were the number of people he had little interest in harming.
After a few moments of panic and rushing about within the circle, Darik hears Tradak speaking on the far side of the caravan now. The sarcasm in his voice was obvious, as it always was when Tradak spoke. Moments later, his teammate beside him turned and said, "Let's start things off with a warning shot to show them we mean business, shall we?"
It was pretty standard. Scaring them was easier than fighting them, and since this caravan was so large they needed to be cautious of a full-on fight. He notched an arrow, aimed, and fired. Aiming for the farthest wagon, he wanted the arrow to be in full view to scare them as much as possible.
Darik's teammate chuckled as the caravaners panicked. They couldn't even see the arrow at first due to the midday sun, but once it landed things grew silent.
Tradak once again spoke to the caravan, giving them the option of surrendering. With Tradak's philosophy, they scare the victims as much as possible until they surrender, and then when the caravan gives in they strategically slaughter them all. Keeping the details of the bandits' locations, tactics, and numbers as secret as possible was crucial if they were going to keep at it.
Shortly after that, sounds of confusion and gasping of the caravaners began, followed by the sound of fighting near Tradak's location. He quickly looked toward the caravan, but it didn't seem that they had moved any, especially not enough to launch an attack.
Darik pulls out another arrow and notches it, then turns to his partner, "Go check what's happening over there, I'll watch the caravan." Nodding, the bandit started jogging around the caravan, keeping about 15 yards from the edges of the wagons.
Darik focused his attention on making sure the caravaners wouldn't decide to attack at him, but they all appeared distracted and a bit confused at the moment.
The sounds of battle continued near Tradak, when suddenly the caravaners grew active. "Come on, this is our chance!" was yelled by someone inside, and half a dozen men began rushing through the wagons, straight toward where Tradak and the fighting was happening.
He turned left, looking toward his partner, who had slowed. Beyond him, coming around the edge of a wagon and sprinting away was one of the other bandits. Darik recognized him as one of the three supposed to attack from the west. If he was running it meant the fight had gone poorly.
He began to raise his bow, prepared to fire at those still inside the caravan. However, he noticed that chasing behind the fleeing bandit was a strange figure. He immediately turned his bow toward it, but as he looked he realized this figure was running faster than he thought possible, and would catch up to his friend in mere seconds.
It was 60 yards away, at least, and at that speed it was going to be one of the most difficult shots he has ever attempted. Instinctively, he pulled out a different arrow, this time one he specially made himself. He was more accustomed to how it flew, and would need any bit of good luck he could get to make this shot. As he switched arrows, he moved a few steps closer.
He aimed, focused on how far to lead the target, and loosed the arrow. Time seemed to slow down, yet the figure somehow still appeared to be moving incredibly fast. The figure caught up to the running bandit and began to thrust out a staff toward his body. The arrow found its mark, lodging itself firmly into the shoulder of the stranger.
His friend was knocked over by the momentum of the staff hitting him, but he quickly scrambled up and continued running. Darik noticed that the group of six caravaners who had charged earlier were now heading to where the figure was, and his partner was about halfway toward them, stunned by the fact the arrow had hit. He was quite proud he had made that shot. All his years of practice had paid off.
He turned his head back to the caravan, noticing that nearly a dozen of them had suddenly decided to charge toward him and his partner while they were distracted. They were nearly halfway toward him, so he immediately began heading back toward the woods.
He called out to his partner, trying to get his attention so he can flee as well, but it was too late. He was set upon by caravaners, unable to escape. Unable to watch, Darik turned his attention to escaping into the wood and returning to the bandit camp...
