Shamus B. Hemming IV
Shamus was born in Khorinis to parents Shamus Bond Hemming III and Margot Frank Hemming. Shamus, the first born, became an older brother, two years later, to his sister Anne F. Hemming. The two children were quite opposites. Anne enjoyed reading and writing. She wrote furiously in her journal every day and was constantly writing short stories and other things of that nature. Although she was a very gifted writer, she refused to share anything she had written with anyone else, except Shamus. Shamus, on the other hand, preferred playing and acting out extravagant adventures. He would constantly take on different personas and would have a different adventure every day. He would often have Anne write up adventures for him and then he would act them out. Shamus also found people very fascinating. One of his favorite things to do as a child was to go down to the market and simply watch people all afternoon. Anne would sit by his side and calmly write in her journal. Despite their differences, the two children were the best of friends. It was rare to see one without the other.
Shamus B. Hemming III and Margot F. Hemming were both Dark Caste employed by the government. Their sole purpose was to gain more understanding of psionics and if it could be controlled by means of magic. Their work was very private and they did an excellent job of separating work from their personal lives. Their children, especially, were kept shielded from their work. Both Shamus and Margot were highly respected and very active in the community. They were big supporters of community involvement and often sat on school boards and other things of that nature.
Word began to spread that the White Temple had decreed the eradication of all Dark Caste. At first it was believed to be hearsay; but soon evidence of this holocaust began to manifest itself. Disappearances of Dark Caste members started becoming all too common. Anyone with any sort of sense fled to Inaria or Cauldron. Shamus and Margot decided it best to follow suit. They formally requested to be relocated to Inaria in order to escape the clutches of the White Temple.
Three weeks later they were granted relocation. Margot made arrangements to stay with her well-to-do cousin in Inaria until they could find a place of their own. The family began packing immediately. But on the dawn of their departure, little Anne became very ill. Deciding it was safest for young Shamus to fetch the healer, Margot sent him to the Blue Temple. Shamus returned with the healer to find his home abandoned. His parents and his sister were nowhere to be found. Shamus searched the entire city for his family but to no avail. Without means to provide for himself, Shamus began selling off anything of value in order to buy food, pay rent, and continue his search for his family. Being only nine years old, many mistook him for a thief. Those who would barter with the boy greatly took advantage of the situation and basically gave him copper for gold.
Funds quickly ran out, as well as the hope for finding his family. Seeing no other alternative, Shamus joined up with a caravan travelling to Inaria in search for his extended family. With little but a name, he was able to locate his mother’s cousin who was kind enough to give the boy refuge and welcome him as part of the family.
Shamus was a bit reluctant to be accepted into their family. In one of his adventures he had posed himself as an orphan who was adopted by cruel people who nearly worked the boy to death and beat him on a daily basis. In order to escape their wrath he took to living on the streets and found shelter in the sewers. But Shamus’ adopted family was more than he could have hoped for. They were very kind and treated him as one of their own. He was given the room of the eldest brother Dalen, who had recently left to join the military. Chester was the next oldest followed by twins, Neo and Jillian. And although there was a significant age difference, about five years, Neo let Shamus tag along with him often.
After some time, Shamus was able to find comfort in his new home, but he would always wonder what happened to his parents, and especially his beloved sister. He would always retain a small beacon of hope that he would one day find his family.
Shamus was able to further escape the loss of his family through his fantasy adventures. Becoming someone else entirely for days and even weeks at a time, he would totally immerse himself. One day during one such adventure, Shamus caught a strange reflection in a puddle. Startled, he turned around to see who was behind him but found no one. He turned to the puddle again only to find that the reflection was his own, but it was not himself he was seeing. The image was that of the person he was pretending to be. Startled, he looked around with a sense of panic, only to turn back to the puddle to see that he was himself again. Shaken and a bit terrified, he ran home and retired to his bedroom for the night. After several hours of tossing and turning, he was finally able to calm down enough to get some rest.
The next day, curiosity set in. He wondered if it was all just a dream or maybe just part of one of his elaborate fantasies. So he went down to the same area where he was playing the day previous. He looked in the same puddle from the day before and saw his own reflection. He closed his eyes and concentrated on one of his adventure characters and opened his eyes to see that he had indeed become that character. In fact, he could concentrate on any person from his recollection and become that person.
Excited about his newfound ability, Shamus ran to find Neo. But Neo’s advice was somewhat shocking. He warned Shamus to tell no one about this, not even their parents. Neo had been plagued with tests by the Dark Caste from the time he was a little boy and feared that Shamus would share the same fate if anyone else knew about it. Accepting Neo’s advice, Shamus used his ability carefully, and practiced in secret.
One day, late in the night, Shamus woke up to hear sobbing from downstairs. He crept near the stairwell and listened intently to find that Jillian was missing. Several days, then weeks passed, and there was still no sign of her. Neo was outraged and set off to find her immediately, but his mother was able to persuade him to stay and finish school. Grudgingly he obeyed. Graduation came quickly and there was still no sign of Jillian. Without hesitation Neo packed up his things and left in search of his sister.
Four years passed before Shamus would see Neo again. Frustrated, but still determined to find out what happened to his sister, Neo joined the city guard and urged Shamus to help him in his search. Shamus was a year behind in school because of his time spent searching for his family in Khorinis, so it would be two more years before he would be allowed to leave. The two wisely spent their time in Inaria gathering as much information as they could about the White Temple and the disappearances of Dark Caste members.
Two years passed quickly and graduation fell just before Shamus’ 18th birthday. After about another month’s worth of preparation and planning, the two set off for Cauldron to further investigate the disappearance of Jillian.