Horatio, a 22 year-old level 1 human thief. His name is actually Horace, and this is how he is called by his childhood friends, family and most of the people in his home town. He has lived his entire life in Orlane and was recruited there for Magnus' expedition. Unknown to him, Magnus' offer came only after several more proficient candidates declined.

Horace is the eldest of six children of a man and wife who operate a bakery in town. It is not a lucrative business but thanks to the couple's business acumen it has grown to employ several helpers beyond the immediate family. Horace is responsible and trustworthy when needed, but he also harbors some strong ambitions and spends much time contemplating and pursuing them. In fact the bakery's success is due in no small part to the time for sweat equity that he afforded his parents by being a stable and reliable presence for his younger siblings.

As a child, among his peers, Horace was a natural leader. Of average height and build, he was stronger than most, had exceptional hand-eye coordination and quickness, and was smarter than most; and with his above average charisma, the other kids gravitated to him and followed him. Boys being boys, this sometimes led to mischief, but nothing from which everyone involved didn't recover fully.

When Horace was 12, a small carny came to town. One of the troupe (an illusionist) performed magic tricks, assisted by one of the beautiful female acrobats. Horace was practiced with some simple slight-of-hand parlor tricks, but the performance of this man was awe-inspiring. Horace approached the man before the carny left town, hoping to stow away as his apprentice. The man initially laughed him off, saying that it wasn't his decision and besides, the carny couldn't afford to take on a magician's apprentice. Noting Horace's earnest disappointment, the man taught him a couple of his tricks (those that don't require magic). Being more than a little surprised at Horace's aptitude, he also confided a couple of his smaller secrets. He told Horace that if he still wanted to learn more in a few years, to look him up. So Horace began practicing his tricks and learning and inventing more. Eventually this work blossomed into a small act that he performs periodically at the local inns. His stage name is Horatio and that is the name he has chosen to share with all future acquaintances. He aspires to become a true illusionist.

But in the meantime, there's this thieving gig…

As soon as he was old enough to join his father working the fields of their family farm, Malfoy has longed to be an adventerur. Oh how he dreamed of the days spent leisurely spending his share of the treasures amased by he and his friends with no worried in the world. OH Yes! An Adventurer's Life was for him!

He spent every spare moment practicing with his father's beat up short bow and has becme a passable archer of sorts. He and his friend Neo made themselves crude wooden "swords" and beat on each other with them at every opprotunity. Over time the welts and bruises healed and they became a little better at defending themselves from each other. That is to say they THOUIGHT they had become skilled swardsmen ready to take on the world!

Malfoy's best friend growing up, Neo shares his friends' thirst for adventure for pretty much the same reasons - an exciting escape from the boredom of farm work and no on telling him what to do all day.

While not possessing his friend's skill with a bow he is actually fairly competent with his wooden "sword" after secretly convincing a neighbor to show him the important aspects of swordsmanship like "try not to get hit" and "Keep the pointy end towards you enemy at all times" in his quest to beat Malfoy at ANYTHING.

By the time our adventure started the boys had adopted an interesting "Adventuring Style" with Neo following wherever Malfoy led and Malfoy trying to hide behind his friend, the better swordsman, so he could use his bow to better effect anytime they ran into an imaginary group of bandits or marauding Kobolds...