SZARK STURTZ
Szark Sturtz is a skilled swordsman who has killed many, many people.
He was wounded by a Demon Lord as a child, and he still suffers from its perverse effects.
He desperately seeks redemption for his past evils.
BRIEF HISTORY
Szark Sturtz was always a little strange. His mother died when he was very young, and his father, while a good and loving man, was a successful banker who spent much time away on business. He was left to his own devices for many years and had no one to speak to about the odd desires growing within him. He was not entirely without playmates, however, and often fenced with them using sticks and toy swords. He never lost a "duel," and found himself strangely fascinated with his playmates' "deaths" when they lost. It was a strange sensation that he really, really liked. He practiced with his toy swords whenever he could, so he would be sure to watch the boys and girls do their death scenes whenever he defeated them. It was growing into an obsession.
He asked his father for fencing lessons. Szark was a fast learner, who blended established technique and form with his own childhood routines. He practiced every day for hours on end, imagining his playmates' act out their dramatic demises on the end of his blade. Luckily, Szark was a smart boy and never considered actually killing another person. While learning swordplay, he was also taught the ideals of chivalry, nobility, etiquette and honor. It was the play and drama that amused and fascinated him, though he was still too young to understand why.
When Szark's father became friends with Donovan and Miranda Deegan, Szark met their three sons, Jacob, Dominic and Gregory. Jacob was too cold and unsettling to approach. Gregory was too young to relate to, and his handicap was an unpleasant distraction. He bonded with Dominic rather quickly, however. Szark was intrigued by Dominic's intellect, and Dominic with Szark's chivalry. Unbeknownst to Dominic, Szark began to have strange feelings for the middle Deegan... the same he had when he looked at girls, or when he watched his playmates' "die" during their duels. Szark was happy with his newfound friend, but more confused than ever.
One day, while Szark was visiting Dominic, they were attacked by a vile Demon Lord! Szark received a terrible wound before Miranda banished the demon. Szark was treated by the best white magicians his father could afford, but nothing could seem to close the wound. It remained open and bleeding... and has never closed. Szark was bed-ridden for weeks, overcome by searing pain and agonizing dreams. His father spent a fortune on cures, but nothing could close the wound. Eventually, Szark found the strength to stand and decided that if no cure could be found, he would conquer it himself.
Szark threw himself into his fencing studies. He was in great pain and had become quite fragile, but he would let nothing stop him from becoming a swordsman. He developed techniques that kept his wound away from his opponent and learned to move economically, so as not to further aggravate his injury. To his teachers' shock, he was actually improving faster than before. The wound had not broken him. It had motivated him... but at a terrible price.
Szark found his thoughts lingering on the strange feelings and desires he had suppressed in the name of nobility and chivalry. His reputation as a swordsman was growing, but he moved to Erossus, a notoriously sinful city, to explore old feelings that he was now embracing. He threw himself into Erossus' seedy culture, bedding with men, women, and often both. During a complicated evening involving too much liquor and words, he was challenged to a duel to the death by an offended man. Szark was scared and exhilirated at the same time. The man never stood a chance, and before he knew what he had done, Szark killed the duellist where he stood. And then, miraculously, the pain from his wound subsided. He had discovered a dark and, under Erossus duelling laws, legal cure for the perpetual pain inside him. Killing.
It was not long afterwards that he met Amelia Travoria, an enchantress who tried to put him under her spell. To his shock, her magic had no effect on him. He would have killed her right then and there had she not promised him more duellists. He took her up on her offer, and sure enough, more and more duellists were challenging him to the death... and every last one of them died for his dark pleasure. He gained their money, their swords... and eventually married the enchantress.
Through it all, he wrote polite letters to the one boy who had been nothing but a true friend to him. Dominic.
CURRENT STATUS
Szark was having fun with Amelia and Celesto Morgan when he was reunited with his boyhood friend. After a terrible murder plot was uncovered, Szark came face-to-face with his own dark desires. He realized how far he had fallen from his days as a chivalric young boy, and it shook him to the core. He is doing everything within his power to atone for his dark indulgences, and hopefully redeem himself in the eyes of his father and his dear Dominic.
CAST
DOMINIC DEEGAN:Oracle For Hire IS COPYRIGHT © 2002-2005 MICHAEL TERRACCIANO.
Dominic Deegan is hosted on Keenspot.
