Juniper was born to a wealthy family, the child of former acolytes who had once studied magic. Yet, magic never truly suited him. Instead, as he grew, Juniper was drawn to fencing, especially the rapier, and devoted himself to mastering the blade. Over the years, he blended the reluctant lessons in magic his parents insisted upon into his swordplay, making his fighting style uniquely his own.
His mother died when he was twelve, leaving him in the care of a malicious stepmother. For six long years, his stepmother schemed to push Juniper out, sowing discord throughout the estate. His father, ensnared in the mounting drama, was forced to choose sides. To him, Juniper seemed ever the rebel: though his manners were impeccable, he thought differently and never hesitated to speak his mind.
At sixteen, desperate to see his mother again, Juniper stole a forbidden book on necromancy from the library. Unskilled in the art, he botched a spell and lost a piece of his ear to a wild misfire, as well as a long scar that runs down his neck to his chest, embedding him with a curse that puts him in excruciating pain on new moons. He was unable to lift his own curse; the only thing left of the grimoire was a burned cover page. His father noticed immediately and, deeply upset, left Juniper’s punishment to the stepmother’s discretion. That same day, Juniper was branded with the scar "XV", the mark of the Devil.
On his eighteenth birthday, Juniper’s only wish was to leave the estate and seek adventure. His father reluctantly agreed, while his stepmother was all too pleased to see him go.
Transition to Underhaven:
Arrows whip around Juniper's head as he runs frantically through the forest. Red banners of an angry myconid mob flash close behind, hunting him down, torches raised. They clearly aren't happy; a few hours earlier, they witnessed their own king lie dead in Juniper's hands at a festival he just so happened to pass by. He had suffered a heart attack, and despite any attempt to explain his medical knowledge, he was not proficient in their language, and they mistook it for an assassination.
The forest starts to clear, but so does the ground too; his legs burning with strain, sweat beading off his forehead, and the sound of a waterfall becomes unmistakable. He comes to a sudden stop at the edge of the forest, his light evocation sizzling out as the dark engulfs what's below. He turns around to face the mob, and suddenly he is shoved over the edge; an arrow embedding itself into Juniper's shoulder, pushing him off the edge into the water below. The last thing he remembers is seeing the cliffside tower over him as he crashes into the water.
