Dirty Sal

His mother named him Saladin, but most people know him as Dirty Sal.

Sal runs a small shop in Sun District, selling used and slightly worn goods. He is of average height and a little stocky, for he enjoys good food. Like most of the humans in Jarayu, he is dark skinned with black hair and brown eyes. He looks like the mildly successful merchant he is, and many believe this is all he is. But Sal was once one of Kerani’s most ambitious, and successful, thieves.

Born in Sky District, Sal was orphaned at a young age. First, his father was killed by an overzealous guard responding to accusations of theft from a greedy merchant. A few years later Sal’s mother, now destitute, died of fever. Sal decided a life of begging was not for him, and he started taking what he needed, and then what he wanted. He quickly perfected his art, eventually gaining a small, loyal crew to work with him.

When Sal learned of a caravan destined for Mahday, he gathered his crew and they planned a bold heist. Somewhere in the execution, however, the plan went horribly askew. Suddenly there were expensive bottles of perfume, and oils, and silver coins littering the streets. The people, gathered for a parade, became a mob, grabbing whatever they could. The ambassador to Mahday and his wife were slain, as were dozens of Kerani citizens and most of Sal’s crew.

Ambassador Kothar’s young son was left an orphan, and with the destruction of the caravan there were no papers proving his identity. He was left to fend for himself on Kerani’s streets.

Sal bought his small shop a few days later. He looked for the little red-haired boy until he finally found him, and brought the boy to Sun District with him. The child was restless, though, and never stayed in one place for long.

Sal no longer plans heists of any kind. His only ties to his criminal past are his shop, which serves as a fence for stolen goods, and the boy he helped to orphan.

The incursion of the Red Sash into Sun District has become something of a problem. They now demand a cut of Sal’s profit in return for sending him “business.” Sal has tried to refuse the patronage of the Red Sash, but they are tenacious.

This work by Jean Headley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.