Callahan 1

Matthew Fehler

In a Yuan-Ti jungle city, Matthew Fehler lived his childhood. He wasn't called Matthew

Fehler then. His original name belonged to Yuan-Ti culture and was Anguis Ilkahsis.

His family was on the lower end of the Yuan-Ti society. His father was a grunt soldier for

them; he protected the city and did raids on other settlements for food. His mother worked in

luxury pottery. She crafted numerous fancy clay creations for the upper-class Yuan-Ti. His mom

and dad made a stable living for him and his little brother, Musu. The Ilkahsis lived quaintly and

peacefully for the beginning of Anguis's life.

As Anguis grew old, his mother began to lose control of her muscles. Her profession

quickly ended as she could not use her hands. Anguis's dad started doing more and more

dangerous jobs to support the family (he became very good at them); however, their immobilized

mother was a stain upon the family. The higher-ups in their society began to harass the family.

They questioned why precious resources were "wasted" on someone who didn't need them. A

drought met their city, and that amplified the "uselessness" of his mother's life. Guards who were

meant to protect the citizens of the city banged on their door and demanded his mom be dragged

out onto the streets. His father put up a long fight but was unfortunately struck down. Anguis's

brother and he were able to escape as their dad fought the army off. As they left they could hear

the sound of their parent's flesh being ripped away by Yuan-Ti teeth. The bodies that their dad

created contributed to the feast. The city celebrated.

Now nomadic and resourceless, Anguis used the one thing he had to feed his brother and

him, his speech. He drained a cactus and sold its juice as a false aphrodisiac. He started a trek up

north with him and his brother.

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Anguis was disgusted by what his culture did to his parents. It was a selfish city that saw

practicality as morality. Although he sometimes struggled with abandoning that mindset, he

made it his goal to abandon the lifestyle and put his brother and himself on a better path. He

started adopting the morals of the northern cities that they would visit.

He traded everything he could get his hands on. Often, he sold basic water as wonderful

elixirs. To further the scam, he changed his name to Matthew Fehler. It was a name that seemed

familiar to northern people. However, despite being a pureblood, people could see the slits in his

eyes, the patches of scales on his skin, and the forked tongue that negotiated every deal he did.

His brother and he were starting to starve.

Two important deals helped Matthew to stay afloat. The lesser of the two was with the

son of a noble. The son's name was Linus Stum. The potion he desired would make any women

fall in love with him when consumed. Of course, the potion he bought for an exorbitant fee did

nothing. He told his father, Uldred Stum, of the scam. Using his seemingly infinite resources,

Uldred launched a group of mercenaries to hunt Matthew down.

Because of this, Matthew was more desperate than ever when a rich man then approached

his potions carts. His wife was sick with a similar disease that Matthew's mother had. Despite

having an abundance of gold, nothing could cure his wife's condition. Matthew was aware of

this, as his family tried all that they could to cure his mother. The rich man offered a ring that

contained a genie. Unable to leave the mindset of his people, Matthew saw the life of his brother

and himself as more important than someone who he knew could not be saved. He scammed the

rich man and claimed the ring.

 Callahan 3

If he did critical thinking, he would have seen that the rich man could have asked the

genie to cure his wife. However, his excitement to save himself blinded him. He would have seen

obvious flaws that laid in the rich man's story, but his past culture prevented him from doing so.

The man was conjured by the genie to test Matthew. A test he failed and would pay the price for

dearly.

When Matthew negotiated with the genie, there were many wishes he could not get.

However, the final one that was agreed upon was that his Yuan-Ti blemishes would be able to be

hidden from his body with ease. He could blend in with humans whenever he desired. This came

with the price (or benefit) of being conscripted into a pact with the genie.

Matthew was able to sell better than ever since his blemishes were hidden. He gathered

enough money to fund his brother's education to be a Paladin in a church. Currently, he has

found luck dragging his potion cart around different areas in Waterdeep.