Duncan Santel had grown up in the kingdom of Shadowvale, a kingdom that had a good king that ruled it.  He had been five years old when he, along with his father, mother and two brothers had escaped the purge of nobles in their own kingdom.  His father had been a Barron with lands and a castle.  The people he ruled over were well taken care of and loved his father.  But that came to an end when the Tyrant as he was called rose up with an army and killed the king and took over the Kingdom.  They Tyrant then began the purge of nobles, killing all he could so that there would be no one to try and lead a revolt against him.<br/><br/>It was a harrowing few days that followed for Duncan's family.  Duncan's father Arthur, had been the King's trusted advisor and the Keeper of the Kingdoms Treasury.  He was not about to let it fall into the hands of the Tyrant to be used to recruit mercenaries so he could invade other kingdoms.  That only added to the dangers of their escape.  Not many of the nobles escaped.  Their entire families were murdered, their lands taken over and given to those loyal to the Tyrant.  But they made it to Shadowvale and was welcomed.  Though not a noble of the land the King treated his father with respect and as a noble.  With some of the money of the Treasury, his father began to fund a rebellion in their kingdom when the people there seemed to have had enough of the Tyrant's rule.  Weapons and armor were purchased and smuggled into the the kingdom to be ready for use when the time came.  But there were still the supporters of the Tyrant to contend with and his army, and the people were afraid of them.  They had to have something or some one to follow to inspire them.<br/><br/>Duncan grew up in a castle on foreign soil but had the best tutors to teach him reading, writing, math, history, and other things.  He was also taught the use of the sword and the bow by the masters of the Kingdom.  As he grew and learned, he became a tall and handsome young man.  His jet black hair was not long but needed to be kept out of his deep green eyes by a leather strap.  He was muscular but not overly but he was strong.  He preferred to spend his time with the common soldiers, then with the courtly duties of a noble.  He would be found in the taverns of the city with a number of them drinking and enjoying the attentions of the tavern wenches, something his father frowned on but allowed.  After all Duncan was a grown man and in his own way was winning the respect of the soldiers and the people.<br/><br/>He was called into his father's study, after a night of drinking.  He thought he was in for another talk about being the son of a noble and such.  But what his father told him shocked him.  "I have received word from a good source that one of the royals lives.  She was spirited away to another kingdom and all these years has grown up there not knowing who she is.  You must go there and find her and bring her back here for protection.  For if we know she is a live, the Tyrant will also learn of it."  He was given a house number and a name of a street.  So it was that Duncan left for Midford the capital of Cordona.  He did not travel with an escort, or in noble clothing.  He instead wore the clothing of a fairly well off person, perhaps the son of a wealthy merchant.  A Black tunic and Breaches with knee high boots, and a simple cloak.  He carried a sword and a bow with a quiver of arrows.<br/><br/>He arrived in Midford on his horse and after stabling it began to make his way through the city and found himself in the market.  It was like any other he had seen with a wide variety of vendors and people moving from one to the other.  Having been trained to spot the out of the ordinary, he saw a rather fat man following a lovely lady about the market as she stopped at one then another vendor.  He knew the look on the man's face, for he had seen it enough in the taverns.  He sighed and made his way across the market to follow the man.  The lady turned into an ally a bit after she had left the market and the fat man slowed down taking out a wicked looking dagger.  That made Duncan frown, as he knew what the fat man was, an assassin.  His eyes narrowed and a snarl appeared on his lips, as he quickly moved forward.  As the man was about to round the corner of the building into the ally, his sword found the back of the assassin.  The man stumbled forward, around the corner and fell to the ground the dagger he held clattering on the pavement as it skidded down the allyway a bit..  He then stepped into the ally himself to make sure the man was dead.  Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of the the young woman, her back against the wall of the building.