Far to the south lies a small island that fits neatly in the temperate band of the sea. This island is called Kessidy by its inhabitants, and has been isolated for who knows how long. It might have remained so were it not for a research vessel that was studying the migratory habits of whales. Once contact with the outside world was made, the island would never be the same.
Nathan was born into the community as all children were, and was raised by the community as a whole. He grew up with a rather normal life, learning to be a fisherman to support the community, and aspired to little else. While he was trained to defend himself from the occasional monster attack, he never figured he would be anything else BUT a fisherman.
Then contact was made. The island buzzed with activity, for they were no longer alone in the world for the first time. Highly interested in what the outside world had to offer, the island selected a few young people to go with the research vessel and explore the new world before them. Nathan was one of these chosen, and he's never looked back since.
He immediately fell in love with the excitement and adventure that the world had to offer, and even went as far as to join the Adventurer's Society. Through that, he learned many hard lessons quickly.
The sea has always been his first love, so a lot of his efforts have revolved around it. Even with the rest of the world open to him, he is awed by the sea's sheer magnitude and power. He has had several adventures in and around the sea over the years, some ending in triumph, some in tragedy.
One expedition to a group of caves just off the coast of Jesora started off simply enough. Nathan had teamed up with a group of spelunkers who were investigating reports of heavy lime deposits. But as the group pressed further into the water-filled caves, it was obvious that SOMETHING was watching them. Then it happened. Some huge monstrous thing exploded out of the water and attacked the group. They fled the caves, and fortunately they were not followed.
The episode shook Nathan's confidence a bit, but he was determined to try again. He joined up with a second, more heavily armed group and they all descended into the watery darkness again.
Whatever it was that had attacked before was not taking chances this time, and attacked the group en masse. Despite their superior numbers, it was just too fast and strong.
Nathan was the only one who made it out alive.
All his allies were slaughtered on the spot. Nathan was almost killed as well, but managed to wriggle out of its grip and make a mad dash to safety. The group leader, near dead, managed to distract the monster long enough for him to get out of the tunnels fairly intact.
He never even saw what it was that attacked him.
Since then, he's gotten the nickname of 'lucky Nate'. He hates it, as he doesn't feel particularly lucky. The episode was a sobering one, and for a time he did very little adventuring. Nowadays, some of the fire has returned to his heart, but he is a lot more cautious now than before. He has taken to calling himself an 'investigator' rather than an 'adventurer', as the latter just tends to run headlong into a situation without thinking things through.
Because of his caution, his progressing up the ranks of the society has been very slow (he figures he's somewhere in the high 40s), but he really doesn't care much about that. Nathan feels that all the glory and fame in the world means squat if you're dead.
These days, Nathan does a lot of cartographical work for the society, mapping out the many small islands that dot the sea, and selling what spoils he finds to museums or pawn shops (if it's junk).
Updates—spoiler warning!
It's recently been discovered that Nathan is not actually human, but rather a merman, of the Brightwater type. He was sent to the surface to keep an eye on human activity, which has in the past disturbed the merfolk. Gaia has twice almost destroyed their culture, and they hope to prevent this from happening again. When Cassidy (Rion) stole the Blue Orb and handed it over to Gyan Amsered, it sparked a war between the merfolk and the surface dwellers that may get much worse before it gets better. For the time being, Nathan continues to travel with the party, despite his resentment of Cassidy for what she did. He has since come to terms with Cassidy, if not totally forgiven her, and is once more friendly with the girl. However, he lives with the guilt of his betrayal of his people for not opposing Cassidy further and failing to safeguard the Orb. He wants one day to return to his people, but he has little hope for it, and he seeks solace in his newfound friendships, and his growing feelings for Feray.
Further updates! After saving Feray from the jaws of death, the party encountered the Great Angler, the ancient spirit fish of the deep sea that was corrupted and driven mad by Gaia's power eleven years ago. Thousands of merfolk died to seal the destructive beast away, and aside from spying on the surface dwellers, Nathan's job was to guard the Angler's prison from anyone who might unwittingly release it. While he was journeying with the party, however, someone apparently did release the Angler. Something had to be done to prevent it from killing all life around it. A magic harp called the Cyfaredd Telys, an ancient relic of the people of Cereshanti, allowed them to subdue the Angler and release the anti-Spirit that was the seed of Gaia's corruption, causing the madness. Nathan managed to imprison the anti-Spirit in a Spirit Stone shard, after it almost killed him with its destructive, life-sapping power. A merman by the name of Sho-raoo was present when the party healed the Angler's madness and sealed the anti-Spirit. He has taken word of these events back to his people, and while he cannot guarantee anything, he says in his eyes, Nathan's betrayal is cancelled out by the great good he did in healing the ancient spirit creature. The possibility of someday returning home is no longer entirely out of reach. Still, Nathan has a very long way to go before he can attempt to rejoin his people...
