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Marcus was born in an ancient village within the domain of a warlike kingdom. His mother had a hard time giving birth to him due to his unusually large size. As he grew to the age of eight, rather quickly mind you, he helped his father mind the farm. The rigorous life made him very fit and highly muscled, which is why the military leaders who saw him thought him to be older and conscripted him shortly after his eighth birthday, at that time he was as tall and as muscled as their most feared warriors of what is now measured at five foot ten. Over the next year he trained and fought in two battles, the second resulting in him being captured by a tribe of warrior women who used him as a stud for three years. Whenever he was unable to "perform" they lashed him with a whip hard enough to cause gashes that, while they healed quicker than a normal human, left scars upon his back and chest. Two weeks after his twelfth birthday gold dust got into the wounds from a lashing, mingling with his bloodstream and causing the animal within him to take over in a powerful way. He transformed into a creature that was half man, half tiger. His mind was in a state titled a Death Rage, and he slaughtered the entire population of the warrior woman village. At the end of his Death Rage, his mind regained comprehension to the touch of kind hands on his fur covered cheeks. She had been the only one of the women who hadn't treated him as an object, sat with him and just talked with him. Now his arm was through her torso and she wasn't blaming him for what happened.

Here's essentially a transcript of the conversation with names excluded as at the time Marcus was unaware of of any of their names, nor how the group of seemingly ill fitting companions would eventually benefit him.

Female Werewolf(FW): Who's there?
Male Mage(MM): A human? In these woods? Can you even speak?
Marcus(M):.........
Male Vampire(MV): *from beneath clothing thick enough to stop sunlight* He might not have the knowledge to speak if he has lived in these woods his whole life.
FW: Perhaps I'd have to try to talk in a different way if that's the case.
MM: Or I could try a spell to pass on the knowledge to him.
M: I can speak, just... had to remember how as I hadn't for nearly three winters. What, are you all doing in these woods?
Male Werewolf(MW): There's a rumor of a giant cat creature stalking any human that enters the forest to hunt, and supposedly there have been several deaths attributed to it.
MM: It is said to be even taller than you with white fur and black stripes, its roar said to shake the trees throughout the forest.
FW: However the accounts of how it kills its prey are all different. Some saying it tears its prey apart limb by limb while others say it uses its claws to tear out their neck.
M: Sounds like it's a wild beast of a creature. Though I can't say that I've seen such a thing while living here.
MW: Even so, if it is in this forest we'll find it and deal with it.
FW: To be safe you may want to find somewhere outside the forest for a little while.
M: My home is safe enough, it should be good for me to stay there as the animals stay away from it. *he said before leaving the group in the opposite direction as his hut, once out of sight of the group he'd climb off the ground before shifting into tiger form and leaping to a different area in order to make his way toward his hut in a meandering method*

*at the camp of the monster hunters just after he left*
FW: 'Do you think he could be hiding something?'
MM: 'Possible, but I didn't get a chance to use a spell to track him.'
MW: 'Hard for me to say, he does smell like an animal but that could be explained by living in the forest for three years.'
MV: 'To be safe we should see if his trail leads anywhere when dawn comes.'

Around five days after his initial meeting with the group, Marcus would be out hunting in his tiger form when he caught the scent of one just as he caught his meals for the day. Looking up from his kill he would see the female from the group crouching at the base of a tree with a hand on the hilt of her weapon. He would let out a warning growl at her before grabbing his kill in his jaw and dragging it away, listening for if she were to follow him. Once a fair bit away he would hop up onto a large fallen tree to shift into his human form and then continue onward with the deer over his shoulder from the opposite end of the log to be careful. Shaking his head lightly as he walks up to his shack he would just go around to the side of the hut where he would prepare the carcass to yield as much viable meat as he could.