Escapee from Below
You spent long years captive to an Underland empire, where you grew accustomed to ways that aren’t your own. You are now a stranger to your own people, having replaced their social mores with those you learned while underground. Your bizarre ways mystify them: you don’t wake and sleep with the sun, you eat strange foods, and you often use words and phrases that they’ve never heard.
Who were your captors? Were they aboleth, deep dwarves, or even weirder creatures? Did you languish in a dungeon cell, or did you serve as a laborer, sailor, or gladiator? How did you escape? Do you have any unfinished business below the surface?
Common clothes, thieves’ tools.
Your prolonged captivity has granted you insight into the culture that kept you. You understand their customs, traditions, religion, political ties, and to some extent how they think. You are regarded as an expert in this culture and can usually recall some useful detail when you and your companions face a challenge involving this culture.
You find yourself drawn to the lands you once escaped. When you return there, you may have an opportunity to right wrongs or take revenge for past injuries. When you do, other escapees may look to you for leadership.