Los Angeles, California, 1979:
Logan had been born an orphan, having lost his father 5 months before he was born, and his mother at childbirth. With no relatives to care for him, he was placed in foster care (where they named him Logan, after his father), and subsequently found himself adopted by a young couple who had trouble conceiving a child of their own. But when they finally had a child of their own, Logan ended up neglected, and even abused on some occasion. Though he felt no physical pain due to his congenital analgia, the experience nonetheless scarred his fragile young psyche.
As a result Logan grew to become a troubled teen, falling into the wrong crowd and ending up on the wrong side of the law more times than a 14 year old should. Having run away from home by the time he was 15, Logan soon became the skilled pickpocket, out of necessity. It was by chance that Logan had tried to pick the pocket of Jonas Kaine, then-patriarch of a syndicate of con artists, and seeing potential in the young man, Kaine took him in as one of his own.
Mentored by Kaine, Logan was taught the ways of the syndicate, and came into his own as a con artist by the time he was 18.
Running scams and working commissioned heists together, the syndicate became more of a family than his own adopted parents ever were.
After the death of his mentor, the syndicate was embroiled in a power struggle, the elders of the family quarrelled amongst themselves trying to seize control of the syndicate. Logan, 22 by now, would have none of it, and he left the syndicate to make it on his own.
New York, New York, 2001:
For years Logan became an independent contract thief, working on assignments for collectors of antiquities. These usually involved him working heists in museums or high security storage facilities. And because of his inability to feel pain, he made a name for himself for getting a job done even at the risk of his own life. Making a tidy sum from the various assignments, he continued this line of work more for the exhiliration that came from pulling off a successful heist than for the money.
Sometime after his 27th birthday, after a botched con landed him in hospital with a concussion, he was diagnosed as having a malignant brain tumour. The doctors told him he had 6 months to live, a year if he was lucky.
But rather than being hampered by the news, it drove him to more dangerous assignments, turning down heists he deemed too simple for his abilities. So it was no surprise that it had only been a matter of time before his passion would land him in trouble. Assigned a high-profile job, Logan was made to work with former members of his syndicate. The animosity between all of them had obviously remained unresolved over the years, and their disagreements ultimately cost them the assignment, as well as the life of an innocent.
Logan was framed for the murder, and the conspirator turned out to be one of his “brothers”; a vengeful member of the syndicate. Arrested and subsequently incarcerated, Logan was sentenced to spend the remaining months he had in prison.
Breaking out of prison just days after his sentencing, Logan set out to avenge and exonerate himself by bringing in the true culprit. Having learned the identity of the murderer, Logan hunted him down, beating him half to death, but rather than allowing Logan to regain his freedom through exoneration, the murderer killed himself with a single shot to the head.
And just what were the chances of Logan being caught by the police with blood on his hands?
Pretty big actually.
Logan barely outran the authorities, and his escape triggered a massive manhunt. Running from state to state ever since,
Logan finally came upon Ravenblack City, where no one knew nor cared that he was a fugitive on the run.
Or so it seemed.