Mr. Shadow was born the son of a slave on a legal study ship called the Neverending Hawk. His father is someone he may or may not have met; he does not know. His mother was allowed to die by her owners after the birth proved to be too much; or rather, his owner decided the cost of waiting for his mother to have her health was more than the cost of simply stealing/buying a new slave. Mr. Shadow was never given a name by his master, and was always told to never let any of the clients, or rather the sons and daughters of influential politicians throughout the galaxy, see or hear him. He was, if he wanted to stay alive, told to always be a shadow, and to never emerge unless requested by his Master. When the kid asked his Master about the Monsters that lurked in the darkness, the Master merely replied "You fool, you are the shadow!"
The kid became as silent as the shadow for the first few years, cleaning bathrooms, scrubbing doors, taking pictures of female students in an airlock. The ship had a droid programmed to teach discipline and be a "parent". There were other kids on the ship, but the idea of becoming friends never even occurred for any of the kids. It was, at best, a dreary existence, complete with the occasional whippings and starvation periods. The only hope that these kids had was that the ship was known, after several years of servitude, would be released on a planet. (In Truth only those who had outlived their worthiness or showed signs of trouble were let go, usually on isolated asteroids or most uninhibited moons). If not for one incident, Mr. Shadow would have surely become part of the shadow of history.
When Mr. Shadow was 10, he overheard a female student wandering about if a crush she had had received her letter. Going down the hall, he saw the crush waving the letter in front of his friends. Mr. Shadow then went back to the girl, and told her about his receiving the letter. He didn't why he did this; he never before had talk to her, or really to any of the students unless they asked him for something. He just felt like doing this. And his reward? Some of the most delicious chicken he had ever laid on his tongue. It was this critical juncture that Mr. Shadow found his true calling: that of an information dealer.
Starting first with the girl from Naboo who gave the chicken, Mr. Shadow soon became the students' main information source. Wanted to know if a test was going to be on Friday? Ask Mr. Shadow. Wanted to know if that Quareen Lad had just been dumped by the Mon Calamari gal? Ask Mr. Shadow. He did this on a side-basis on the ship, still completing his other duties. He would volunteer to be one of the janitors, in order to allow free travel throughout the ship. At one point, his Master realized what he was doing and was going to throw off the ship...in the middle of space. However, the girl from Naboo led the charge, demanding they let him live, the group agreeing that "Mr. Shadow must live!". When the Master refused, the group promptly took over the ship with, of course, Mr. Shadow's help. All of the slaves were freed, the former masters sentenced to hard labor, and the ship was given new management.
Mr. Shadow remained on the Neverending Hawk for a few months on the ship, becoming quick friends with the new ownership. However, when the new management asked him to spy on his friends on the ship, he quickly faked his death, and was left behind on Tatooine. Despite his young age at this point (around 15) he was able to do various information gathering missions from the crime lords, and soon was a decently wealthy man. He established one of his soon to be numerous bases throughout the galaxy on Tatooine, and worked on creating a network of contacts, resources essential to his business.
In the 20 or so years since his beginning, Mr. Shadow has become a relied upon source for many of the most powerful voices in the galaxy. Thanks to the Clone Wars, he also became very wealthy. Rarely appearing in person nowadays, Mr. Shadow has numerous employees in an established shadow organization. Hardly anyone knows his true appearance; his cloak emits an ancient aura of shadow. His base of operations is Tatooine, due to its numerous spaceports, but where he usually lives is unknown. What is known is that he has at least six mansions and that he hardly lives in any of them.
Mr. Shadow, luckily for the galaxy, is not a vengeful man and he will not abuse or take advantage of any disadvantaged person....unless he is paid to. He is considered to be one of the most fair dealers around, and even organizations like the Republic and the Black Sun do not mess around his operations. Mr. Shadow is a very fair man, despite his rough beginnings, though he does sometimes have favorites. In any case, if one has Mr. Shadow giving information, you know it to be true and you know you are in good hands. If you see Mr. Shadow with your enemy...watch out!
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