The Twin Brothers
Del and Faen Ilpheldon were the first elven twins. They were so alike growing up, that they were indistinguishable. It was such that not even their mother could tell who was who. One would often impersonate the other, leading to hijinks that eventually became a career path. Many of their pranks involved people who did not know they were twins. One would cause mischief and run one way, while their victim would go the other way in search of help. When they would arrive at the boy's house, they would be astonished to see one of the boys there, and as twins were largely considered mythical at this time, would promptly apologize for the trouble and leave, allowing the boys to get off scot-free.
Once adults, they set off into the world, and since only one would be seen at a place at a given place at a time, they became each other's alibis while the other would commit crimes. They both became skilled minstrels and thieves, and operated much in the same way as Changelings today. In fact, it is impossible to tell if the shapeshifters took inspiration from this tale.
The brothers operated under a single personality: Otleh the Great. While one would be performing, the other would be committing theft and other various crimes under the name Neafled. When a description came in of the criminal, it would lead to Otleh, and be dismissed due to dozens of witnesses and alibis. The two brothers went on for years, spreading out their crimes so that they wouldn't leave much of a pattern.
Their plot worked very well for them for many years, going to all realms, and making themselves very rich. Things were going well, until they decided to have their thief identity, Neafled, rob a temple. Going in, they had no idea whose temple this was, just that they were hired to steal something out of it. It wasn't until Neafled was already in the temple until he realized he had been hired to rob Cheznerix. At this point, the thief had a crisis of faith. He couldn't abandon the job, because he would risk his reputation in Cheznerix's eyes, but he couldn't steal from the god, for he didn't know how the god would react.
Neafled eventually decided to steal the item, figuring that an unknown outcome was better than a known negative, and grabbed a sacred totem from the altar. On his way out, he found his path blocked by some form of divine energy. He was contained to a small cylinder. After Otleh's show, he grew worried when Neafled did not make it to the rendezvous point. He eventually went to the temple, and entered, looking for his brother. As he entered, he too was ensconced in energy.
It was then that the priestess of the temple emerged, and the twins found him to be the same woman who hired them for the theft. She revealed that their escapades had garnered the attention of the god, and he wanted to offer them roles in the ranks of his devoted. After a bit of conversation, the boys agreed, beginning the Followers of the Two, a sect devoted to their practice of theft and performance.
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