Shifter Paladin, connecting background to class. Kinda stumped...

So I'm planning on making a dual Scimitar wielding Shifter Paladin, Oath of Noble Genies. I intend to go with the new Entertainer background, since it gives STR, DEX, and CHA. Plus Acrobatics, Performance, and the Musician feat is nice to have. And it feels on brand since Genie Paladins are more like agile mystic knights. Further compounded by being a Swiftstride Shifter.

I'm going with the classic "ran away to the circus/carnival at an early age". An outcast with a heart of gold. All the carnies and eccentrics taught him most everything he knows, and he isn't too afraid of monsters and beasties cuz like... he is one. And I feel like maybe some of his swordsmanship is rooted in juggling, blade dancing, knife throwing, etc. I imagine his personality to be like Zidane from FF9. Daring, courageous, confident, ironically has a hard time reading the room, and maybe a bit of a womanizer, but wizens up over time.

I'm just kinda blanking on what exactly would cause him to swear fealty to a court of genies. Like I don't know what drives him to adventure. What draws him away from the den of freaks who love him, and feed him, and give him a job? What even causes him to come across Noble Genies in the first place? I just need some kind of through line that makes sense and doesn't feel too contrived.

EDIT: Changed to Swiftstride Shifter

Greetings Jadeddevilman,

If he is working for a Circus, maybe they are in the business of finding strange and antique items to sell in the next town, and the Circus stumbled across a Genie's Lamp, but you were the one cleaning the found items and released the Genie... Maybe?

Just a thought...

Cheers!

Quote from jadeddevilman >>

I'm just kinda blanking on what exactly would cause him to swear fealty to a court of genies. Like I don't know what drives him to adventure. What draws him away from the den of freaks who love him, and feed him, and give him a job? What even causes him to come across Noble Genies in the first place? I just need some kind of through line that makes sense and doesn't feel too contrived.

Options that are fairly setting-agnostic:

- something bad happened to the carnival, so your found family got broken up. You want revenge/want to find them if they're missing or scattered. The place where the tragedy happened was in the vicinity of the court, and it was the genies who offered some sort of aid afterward to earn your trust and loyalty

- the leader of the carnival was a genie the whole time; you did something to prove yourself worthy, and they revealed themselves and offered you the oath... and a quest

- you say you ran away at an early age... ran away from what? Did your family of non-shifters seem to hate you because you were different? Maybe you have questions about how it is you're a shifter in the first place, questions that can't be answered at the carnival. Did you just want to adventure and see the world? Maybe that wanderlust is kicking in again, and the carnival seems a little too small and tame now that you're older. Whatever caused you to leave the carnival, early on in your travels you encountered and helped a genie who saw the potential in you, and offered you the oath

Okay I think I've got it dialed in:

Keaton Heisler. Born to an affair, he was abandoned by his birth mother and picked up by a passing through circus. His new family treated him well and gave him work, but he still felt a distance due to abandonment issues. Which also added to his desire for validation; only marginally satiated by working and performing in a circus. He one day was approached by one who would punch his ticket to become a Paladin of Genies. Or even sneakily given an item that would become his spellcasting focus as a trail of bread crumbs of sorts by Noble Genies who were enthralled by his daring feats and innate heroism, as well as his audacity. Or so they tell him anyway. I suppose to the un-initiated, it would seem like talent scouting, so for all his second family knows, he got recognized and gets to fly the nest for a while...

When he got his call to action, he left the circus without much of a second thought and a half-assed goodbye. But they all still tried to stress to him that he still would have a place to stumble back to. It's a "Leave before they hurt me" sort of sendoff.

It is implied that Keaton's blood father was a kitsune or some other fox-like shapeshifter passing through, due to his own vulpine features, minor shifting abilities, as well as a spark of divine magic that would become the basic for his Paladin magic. I would also say that a Noble Djinni, a wind elemental, is his direct liaison since he actually has Keaton's best interests somewhat at heart, and Keaton himself being naturally swift means he's most attuned to Wind.

And so, we have our treasure hunting, showboating, sellsword of a Paladin. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen! Any other blanks can be filled in during the would-be campaign assuming it doesn't fall through again...