Heehee, welcome back! I hope you are oh so excited to hear more about me. Today, I've decided... I'm going to talk about... Talk about...

...ugh. Okay, never mind. I guess I'm not gonna do this whole thing as the Shaco you probably know. I'm tired of this scary clown persona. (takes off mask)

Um, don't be too alarmed... Every clown is just a regular man under the gaudy outfit and makeup; you'd be surprised, really.

My real name is Sherman. Sherman A. Corsierre.

Heh, pretty damn grandiose name, wouldn't you say? I don't really like it, but nothing I can do at this point. But don't call me that. Call me Shiv. I go by that for most of the people who know me. You can probably tell that my stage name, or I guess now my alter ego, Shaco, just comes from mish-moshing the first letters of my name. Tells you a bit about the extent of my creative ability.

I'll be straight up, most of the rumors you've heard are a bit dramatized. A bit of horror story stuff added here, diabolical madman there, and I'm a household word for getting your kids to behave and go to bed quietly with wide eyes.

So... this is my story, I guess. The real story. I had a bit of time off, here in the Inn with nothing much to do other than go visit people and places with Jinx and maybe with some of my old friends. So I decided to compile the most memorable events in the past year or so, into this hextech sonic-capture documentation device that I bought during a visit to Piltover a week or so ago. Apparently it'll record everything I say in an eloquent manner. Don't know how exactly it works, but I trust that old Heim didn't rip me off. I hope you aren't too disappointed by the fact that I'm not actually a serial killer sadistic clown. Well, then again, you hardly know me. Maybe I am.

Plink. A grimy drop of rainwater dripped on his face and silently slipped down his cheek, its path distorted by the boy's angular cheeks and jaw. His left eye twitched, and then opened. He carefully surveyed his immediate surroundings, making sure no one had entered while he slept. First thing he looked for was his knives, which were still sitting in the knapsack by the side of his bed, softly shining. The pair was always glinting, even when it was dark. It was a bit unnerving for the first few days after he had stol-ahem, found them, but after a while it became expected, almost reassuring to see their constant glow. Same musty room, what few pieces of furniture he had in their usual spots, same rugged cloths pinned to the deteriorating straw ceiling. Everything in place, the way he left it when he went to sleep. It wasn't too bad of a place once you got used to it, especially for Zaun.

Good, good. The boy finally opened his other eye, stretched, and stood up, patting at his matted hair, a strikingly fair shade of blonde. Judging by the faint grayness of the sky, it was approaching dawn. Another day, another ten hours at the grain mill. He found it incredibly difficult to will himself to wash up and set out for the long day ahead. Finally mustering up enough energy, his body aching from the previous night, he tugged on his work clothes with a groan and turned on the faucet, washing his face with the chilling water, making his eyes squint.

"Hi Shermy. Where were you yesterday at night?" He didn't have to open his eyes to know who it was, but he did anyway, and looked at the reflection of his sister Phoebe through the mirror.

Phoebe's the only person who can get away with calling me that.

"Well, aren't you up a bit early? And uh.. I was out. You know, for work and stuff," Shiv responded, eyes averted to the sink. He hated lying to her, but he wasn't sure if he should tell his little sister about it. She was only turning nine next week, after all, if he wasn't mistaken. After a brief silence while washing his face, Shiv added, "Anyway, I'll be home on time today. There's probably food in the basket. See ya, later, P," he said, with a small smile as he walked through the door, grabbing his knives and slinging the knapsack behind his back as he stepped onto the dirt road.

What a long day. It was late afternoon, the sun casting an idyllic orange glow on the roads and the rooftops of the town. Zaun doesn't look half bad, in the sunset. Almost beautiful. As long as you're looking from far away, at least. Rubbing his sore arms, spent from turning the mill all day, Shiv made his way toward the center of town, known primarily as the Heart of the Serpent by most of the townsfolk. It was a busy, bustling place, filled with merchants, shopkeepers, basically anyone who had something to buy or sell. He knew he could find decent prices for tonight's dinner. Today was the last workday of the month, and so Shiv had with him a pleasantly heavy purse filled with silver coins. He could hear the metallic jingle form his footsteps, and so he moved the purse to his knapsack, which contained his knives and a biscuit he hadn't eaten, among other things. First rule when it comes to bartering: Never show anyone how much money you have, or even give them a clue. Another thing was that he didn't want to get into any trouble with pickpockets or looters, as there were many rather uncomfortable situations that could fall upon a lone person with singing coins in his pocket.

Shiv had more than enough experience living the less-than-honest life before he worked at the mill. He used to be quite high up in a gang called the Southies, up until about a year ago when the pilties heard wind of their headquarters and raided their stockpile. His mates took off fast once they were eviscerated by the authorities, as a gang without a turf didn't really belong anywhere. He still wasn't sure who ratted, but he wasn't too sour anymore about it, as he hadn't suffered too much from the loss.

While approaching the Heart, Shiv was mildly intrigued by the numerous plumes of smoke that seemed to be emanating from the markets and taverns there. Occasionally the town would have a small outside cooking event, but he could already tell that this was definitely not just a small barbecue. Shiv heard more bustling and shouting form the area, and picked up his pace, his pulse rising. What could be going on down there? Did the pilties come back? As he drew closer, he could make out multiple fires, and the silhouettes of shop owners and innkeepers frantically running about, trying to salvage their stores. And what he saw afterwards nearly made him freeze in his tracks, his eyes widening as his heart dropped.

There must have been at least fifty or sixty of Piltover's infamous patrol guards, torching the Zaunite building while brandishing their weapons, flooding the area like an oil spill in their black uniforms. Shiv could make out a pitifully scant resistance of Zaunite citizens forming, trying to slow the terrible advance of the guards with pitchforks, knives, and homemade weapons, but with little success. He saw one older man in the back of the line with a revolver, who seemed to be leading the civilians, feverishly pointing and shouting orders. His efforts seemed ultimately futile, however, as even in the few second Shiv watched the battle he could tell that the resistance was doing more running than fighting.

But as Shiv hoped, Zaun wasn't falling this easy, no matter how large the opposition was. From all around he felt the buzz of moving bodies, as scores of his fellow Zaunites, many of whom he recognized as gang members, quietly came to aid the effort. Southies, Northies, young and old, even little kids who looked too young to wield anything more than a slingshot, were all making their way towards the fire and smoke in middle of Zaun, a pained and yet fiercefully determined expression shared on all of their faces, which could mean nothing but that they ready to fight and kill to protect all that they had. Without a second thought, Shiv unsheathed his own knives from behind his back, and sprinted into the fight.

I guess I won't be home on time after all.

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed reading this first expansion into the story, and that you've learned a bit more about the TRUTH behind Shaco's mysterious and horror-filled public identity. I apologize for the tremendous amount of exposition... I didn't see it coming myself, actually. I'll pack in a ton of action next chapter, so don't be too disappointed haha.

So far, I'm pretty happy about the course that this story is taking, and am excited to write more. As always, thanks for reading, and I'll do my best to answer comments left by you guys.

Also, I haven't fully fleshed out what do with this plot myself yet, so any suggestions will be seriously considered :) Thanks again guys, and I'll be posting again shortly.

Best,

BloodyShaco