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Wish was ostracized (even by his family) for being a genasi. Though his mother never admitted to any indiscretion, the blue skin was a dead giveaway of Wish's illegitimacy. His very existence was an affront to his father, and a source of shame to his mother. They barely acknowledged him, and at times he wonders why they even kept him. Never feeling welcome at home, he spent long amounts of time on his own, exploring the town and its surroundings, and trying to come to terms with his heritage and the powers over water that accompany it. Abused, reviled and neglected at home and in public, Wish took to stealing to survive, as well as to give himself a sense of power over his destiny. He managed to find some acceptance with other footpads and indigents, and as soon as he could survive on his own he ran away from home. He ended up in a fair-sized town, stealing to survive and enjoying the life on the street if only because he had that camaraderie, the brotherhood of thieves. He found others to identify with - other social outcasts who were estranged from families - and he found a deep well of compassion within him, which somewhat balanced the resentment and self-pity that he'd built up over the years. He found that he was always willing to help a friend, though friends were few and far between. He determined that he would be a force for good in their lives, by force if necessary (and it often was). In trying to stand up for his fellow street people, Wish found that people disrespected them because they had no power, but that they'd respect something that affected them personally. Theft was a way of sending a message that couldn't be ignored, and physical force (or the threat of it) were also effective. So he began to be the self-proclaimed protector to the orphans and homeless in his town, beating up bullies or stealing from abusive citizens as revenge for mistreatment. But at the same time, Wish longed for approval from authority, from a parent-like figure, since he'd never got that at home. Unable to disguise himself effectively, he believed that no one "on the up and up" would accept him, so he sought approval from thieves with more power and prestige.
Wish ingratiated himself with a gang of thieves, and did everything they asked in a plea for approval from their leader, Glad Benassi. Glad took Wish under his wing and trained him. Wish became practiced at foiling pursuit with his powers, freezing the ground so that pursuers would slip and allow time for a clean getaway. But then the gang he was running with set him up to be the fall guy while on a job stealing from a mansion. While he was in another part of the mansion, Glad and his other "friends" were murdering the occupants (they'd been hired as assassins). Glad had planned all along that Wish was supposed to be caught stealing from the mansion and blamed for the murder. Instead, Wish was identified by the guards (some of whom were in on the assassination) but managed to escape with a strange object that had called to him in the mansion. It was a piece of polished obsidian, shot through with veins of dull red. It's very pretty, and when Wish looks at it, he must make a concentrated effort to look away. He may only imagine it, but he thinks that the veins brighten the further north and east he wanders from Neverwinter (while carrying this item Wish has access to the Control Flames cantrip). The obsidian gives Wish a bad feeling, even though he can't bear to part with it.
Since he was betrayed by Glad, Wish has been on the lam, and has been dismayed that the heat for the murder has never died down. He's been living on his own in the wilderness as a hermit for some time, and eventually realized that the strange obsidian object has much more to do with the continued hunting for him than the murder. Having realized that, and having had to escape bounty hunters who still managed to find him in the wild a couple of times, Wish has decided to rejoin civilization and seek refuge in numbers...Neverwinter. Life has returned to some sense of normalcy, but he's still paranoid that people may be after him: Glad, the authorities trying to pin the murder on him, or the mysterious people trying to steal Wish's obsidian from him.
Trying to find work to do aside from compulsive theft (not trusting the local thieves after being burned by Glad), Wish has done a number of odd jobs and a fair amount of time begging on the street. Gundren found him and gave him a job as stevedore, then as a stocker in his warehouse. Working for a living is a new thing for Wish, and he likes the sense of normalcy this involves...and he delights in the praise that Gundren has had for him and his work. Wish would do anything for Gundren, and leapt at the chance to take his supplies to Phandelver.
