Sam Smith is a contortionist and a jester living in Foldale. Born as a snake and magically turned into a human being, he was kidnapped from his stepfather by wandering gypsies and spent 10 years as a young performer, eventually to return back to his home village and reunite with his father. He's currently working as an errand boy, bringing milk, post packages and other small things to the villagers and helping them around, but he still keeps practicing contortion as a hobby, together with his beloved friend Matthew Mills.
The Snake Boy[]
Sam Smith was born as an animal, a tiny red ratsnake, but shortly after his birth he was captured by the witch called Mama Fortuna who was about to perform a certain ritual of sacrifice. Following her craving to stay young and fresh for centuries, she discovered a certain ancient magic involving a sacrifice of an innocent child, which she then had to perform every century.
But being a peaceful woman and a respected herbalist for the village of Foldale, she refused to disgrace herself by using real human babies. Thus she added one extra magical step to the routine and used various sorts of animals like newborn rats, snakes and spiders, transforming them into humans first and then proceeding with the sacrifice.
This little ratsnake was her victim for the next century, and so he was captured and brought to the witch's treehouse and his transformation into a baby boy began. However, by accident Mama Fortuna broke a retort which happened to contain some intoxicating substance, so while she was struggling with her hallucinations, the little ratsnake managed to escape the treehouse.
On its way back into the forest he fully transformed into a human child, and in this form he was found by Zacharias Smith, the local blacksmith who was returning back home. He picked up the baby boy and went around Foldale, asking whose child it was, but nobody recognized this little red-haired baby. After a little meeting of the villagers in Foldale's main square, everybody agreed that Smith should take the baby and raise him as his own son. On the same day the baby was named Sam.
As Mr. Smith didn't have any wife and always lived and worked alone in his smithy, several women of the village visited him to help taking care of the baby. But Sam was growing pretty quickly and soon he was already walking on his own two feet, although for some reason he still preferred to crawl around most of the time. But it was not the most peculiar thing about this boy, it seemed like the witch's spell had the strangest effect on his body and he retained not only the most snakish habits but also his former flexibility.
Little Sam really enjoyed coiling up in the most inhuman positions as if it was not at all abnormal but quite enjoyable for him. Bending and twisting all the way backwards until he put his chin on top of his own thigh was an everyday relaxing pose for him. As much as Zacharias Smith was confused by this, he wasn't prepared for the role of a strict parent and just let the boy do what he likes.