To fully understand The Sandman you must be willing to look into his past and know his story. In essence that is what will you now do if you continue on from this point. Long ago in a time before calenders and recognition of time itself, there lived a man in a small village. He went by the name of Jacob and was a normal man graced by quick reflexes, a quick mind, and a code of honor that was well known as respected by all that knew him. Now you may ask yourself "What is so important about this man". Well the answer is quite simple. He was the first man to ever kill for another. I do not mean killing in passion nor in vengence, but killing for a reward. He was the worlds first assassin. Thus does our story trully begin. At the age of 45 Jacob was called upon to do a service for another. The reward was great and Jacob decided to take on the job. The job was in itself simple:  Across the seas upon the continent beyond sight, there was a cult of people who worshiped a Goddess of darkness, a Goddess of shadows." Jacob was to venture across the seas, a three year journey, and eliminate this cult. He did not question how his  'employer' knew of this cult, nor why he wished them eliminated. It was simply a task to be done, and he set off to do it. three and a half years later, upon the other continent, Jacob walked into a temple made of the darkest stone. Upon entering it he was greeted by a women clad in nothing but her own Aurua. The women had hair as dark as the night, eyes holding in them the answers to all questions, and a voice that beckoned within his dreams every night. This women was the Goddess Ombra. What went on between the two of them no one knows, for Jacob disappeared  on that day and was not heard of for quite some time. However fifty years later to the day, Jacob emerged from the same temple a changed man. He had not aged a day since his disappearance, but his aura was different. He seemed darker, calmer, more in control. Upon his back laid a sheath, and from that sheath protruded a simple black hilt in the form of a hawk with wings folded and head bowed. The first shadow lord has stepped foot upon the material plane on that day, a being who beckoned the shadows with his very presence. The story goes on though. Below is the only picture of Jacob ever taken. The picture was taken twenty years after he had left the temple of Ombra. Examine it closley to continue the story.