Description
You see a rather tall and slim man. At first glance he seems well-dressed,
his clothes well tailored for his slender silhouette. Nothing fancy, just
sober colors that seem to match well. Upon closer inspection you notice
the clothes aren't the cleanest with wrinkles here and there. Maybe he got
dressed in a hurry, with no time to comb his shoulder length pale grey hair.
The color of his skin is revealed only by part of his slightly dark face.
The intensity of his gaze is tempered by the sunken look of his dark brown
eyes and he must not have shaved for a few days. The longer you stay near
him, the more you start picking up a boozy, sweaty stench in the air.
Role
Character challenge - Character sheet
Added Sun Dec 13 19:56:15 2020 at level 5:
Preface from the player: I tried to write my own backstory inspired
by the role guidelines, and well it's not happening. Everytime I go
back to the role guidelines I'm like "yeah it's the same story but
written a lot better". So I'll just copy/paste most of the role
guidelines here, with some minor editing, and then add some addendums,
updates, clarifications, etc.
Role Guidelines: There once was a small orphanage run out of a private
home in Seantryn Modan called Ardenwood Manor. It was an old place
with expensive things that you were not allowed to touch and cots for
maybe fifteen children. You spent much of your childhood there growing
up, but your memories of the place are scattered and hazy.
There was an event outside of the orphanage where multicolored motes
of light snowed down from the sky and faded just before touching the
ground. Some of those lights touched you. The orphanage is gone, now,
having burned down in a fire that claimed the lives of four children.
You survived the fire but hardly remember it.
Your childhood dreams and reality seem to mix and mingle, and you find
yourself having difficulty at times distinguishing the two.
You arrived at the orphanage as an adolescent. You cared for your
mother over an extended period as she died of an illness or ailment
(player may decide the details). It took its toll on you as a child.
By the time you arrived at the orphanage, you were quiet and a little
odd. You enjoyed walking through the city streets on your own. One
day, you saw a young drow girl about your age dead on the street, her
throat cut. Her vacant eyes met yours and her face seared itself into
your memory. You went and called for the cityguard, but they did
little more than move her body to a cart. The experience further
traumatized you and infuriated you. So much wasted life, and nobody
cares enough to take the effort to investigate.
You tried to investigate on your own but encountered nothing but fear
and indifference. This experience made you into a sullen, anxious and
irritable perfectionist, and you had (or allowed yourself to have)
very few friends at the orphanage as a result.
You used to have terrible dreams about the dead girl. In these
nightmares, the girl would stare at you with her vacant eyes. She
would cut you and drain your life and whisper that you were as bad as
the rest. Lazy. Careless. Culpable. You would awaken screaming.
However, ever since you left the orphanage, you have not had dreams.
After the orphanage fire, you started going to bars and drinking and
getting into fights. After some binging, you began trying to pull your
life back together. You decided to join the Blood Tribunal. However,
you remain a functioning alcoholic; booze tends to alleviate your
anxiety and irritability, but youre a bit of a mess. You dont
exactly inspire confidence, but youre damned good at what you do.
Parents
Added Sun Dec 13 19:58:27 2020 at level 5:
Leopohl never knew what his mother's illness was. She always
said to him she didn't know either but he didn't believe her.
She also wouldn't tell him anything about his father. It was
for the better, she used to say. His mother was not a warm
and comforting woman. Leopohl always felt like he wasn't a
desired child. They lived in a small, modest house in Seantryn
Modan and were pretty much by themselves. Then one day he
came back home with some food and found her mother dead in
her bed. His last memory of her is seeing her motionless
body, dumped awkwardly in a wheelbarrel, carried away by
lazy cityguards. Leopohl found out by himself eventually
that he has drow blood in him. He doesn't really know what
to make of it. He's a bit curious about drow societies.
He sometimes wonders if that dead drow girl he saw was some
kind of Godly message sent to him intentionally.
Morals and Tribunals
Added Sun Dec 13 20:03:20 2020 at level 5:
Leopohl doesn't care for what people call the Light and the Dark.
He cares for secure places where there is organized life and laws
to follow. He wants cities to be calm places, where he can safely
go to a shop, buy his booze, leave, sit down in a corner, get drunk,
and watch people. He does care for people, actually. He envies a
lot of the people he sees around him. He's always been fascinated
by focused people driven by clear goals, wether they're human,
drow, felar... Always trying to convince himself he should have a
purpose, and after working as a janitor in Hamsah Mutazz, he decided
he could become a Tribunal. He doesn't want to see dead corpses in the
streets. The dead drow girl he saw as a kid is a strange memory. It
was a long time ago but it feels so fresh sometimes. He still sees
her lying down in a pool of her own blood. He wants to be the one
who could have stopped that, or at least find the murderers and
correct them. In a way, being a Tribunal would give him some sort of
status and social recognition.
Social awkwardness and alcohol
Added Sun Dec 13 20:05:50 2020 at level 5:
Leopohl didn't grow up playing with other kids. He felt abandonned
when his mother died and when the oprhanage he lived in was destroyed.
He doesn't really know how to bond with people and he generally feels
awkward in social situations. Some might say that unconsciously he's
afraid to be abandonned again so he doesn't seek to develop relationships.
The best friend he's had for years now, is alcohol. He drinks pretty
much everyday, by himself. He's certainly not a social drinker even
though he started drinking in bars. He's comfortable when he's alone,
with some booze. If he goes out on an adventure with some other folks
to gain some fighting experience, he'll usually drink before, then
possibly during a break but he'll kind of hide a little bit. He's
not proud of this habbit. He's aware it's probably a problem and
he sometimes fantasizes about a sober life. He doesn't care for high
quality wine or any of that tasty stuff. He cares for alcohol itself.
He wants to feel dizzy, fast. He gets tensed and irritable when he
hasn't have a drink in his day. He usually drinks before eating,
which partly explains why he's on the leaner side. His alcoholism
may go unnoticed for many people because he's good at hiding it
most of the time, but there are other times where he's just too
messed up.
Fighting
Added Sun Dec 13 20:08:13 2020 at level 5:
Leopohl started going to bars pretty soon after he was homeless again
(orphanage destroyed). He didn't handle alcohol very well at the time
and that made him even more awkward. We could say he socialized through
fighting. He got into a lot of fights and, well, he got good at it.
You don't carry many fancy weapons around when you're a homeless youngster
so he got good with his fists. He wasn't as muscular and stocky as
some of the people he's fought, but his height gave him range and his
light weight gave him speed. He actually began pulling his life together
when he joined the Seantryn Modan warrior guild. It gave him something
to focus on.
OCD
Added Sun Dec 13 20:10:21 2020 at level 5:
Yeah, Leopohl could be described as an OCD. A functioning one. He's
methodic. He wants to be perfect at anything he begins, and he's never
satisfied. He just learned a specific way to kick dirt to some foes?
You're damned right he'll try to perfect that technique even if it takes
forever.The drinking helps dealing with his obsessions. He's more obsessed
when he's sober, then he becomes more anxious and more irritable. As a result,
he hasn't started a lot of projects in his life but what he does starts he
gets pretty good at. So far it's been becoming part of the warrior guild.
And now, he wants to become the best Tribunal there is. Leopohl also often
feels like something bad will happen to him. He's always aware of his
surroundings. He observes things around him and often has visions of the
worst possible scenarios (his boat will break before he gets to shore and
he'll have to defend against a shark attack, someone will kill him in his
sleep, someone will put poison in his wine bottle, etc.) He's not afraid
of these thoughts, however, but it makes him a little nervous, which again
is tempered by alcohol.
Early faith
Added Sun Dec 13 20:11:36 2020 at level 5:
Leopohl doesn't come from a religious background but he met a warrior
once, in the Seantryn Modan guildhall. That warrior was preaching about
the Goddess Ishuli. He read about it and got very interested. But he's
a nobody who feels uncomfortable with regular beings. The idea of praying
to a Goddess is a bit scary. But it's something he has on his mind.
A bad first impression
Added Mon Dec 14 16:35:36 2020 at level 16:
For the past few years, Leopohl has been spending most of his time training by himself.
He's had people inviting him for adventures but he didn't feel like it. Alcohol is all
the assistance he's been needing so far. And then someone approached him. Umbrand, a
paladin. Apparently he was the one caring for the kids in the Ardenwood Manor, the
orphanage Leopohl has more or less tried to forget. He mentionned something about a
possible dark ritual being responsible for the fire that destroyed the oprhanage. He
told stuff to Leopohl about some of the other kids, was saying things like "I'm glad
you are fine, I'm here for you now, take care you little bug, etc". Leopohl had a socially
acceptable reaction, mentionning a need to go back to his things. But deep down inside
he heard himself yell things like "Where were you when the orphanage burnt down! I
needed help then, not now!" Things like that...but he kept them inside.
This brought strange memories. A mix a wanting to know what happened, and wanting
none of it so he could move foward. These thoughts haunted him to a point he decided
to go to Seantryn Modan, where he hadn't been in years. He went to the Whitethorn Inn,
bought some booze and wandered around in the city, thinking about things until alcohol
took over. And then he noticed a Magistrate was in town. Dollerveim, a shaman. Leopohl,
with some bitterness in his approach, invited the Magistrate to talk. It wasn't the
best timing as we was lying on the street completely wasted (he's not completely
wasted most of the time. A bit dizzy, sometimes drunk, but usually presentable, but
not this time). They talked some but at some point Dollerveim mentionned something
about being sober as a first good step to become a Tribunal, which irritated Leopohl
so he left and passed out in a ruined inn. Not exactly a good first impression.
Update on relationships
Added Mon Dec 28 16:25:47 2020 at level 30:
It's as if all the kids from the orphanage reappeared. Leopohl can't forget
anymore. His path keeps crossing other people mentionning having lived there.
And some other people having heard about it and asking questions. Some of the
kids have become Magistrates, some of them are members of the Fortress apparently,
some others have joined other organizations. Leopohl doesn't remember all the names.
His memories of his youth are still vague. He hasn't really bonded with anyone.
There's this strange woman who gave him a flower. She's a Magistrate, she grew
up in the Ardenwood Manor but doesn't remember anything. Leopohl found her cute
and intriguing at first but she keeps telling him he's drunk. So, Leopohl has
become a bit more sociable than before but he's usually drunk, doesn't always
remember the conversations he's had, has a tendency to leave encounters that
become too personal, doesn't know much more about what mysteriously happened
in the orphanage, and he doesn't really care.
Advancing in the warrior guild
Added Mon Dec 28 16:26:40 2020 at level 30:
One of the only thing Leopohl thinks he's good at. He's obssessed with perfecting
the different techniques he's been taught. Getting drunk and go train, usually
by himself even though he's been capable of joining other adventurers from time
to time, is an activity he feels comfortable with.
Update on alcohol
Added Mon Dec 28 16:27:46 2020 at level 30:
After his first bad impression. Leopohl made an effort to talk to some Magistrates
about the job. Most of them probably saw him as a drunk. But he kept at it, sent
a note to the organization, eventually talked to the Provost and got the job.
The Provost mentionned some things about Leopohl's looks. She expects him to be
more presentable and drink only occasionally. Leopohl agreed but didn't do
any of it. So far he thinks he's done a good job of defending the Spire when it
was attacked. He has also made a first WANTED call when on-duty. Overall though
he notices there aren't many crimes in cities, for now maybe. So he's been able
to spend more time on his training.
The increase in Leopohl's interactions over the years have led people to call
him out on his drunkenness. He assumes it more now and doesn't hide it as much.
"I'm fine" is his usual response to people talking about it. Leopohl thinks that
by being a competent fighter and Magistrate, people will focus on that instead.
There are times when the stress is too high and he'll get completely wasted and
possibly cry and pass out. People notice that, but he doesn't care. He wakes up
after some rest and goes back to his things. He doesn't think that this behavior
has affected the quality of his work as a Magistrate so far but it probably did.
The girl
Added Mon Dec 28 16:29:15 2020 at level 30:
This is a crisis in Leopohl's life. A potential turning point. The dead drow girl
he saw as a kid. The girl he had nightmares about in the orphanage. She came back.
Leopohl was training in the Moudrilar's Monastery. As he was sleeping to recover
from his wounds, she came back in his dreams. But when he woke up, she was still
around, whispering to him. He saw her corpse on the alley but only briefly. She
kept whispering to him. He yelled, whispered, cried, tried to get her to come to
him so they could speak but she kept haunting him with only whispers. Is this for
real? After years without any nightmares about her, she comes back while he's awake?
Of course, Leopohl drank a whole lot of beer during and after the stressful incident.
He ran around nervously and even went to Ishuli's Shrine to pray to her, not
necessarily a good timing for a first impression. He was looking for a mother's
comfort more than a Goddess of dedication at the time. The only answer he got was
more whispers from the drow girl. Then the thought hit him like a giant two-handed
mace blow. He had to go back to Seantryn Modan and solve her murder. Maybe she'll
leave him alone after. Too drunk and stressed and afraid to be methodic and begin
an investigation right after what had happened, he went to Seantryn Modan anyway
with the intention to ask questions but he passed out not long after he got there.
A desire to approach Ishuli
Added Mon Dec 28 16:30:07 2020 at level 30:
Leopohl hasn't felt confident enough to approach the Goddess Ishuli until now.
Well it's not really confidence that lead him to pray to her for the first time.
Before the girl incident he's visited her Shrine only once when he was in his thirties.
He was so stressed out that he drank a lot before entering her Home. He looked around
nervously, picked some books in the bookshelves and read a few passages. At first he
wanted to approach her about his never ending desire to improve his combat skills.
But he wanted to be as good as he can possibly be before asking for her guidance.
Leopohl has spent a good amount of time training in the Moudrilar's Monastery because
it is close to her Shrine. He's been having thoughts like "Okay, today I'm going" or
"Maybe She'll notice me and come to me", but he was too afraid to go. What a failure.
And then the incident with the drow girl happened. And now he knows what he has to do.
From now on his focus is on this girl's murder. He will approach Ishuli with that in
mind.
Between dreams, reality and insanity
Added Mon Jan 4 18:06:02 2021 at level 33:
Leopohl hasn't been able to meet Ishuli but he's been active in his quest to find
out about the dead drow girl. Then he found her, or she found him...well they found
each other. A drow priest named Zorellaia. Leopohl is in a phase of questionning his
sanity. Or maybe this is all a dream? He's not sure about what's real or not. He
spent years trying to figure out about her murder (he's still convinced she was dead)
and now she's around, alive, and an outlander...how ironic. She's talking about
wanting to save him, or being able to end his life by making him motes of light. He's
also had visions of a stair where one of the kid's imaginary friend was disolved.
Grombie. Was he real? Leopohl actually travelled with him, saw him, talked to him.
He wants to find out. He's also compelled to listen to that drow girl, at the same
he now wants to kill her because she's a criminal and he has a job to do as a
Magistrate. Then when he's alone and really drunk, he sees himself becoming a useless,
homeless crazy hermit. He's confused.
PK Wins
Dec 18, 2020|Lv 25|The Spire of the Blood Tribunal|Scyreth vs 2: [25] Leopohl (43%, punch), [27] Nastrella (56%)
Jan 2, 2021 |Lv 33|The Spire of the Blood Tribunal|Illuiene vs 2: [30] Salo (95%, slash), [33] Leopohl (4%)
Jan 4, 2021 |Lv 33|Voralian City|Ronye vs 1: [33] Leopohl (100%, hit)
PK Deaths
Dec 31, 2020|Lv 33|The Ruins of Ostalagiah|vs 1: [36] Veldren (100%, thrust)
Jan 1, 2021 |Lv 33|Hamsah Mu'tazz|vs 2: [30] Zorellaia (32%), [35] Scyreth (67%, claw)
Jan 4, 2021 |Lv 33|BattleRager Village|vs 1: [28] Rhayze (100%, claw)