Description
As you look at this young human you see an unassuming boy with
a small, bent frame. He stands an average five foot two inches
tall, and barely one hundred pounds, which is evident by his
worn cloaks that hang from his body, dragging on the floor.
A scarred, flattened nose lends a oddly menacing awkwardness to
his rather plain face. His deep-set brown eyes are framed by
dark hollows of black, giving an appearance of one who hasn't
slept well, or comfortably. He looks at you shiftingly, eager
to determine your intentions.
Upon a closer look, you see:
Role
Young, alone and afraid.
Added Wed Jul 18 10:05:43 2007 at level 1:
Night became day and the skies reflected the mood in the air, grey,
dull, and dreary. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness
in the air that suggested a brutal snowstorm was imminent. A gnomish
female servant entered the room in which a child was sleeping, and
drew the curtains against the cold, damp air.
"Wake up, Sharwin," she said.
She quickly pulled down his bed covers, took him in her arms and
carried him downstairs. Sharwin was only half awake.
"Your mother wants you," she said.
She opened the heavy wooden door of his mother's chamber, and took
the child over to the bed in which his mother was lying. Sharwin's
mother stretched out her arms, and the child nestled by her side
comfortably. He did not ask why he has been awakened, instead he
was happy to be in the large bed with her soft arms about him.
"How are you, my sweet child," his mother asked.
Her voice was so distant and weak that it seemed to come from a
great distance, illness preventing her from speaking above a
quiet whisper. In her final moments on Thera, all she sought
was the comfort of her small boy. Sharwin didn't answer. Instead
he cuddled against his mother and kissed her sleepily. In a moment
he closed his eyes and was fast asleep. The doctor came forward and
stood by the bedside, looking down at them both.
"Oh, don't take him away yet," she moaned.
The doctor, without answering looked at her gravely and shook his
head softly.
"Let me take him," the doctor said, "You're tired, and it'd
be better for him not to see you go."
Knowing she would not be allowed to keep her child much longer,
she cuddled him closer, and passed her weak hand down his body
until she came to his left foot, and felt the five perfect toes on
his small foot. Then, she passed her hand to his left one, and
gave a muffled sob. Sharwin, still sleeping, was taken away.
His mother's sobs became louder and unceasing.
"What will happen to my poor child?"
*************************************************************
It was a week later, Sharwin was sitting on the floor of his second
cousin's bedroom, amusing himself amongst the furniture lying about.
He had made an elaborate fortress in which he could hide himself from
the stooges of the evil Empire who were lurking behind the curtains.
He put his ear to the stone floor, and listened to the rustling of
their advance scouts as they raced down the road to his hiding placce...
"You naughty boy, your auntie will be cross with you," the servant said.
"Are we going home yet," Sharwin asked.
"Well... aren't you going to ask how your mother is," the servant replied.
"Oh, I forgot. How is mother," Sharwin asked.
"Your mother is much better now. She's happy, and gone away. You won't
be seeing her again," the servant replied.
Sharwin didn't understand what she meant. "Why not," he asked.
"Your mother is in heaven."
She begain to cry, and Sharwin, though he did not quite understand, cried
too.
Off to school, and torment
Added Wed Jul 18 12:23:36 2007 at level 7:
"Well, get in the carrage boy," the driver said, "We don't have all day now."
Sharwin dutifully limps up the three rungs to the back of the carriage, and
sits down, dreading his journey from the comforts of home off to a strange
school in a new land. Already sitting in the carriage are three other boys
of the same age, chatting playfully amongst themselves. Once he boards,
however, all attention turns to him.
"What's your name," one boy asked.
"Sharwyn."
"What'd you do to get stuck in this damned school?"
"Nothing."
"Well, aren't you a chatty little mutt?"
The group of boys crowed with delight at the sight of the blush that rose
on Sharwyn's face.
"Wait," the boy asked, "What's wrong with your foot?"
Sharwyn instinctively tried to withdraw it from sight, hiding it behind the
one which was whole.
"I've got a club-foot," Sharwyn responded.
"How'd you get it?"
"I've always had it"
"Let's have a look."
"No."
"Don't then."
The little boy accompanied the words with a sharp kick on Sharwyn's shin,
which Sharwyn did not expect, and therefore could not guard against. The
pain was so great that it made him gasp, but greater than the pain was the
surprise. He did not know why the boy kicked him, and cowered in the
corner of the carriage.
"Gimp," one boy shouts.
"Queer," shouts another.
As the carriage continues to make stops along the way to school picking up
students, the boy'ringleader of the boys makes sure to tell each arriving
student of Sharwyn's deformity and he easily becomes the target for all
their jokes, torments and teasings.
Sharwyn simmers silently.
His rage grows
Added Wed Jul 18 19:45:22 2007 at level 15:
Sharwin's embarassment continued to grow while on the school's grounds.
While he excelled in the classroom, a model student, he was mocked for being
the teacher's favorite. And during recess, the devil within each classmate
sprung forth.
The whole school rushed noisily into the playground. The new boys were told
to stand in the middle of the field, white the others stationed themselves
along opposite walls. They began to play 'Jazoul in the Middle' - where the old
boys ran from wall to wall while the new boys tried to catch them
caught, he would then join those in the middle, catching the remaining runners.
Sharwin saw a boy running past and tried to catch him, but his limp gave him
no chance
ground that he covered. Then one of them had the brilliant idea of imitating
Sharwin's clumsy run. Other boys saw, and they ran round Sharwin, limping
grotesquely, screaming in the crackly voices of shrill laughter. One of them
tripped up Sharwin and he fell heavily. They laughed even louder when he
stumbled back to his feet. Another boy pushed him from behind, and he would
have fallen again if another had not caught him. The game was forgotten in
the entertainment of Sharwin's deformity. One of the boys invented an odd,
rolling limp that struck the rest of the children as supremely funny and many
followed suit in trying to copy it. Sharwin was completely scared
beat so fast that he could hardly breathe, and he was more frightened than
he had ever been in his life. He stood still stupidly while the boys ran
around him, mimicking and laughing. They shouted at him to catch them, but
he did not move.
He did not want them to see him run anymore.
Seven years of bad luck turns at last
Added Tue Jul 24 17:59:22 2007 at level 33:
Seven years passed, and Sharwin's luck has changed little. Now in late
teens, his limp has only become more pronounced with age, and adult-life
had been equally as cruel as his pathetic childhood. In a world where
status and power is nearly always equated to physical strength and aptitude,
Sharwin is perceived as a broken, weak fool, even though his capacity for
learning is voracious and vast. To compensate for his shortcomings in
athletic prowess, he has taken up more creative activities of sculpture,
metalurgy, and painting, concentrating his efforts on depicting creatures
he views as perfect specimens - Lithe graceful felines, powerful brute
mammoths, and many splendid hybrids of his own invention.
As his talents and aptitude grew, Sharwin began to build a small, but loyal,
following of influential merchants who would purchase his works for wealthy
collectors around Thera. His small fame, and growing fortune allowed him
to meet and consult with the greatest healers in the land - however all of
their attempts to correct his deformity failed, leaving him as despondant
as ever.
Sharwin's works turned more violent, using his various mediums to release
the rage and envy that grew within him, his clientelle growing darker and
more sinister as well.
At one of his Arkham exhibits, Sharwin caught the eye of a very old man with
long white hair standing in the corner of the room. The man was using a very
fat, gnarled walking stick, which had been polished so that it gleamed in the
light gleaming from the wall sconces. He wore a long brown robe, with a darker
brown sash tied around his waist and sandals that were in such disrepair that
they barely covered the soles of his feet. Sharwin, embarassed that the man's
presence might ruin his art showing, approached the man, tenderly grabbed his
elbow and tried to gently nudge him towards the door - but the man shocked
Sharwin by grabbing Sharwin's wrist tightly with his thin gnobby fingers and
whispered two eerie sentences in Sharwin's ear.
"Become what you create. I will show you how."
Suddenly, before Sharwin's eyes, the man transformed, oozing in shape from his
human form into that of a sleek, silver fox and loped out the door. Sharwin
chased after the animal as best he could without arising suspicion from the
art gallery gatherers, but by the time he freed himself from the exhibit hall
the fox was gone. Sharwin looked around frantically, seeking any sign of the
man-beast, but there was none - he simply vanished.
Shocked, but also forlorn, Sharwin returned to the gallery, plunging his hands
deep into his pockets in despair. Within his left pocket, he felt a small, warm
object radiating a light heat against his hand. Grasping it and pulling it out
Sharwin is astonished to see a small miniature, in the perfect form of a fox.
Slowly rubbing the miniature between his fingers it begings to hum lightly, the
noise and heat eminating from it growing quickly, until it drops from his hand
and shatters on the hard stone floor.
In his ears, however he heard the faint whisper, "If you wish this power, meet
me here under the cloak of night."
Bloodied Magi, Sharwin struck back
Added Wed Jul 25 20:02:41 2007 at level 34:
Constantly hounded, assaulted, and tormented throughout his entire life,
Sharwin felt like trouble was always knocking at his door. Sharwin had
fallen into believing that his physical ailments left him defenseless
against others - and the bullies preyed on that weakness.
Always fearful of leaving his studio or guildhall for fear of being struck,
he finally had a revelation - "If you act weak, you are weak. If you act
strong, you will be feared."
Testing this concept at the first opportunity, Sharwin approached a strong
village applicant who taunted him with his fists outside Sharwin's Arkham
guildhall. Instead of cowering and hiding, Sharwin tested himself, taking
the form of his arctic fox to fight the aggressive warrior. Sharwin tasted
the bully's blood, fought fiercely, and retreated after a prolonged battle.
What he realized is that he enjoyed the fight, and fought quite well against
a well prepared foe. He yearned for another taste.
Later that same day, while traveling in Darsylon, he received his long sought
opportunity. The same village applicant who taunted him unmercifully earlier
in Arkham made an assault upon Sharwin. Sharwin, this time, took his
defensive form of the spotted snow leopard, luring his assailant into a long,
drawn out battle where he beat the applicant bloody, forcing the warrior to
retreat. But not content with watching the man run, Sharwin pursued his
bloodied opponent, quickly changing tactics by taking his more aggressive
arctic fox form, chasing the warrior down, and tearing him to bloody shreds,
savoring the victory, and howling over his fallen foe.
Sharwin's companions were moderately impressed by his fighting acumen, being
role + far more experienced in combat than he, but inside, Sharwin's spirits were
alight with life and strength. Why cower in fear when he can make others do
so instead!
Sharwin still envied the perfect bodies of most Therans, still craved the
attention that the non-handicapped received from women, but he came to
realize that one need not be of perfect body to execute a perfect battle.
His confidence grew.