[D&D-5e] Purveyors of the New Land

[gestalt]

Fineal Windborne
Half-Elf, Bard
Guild Artisan

 

Backstory & Adventure Tie-In
Fineal is not your typical attention seeking, pan-handling, dancing monkey of a bard. Although his pan flute still keeps him company in the quiet hours he turned his focus from telling tales in rowdy taverns to his true passion, art. Seeking a way to make a living with his pens and brushes he sought an apprenticeship with a well known cartographer as a younger man and quickly made a reputation in the trade for drafting maps of rare beauty. Having steadily progressed through the ranks in the cartographers guild he now seeks to gain recognition as a Master Cartographer. Not content to simply copy stretches of known coastline and famous streets, Fineal has made it his goal to expand society's knowledge of the Archipelago and its secrets.

For the past 2 years Fineal has been taking odd jobs to fund what excursions he can afford into the lesser traveled regions, while seeking to document the animals, plant life, geographical features, and wild coastlines.

Returning from a 3 week exploration of the interior of a sparsely populated island near Portsden, Fineal found himself nursing a stiff drink and considering a life of piracy. At his current rate he would never find something new and exciting to document. The legal shipping lanes are just too restrictive and the only freedom to explore seems to be in a life outside the law. It was then, as he slid his cup toward the bartender indicating that another drink would be a welcome thing, that his eyes caught the words "Adventure" and "College of Phthalo" on a pamphlet left two seats down the bar. Grabbing the slip of paper his mind was set before he finished reading.

[Wolf173]

@inspirecourage I have pmed you but it hasn't been updated but my monk is of the Way of the Open Hand archtype

[InspireCourage]

Gotcha!

[InstantD]

Frizzlip "Thinkbadger" Scheppen Frizzlip's Notes Quite fascinating! The beast's teeth were serrated on the edges, no doubt to increase the effectivity of which they cut the meat of its prey. I foresee this experience being painfully illuminating. - A blurb from the notes of Frizzlip "Thinkbadger" Scheppen , moments before he got bitten. Name: Frizzlip "Thinkbadger" Scheppen Age: 146 Race: Gnome Class: Wizard (Divination Tradition) Appearance: Frizzlip stood with a straight back as tall as any gnome. Due to decades of sitting down in his desk, he had developed a considerably round belly. His hair was dark yellow and wild, curling and jutting out in all directions. A magnificent full set of facial hair of the same color of his hair decorated the gnome's chin and cheeks. He prefers to wear light travelling clothes of earthen or green color adorned with many pockets for storing interesting rocks, leaves, or bugs that he finds in his travels. If one would look, beneath his clothes were numerous scars due to his carelessness in many attempts to study dangerous beasts. Personality: Frizzlip's curiosity and love of knowledge dominates his personality. Nothing made him happier than the chance to learn new things, whether it is through reading or personal observation and experimentation. In the pursuit of knowledge, Frizzlip would be oblivious of the risks and dangers posed to himself, often leading to accidents. The gnome does not understand why no one else shares the same maniacal excitement for knowledge that he does, and would often reference obscure pieces of information at inappropriate times. Beneath his love of learning, Frizzlip was a good natured individual. Though a bit awkward and oblivious in his personal interaction, he was not one to ignore wrongdoings or sufferings of the innocent. Not many things in the world could make the gnome sad. Other than the thought of missed knowledge, Frizzlip would often have a smile in his face and a merry skip to his step. Background: Cloistered Scholar (Librarian) Traits: - I've read every book in every library that I've gotten my hands on. - I tend to reference obscure knowledge at any chance I get, appropriate or not. Ideal: The pursuit of knowledge for the sake of itself is the biggest joy in life. Bond: The tome I'm writing will be the defining literature of its subject, fulfilling the promise I made to my saviour. Flaw: - Most people scream and run when they see a demon. I stop and take notes on its anatomy. - I get distracted easily by promise of information. History: Born of two free spirited Gnomes, Frizzlip felt his first sunlight out on the forest as small critters gathered to witness. His father was a bard in a tavern, while his mother a gardener. Two joyful gnomes intertwined in sweet romance, demonstrating a love of life with childlike wonder. Frizzlip's parents loved him dearly, but they did not deign to rein him in or create a protective bubble around the child. Instead, the young gnome was mostly left to his own devices, often found playing with his numerous cousins. Occasionally, Frizzlip would spend the day helping his parents at their profession: Dancing and acting to his father's act, or helping his mother tend to the gardens. He felt awkward and out of place helping his father at the tavern, but in turn found the behaviour and growth of plants highly fascinating. Around this time, Frizzlip's intense curiosity and love of learning started to manifest. Frizzlip's home village was situated in a sylvan forest, cleverly hidden by illusions maintained by its inhabitants to prevent dangerous animals or those of doubtful character from attacking them. Despite warnings of danger in the forest, young gnomes would often venture out of their burrows to play and explore. Frizzlip took it a step further, slipping out numerous times out of the noses of his carefree parents to go out into the forest alone, studying nature with bright curious eyes. When venturing for knowledge, Frizzlip seemed to forget all about risks or dangers: Sampling poisonous plants, getting too close to wild beasts, or getting attacked by vicious bugs all for the sake of knowledge. Frizzlip did not care; he was entranced by the world. To him, a life of learning and gaining knowledge was one of pure joy and he faced each day grateful for all the mysteries and truth in the world waiting to be found. As soon as he was able to write --Much earlier than his cousins and friends-- he would take notes and drawings of the things he found in the forest, plant or animal. Frizzlip would note their behaviours and record any changes day by day. While his cousins continued to enjoy the carefree life of children, running around playing and pretending, Frizzlip was expanding his mind, greeting each new piece of knowledge with warmth and love. One day, the curious gnome got too close to a wild animal while trying to compare its front paws to it's back paws. The beast's retaliation gave him his first brush with death, and it would have been more if not for the timely rescue of one wood elf. The elf took Frizzlip to his hidden abode, nursing the gnome back into health leaving naught but a big scar across his chest. His saviour was a hermit living alone in the forest to attain true understanding of self and the world. The fact that the wood elf had saved his life was something Frizzlip would never forget, but it was not the thing he was most grateful for. More than his life, Frizzlip was grateful to the wood elf for introducing the curious gnome to the wonder of books. It wasn't that Frizzlip had never read before, or that there were no books in his village. Yet the books in the hermit's cottage was no mere stories or professional instructions: They were books of learning, of history, of science and nature; books that reveal the true nature of the world and everything that resided in it. The personal library situated in the elf's house was extensive, and Frizzlip soon found himself drowning in pages upon pages of writings not meant to be understood by one so young. It was a blissful existence. When his wounds healed, Frizzlip left the cottage with a heavy heart, though promised to return after he has allayed his families' worries. True to his word, not a week passed by before Frizzlip made the trek back to the hermit's cottage. During this time, he had started to manifest arcane powers, not too uncommon for his people. Frizzlip started to use his magic cleverly to avoid danger on his way to the elf's abode, ecstatic that he now wields the mysterious arcane power of a wizard. The young gnome was met with warm welcome by the wood elf, and the former wasted no time before shutting himself in the library, only going out when it's time to eat. At night, he would return back to his village, honouring a promise he had made his mother. Day by day, Frizzlip would return to peruse the hermit's library. Like this, he spent his much of his adolescence foregoing love or friendship, instead charmed by the beautiful words written on pages of old books and dusty tomes as they come to life in his head. The wood elf hermit became his best companion, often conversing together about the philosophies and nature of this world. The hermit saw something inside of Frizzlip, an inquisitive mind with a thirst for knowledge matched by few. The young gnome was made to promise that he would one day publish his notes and contribute to the world of writings. Then the day came when Frizzlip had read every book at least three times, some as many as ten. The elf then spoke to him of great libraries scattered among the world, of rare books in numbers that excited the inquisitive gnome to no end. It did not take Frizzlip a long time to decide to leave his village and start on the pilgrimage that would take him to many great academia and libraries in his path. The journey alone was tough, but the difficulty was lost to Frizzlip amidst his excitement of going to new places and documenting flora and fauna that he had never seen before. However, it was quickly apparent that Frizzlip was not well equipped to surviving in the wilderness alone. He had no inklings on how to hunt or gather food for his own consumption, not to mention that he would often be distracted in his search by things he finds interesting, which consists of a lot of things. For this reason, on the way to the great libraries Frizzlip would often stop in smaller towns and villages. The cultures of different people across different races fascinated him the way nature did, and he would often find himself staying longer than he had planned. For some coin, the gnome would sometimes offer his arcane powers to help the villagers, or serve as tutors for the young ones. When he finally arrived at a big city housing a big academy, he ended up staying there for years. His routine would be to work as a teacher and tutor for the cities' students by day, and burying himself in the academy's library at night. The academias would stare at him in wonder as he engross himself in the wonderful writings of various authors ignoring his surroundings as if in a different plane altogether. Days became months became years, before Frizzlip put down the last book and declared himself done with the library, and by extension the city. The gnome wizard left without much fanfare. Like this, Frizzlip spend decades travelling the world, documenting the different facets of nature and culture that he came across in the journey. He would stay in one city for years providing that it has a library, and supported himself by using his arcane powers, tutoring, or even drawing. After he has finished every book in the library, Frizzlip would leave the city, head filled with much more knowledge, and continue on to the next. Frizzlip could not have been happier with his life, fulfilling his thirst of knowledge as much as he could while exploring new places and cultures. However, his promise with his friend and mentor nagged at him. He has accumulated notes that numbered over a thousand pages yet he had not written one book. As much as he wanted to contribute his own thoughts and writing to the realm of Academia, Frizzlip was always too distracted with the thought of gaining new knowledge to settle down and focus on writing his book. Then he heard of the College of Phthalo, a relatively recent academy in the newly discovered chain of islands aptly dubbed the Archipelago. It was a long journey, but Frizzlip finally arrived at the college. Without delay, he made his way into the College's library and joyfully immersed himself in its contents like a child playing in the sand. Once again, his promise to convert his notes into a work of academic was forgotten. The now older gnome was such a familiar sight in the College's library that one day one of the College's management approached him about becoming the Librarian. Frizzlip thought long and hard about the offer. One one hand, he would be surrounded and working with the things he loved the most, but on the other hand he would not be able to travel to other great libraries. Finally, he figured that if he did accept the job, he would actually have enough time to start writing on his book. Thus, Frizzlip "Thinkbadger" Scheppen became the Collge of Phthalo's librarian. Though he missed travelling, Frizzlip met his new life with stride, perusing the many tomes and scrolls the library had to offer along with any new additions to the collection. While progress was slow due to the many distractions the library had to offer, Frizzlip worked on converting his notes into a manuscript. Until finally, after years passed by the manuscript was finished. It was thousands of pages long, and would probably fit many volumes. The content would be a boon to various fields of academia, yet Frizzlip was unsatisfied. He wanted something else, something completely new and undiscovered, something that he could fully call his. Thus, the manuscript sat in one of his drawers, gathering dust, and Frizzlip continued his duty as the librarian of the College. Some more years past by, and Frizzlip felt uninspired for the first time in his life. He missed travelling, uncovering mysteries of nature and of humanity. Until one day when he overheard a conversation that would infuse excitement back in his life. The College of Phthalo had called for a group of brave adventures on an archaeological mission to discover the lost civilization of the Sea Dwarfs. This was what Frizzlip needed. A new frontier, a mystery to solve and truths to discover, and Frizzlip "Thinkbadger" Scheppen would be the one to write a book about it. With a heart filled with hope and excitement, Frizzlip answered the call.

[InspireCourage]

Alright! Tonight's the last night. I'll give anyone a 24hr grace period to tighten up their applications if they need it, just PM me.

[InstantD]

I believe I am done!

[InspireCourage]

Applications are closed. I sent out PMs to anyone I picked up for this campaign.

Please, leave your applications up here and I'll leave the thread up. If a couple folks drop out we could always sub in, or I might decide to have a second party running around the Archipeligo on a different sort of mission. We shall see. Thank you for all your interest and kind words!