Post by WxMAN on Jul 9, 2012 13:04:39 GMT -6
Jareth Thorel
CN Human
Beguiler 1 / Focused Conjurer Wizard 1
Welcome to Korvosa! This place is my city - even if its denizens don't know it yet.
You may see me as a simple apothecary, a snake-oil salesman if you wish to be slanderous and trite, but you deny yourself the truth: what my mixtures, brews, and concoctions actually contain is of no real import. The flask of fine ingredients and exotic recipes from throughout the far scattered lands is but a physical manifestation, merely a vessel for what I actually sell: hope, belief, and inner strength. I am not some petty thief, using dexterous fingers to steal away money he has not earned; no, I am a confidant, a councilor, a friend. And I give you just what you actually need, nothing harmful, and no need to addict you like the scum of the earth drug dealers.
Being a peasant, a commoner, in this city isn't easy, so you can keep your high and mighty definitions of good and evil for sermons and speeches. The "good" men oppress us and the "evil" men abuse us, the only truth is that we're all just trying to make it another day.
Also unlike the preachers and politicians, what I'm telling you comes from actual experience, not some squeaky clean, simplified, children's' lessons written in their ivory towers.
I was born the youngest of three brothers in a small farming village just outside Veldraine. I grew up reading pretty veraciously, especially books about the wonders of magic, and how those strong of mind could overcome those strong in body. While it was difficult for my family to understand me, they did their best to make sure I had what I needed.
They knew I wasn’t made to be a farmer, I am not exactly built for hard labor, and while I couldn't carry my weight in grain, I could sell it better than anyone else in my family. For years this was good enough, but when I was in my early twenties poor growing seasons had strained our family income and we began going hungry more nights than not. After a particularly bad year, I knew without selling the grain at top price we may not be able to afford to feed everyone even the meager meals we had been getting, so I did what I had to. For years I'd known I had some minor ability to practice magic, though I kept it to myself. Desperate times call for desperate actions some say, so I used what little abilities I had to sell most of my grain, and over my asking price for that matter. That was until some bully caught me in the act. Without any kind of empathy he threw me to the ground and called the guards.
Magic was forbidden in the area, so I knew what the guards would do if they caught me. While the brute of the man was tough he was also slow, so I used a quick spell to escape his grasp and ran until my lungs burned and legs gave out. I found myself at the docks in the city next to a trade ship out of Korvosa. If I stayed in Veldraine I would be hunted down and while I would miss my family, I would just be another mouth to feed at a time when they couldn't afford it, so I snuck my way aboard and arrived in Korvosa a few weeks later.
Korvosa ate me up and spit me out. The village I grew up in couldn't prepare me for life on the streets, so I fell into small con jobs in order to afford food. Not that the people I worked with cared for me, no, they saw me as just another stepping stone and hooked me on a new drug called shiver.
I'd never felt how I felt on Shiver and spent the next six years as a faithful servant to whoever could get me my next fix of the stuff. It was only a matter of time before I couldn't pay for it anymore, so I ran up a pretty good amount of debt with the wrong people.
When they had finally had enough they took their due with a pound of my flesh then left me to die in a side alley looking out on the docks. What little strength I had left was sapped by the withdrawal symptoms from coming off shiver. For days I'd watch people pass me by as I tried to stay warm and keep blood from pouring out of my wounds. I'd see passersby sneer and remark about someone needing to clean out these drug-addicted scum.
Somehow I survived and I became a new man because of it. I started studying wizardry from scraps of spell books or whatever sources I could find. I could have always just gone to the Acadamae to study like most mages, but that is just a prison masquerading as a school. I won't be locked up because of my talents, so while I grow my abilities I also have to hide them from the city.
The Acadamae focuses almost exclusively on the conjuration school of magic so that is what I’ve had to focus on. Not my first choice, but it serves me well. Though it is a little weird learning these wizard spells, as casting them feels completely different than the enchanting and illusion spells I could cast almost naturally before I left my home.
Six months have passed since I recovered from shiver. I still have a small craving for it, but I will never touch the stuff again. So I sell these vials of wonder to pay for food, shelter, and the studying material I can't find discarded on the streets. I may look like just another commoner who will live and die without any notice from anyone but themselves, but I have big plans. Big plans for myself and for Korvosa - my city.
Gaedren Lamm Connection: Personal Addiction
CN Human
Beguiler 1 / Focused Conjurer Wizard 1
Welcome to Korvosa! This place is my city - even if its denizens don't know it yet.
You may see me as a simple apothecary, a snake-oil salesman if you wish to be slanderous and trite, but you deny yourself the truth: what my mixtures, brews, and concoctions actually contain is of no real import. The flask of fine ingredients and exotic recipes from throughout the far scattered lands is but a physical manifestation, merely a vessel for what I actually sell: hope, belief, and inner strength. I am not some petty thief, using dexterous fingers to steal away money he has not earned; no, I am a confidant, a councilor, a friend. And I give you just what you actually need, nothing harmful, and no need to addict you like the scum of the earth drug dealers.
Being a peasant, a commoner, in this city isn't easy, so you can keep your high and mighty definitions of good and evil for sermons and speeches. The "good" men oppress us and the "evil" men abuse us, the only truth is that we're all just trying to make it another day.
Also unlike the preachers and politicians, what I'm telling you comes from actual experience, not some squeaky clean, simplified, children's' lessons written in their ivory towers.
I was born the youngest of three brothers in a small farming village just outside Veldraine. I grew up reading pretty veraciously, especially books about the wonders of magic, and how those strong of mind could overcome those strong in body. While it was difficult for my family to understand me, they did their best to make sure I had what I needed.
They knew I wasn’t made to be a farmer, I am not exactly built for hard labor, and while I couldn't carry my weight in grain, I could sell it better than anyone else in my family. For years this was good enough, but when I was in my early twenties poor growing seasons had strained our family income and we began going hungry more nights than not. After a particularly bad year, I knew without selling the grain at top price we may not be able to afford to feed everyone even the meager meals we had been getting, so I did what I had to. For years I'd known I had some minor ability to practice magic, though I kept it to myself. Desperate times call for desperate actions some say, so I used what little abilities I had to sell most of my grain, and over my asking price for that matter. That was until some bully caught me in the act. Without any kind of empathy he threw me to the ground and called the guards.
Magic was forbidden in the area, so I knew what the guards would do if they caught me. While the brute of the man was tough he was also slow, so I used a quick spell to escape his grasp and ran until my lungs burned and legs gave out. I found myself at the docks in the city next to a trade ship out of Korvosa. If I stayed in Veldraine I would be hunted down and while I would miss my family, I would just be another mouth to feed at a time when they couldn't afford it, so I snuck my way aboard and arrived in Korvosa a few weeks later.
Korvosa ate me up and spit me out. The village I grew up in couldn't prepare me for life on the streets, so I fell into small con jobs in order to afford food. Not that the people I worked with cared for me, no, they saw me as just another stepping stone and hooked me on a new drug called shiver.
I'd never felt how I felt on Shiver and spent the next six years as a faithful servant to whoever could get me my next fix of the stuff. It was only a matter of time before I couldn't pay for it anymore, so I ran up a pretty good amount of debt with the wrong people.
When they had finally had enough they took their due with a pound of my flesh then left me to die in a side alley looking out on the docks. What little strength I had left was sapped by the withdrawal symptoms from coming off shiver. For days I'd watch people pass me by as I tried to stay warm and keep blood from pouring out of my wounds. I'd see passersby sneer and remark about someone needing to clean out these drug-addicted scum.
Somehow I survived and I became a new man because of it. I started studying wizardry from scraps of spell books or whatever sources I could find. I could have always just gone to the Acadamae to study like most mages, but that is just a prison masquerading as a school. I won't be locked up because of my talents, so while I grow my abilities I also have to hide them from the city.
The Acadamae focuses almost exclusively on the conjuration school of magic so that is what I’ve had to focus on. Not my first choice, but it serves me well. Though it is a little weird learning these wizard spells, as casting them feels completely different than the enchanting and illusion spells I could cast almost naturally before I left my home.
Six months have passed since I recovered from shiver. I still have a small craving for it, but I will never touch the stuff again. So I sell these vials of wonder to pay for food, shelter, and the studying material I can't find discarded on the streets. I may look like just another commoner who will live and die without any notice from anyone but themselves, but I have big plans. Big plans for myself and for Korvosa - my city.
Gaedren Lamm Connection: Personal Addiction