Post by WxMAN on Aug 3, 2015 17:33:07 GMT -6
Julian Ashdown
TN Human
Beguiler 1
Welcome to The Capital! This place is my city - even if its denizens don't know it yet.
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 of The Capital. 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 - sometimes using a little help from what little magic I knew. 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, our family could not afford to feed everyone so when my parents came to me I knew what they needed. It was time for me to help the family by going to The Capital and finding work more appropriate for my abilities and help support the family that way. While it was difficult to leave, I did as I was supposed to, leaving with barely enough food for a week and the clothes on my back.
The Capital 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. One night after a successful job, my 'friends' bought me a magical tattoo, though they also paid the tattooist to spike the ink with a new drug called Shiver.
I'd never felt how I felt on Shiver and spent the next two 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. The veil of people being kind, evil, law-abiding, or free fell from my eyes; in the end people are enslaved to the only thing they care about: themselves. I had also failed my family, so it was time to set that right.
I began learning about the nobles and their houses and began to plan how I could gain wealth in power. I want to own this city and have people genuflect when my family comes to live with me, no longer having to scrape by just to eat each night. Finding a wizard outside of the academy to teach me to become even better was my first move. Then I joined the hero's guild and befriended a druid, a young knight, and fallen noble - hitching myself to people who could be rising stars.
The stage is set and I won't fail this time.
Character sheet and spell sheet. No equipment. Armor and weapons are placeholders.
Julian Ashdown 20150803.pdf (266.42 KB)
TN Human
Beguiler 1
Welcome to The Capital! This place is my city - even if its denizens don't know it yet.
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 of The Capital. 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 - sometimes using a little help from what little magic I knew. 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, our family could not afford to feed everyone so when my parents came to me I knew what they needed. It was time for me to help the family by going to The Capital and finding work more appropriate for my abilities and help support the family that way. While it was difficult to leave, I did as I was supposed to, leaving with barely enough food for a week and the clothes on my back.
The Capital 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. One night after a successful job, my 'friends' bought me a magical tattoo, though they also paid the tattooist to spike the ink with a new drug called Shiver.
I'd never felt how I felt on Shiver and spent the next two 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. The veil of people being kind, evil, law-abiding, or free fell from my eyes; in the end people are enslaved to the only thing they care about: themselves. I had also failed my family, so it was time to set that right.
I began learning about the nobles and their houses and began to plan how I could gain wealth in power. I want to own this city and have people genuflect when my family comes to live with me, no longer having to scrape by just to eat each night. Finding a wizard outside of the academy to teach me to become even better was my first move. Then I joined the hero's guild and befriended a druid, a young knight, and fallen noble - hitching myself to people who could be rising stars.
The stage is set and I won't fail this time.
Character sheet and spell sheet. No equipment. Armor and weapons are placeholders.
Julian Ashdown 20150803.pdf (266.42 KB)