Savage Tides, Take 3, Out of Character Thread

[Farmerbink]

I'm yoinking this spot to claim plum as my speaking color.

Firi'sar "Fix" Throshana

High Concept: Brilliant but sketchy
Trouble: Always in it
Where did you come from? Unwanted, Orphaned

Spoiler: Where did you come from?

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Firi'Sar is a native of Sasserine. He is the unwanted, unclaimed, and abandoned son of Aniphastus Knowlern, the representative of the Sunrise district. Born with unusual black hair, and the even more unusual ability to see keenly in pitch black, his traits were viewed as indicative of drow heritage, despite the questionable logic behind the claim. The risk, however, was more than his family could bear, given their political intentions, and he was quietly abandoned. Publicly, the family claimed miscarriage. Firi'Sar was left at the Emerald Waters orphanage without ever knowing who his family was.

This left him with very well-developed self-esteem issues. He has always yearned for affection and affirmation, and often looked in the wrong places to get it. Well before coming of age, Firi'Sar 'made friends' with a small crowd that introduced him to a few "fun" substances they'd smuggled into the orphanage. With little else to turn to, the young Elf was quickly addicted, to both the drugs themselves and the artificial feeling of togetherness the other boys offered. As he aged, and became eligible for apprenticeships, he developed a certain propensity for crafting the substances. Needless to say, some problems were alleviated, while others worsened.

What shaped you? Desperate need for affection

Spoiler: What shaped you?

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Many of Firi'Sar's childhood hours at the orphanage were spent in solitary thought. He developed a keen reasoning capacity, and limited moral compass, as a result. The false brotherhood of drug connections did little to limit either. As an adolescent, he was apprenticed to a local apothecary, and found an outlet for his curious nature and developed a marketable skill. When the Sea Princes arrived, his mentor died in the violent overthrow. Now of age, he escaped the orphanage only to be pressed into service himself. Firi'Sar survived on wits and quick reflexes, along with a strong propensity to let others do most of the fighting.

In the aftermath of the conflict, he found that most of the people he knew had either died or fled Sasserine, leaving him without any semblance of community to which he felt he belonged. It was easy to make money with his magical knacks and he had no one to temper his whims, so he quickly fell into a drug-induced destructive spiral. In the wake of his own near death, he finally developed a few licks of sense to go with his wits, and sought out help to overcome the grip of addiction. In the church of Trithereon, Firi'Sar found his first true friend, and his greatest ally against the chains that bound him: a matronly priestess named Jessica Cooper.

An adult woman, unable to have children of her own, Jessica instead mothers, well, everyone. She gleefully took to Firi'Sar as both a person and a project. Under her tutelage and accountability, the Elf finally kicked his own habit, some 20 years after taking up the stuff. On the way, Firi'Sar found he had developed a strong friendship with the woman and her husband Maxwell. Inspiration struck some time later, and the lithe investigator found himself on a crusade. Despite the odds, the same irritable Elf matriarch ran the Emerald Waters orphanage- and Firi'Sar knew she was decidedly not the woman for the job. It took a few years, and no small sum of money, but in the end, Firi'Sar saw her removed and Jessica Cooper installed in her place. The orphanage itself has become something of a pet project of his, and he now spends a significant amount of his time and finances ensuring their continued well-being.

As he has aged, and developed his skill, he moved out of his mentor's shack in shadowshore. He spends most of his days by himself, developing who-knows-what in his apartment/laboratory in the merchant district; strange lights and sounds have been known to emanate from the oft-shuttered windows. On the rare occasion that the windows are left open, strange bottles and colored jars can be seen lining a series of small shelves near the back of the room. Other than his patronage at the orphanage, Firi'Sar remains reclusive- often disappearing into his home for many days at a time.

The Hook (Briiiings you BAAAaaaaAAACK): Night owl, loving life

Spoiler: Hook, Development, Resolution

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Sword at his side- it's all the rage, you know, Firi'Sar saunters in like he owns the place- which he might as well as much coin as he's spent there. The oddly named 'Shivering Cat' tavern sits close to even between the Emerald Waters orphanage and Firi'Sar's apartment, and as such has become a fairly regular prowling ground for the burgeoning merchant. Not content to peddle lesser wares in Shadowshore for the entirety of whatever brief existence it would offer, Firi'Sar has found over time that the wealthy both have more money and are often less keen about parting with it. In fact, most of their vices were legal in Sasserine, so the action was more lucrative and safer! Thus, with a heavier purse than usual, and a conspicuously empty backpack, the lithe spell caster/scientist sidles up to the bar to enjoy the evening meal.

The evening wanes, as it does, into night, and a somewhat less stable Firi'Sar wanders into the moonlight. Unhindered by the darkness, he remains nonetheless quite hindered by the inebriation, and almost steps into the harbor several times making his way to the water taxi that will take him to the merchant district- it's usually quite a bit faster than walking the long way, especially in this state. Wait. That's not Stephen. Firi'sar wonders, with a scowl. He wonders a bit longer than he should, and when he turns, there's a pair of ruffians quickly closing the distance from the rear. "Come now, I'm shure we can make an amenable arrangement," he offers, raising his hands placatingly. "You have any idea how long that coin would last us?" one of them growls. No one bares a blade, but (at least) 3 on 1... well maybe 1/2 was never going to be a fair fight. After a long couple moments of sizing each other up, Firi'sar recognizes one of the ruffians- more a kid really. Just left the orphanage last year.

Suddenly, betrayal joins the war for Firi'Sar's thoughts, and it seems unlikely the Elf is going to win the battle.

Cordelia hurries along Crown Street towards the Gondala Station with her head bowed in thought and Kitten trotting alongside. She's wondering how she's going to explain to her father why she's so late back and where she's been. Obviously she can't tell him she was shadowing a party of poachers into the jungle south of Sunrise. They hadn't been very successful, which was good because it meant she hadn't had to intervene at all, but it had meant they'd roamed further than expected and their progress had slowed to a crawl in the jungle after sunset and now it's very late. Fortunately she's always been good at moving through the jungles or she'd be in as sorry a state as the poachers. The little bit of mud she and kitten have picked up will be swiftly fixed by a paddle in the lagoon. Even so, she'd dressed for the heat of the jungle and now in the cool of the night she lets out an involuntary shiver. And there's still what she's going to tell her father.

So absorbed is Cordelia in thought that she doesn't even notice when Kitten stops dead in her tracks and starts letting out a low growl. A step later she walks straight into what feels like a brick wall.

"What the-?"
"Ah!"

A muscular arm wraps around Cordelia's neck and she feels her arms pinned to her sides. Only now does she become aware of the two other thugs and the rather startled looking man

"Hey boss, I've caught another one! She's got fancy clothes!"
"Yeah, but she's got a... a thing with her! Get her to call it off!"

Kitten is nearly going nuts at the threat to Cordelia's safety, a hissing, hackles-raised, snarling ball of threat.

"Oh sh-" The thug loosens his grip on Cordelia's neck slightly. "Yeah, call it off!"
"L... let me go... or you'll regret it..." she forces out.
"Oh yeah? You think your little cat is going to s-... Ngh!" the ruffian stumbles back, dazed by Cordelia's psychic attack. In the same moment Kitten lunges at their leader and the stand off descends into a general melee.

Tillandi was walking on the market. She had been asked to take over teaching some of the novices and it was clear that being a good priestess didn't necesseraly mean that you're also a good teacher. After the lesson finished, she had decided to take a little stroll to clear her head. She was just wandering aimlesly when she heard some commotion. Taking her trident and shield, she went to see what is was all about. She noticed that there were a few ruffians were attacking a girl who apparently had a large cat and that young man who supported the orphanage. As an orphan herself (although having been raised in the temple) she rather liked what he was doing, so she had to help him.

Luckily for him she had wanted to teach the novices some spells but hadn't gotten that far in the lesson, so she still had them memorised. Grabbing her trident with her shield hand so she had a hand free, she started casting and blasted a 15 foot cone of fire into the air to get their attention.
"Okay punks," she said to the rufians, "I'll give you one chance to run off, before I blast you to the next world."
"We're in between these," one of the attackers said, pointing at Cordelia and Firi'Sar.
"Correct," Tillandi replied, "but as cleric, I can heal as well. And I can put you on the blacklist of all churches in this city. Is it really worth it?"
"Well...," the guy said, but Tillandi interupted him.
"Wrong answer," she said, starting to cast again, "now run."

She knew the spell didn't work for everyone, but this time it did and eyes wide in fear, the leader ran off. The rest of the gang looked at the Tillandi, Cordelia, Kitten and Firi'Sar and decided they had an important engagement elsewhere and were now going to find out exactly what it was. When they too had run off, she looked at the others.
"Tillandi, cleric of Procan, at your service," she said, "I'm sorry for the dramatic, but it wasn't only to intimidate those idiots. Someone will have seen that and I'm sure the city guard will arrive shortly to assist."

Firi'sar raises a hand to object, more stably than his state would suggest reasonable. As he does so, he winces, and begins rubbing a bruise on his arm where it will surely be sore for days to come. "You definitely don't need to apologize. That little turd- sorry, uh, kid..." The Elf lapses into silence, staring blankly at the alley the orphan scampered down. "Damnit, he should know better!" Turning to the newcomer, he gets a good look at her for the first time. "Hah! Miss Tillandi! So good to see you again! No, really! But, ahhh, we should probably be off, no?" He glances back at the girl with the cat. "Thanks for the assist, miss. Gods willing, you'll never need me to return the favor. I... assume you both have safe lodgings? Let's travel together as we may. It seems a night for... unsavory types."

Development: Good Intentions, Esoteric Methods
Resolution: Sticks his face in it