Tolbric Storm
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"Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge." - Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931), The Voice of the Master
Bastard born into the House Dondarrion, Tolbric Storm lived within the walls of Blackhaven until he was shipped to Old Town to undergo training to become a Maester. He may have been allowed to remain in Blackhaven if not for the fact that he had ignored advice & threats to stay away from one of the lords of House Tarth's daughter. It all ended in tears (hers), injury (his, having been tossed down a flight of stairs), a prescription of maiden's tea to prevent any chance of further shameful bastards and his being shipped off to Oldtown in order to prevent him from further injury & loss of anatomy at the hands of a very angry Tarth lord. The young heartbroken man quickly exchanged his love for a little blond girl for his love for knowledge. He took to his studies with an obsessive eagerness. Once his chain was forged he took his oaths, gave up his bastard surname, his connections to House Dondarrion and was accepted as a Maester. He was soon assigned to House Wisent in the North at which point he packed his bags and began the long trek north. Maester Tobric seeks to serve his House as well as he possibly can. Where his personal goals may be mastery over several fields of study, he is often motivated by fear of failure; failing his teachers, his House, even his birth family, though they would likely never know anything else of him. They never wrote. Not once since he left home. It was better he let them forget him as seemed their wish and focus on his new House - who needed him and his skills a great deal more than House Dondarrion did. Tolbric is an honest man, both by choice and due to the fact that he is a pathetic liar, which has caused him som serious discomfort and misfortune in his years. It has been noted during his time in Oldtown, that his inability to tell a convincing lie nearly bordered on supernatural in magnitude. In addition to these traits, Tolbric is obsessive and tends to neglect his personal surroundings when he finds something intriguing to engage his mind with - mysteries and anomalies that contradict his knowledge being chief amongst these things. Also in this vein, his foolishness tends to manifest in his tendency to always think he is safe, regardless of the information surrounding him to the contrary. He has been forced to flee from bandits on more than one occasion for wandering into the wilderness looking for rare breeds of honey bees and black berries.
Contents
Maester Tolbric of House Wisent
Abilities
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Intrigue & Combat
- Intrigue Defense: 12 (Awareness+Cunning+Status)
- Composure: 12 (Will Ranks x3)
- Combat Defense: 7 (Agility+Athletics+Awareness+Defensive Bonus-Armor Penalty)
- Health: 6 (Endurance Ranks x3)
- Armor: robes (1)
- Armor Rating: 1
- Armor Penalty: 0
- Weapons
- Dagger: Test 1, Damage 1, Keywords: Defensive+1, Offhand+1
- Light Crossbow: Test 3, Damage 3, Keywords: Long range, Reload (lesser), Slow
Qualities
- Maester: You are a maester of the Citadel. You are now immune to the household fortunes of your birth house, but you suffer the effects of the household fortunes of the house to which you are assigned. In addition, you may add your Cunning rank to all Knowledge and Will test results. You must have the Narrator’s permission to select this quality. Taking this quality results in the loss of any Fate qualities tied to your birth house, although you regain invested Destiny Points for lost qualities.
- Knowledge Focus (geography): Select one of the following areas of expertise—alchemy, architecture, astronomy, geography, heraldry, history and legends, magic, nature, religion, or underworld. When testing Knowledge in the chosen area(s), convert your Education bonus dice into test dice. You may select this quality multiple times. Each time, select a new area of expertise.
- Knowledge Focus (history & legend): When testing Knowledge in this chosen area of knowledge, convert your Education bonus dice into test dice.
- Master of Ravens: You may dispatch ravens to bear your messages. The Narrator makes a secret Routine (6) Animal Handling test on your behalf (the Charm specialty applies). Success means the raven delivers the message to the appointed destination while failure means the message (and possibly the raven) goes astray. Additional degrees of success may allow you to coax some extra speed or distance out of your birds, at the Narrator’s discretion, or get a message through dangerous or difficult weather or the like.
- Gifted Teacher: You can impart your knowledge onto other characters. A successful Persuasion test allows you to grant that character bonus dice on Knowledge tests your student makes related to the topic of instruction. Thus, if you succeeded on Persuasion test to instruct another character about architecture, that character would gain bonus dice on his own Knowledge test related to architecture. You may not instruct characters who have a greater rank than you do in Knowledge. The Difficulty of the test depends on the size of the bonus you wish to confer. A failed test indicates the subject matter was too lofty for the student to absorb.
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Difficulty
Routine (6) |
Bonus Dice
1B |
Once you have successfully instructed the student, that student may at any time make a Challenging (9) Cunning test (Memory applies) to recall your teachings. A success grants the character +1B per degree, drawn from the bonus dice you conferred. Once the student exhausts the pool of bonus dice, the student may not draw further on your teachings.
- Head for Numbers: Whenever you roll for household events, you may add your Cunning rank to your Status test result. In addition, when testing Status to generate Coin, for personal funds or for your household, you may re-roll a number of 1s equal to the number of bonus dice in Stewardship.
- Beast Friend: When using Animal Handling Train or Charm, add +1D to the roll.
Drawbacks & Flaws
- Bastard Born: As a bastard, you take –1D on all Persuasion tests when interacting with characters with a higher Status. You do not take your family’s name. Instead, you gain a surname based on the lands of your birth.
- Honor Bound: Whenever you test Deception, you must re-roll any die result of a 6 and take the second roll.
- Honest (Deception flaw); Disregard the lowest test die result on Deception rolls.
- Unsubtle (Thievery flaw; Disregard the lowest test die result on Thievery rolls.
- Hyper Focused: Whenever you test Awareness, you must re-roll any die result of a 6 and take the second roll.
Possessions
Possessions: 4 gold dragons, 128 silver stags, backback, ink, greycap ingested poison (10 doses), maester's kit, roundsie horse (Sugar), dagger, light crossbow, maester's chain, maester's robes, sturdy boots & northern garb, various assortments of cheeses, meats, breads & sweets hidden away in numerous pockets & bags.
Tolbric's Journal
Well, I have moved into my new, though rather small, quarters - barely managing to set up my things. Some of them are rather precariously perched and I have books shoved under my bed. I attempted to put some of the overflow into Ayrant's room where he has several empty shelves - but his infuriating little manservant shooed me out. I'm actually rather content with the cozy little rookery for my ravens. The man who built it for me listened to ever one of my suggestions. Hm. Maybe I could see if he can install more shelves in my room. I've managed to snare the interest of all three of my students by gently putting hooks into their studies based on their particular interests. I've conspired with Nana to create a schedule for their studies. Thus far I've found her company to be the most...comforting. She's content to either be silent or else she's telling stories - some of which I've never heard of.
As for my Lord...well. He's a bit...
What have I gotten myself into? My Lord is a bit of a mess. He drinks too much, from looking at his books (and by "books" I mean a massive pile of unsorted & drink stained pages) he can't tell a silver stag from an acorn, and he seems to have somewhat given up - part of the reason he summoned me...to fix his mess. And the Heir, Ayrant, seems to be far more interested in fighting and/or fucking, though I think he possesses a layer underneath this somewhat slimy varnish that is actually genuinely concerned with doing what's best for the House. We shall see. Everyone else I've met has been largely pleasant. I have a lot on my plate, but I think I'm surrounded by a good crew that can help me accomplish it, assuming I'm not shot to death with arrows while strolling to the inn to get a drink. Bandits seem to be a problem in this region and I'd rather not add more arrow scars to those I now possess. I wonder if there is a chain link I can forge for expertise on being a target dummy?
The most wonderful part of this exile, er - I mean assignment is the cheese! They have so many varieties of such wonderful cheese here! I've already befriended a number of crofter wives and become a regular patron of them - happily spending my coin to keep them bustling about their churns and providing me with all the cheese I can eat - and I've found I can eat a lot. So delicious! Not like the cheese from Old Town, which tastes as if it were produced from wax cows. In addition to payment in coin, I gather up a variety of herbs for them to use when I'm out foraging for things for myself to use in my "workshop".
Tomorrow I ride with Ayrant and Garwyn, a capable young man who had been part of our escort to Wisenwood Town. I hear he's a well known & accomplished tournament jouster in these parts. I look forward to my first tournament since...well, since I left Blackhaven I suppose. I enjoyed them so much as a child.
Save for an encounter with a bow wielding ranger hiding in my mulberry tree, I enjoyed the trip to the pale tower much more than I would have believed I would. While I don't give into superstitions and religious nonsense, I will admit the tower has a certain...daunting air to it. Dinner was fantastic - Northerners know how to eat. Although the concept of strict rationing come Winter is a bit daunting. No, not daunting - downright terrifying. I checked out the kennels upon arrival, seeing as it's one of my tasks the Lord had assigned. They were largely in order, though a little more attention to cleanliness would be good. Two new litters. I plan to take two of the pups with me back to Wisenwood Town to train as household guardians (and I'll be honest - for myself. I like to roam the woods far too much not to have a little protection given the lands' bandit problems).
The next morning we set out for the boar hunt. I was going to stay behind and introduce myself to the crofters, but they requested that I handle the hounds - so I agreed. It went pretty quickly & we suddenly had three defeated boars lying before us. One of the hounds had gone missing, though. Garwyn & I set out to find the poor boy. He was in terribly condition. I quickly bandaged him up as best I could in order to move him when a grizzly bear appeared and was interested in the bloody dog. The bear was not actively aggressive and I wasn't going to leave the brave little dog to him. I used the skills I had learned at the Citadel regarding animal charming and it paid off. The bear was quite taken with me & the treats I had in my robes. I convinced Garwyn to take the dog & leave so that I could shoo the bear off without his attention returning to the others. Garwyn wasn't happy about it, but I insisted. He left with the dog & I was able to convince the bear that I was no longer worth it's interest & it wandered off.
I returned to find the others headed my way, convinced they were going to find a half eaten Maester. Ha!
We returned and I tended to the poor dog. The others were convinced the boy would not survive, but with a week worth of medical attention, I was able to save the dog. I may take him back with me along with the two pups.
We had a fantastic feast the night we returned. The others returned to Wisenwood Town and I followed a week later, eager for the tournament that was forthcoming!
I was greatly looking forward to the tournament - it's where much of my attention was focused, though now stranger things tug at my mind. The first part of the journey was relatively normal. Our party continued to grow as we picked up others headed to the tournament. One night on the road I needed some ingredients to make some poultices for Lord Blackthorn's aching joints and wandered out into the forest in order to find them. While I was gathering up willow bark, a bear snuck up on me & bumped me with his head.
THE bear! The one from the boar hunt! I'm pretty sure this is not normal behavior in a bear per anything I've ever read. I gave him some bread & cheese and petted him, gathered up my willow bark and...he was following me. I'll admit I was - am - very intrigued by this. But the timing is terrible. I can't go back to the camp with him - the dogs, horses & well the men too - would all be rather upset by my new friend. It would end up with people, animals and bear hurt and/or dead. And if I stayed in the woods too long they would send people out to find me with poor results again. So I managed to eventually shoo him away. The dogs were none too fond of the smell I came back with. After a quick medical application of the poultice to Lord Blackthorn's joints & some quick instructions on application of compresses, I found Garwyn & Ayrant with some of the other men, mostly those who had been on the hunt & stated what had happened. They looked rather confused by this news, but didn't dwell long on it. I'm just hoping that some superstitious Northerner doesn't get it in his head that my jest about being a worg was more sincere a statement than it was intended and I wake up with an axe having neatly removed my head.
Crazy bear incident aside we arrived at Torrhen's Square and began to set up. I was to share a pavilion with Ayrant. That night we were invited by Wylis Manderly to join him for drinks and celebration. I spent most of the evening declining drinks from numerous people. I was invited to join the Maester council the next evening & happily accepted (as well as inquiries into who I might speak to regarding strange Northern wildlife). The next morning was the horse race, which Kaila had snuck her way into. I managed to warn her mother and once the race was concluded, we took care of it before her father was ever aware. Before he knew anything was amiss we had her stuffed into a corset and sitting pretty next to her parents ready to give her favor to some jousting knight or another. Ayrant and Garwyn had also competed, Garwyn had barely been beaten and not placed in the top three and Ayrant - it was not his most shining moment. He handled it very well, making it appear that it was his intention to entertain in the fashion he did.
Next was the grand joust, which Garwyn was competing in. His first match was brief as he cleanly swept the other rider right off his horse with seemingly no effort at all.
That night after the first leg of the jousting, while the others were feasting and drinking yet again, myself and the others maesters gathered at Torrhen's Square, met for our own sort of sport. There were three games to be completed in that night; a game of code breaking, of riddles, a game of riddles and a debate concerning Northern history. I'm generally a humble man and not given to competitive ventures - but I won everything. I was more surprised than anyone else really. I just entered for the entertainment value of the exercises and took home all the prizes, which was a considerable number of rare and wonderful books to add to my small collection. I was rather happy with this outcome. My resources are currently limited and anything that adds to my ability to better serve my House is a fantastic boon.
That night I slept and dreamed of the buxom blond tavern girl from the previous evening carrying stacks of books balanced upon her head while mounted on a bear.
The next morning I awoke early and met with House Torrhen's maester and we drew up the marriage contract. As I'd not had a scrap of breakfast or tea yet, I must say I was not on top of my game and the contract ended up favoring them more than us, but not too terribly. I heard some talk that Garwyn truly charmed Lady Stark at the previous dinner. Hm. I wonder how difficult it would be to snag the hand of their eldest daughter for Ayrant. Or perhaps one of their greater banner houses mayhaps have a daughter of appropriate age. If we could bind ourselves closer to House Start that would be very beneficial indeed.
After Lady Wisent and I made a quick detour to pluck Kaila out from a line of "men" waiting to compete in the archery competition, we stuffed her into an appropriate dress again and the three of us headed to the second leg of the jousting tournament. Garwyn performed magnificently once again. He and his opponent, a noble from one of the Stark banner houses, kept to their horses until the third round when Garwyn unhorsed his opponent.
Afterward was the grand melee. I was one of the volunteer maesters assigned to stand by the lines and tend to the injured. It looked as if Garwyn & Ayrant's team would make it to the end, until they were ganged up on by an arrogant prick with a battle axe. He took Ayrant down and it seemed some foul play was going on, hard to tell from where it was bandaging up fallen combatants, when Garwyn surged into the middle of a gaggle that were about Ayrant where he was on the ground. The axe bearer and his cronies ended up taking Garwyn out, but not before Ayrant was able to limp away to safety. The beast with the axe ended up under my care and I did not like his attitude or disposition - this did not improve my disposition, nor my gentleness to his wounds. A pity I didn't have some salt to rub into his cuts.
A gaggle of annoying little bitches kept hanging over my work, praising the blond brat I was sewing up and discussing the scandal regarding bastards and rumors regarding Ayrant. I snapped at them a few times to shut up and back up until the conversation reached a high plateau of irritating and I yelled at them. They trotted off at that point. Annoying creatures. I hope my girls never become that. Well, no fear for Kaila - she wants to be a lord, not some lord's lady is the problem. Her husband is going to have a difficult time I suspect.
Off to do some reading on my new treasures until the next fun filled event. Or perhaps I should stop by that tavern and get a little wine and more cheese from that pretty girl with the blond curls.
The tournament is over and we have returned home and I find myself facing a mountain of paperwork and a line of petitioners seeking this or that to deal with. Garwyn was eventually unhorsed in the joust, by none other than the man who's unhorsing had led to Garwyn's fame and knighting. That night was the masquerade ball. I did myself all up as a raven. It was a rather eventful evening. I counseled a gloomy Kaila at the prospect of living in Torrhen's Hold and a lifetime with her future husband. After an exchange with her fiance I've come to side with her in the matter. I'm hoping some time spent in Wisenwood will do him some good. Nanna misplaced Dania at one point and I gathered up Ayrant and Garwyn to assist me in finding her. Fortunately we found her relatively in the gardens. Unfortunately she was in the company of Serise Dustin. I took possession of Dania and left Ayrant to have words with the woman that is the source of so many of his woes. He shot me an irritated glance when I took my leave for leaving him with her. On my way back, I thought perhaps it was unwise to leave him along with her. No telling what sort of stories she might cook up next to cause him grief. I met a lovely young lady at the dance who was very intrigued by scholarly pursuits and unfortunately a bit too interested in what perhaps lies under a maesters robes and chains. I tried to steer her away from this pursuit as I found the conversation genuinely enjoyable. When it was clear that she would not be persuaded to leave the conversation to lie solely upon academia, I made to leave her. Pretty as she may be, and interesting in academia - not a terribly common trait amongst women I've met, but above most things I take my vows seriously. She stopped me and apologized. We chatted a goodly bit more until some knight I scarcely remember from Blackhaven approached me drunk and regaled me with boring stories from my childhood. He was looking for work. I scheduled him an appointment for the following day and made my leave of his presence.
The next day was the final joust, which I only saw part of. Preparations were underway to depart Torrhen's Hold and I was involved in getting things underway. The young lady with a fondness for lore found me that day and stated that she had heard of Serise's confrontation with Ayrant about their bastard son. She, being one of Serise's ladies in waiting, was able to give me the child's name. I contemplated the wisdom of giving the name to Ayrant; but concluded that wise or not, it was Ayrant's right to know of his son and choose what he would do with the knowledge. All too often parents are too busy trying to rid themselves of their bastards - that a parent would actively want to seek them out, who am I to deny either of them that.
Back to paperwork & petitions. Yey.
Advancement
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Spent: 30xp+8gl; Unspent: 6xp+0gl
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Harold, Mutt, Boot, Tarragon & Basil
- Harold & Mutt
In addition to the household's ravens and other animals that he tends to, Tolbric came to the North with two well trained house pets in tow that live with him in his quarters; a brooding dictator of a raven named Harold and a small "dog" he purchased from a wandering merchant in Old Town named Mutt.
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- Boot
During a boar hunt, one of the hounds Tolbric was handling was lost and severely injured. Tolbric & Garwyn found the mastiff, patched him up, rescued him from a grizzly bear and got him to safety. Others suggested putting the dog down, that he couldn't survive, but Tolbric was stubborn and after a week of care was successful at saving the dog. When he left for home, he took his new friend back with him along with two new pups to train as household guardians. His name is Boot.
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- Tarragon & Basil
The two pups that Tolbric brought back to Wisenwood Town to raise and train as household guardians are named Tarragon and Basil.
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