Sample Character History

I was born Töskaan Felhammer, though you will not find my name in any of the dwarven records, for now that name only exists in the Roll of the Forgotten. It is forbidden for any to speak of me but for one day, at dawn on the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year, the Day of the Forgotten, when my name is cursed by all who ever knew me.

But take no pity on me, for my fate is well deserved. It was not from any act of treason or cowardice that I have become Forgotten, but from an act of love. A brash, reckless, thoughtless act of a youth who should have known better, and who now pays the price.

Her name was Ceredwin, and she held the beauty of the mountains finest stones in her eyes. It was by cruel Fate that she was born into the family of Silverblade for they were hated by all who called themselves Felhammer. No one knows how long this feud between Silverblade and Felhammer has gone on, nor for what slight, it is only known that we have always hated each other and that has always been enough.

When we first met we had no idea who the other was. I was an ambitious young dwarf caught up in the mead brewing business of my family. I had no interest in the ancient feud between out two families, wasted time I thought! As for Ceredwin, such pettiness was beneath her.

I was first attracted to Ceredwin by her beauty, and she to the bottles of mead I was carrying with me at the time. That evening we drank and talked and drank some more and before we knew each others histories we knew each others hearts. Oh, if only I had been carrying foul Orchish ale, how different my life would be!

We always met in secret on the mountainside, but it was inevitable that our families would find out, and when they did we suffered for it. But we continued to see each other every chance we could, sending letters when we could not.

After a time, when we could no longer stand being separated from each other, we decided to marry. On the evening we were to leave her family found out and gave chase. We fled to the mountainside we knew so well in an effort to lose our pursuers. In desperation we tried to scale a cliff face and hind, out of site, at the top. On any other night we could have done it, but on this night we were just to exhausted. Nearly all the way to safety, Ceredwin slipped and fell to her doom - our doom. I climbed down as quickly as I could. She lay there, her back crushed on a rock, her eyes staring blankly into space, breathing in short painful gasps. I cried out. She died in my arms shortly after.

How foolish we had been.

When her brothers came I ran, I ran all the night from fear and grief, I ran until the first light of dawn shone from over the mountains behind me. The morning I saw then was not the happy one I imagined with Ceredwin the day before but one of a different sort entirely.

I don't know how long I traveled south along the mountains before I settled in a little Imperial town on the edge of the frontier. I took work as a tower guard, which was all I could get, and learned to fight from the other dwarves who lived there. I also learned from them how to profit from the seedier side of life. I got involved in supplying lifes little necessities through the blackmarked and cultivated a few underworld connections in the process. There were also a number of guards I came into contact with who were willing to sell their skills to whomever would pay their price. After a while I accumulated enough contacts and capital that I was able to retire from the tedious tower guard business.

Everything was going well until the fateful midsummer festivities. I was poised to make a tidy profit from the celebrations and was enjoying my imminent good fortune with some of my old friends in a tavern we liked to frequent.

I should have known better than to invite that accursed elf!

The black-heart owed me a great deal of money and hatched an ingenious plan to get it by selling me into slavery! He drugged me that night and shipped me off to the heart of the Empire in the first available caravan.

I fought in the stable of an Imperial noble as a gladiator for nearly two years. During the games held at Battlekeep there was a mass escape organized by some outside group. I took advantage of the situation and escaped as well. But instead of running inland I stole a boat and sailed it as far into the frontier as it would take me. I don't know what became of the other gladiators, but the empire hasn't found me yet!

Experience Points

The character history scored 3 out of 5 based on the following:
1) Interest. Details in Töskaan's past are of interest to other players, ie. why is he a dwarven outcast?
2) Fits into the World. Several details show that the writer researched the world and worked the character into it. Battlekeep, the Rocklands, gladiatorial games and the preciousness of dwaren females are examples.
3) The Artistic Director liked it.

The story missed the following two areas:
4) Character given Enough Rope to Hang Himself. While the Felhammers are after Töskaan, that's not quite enough to qualify. If he also had problems with the underworld he may have gotten the point.
5) Introduces Something New to the World. This is the hardest. By detailing the underworld mechanics of an organization the character probably could have qualified for the point.

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