Brother Aristophanes
(Air-riss-STOFF-fan-ease)
Acolyte of Tamalasque
Human
Clarion background

Only child of Demetrius the wheelwright and Korinna the seamstress, Aristophanes was born in y.p. 571 in the town of Monastiraki. Monastiraki is a merchant town, located in a (small) mountain pass. During the trading season, the town is bustling, as Monastiraki serves as a trading nexus. But during the winter months, the town dramatically shrinks in size, with only a few locals staying through the winter.

As a child, Aristophanes was (unsurprisingly) often found at his father's shop, although even at a young age, he tended to wander the streets of Monastiraki. Rarely would he get lost, although his predilection to come back late -- very late -- often meant that he had quite the discomfort sitting down to breakfast the next morning. For awhile, the admonishment would work: Aristophanes would be found sitting in his father's shop, assisting as a young boy can. But over time, he would slip out more and more often, until inevitably he would return home, well past suppertime, exhilarated and more than a little trepidatious of his parents' reactions.

One sunny afternoon in 578, Aristophanes was stopped by Philomenes, a priest of Tamalasque, who was looking for Demetrius' shop. Aristophanes politely led Philomenes to Demetrius' shop. Philomenes told Demetrius that the Temple of Tamalasque wished to have an ornate wheel crafted for the temple, and thus Philomenes was enquiring of the wheelwrights and artisans. Intrigued, Aristophanes started sketching artistic ideas for such a wheel, and Philomenes ended up staying around two hours, discussing artistic traditions with the young boy.

This turned into the beginning of a new path for Aristophanes, as the Temple of Tamalasque now became one of the destinations of his wanderings. This was quite the relief to his parents, as if Aristophanes was not to be seen anywhere around dusk, he would usually be found either at the Temple, or have been recently seen there. Relatively quickly, Aristophanes' parents guided him into the lay ministry, as it was obvious that Aristophanes was quite unsuited to the traditional master/apprenticeship model of learning a trade.

Philomenes kept an eye on the boy, sending him on (mostly non-essential) errands in Monastiraki. Once the two became friends, Philomenes taught the boy to read and write, and required that Aristophanes write out return messages for him to read. Aristophanes thought that literacy was mostly a waste of time, although eventually became literate with the great encouragement from his parents.

In y.p. 583, Aristophanes first ventured beyond Monastiraki to visit the large seaside town of Kardamyli. Kardamyli is substantially larger than Monastiraki, and being the closest port town to Monastiraki, a fair amount of trade occurs between the two towns. Like Monastiraki, the merchants have built up a sizeable Temple to Tamalsque, and it is here that Aristophanes befriended another boy his age, Sophokles. In y.p. 588, Aristophanes' life was marred by tragedy, when Sophokles was killed by street toughs. Aristophanes and Sophokles had been wandering in Kardamyli late at night when they were jumped by a bunch of punks. A struggle ensued, and through bad luck, Sophokles was gravely injured. Not knowing what to do, Aristophanes half-dragged his friend back to the Temple, whereupon Sophokles immediately was rushed into surgery, but died. His Shade did not return from Judgement. Aristophanes reacted poorly to this: why is it that Tamalasque would not allow his friend to return? His faith shaken, Aristophanes muddled through on autopilot, unsure what to do with his life.

In y.p. 589, rather than take vows into the holy orders, Aristophanes instead asked to join an expedition to the large port city of Nafplio. Monastiraki, at this point, was quite dull to him: not due to its small size, but it seemed that there was nothing new to discover. Even Kardamyli was fairly well-explored, although Aristophanes knew that the memory of Sophokles was partially what kept him away from Kardamyli. And this memory still left Aristophanes unbalanced, so he felt that now was not the time to settle into the devout studies, but rather, to find answers -- answers that lay outside Monastiraki.

Nafplio was quite the change: it's even bigger and even rougher that Kardamyli. The mix and wash of people is overwhelming to many travellers, but to young Aristophanes, it was as if a door had opened: here was his destiny. The Temple had quite the numbers skilled in medicine, and Aristophanes was keen to learn, lest he find himself in another situation where he wishes to help, but cannot. THIS TIES INTO HIS CLARION HEALING ABILITY.

From Nafplio, Aristophanes traveled far and wide, befriending the merchants and sailors who he met at the Temple, and earning his keep through hard work. He saw his share of violence, as bandit and pirates were not impossible occurrences. The young man met many people and asked many questions, but aside from arranging to travel with other followers of Tamalasque, did not make particularly close friends with anyone. He paid his way by assisting in whatever menial jobs needed doing, and generally was remembered as someone who asked many questions.

Eventually, he comes to the city of X, where he meets the Party.


Race     Human
Gifts Driven +1 (+1 BGA)
Veteran +1 (50 skill points)
Flaws Hidden flaw -1 (group flaw)
Background Clarion (Heal full on others only, 2x/event)
Free points 1 Gift, +5 mana
Life 1
Mana 6
Deity Tamalasque
Skill Points 56: Veteran (50) + Emailed background (6)
 
Skills
3x faith 18
1x bandage 5
diagnose 2
literacy 4
physician 2
surgeon 1 8
wayfinder 8
job: foraging 1
job: cooking 1
job: mending 1
(6 unspent) 6

Total 56


Random notes:
faith 1		4 / 0
faith 2		6 / 0
faith 3		8 / 0

bandage 1	5 / 0
bandage 2	5 / 2
bandage 3	5 / 3

diagnose	2 / 0

physician	2 / 0

surgeon 1	8 / 0
surgeon 2	12 / 0
surgeon 3	16 / 0

literacy	4 / 0

discern fate	1 / 0
event preview	1 / 0
guidance	1 / 0
precognition	6 / 1 dedicated
research	6 / 0

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Ardenhsire: 2x parry
Clarion: 2x heal full on others
Deepwood: 2x heal full on self
Falendale: hidden pouch
Free Commons: resist charm/enslave 2x
Gwent: 1x random magic talisman
Island of the Dead: 2x packet of 3 damage
Nieva: resist cold 3x
Rachenza: First level of any Knowledge, Craft, or Alchemy is halved.
Venelasque: 2x 5 damage to undead

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Courage (1)
Driven (1)	extra BGA
Hidden Gift (1)
Mysterious Benefactor (1)
Second Sight (2)
Stoic Blood (1)
Thrift (1)
Toughness (1)
Venerable (1)
Veteran (1)

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Avalene: honor and skill in combat.
Chaundelar: bring happiness and love to all.
Daramore: strength in battle, heedless of care.
Duron: creation, reuse, restore.
Hyst: duplicity, manipulation, intrigue.
Janarre: paying attention to emotions.
Jalubi: comfort and leisure.
Leukos: dreams and divination.
Maevesserone: cycle of nature.
Tamalasque: improvement of luck and roads.
Xaer: books and destruction of undead.