Lowe
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A map maker is not measured by the number of maps he makes, but the miles he treads to draw them.
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B I R T H N A M E:
Lowe Harmond ♦ A G E: 10 ♦ S E X: Male ♦ A L I G N M E N T: Chaotic Good
Ω O R I G I N S:
Lowe was a boy whose entire family line has been sustained in the walls of the Barbed Church. His parents, though they cared for him, died pretty early in his life from a deadly disease that seems to be plaguing the whole country as of late. He was taken in at the age of 4 by Minister Florentus, a man who is as cruel as the Church he serves. He was taken in as Minister Florentus’ ward, and Florentus taught him how to be a scribe and proper librarian. Lowe was not very good in his studies though, and this conflicted with him becoming a good scribe. Minister Florentus believed it was because of his incompetence that he could not work in a classroom environment, but it had more to do with the beatings he received than his comprehension. Or rather, the two were clearly linked.
Due to the severe trauma from the beatings, he went deaf in his right ear at the age 6, and has not been able to hear out that ear ever since. Lowe is prone to sickness, and has a very weak immune system for a child his age. He had been told his parents died of the very plague striking fear into the citizens of Vassidia, but he’d like to think he will not fall pray to the same fate. He dreamed often of escaping the church walls, and exploring the world on his own, and made plans with a beggar man with a horse and a wagon to take him away from there one day. The man told him it would be extremely difficult trying to leave with just himself alone, but they agreed upon a disguise. They left in the dark of night, Lowe disguised as an old sack of fruit, and the beggar man and his wagon covered with an oil tarp.
The journey through the woods past the Church was very bumpy, and Lowe didn’t get to see most of it because he was tucked in the wagon. When he poked his head out finally, he found that the old man had left him near a shack in the woods. “This is as far as I go.” He said. Lowe was left stranded by the shack, which held useful things for him such as food, an oil lamp with a flask of oil, and a cartographers map making set. Lowe was never really good at studies, but he was very well acquainted with maps. Minister Florentus thought reading maps was useless, but Lowe took a liking to them because they were somewhat easier for him to understand. He decided that his first course of action would be find a town or two to settle in. He found himself in a town, unknown to him but apparently a river ride away from Vassilius itself, and settled there.
A nice inn keeper by the name of Maruna picked him up off the streets, and told him he could live with her if he put his map making abilities to the test. “I can’t get anyone to come to the shop, and there ain’t no knights coming down the road or the river. So what yer’ gonna do is make it so they get here.” She had said. “I’m not sure if its the plague that’s keepin’ em’ away, but I know fer’ certain that there is something blocking the roadway to the city. Find a different way into this town: you got yer’ self a new home. Fail, and it’s back on the streets with ya’.” Lowe solved his dilemna that day by showing Maruna the way he came into the city with the old man. Maruna had patted him on the head, and gave him a closet of a room to sleep in.
As soon as news of this new road was heard around town though, it spelled bad news for Maruna. The road that Lowe used was a secret he was not aware of, and it got Maruna killed for it. There were would be assassins in the Inn that day, and they had already found their first target. Lowe barely escaped, stole the only mount that Maruna had on hand, and ran away far down the river. His attackers would not leave though, and one loose arrow to the mounts legs later, he found himself falling in the river gasping for breath. His attackers, because of his small size, assumed that he would die from the river’s current. He didn’t though and was washed up on the shores of Ferros, the Iron City.
It is here that he has nothing but an apple core, a vial of oil he managed to pilfer from Maruna when she wasn’t looking, and the last few pens and bottles of ink from his Cartographers set.Ω A B I L I T I E S / S K I L L S:
//ABILITIES:
◼ Silver Tongue | He is not very strong, but he has been told to kick a mean can in a game of Kick the Can by the other boys in the Church. He is not able to hold himself in a fight, but God has gifted him with a silver tongue thankfully.
◼ Crawl Space | He is surprisingly agile when he wants to be, as climbing atop dusty bookshelves has added to his abilities. When he wants to hide, he’s also able to fit into small places due to his small stature.
◼ Hearth Heart| He cannot last long in any environment that is not warm, cozy, and filled with lots of people. He is 10 after all.
◼ Alter Boy | Book smarts are not Lowe’s forte, but the other boys in the church have taught him well in the ways of protecting what’s his. He’s very street smart, and knows when he’s being tricked out of something, but books were never something he was good at. Lowe just learned to read a couple months ago in fact, so he hasn’t read a whole lot either. He is very good with maps, though, and remembering things for the future.
◼ The Cartographers Secrets| Is it wise if he knows not to cross Minister Florentus on a bad day? Jokes aside, he isn’t what one would call wise, as he is a small child of 10 who hasn’t actually experienced a whole lot, but he is wise enough to know when to keep certain things secret from now on. His time with Maruna taught him that.
◼ Church Organ| Despite not being the brightest or the strongest, he certainly has a sassy personality. He absolutely won’t let the other’s quiet him, or even speak over him. He’s thankful he was born with such a loud voice, otherwise everyone would probably look him over and ignore him. He’s very opinionated for a 10yr old. He will say what he thinks, as long as he thinks he can run fast enough to escape punishment. (And he usually is.) He can be helpful, and very dependable but only if you give him something in return. Maruna used to bribe him with sweets, and extra night hours to clean her kitchen and rooms, and even that was a hard nut to crack sometimes.
//SKILLS:
◼ Pigeon Soup | Minister Florentus thought it was useless for a boy to learn how to cook, but his mother knew better and taught him to make the basics of food when he was 3. Things like porridge, and pigeon soup (A simple dish made from bird bones, and mushrooms).
◼ Map Reading: He is very good with reading maps, and thanks to finding the cartographers set, has slowly started to pick up a few of the map making tricks. He is no professional, but he does know enough about making maps to chart things, like the rivers he comes across, or the many towns he enters. He has steadily learned about pathfinding, and different things to mark down for later.
//LIMITATIONS:
◼ Non-Magick user| He is unable to do Magick, and can’t learn any spells because he, well- can’t read that well yet.
◼ House Cleaning| He isn’t very organized with his things, so they often get lost.
◼Collection Tithe| He is not a fighter, nor a lover, so running into sellswords or beggars would usually spell trouble for him.
◼Church Mouse| Because of his sheltered life inside of the Church he does not know how to read people, which makes him a little gullible sometimes. He won’t fall for everything, but he is prone to being tricked by promises of sweets or a nice bed.
//WEAKNESSES:
◼ Sick Bay| Sickness: He is very weak, and may or may not be coming down with some kind of flu or worse. The Ministers were sure that if anything drastic were to happen, they would be able to help him with their Magick. But with Lowe so for away from home, he has a very high chance of getting sicker than usual. Most of the symptoms include dizziness, vomiting, and sometimes the occasional rash. Though it doesn’t happen often, he does get sickly sometimes,and when he does it could be days before he recovers fully.
◼ Hearing: Lowe is deaf in his right ear, and is not able to hear out of it at all. This never caused a lot of problems in the Church, but now it serves as a very difficult hurtle. He lost the right ear after getting multiple severe beatings from Minister Florentus, and any other ornery adults who needed a punching bag.
Ω N O T E S:
◼ Lowe’s only interaction with Pontiff Silvene was when he was a small baby in his mother’s arm. The Pontiff came to give blessings to the new parents, and then moved on. Lowe, of course, does not remember this. Whether or not the First Thorn remembers is not something I know. Lowe also has a deep seated bitterness towards knights. He once met a knight who came to the Church, and saw him bullying some of the other servants. This was enough to make him think that all knights must be pompous asses who bully people. He didn’t talk to this particular knight though, so he doesn’t really have a say in what knights are really like as he has never even spoken to one.
◼ The Cartography Set he has with him does have books, and a few even mention useful spells for travelers, but Lowe cannot really decipher the words. He asked Maruna to read it to him one day, but she coudn't make heads or tails of it either. Who ever owned the set before him must have been some kind of mage or wizard, but they both agreed they must have been one strange character. I mean, who's ever heard of a Map Making Mage?
◼ He has a pack with him, but it does not hold a lot of stuff. Most of the space is being taken up by the Cartography set, and some food. He has no means of healing himself, or vials of spells to help him heal faster. He has a few stones, and a long stick he found along the way to defend himself with. If need arises though, he will most likely try to talk his way out of a situation, or just go along with whatever comes his way.