Arty Fox — Roleplayer Guild

Drops of Rain


ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪

ℕ𝕒𝕞𝕖: Drops of Rain (Full Name)
𝔸𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕤: Rain 
𝔸𝕘𝕖:20
𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕤:Tabaxi
𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣:Male
𝕆𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟:Farmhand
𝔸𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥:lawful good

𝔸𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖

ℍ𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥:6'5"
𝔹𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕:A bit more built than most other Tabaxi; years of animal handling and hard labour has given him a physique like a rugby player.
𝔼𝕪𝕖𝕤: Green
ℍ𝕒𝕚𝕣:Sandy yellow tuft like a mohawk
𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕟 𝕋𝕠𝕟𝕖:Sandy yellow fur, dabbled fairly evenly with dark grey spots
𝕋𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕠𝕠𝕤/𝕊𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕤/ℙ𝕚𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤:
His lower left leg is a copper coloured prosthetic with fairly well articulated ankle joint and toes
ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕥𝕪𝕝𝕖:Worn and tired; Rain grew up almost exclusively on hand-me-downs and still wears some to this day. Any rips or tears he'll patch up as best he can if it can be rescued. Mostly he wears more practical clothing out of hard wearing materials. Of course, he does keep a wide brimmed cowboy hat on his head to protect from the sun's heat when working.

ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪:

Hardworker * Pragmatic * Empathetic * Quiet * Hard Headed * Proud


ℝ𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕤:Single
ℚ𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕖:

What first impression do you make?
I hate to say but I think I mostly come across as big and dumb. I'm a farmers lad and I'm not good with big words or directions or anything like that, but I am smart in other ways; I know how to care for animals, I know how to work the land without causing harm, I know how to sell produce for a fair price, and I know that look of surprise in peoples eyes when they realise this.

What are you like in a high stress situation?
Pretty good if I do say so myself! You can imagine some of the stressful things that can happen on a farm, and working with and around the animals all day long I think I've dealt with most of them. 

Then again people do say I head to go into my own litle world when something happens, not as in freezing up like a rabbit on a railway, but instead I won't say what I'm doing or if I need help I struggle to tell someone what they need to do. 

What are your best and worst qualities?
Well for starters I'm a hard worker, just point me and what needs doing and I'll keep on working at it till its done. I can work in rain, snow, or sunshine with only some bell aching.

I'm a kind sort as well. Ma and Da say I'm probably too kind for my own good but but I cant just sit by when someone needs or asks for help. I just cant! 

But I do tend to seeth queitly when I'm angry at someone before lashing out. I guess often I just need a but of space to figure things out and for them to apologise to me first before I take a swipe at them.

I suppose I can be a bit hard headed at times, I get that from Ma, especially when I think I'm right which has gotten me in trouble before.

What is something about yourself that you would never admit to anyone?
I can't read. Well, I can but not very well; the words don't stay still and I have to concentrate to read a long sentence and it's embarrassing. My family know and they're all alright about it, my Ma has the same problem and we think my youngest sister has the same problem. But I don't want to give people another reason to think I'm stupid.

I'm pretty bad with directions as well, I'm okay if it's a map, but long lists of where to go and which way to turn just don't seem to stick in my head.

What are your dreams?
I actually want to move off the farm. I know itll break Da's heart but I'm tired of the same routine each and every year. I dont know if I'd go as far as being an adventurer and I love the land around Forsaken, but at the same time I want to see what else is out there. I want to find new places and meet new people.

How do you want to be seen by others?
To be seen as smart and respectable. Not like some sort of lord mind you but not like some "country bumpkin" or a pitiful injured guy. But it would be nice for someone to look at me and think "theres a lad who knows his worth and works hard".

How do you see yourself?
Dependable and trust worthy. Even during times of hardship I'll be there to do my job and look after my family and friends for as long as they need me, and hopefully well after as well.

Do you tend to make snap judgements, or stop and think about things?
Depends on what's happening I guess? If its a life or death scenario then I'll act quickly and hope to God's I get it right.

But if its something I can mull over I'd like that best. Means I can figure out what I need to get, if anything, and ask others for advice. After all, if a jobs worth doing then its worth doing right.

What haunts you?
Oddly it's not the accident with my leg that I think about but it's the one when my Brother died.

Me and a few of my brothers and sisters were out playing by the ravines a bit past my parents farm. Ma always warned us not to play there in case we got hurt but I though I could keep everyone safe. I was suppose to keep them all safe.

I remember seeing him just jumping and playing about in the grass near the edge of a deep one but I didn't think he was too close. I turned away for just a second to look at something one of my sisters found and heard a big crash and scream. When I turned around he was gone. We ran to where he had been and found part of the ravines edge had fallen and he was at the bottom mangled and covered with dirt.

It was the only time my parents ever laid hands on me. They say they don't blame me, I was just a little kid back then, but I still catch them sometimes looking at the old family photo.

What is your philosophy on life?
You have to work hard in life. You have to fight so, so hard for and through everything but even then you can, and often will, lose. So make friends, take care of family, and try your best.

ℍ𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕥𝕤:
Talking to animals either with baby talk or actually talking to them
Clicking his tongue, or chewing his cheek in thought.
Huming or singing a tune as he works.

ℍ𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕚𝕖𝕤:
Reading old herb and plant guides if only for the pictures
Sewing and darning damaged clothing
Going on walks when the weather's fine

𝔽𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤:
Heights
The Farm being sold
The Farm being passed to him
Death of a family memener or loved one

𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤:
Being outdoors
Market day
His family
Animals
books with diagrams and pictures.

𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤:
Being looked down on
talking a lot
Really hot days, especially ones with no clouds or wind
His prosthetic
Rainy days where it just pours, and pours, and pours, and pours.

𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟:

𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:
Animal handling
General DIY
Horse Riding
Medicine - you'll still need a proper doctor but you probably wont bleed to death.
Persuasion
Survival - while not an expert he knows enough to stay alive for a while.
Bartering
[8] Darkvision

𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝/𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕪 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:
Light -  with either a firefly or bit of glowing moss , when you touch one object that is no larger than 10 feet in any dimension the object sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. The light can be colored as you like. Completely covering the object with something opaque blocks the light. The spell can last up to an hour.
Speak With Animals - You gain the ability to comprehend and verbally communicate with beasts for the duration. The knowledge and awareness of many beasts is limited by their intelligence, but at minimum, beasts can give you information about nearby locations and monsters, including whatever they can perceive or have perceived within the past day.
Retractable Claws
Thorn Whip - with a plant stem in hand you create a long, vine-like whip covered in thorns that lashes out at your command toward a creature in range.
Animal Friendship - Using a tasty bit of food this spell lets you convince a beast that you mean it no harm. Choose a beast that you can see within range. It must see and hear you.

𝕀𝕟𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪:
Whip
rope
a folding shovel
a canteen
tinderbox
Pistol - it's still good, but has clearly seen better years.
roughly a dozen spare bullets.
a hefty bag to store it all in.


ℍ𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪:

𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪:
I grew up in the sticks surrounding Forsaken on a Farm called Aster Plains. I think my folks wanted to start a flower farm originally. We're sat somewhere in the grassland between Forsaken itself and the desert where little under water reservoirs feed the land, and in turn the city.

The Farm itself is pretty modest; a little house, a barn, a grain silo, and a few acres surrounding us cordoned off into separate fields for things like corn, wheat and the like. Simple stuff that we can grow and sell lots of. We also have a few dairy cows which we sometimes let graze on whichever field we're not using that year, or let out into the plains with the herds from neighbouringfarms if needed but we try to avoid that What with bandits and wolves and the like. You'll have to ask my Da for the details but that's the general gist of it.

I was their third child after my Brothers; Roaring Thunder, and Jade Slipper. After me came my sister Beauty of Summer, my twin brothers Spark of Life and Joy of Health, and the two more sisters Eclipse of the Moon and Darkness of Water. So about 8 of us in total back then which made for a cramped environment especially as we all began to grow and get bigger. Eventually Da would have to get some of the neighbours to help us build extra rooms on the ground floor to fit us all in.

I dont remember much from my early childhood aside from playing with my siblings and sometimes the other kids from the neighbouring farms whenever their parents come to help or ours went over and took us with them. One of the neighbours would also come over regularly to teach us useful things like how to read, write, how do use numbers and other things about our world like where Rain comes from  and some of the history in books. I think he was a retired teacher as he was very old but dressed in the smartest suit and tie I ever laid my eyes on. I never got on with the reading and writing part of it all, Ma says I threw the worst tantrums whenever I frustrated, but I loved his books with pictures even though I couldn't understand the words I would spend ages looking at the drawings of towering castles and the diagrams of animals or plants in those books.

Roaring Thunder however, was the smartest out of all of us back then and not just because he was the oldest; he would read some of our teachers books that even Da struggled to understand and was constantly asking questions about the stuff in them. I think he and Da fought a lot because Da wanted Thunder to help out more on the farm but Thunder would always get distracted tying to take things apart or doing experiments. Even when pretty much all of us were bigger Ma and Da kept the locks firmly on few of the kitchen cabinets. Looking back now I think that that was entirely fair as Thunder would try to make the biggest explosions he could with things around the house which was fun to see at the time, not for our parents of course, and I'm really surprised how any of us got away with anything more than a few cuts and grazes.

We would spend hours exploring around the farm and a bit of the plains beyond. There's still scars from the 100 year war out there, if you know what you're looking for and where to look; ravines with almost perfectly straight walls where no rivers ever flowed, plants that glow at night from magic tainted soil, ghostly figures staring at you from just out of sight, and odd smells or sounds of battle without any source. We would pretend we were fighting in that war armed with sticks and the occasional spell when we could muster it. We were just kids so we never got more than the occasional bruise or small burn which our parents would chastise us for hours for.

But Ma always warned us about playing near such places and gave us a hell of a talking whenever she found out where we'd been, and she was right to. 

It was a little while after Da started making Jade Slipper work so I was now responsible for our little siblings and I was constantly trying to think up new games we could play, or things we could do that would keep us out the way of our parents and older brothers working. We were playing out in the plains and planning to have a picnic as well so we're trying to find the best spot as we went. Eventually we found a pretty nice spot with a big tree that would provide plenty of shade near to a particularly deep ravine and set about clearing around dead twigs and rocks from the ground. I remember one of my little brothers, Spark of Life, bouncing away with a big leaf like it was the best thing in the world. The rest of us told him to stop messing about and kept clearing everything away. I think it had been a very dry summer so the ground was dusty and the grass around was sharp and brittle. It was the summer that even smelled of the earth baking and cracking apart.

Maybe that had been what did it? 

There was a mighty rumble, a scream, and a crash. I turned around just in time to see his arm dissappear over the edge in a cloud of dust. I dont think I'll ever forget what I saw, or the cold icicle of fear bury itself in my stomach. We all called and screamed down at him but he didn't move and he didn't look right; his limbs all spread out and head twisted at an odd angle. At some point we must run back and gotten  some help but I honestly don't remember it. But I remember the look on Ma's face when one of the neighbours farm hands brought him up, flopping about like a broken doll, cover it dirt and blood. I remember Ma grabbing his body and shaking him trying to wake him up, and the adults nearby steadily lowering her to the ground. I remember that awful, awful noise my Da made like some wild animal caught in a trap.

Things blend together for a few years after that and I had begun helping out on the farm, doing things like repairing fences and taking care of the cows we had. The usual routine things like feeding, milking, making sure they were all in good health and that. I liked taking care of them as each one had a different personalityand liked being handled differently; some were quite happy to stand still and let you do what you had to but others wouldn't let you near for love nor money if you approached them wrong. I got a lot better with them when one of my mates taught me how to talk to animals and found that surprisingly a lot of them liked being brushed. 

It was because I was so good with the animals that my Ma started taking me along with her and some siblings to Market. Heck, while we were there I'd often get asked to help calm some of other people'slive stock as well! 

Whilst Market Day happened once a month all year round, held in any number of squares in Forsaken, we would only go for a few months towards the end of the year with a cart or two loaded with produce from our farm and from our neighbours too who were able to make the day long journey each way. I love that time every year and seeing the usual things, such as; vegetables, cheeses, preserves, meats, all wrapped up nicely. Of course there were more fancy things like jars of honey, balls of twine, knitted jumpers, wooden toys and a whole load of other things. One time we had to take potted plants but that never caught on at the market. But I was mainly there to help with taking care of any live stock to be sold or any more we bought to bring back home.

I'm not sure what it was that convince our parents to give Roaring Thunder all their savings, maybe it was just how smart he was? He rarely finished half his chores around the farm (was almost me or someone else coming in to help or kick him up the backside) but the moment he started one of his experiments he was like a whole different person; constantly measuring the weight and size of things and recording the outcomes of his work in note books or anything to hand. He was a smart cookie back then and no mistake! So Ma and Da decided to send him off into Forsaken to get a better education and a good job to really make a name for himself. And so off he went, he was the first one up in the morning the day he left even after the hell of a leaving party we had for him the night before!

Things weren't harder on the farm after that but things did feel different knowing that we didnt have any money to fall back on should we get a bad season.

A few years passed and we would visit Thunder whenever we went to Forsaken for Market day which was always nice and hearing about the  all the stuff he was learning. And you should've seen the look on his face when he got a job at the mining company; I'm not sure if it was scary or not how happy he was saying he got to work with explosives all day.

And so this went by pretty smoothly for the next year apart from one of the barns on another farm collapsed from the heavy snowfall, luckily no one was hurt but a few axe-beaks were lost sadly. But it did mean that the following summer, once the wreckage had been cleared away and a new area picked out, it was time for a barn raising.

If you've never been to one I really recommend it. We had the whole neighbourhood out for it, for while the lads all helped build and get the frame up the lass'would get food and drinks ready for meals and the like, and keep the kids out the way of course.

The accident happened when we were working to standing the frame upright and while one team was pulling it up from one side I was on the team on the other side, pulling a bit softer on our side to stop it from going too far and smashing down on the lads. As you can guess it didnt go quite to plan, apparently one of the ropes on the other teams side snapped and the rest couldnt hold it. And I on the other side didnt get out the way fast enough so as I turned and ran the frame smashed down on my left leg, just below the knee, and the beam was so big it just turned everything to paste.

Ma says it was the scariest day of her life, and the next few days weren't any better. I was pretty much out of it for a while and could barely form a sentence apparently. In the end they couldnt save the lower half of the leg, "Magic can only do so much" they said. But they did manage to get the barn up without any more accidents, so there's that.

Things got a bit harder for everyone else after that and I feel real bad that I couldn't help around the farm at all. Sure I helped around the house doing chores, helping with making goods and even helping Da sort out the various DIY stuff he never had time to do. I like to think I got pretty good at it too. And I was still able to go to Markets which I was really glad about as I could still see Roaring Thunder on occasion whenever he wasn't too busy with his job.

About a year after the accident Thunder had a surprise for me when we turned up one Market day in October. He told us that it wasn't uncommon for miners to lose limbs as well in blasts or when tunnels collapsed so he was able to get his hands on a prosthetic for me, a fake limb to replace one that was lost, I honestly hadn't even heard of something like that until then. 

You can see it if I just lift up the leg of my trousers; it's pretty fancy made out of really light bronze or something and straps around my knee with a leather strap. It's not the best during winter, you see through some of the gaps to the gears inside so I have to clea it our when it gets dirty, but Thunder says there's an enchantment on it that keeps it in good nick. I can even flex and move the ankle and toes!

Well, I was a changed man after that, and a few weeks or so learning jow to walk again. I was back out working on the farm again and taking care of the animals. I couldnt work as much or walk as far as I used to as my prosthetic hurts like hell after a while. But even so I was still able to pull my weight and the old ladies (the cows) were pretty happy to see me up and about again too.

Things returned to their routine for a while. My Sister Summer got engaged so she moved out and in with her hubby. Da got sick for a while but he bounced back. Ma caught Jade with another lad in the barn so she's already trying her damndest to get the two of them married, she's traditional like that and won't stand any unmarried such and such. Crops came and went as did livestock and goods along with the seasons.

But, of course, things then started to take a turn for the worst. First, it was the locust swarm and thank the Gods we weren't the worst hit but it did leave us on the back foot. 

Then, to make matter worse some disease started spreading around all the farms nearby affecting livestock with awful blisters around their hooves and even their tongues, it left the older ones unable to eat for days or even completely lame and killed off the babies. Even after curing the desiease it was so rampant that not a week later you could come back to find half your herd getting blister again. So in thend we, along with damn near everyone else, had to cull the majority if not all our livestock. We were lucky that Star knew a few healing spells by then so we were able to save a handful of our Dairy cows and chickens. Not everyone else was though so you'll no doubt pass a couple of abandoned farms travelling out here.

And then, the final nail in the coffin, Roaring Thunder came crawling back to us with empty pockets and his tail between his legs. He and Da argued well into the night that day, and even Ma and the rest of gave him a piece or two of our minds. He was the smart one! He was supposed to make something of himself! To get out of this dump and have everything we couldn't and he wasted it on those damn experiments of his! You can't pay the bills with damn notes!

So here we are a year later with no money and barely getting by. I think Ma and Da are looking to sell the farm sometime soon, get the rest of us kids married or otherwise employed somewhere that'll give us a roof over our head. I can see how much they worry, we all can, in the way Da just stares over the fields and Ma strokes the railing on porch. They love each other, and us, with Al, their hearts but this place is their heart.

So when the letters asking for Roaring Thunder and I arrived one day, we all agreed that it was mighty strange but what other option did we have? Might as well give it a go.

𝔼𝕩𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕤

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℚ𝕦𝕠𝕥𝕖: I've gotten more sense out of the cows.
𝔸𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔼𝕝𝕤𝕖:
His Prosthetic is a mix of machinery for it to work and simple enchantments to keep it mostly clean and in good condition but still needs a monthly clean to get rid of any mud or debris that may have fallen through the gaps. Despite best effort by the designer to cover any seams around the joints with leather he works on a farm so mud and muck can, and will, get everywhere.

While the ankle and toes are well articulated they do not have the full range of motion that a flesh limb would; Rain can make the toes flex as one and move the ankle up and down by flexing and twisting his stump.

The prosthetic is not a perfect as the lining in the cup has not been replaced as he's grown so it will cause some irritation if he keep using it for too long with a break.
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