Talisfar – Talisfar is a Half-Elven Bard. He grew up as an orphan in a monastery but upon reaching the age of 16 he chafed at the strictly regimented life among the monks and decided to strike out on his own. So one night, not long after his 16th birthday, he ran away from the monastery and travelled for a while doing odd jobs. As a result of this aimless meandering he got the nickname of Wendle (the Wandering One).
Eventually he met up with an old Skald named Verestön who travelled from place to place performing for minor nobility. Talisfar became Verestön’s assistant until the age of almost twenty at which time he had been trained as an apprentice Bard. Talisfar then went off on his own and for a short period of time also earned his living as a Skald performing for minor nobility but he eventually began composing his own poems and lays and writing them down as he had learned to read and write at the monastery.
At the age of 21 Talisfar become nostalgic and went back to the monastery where he was raised but by that time the old monk who had previously been Abbot was dead. Nonetheless several of the other monks recognized him and he stayed two more years with the monks learning religious and choir songs, chant, composing poetry, and learning the healing arts from the monks.
One night the monks rescued a wounded, lordless knight who had been nearly killed in a nearby skirmish. Talisfar helped doctor him back to health and as result they became good friends. So at the age of almost 24 Talisfar left the monastery again to squire for this lordless knight, named Oscaré, and became a wandering adventurer in the knight’s employ. They travelled and adventured together for approximately two years until Oscaré was killed while on guard one night by a poisoned arrow in the neck, possibly murdered by an old enemy named Sebelien.
Talisfar has now become a solo adventurer (though he is not averse to joining a group of like-minded companions) who wanders the land seeking wealth and fame as both an explorer of dangerous ruins and a well-respected poet and songmaster. He is older for a beginning solo adventurer (though he often wandered alone as a boy), being by now 27 years of age, but he is well versed in many forms of music, song, and verse (from romantic and personal works to religious and choral works), he is a very adept healer and physician, and he is very good at single combat having squired for and fought alongside Oscaré for nearly two years. He is also fluent in several different languages, having learned them to master the songs, poetry, and music of various peoples.
Talisfar does not dress as a typical Bard but wears very plain, non-descript workman’s clothing that is all very dark green in color. While wandering on his own as a Bard Talisfar often introduced himself to the nobles he performed for as the Greene Wendler (the Green Wanderer) and this has become shortened to another nickname, Greenwend. So, depending upon who Talisfar is speaking with and how much he trusts them he will often introduce himself as Talisfar, Wendle, or Greenwend. In addition, when needed, Talisfar has adopted several other names as aliases, usually ones taken from his dead companions, such as Verestön, Oscaré, Folles (his former Abbot), or Yarmuse (his dead father’s name).
In personality Talisfar is very loyal to those he befriends. He is also of keen mind and very observant. He has a superb memory, being able to mesmerize and then recite new songs and poems and musical scores almost overnight or by a single hearing. He can speak, read, and write in several different languages. He gets along very well with most people, being by nature relaxed and easy-going. When angered, however, he can hold long grudges and can be quite dangerous.
He lives simply, almost aesthetically. He will feast and dine and drink in company or while performing, if this is expected of him, but otherwise he is very spartan in both dress and behavior. He is athletic and charming and women often admire him and seek his favors but he has of yet formed no permanent attachments and never been in love or sought to be in love, though he is an excellent troubadour and minstrel on the subject of love. Though he forms deep attachments with the few friends he has ever had he is at heart a wandering and restless loner.
He is very generous and although he seeks to be famous as a Bard and wants to be a wealthy and powerful person he is neither attached to nor in love with money. He sees money merely as a tool and a path towards his aims.
Being an orphan from a young age (he lost both his parents to plague at the age of 6) he has always felt alone and unattached even when well cared for by others, such as the monks who raised and educated him. Nevertheless Talisfar still feels (maybe because he was an orphan he especially feels) great loyalty towards and gratitude for those who helped raise, educate, and train him, such as the monks, the skald Verestön, and the knight Oscaré.
Talisfar is very idealistic and takes it very personally if someone he knows or has befriended is harmed or killed. He feels it is his personal responsibility to defend and save those he has befriended and those who have befriended him. He is of an independent and self-reliant nature but he would never abandon a friend in need.
His most obvious flaws are that he will often overlook or excuse bad behavior in his friends and companions because they are his friends and companions, and his long obsessive quest to seek vengeance against the murderer of Oscaré. Even though there is little actual proof that Oscaré was murdered by his old enemy Sebelien, Talisfar is certainly convinced this is the case and has spent much time and treasure in an attempt to track down and enact vengeance against Sebelien as the suspected killer of his friend.
As a result of this obsessive vendetta Talisfar will often place both himself and innocent others in great danger in an attempt to achieve such vengeance, and eliminate the killer of his friend Oscaré.
BEST GAME AND FIRST GAME
Aug 29
Posted by occu77
I got my new copy of the 5th Edition of the Player’s Handbook last Saturday, August 23rd, 2014.
I’ve been reading and re-reading it over the past week and it is by far the best edition of the Dungeons and Dragons games I’ve ever seen, especially when it comes to character design and development, going all the way back to the original rule set, which I also have and used to play. So I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do with the Monster Manual and the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
I’ll be writing up a full review later on but I am extremely pleased with what I have seen and play tested (I took part in the design playtesting phase) thus far.
This weekend my family and I will be playing our first real game of the Fifth Edition rule set and we’re all looking forward to that, especially my oldest daughter (who really likes the game). I think my youngest daughter will also very much like the character development set of rules as she is a natural performer. My oldest daughter said to me that she thinks they will all be creating multi-class characters, which is fine by me, as I’ve always liked multi-class characters.
I’ll also be rolling up three characters which I’ll be eventually playing but for now I’ll be using them as NPC back-up/support characters to assist whatever characters my family develops. The characters I’ve already envisioned are here: My First Character, and Character Development.
Should be a really nice time of play and family fun and a great Labor Day weekend.
P.S.: My youngest daughter just brought me a sketch of a sentence she wrote in “dragon-script” from the new edition (5th Edition) of the Dungeons and Dragons game. She wrote and transcribed it all by free hand as she was developing her character and was quite excited about it.
She did an excellent and very neatly artistic job of it and it was quite impressive. I think this game will teach them many skills (artistic, map-reading, preparation, survival methods, problem-solving, team-work, math, etc.) as it did for me, and will be very good for their overall imaginations and creativity.
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