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About Selwynne

Appearance
Selwynne is a handsome, well dressed Half Elf. He prefers to dress in bright (almost garish) colours, favouring Oranges, Yellows and Purples. Occasionally, when something more subdued is required (he would say drab), he deigns to tone it down to Dark Blues and Reds. Although a not large by any means, when meeting him, people are surprised by just how slight and small of stature he actually is. He presence and personality make him seem larger than he actually is. While not necessarily boisterous, he none the less has the big, strong, clear voice characteristic of most bards, which he uses to good effect to usually dominate the conversation no matter the size or makeup of the group. He is easy going, willing to talk to anyone, although he has a way of drawing information out of his conversation partners, while giving away very little himself. He is always on the look out for a new story to spin, and looking forward to hopefully writing a few himself about his own exploits, that the bards will sing about for ages to come.

Background
Selwynne is the rare Half-Elf that has been raised (mostly) by his father Nathaniel. Both his parents were never the type to settle down, his mother a typical Elf, preferring to wonder the wilds, and not be tied down, his Father a bard, enjoying the sights and sounds of the big cities. Nevertheless, by chance they fell in love, and once they had a child on the way, they decided they should try and settle down and make it work, for the sake of the child, with a plot of farm land from his parents.

Within a couple of years of his birth, wanderlust hit his mother again, and she shot through, leaving his father to raise Selwynne on his own. He only lasted another couple of years, before itchy feet, led to him leaving Selwynne in the care of his Grand Parents (Solomon and Naomi), and hitting the road for the life of a Bard.

A few times every year, his father would return with amazing tales of the sights he had seen, but would always leave again after a few days. But still, Selwynne loved his father, and constantly dreamt of hitting the road for the life of a Bard.

When he was just 13, tragedy struck, and his Grandparents (who had basically raised him for the past decade), both tragically died as sickness struck their village, and when his father returned home, having no ties to his local village (always being an outsider, due to his obviously Elven Parentage), Selwynne hit the road with his father for the wandering life of a bard.

The reality of the day to day battle of survival fell well short of the stories told by his Father, yet, finally he was with his dad, and Selwynne loved the life of a bard, quickly establishing himself as a very capable, and talented support and backup act for his Father. Within a few short years, his natural ability soon saw his talent actually surpass his Father, but as a young boy of only 15 years of age, he remained a dutiful son, and was happy to remain in a backup / support role for his Father. His Father however, Jealous of his sons obvious bardic talent, took to drink to deal with the massive hit to his ego, realising his son had now surpassed him. This of course led to his performances to continue to go down hill, and Selwynne to take on an ever greater role in the "joint" performances.

Everythgin came to a head, the day after Selwynne's 18th Birthday. After a night off celebrating his son Coming of Age, both Nathaniel and Slewynne woke up late in the afternoon. Selwynne seeming as fresh as a daisy (the blessing of the swift recovery of youth), while his Father suffered with a massive hangover (and probably was also still a little drunk). Unable to take yet one more shot to his already shattered and fragile ego, Nathaniel went straight downstairs to the bar, continued right where he left off the night before.

Needless to say, when it was time for them to hit the stage that night, Nathaniel was in now shape to perform, barely able to even stand, and slurring every word. Thinking to cover for his Father, Selwynne performed solo, to rave reviews and rousing reception, called for 3 encores.

A few days later with news of Selwynne's virtuoso performance all over the city, finally the proprietors of the larger, established, respectable establishments came calling, looking to book follow up performances. Nathaniel thought his was finally the big break he had been looking for all these years, only to be absolutely devastated as time after time, proprietors not only didn't know who his was, but were not at all interested in him, only looking to book Selwynne for a solo performance.

This was the final straw for Nathaniel, and he and Selwynne had a massive fight right there in the common room, Nathaniel accusing his son of the arrogance and selfishness of youth, and Selwynne only seeing his Father resentful at Selwynne's chance of success and a greater life.

Nathaniel stormed out of the tavern, and out of Selwynnes life, finding his solace in the bottom of a bottle, and doomed to a life eeking out a living as an alcoholic bard, playing watever low-rent tavern and flophouse was willing to provide a bed, a meal and a line of credit at the bar.

Selwyne went from strength to strength over the next decade, as his ability and fame only increased. As he travelled, he kept an ear out for any news of his Father, but rarely were they ever in the same town, and even if they were, Nathaniel had left long before Selwynne heard of it.

Finally, in the weeks after his 30th Birthday, Selwynne finally got news that Nathaniel was in the same town, and set out to find, and hopefully reconcile, with his Father. He found him in a dive of a tavern, barely recognising the stooped, old, and haggard old man up on stage, and managed to catch the end of Nathaniel's rambling, haphazard "performance." Over a drink after the show, they patched things up, his Father mellowing as he aged, admitted his jealousy and envy, and Selwynne for his part acknowledged he could have been more gracious.

However, as they left the tavern, they were assailed by a group of Drow thugs, sent sent by their boss to deal with Nathaniel. As he had sank further and further into the mire over the past decade, his schemes had got ever more risky and desperate, and had finally caught up with him, as he crossed the wrong Drow, and now it was time to pay the price. Selwynne left to his Father's defence, but even the two of them were no match, and the last thing Selwynne remembers before he blacked out, was seeing two of the thugs standing over his Father, as Nathaniel begged them to at least spare his son.

The next thing Selwynne knew, he woke up in a cell, in the dark, with only the clothes on his back.