About Briar ZendlebiddleDr. Briar Zendlebiddle
Discoveries: Cognatogen Feats: Brew Potion, Throw Anything, Point-Blank Shot
Drawback: Meticulous (-2 on untrained skills) Racial Traits: Small, Low-Light Vision, Pyromaniac, Master Tinker, Keen Senses, Academician (arcana)
Items: Studded leather armour, light crossbow, dagger, alchemy crafting kit, surgeon's tools, Adventurer's chronicle (knowledge: history), chalkboard, parchment (x20), stationary, candlerod (x3), alchemist's kindness, repellent (vermin), night tea, wolfsbane, belladonna, tindertwig. 5 gp. -----------
Extracts Known: Cure Light Wounds, Shield, True Strike, Detect Undead, Bomber's Eye, Comprehend Languages Extracts Prepared: True Strike, Cure Light Wounds Personality, Appearance, and Backstory
The female gnome before you seems to radiate intense energy. Her every movement looks as though it might just be her last: when she blinks, her eyes clamp shut, then snap wide open; when she turns, she practically spins; and when she talks, it is a stream of pure, unrestrained thought. Her eyes - which, in gnomish fashion, seem unnaturally large - fix on you. They are a vibrant shade of turquoise, and constantly flash with glints of light. Around these orbs is her face: pale white, perfectly smooth, and heart-shaped. As with her fellow gnomes, this female's head is seemingly ill-proportioned, far too big for her body. Shocks of pinkish-purple, shoulder-length hair stick out in every direction, giving her the appearance of a child's porcelain doll. Her clothes are surprisingly austere, given her colourful features. She wears a creamy-whitish coat that drops to her knees, and, though no imperfection is apparent in it, it seems too large for her by a slight degree. Under her coat she has strapped a wide belt, upon which hangs all manner of vials, each containing a bright fluid, which clink and slosh as she trots along. Personality: Briar's expansive mind is two-steps ahead of herself. At best, this makes her brilliant, able to grasp complexities that leave others shaking their heads. At worst, she stumbles over her own feet. Though often condemned as absent-minded, the gnome can actually be quite rigorous, when she applies herself to a given topic, bordering on obsessive. However, she is just as likely to live up to her reputation, flitting from one subject to another with remarkable speed. Briar is not empathetic: she prefers experiments, variables, and even explosions to what she sees as trivial, superfluous human interactions, all of which lead to complication upon complication. The search for knowledge is fixed; all else is confusing and dangerously distracting. This is perhaps ironic given her own propensity for constant movement. Despite this, she has a stern moral side, based in reasoned analysis of proper behaviour. At worst, it is litigious and vexatious, but her heart is usually in the right place. Backstory: The halls of Lepidstadt University are often filled with spirited discussion of all matters esoteric, but on this particular night, the full moon shines through tall windows into silent spaces. The only sounds are the rustling of dark trees. Except this is proven untrue: a pair of voices echoes through the corridors. "Perfectly safe, Professor Lorrimor, sir; all non-trivial potentialities examined, reagent composition triple-checked, and reasoning is sound," a high-pitched female voice squeaks, a hint of indignation present, her speech pattern strange, eliminating 'superfluous' words to produce a stream of thought. "What could possibly go wrong?" A deeper male voice responds quietly. "And yet I believe caution is required, Dr. Zendlebiddle. Patience." The voices come from one of the numerous laboratories of the University. The solid wooden door is ajar, and a wispy, grey-blue smoke is emanating from it. Inside stand two figures: a purple-haired gnome woman, holding aloft in her hand a beaker of dazzlingly-bright blue liquid, and a taller man. The gnome is growing increasingly agitated by Lorrimor's comments. "Permanent damage of negligible likelihood; intelligence draught, not explosive. Well, mostly not explosive," she amends. "Strictly speaking." Willing to hear no more, the gnome brings the beaker to her lips, tilting her large head back, letting the blue liquid flow freely into her mouth. Immediately, she drops the beaker, her head rolling as she stumbles, then faints.... ----------------------
The bearded man is present again, his hair going grey. Briar is walking beside him, though she only comes to just past his knee. Self-locomotion, effects of aging. Passage of time! Marvelous... But... practical usage requires minimal dosage to mitigate overwhelming effect. The man is pointing out a building. It is a large house, stone, with a shingled roof and a small garden outside. Briar has vague memories of this place, and the man, but now they are as clear as if the house and man stood before her. The man is telling her to take something from the house. Briar scowls. Her mind knows just what this is; she remembers it too. Juvenile criminality... Robbery, pickpockets, burglars... Less suspicious. Gnomes and halflings ideal to task due to inconspicuousness of size. She blinks, and everything is white once more... Now she is inside the house's dark interior, at night. Her small feet creep across the carpeted floor, and her wide eyes search out valuables. She finds a heavy book, which must have weighed half as much as her, sitting on the ground beside a plush armchair. Briar remembers this, though prior to this her memories had been mere free-floating, jumbled pictures, sounds, and emotions. Now the book is unnaturally clear, her memory sharpened by the effects of her elixir. Child-Briar struggles to pick up the book, but only manages to heave it open. At the time, to the eyes of a child, it was filled only with unintelligible-yet-entrancing diagrams; Briar now can pick out the solitary error in one of the diagrams detailing an experiment she herself has performed many times. The book is a tome of alchemical science - Briar's salvation. The gnome's eyes close as she falls asleep and everything fades to white... She is waking up. Something heavy rests upon her lap: the tome. She is in the house, morning light streaming through its windows, and a man is standing over her, arms folded across his chest. It is a younger Professor Lorrimor, and he looks displeased. "What do we have here," he says sternly. Briar can only look up at him with her large, frightened eyes... The rest is but a flash, as though the gnome is seeing her own past speed by her like a rider on horseback barreling down a street. There is Lorrimor keeping her in his house. As a child, she could not fathom why. Her improved memory - accessed by her intelligence draught - brings back the sounds of the Professor talking with his family about what to do about the gnomish intruder. He could not turn over a child to the law, so her decided to keep her as a servant. Then there is her pouring a bubbling, steaming red brew into a tube, and Lorrimor crying out happily at the unexpected - and pleasing - result. Then she is at Lepidstadt University, the halls enormously large around her, and she remarkably young. Then comes a memory which she needs no intellect potion to access: she is being granted the honour of a doctorate in the great hall. "For her contribution to the arts of the natural and alchemical sciences," the citation reads. She beams. Then she blinks, and all goes white... ----------------------------
Lorrimor smiles a relieved, exasperated smile at the gnome's enthusiasm. "I will make due without, Doctor Zendlebiddle." |
