About Guthrim the WoodshaperGuthrim the Woodshaper
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Special Feature: Weather-Lore: As a seasoned traveller you have an uncanny ability to predict the weather; you can ‘smell’ rain or snow earlier than others or sense when a fog is about to roll in. You also know the best places to shelter from sudden storms and which areas to avoid. You have well-established habits and the ability to quickly forage what you need before settling in to wait out a storm. You also have a good grasp of creature habits in various types of weather conditions; you know where bears hibernate and where a Goblin band is likely to camp when a storm hits. Distinctive Quality: Fair-spoken. You have a pleasant speaking voice that puts your listeners at ease. Specialty: Herb-lore. Long stretches of wilderness have taught you much about the plants that grow in them. Hope: My travels only enrich my home; they benefit from the goods and knowledge that I bring back with me. Despair: I’ve seen nothing in my travels that suggests that we’ll be all right when the Shadow descends upon us. Shadow Weakness: Wandering madness Patron: The Axe of Rhosgobel
Natural Watchfulness: Also at 2nd level, whether traveling, exploring or even resting, you have learned to constantly pay attention to the sights and sounds of the world about you. When in the wilderness, your proficiency bonus for Perception is doubled, if you are proficient in Perception. Fighting Style: Two-Weapon Fighting. When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack. --------------------
Fight As a Fellowship phase undertaking, you may train your Hound to Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge or Help without requiring a command from you. Each action takes a separate Fellowship phase to train your Hound. --------------------
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Guthrim's Tale:
Unlike most of his people, Guthrim is dark haired with green eyes that always seem to sparkle like new leaves on a sunny spring day when he laughs or smiles, which is quite often. Gregarious and open minded, he’s known about Woodmen-town and some of the other clan lodges as a generous, kind bringer of news (or perhaps tall tales) and a stout fighter in a time of trouble. Guthrim was born to one of the few small clans still clinging to the eastern edge of the Great Wood. With a full moon shining brightly over the plain of Rhovanion and the Wandering Star high in the sky, Guthrim came into the world. From his earliest day he showed a curious and restless nature. As a young boy he would push to see what was beyond the next thicket, around the next corner or over the next ridge. A desire that when younger often got him in trouble with his mother as he disappeared for hours only returning long after dark. But as he got older this desire to know the land and its many secrets and wonders served him well. Whether seeking game for the pot or setting an ambush for invading Orcs or Easterlings, Guthrim often found success. The later leading him to help successfully drive off a force of wainrider raiders who attacked his clan lands three summers ago. Having seen the raiders during one of his longer treks, he was able to race back in time to warn his folk. During the ensuing battle, Guthrim found himself facing one of the biggest and fastest warriors he’d ever encountered in his still young life. But luck and light were with him that day as he defeated the warrior although his lay broken upon the field and he’d suffered a bad wound to his leg. Following the fight, he replaced his weapon with that of his fallen enemy. The gesture partly to honor the fallen foe, but also because the exotic curved blade had bested his own. Most importantly it matched his lighter frame and quickness better than the bulky axe so often used by his clansmen. The other blessing to come to Guthrim on that faithful day was his discovery of a litter of Easterling war pups among one of the captured wagons of raiders. The mother had been killed during the fight, but the puppies were still hail and healthy. One he gave to his youngest sister, another to his uncle. The third, the black and brown runt of the trio, he kept for himself. Naming the pup Grimm for being found among the grim detritus of battle, for that point forward the two were inseparable. Like nearly every child of Mirkwood, Guthrim learned the use of bow and blade from his fathers, uncles, and older brothers. But unlike most men of the clan, his curious nature granted him an interest in the plants and herbs hunted and harvested by his mother and aunts for cooking, healing, and other purposes. But his true joy has always been carving. Given a simple bit of wood and a sharp knife, it is said Guthrim can bring forth the woods true form as if he had elf blood run through his veins. From elegant cranes, to charging horses, to burly warriors, the longhouses of his clan are scattered with the many carvings he has made for the children each Midwinter. His works spread further among the clans when he decided to take to the roads, exploring more and more of the world. With each hamlet or longhouse visited he would usually leave a small carving for one or more of the children along with memories of his wide smile and hardy laugh. It is because of these little works and bit of happiness carried through a dark and shadow filled wood, that he became known among the clans as the Woodshaper. Yet like most denizens of Mirkwood, Guthrim has also known hardship. The most significant and substantial being the loss of his clans, ancestral lands. Unfortunately, the success of driving off the Easterlings three years ago was not to be repeated. Sagath raiders returned in larger number the next summer and his folk were forced to flee. His oldest brother and two uncles were killed during the fighting, but his father, mother, two sisters, and younger brother successfully escaped into the forest. Forced to make the dangerous journey through Mirkwood with little more than they could carry on their backs, they arrived in Rhosgobel hungry, exhausted, battered, and dispirited. Fortunately, his mother had spent the usual year apprenticing with the woodwomen who studied under Radagast. One of her fellow students was a woman known as the Axe. The two has been friends during those early years of their lives and although many years had passed the Axe still remembered Guthrim's mother fondly and accepted the tired refugees into her home so they could recover and recuperate. While in Rhosgobel, Guthrim’s good humor and desire to learn and explore the world served him well. He worked hard to gain the trust of the hard, world worn woman who once was friends with his mother. In turn, the Axe taught him how to train Grimm to become a true ally and aid in many things both on and off the battle field. When his family finally decided to move north to Woodmen Town, he promised the Axe he would continue to help defend the Free Peoples however he could and one day regain his clans lost lands in the east. In thanks for the aide given to him and his family he often returns to Rhosgobel to share news of his travels and any signs of the shadow with the old warrioress.
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