Stanrick's page

Appearance: Pale, as if he doesn’t get much sunlight. Shoulder length, pale blond hair spills from beneath a rabbit fur cap. He has a white button-down shirt, a red wool cloak, and deerskin leather pants. Sturdy leather boots. A dagger sheathed on his belt. A spear.

Family: They died in a flash flood. He is an orphan.

Love: Nature in general; specifically watching the sunset and the moon rise from a mountain vista.

Regret: Not being able to save little brother in the flood.

Shame: He was a constant bed wetter at the orphanage.

Fear: Flash floods and wild fires.

Fascinates: The moon. Wolves, their society and habits. Watching the tension between a garden and the wild play out over years of tending. Cycles: the stars, seasons, seeds and harvests, and animal populations.

Habits: Sleeps from about three hours after dawn to about three hours before sunset. Hunts for food almost everyday. He tends various patches of wild plants.

Secrets: He was the one who started a small fire at the orphanage and blamed an older boy who was picking on him. Shortly after that he escaped Lord Walbert’s Orphanage.

More passionate, but not by much.

More superstitious than sophisticated.

Faith in nature, that force that strives to flourish, is very strong.

What drives you to adventure? It is that time. He is a full druid now. He needs to find a territory to serve. He is out to find rare plants, a lake perfect for moon reflections, and attend at least one Meistersinger festival in Kartakass. He arrives in Levkarest with his master Volfill bearing wedding gifts: a sable coat and five tree cuttings.

Background Born in Levkarest to minstrels, Stanrick spent his early youth learning songs and spending time around musicians. Sometimes they would perform in another city for a festival or wedding, otherwise Stanrick spent his free time running around the alleys of Levkarest. At five years old he started to appear on stage with his parents. Shortly after his eighth birthday, his family (parents and younger brother) performed at a festival. While returning to Levkarest, tragedy struck during a terrible rainstorm. The river was flooding the banks. As they ventured across a bridge, a huge uprooted tree caught by the swift river currents smashed into the bridge. The horses spooked and tumbled into the river with Stanrick and family pulled along in the wagon. Being pushed up by his mother Stanrick was able to squeeze through the roof’s opening. He reached down for his brother but suddenly the wagon rolled onto its side. He was thrown into the water. Somehow he managed to grab hold of some driftwood. The wagon sunk as he sped away.

Stanrick woke up near a warm fire at night. A middle aged man in furs was roasting a rabbit. The man introduced himself as Volfill and explained how he spotted him half-drowned in the river. When Stanrick was strong enough to travel, over the course of a week, Volfill escorted him to Levkarest. Along the way he became fond of the child and offered to teach him druidism should he find life in Levkarest unsatisfactory. Volfill instructed him where to find him during the summer months.

Once in Levkarest, only one of his family’s friends could afford to take him in, but he was such an abusive alcoholic that Stanrick gladly entered an orphanage.

At the orphanage, Lord Walbert’s Gardens for Children, Stanrick had difficulty with some of the other children. He cried often during the first month. He was scared of rainstorms. After about two weeks he began wetting the bed at night. This condition lasted for seven or eight months. Several of the older boys tormented him, knowing how to cause pain without leaving a mark. He was protected by an older boy named Garold, who liked Stanrick’s singing. By the time he wanted to leave, summer had passed. He knew that if he left now, he probably couldn’t survive in the wild. So he resolved to leave next year. Stanrick planned his escape for months, watching the workers’ habits, trying to decide the best means of escape. Eventually he settled on setting a small fire as a distraction, leaving evidence to implicate his chief tormentor, and escaping in the confusion.

Stanrick and Volfill met just after the summer solstice. Stanrick’s education was extensive. Volfill taught him Mordentish as well as the secret language of the druids, the basics of magic, geography, nature, combat, and healing. Of all the natural grandeur available to him, Stanrick was drawn to the moon the most. He loved watching it rise and set; change night to night; offer the darkness a stark light. He loved caring for plants which he thought was funny since plants need sunlight and he preferred moonlight. As he developed a deeper understanding of nature and druidism, the wolf attained a special place. They seemed to have a special connection to the moon. They protected the pack. He likened their howling to singing so felt another connection to them.

Now eighteen, Stanrick has learned enough to start finding his own way in the world. He is going to Levkarest with Volfill for the royal wedding. He hopes to compete in a singing competition and a wrestling competition. After the festivities are over he will continue to wander, searching for an area in need of a druid’s care.