Tamai's page

About Tamai

Tamai (taw-MEE-ai)

Tamai was not born with the normal gnomish gift of magic – yes, he could pull off the minor spells, but anything that required much more concentration than that he couldn’t do. Because of this he decided to discover what the other races who were born with no magic at all dealt with the world.

His time studying the other races landed him his job. Because he was the ‘most mortal’ of the gnomes of Sanos Forest, he was tasked to guard the enclave and the gateway within it from harm of the rest of the world. He did this in 3 ways:
1) He befriended the animals of the forest, and asked them to alert him if a non-gnome entered the forest.
2) He Fought off unwanted intruders.
3) If a person stopped just outside the limits of the forest and asked permission, he would guide them through the forest. These excursions were only along predetermined paths, to keep the gnomish enclave and its secrets out of sight.

Each person that he led this way, Tamai would carve a walking stick. Each of these sticks held a personal code within the swirls and patterns carved into the wood. This code would tell Tamai at a glance who the person was, what path they took, and what they talked about during the journey.

It was one of these walking sticks that brought him to Sandpoint now. The stave he had given Hosk (from the stables) had been more magnificent than most, symbolizing the fight the two of them shared as the forest was invaded by Goblins during their journey. Hosk killed three goblins and chased a forth into the trees. Since he was defending the forest, Host is now the only non-gnomish person to set foot off of the paths in the Sanos Forest and allowed to leave again, and his staff was a symbol of his status of gnome-friend. So when the staff Tamai had given to Hosk appeared at the edge of the forest, charred and the markings damaged, Tamai was unsettled. He decided to leave the forest to find his friend.

Taimai is short with hair and a long mustache the color of wet mud that makes him appear to some as a sickly thin dwarf. When this happns he doesn't correct the ignorant, Secrets can save lives. His skin is the same color yellow grass under a thin layer of snow, and as he walks, he is always recording events in his coded carvings, some of which he gives to notable acquaintances. Little do they know the wealth of knowledge hidden in the swirls and lines of these ornaments. Only the other sentries of the forest can read tamai's code.. and even then they have to sit don with the item to read it.

Quirks:

His name is pronounced taw-MEE-ai and should not be shortened... He greatly dislikes the way humans try to call him 'Tom' or 'Tommy'

His carving knife is his most prized possession and is not to be touched.

If around people who think he is a dwarf, he will act as a dwarf... until someone makes a gnome joke... then he gets mad.