Wilfrid the Blue's page

About Wilfrid the Blue

Wilfrid the Blue hails from a small, rural village in Cheliax where he had lived happily for many years with his wife, Maud. He helped the young, local noble manage the business of his village, so he could be a councillor, a town guard, a constable, a militiaman, even a gravedigger, as and when needed. Essentially, he was strong and fit, good with a sword, and trusted by the noble to perform his duties well. Wilfrid paid lip service to Asmodeus as everyone did. He had doubts about the politics and the religion of his country, but he had never known anything different and was paid regularly, treated fairly and, so, considered himself happy and reasonably well-off.

That all changed when, for reasons that were never clear to him, the local noble got into ‘difficulties’ with an organization called the Aspis Consortium. This organization needed to teach the noble a lesson, so forcibly removed the womenfolk from some of his villages, including Wilfrid’s, as hostages. The noble, the authorities and the Church of Asmodeus seemed powerless or complicit in this arrangement, and did nothing to prevent it happening. Wilfrid’s wife was used to a modicum of respect and, again in circumstances that have remained unclear, she was killed ‘trying to escape’ her imprisonment by the Aspis Consortium.

Wilfrid was inconsolable and very, very angry. He was angry with the church, with the noble, with the Chelish authorities, with House Thrune, and angry with the whole infernal structure of his homeland. He was also powerless and a widower. After bouts of depression and drinking, his anger focused on the Aspis Consortium and a need for revenge started to twist his soul. He had to take matters into his own hands and gain satisfaction for the loss of his wife, but he was old and wise enough to realise he was not going to be able to do that without help.

Wilfrid left Cheliax behind and wandered Avistan seeking advice, consolation and ways to enact revenge. He discovered that the Pathfinder Society, banned in his homeland, was a powerful organization and one opposed to the Aspis and so he sailed for Absalom to offer his services.

In his travels, he also learnt of the tempering mercy of Sarenrae and found some consolation in that church, refining his anger and focusing his need for revenge solely on the Aspis Consortium, and not on anyone he could just get away with hurting. Indeed, he found a lot of suffering in the world, some even greater than his own.

Wilfrid entered the Pathfinder Grand Lodge and started training. He wasn’t bad with the sword, though many of the other Pathfinder recruits were younger, fitter, and, he had to admit, better. Nevertheless, his capabilities were accomplished and, surprisingly, also noted by Aram Zey, the Master of Spells. Perhaps Wilfrid’s serious demeanour offered a welcome and wiser counterpoint to the flightiness and youthful nonsense of some of the rest of his class. Zey openly took on Wilfrid as a protégée sensing in him an untapped magical talent, which he helped bring forth as a complement to Wilfrid’s martial prowess. By the time Wilfrid passed his exams and enrolled formally in the Pathfinder Society, he was a novice magus.

Wilfrid is politely known as ‘Wilfrid the Blue’, possibly from his penchant for wearing clothing dominated by blue shades as he believes they suit him, and, more importantly, he sees blue as a counter to the red and black of Cheliax. More cruel Pathfinders may refer to him as ‘Bluesy’, as Wilfrid’s moods are famous: a morose, sadness often grips him, which he does admit is difficult to shrug off. That nickname never betters his mood.

During his training, he met many other recruits and some became friends. Some saw Wilfrid as a mentor or a father figure, others perhaps pitied his loss. Others, though, were put off by his morose, sullen and gloomy demeanour all too frequently on display. Nevertheless, he particularly befriended Rabak The Beast, who always managed to cheer him up. Often this was achieved by getting horribly drunk together, though Wilfrid has never really understood Rabak’s insistence on only drinking cider, when the beer of Absalom is more than passable. He also grew close to a half-elf known only as ‘The Halfbreed’, whose sad tale wrenched at Wilfrid’s soul. In the latter, he saw a kindred spirit of someone wanting to do right in a world of evil. In the former, he saw someone who had similarly antithetical feelings towards House Thrune and the government of Cheliax, being a member of the Deep Archivists, or some such name—all very hush hush.