"Uh… Arwyn, my lord." You finally state, bowing slightly. "The son of a miller, I'm afraid."
"A miller? Like someone who makes flour?"
"Part of what we do, yes." That was true, you did help make flour. But then, everyone who lived near you could be said to do that, so it was not especially helpful. "Make flour, tend the fields, make bread, there's many things that need to go into running the mills."
"Many things. Family?"
"All alive, if that's what you mean." You shrug at the statement. "I won't be missed much, if that's what your asking."
"How many?"
"My parents, obviously, four brother and three sisters. I would be the second youngest."
"A face in a crowd." Mordred nods, peering at you for a long moment. "Well, not much to look at. No wonder your just a face."
"Hey, it's not that bad!"
"Face it, your not exactly a charmer." You cross your arms, glaring at the prince who is levelling insults at you. "Would have expected a miller to have more muscle, though."
"It's winter."
"And?"
"It's not like there's a lot of food, my lord. His Highness took most of it for the war effort."
Did Mordred just not understand the situation, or was he painfully naive about it. He looked at you a moment longer.
"I see. Well, see that you improve yourself. We won't have that discussion again."
"My lord?"
"No servant of mine is going to be a limp wristed duck." He declared, as he began marching towards the door. "Come on, let's go!"
"But-"
"If you are deprived of food, you are weak. I won't accept that." For his part, Mordred had seemed to have completely made up his mind. "Are you coming, or do I have to drag you?"
Given what Mordred had done to the table, you had no doubt that Mordred could, in fact, throw you over his shoulder and carry you there. Even though, if you actually compared the two of you, you were positive you had more muscle on the prince. Just how did that work, anyway? The prince was built like a twig, yet had smashed a table in two with a hand. A hand that, in spite of many splinters, you noted hadn't actually bled.
The halls were quite lavish as you followed Mordred through them, yet he seemed to walk with single minded determination. You felt horribly out of place, really, as you passed a number of servants dressed in gaudy garb that could probably pass for nobles themselves if released into the peasantry. It was, truly, a strange place to be, where everyone, even those with no real status, were dressed as peacocks. In a way, it must be like when a merchant dresses in finery that does not reflect his real wealth to appear more important.
Though some of that clothing did look uncomfortable. Mordred just glanced over his shoulder.
"Don't mind them."
"I don't."
"Your face says it all. What's your family name, anyway?"
"Don't have one."
"Don't have one, or don't want one?"
Mordred did, really, hit the nail on the head. You were not so fond of your father you intended to give his name unless you absolutely had to. You briefly considered answering Mordred truthfully, but feelings of petty spite won out.
"Don't want one."
"Hmm. Well, prove worth the time and I suppose we'll have to fix that." Mordred paused, as a door before us clicked. The lock was not open. Mordred didn't seem bothered.
"One moment, the latch isn't the most secure."
"My lord?"
"It's the kitchen. I used to sneak in here all the time." The prince simply jiggled the door on it's hinges; a sight that, if you were honest, was actually quite strange, and the door opened with a pop. "What's the point of locking a room that gets used daily anyway?"
"… Should we be in here?"
"Probably not." Mordred didn't seem to care. "Come on, the lunchtime chef leaves a lot of leftovers for the night chefs. There's plenty, even if we nick a bit."
Your prince simply strides in as if he owns the place. You suppose, in a manner of speaking, he does. Just as he said, there is a lot of food left over.
"They don't reuse it?"
"I'm sure they do. Everyone's gotta eat." Mordred shrugs. "But mother would never allow herself to eat something that isn't freshly cooked."
"That seems..."
"It's mother. She's weird like that." Mordred shrugged, grabbing a piece of bread and happily biting into it. "Mmm, still good."
You nod, reaching forward and gingerly taking a piece for yourself. It, too, enters a mouth, this time yours. The taste of a sweet, heavenly loaf enters your mouth after far too long of eating dried vegetables.
In the end, bread was still bland, though, but even so, you were happy to eat something that didn't still taste half of dirt.
"So… ran a mill, huh." Mordred spoke up. "Think you can swing a sword?"
"Uh..."
"Probably not. Just a farmer, probably haven't swung one since you were a kid." Mordred shrugged. You grimaced just a little at that. Was he looking down on you?
Well, then again, when ones aspirations are to fight, you suppose a healthy love of the martial arts was probably a good thing…
Skills
You have a total of 20 Skill Points to allocate between your skills. You must apply these skills by planned vote. As such, either replicate another persons vote in it's entirety or vote for that persons name. A skill may not rise above 4 during character creation. Remember that any skill marked (Untrained) cannot be raised.
Origin Bonus
You are trained in an additional skill. This skill may have Skill Points applied to it like any other skill. The skills you may train in are as follows:-
[ ] Riding
[ ] Woodworking
[ ] Metalworking
The skill selected here is a valid target of your skill points allocated above.
Bonus Skills
You have 4 Bonus Skill Points to allocate between any War skill, or the skill trained above in your Origin Bonus. Remember that none of these skills may go above 4.
Trait
Pick any two of the following traits:-
[ ] Energetic – During the opening round of combat or a task, receive a +2 bonus to your roll. This bonus can only trigger if you have no Wounds.
[ ] Stout – When using a shield in conjunction with heavy armour, lower the Wounds you take by 1.
[ ] Aetherpool – You possess the secret, latent though it is, of Magic. Become Trained in any one of the following; Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Ether. You may not allocate Skill Points to any of these skills at this time.
[ ] Craftsman – You possess a basic talent for craftsmanship. Become Trained in any one of Woodworking, Metalworking, Alchemy or Poison. If you possess the Schooled or Estranged Origin, your choice becomes a valid target for your Bonus Skill Points.
[ ] Larcenous – You have some basic training in arts you probably shouldn't, from someone who probably shouldn't have taught you them. Become Trained in any one of Lockpicking, Pickpocketing or Sleight of Hand. If you possess the Schooled or Estranged Origin, your choice becomes a valid target for your Bonus Skill Points.
[ ] Illiterate – You cannot read or write, or at least not right now. You may not put any points into Penmanship or Statemanship at character creation; however, you gain an additional 2 Skill Points to spend where you wish. You must be of the Orphan or Estranged Origins to select this Trait.
[ ] Wondervice – You take to alcohol unfortunately well. Random chance (DC 12) of alcohol penalties suddenly turning into bonuses for one roll. However, every time this triggers, your alcohol penalty worsens.
[ ] Scufflemaster – You get into scuffles and do it often. When fighting multiple opponents, receive a +1 bonus to all rolls from morale. However, this bonus ends once you take an Injury.
[ ] Die Hard – You are exceptionally hard to kill. The threshold to kill you is increased from 30 to 40. However, the threshold to receive an injury is reduced from 20 to 15.
[ ] Intrigue of Lore – You are enamoured with the old tales. When rolling to obtain information about a legendary beast, you gain a +2 bonus to the roll. However, you also gain a chance to mistake a more mundane monster as a legendary beast.
[ ] Loudspeaker – You are exceptionally good at giving orders, but not so good at actually thinking them up. Gain a +2 bonus to Tactics and Leadership, but only when borrowing another characters Tactics or Leadership score.
[ ] Warhound – You are a man who utilises more weapons then most would consider wise. In battle, you may drop the weapon your currently holding and draw another one, beginning to saturate the field with weapons. When you do so, you gain a +1 bonus to your next attack.
[ ] Herbalist – You received brief training in medicine from your mother. It is not really what you'd call sufficient, but you have it. Your Medicine score remains Untrained, if you are not Trained in it, but it does increase to 2. You may not take this Trait with the Orphan Origin.
Remember, all votes are by Plan this time, so your votes should look something like this:-
[ ] Skills
-[ ] Skill Point Allocation
[ ] Origin Bonus
-[ ] Origin Bonus allocation
[ ] Traits
-[ ] Trait Allocation
There is no need to separate your use of bonus skill points from what you otherwise use, because of the nature of the Bonus Skill Points you have, it'll be pretty obvious to me when I check.
