Francis John IV, Halfling Street Performer Bard

[FrancisJohn]

Name: Francis John IV, Prince of All Halflings

Race: Halfling
Homeland: Roughy River

Level: 10
Class: Bard (Street Performer)

Gender: Male
Age: 33

Alignment: Chaotic Good
Deity: Cortessa and Callisto

Role: Party face, combat control, skill monkey
Concept: Life of the party

First Seen: Don't Let It Go

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Appearance

Francis John IV is a short and stocky, portly little fellow, rife with bushy unkempt hair. His shoulders are draped with a vibrant scarf featuring red, gold, and green hues. The halfling's garb is adorned with greens, yellows, browns, and greys. Francis John's lips always carries a mischievous grin and his eyes always show an impish glint. His facade would not be complete without his trusty pipe, always in mouth or hand.

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Personality

"Going to try a new blend too... first I start with my base leaf: Gnomish Delight... that's for the flavor. Next, equal parts Elven Ecstasy and Halfling Haze. The elven stuff is for the music and the haze is to make your head right. And for the final pinch, Dwarven Dank. That'll put some hair on your chest.... hoo boy! Surely can make a real man out of you yet!"

Always quick to laugh, but even faster to make others laugh first, Francis John IV lives for telling stories. Typically the jolliest sort of fellow, he is always looking for the next opportunity for merrymaking. Fond of the pipe, food, and drink, this halfling loves making friends wherever he goes. But alas, he has a dark side too. If he feels wronged or aggrieved, he will go to any lengths to ensure the correct party meets the suffering they deserve. Also, he hates bees.

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Background

Roughy River is quaint little halfling fishing community on the southern most edge of the Landadel baronies. It is located right where a tributary of the Ouhm River meets the western sea. One day, the hopelessly sterile Francis John II and his portly plump wife Magdalene were fishing in the Roughy River, enjoying one of those sunsets where orange and purple fight for supremacy over the sky. And with quite the surprise, they found a large basket floating downstream. Inside were twin halfling baby boys! They named them Francis John III, and Francis John IV, respectively after their grandfather, Francis John I.

These boys were trouble from the beginning. They never seemed to quite get along with their parents, or even each other. Nothing major ever happened because of it, but the first sign of serious trouble happened at the brothers' 9th birthday party. His great grandmother on his father’s father’s side traveled all the way to Roughy River up from South Roughy. Everyone was so excited to see Gladys John, and more importantly see what gift she would give. The suspense over her present was justified, because she was known for giving the best presents, a title she earned over many, many years. Well the celebration was under way, and it was high time to open gifts. The anticipation built throughout the evening, and now Francis was to open his great-grandmother's present.

He ripped up the paper, and opened the lid on the box. It was the most Cortessa-awful scarf one could imagine. It reminded him of something a dwarf might wear. That's right a dwarf! To him, it was simply a piece of rubbish that wasn't fit to wipe his own bottom. He felt dozens of eyes waiting for his reaction, especially the twinkly blues of his great-grandmother. Without any hesitation, he began lavishing the utmost praise on the scarf, and on his great-grandmother.

After his birthday, he simply felt most awful for deceiving everyone. This negativity festered for days, but softened through the weeks. More importantly, he never forgot how easy it was to not tell the truth. Through his formative years, he realized how easily lying came to him, and it was a skill he practiced more often than not. Life became a game, and he was the game master.

As weeks became months became years, his lies simply became more awful then the previous. Not to be outdone, Francis John IV’s brother, Francis John III, matched him lie for lie. The creativity and violence of the lies reached legendary proportions in the Roughy River community. Without going into the details, Francis John II and rotund Magdalene finally had enough of the twins’ hijinks and threw them out of the house. They were only 17! Rumor has it the lies they told ended up with the wife ending up in a roast spit with an apple in her mouth, and their father being unceremoniously fired from his job (three times in one day).

Freedom abound, the brothers simply shook hands and parted ways. Francis III went off to Venza. He ended up delivering some goods to Tritower, and spoiling a caper in the process. He liberated a merchant ship from a sea hag, and eventually went onto vacation to the island of Yarendal to savor the wine season.

Francis John IV, stayed put for awhile. He got a job as a ferrymaster, ushering boats up and down the Roughy River. He wasn't very good at his boat job at all, often getting caught up in making the most non-sensical unbelievable stories seem true to his passengers. He noticed their was a certain magic to his words, and funny things start to happen in his presence. He began to practice conjuring up these elementary magicks, and after a few years he built up quite an arsenal magic spells... all powered by the sound of his voice.

Unfortunately, after a few more planetary rotations, great grandmother Gladys John became ill. Francis John IV knew he had to confess his lie to her, and it broke her dear heart. Down on his trip to South Roughy, he didn't have it in him to come clean for his brother too. After paying his final respects, he set out to find his twin brother to tell him the sad news. After digging some information up in Venza, he became quite charmed with the big city life. However, he knew he couldn't dilly-dally and eventually set out for the island nation of Yarendal. For those reading at home, it should be noted that his brother Francis John III returned back to Roughy River to take control of the celebration trade of his home community's annual midsummer festival.

He went their to tour the island's wine country expecting a relaxing journey, but quickly found out that the island country was magically frozen over by the powers of the ice queen. With the help of his now good friends Charity, Yosephus, and Ja'elle, they adventured to the ice castle. After defeating snow monsters and a young white dragon along the way, eventually they toppled the ice queen and her minions, returning the land to normal. After a daring escape at the hands of the queen's sister, Francis returned back to Venza, cozy-ing himself up by the warm fires of the Dunn Wright Inn.

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Adventure Log

Don't Let it Go
Something's Afoot

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Character Sheets

Inventory Sheet
Level 10 (Approval)

Edited March 15 by FrancisJohn (see edit history)