"Mister Finn"

[Eldritch Butterfly]

Al'bashiq was born in 575 in Rookroost, where his parents named him Teryll. He remembers nothing of the place, however, since when he was around a year old his family left for Critwall, fleeing the Red Plague outbreak. It took a year or two of traveling to reach the haven in the Shield Lands, and he has a few happy memories of his life there. However, some three years later the Red Plague spread to that city as well, killing his parents in 581. For the next six years he roamed the streets, a gamin known simply as Little Sparrow, struggling to survive; through Critwall's fall (in 584) and occupation by the forces of Iuz and marauders from the Bandit Kingdoms, until the city's liberation by the Knights of Holy Shielding, led by Knight Commander Lady Katarina Walworth in 587. He speaks very little of his experiences during those six years until he encountered the wandering monk, Da'Shon (Falling Petals) Master Li Hon of the Flannae-tel Monastery. (https://greyhawk-26.obsidianportal.com/wikis/flannae-tel-monastery)) A Fist of Zuoken, the D'ai Shatain was seeking leads as to his imprisoned master's whereabouts. Hon noticed the boy's budding psionic abilities, heightened awareness, and exceptional reflexes, and eventually persuaded him to join him in his travels.

For the next couple of years, the two wandered throughout the Kingdom of Furyondy together, while Hon taught him the basic forms of the style and assessed his abilities further. Eventually, heading south and eastward, the two parted ways in Verbobonc at the Flowering Mind Monastery near the village of Twilight Falls. (https://greyhawk-26.obsidianportal.com/wikis/twilight-falls)) Hidden in the shadows of Gnarley Forest, Flowering Mind is dedicated to both Xan Yae and her servant Zuoken, where they teach a hybrid style of martial arts and psionic disciplines called Lotus Palm. Master Li thought this path to be better suited to the boy's temperament than the asceticism of the Fists; and he spent the next nine or ten years in intensive training of both mind and body there, as well as gradually healing the deep traumas of his childhood.

It has been nearly a year since taking the vows of a D'ai Shatain to serve the Perfect Mistress and seek perfection through balance and harmony in The Way of the Lotus. Along with his vows, he was given the Baklunian name, Al'bashiq (Sparrowhawk). Soon after, he set out, like most of his kind, to further improve himself. After sailing the length of Nyr Dyv, setting out from Caltaran, he eventually made landfall in Radigast City. He spent the next few months making his way along the northern highways of the County of Urnst, learning what he could of the Bandit Kingdoms just across the border, until he reached the town of Starkwall. There he shaved off his tell-tale braided topknot and turned his sash inside-out to hide the illegal device of his order (an open white hand upon a black lotus) and calligraphed three guiding principles of his goddess. Then, assuming the simple identity of “Mister Finn”, set out northward through the Copper Wood to enter the Bandit Kingdoms at Stoink. From there he made his way northward to Redspan, crossing into the Duchy of Tenh and following the border road along the Artonsamay River until he crossed the border once more to eventually arrive in Marsakeer. He joined the caravan there and the rest, as the prophets say, will soon be history.

Al'bashiq is a young man of shorter than normal height in his mid-twenties. He is clean-shaven and keeps his head shaven as well. He, when it grows out, has the blue-black black hair, soft, incredibly pretty gray-green eyes, and golden skin of Baklunish ancestry, though his build seems more that of the Flannae with Oeridian features. He wears a plain, dove gray, sleeveless tunic and breeches, with a dusty rose colored sash and somewhat darker gray cloak. He often goes barefoot, but has boots attached to his knapsack. There is a water bottle and small purse attached to his sash. He carries a naginata, as well as a bladed hand and deer's antler knife tucked in his sash which he wields as a pair in close combat (the latter primarily for disarming).

Like most who serve the Lady of Perfection and her servant, the Master of Da'Shon and Edel, he is a rather calm, thoughtful character. Nothing seems to ruffle him very readily, except compliments regarding his eyes (the only remaining trigger of the C-PTSD from his childhood). He only ever gets angry when the innocent are harmed, and even then, instead of losing his composure, he becomes very intense and focused, with his eyes darkening to a brilliant viridian hue. Those who know him recognize this as a warning sign.

 

[prophane]

Character Sheet