Zephyr's pre-Shadowfane Thoughts: Part One

Contributor: Rick Pierce

Submission: In-Game writing from Zephyr's character history (character background)
LARP system: Madrigal / Accelerant
Your Location: Connecticut, USA
Character name: Zephyr
Years LARPing: 22
Contact Email: rgpierce@earthlink.net



This is the first part of Zephyr's character history. Character histories are fictive pieces, generally written by PCs, that provide a background for a LARP character. This background explains a character's motivations, personality, goals, hopes, fears etc. Character histories also provide plot staff with material to facilitate interesting game-play. While some character histories are brief and minimal, many individuals use this written record as a way to assert their characters within the framework of the game universe.

This piece, from Zephyr's character history, was written November 26, 2006 (1516 Madrigal time). "Shadowfane" is a fictional town in Madrigal's country Aerune. It is the center of Madrigal's narrative, and PCs start, and gather in Shadowfane. Each LARP event is, in fact, called "a Gather," indicating a time when the characters come together, in Shadowfane or a related territory. "The town" is a central part of Accelerant LARPs, and serves as a unifying location for all PCs. When writing character, new Madrigal PCs often incorporate a reason for why they have decided to travel to Shadowfane. In general, character histories also allow PCs to explore how they are going to roleplay a character.

I thought before I head to Shadowfane, that I'd leave my story for posterity-- in case I get killed; probably the troubadour in me. My name is Zephyristarius Murali Beval. Most people up here either don't care or don't want to know. It's too long, too much work. They call me Zephyr. Zephyr is fine. It speaks of my connection to the winds and the air that are so much a part of me now-- so much so that it's more comfortable than my full name anyway, even to me. I wonder if Berseverillian suspected that when he named me, or if my true parents suspected it, and Berseverillian respected their wish to name me such, or if it was just a total coincidence. I guess I'll never know.

I was born on the 23rd day of the fifth month of 1470, according to Berseverillian, one of the few details of my past he'd tell me clearly and without evasion. If you do the math I'm 46 years old as I write this. I've seen a lot in those 46 years, and yet so little compared to what you'd think. I guess that's what comes of living your life underground when the air calls to you. I'm an Eurvein. It may sound strange to hear from one of my kind, but I'm claustrophobic. It used to cause me strong discomfort and not much else. I could get by in the larger caverns, but I could never bring myself to go into the deeper, smaller caves. Since the change, the very thought of going down into the earth causes me to quiver in fear. I guess if I'm ever going to see what happened to the one who means everything to me I'm going to have to face that fear someday.

I'm an orphan, no family whatever, so I can't even tell you if this is inherited from one of my parents, or the result of some childhood tragedy. I was adopted by a kind, elderly Eurvein named Berseverillian Ortelli Beval. He named me, I think, and raised me as his own. He was always reluctant to talk of my background, and he died before I ever got him to tell me anything about it, but I'm getting ahead of myself again. Berseverillian never could make a decent storyteller of me.

Berseverillian was a troubadour, a musician, a storyteller and bard of amazing talent. He traveled and took me with him wherever he went, teaching me his craft. We seldom stayed in one place for long. He was very tolerant of my stigma, and he helped me develop a method for dealing with it. He taught me to sing, and he taught me to play the flute and recorder and various other wind instruments. He had quite a collection, which I inherited from him. I found that my music was able to get me through the darkest of places, and humming and singing became my refuge in the dark confines.

As you can imagine, my affliction made me a popular target when I was young. Eurvein children are no different from surface dwelling children in the measure of their cruelty to those who are different. Berseverillian had a kind and forgiving manner. He told me often that I had to be understanding of those who couldn't understand me. I had to have enough understanding for both them and me. I had to be the bigger man and look out for my fellow Eurvein, even if they did not do so for me. These were hard lessons for a young man to learn, but learn them I did, and learn them well. Fortunately I was never in the same place long and while I didn't make many friends, I also didn't have the chance to keep many enemies. It doesn't take long in the caverns of the Eurvein for people to tell you're afraid.

Sadly, the day I feared most eventually came. It was in my 16th year (1486) that Berseverillian left me. One morning I woke up and he didn't. He wasn't sick. He was just old, and he died. I didn't even get to say goodbye to him. I didn't have a lot of time to mourn him either, not that he probably would have wanted that. I was alone, my one friend and family gone. While he and I had been generally happy together and we did all right with our life style, it didn't make for a wealthy style of living, and I had to get on with my life now that I didn't have him to support me.

I did the only thing I knew how to do and that was to entertain. I'd had a great teacher and was able to get by just fine scraping out a living. In fact, choosing where I was going next allowed me to decide what places to avoid, and my claustrophobia became much more tolerable. Not only was I deciding when I'd meet people, but more importantly, where. I avoided people when I found myself in those areas that caused me discomfort, and so they didn't find out about my condition. I was older as well, and learning how to better hide it. People soon saw me only when I was at my best, and I began to make friends.

Berseverillian liked to travel far and wide within the Eurvein caverns. As a child it was a protection for me. Now that I could be myself with people, I found that traveling wasn't suiting me quite as much. My area of travel started to get smaller over the next few years and I was soon seeing familiar faces as I returned to the same enclaves...

Here ends Part One.

Read Part Two!

Read Part Three!

Read Part Four!

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