Rivertinn McHedj

[Shor]

Your character's full name: Rivertinn McHedj
Age: 26
Species: Red Squirrel
Gender: Male
Appearance:

Rivertinn stands at about 5'8, just a bit taller than the average squirrel. He has a muscular build, and is fairly thin, and light enough to perform seemingly unreal feats of agility and balance.

Being a red squirrel, he is covered entirely in reddish-brown fur. He also possesses two, blue-grey eyes that shine with childish innocence. Usually, unwavering eyes are attributed to innocent minds, but for some odd reason, it is the opposite for Rivertinn, whose gaze never stays in one place for very long. Many would be inclined to think that he has something to hide due to this particular trait, but in reality, he is honest to a fault, making him a rather perplexing squirrel. (...hehe...I said "perplex.")

Although he doesn't wear the same outfit constantly (not that anyone does), he favors a blue tunic under a maroon vest, tan trousers, and a black belt. He doesn't wear any form of jewelry, or weapon, that would but slow him down. During performances or anytime he intends to use acrobatics, he dresses in a sleeveless, black tunic, and maroon trousers. He sometimes also wears two black moccasins upon his footpaws.

One notable characteristic of his is Rivertinn's headfur, which is always messy, in contrast to the rest of his appearance. This is a cause of his nervous habit of running a paw through his headfur.

Belongings:

Other than some empty scrolls and a stick of charcoal, Rivertinn carries nothing value with him.

Job or Position:

He is a storyteller, but previously worked as an acrobat.

Personality:

Although he hasn't seen many seasons, upon his young shoulders rests an old head. His past experiences have given him the ability to not only empathize with 'most anybeast, but wisdom far beyond his seasons, which can sometimes seem a bit awkward, and other times helpful. This mind allows more room for thought, and he can oft be found thinking deeply. Even when looking a beast in the eyes, which is rare, his eyes seem to be looking at something else entirely. Hardly ever are his two, gray-blue eyes focused on a single thing, as he takes in everything around him like a sponge...or an infant. He still has an air of innocence about him.

Although a seasoned warrior, Rivertinn is still a young squirrel, both in age, and at heart. It is for this reason that he still portrays some of the characteristics of a dibbun, becoming depressed or overjoyed at situations that wouldn't normally induce such extreme emotions in a beast his age, let alone a creature that has been through as much as he.

He has no particular opinion concerning fighting. If he believes the situation calls for it, he will fight. If it does not, he will not. Simple enough.

History and Background Information:

Rivertinn was born in Southsward, near Castle Floret, though he never visited the castle. He was simply an average, little squirrel dibbun; small, eager to learn, and overflowing with boundless energy. His father, a storyteller, would record the stories he told if he liked them, and when he conjured up a new idea, he would tell it to Rivertinn, in story form, of course. Every night, Rivertinn would be told a new part of the story, and enjoyed every minute of it. As he grew, he began to help his father write the stories, and sometimes created ideas of his own, though he never told any stories, himself. His family merely thought him talented, and expected him to become his father's successor.

It wasn't until seasons later that creatures began to notice something about him. As his peers grew, and became more mature, they became less like dibbuns, less eager to learn, and having less energy, as seasons caught up to them, their innocence dissolving away. Although still youthful, they didn't have the boundless energy of a dibbun. Rivertinn, however, was different. As he grew, his mind remained in the same state as it had been 14 seasons ago, soaking up everything around him like a sponge. He also seemed to be just as full of energy as he had always been since his early years as a dibbun. His blue-gray eyes shone brightly of innocence, but never could hold a gaze. Taking advantage of this moment, his parents began to teach him as much as they could, and his father told more stories than ever before, knowing that Rivertinn's mind was affected greatly by this.

One particular day, Rivertinn was taking a long walk around Castle Floret. After circling the castle twice, he returned to his home, expecting a story. What he received wasn't a story, but the start of his own, whether he knew it or not. He entered his house to find his parents sitting peacefully at a table. The only unusual things about the scene, were the fourty-three weasels occupying the house. Had he not been so quick with numbers, he wouldn't have been able to count the weasels, for only seconds after he entered, he was struck by a blunt object in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. The next five years would be long, and hard.

He awakened to find himself in a cage, with fourteen other creatures. As the next, few seasons dragged on, what he learned was this: weasels are idiots. As it happened, they were forced to build a small "fortress" for the weasels. Everyday, the number of the slaves grew, until there were 238 prisoners, the same amount of weasels -- that is until one weasel tripped and fell on his own sword. Letting the slaves build the fortress was their first mistake. They're next mistakes took place over a long period of time -- the time during which the prisoners constructed the building. Secret passages and tunnels were made as part of the initial design of the fortress, which one particular badger, whom Rivertinn had befriended, convinced the weasels to allow, by claiming that the fortress would collapse on them all if this or that was/wasn't added. Upon the very first week of Rivertinn's capture, one weasel remarked that squirrels could do amazing acrobatics. Naturally, Rivertinn was chosen. Thus began Rivertinn McHedj's career as an acrobat.

As would be expected of them, the slaves began hatching escape plans. Due to the sheer number of the weasels, almost all failed. Rivertinn, however, had devised his plan the very day he was chosen to perform, alongside his two closest friends, a badger, and a mouse. Every night, he would practice his acrobatic routines, improving gradually as each night passed, until he could hold himself up with any one paw regardless of the position of the rest of his body, i.e., he could rest on one paw, and hold himself up while his body remained horizontal.

Most of the secret passages that had been constructed had either been found and frequently used by the weasels, or found and destroyed. When only two were left, the three friends decided to execute their plan, deciding that ready or not, they would have to escape. One passage, located in the ceiling, lead to the gatehouse. The other led under the entire "fortress," and reopened in the middle of a set of stairs, near the gates. Rivertinn took to the passage in the ceiling, naturally, and the badger and mouse sneaked into the other tunnel.

The weasel in charge of the gatehouse was asleep when Rivertinn fell from the ceiling, landing silently. Before the weasel could realize what was happening, the squirrel had bound and gagged the weasel with a bundle of rope that had been conveniently lying around. When the other two friends heard the gates opening, they dashed from their hiding place, quickly slaying the two weasels guarding the gates. Masterfully executed...literally. Rivertinn had to climb back through the ceiling passage, then make his way to the other passage. The moment he emerged from the staircase, he was spotted by the next shift of guards, and chased. His two friends waited outside. He joined up with them, and ran, but only a moment later, the mouse fell, an arrow protruding from his back. Roaring madly, the badger turned, and, ignoring the wounds he received from the guards' weapons, in seconds, the weasels were slain. But wait. One was missing. There were only three, but Rivertinn had counted four. As he had guessed, the missing weasel had gone to get backup. The badger charged full force into the weasels. Rivertinn knew there was no stopping his friend, and ran as quickly as his paws would allow. Away from the terrible building, and the cruel, unforgiving slavers.

He arrived in Southsward a week later, and immediately searched for his home. He knew Southsward as he did the back of his paw, and soon had reached his house. Five, long seasons had passed since he had seen his home, but now he was finally back. He entered, but nobeast was to be found. Frantically, he searched the area, hoping to find his parents. Everybeast he asked answered the same way, saying that nobeast had lived in the house for five seasons, and that the entire family that lived there was slain. As much as he persisted, claiming that he survived, nobeast could recognize him. How could they, in his current condition? Finally, he was labeled as half-mad, because although he didn't act insane, he claimed to be somebeast whom, as far as everybeast knew, died five seasons ago, and looked in no way similar to the beast before them now.

He gave up, and set off for Green Isle. Somehow, the rumor had reached the isle, and he could find only one creature who would take him to Green Isle, a sea otter. He became fascinated with the sea, and with boats, and had soon convinced the otter to teach him what he knew. Rivertinn stayed on the isle for a season and a half, learning from the sea otter, until one day he decided to build his own boat. He did so, and left the day it was finished, arriving near Salamandastron. He spent the next half-season in Mossflower, carrying on his father's legacy of storytelling, as he traveled northeastward, until he arrived at the Eastern Sea.

Upon stumbling upon Noonvale, Rivertinn settled there. For several seasons, word of Rivertinn being half-mad remained a memory. Unfortunately, somethings are simply inevitable, and once within Noonvale, the rumor spread quickly. But Rivertinn had lived there for quite some time now, and most knew him well

As if on cue, he was confronted with such a situation. As he strolled along the shoreline, he was met by two weary-looking hedgehogs, and by "met," I mean "collided into." As he scrambled back to his footpaws, the hedgehogs apologized, and explained that they were looking for help, though as to what kind of help, they did not mention. Rivertinn apologized politely, and introduced himself, noticing that the male hedgehog's face was slightly stained with red -- not something usually left unchecked by Noonvalers. He asked if he worked as a cellarkeeper, and how many dibbuns the two had (for the other hedgehog was clearly the first's wife). Long story short, the two assumed him to be a seer of some sort, and asked him to help them, not failing to exclude any details. Deciding that it couldn't hurt to try and help with whatever problem they had, Rivertinn played along, and accepted their request.

The squirrel was brought to a rather large building, which could have been a castle in its own right. It was owned by a germophobic mole, and filled with many other, more normal, beasts, four of which being the family of hedgehogs. Everybeast claimed that the mansion was being haunted by some kind of spirit that had attempted to kill the mole on several occasions, and Rivertinn now realized that they all expected him to somehow rid the place of the spirit. Rivertinn knew nothing of spirits -- they were mere superstition to him. He had to find the real cause of the "haunting," and deal with the beast responsible, all the while keeping up the appearance of a seer. He now realized what a mess he had gotten himself into. Whilst searching through the castle-house's library, he immediately noticed three scrolls in the midst of many others, because they were the only scrolls not covered in dust. In order to shoo away the crowd of beasts who had come to watch him, he made up a random excuse, claiming "You're killing all my ju ju bees..." Surprisingly, they left obediently. He wondered what it was he had just said. He read the scrolls, and learned that, like any wealthy beast, the mole had some kind of treasure hidden in the massive house, and the scrolls indicated its location. So the "spirit" was after treasure. The germophobic mole would have never thought of touching anything as dusty as these scrolls, meaning that he didn't know where to look for his own wealth.

It took weeks before Rivertinn had finally caught the "spirit" in the act of attempting to poison the mole's wine. It was the gardener, a mouse who was apparently quite knowledgeable in the poisons of certain plants -- go figure. The incident had caused the mouse run off, and it was unlikely that he would return again. Rivertinn claimed that the spirit had chased the gardener away, that he had taken care of the situation, and that the spirit would no longer return. No, no, don't worry: the ju ju bees are fine.

That very day, the rumors reached Noonvale, and Rivertinn was forced to leave once again. His reputation still follows him to this day, as he continues to travel -- this time toward Salamandastron, and from there, he intends to sail to Ruddaring.

Any other details:

Rivertinn suffers from an anxiety disorder known commonly as obsessive-compulsive disorder. The symptoms include repeating patterns called "rituals," such as knocking on a door twelve times before entering a room. Certain sights, smells, sounds, or circumstances will trigger an intrusive thought. If Rivertinn is unable to perform his rituals, or if the triggered thought is strong enough, he will become very anxious, and may undergo a panic attack. His disorder's effects are based around the number twelve, certain moral issues, and a few irrational fears.

Code Words: -correct-

[Treble Tiderunner]

Accepted.