Character Exploration 30 - Juolui

Merfolk have very little written about them, so this was a challenge. For the stats for this week’s background, you can check here, and for information on the merfolk of Golarion you can go here. As for what I choose to go with, some said Rogue, another wizard, but I went with Investigator. I specifically choose the Empiricist archetype for our learned dweller of the deeps.

Juolui

The merfolk of Jehyseel are as Xenophobic as all others of their race, hiding behind their forest of deadly stinging sea anemones. However worship of Irori has found its way into the city from the Vudrani of the nearby island of Jalneray. Now the merfolk almost all seek to reach perfection, and to that end they have adopted ritual contests to determine who has perfected different aspects of themselves. Despite its common acceptance, some elders say that human culture is an infection on the undersea life of the merfolk of the Obari Ocean.

Juolui was one of eight brothers and sisters born to a struggling family of serfs who worked the kelp farms that fed the city. Juolui was a boy whose mind wandered. While two older brothers worked the kelp fields with his father, he spent his time considering possibilities. His parents, especially his father, said his daydreaming was useless but that never stopped the turning gears of thought. When his father died the boy stopped his daydreaming and went to the fields leaving behind the life of the learned.

A life of backbreaking labor was all the young boy knew until his older sister, who recalled the boy’s fanciful thoughts, enrolled him in the Contest of the Mind. She saw the Irorian contest of self-perfection as the one chance for someone in the family to make their way above their current station. His other siblings, however, saw it as a waste of time. Juolui’s mother was silent but secretly hoped her son would to do well. And well he did, winning that year’s Contest of the Mind.

Juolui was taken from his family and sent to some of the greatest minds in the city. Wizards, mystics, tacticians, scholars, and anyone else who could challenge the young man’s intellect. Juolui had no aptitude for magic although he very much enjoyed speaking with those who did. One such man, a psychic named K’Lee’Pie, took the boy under his wing as his education continued, using his own powers to guide the boy toward his true purpose. Logic seemed to be Juolui’s forte and his natural deductive reasoning exceeded anyone the council had seen before.

One of the reasons the council of Jehyseel allows the contests to continue is that it lets them find those with gifts that can aid the city. They care a little for the worship of Irori, but ignore it if it brings them citizens who can keep the city safe and further their own personal goals. What the council didn’t realize was that sooner or later someone would figure out their machinations. Juolui, however, saw his place in the intrigues quite clearly and he hated it.

As one of the new investigators in service to the council he was sent to help contain a criminal, but Juolui knew better. In the course of his own investigation he found that this “criminal” had been set up and his only crime was that of dissent. When the time came the accused ‘escaped’ and Juolui failed his first mission, a fault that brought a stain upon him and his family. He was discharged from service to Jehyseel and although he was expelled, he never regretted his choice for a moment.

Now Juolui looks to the future, obsessively some might say. Not sure where to go or what to do, for the first time his mind is his own. In his attempt to root out the dissident, he found that the criminal had contact with the outside world and this weighed heavily on his mind. Does he move forward as a disgraced servant of the people, or does he look for more? And why was the council so set against people have contact with beings beyond the walls of Jehyseel? What else could they be hiding?

Much like an Empiricist I have found the logic in the rolls and made them into Juolui. Hopefully, if you enjoy the fruits of my imagination, you’ll see some small logic in supporting the CRB. Patrons and donations enables bloggers put out the content you’ve come to enjoy. Consider supporting me on Patreon. Don’t forget to check out the CRB on both Tumblr and Twitter for more daily doses of my joy of gaming. If you crave instant gratification try kindlesubscriptions and get the CRB pushed straight to your device as soon as it posts.