Character 85 - Roo’k Treetickle

Illustration by Luis Perez

Sometimes when doing these random rolls there is very little to build on. For the orang-pendak society I had but a paragraph in the Bestiary 5 to work from. In preparation I wrote my own piece on the entire race, using elements of the random rolls to influence the write-up. Here we are with one of the blankest slates I could start with; and now to see what he has become.

Although the high strength and high con really geared the character toward being a straight up fighter of some kind, I have done at least three fighters in the past two months. The decent wisdom score meant I could go with a divine caster. In my write up for the orang-pendak I mentioned that mostly nature based casters as being part of their tradition and so I went with shaman. In particular I choose the shaman of lore because some of the abilities like brain drain and confusion meshed with the aspect of madness belonging to this character’s patron deity, The Lantern King.

Roo’k Treetickle

Life in the Bandu Hills for the Treeburr tribe was as peaceful as the orang-pendak could manage. The Treburrs were one of only a handful tribes to wander the hills. Like many tribes of the ape-men their numbers were small and each birth was considered a sign from the spirits. When Roo’k was born his parents thought him their own little miracle. When he died for those few moments, so soon after coming into the world, they were distraught. But death was apparently only temporary and the boy’s spirit found its way back into his body.

The eldest medicine woman who was on the tribal council took an early interest in Roo’k. She was convinced that his death had somehow allowed him to touch the spirit world on a level deeper than any living orang-pendak had. She felt that he was destined for something and took the boy under her wing when he was old enough to learn.

The medicine woman was proven correct. Roo’k took to her teachings faster than any had before. He was the first to find his spirit animal, a mischievous monkey with a wizened look in his eyes. He was the earliest ever to manifest a spell from the spirits. His connection to the spirits brought him knowledge beyond his years and a light behind his eyes.

As Roo’k connection to the spirits grew stronger he began to question everything. The orang-pendak had to test every boundary. If he saw something was wrong he felt compelled to teach the correct way. His lessons, though, were often misunderstood by others. Except for his teacher. She knew what he was becoming.  She realized that he didn’t just have a connection to the spirit world but to the trickster himself, the Wisp Lord.

Illustration by Luis Perez

The role of trickster is a sacred trust. They are supposed to teach lessons and not just cause mischief. But even if he is connected to the spirit of the Wisp Lord, a child is still a child. Roo’k took a dislike to one of the training storysingers. The two were rivals and he took any chance to teach the other boy a lesson. One such lesson brought into question the boy’s worthiness of being a storysinger, the thing he had worked his whole life for. Roo’k’s ‘trick’ showed the boy unworthy and he was sent back home to his parents.

As the young orang-pendak came of age he felt a pull. The Wisp Lord was calling him away from his people. Very few of the ape-men left the tribe to but Roo’k knew in his heart that he was meant to go. He traveled down from the Bandu Hills and into the Chelish held lands of Sargava. His travels led him to the colonial city of Kalabuto.

Roo’k spent months in hiding watching the people. There were the colonials who were so few but controlled so much. There was also Mwangi tribesmen who split between those who served the colonials and those who wished to overthrow the yoke of oppression. Lastly there were the strange creatures that moved through the ruins that both the Chelish and the Mwangi avoided.

Roo’k knew he couldn’t reveal his true nature, his people must remain protected. The people of the ruins gave him an idea, however. One day he step forth from the broken husk of a building and presented himself as one of the monkey men who were occasionally seen among the crumbling old city at night. He said his people wished to learn more about the ways of those who inhabited the city with them and he was to be an emissary. No one had interacted with any of these beings and none risked angering them, so Roo’k was accepted as one of the peoples of Kalabuto.

The trickster sees the people of Kalabuto as lost. He realizes that his path is to teach them how to find themselves, whether they want him too or not. Being an utter mystery to both the colonials and the tribesmen allows Roo’k to push the boundaries of their society easier than any of them could themselves. One way or another they will learn to see the world as he does.

With little to go on how did you create orang-pendak society? What class did the ape-man choose to become? Why did he die? What spellcaster did he humiliate? Who was the seer that influenced him?

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The character illustration was created by the fine artist Luis Perez. You can find him on Twitter, Tumblr, and on Instagram at luisperezart.