Pheelig Saint Emont

Backstory

Pheelig grew up in the poorer districts of Vestrakai. It was obvious early on that he'd be one of the large guys sometime. People often made fun of him, calling him 'Half Giant' or 'Ogre'.

Growing up, he tried not to get into fights, for fear of hurting people. Unfortunately for him, certain folks picked up on him, because he seemed to be a 'prize target'.

In his eleventh summer, he got into a fight with some youths that wanted to beat up him and his friends, thinking that beating helpless kids to pulp was some sort of evening entertainment. Pheelig tried to protect his friends, and promptly got caught by the city watch.

It turned out that one of the youths was the son of an influential patrician in that city, who set cogs into motion to cover up for his prodigy. In the end, a bought judge sentenced Pheelig to five years labor for his 'crime'.

The Captain of the watch unit that broke up the fight took pity on Pheelig and managed to have the labor be transformed. He took responsibility for Pheelig, who had to live at the Captains house and take part in the watch duties to 'learn responsibility'.

A few years later, Pheelig became a regular member of the City Watch, and it was on his 21st birthday that he was declared the youngest Captain ever in the city. Normally, one had to be on duty for at least ten years to become a Watch Captain, and Pheelig was the first to begin them before the age of 16.

The first real tragedy was the death of his mentor when Pheelig was 25. Together, they had planned to take out a smuggler ring that brought illegal slaves into the city. This was a growing problem, because the slaves tended to run away and filled up the city slums, which were going to overspill into the other city districts. Nobody wanted this, and Pheelig also was concerned about the increasing squalor in his place of origin.

Things went wrong, of course, and the Watch lost 17 people that day. Pheelig got away almost unharmed, which obviously raised suspicions, especially when evidence turned up that the smugglers were told about the imminent raid before that.

Some time went by and the city's council decided they could not let this incident pass by without action. Pheelig was tried for treason, and things looked bleak to him.

This was when the 'offers' came in. Various folks promised to help him out of his predicament if he'd be 'available' or 'friendly' to them afterwards.

More and more it dawned on the quite naive Pheelig that most of the people he worked with or for were corrupt or outright evil. With his mentor's death, some protective screen had been removed, and the rotten core of the city now came in touch with Pheelig directly.

But Pheelig would not betray his values of righteousness nor the teachings of his mentor. He took the trial, and though it could not be proven that he was the one who betrayed the city, the council ruled to remove him from the City Watch, but pay him a small rent.

Pheelig, of course, felt as if they, too, wanted to bribe him to keep quiet. He wanted to make a point by staying in his city, and took a vigilante watch himself in the poorer districts, which were now barely without protection (the City Watch was more than busy trying to confine the poor folks, and didn't really care what was going on in there). But he felt burnt out, without support, and took some serious bruises at that time.

The final strike came when fate threw one of it's unjust fits on Pheelig. On his final vigilante watch in the city, he came across some folks that were obviously beating a helpless beggar to pulp for no apparent reason. Upon closing up to the scene, Pheelig saw the offenders were from the better quarters of the city, in sturdy, but expensive garb no one around here could afford. He circled the group of five, staying to the shadows, his staff handy (he would not be allowed to carry a halberd anymore, would he?). He almost froze in shock when he recognized the leader of the thugs - it was certainly the same man that got him into watch duty those many years ago. Pheeligs inner flame was just like being doused by the sense of futility his life seemed to have until then. All those years, trying to do something for the city, and still the same poor people were beaten and abused by the same rich folks. He melted back into the shadows.

It was only a matter of weeks then. Pheelig severed all ties to his former life. He sold his house, and all belongings that could remind him of his seemingly useless life.

All that's left in Vestrakai of Pheeligs past now is the grave of his mentor, and a filthy rich slob that almost laughs his head off whenever he enjoys beating up another victim...

Pheelig had just tried to be a sailor for a few seasons, but did not cut it. Why? Well, he could net get used to the lack of space on a ship, and although he could easily be first mate for his impressive size alone, a captain can't use a short tempered mate onboard.

Fate spins her own yarn, and now Pheelig is the owner of a ship himself. See below how this came to be...

Aspects

• Aspect: Too Big
• Type: Nature
• Skills: Strong, Brawling, Intimidating, Getting Attention
• Background: For a human, Pheelig was always too big for boys, and later, men of his age. His size is complemented by a stocky build, and he always sticks out of a crowd. Unfortunately, this meant he got a lot of (sometimes unwanted) attention even when he was a still boy. Fortunately, if folks weren't getting sensible, Pheelig was able to handle a fist fight quite well.
• Aspect: Former Watch Man
• Type: Occupational
• Skills: Streetwise, Watch Duty x 2, Halberd Handling
• Background: For alomst a third of his life, Pheelig has lived as a member of the watch. A lot of his mannerisms and his way to handle issues is still founded on this.
• Aspect: The Dark Flame of Betrayal
• Type: Social
• Skills: Foreboding x 2, Vigilant x 2
• Background: For all through his life, core points in Pheeligs story seem to have centered on him being betrayed. This has certainly left his view of the world. Lately, he seems to have lost some of his earlier naívete and changed to a more cautios view of new friends and strangers. He still has not thrown off the yoke of frustration when descivered he been betrayed yet again, but he accepts it as a fact of life, which is the first step to handle it.
• Aspect: Man Of The City
• Type: Cultural
• Skills: Streetwise, Lay Of The Streets, Smatter, Haggling
• Background: Pheelig has grown up in and lived for the city most of his life. He spent more time on cobblestone than on any other kind of surface. Living with a lot of people has left it's mark on Pheelig like it does on anyone else. He knows alot about the shady sides of the city, and the city in general. Handling alot of strangers also had him learn the handful of phrases in all the major languages a watch man needs. A bit of Haggling is also needed to avoid being ripped off at the markets and bazaars.
• Aspect: Former Watch Man
• Type: Occupational
• Skills: City Lawsx2, Night Duties, Handle Officials
• Background: Being a Watch Man forms You, but ceasing to be one as well. You either break or make Yourself a new Man.
• Aspect: Dark Flame of Betrayal
• Type: Social
• Skills: Foreboding, Brawling, Evasionx2
• Background: Later experiences have led Pheelig to be more careful with people than he was in earlier days. He seems to have developed an uncanny ability to sense dangerous situations. Other than that, he has developed his skills to handle precarious situations himself now.
• Aspect: Make Or Break
• Type: Social
• Skills: Strongx2, Foreboding, Human Nature
• Background: There are only two outcomes of a crisis - it either makes You a new person, or it breaks You. Some even say, that one cannot be without the other. Pheeligs Life so far made him stronger, but also more wary of the twists of fate.
• Aspect: Ship Ahoy! (Sailors and Corsairs)
• Type: Occupational
• Skills: Seamanship, Stargazing, Spinning Yarns x2
• Background: Pheelig has been a fair sailor on board the ships he served, but it did not satisfy him. Ultimately, he returned to the homeliness of cobble stone, but not without taking with him a treasure chest of sailor's yarn and a newfound fascination for the stars.
• Aspects: Foreign Ports and Foreign Folks
• Type: Social
• Skills: Spinning Yarns, Smatter x2, Human Nature
• Background: Even if the ship's planks were a home to Pheelig for a short time only, he has been changed by his experiences at sea. He has seen alot of different places, and got to know and understand a lot of different people at the ports the ships he served on went to.
• Aspect: The Mourning Glory
• Type: Other/Asset
• Skills: Human Nature, Handle Officials, Carousing, Seafarer's Guild
• Background: One night last summer, Pheelig woke up one morning with vague memories of a story telling and drinking contest he had had the night before. When got together all his senses, he saw that he won the certificate of debt for a ship. He had heard of the ship before, the "morning glory" as it was called then. It had been bonded in the harbor for almost a year, leaving it in disrepair and the crew without their pay, because the previous owner could not pay the taxes for the goods he thought he could import for great profits. The Seafarer's Guild would not let him go without him paying the debt, and the crew did want their pay from the new owner. To everybodies surprise, Pheelig did not just torch the ship and begone with it. He took fate's challenge, as he called it, and paid for taxes, demurrage and repairs of the ship. He also managed to strike a deal with the crew that he would double their pay if they did one long trip with him the next spring - the West Run. Again, to everybodies surprise, the crew accepted that deal.
• Aspect: The Captains' Cabin
• Type: Other/Asset
• Skills: Seamanship, Haggling, Maps, Sagas
• Background: Pheelig felt strangely comfortable the first time he entered the captains' cabin. He found an old log book, and some maps and other log book entries spoke of the West Run. More interesting for Pheelig was a collection of old sagas and stories. For Pheelig, seeing the places some of those sagas were located was one of his main motivations to really take on the mantle as ships' owner. Steadfast in his goal now, he learned the hard way that it takes alot not to get ripped off by ship suppliers and money lenders
• Aspect: The Crew of the Mourning Glory
• Type: Other/Crew
• Skills: Gambling, Chain Of Command, Spot the Guilty, Enlist
• Background: Getting acquainted to the crew took some time, brandy, and a little bit of trained instinct. After Pheelig sniffed out the bad apples in his crew, some of the key positions remained free, but he managed to get a passable crew for the West Run.