Splinter the Halfling Druid
So I SHOULD be catching up on all my session write ups that I haven't done yet but since I'll be actually playing as a Halfling Druid tomorrow I kinda went and wrote up a backstory instead :)
Splinter is a cheerful and inquisitive sort, always has been, given his youngling name by the elders of his tribe because he often got splinters climbing up amongst the trees and exploring the hidden glades, secret caves and sheltered beaches of his home known as the Peaceful Isles. Though truth be told he was never the most skilled climber nor the best tracker until he found an affinity with the small squirrels and rodents that shared his home.
For from the day of his birth Splinter had been marked as a beast shaper, a guardian of his people and the Peaceful Isles, and while his abilities manifested very early in life it was not quite as early as his eldest brother Casey, as his mother often pointed out. Despite his talents with beast shaping the Elders refused to allow him to begin his Blager’splout, a journey of self-discovery and adventure, until he was older but they let Casey leave when he was younger than Splinter was now.
When traders came to the Isles, with great boats as big as the Elder Hold itself, he saw his chance to start his Blager’splout only a summer later then Casey so he snuck aboard while the strangers were busy talking with the Elders. Excited and overjoyed that this huge vessel had animals that he had never encountered before Splinter wasted no time in shifting into these new larger rodent creatures living within.
So, when the ship left the Peaceful Isles Splinter was learning best how to be a rat.
It was two weeks before the crew found him, or rather the ships cat finally caught him, and Splinter discovered first hand that people not from the Peaceful Isles are not nearly as friendly as he was used to. Reflecting upon this while being flung from the ship in the middle of the ocean it occurred to Splinter that maybe he was too young to have started his Blager’splout, too late to give up now and while swimming was never his best skill despite living on an island chain rats are naturally quite good at it so sneaking back onboard he stayed hidden and rat-like until the ship finally reached its destination, the great port city of Neverwinter.
And that’s how Splinter made his way to the so-called “Civilized Lands” at first the thrill of meeting new people and seeing new creatures in this mighty stone village known as Neverwinter was all he needed to keep warm in these colder lands but it wasn’t long before the cruelty of these city folk started to wear on Splinter’s more cheerful nature. Suffering swindlers and brigands trying to take the few possessions he had and the distain from the people of these lands not just for his stature but his apparent innocence. It wasn’t until his first month ended in this strange land that it occurred to Splinter that he didn’t know how to get home, not that he was planning on going home just yet but he’d like to know where home was, none of the sailors he spoke to knew of the Peaceful Isles and he had no idea what the name of the ship he stowed away on. Also, it turned out that the people of this place wanted coin for everything and no ship could be found to go looking for the Peaceful Isles without an extremely large pile of coins. And so, Splinter set about trying to earn some coin so when he did decide to go back home he’d be able to hire a ship to search for it.
One day he met a man named Krang who recognised that Splinter came from the Peaceful Isles, having once met another beast shaper years ago, and offered coin for simple work. The Elders of Neverwinter, called Lords, apparently didn’t like people to enjoy nature’s bounty and forbidding people from having many roots and herbs that always had medicinal and spiritual uses within the Peaceful Isles and so Krang convinced Splinter to venture out into the wilds, find, harvest and smuggle back in these herbs. Splinter may be young but wasn’t totally ignorant, he knew that sometimes people over used these plants but that was their choice and he was taught that people should be allowed to make their own mistakes if they bring no harm to others and he made sure to tell Krang that he couldn’t find anything that could do any real damage. Also, the coins Krang give in trade for the plants could be used to trade with sailors for a way home when it was finally time to return.
Splinter gave himself a “Civilized” name shortly after starting his association with Krang, Mr Bojingle had a nice sound to it though he still let people call him by his youngling name. Now things went well for a time and Krang introduced him to a lot of new and interesting people and new tricks like how to open locked doors or brake hunter’s traps but Krang was a defender of his own tribe, The Shadow Thieves as he called them, within Neverwinter which meant he often came into conflict with others within the city walls. Krang said he fought for honour and forced the losers to apologise by giving his tribe coin. No matter how hard he tried to explain to Krang that as a defender of the Peaceful Isles he couldn’t join Krang’s tribe nor could he bring in plants that could get people sick as bringing in poison to the city was something he didn’t trust Krang to use wisely.
During all his dealings with Krang he never seemed to end up with much coin, always another cost or tribute that Krang said must be paid and since Splinter refused to do the things that Krang said would earn him more coin he started looking for other ways he could use his training as a guardian of the Peaceful Isles without joining Krang’s tribe The Shadow Thieves.
So, he decided to become an adventure since they always seem to have plenty of coin, travel a lot, see all sorts of different creatures and surely have a lot of fun though sadly Splinter has been having trouble finding a group to join up with ever since he foolishly tried to shift into a bear like the one he saw in the wilds outside Neverwinter. It was too large a creature for his inexperience and it would take some time to heal, this had happened before back when he first started beast shaping and Splinter was not at all worried about getting his powers back it was just something that happens from time to time with shifters who try too much too soon.
But now things are looking up as a Dwarf named Gundren Rockseer, a trader who sometimes needed things taken into or out of Neverwinter, says he needs a few adventurers and Splinter was happy to agree because he hadn’t quite gotten around to tell Krang he no longer wanted to trade herbs with him and this would be a great way of avoiding Krang and making some new friends at the same time and continue his Blager’splout.
City folk mistake his affinity for nature and beasts of the world to mean that he is a pacifist they believe because of his cheerful, friendly and often childlike nature that he is harmless. They couldn’t be more wrong. He has undergone the Ritual of Scaring, The Heartseekers Hunt, The Week of Watchfulness and was present during three separate Trails of Justice during his training as a defender of the Peaceful Isles. Violence may not be a first resort but it is far from the last when it comes to defending himself, his friends or his home.
For from the day of his birth Splinter had been marked as a beast shaper, a guardian of his people and the Peaceful Isles, and while his abilities manifested very early in life it was not quite as early as his eldest brother Casey, as his mother often pointed out. Despite his talents with beast shaping the Elders refused to allow him to begin his Blager’splout, a journey of self-discovery and adventure, until he was older but they let Casey leave when he was younger than Splinter was now.
When traders came to the Isles, with great boats as big as the Elder Hold itself, he saw his chance to start his Blager’splout only a summer later then Casey so he snuck aboard while the strangers were busy talking with the Elders. Excited and overjoyed that this huge vessel had animals that he had never encountered before Splinter wasted no time in shifting into these new larger rodent creatures living within.
So, when the ship left the Peaceful Isles Splinter was learning best how to be a rat.
It was two weeks before the crew found him, or rather the ships cat finally caught him, and Splinter discovered first hand that people not from the Peaceful Isles are not nearly as friendly as he was used to. Reflecting upon this while being flung from the ship in the middle of the ocean it occurred to Splinter that maybe he was too young to have started his Blager’splout, too late to give up now and while swimming was never his best skill despite living on an island chain rats are naturally quite good at it so sneaking back onboard he stayed hidden and rat-like until the ship finally reached its destination, the great port city of Neverwinter.
And that’s how Splinter made his way to the so-called “Civilized Lands” at first the thrill of meeting new people and seeing new creatures in this mighty stone village known as Neverwinter was all he needed to keep warm in these colder lands but it wasn’t long before the cruelty of these city folk started to wear on Splinter’s more cheerful nature. Suffering swindlers and brigands trying to take the few possessions he had and the distain from the people of these lands not just for his stature but his apparent innocence. It wasn’t until his first month ended in this strange land that it occurred to Splinter that he didn’t know how to get home, not that he was planning on going home just yet but he’d like to know where home was, none of the sailors he spoke to knew of the Peaceful Isles and he had no idea what the name of the ship he stowed away on. Also, it turned out that the people of this place wanted coin for everything and no ship could be found to go looking for the Peaceful Isles without an extremely large pile of coins. And so, Splinter set about trying to earn some coin so when he did decide to go back home he’d be able to hire a ship to search for it.
One day he met a man named Krang who recognised that Splinter came from the Peaceful Isles, having once met another beast shaper years ago, and offered coin for simple work. The Elders of Neverwinter, called Lords, apparently didn’t like people to enjoy nature’s bounty and forbidding people from having many roots and herbs that always had medicinal and spiritual uses within the Peaceful Isles and so Krang convinced Splinter to venture out into the wilds, find, harvest and smuggle back in these herbs. Splinter may be young but wasn’t totally ignorant, he knew that sometimes people over used these plants but that was their choice and he was taught that people should be allowed to make their own mistakes if they bring no harm to others and he made sure to tell Krang that he couldn’t find anything that could do any real damage. Also, the coins Krang give in trade for the plants could be used to trade with sailors for a way home when it was finally time to return.
Splinter gave himself a “Civilized” name shortly after starting his association with Krang, Mr Bojingle had a nice sound to it though he still let people call him by his youngling name. Now things went well for a time and Krang introduced him to a lot of new and interesting people and new tricks like how to open locked doors or brake hunter’s traps but Krang was a defender of his own tribe, The Shadow Thieves as he called them, within Neverwinter which meant he often came into conflict with others within the city walls. Krang said he fought for honour and forced the losers to apologise by giving his tribe coin. No matter how hard he tried to explain to Krang that as a defender of the Peaceful Isles he couldn’t join Krang’s tribe nor could he bring in plants that could get people sick as bringing in poison to the city was something he didn’t trust Krang to use wisely.
During all his dealings with Krang he never seemed to end up with much coin, always another cost or tribute that Krang said must be paid and since Splinter refused to do the things that Krang said would earn him more coin he started looking for other ways he could use his training as a guardian of the Peaceful Isles without joining Krang’s tribe The Shadow Thieves.
So, he decided to become an adventure since they always seem to have plenty of coin, travel a lot, see all sorts of different creatures and surely have a lot of fun though sadly Splinter has been having trouble finding a group to join up with ever since he foolishly tried to shift into a bear like the one he saw in the wilds outside Neverwinter. It was too large a creature for his inexperience and it would take some time to heal, this had happened before back when he first started beast shaping and Splinter was not at all worried about getting his powers back it was just something that happens from time to time with shifters who try too much too soon.
But now things are looking up as a Dwarf named Gundren Rockseer, a trader who sometimes needed things taken into or out of Neverwinter, says he needs a few adventurers and Splinter was happy to agree because he hadn’t quite gotten around to tell Krang he no longer wanted to trade herbs with him and this would be a great way of avoiding Krang and making some new friends at the same time and continue his Blager’splout.
City folk mistake his affinity for nature and beasts of the world to mean that he is a pacifist they believe because of his cheerful, friendly and often childlike nature that he is harmless. They couldn’t be more wrong. He has undergone the Ritual of Scaring, The Heartseekers Hunt, The Week of Watchfulness and was present during three separate Trails of Justice during his training as a defender of the Peaceful Isles. Violence may not be a first resort but it is far from the last when it comes to defending himself, his friends or his home.