The Storyteller
The Storyteller is Inquests only true Immortal, contemporary witness to the Last Day of the Great Order and source of most of the Information about the shattered History of Island Inquest.
He resides at the Brussal University and Museum for History.
With every Generation, there are fewer and fewer that hear what I say.
Still I speak, for those that listen.
Tragic Hero of a bygone Time
On the Last Day of the Great Order, desperate to set themselves free of the Great Order, Humanity used hundreds of tiny coordinated Wishes in an attempt to survive the planned end of the world.
By dividing the Wishes between many People, it was attempted to keep the risk and impact of Fouled Wishes low.
One set of particular Wishes was aimed to create a designated Survivor of the Event, to have someone remember and tell the Truth to anyone that would listen, whatever the result would be.
The Person who would become the Storyteller did not hesitate a moment to sacrifice his own Death for this task.
The common fear of the Time was for the Great Order (accidentally) be recreated by future generations if the knowledge of their Rituals and History was allowed to survive.
The remove any possibility of that happening, the last three Wishes, according to the Storyteller were concerned with removing the Knowledge from History, Magic and lastly Humans.
As the Great Order vanished from Existence, many realized that they started to forget what they had fought against. And so did the Storyteller.
There are no other Humans alive to validate the claims of the Storyteller but at least he states to "remember the shape of what he now has forgotten" which enabled him to reconstruct the most important events at least on an anecdotal level.
Thrice Cursed
The Great Order didn't go down without at least making sure that someone would suffer. Three Curses were identified that still afflict the Storyteller:
No Name
No Name will stick for the Storyteller.
It's not that bad. If you will, "the" is my first name and "Storyteller" my given Name.
My last Partner called me Shirely for most of his life even thought I asked him to stop repeatedly.
He adores being given nicknames by young children. Staff regularly reports him wearing Visitor Name-Badges Kids have created for him until the pin wears out. Even the rude ones.
The Storyteller has no recollection where his moniker originated from.
Forbidden Knowledge
There is an array of topics that the Storyteller keeps secret.
Whoever hears him talk about one of them, is cursed to never believe a word of it. Some exemptions have been found in which the Storyteller had been able to attest for correct assumptions by historians.
Not young enough to thrive, not old enough to rest
A weirdly specific curse keeps the body of the Storyteller in an equally very specific state. He appears to be around 65 years old, is a bit too round, and suffers from weak knee joints, requiring him to use a cane. By his reports, he had stopped getting older after reaching this state.
Family
Despite having had some Lovers, Partners, and Families, in the past, the Storyteller now lives a mostly reclusive and celibate life.
Sex? Sex is something that happens to younger people.
Nowadays, getting frisky means leaving the socks on in bed because it's cold.
He only has a few living relatives, stating that he found an ever-increasing tendency for stillborn children in his lineage.
It's not clear if a curse or something else that is related to his abnormal age is responsible, but he expressed the desire to not risk any further avoidable deaths and the accompanying trauma.
The Storyteller asked his directly related descendants to not have any children, fearing something wrong with his bloodline. This caused a major fallout and most of them refuse to speak with their patriarch.
He has since taken to supporting couples wanting to adopt children, donating stipends and other charitable work in related fields.
From 1200 to 1600, the Storyteller lived as a female Avres, changing his Gender through magic.
I wasn't half as attractive as I thought I would be as a woman.
Well, I'm not good at flirting either and starting with: I was a man for 300 years before we met, wasn't the best icebreaker apparently.
Returning to his previous form hadn't been any easier than to change it in the first place. Recounting that his mind had just as much settled into his female body than it had previously been into his male body. Nonetheless, while recounting the story of his unique transition, he likes to point out that "he heartily recommends it to any 500 year olds".
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
The Storyteller appears to be a lighly overweight 65 year old human Avres with a well-kept beard.
His eyes are round and topped with bushy brows. An angular nose leads down to a broad friendly smile that hides beneath the bristles of his beard.
His arms and legs must've been once quite muscular as they are still well rounded and he has two large hands with fleshy fingers that usually gently rest upon a simple walking-cane.
Apparel & Accessories
Usually the Storyteller wears a simple long coat with equally boring trousers of earthen colors.
A white shirt is hidden beneath a Vest and if the weather is warm, it can be seen that he usually has already coiled the sleeves above the elbow, sometimes using thin leather-strings to affix them.
His shoes are unusual in the way that they are wide at the front instead of ending in a point as has been the norm for the last few hundred years.
I've worn many a style throughout the ages.
Nothing beats comfy shoes in my book.
And Trousers! People don't really appreciate you not wearing some.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Through the millenia, the Storyteller has lost much of his personal history as it was replaced by new experiences.
Education
The Storyteller had at one point in his life graduated from any available schools, and from some even multiple times as the curriculum changed throughout the years.
His personal favorite is to join History Lessons in one of Brussals Average Schools in obvious disguises. Where he will ask Questions that sound innocent if you are not a first-grader, but to adults they are quite ambiguous.
Employment
Many workshops across the Island had been the target of the Storytellers interest.
His most favorite is that of cheese maker which is both intensive work but also requires patience.
His least favorite, as he likes to point out, is that of courier. Apparently, he was bitten by a pet snail while delivering an order of homemade-jam to a recipient and the finger is still itching today.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Keeping most of his fingers is the Storytellers greatest achievement, according to himself.
He lost the first link of his right hand ring-finger while putting tiles down in his kitchen.
I was cutting a tile and thought about something that made me angry at work. Just a moment of not watching myself and it [the finger] was off.
Silly me.
I don't get it fixed to remind myself that while I might be Immortal, I'm certainly not indestructible.
Social
Speech
It is said that the Storyteller has a speaking cadence like the grindingstones of time. Slow and methodically.
He appears to be quite witty and quick with a pointed comment, but explains that "there are only so many onelines you have to learn, and I have all the time".
Wealth & Financial state
The Storyteller likes to state that he lost more money in his life than most Kingdoms on Inquest have ever seen.
It is unknown who pays for his livelihood.
Depiction of the Storyteller, as he often sits in the Museum.
Content
Magic Abilities
The Storyteller should be the most able magic user of all Inquest and most Visitors are surprised to find a humble man instead of a glistening beam of magic prowess.
According to his recollections, seeing what magic did to and with people, made him detest it deeply. But, in recent years, he has come to like Scrollscripting and is recorded as the inventor of a particularly nifty pipe-lighting spell.
Living in a museum
There are many rumors why the Storyteller lives in a Museum.
Most popular is the believe that he is destitute after being tricked by a Scrollscripting-Company and sells his services to the Museum in exchange for food and lodgings.
"In truth," he explains: "The rent is dirt-cheap and I want to be available for the kids and interested people anyways. So win-win for everybody!"
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