Gabrella and Bull
atcDave
Member Posts: 2,759
Gabrella has lived a safe and comfortable life. She is the much loved daughter of the great mage and sage Gorion (yeah, yeah, she knows she’s adopted). Her life has literally been sheltered. She knows this. Gabrella, Gabby, is not stupid.
And as it turns out she loves reading and learning. Which is a good thing for growing up in the greatest library of the Realms, and not even being allowed to travel or leave. She chafes under this a little, but she figured out many years ago that her father has a good reason for this. She doesn’t know what it is, and she does wonder sometimes. Her best guess is that Gorion has powerful enemies. She knows he is connected to the group known as Harpers. Oh so secret. She’s not supposed to know this. But again, she isn’t stupid.
All her life interesting visitors have stopped by to meet with, consult with Gorion. Many of them have met her, they often seem pleased or surprised to meet her. And that word, Harper is often said in whispers between her father and his visitors. In her love of reading she has encountered this word, and has a fair idea of what it means. She guesses one, or both of her parents were also important Harpers.
Apart from all that, Gabby reckons she’s lived a normal life. She is energetic and active when she is not reading, enough that her older father has a hard time keeping up. About ten years ago another child moved into Candlekeep. Imoen was the daughter of the new owner of the Candlekeep Inn. She was a little younger than Gabby, but they hit it off immediately. Inseparable best friends.
Gorion seemed pleased by this development, Gabby could expend her youthful energy chasing and playing games with Imoen. And it seemed Gorion knew Imoen’s father Winthrop. He was another old friend for father, it pleased Gabby they both got friends at the same time.
Not too long after came another change that would be more important in time. A new Watcher, Bull came to Candlekeep. He was way too old to play with you and Imoen, but he was kind and funny. Both girls liked him. He took the blame one time when Imoen broke a visitor’s wagon she’d been playing on. He even paid to get it fixed. You thought she was off scott free! But then he told Winthrop, said he wanted to avoid a scene with the visitor, but Imoen needed to learn discipline. The world of adults is very strange.
He was also there the time you broke your arm falling off the wall. He got you over to the infirmary, and sent a message to Gorion. And he stayed right there with you until Gorion showed up.
You said once Bull was like having a big brother. Gorion grumbled something about him being old enough to be your father. You never understood what he meant. Well, much later you maybe understood a little.
About three years ago Gorion told Gabby it was time to start thinking about professional training. He thought you had the ability to be anything you set your mind to. You were clearly smart enough to be a mage like him, but anything was open. Imoen thought you should both be rogues, you would explore the world together and spy on whatever you wanted to see… She made it sound fun.
Bull was the one who discerned your passion for spiritual learning, the god’s truth. He thought you would be a fine priestess of Lathander, or Tyr. He was the first to mention you also could be a great warrior. You weren’t big, but Bull said you went through life with the subtlety and finesse of a charging bull. Was he making a joke? Really he said, anything you want to be, you’ll be better if you start as a warrior.
That’s how you came to be the smallest warrior trainee any of the Watchers had ever seen. You started when you turned 18. You were 5’2” and 100 pounds soaking wet. You don’t know why everyone had to say that, several times. They all knew you were graceful and quick, which served you well in training. They also all knew you were tough and fearless, that also served you well. Everyone was a little surprised though, including yourself, that you were also stronger than most of the Watchers. Some big guys too. In sparring you could push them back, off their feet onto their rear. This seemed to really embarrass some of them. Although you did learn a problem with being a lightweight is they can often swat you off your feet with a low hit. Bull and some of the trainers really had to think through how to let you use your strength effectively, once the surprise has passed you really can’t drive back someone almost three times your weight. Of course, most people that big are stronger than you anyway.
But its been a fun part of your training, getting all the guys involved, and working through how to use your talents to best advantage in a fight. They say you are an unusual challenge. You *think* that’s a compliment.
Gabby’s training started with lots of running, strength and conditioning exercises. She enjoys a challenge!
Bull was a good and patient instructor.
Gabby was also a good student, intelligent and athletic.
Gabby particularly liked the commraderie, the time working with all the Watchers.
Almost two years of training made Gabby a capable, and quick swordswoman.
Gabby also kept her longtime friendship with Imoen a priority. Imoen teased about all the time Gabby now spent with Bull.
*****
Bull trained to be a warrior from a young age. Its something he was built for, meant for. Funny, he’s not a violent man. But he’s quite good at violence when its called for. He’d heard adventuring was a good way to make money, so that was what he planned. He quickly discovered he disliked adventuring. Sleeping on a hard bedroll, exposed to the elements, eating who knows what. On his first, and last adventure, two of his companions were killed. Between the survivors they couldn’t afford to Raise both men, so they argued over who to Raise. One got raised and they were all broke. For a stupid adventure.
He joined the army, which suited him better for a time. Someone else had to worry about how to house him and feed him, he just did his job. But, eh, he got tired of fighting in squabbles between minor nobles.
He saw an advertisement for Watchers at the library of Candlekeep. A peacekeeper. That sounded better to him. So he went to Candlekeep and got a job. He’s been there a while now. Good enough at it to be a Sergeant. He hasn’t had to use brute force often. The threat of it a couple times when someone couldn’t get admission to the library, who thought they should. He’s broken up a few fights, mostly between drunks at the Inn. Usually two bookish sorts arguing over what kind of ink takes best on vellum… often he steps up to them and glares, and the fight is over.
One of the more fun parts of his time here has been the kids. There’s only two of them. Imoen and Gabby are a hoot. Active, precocious, funny. But both really good kids. In time he learned Gabby especially was a deep thinker, grilling him about Faerun… and what he thought about the nature of good and evil. Is that normal for kids? It was like being interrogated by some philosopher priest. She actually came to value his opinion and he helped steer her towards training as a warrior.
Bull has been very happy in his time at Candlekeep. It has the peacekeeping parts of soldiering with less bloodshed. And time to build good friendships.
Then he had the problem of physically training an 18 year old girl, err woman. And sparring with someone who weighs less than some shields he’s carried. She took to it all surprisingly quickly. The biggest surprise being she was *a lot* stronger than she looked. Yourself and maybe three of the guys were clearly stronger than her. But that. Was. It. Have you ever consoled a 5’10” professional soldier who just got pushed around by a little girl… er, woman?
Apart for the “what the heck” aspect of it all, it led to some interesting thinking about strength, weight and leverage.
One other minor problem that has developed over the last couple years is how Gabrella has, uh, developed. You find yourself quite attracted to the young woman. Especially now as she’s finished her warrior training and is clearly moving into the adult chapter of her life. She’s twenty years younger than you, and you’ve known her since she was ten. Fortunately perhaps, you’re sure she’s always seen you as a big brother. But there are things that need to *never* be said….
*****
Gabrella has been in a rush all day. This morning Gorion told you to put some gear together, because this afternoon you were leaving Candlekeep forever. He said some mysterious strangers have been asking questions about *you*. That doesn’t make sense? You don’t even know anyone outside of Candlekeep. Your best guess is this all ties into your father’s Harper association. It must involve old enemies of his?
Regardless, you need to get gear together for a trip of unknown duration. First you found Bull, the thought of him not being around somehow makes you feel ill. And Imoen, also unthinkable. So you made sure both knew of Gorion’s plans. Bull has decided he’s not letting you out of his sight until you head off with Gorion. And he and Imoen will follow behind to look out for you. This makes you feel much better. You’ll need to think more at some point on how Bull became the first thought instead of Imoen.
*****
Neither of these characters ever existed in PnP, but I’ve used versions of them in CRPGs for many years. Maybe 20? They were originally inspired by fantasy portraits I found on line. They were posted here before in the IWD run Bull and the Slaves. The essence of them is a spunky young fighter (usually dualled to cleric) and a grizzled old warrior, as a May-December romantic couple. Obviously in the sort of games I play that last detail is “head canon”! But it will play into this write-up, at least a little.
Gabrella is a pretty idealized/maximized sort of character. The opposite of my previous run with Jill. As I’ve observed before, the slow to unfold back story for Gorion’s Ward easily justifies a larger than life sort of character. And to me, its being able to alternate between strong builds and weaker builds that is the most fascinating part of the game. Really of AD&D in general. The existence of both types of characters is what defines the terms (how can a character be strong, if we don’t also have weak?). And I love playing that contrast. So this should be a fun run in part because I just did that Jill run.
Gabby will start with specialization in short sword and dual wielding. By 6th level she will be up to High Mastery in short sword, and at 7th she will dual class to cleric. Then she will learn a few crushing weapons until 8th level when her fighter proficiencies will unlock and she’ll take Mastery in Dual Wielding.
Human Female, Neutral-Good, 1st level Fighter
15 – 19 – 16 – 14 – 18 – 18
Obviously she’s not strong in an absolute sense of the word. But average is 10.5. Average among guardsmen is presumably higher, but still below 15. Seriously, that is crazy strong for her size. I love fantasy adventure…
Gabby’s in-game portrait.
a young warrior woman (age 20, Slavic, fair skin, high cheekbones, short, cute, blue eyes, shoulder length light blonde hair).
Bull is a little less maximized. His scores represent a capable and experienced professional warrior, or maybe more of a professional peacekeeper. He’s good at fighting but would rather not hurt people.
He will start at 3rd level. Mastery in battle axe and specialized in Weapon and Shield Style (hey, if that’s how he’s fighting anyway…)
Human Male, Lawful-Good, 3rd level Fighter
18/94 – 11 – 18 – 11 – 14 – 15
Bull’s in-game portrait.
veteran warrior (human male, French, age 40, big, muscular, burly, bald, greying brown beard, leather armor with iron studs)
And as it turns out she loves reading and learning. Which is a good thing for growing up in the greatest library of the Realms, and not even being allowed to travel or leave. She chafes under this a little, but she figured out many years ago that her father has a good reason for this. She doesn’t know what it is, and she does wonder sometimes. Her best guess is that Gorion has powerful enemies. She knows he is connected to the group known as Harpers. Oh so secret. She’s not supposed to know this. But again, she isn’t stupid.
All her life interesting visitors have stopped by to meet with, consult with Gorion. Many of them have met her, they often seem pleased or surprised to meet her. And that word, Harper is often said in whispers between her father and his visitors. In her love of reading she has encountered this word, and has a fair idea of what it means. She guesses one, or both of her parents were also important Harpers.
Apart from all that, Gabby reckons she’s lived a normal life. She is energetic and active when she is not reading, enough that her older father has a hard time keeping up. About ten years ago another child moved into Candlekeep. Imoen was the daughter of the new owner of the Candlekeep Inn. She was a little younger than Gabby, but they hit it off immediately. Inseparable best friends.
Gorion seemed pleased by this development, Gabby could expend her youthful energy chasing and playing games with Imoen. And it seemed Gorion knew Imoen’s father Winthrop. He was another old friend for father, it pleased Gabby they both got friends at the same time.
Not too long after came another change that would be more important in time. A new Watcher, Bull came to Candlekeep. He was way too old to play with you and Imoen, but he was kind and funny. Both girls liked him. He took the blame one time when Imoen broke a visitor’s wagon she’d been playing on. He even paid to get it fixed. You thought she was off scott free! But then he told Winthrop, said he wanted to avoid a scene with the visitor, but Imoen needed to learn discipline. The world of adults is very strange.
He was also there the time you broke your arm falling off the wall. He got you over to the infirmary, and sent a message to Gorion. And he stayed right there with you until Gorion showed up.
You said once Bull was like having a big brother. Gorion grumbled something about him being old enough to be your father. You never understood what he meant. Well, much later you maybe understood a little.
About three years ago Gorion told Gabby it was time to start thinking about professional training. He thought you had the ability to be anything you set your mind to. You were clearly smart enough to be a mage like him, but anything was open. Imoen thought you should both be rogues, you would explore the world together and spy on whatever you wanted to see… She made it sound fun.
Bull was the one who discerned your passion for spiritual learning, the god’s truth. He thought you would be a fine priestess of Lathander, or Tyr. He was the first to mention you also could be a great warrior. You weren’t big, but Bull said you went through life with the subtlety and finesse of a charging bull. Was he making a joke? Really he said, anything you want to be, you’ll be better if you start as a warrior.
That’s how you came to be the smallest warrior trainee any of the Watchers had ever seen. You started when you turned 18. You were 5’2” and 100 pounds soaking wet. You don’t know why everyone had to say that, several times. They all knew you were graceful and quick, which served you well in training. They also all knew you were tough and fearless, that also served you well. Everyone was a little surprised though, including yourself, that you were also stronger than most of the Watchers. Some big guys too. In sparring you could push them back, off their feet onto their rear. This seemed to really embarrass some of them. Although you did learn a problem with being a lightweight is they can often swat you off your feet with a low hit. Bull and some of the trainers really had to think through how to let you use your strength effectively, once the surprise has passed you really can’t drive back someone almost three times your weight. Of course, most people that big are stronger than you anyway.
But its been a fun part of your training, getting all the guys involved, and working through how to use your talents to best advantage in a fight. They say you are an unusual challenge. You *think* that’s a compliment.
Gabby’s training started with lots of running, strength and conditioning exercises. She enjoys a challenge!
Bull was a good and patient instructor.
Gabby was also a good student, intelligent and athletic.
Gabby particularly liked the commraderie, the time working with all the Watchers.
Almost two years of training made Gabby a capable, and quick swordswoman.
Gabby also kept her longtime friendship with Imoen a priority. Imoen teased about all the time Gabby now spent with Bull.
*****
Bull trained to be a warrior from a young age. Its something he was built for, meant for. Funny, he’s not a violent man. But he’s quite good at violence when its called for. He’d heard adventuring was a good way to make money, so that was what he planned. He quickly discovered he disliked adventuring. Sleeping on a hard bedroll, exposed to the elements, eating who knows what. On his first, and last adventure, two of his companions were killed. Between the survivors they couldn’t afford to Raise both men, so they argued over who to Raise. One got raised and they were all broke. For a stupid adventure.
He joined the army, which suited him better for a time. Someone else had to worry about how to house him and feed him, he just did his job. But, eh, he got tired of fighting in squabbles between minor nobles.
He saw an advertisement for Watchers at the library of Candlekeep. A peacekeeper. That sounded better to him. So he went to Candlekeep and got a job. He’s been there a while now. Good enough at it to be a Sergeant. He hasn’t had to use brute force often. The threat of it a couple times when someone couldn’t get admission to the library, who thought they should. He’s broken up a few fights, mostly between drunks at the Inn. Usually two bookish sorts arguing over what kind of ink takes best on vellum… often he steps up to them and glares, and the fight is over.
One of the more fun parts of his time here has been the kids. There’s only two of them. Imoen and Gabby are a hoot. Active, precocious, funny. But both really good kids. In time he learned Gabby especially was a deep thinker, grilling him about Faerun… and what he thought about the nature of good and evil. Is that normal for kids? It was like being interrogated by some philosopher priest. She actually came to value his opinion and he helped steer her towards training as a warrior.
Bull has been very happy in his time at Candlekeep. It has the peacekeeping parts of soldiering with less bloodshed. And time to build good friendships.
Then he had the problem of physically training an 18 year old girl, err woman. And sparring with someone who weighs less than some shields he’s carried. She took to it all surprisingly quickly. The biggest surprise being she was *a lot* stronger than she looked. Yourself and maybe three of the guys were clearly stronger than her. But that. Was. It. Have you ever consoled a 5’10” professional soldier who just got pushed around by a little girl… er, woman?
Apart for the “what the heck” aspect of it all, it led to some interesting thinking about strength, weight and leverage.
One other minor problem that has developed over the last couple years is how Gabrella has, uh, developed. You find yourself quite attracted to the young woman. Especially now as she’s finished her warrior training and is clearly moving into the adult chapter of her life. She’s twenty years younger than you, and you’ve known her since she was ten. Fortunately perhaps, you’re sure she’s always seen you as a big brother. But there are things that need to *never* be said….
*****
Gabrella has been in a rush all day. This morning Gorion told you to put some gear together, because this afternoon you were leaving Candlekeep forever. He said some mysterious strangers have been asking questions about *you*. That doesn’t make sense? You don’t even know anyone outside of Candlekeep. Your best guess is this all ties into your father’s Harper association. It must involve old enemies of his?
Regardless, you need to get gear together for a trip of unknown duration. First you found Bull, the thought of him not being around somehow makes you feel ill. And Imoen, also unthinkable. So you made sure both knew of Gorion’s plans. Bull has decided he’s not letting you out of his sight until you head off with Gorion. And he and Imoen will follow behind to look out for you. This makes you feel much better. You’ll need to think more at some point on how Bull became the first thought instead of Imoen.
*****
Neither of these characters ever existed in PnP, but I’ve used versions of them in CRPGs for many years. Maybe 20? They were originally inspired by fantasy portraits I found on line. They were posted here before in the IWD run Bull and the Slaves. The essence of them is a spunky young fighter (usually dualled to cleric) and a grizzled old warrior, as a May-December romantic couple. Obviously in the sort of games I play that last detail is “head canon”! But it will play into this write-up, at least a little.
Gabrella is a pretty idealized/maximized sort of character. The opposite of my previous run with Jill. As I’ve observed before, the slow to unfold back story for Gorion’s Ward easily justifies a larger than life sort of character. And to me, its being able to alternate between strong builds and weaker builds that is the most fascinating part of the game. Really of AD&D in general. The existence of both types of characters is what defines the terms (how can a character be strong, if we don’t also have weak?). And I love playing that contrast. So this should be a fun run in part because I just did that Jill run.
Gabby will start with specialization in short sword and dual wielding. By 6th level she will be up to High Mastery in short sword, and at 7th she will dual class to cleric. Then she will learn a few crushing weapons until 8th level when her fighter proficiencies will unlock and she’ll take Mastery in Dual Wielding.
Human Female, Neutral-Good, 1st level Fighter
15 – 19 – 16 – 14 – 18 – 18
Obviously she’s not strong in an absolute sense of the word. But average is 10.5. Average among guardsmen is presumably higher, but still below 15. Seriously, that is crazy strong for her size. I love fantasy adventure…
Gabby’s in-game portrait.
a young warrior woman (age 20, Slavic, fair skin, high cheekbones, short, cute, blue eyes, shoulder length light blonde hair).
Bull is a little less maximized. His scores represent a capable and experienced professional warrior, or maybe more of a professional peacekeeper. He’s good at fighting but would rather not hurt people.
He will start at 3rd level. Mastery in battle axe and specialized in Weapon and Shield Style (hey, if that’s how he’s fighting anyway…)
Human Male, Lawful-Good, 3rd level Fighter
18/94 – 11 – 18 – 11 – 14 – 15
Bull’s in-game portrait.
veteran warrior (human male, French, age 40, big, muscular, burly, bald, greying brown beard, leather armor with iron studs)
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