Jamoor was the first character I made up for the World of Mystery campaign. He was quite an unprepossessing fellow, an indentured farmboy working on a dairy in Milborne. He was unimaginative but optimistic, tall and gangly and not terribly handsome, but he had a good heart and always wanted to do what was right. Hence when the village starting falling under the influence of mysterious and sinister machinations, he volunteered for the local militia and never turned back.
Jamoor's career development was, to put it mildly, weird. One of the Milborne militia's early adventures resulted in the characters being invested with Legacy powers, mighty super-abilities beyond the ken of normal men. Jamoor, in a ready example of the strangely mixed fortunes that distinguished his short life, gained a combination of abilities that allowed him to become fused with the exoskeleton of an umber hulk. On top of that, later his entire body became living obsidian. He was quite down about it for a while - nobody likes looking like an abominable freak all the time - and he earned a variety of heroic codenames such as Obsidian Hulk, Crabman and Armadillo, none of which he took to himself. But he endured his horrible appearance and the disgrace he brought to his family name in quiet stoicism. And on the plus side he was virtually indestructible, and he had a glove that he could knock down buildings with. On one memorable occasion he used it to throw the mast of a ship through the evil red dragon Pyre (although Watchdog finished Pyre off, as I recall). For quite some time he was a valued member of the oddly-named Harbringers super-group, made his home aboard The Sorceror's Stand (their high-altitude citadel built on the hulks of several flying ships tethered together) and occasionally indulged in interior design.
Jamoor finally met his ill-deserved fate while dashing about attempting to rescue some captives of one of Pyre's half-dragon offspring (forgive the lack of detail - I was irresponsibly not keeping a journal back then). The whelp in question ambushed the group while they were busy with the evacuation of several hundred people from a dungeon. He carved Jamoor down with a soul-drinking sword (like I said, he was virtually indestructible, but there wasn't any coming back from that one). If I recall correctly, he was the first major casualty of the campaign after we joined. Most of the rest of the original Harbringers survived to become immortals of one kind or another! 
As an odd legacy, later in the campaign the Harbringers adopted a kobold child whom they named Jamoor, after their late companion. Jamoor DeParlay went on to become a beloved hero and subject of cult worship, which I always though reflected a bit oddly on the memory of his namesake, but so be it.
I played Jamoor when I was still coming to grips with the rather complex system of the World of Mystery (well, I'm still coming to grips with it...). In retrospect he probably didn't quite get to be all that he could be, thanks in part to my limited understanding of what I could do with him (his shocking and untimely death played a part as well). I regret not doing better by him, really - looking back at his final character sheet now, I really think of him as having missed his potential. Still I remain pleased with the hapless, looming cheeseboy who swallowed his fear and went on to become a great hero, if only for a short time.
Page last updated: 3 May 2002