SHR Main Page | Opera Propria | Camera Mysteriorum Introduction
Characteristics: Int +1, Per +3, Str +1, Sta +2, Pre -2, Com -3, Dex +2, Qik +1
Size: 0
Age: 42 (42)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Faith Points: 1
Virtues and Flaws: Wanderer; True Faith, Ways of the Moors; Keen Vision, Sense Holiness and Unholiness, Strong-Willed, Student of the Divine; Dark Secret, Pious (Major), Poor; Vow (Poverty)
Personality Traits: Pious +3
Reputations: None
| Weapon/Attack | Init | Atk | Dfn | Dam |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Punching | +1 | +6 | +4 | +1 |
Soak: +2 (Stamina)
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)
Abilities: Animal Handling 3 (Sheep), Area Lore 3 (The Moors), Athletics 2 (Running Over Moorland), Awareness 3 (Hidden Danger), Brawl 3 (Punching), Chirugy 2 (Mending Bones), Craft: Woolworking 2 (Making Clothes), Dominion Lore 4+2 (Saints), Folk Ken 3 (Pious Folk), Hunt 3 (Setting Traps), Profession: Farmer 3 (Sheep Farming), Sense Holiness and Unholiness 3 (Divine Auras), Stealth 2 (Moving Silently), Survival 4 (On Moors), Swim 3 (Long Distances)
Equipment: Not a lot
Encumbrance: 0 (0)
Description and Background:
For most of his life Aethelgar was just an ordinary farmer, making a humble living by rearing sheep on the bleak, inhospitable moors of northern Yorkshire. He was neither especially good nor especially bad; he went to church, paid his tithes and generally tried to follow the Ten Commandments but would occasionally succumb to one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Lust, gluttony and avarice were his favourites whenever he got the chance to indulge. Then, one especially cold and bleak winter, Aethelgar was struck down by a terrible illness and felt certain that his time had come. Resigned to his fate, he decided that he'd better rise from his sickbed and go to the village church one last time to make his peace with the Lord. He never got there.
As Aethelgar struggled painfully along the road he began to feel a strange but overpowering compulsion to turn aside and proceed towards a small copse of trees some way off the beaten path. He collapsed when he got there, but more than at any time in his life he felt that if he confessed his sins and prayed for forgiveness in his final moments he would be heard. When he dutifully did so the thick grey snow clouds in the sky above suddenly parted, and as the sun shone down upon him his illness left him. Aethelgar's first instinct was to run to the village and tell everyone of the miracle that had occurred, but then that struck him as the wrong thing to do. The more he thought about it, the more certain he felt that this was a secret he was supposed to keep, at least for the time being. Aethelgar decided to get on with his life as if nothing had happened, but he made a solemn vow to prove himself worthy of the Lord's mercy by giving up worldly pleasures. Admittedly, he could have followed the example of St Francis by giving up everything that he owned as well, but he was a farmer, and he felt that this was still a worthy and important calling. Aethelgar also made it his business to find out whatever he could about local legends, and he eventually learned how his recovery had come about.
It seemed that some two hundred years previously, a procession of monks carrying the bones of their patron saint, St Wystan, from their monastery to safekeeping in York had been waylaid and killed by Danish raiders. St Wystan's remains had been presumed stolen and lost, but Aethelgar was absolutely certain that they had instead been secretly buried at the place where he had been cured of his illness. He did not try to find the bones, feeling that it would not be right to disturb the saint in his resting place, but further prayer at the site strengthened his conviction that St Wystan was indeed buried there. Aethelgar also felt that he could not say anything until St Wystan somehow made it clear that he wished his whereabouts to be known. This is a dangerous secret to keep, for it is well known that the monks at St Wystan's monastery would dearly love to get their saint back, and Aethelgar has no doubt that he will face serious charges if they find out what he has been doing. But there is nothing for it; the current abbot is not a very holy man when all is said and done, and Aethelgar strongly believes that his interest in St Wystan is purely financial.
So Aethelgar continues to tend his farm and his small flock in much the same way that he has always done. He could afford a more reasonable standard of living, but he gives away everything that he doesn't need. He is very tough on himself, and sticks grimly to an austere regimen of hard work, asceticism and prayer; he has heard of people who give up absolutely everything and wander around begging and scourging themselves to prove their devotion to God, but he thinks that is taking things too far. Aethelgar is respected locally for his piety, but at the same time a lot of his neighbours find it a bit disquieting. This may be partly because Aethelgar is very bluntly spoken and doesn't spare anyone's feelings when he wants to say what's on his mind.
Text copyright © Simon Foston 2005.