Boktor (Jarain of Talketh Manor)

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Name: Jarain of Talketh Manor

Sex: Male

Age: 32

Occupation: Entertainer (Bard)

Guild Status: Master of the Guild of Harpers

Class: Gentleman (son of a knight)

Submitted by: Jonathan M Davidson

Frequents: Various Inns and Teverns in Northern Melderyn.

History

Jerain was born in Talketh Manor a large and properous holding in the Duchy of Alagon, Shorkyne, near Caer Karthan. Talketh Manor was the principle honour of Sir Salend, who also held two other manors through baliffs. He was a very unpopular man, harsh and unforgiving and cruel to his serfs. He married second wife Rinda who was elderly and infirm, since her dowry was her husbands manor which she inherited on his death. However, no love was loss between the two, Salend having numerous ‘affairs’ with all the nubile women of the manor. Jerain was born the seventh child of his father, Salend and the first child of Rinda, and never was seen as a favourite. In fact some claimed that he was a bastard by another women, a rumour not disputed by Salend, though the truth of the birth was obvious to all at the manor.

A small child at birth, Jerain never achieved the robustness of his older brothers preferring to stay in the great hall rather than join their rough and tumble. He was tutored by his fathers retainers; Burnard the Reeve (who lost the battle of teaching manorial agriculture), Sigmund the Hunter (who showed him the basics of bushcraft), and Ypris the Ostler (he was often sent to clean the stables as punishment for failings in his other lessons, but Ypris taught more than how to use a bucket and spade). Nurlar, the Priest of Larani, taught the boy to speak both the language of his people, Shorka, and the language of government, Ivinian, and the basics of writing in the Lakise script. He also spotted Jerain’s vocal talent and enrolled him in the singing of the church masses. However, the other skills Jerain was meant to be learning, the running of the manor, law and the combat skills of a knight, where not progressed so well. His father despaired of Jerain and calling him no son of his. Since Rinda was dead and buried, that left Jerain to his own devices.

Jerain’s eldest brothers left one by one for their foster homes to learn the skills of a squire. When he reached thirteen, Salend despaired at the humiliation of having such a son so unversed in knightly skills. He decided that since Jerain’s only apparent skills where book learning and singing, that he should be sent forthwith to a monastery (near Suvas) to devote himself for life to Larani. Jarain was disowned totally and Salend vowed that not another penny would be wasted on him. Despite Jerain recognising his own weaknesses, he was determined not to join the church of Larani. By the time came for him to leave Talketh Manor in the company of a one of his father’s sergeant-at-arms, he had enlisted the help of several of his closest friends. Sigmund had presented him with a fine pair of boots, a camp knife and woolen cloak. His eldest brother, Fathnor, secretly arranged for his foster-brother, Larial, to shelter Jerain for a short while. Even Nurlar recognised the error if forcing Jerain in to the church against his will and slipped him a purse of silver on his leaving day.

Jerain’s plan to give the sergeant the slip just out side Suvas and make his way to Hierbur to stay with Larial, worked beyond his wildest expectation. The truth being that his father’s retainer was not of a mind to pursue the errant lad once he had realised that Jerain was safely on his way to a new life. His only surprise was how late Jerain left it before taking his leave. His father was happy to except his sergeant’s explanation that Jerain had died in a forest fire trying to save a fair maid and that both their bodies had been consumed and not recovered. It made a good story to tell the populace even if its truth seemed doubtful.

After a safe interval Jerain made his way south to the city of Eshaple and assumed the name Boktor of Tarnu. His ambitions to gain an apprenticeship as a scribe quickly proved futile and he was forced to make a living as he could. Frequently he had to sleep in doorways and beg alms for his next meal, he became so desperate that he took to petty thieving. Luckily he fell in with Geral, a elderly rogue and fellow beggar, before the Lia Kavar could become too irritated with him. He taught Boktor how to survive urban life and how to avoid the pitfalls of the established law and criminals. Geral was an excellent speaker with a good knowledge of the lore of the land. He earned his supper by entertaining the crowds in the market and taverns. Boktor supported him in the evening singing all the most popular folk songs. His gained a reputation of such stature that he was employed by the "Up and Over" Tavern, a eatery of distinction on one of the main streets, as their regular singer.

From the "Up and Over" Boktor was quickly employed by the owner of Eshaple’s single theatre and music hall. Boktor stayed with the theatre for seven years, where he learnt all the basic skills of a Harper, including how to play the lute, as well as other crafts useful to the theatre such as acting, dancing and acrobatic skills. Though the theatre was not a guild hall and the training was not formal, Boktor was recognised by the Guild of Harper, especially as several of the theatre’s stars where guild masters. During the time with the theatre, Boktor never forgot Geral and he often sung for both his supper and Geral’s in various small taverns throughout Eshaple. The clientele of the theatre is very mixed and his knowledge of both Shorka and Ivinian stood him well, though he also learnt a little Harnic from the foreign visitors and sailors in the taverns. Soon after Boktor reached twenty-one, Geral died of natural causes, which hastened Boktor’s decision to quit working in the theatre and Eshaple altogether.

So Journeyman Boktor of Tarnu took to the road, travelling the length and breath of Shorkyne. When he was lucky he stayed the night in a comfortable Inn, his supper paid from the coins garnered from its clientale by his excellent entertainment. However, on some nights he was alone with the stars, with only the remains of a rabbit he’d snared and roasted earlier. A couple of years later whilst travelling through the region around Karthan he learnt that Salend of Talketh Manor had died in a tragic accident, drowned in the cess pit of his cow shed. It was rumoured that Saland had meet his end at the hands of one of his serfs. When he learned that Burnard the Reeve was implicated, he rushed back to the manor to give his support. Though in his guise as Boktor he wasn’t immediately recognised by most, the new lord of the Manor, Fathnor, saw through the sham. Boktor was fated by his brother who had believed him dead for the last ten years. He was to late to save Burnard since he had already been found innocent, Saland having died of a fit of apoplexy on hearing that his prized bull had gone lame. Fathnor wanted to sponsor him for a knighthood, an honour that was refused. But henceforth, Jerain reverted to using his given name at birth.

After staying with his family for several months, Jerain set out for the road once more, now armed with a horse and finery he had only dreamt of before. Rather than staying in Inn beside the road, Jerain found himself welcomed in the manor houses. He would stay for a few days in each, providing the entertainment and spreading the local gossip. Often finding time to woo the heart of the fairest maid of the household, though his conquest was normally one of the kitchen maids. His fame grew to the point where he was made a Master of the Guild of Harpers by common acclaim of his peers and he even entertained the King by singing the lay of his ancestor’s semi-mythical deeds.

After nine years on the road, his success in court, especially his reputation as a lady’s man where to prove his undoing. After an extended stay with the Clan Pelanby (the Dukes of Alagon), rumours emerged of an affair with the wife of Baron Farak, who was away at the King’s court. In truth there was substance behind the claim, though they both claimed it was chaste love befitting the chivalric ideal. The enraged Baron, however, cut short his stay in Quarelin, vowing to put the matter to a trial of combat. Jerain fled the court of Pelenby and left Shorkyne bound for Cherafir on the fastest vessel he could find. In his absence he was found guilty of breach of rank with sentence held in abeyance by the Duke until he returned to defend the case. Though Jerain learnt of this verdict at a later date from the crew of a Eshaple registered ship, his desire to defend his family name did not over come his fear of the Baron, so soon after the event.

Upon reaching Cherafir his pleas of asylum where not accepted, especially when rumours of the truth behind his fleeing emerged from the sailors of his ship. He was forced to stay in the alienage, refused entry into the rest of Melderyn for fear of reprisal by the Clan Pelenby. After several months of making a living walking the boards of the taverns singing for his supper, he found a Ivinian captain a little more unscrupulous than the rest. Jerain agreed a price to be transported to the coast near Zuilos. After wading ashore, he reassumed his old guise of Boktor and set about trying to survive in a strange land. His ability with lute and voice ensured his stay in the inns he passed through. His courtly behaviour and tales of foreign lands led him to be welcomed in to the manors, though he was always seen as a passing, mysterious stranger rather than a true member of society. At the age of thirty-two he had re-established his wandering lifestyle, not knowing his welcome and fearful of being identified as the alien he was.

HârnMaster Character Profile

Attributes

Birth/Family

Apperance

Physical/Personality

Religeon

Other/Notes

Suffers from Ivashuphobia

Skills

Physical Skills

Communication Skills

Language Skills

Craft/Lore Skills

Combat Skills

CP Form

Skills:

Age 14 + 7 (apprentice) + 11 (vetran experience) = 32

Copyright ©1997-98 Jonathan M.Davidson , 05/05/98