Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- roderick [2007/01/03 15:57] – created jims
+++ roderick [2017/05/27 18:56] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[World|Back to main World page]]
+[[Voyager|Back to Voyager page]]
 ==== Roderick ====
-Player Character (Chris Bezodis).  Cleric to Imhotep.  Part of the [[Voyager]] campaign.
+[[Player Character]] in the [[Voyager]] campaign.
+Cleric/19, who worships [[Imhotep]].
-[[World|Back to main World page]]
+Roderick's character sheet is [[roderick_stats|here]].
+Roderick was the oldest of three children born of middle-class parents
+who were shopowners in a large city.  The shop was small, but moderately
+successful, so the family was never hungry.  The whole family worked in the
+shop in one way or another.
+By the time [[Roderick]] was fourteen, he had shown the aptitude, but not the
+desire, to carry on his family's business.  His parents thought that having a
+son in the priesthood would help the family name, so a position for him was
+secured at the local temple of Imhotep (not a huge place like the temples to
+other gods, but popular because free healing was always available).
+Roderick rose through the ranks of priesthood slowly, and was never that
+great at magic or performing priestly duties.  However, his business sense
+made him stand out, since priests of Imhotep were great healers and builders,
+but lousy businessmen.  Eventually [[Roderick]] became a senior official in the
+church, and the top businessman of the church.  Over the years he had trained
+many of the followers of Imhotep on how to run a business, and the business
+dealings of the church ran better than they ever did before.
+Now in his late forties, [[Roderick]] had ceded most of the business
+responsibilities to others.  His primary role was as a fundraiser, hitting up
+wealthy benefactors for donations to build temples.  His status was akin to
+those benefactors, with wealth and power available to him.  [[Roderick]] went to
+the resort numerous times, partly for vacation, and partly to keep in contact
+with other wealthy patrons, so that it would be easier to press them for
+donations.
+After the magic changed, and after the long trip across the continent,
+Roderick gained a couple of things: his priestly abilities, and a faith in
+Imhotep that he had never had before.  When the group had finally reached
+civilization, [[Roderick]] was of a skill level that he could return to his home
+and easily become one of the top three clerics to Imhotep in his region.  But
+he didn't want to go back there, at least not yet.  First, he knew that there
+were major problems brewing in the world, and he was one of the few people
+with the knowledge and willingness to deal with those problems.  Second, he
+had become used to adventuring, and wasn't sure how he could handle being
+surrounded by wealth and opulence all the time (but now and then is OK).
+Finally, he wished to bring the influence of the Egyptian gods, and
+particularly Imhotep, to this continent, and he doesn't want that task to
+fall on the other priest here, Sorgul.  In [[Roderick]]'s mind, Sorgul may be a
+powerful, knowledgeable person, but he is a lousy priest who doesn't have
+enough faith.
+Roderick's family is all alive and doing fine.  His parents have done
+well enough to semi-retire, as [[Roderick]]'s brother (one year younger) and his
+family runs the business quite well.  [[Roderick]]'s sister (three years younger)
+married another businessman, and now has many children and grandchildren.
+//Additional notes//:
+Roderick is quite a bit older than the rest of the humans in Voyager - a fact
+that doesn't matter all that much, but does make for some interesting color.
+When [[Roderick]] was first apprenticed to the temple of Imhotep, he was 14 years
+old and quite uncertain what he really wanted to do with his life.  The temple
+(at that point) was little more than a small enclosed shrine.  The priests
+(there were only two) shared a nearby apartment and lived in relative squalor.
+Roderick was obligated to live with his parents and study the holy books in the
+priests' apartment.
+The head priest was an outgoing and friendly man named Daniel.  His junior (in
+title only) was a gruff, but pious man named Burol.  Daniel insisted that they
+provide free healing services to the community, while Burol preferred to study
+engineering and seek hidden knowledge.  However, as high priest, Daniel was able
+to dictate the temple's mission and so the focus remained on healing.
+Since he had no useful healing skills (yet), [[Roderick]] took to the holy books
+with great aplomb and found that he shared Burol's love of the obscure.  It was
+in these books where he learned of what Imhotep called the "Science of
+Engineering" and found what he later realized was his first divine inspiration.
+As the small shrine was always filled to capacity with people in need of
+healing, the priests spent almost all of their time with healing rituals and had
+no time to devote to engineering or the pursuit of knowledge.  [[Roderick]] reasoned
+that all it would take was some land, building supplies, and labor.  He further
+concluded that since the two overworked priests provided such vital aid to the
+community, that the community could be persuaded to assist in this endeavor.
+The priests were skeptical (especially Burol) because they feared they would
+become beholden to the wealthy patrons of the city and be expected to favor them
+with their healing.  But [[Roderick]] pursued his plan with a determination that won
+the two over.  Within a year, [[Roderick]] had not only secured promises of
+financial assistance from local businessmen, but also had obtained the deed to a
+parcel of land near the waterfront that contained the burnt-out shell of an old,
+abandoned fish market.
+While some snickered and thought the land would be an Albatross around the
+temple's neck, [[Roderick]] managed to convince even the skeptics that the parcel
+was of sufficient size to hold a small temple and living quarters.  By the time
+of his 16th birthday in March, 1076, he was already helping build his first
+full-fledged temple to Imhotep.  He had been with the priests for only nineteen
+months.
+When the new temple became operational, the priests found themselves performing
+regular services in additional to the free healing.  And (slowly at first) the
+donations began to roll in.  When Burol grumbled about the promises that
+Roderick had made to secure the financing, [[Roderick]] wrote up a "business plan"
+that showed the temple would be able to retire their debt in five years.  Daniel
+felt that was a reasonable length of time, and once again Burol (as the junior
+priest), was obliged to agree.
+When the debt was retired early after only four years, Burol happily admitted
+that [[Roderick]] had been right all along.
+The next few years were ones of great expansion.  Two new priests (Samhunt, or
+simply "Sam", and Rynther) joined the ranks of the temple, as well as several
+acolytes.  In time, Sam would prove to be [[Roderick]]'s greatest friend in the
+temple.  He had come to Teleme from the kingdom of Backbone in what the Telemi
+quaintly referred to as "the old world".
+About this time, [[Roderick]]'s membership in the temple became official as he
+joined the ranks of the acolytes, but his heart remained in business
+administration - and the priests obliged his muse, often commenting that Imhotep
+must have a reason for him to be good at such things.
+When [[Roderick]] had been with the temple for 11 years, the goblins invaded the
+hinterlands.  It was December, 1085, and as it was over 100 miles away, across
+land still in dispute with the native Ourai peoples, the war was barely noticed
+in the city.  However, the priest Daniel spent many weeks travelling back and
+forth to the hinterlands to heal the warriors who fought in the futile attempt
+to win back the lands.  During this time, Burol was left to run the temple and
+he did such a decent job that when Daniel returned, he handed over the priestly
+duties to Burol full-time.
+Daniel never spoke in detail of what horrors he had seen during the war, but
+after his return, he was a changed man.  While he was only in his mid-40's at
+the time, his health deteriorated quickly after his ordeal in the hinterlands
+and he remained frail until his death six years later in September, 1092.  Burol
+always felt that Daniel must have extended his healing magics too far, though
+Daniel never believed (or admitted) that he had.
+By the time Daniel died, [[Roderick]] was 32 years old and the temple had once again
+outgrown its building ...
+[[Voyager|Back to Voyager page]]