Friday, June 09, 2006

The Vagabond Spy

Name: Wilfred Calvin Smithe (pronounced Smythe)
Age: 34
Occupation: Once court flunky turned wandering entertainer/thief/vagabond
Special Abilities/Skills: Thieving, Daggers from flying to hopping, and due to his need to find gainful employment while roaming - handy with mechanical contraptions. Not really renowned for his minstrelsy but for feats of juggling and sleight-of-hand.
Nationality/Ethnicity: Limey
Homeland: Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
Religion: Church of England, non-practicing.
Brief Physical Description: Wilfred, or Willy Woe as he is styled by his closer acquaintances, is lithe, disorderly in manner and appearance, but otherwise common-looking enough to fade into the background. He is called woeful by the way he looks when he juggles, especially with knives, cleavers, and other implements of the butcher's trade we call chivalry - almost as if he wishes on of them to fall deviant and decapitate him. He sports dark-blonde hair in a queue up to his waist, a D'artagnan goatee, and tatters that almost make him the image of Captain Jack Sparrow with none of the pizzazz.
Brief History: Having caught the eye of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester as a small boy, Wilfred eventually became one of his most loyal retainers. His propensity for finding himself in odd corners, in possession of bits and pieces of information, and the occassional parchment, had helped the then Regent Protector immensely against his enemies in the King's council. This was not to last however, and the Duke was eventually sent into exile in Ireland. After his fall from grace, the Duke had sent him to infiltrate William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk's coterie until an unfortunate incident with a blundering steward caused him to be sent to prison. Wilfred escaped, and has now been roaming England for three years, hiring himself out for odd jobs when the circus is not in town in order to eke out a living. He was last seen in Dover, fixing locks on chests for sailing ships. These jobs are few and far in between; eventually the three-headed monster of Starvation will claim his soul, like it did others before him.


Another social character that made my brain hurt thinking of stories. Still, Wilfred's player, Bennet, made it easier for me with all the details he provided. I focused heavily on his friendship with the Duke of Gloucester. The nobility were not always "noble" and were known to go to extremes to hold on to power. I wanted to know how far Wilfred would go for his lord.

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