The Long Tale of Burbo the Magnificent - Part One
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Background Story info for Burbo the Magnificent, as played by TheWheel78.
Part One -
In a quiet village north of the Neverwinter Wood, a young, gangly wizard named Micah was wandering aimlessly, minding his own business. His father, an important local citizen, was busy with town affairs that day, and had no idea Micah was shirking his studies. It was not often Micah strayed from his books, and as a consequence he had developed a 'wizards build' - which is to say he had no build at all. Having only begun this jaunt half a league ago, his short journey had begun to take its toll.
Sweating profusely in his house robes, Micah found a shady tree just off the trail under which to rest. Sitting, he soon realized just how beautiful the surrounding woods outside his father's estate were. He had lived here all his life, had played in the fields, ridden down well beaten trails with his brothers and sisters, but never had he fully embraced the full radience of a quiet spring day here in the woods.
His gaze took in the spring flowers sprouting out of thick green grasses, blowing lazily in the wind. Above, the broad green leaves of the shade tree shimmered and danced with the breezes, dappling the ground below in bright yellow sun. The fragrant air, the cool breeze, and animals calling out to one another painted a picture Micah couldn't have found in his father's gallery.
It wasn't but a few moments into his reverie that the elements had begun to affect the young man's judgement. Of course he had read the warnings of notable scholars regarding 'wanderlust'; the open air and the spring flowers, all exponentially more wondrous and fragrant than the library, were undermining every single cautionary tale Micah had ever heard, tales that had made up the brunt of Micah's adolescent existence. He got up from his shady nook and strolled over a clear hill, his soul singing a song that, in his humble span of years, he had never heard before.
One song, though, a cautionary maxim of his father's coinage, continued to pulse at the back of his brain. "Mind the Dryads of the Wood, for consort thence can spell no good." The words rang in Micahs pubescent ears like a clarion bell.
Well, Micah thought blearily in the early stages of this day's abandon, I mustn't forget this rhyme, not after all that had happened to Uncle Derrick…
Uncle Derrick, his father's younger brother, had consorted in secret with a Dryad early in his youth, hiding the fact from his kin for nearly five years, and had squandered much of the family fortune with extravagant gifts and overly-oppulent overtures of devotion. The loss had forced the family to sell their winter home in Waterdeep to appease Uncle Derrick's creditors. His weak jaw fixed tight, Micah was determined not to let any tree whore take his rightful inheritence, not on his life. He strolled down the hill at a hearty pace, blinded by his new determination and unconscious of any and all movement around him.
Unknown to our spindly friend, another soul had traipsed into the wood that day, with thoughts more amorous and predatory than poor Micah could possibly imagine…
...and if you want to know what happens you'll have to read Part Two.
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Reviewed - XP Pending.
