Tipu Redleaf
Character Class: Druid (intend to apply for Shifter)
Character Race: Ghostwise Halfling
Character Gender: Male
Character Alignment: True Neutral
Character Birthplace: Woods of Tranquility, Tilmar
Character Biography:
Tipu, or Tip for those that got to know him was born a small child even by hafling standards. He was born to a loving family and tribe in the Woods of Tranquility. His childhood was a fairly typical childhood for a Ghostwise halfling living in the treetops playing and learning about the cycle of nature. He learned at an early age how his village and the forest were one, each dependent on the other and all the creatures within tied to one another. There was no one without the other.
Tipu's tribe was very caring and treated all like members of their family. It was one big family. One child, however, had been problematic and was not melding with the tribe very well. On one occassion, this child (who was much bigger than most) had just made a new whip. He was feeling particularly crule this day and decided to pick on one of the smaller children in his tribe. Tip was unfortunately in his line of sight and was foraging apart from the other villagers on this day. The bully came up behind Tip and tested out his whip on him. Tip let out a wail, but was too far from others to hear. The bully continued to whip Tip until he was bloody, but Tip would not lay down, and got back up swinging with little affect time and again. Tipu's father returned from his foraging and then heard the beating. He ran as fast as he could to find his son standing and swinging his little fists as he was whipped over and over. Tipu's father came upon them and the larger boy noticed the father approaching and ran away in fear. Tipu collapsed to the forest floor. His father ran to him picking him up in his arms saying "My little tiger. Your body can not contain your spirit. I hope it never does.". The bully child was taken to task, and after the inability to address his issues was expelled from the tribe forbidden to return. Tipu's wounds healed, but left some nasty scars that resembled strips accross most of this body. During his Ritual of Naming, he and his tribe decided to accentuate those scars by tatooing those strips such that it resembled a Tiger's pattern. From that day forward he was known as Tipu (a crude approximation for the sign language for tiger or lion).
Tipu grew to be fine young ghostwise halfling, was kind to others and respected the ways of the forest. He was most at home with the creatures of the forest. Many days he climbed down from his treetop house and lay on the forest floor communing with the critters of the forest. Many days, as the sun fought through the treetops, he would fall asleep in its rays. In his dreams, he was always one of the creatures of the forest. Sometimes a cat, sometimes a wolf, sometimes a bear. When he woke he was always sad that it was not true. In fact, this was when he felt the most natural.
Tip's village celebrated the creatures of the forest every summer. They wore head dresses of their spiritual animals during many days of rituals, eating and dancing. Tip's tribe rountinely invited local druidic tribes to join them in their rituals. Tip was always facinated by the druid's ability to commune with the animals of the forest. It was almost like they could speak to them. Tip took such an interest that some of the druids would spend dedicatd time with Tip showing him the language of the animals. Tip was a nutural and contined to develop these skills as he grew to be a young man. As Tip approach adulthood, their tribe was preparing for their annual celebration. On the day of the celebration, a band of gnolls attacked the villagers while they were celebrating on the forest floor. Many of the village were killed that day. Those that survived were able to scramble to the treetop homes. Tipu and his father were amongst those that made it to the treetops. Unfortunately, Tipu's mother did not make it. Tipu had a very hard time with this and began to question his identity. He realized more must be done to protect all the creatures of the forest and Tipu's father encouraged him to explore his innerself by undergoing the Ritual of Change. Soon after Tipu was sent on his way to explore the world outside the Woods of Tranquility to re-discover his inner balance.
Tipu left his village with little more than a sack of berries and bread and the cloths on his back. It was a strange land, but at the sametime wonderful and full of opportunities. He discovered a nice town called Center where there were many buildings and people willing to help Tip. It was a nice change, but at the same time Tip was out of his comfort zone. In the evenings, Tip left the town and found a nice quite place in the woods were he comuned with the local animals. This always rejuvenatied him and made him at peace.
Tipu found it difficult to make friends in Center. Seemed adventurers were slim these days, so to pass the time he communed with nature and the creatures that lived nearby Center. He watched them for hours and hours until he at times forgot he was a halfling, and instead embodied the creatues he studied. Badgers, wolves, boars, panthers and bears. In fact, we was able to tap into his inner being and transform himself to those creatures he studied. Finally, he could become another creature of the woods. He would stay in those forms for most of the time and only transformed back into his halfling form when he returned to Center or needed to interact with other humanoids. His hunger for learning new forms only grew the longer he stayed in animal form. Could he learn to transform to other forms? Birds? other humanoids, stranger forms, or even a Dragon? Only time and study would tell.
Author
Topic: Lost in Transfiguration - Tipu (Read 1515 times)
