|
|
[Guild Rules] [Master Decalin's Story] [Apprentice Rhubian's Story] [Student Aeowyn's Story]
[Other Master Jesters] [Pictures] [Trials of Jesterhood]
Rhubian Otrok was born a slave. His lord had a small castle tucked away in a valley just west of the Dragonspine Mountains. Early on in his life, before he can even remember, His parents (who were also slaves) were killed in some kind of farming accident and Rhubian and his 2 younger brothers (Ledge and Flayze) were orphaned. The details of his parents deaths were unclear and Rhubian could never get a straight answer from his Lord about his parents or his origins. Nevertheless, the Otrok brothers worked in Duke Falbrek's fields all their lives. That is of course until Decalin the Jester arrived.
Rhubian was chosen by Decalin as his payment for entertaining Lord Maynard and his court for a time. At first Rhubian was angry that he was being forced to leave his brothers, but soon he realized that Decalin did not want Rhubian to be his slave at all. Decalin promised to go back and help him free his brothers. Rhubian was also offered the chance to join the Guild. Rhubian was to be trained a little before they were to attempt a rescue.
The training took place on the road to Drachmar for a feast. The pair sparred everyday and Rhubian learned the best he could. Decalin was hard on him, but Rhubian was harder on himself. He was focused on his goal of releasing his brothers. Once at the feast, Rhubian learned the basics of Juggling and by the end of the night it was clear that with a little work, he had the raw talent that is required to become a Jester. Now it was time to travel back to Maynard's Castle.
The slaves quarters were not in the castle itself, but rather a separate house in the backyard of the castle. This backyard was surrounded on all 3 sides by unpassable mountains in a way that the only way in or out was through the castle. The pair would have to sneak in through the castle, which wouldn't be that hard, but sneaking the two brothers out would prove to be much more difficult. Rhubian knew of a good way in through the kitchen, you see, the chef would always leave cream pies cooling on the windowsill. Before dark, they snuck in the window and hid in the cabinets, (while dining on the pies of course!). At midnight they snuck out of the kitchen and into the backyard. After picking the locks on the slave quarter doors, Rhubian was able to fill in his brothers on the escape plan. They needed to act fast because at sunup they were expected to be in the fields. Out of Decalins bag came the disguises for the 2 brothers. Their intension was to dress the brothers as the visiting noble women and have Rhubian and Decalin walk straight out the front door. All was going well until Ledge blew his cover by forgetting to disguise his voice while leaving the castle. The front guards caught on and were quickly subdued by Rhubian and Decalin, but not before one of them sounded an alarm. At this point all hell broke loose and the four made a run for the woods up the mountain. They reached their stash of weapons and supplies just in time so that Decalin could pick up his shield and stop the barrage of incoming arrows. They were hunted all night, but were too quick to be caught. Needless to say, the guild won't be welcome at Duke Falbrek's castle any time soon.
Rhubian convinced his brothers to travel with the guild for a while, which they did. They even tried their hands (unsuccessfully) at a little Jestering. One night, while travelling, the camp was raided and many of their supplies were stolen. It was decided to set up a watch for the next few nights. 2 nights later, the first shift was left up to Decalin and the second was Rhubian, both were uneventful. It was during Ledge's shift that the tragedy occurred. He was very tired and not used to all this travel and had dozed off while leaning against the tree. Twenty minutes later is when the 3 Trolls came in. Their intent was to steal again, but Trolls being clumsy one of them tripped on the sleeping Ledge and woke him up. Immediately he reached for a weapon but it was too late, the other two were all over him. Rhubian, Decalin, and Flayze awoke immediately to the scuffle. Rhubian tried to jump in half naked and weaponless, but was restrained by Dec long enough to give him a small axe. Unfortunately, Flayze was too far away for Dec to grab and he jumped on the back of one of the murderous Trolls. It was only a split second before he was torn in two. Enraged Rhubian charged madly at the unsuspecting beast and killed him with a shot in the chest. Decalin hacked apart the other two without incident and immediately rushed over to see if anything could be done to help out the fallen Otrok brothers. Unfortunately they were too far gone and no amount of healing power could have saved them.
From here Rhubian needed some time off from his grueling training regimen in order to grieve. Decalin allowed him to take a leave of absence for as long as he wanted. He was not gone for very long before he came to Decalin and the travelling carnival that he had hooked up with. Rhubian was determined to better himself and live his life the way his brothers would have wanted him to, and to get revenge on the Trolls that caused their deaths. He was still in rough shape, but the healing process had begun. They decided to hang with the travelling carnival for a while.
Here they came across a broken down old town called Zinder. It was troublesome how poverty stricken this place was, and unsuspecting that he would meet Aeowyn here. She was a young woman who saw him from afar and decided to play a riddle game with him. Kind of ironic that it was the Jester that needed the cheering up. She was actually able to puzzle Rhubian on a riddle for a day before he decided to bring the girl to Decalin. Rhubian sensed something special with this one and wondered if his master would sense the same. Of course he did, and Aeowyn has been part of the guild ever since.
From here it was off to Drachmar for a feast and a meeting of some of Decalin's old friends. Rhubian had a good time for the first time in a long time. Rhubian decided that it should be a pie party and has been his trademark since then. Next it was off to the Spirit Wood for his apprenticeship test. He was first to accomplish a certain number of tasks (make someone laugh, for example) and also to retrieve a variety of items, not the least of which were the 3 Magical Balls of Master Sorien. These balls were lost in the Spirit Wood by the Master Sorien the Great many years ago, and were now controlled by an evil Demon following Lord Jubilon. With a lot of effort (and some help from his master) Rhubian was able to complete his quest and was moved up in Guild standing to Full Apprentice. As a reward, as is customary, Rhubian was given an ancient sword of Rockwood to wield.
From here Rhubian travelled to a feast in a land that was new to him, the land of Ishtar. The journey was long and he was very tired, but the guild had fun that day. Shortly after this feast, some trouble arose in Ishtar. Aeowyn had been sent north on a mission, but Decalin and Rhubian stayed to help. For most of the day they served as distractors of the two factions that were fighting each other and wound up not being a whole lot of help because they were unsure of what side to join. However, Rhubian had come armed with many pies and they did not go to waste. His only regret is that Analyse was able to put up her orb of protection just before the pie arrived at her face.
Shortly after the journey to Ishtar, Rhubian was sent west around the mountains and then north to find Master Dhanin. Master Dhanin is a powerful warrior and battles exclusively with axes. For Rhubian to learn to kill Trolls effectively, he was going to have to learn to be proficient in axes. Here he was welcomed by Master Dhanin and was immediately immersed in an intensive training schedule. Rhubian had only one month to learn what he could from Dhanin before he was to return to Drachmar and meet up with Decalin and Aeowyn in some kind of attempt to save the plane of time. Unfortunately, right before he left on his journey, Rhubians foot was badly injured in a freakish training accident. It never should have happened, but Rhubian learned a valuable lesson about wading in unknown ponds with no boots on. From now on, he will think things through a little bit more before he does them.
He did manage to meet up with the Guild. On his journey he met a man named Faldo Rockchopper who was able to help him get there on time. Rhubian was in no condition to do battle, but he had hoped to be able to use his head and assist in solving any problems that may come about. He entered the Plane of Time with a group of friends, leaving Decalin and Aeowyn behind and dissappeared for a long time.
It is believed that he was trapped between planes for awhile and during his escape, his body was altered. He showed up in Millbrook for the first time in a long time, hoping that Decalin would be there. Aeowyn was there, testing for her apprenticeship, and was able to send him to Decalin. His face and hands were greatly disfigured and it seemed to affect his performance greatly. Presently, Decalin and Rhubian are trying everything they can to remedy his condition.