Fiction: Naved "Folly" Tanner, a biography.

A character biography written for a friend's campaign in July of 2013.

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Naved “Folly” Tanner

Naved Tanner came into this world as we all do, though his circumstances were perhaps more fortunate than some. Born as the second son to a young married couple deeply in love with one another. His elder brother was to be trained to inherit the family profession, and neither Naved nor his brother had any objections or resentment to their potential paths in life. Naved learned pieces of his father’s craft, and he learned to love it, but never dreamt of following in his father’s footsteps.

Naved showed magical potential from an early age, and even as a toddler was much more interested in the world that his mother moved through. His mother was a healer, and an excellent mage in that realm. Naved loved to watch his mother work, and as a toddler and young child was inseparable from her, crying and throwing a fit if he couldn’t accompany her on her trips to see patients.

By the time he was six, his family had grown to include a little sister, with another sibling growing within the womb. It was during this time that Naved came down with a semi-magical maleficent disease known only as “the wasting”. It was historically fatal, seemed to strike at random, and those few that survived were normally left crippled. His mother devoted everything she had to fighting the disease in her desperation to save her son. For weeks she stayed by his side, using every every iota of her energy on every spell and technique she knew to slow the decline.

Naved began to improve, and though his body was weakened, he retained much more of his strength than any before afflicted with the horrific infection. It was shortly thereafter, in the days after Naved had begun to stand again, that his mother went into early labor. The rigors of saving her son had taken their toll. The baby was born, but his mother lacked the strength to survive the birthing. It was a girl.

The newborn was very weak, and took ill in her very first moments in the world. Naved took his first steps since the healing. He touched the baby, and used the energies he had so often felt from his mother for the first time. He kept his new baby sister alive. The two of them would remain very close throughout their lives. The youngest Tanner sister’s exposure to the healing magics within the womb and from Naved would eventually lead to her development into an intensely powerful healing mage.

His father was devastated by the loss of his wife, but for the sake of his four children pushed through his pain to be a good father. He was emotionally fragile, but remained devoted to honoring the memory of his wife, by doing everything he could to provide for the offspring she loved more than herself. Naved’s older brother apprenticed under his father, and did everything he could to support the family business that would one day be his own.

Naved missed his mother dearly, but retained a wide eyed innocence and wonder at the beauties of the world. When he was eight, he was growing very frustrated with the weakness of his body. He couldn’t move at the pace of his friends, and his body was weaker than his peers.

His uncle, an officer with the kings guard, suggested he study martial arts, going as far as to suggest a potential teacher for Naved. A very old elf named Kallah, known for her intense and different training regimen. She was renowned as a martial trainer, but her rigorous and discerning methods of choosing students left her turning away most that approached her. After meeting Naved, she asked him to submit to a spell of her own invention. Naved did, and though he never found out what that spell told her, Kallah decided with no reluctance to allow Naved to study under her.

Naved took to his training with a passion, and found in himself a will and a strength that he had felt he had lost since his struggle with his disease. Though his body would never completely recover, he made his peace with his limitations, and found ways to work with them instead of against them. She pushed him to grow in his magic, and trained him to use his unique advantages to thrive.

His training was not limited to that of the body and conflict. Kallah taught him to read and write. She taught him to appreciate art and literature, and encouraged him in developing himself artistically. She taught him about history and the other races of the world. He listened rapt with wide-eyed wonder to her stories of strange and fantastical beast and sapient species. She insisted he stay abreast of situations developing across the kingdom, and taught him about politics.

He was confused by politics and societal issues. He didn’t understand why some people should have more than others, why some feasted while others starved. He talked at length with his father and Kallah on the subject. Through these talks Naved earned himself his nickname: “Folly” from Kallah, for the naive idealism through which he saw the world, alongside his insistence that it could be changed.

In his teenaged years, he began to feel an irresistible desire for the freedom and excitement that all young blossoming adults feel. He found himself in the company of a group of young undesirables, a tight-knit band that enjoyed playing pranks and making trouble.. He enjoyed their light hearted banter, and the gritty eyes with which they saw the world was a sharp departure from the sheltered life his father had worked hard to provide for him. Upon learning of his nickname, his friends ensured that the moniker stuck.

He didn’t fit in entirely, but they were all in awe of the stories he had about his training with Kallah. Naved became very close friends with another magically gifted young man named Juhnta. Juhnta had grown up an orphan, and with no formal training had found ways to make his magic work for him. Naved was intringued by the spells that Juhnta used. The similarity between Juhnta’s magic and the energies he had learned from his mother was disconcerting to Naved. Some of his spells were just silly games, others were more serious. While Naved’s healing worked on people, touching pieces inside the body, Juhnta used magic that touched the mind. The difference was distinct, but minor. Naved learnt adeptly from watching Juhnta, though he found himself uncomfortable with some of the abilities.

Naved was sixteen when he got in his first real fight. His friends had been teasing some of the local rich kids. Ultimately, a confrontation between the two groups was inevitable, and conflict erupted. Naved had never before used his training in anger, and it frightened him. He tore through the pudgy, soft, weak willed opponents. Naved was horrified at what he was capable of, and deeply ashamed of the dishonor he felt at betraying the intent of his master’s teachings. He resolved to never harm any that he did not absolutely have to, and recommitted himself to the wisdom of example he had seen in his parents and his teacher.

When he was eighteen, his uncle arranged for an interview working as a town guard for the Kingdom of Neustria. He impressed them, and his training with Kallah made him very well suited for a career in service to the kingdom.

He found himself quite successful. Though his idealism still shown through untarnished, he impressed his superiors and made many powerful connections in the government. He enjoyed his job, and was very well liked by both the people he helped protect and the ruffians he was set against. For many young troublemakers, he was the only guard willing to send them away with a stern warning, a silver piece, and a legitimate concern for their future and well being.

His younger sister, the third Tanner child, possessed no noticeable magical capacity. She studied to be a seamstress, and after being introduced by Naved to one of his comrades in the guard they fell deeply in love and married. Naved maintained very close relationships to his siblings, but due to social obligations with his work friends, ended up spending a lot of time with his mystically mundane sister. His youngest sister found a teacher in healing, and by the time she turned thirteen had already become renowned for her potential. His eldest brother was very focused on his career, and had built a name for himself as a competent and creative leatherworker. Their father still runs his shop, though he has allowed his eldest to take over most of the responsibility. He is always willing to help his children, and is a constant source of support and love.

After three years as a guard, moving through the ranks quickly, Naved was offered a job in investigations. He was reluctant at first. From what he’d heard of the investigations department, they didn’t get to deal with the troubled youth stealing bread to survive. Investigators dealt with the grim and the dark. They dealt with the murders and the violent gangs and the rumors of Asura worshipers.

After much soul-searching, Naved decided to take the job. The training was rigorous, but posed little challenge compared to his childhood teacher. He found himself enjoying the hunt and the new skills the investigations department had to teach. He took to the job with aplomb, and was successful in infiltrating a very large criminal smuggling operation, earning him significant respect amongst his new coworkers.

He began to realize how helpful his relationships with his old street connections and the troubled young youth he had always tried to help really were. He approached Juhnta, and enlisted his help in his missions. While Juhnta is still a criminal, Naved sees him as a noble minded man, willing to cross any boundary in his personal war to help the downtrodden. Naved maintains a wide network of informants, mostly made of street toughs that not only respect him, but look to him as a source of kindness and wisdom in a harsh world.

He remains committed to his naive idealistic nature, despite the horrors that he has been trained to encounter. He truly feels that by working as an investigator, he can root out the corruption and evil in the world and within the government itself, and honestly believes he can make a difference in the world. He is always willing to give people second chances, and believes in the potential for goodness within all beings.