Post by Eastpaw on Apr 27, 2010 10:38:29 GMT -5
Name: Mad Cadmus Ragtail {Birdthief}
Nicknames:
Gender: male
Age: indeterminate to outside observation, he himself does not know it (he’s 37)
Species: Stoat
Occupation: thief, pickpocket, burglar, traveling magician, entertainer, beggar, forager, trader, coward.
Physical Appearance:
A ragged-furred creature of indeterminate age, Birdthief is rail-thin, twitchy and queer. His fur is a dull brown shot liberally with gray, his underfur an indiscriminate gray. He is a tall creature, who carries himself in a bent posture, always stooping and usually cringing.
Birdthief’s main attire is feathers and beads. Tied into his fur, woven together, flapping in the wind, he is a virtual clash of two species, bird and stoat. Most of the feathers are tern, from the large Caspian tern to the small white tern, but a pair of hawk primaries are stuck in his ratty red headband. There are a variety of other feathers in there as well, so much so that it is hard to tell whether or not he is a stoat, or merely a scruffy earth-bound bird. He strings beads on the feathers, on strings, on knotted bits of fur.
He is constantly twitching, his short stubby tail, his ears, a finger; anything. His body is scarred and calloused, a lifetime of cowardice and insanity and thieving written on his skin like words on a page. His eyes are brown and a rather startling green. The left one, the green one, is the good eye. The brown one tends to wander, a lazy eye.
Possessions
Feathers and beads- many of them decorate himself, but he also carries them in a small knapsack, which he will offer, at the drop of a hat, to trade for something, perhaps what he needs, perhaps whatever comes to mind.
Headband- The only actual piece of cloth her wears, this is a faded red cotton. It is wide and wraps around his forehead to the back of his head, where it is tied.
Various- This collection is always shifting, but its mainstays are the ratted old knapsack and a set of flat lock picking tools.
Personality:
His personality perfectly fits his looks, he is erratic, often going off in song, or rants, or babbling commentary, even fits of silence. Creatures who encounter him can frequently come away certain he is insane, off his rocker. And yet, others can get the distinct impression that he is a little queer, but still mostly sane. He has his bad days and his good days.
Birdthief is a compulsive kleptomaniac, has no apparent sense of direction, and has a knack for getting into trouble. He is not a malicious character, in fact, under his strange exterior he seems quite the calm, peaceable beast. What really attracts his attention is shiny things and feathers. He loves feathers, and will pick up a particularly good specimen and talk to and stroke it for hours before he finally finds a place worthy for the ‘fine thing’. Sometimes this brings him into disagreements with birds, for they are not always dropped feathers that catch his eye. This can be a problem, as he has no sense of danger, only the desire for what has caught his eye drives him.
His sense of direction is practically non-existent, so he sets out with no apparent plan of travel and eventually he gets to another place. He is a travelling entertainer, quite adept at sleight of hand and other magician-y hand tricks. He rarely plans out his thefts, being more a creature of the here-and-now, but can and will if need be.
He is alternately suspicious of new travelers and certain that they are his best friends in the world, to the collective embarrassment and bafflement of all but himself. Despite his obvious fallacies, he is a shrewd negotiator and trader, a competent thief and a passable magician.
Under the madness, Birdthief is a relatively steady-minded beast. He has no ‘true’ allegiances, not even to himself. He is peaceable, more liking the ‘coward’s way out’. He prefers negotiating and other secondary actions in response to any danger or threat, which he has a hard time with anyways, he can perceive danger subconsciously, but he doesn’t realize ‘this is a threat to you and you can get hurt’.
He loves song, and singing or playing music will calm the worst of his fits, after which he tends to sink into exhausted sleep.
Strengths:
Craziness Those who know him (I use the term loosely) and those who have only heard of him can tend to give him a wide berth, if only because he is unpredictable and mad.
Thieving, sleight of hand His movements are usually so erratic that the smooth transfer of beltpouch to knapsack or of an egg from behind an ear is astonishing, and can even earn him a scrap of food and a place to rest.
Birdtalk He speaks well many bird languages, his ‘First’ and best being Tern.
Weaknesses:
Ooh, -insert adjective here-! A compulsive kleptomaniac, he picks up anything that catches his eyes, often without detection and realizing.
Straight thataway Birdthief somehow manages to get lost on a straight path, most likely because he is so easily distracted, but his own terrible sensing of direction contributes a lot to this as well.
Would you like to trade me this for your… With no sense of danger, he’s very likely to get into trouble, it seems to look for him.
History:
Born long ago to a young stoatwife, he never knew his father. He was an odd child, though never as odd as he is now. Young Cadmus and his mother lived peaceably by the sea, mainly because she felt the warrior’s life was not the life for a child. They loved each other, but she never quite understood how he could go out for blackberries, and come back days later, berrystained and scratched but from a completely different direction. Or how he could talk to the great Terns of the Sea, known for their ferociousness and fearsome powers, and not show any fear.
He grew up, and he and his mother grew apart. When he was nineteen he wandered off and never went back. They’ve never met since. He had several friends over the years, the most notable at this time being Sidon, a Caspian Tern he met by the shores of Salamandastron. Sidon was young then, as was Cadmus. Cadmus sort of adopted the young tern, lost from his nest and hardly fledged. They spent ten years together, wandering the world and learning to exist in it. Sidon was a very down to earth bird, he was perfectly sane and possessed a healthy flight or fight response, something his partner lacked.
As Cadmus aged he became stranger, at first referring to himself as ‘Mad Cadmus’ in jest but eventually becoming truly what he lightheartedly mocked. Sidon, in the course of their travels had met and fallen in love with a female tern. Eventually he and Cadmus parted, meeting only occasionally. He now has had several clutches with his mate, Curia. She does not approve of Birdthief, as he now was being called, and steadfastly refuses to have him by her nest.
Birdthief now wanders alone, thieving and entertaining and collecting. He seems to be now thoroughly mad, and whatever travelling companions he picks up are soon gone.
Relationships:
Sidon: Caspian Tern, friend
Other
“Mad Cadmus” is only used by those who know him very well, or by those who have met him prior to the last ten years, when he still introduced himself to others as “Mad Cadmus”
Nicknames:
- Birdthief
- Tern
- Mad Cadmus
- Raggy
- Ratty
- Rags
- Any other derogative/nonderogative nomen a creature sees fit to call him
Gender: male
Age: indeterminate to outside observation, he himself does not know it (he’s 37)
Species: Stoat
Occupation: thief, pickpocket, burglar, traveling magician, entertainer, beggar, forager, trader, coward.
Physical Appearance:
A ragged-furred creature of indeterminate age, Birdthief is rail-thin, twitchy and queer. His fur is a dull brown shot liberally with gray, his underfur an indiscriminate gray. He is a tall creature, who carries himself in a bent posture, always stooping and usually cringing.
Birdthief’s main attire is feathers and beads. Tied into his fur, woven together, flapping in the wind, he is a virtual clash of two species, bird and stoat. Most of the feathers are tern, from the large Caspian tern to the small white tern, but a pair of hawk primaries are stuck in his ratty red headband. There are a variety of other feathers in there as well, so much so that it is hard to tell whether or not he is a stoat, or merely a scruffy earth-bound bird. He strings beads on the feathers, on strings, on knotted bits of fur.
He is constantly twitching, his short stubby tail, his ears, a finger; anything. His body is scarred and calloused, a lifetime of cowardice and insanity and thieving written on his skin like words on a page. His eyes are brown and a rather startling green. The left one, the green one, is the good eye. The brown one tends to wander, a lazy eye.
Possessions
Feathers and beads- many of them decorate himself, but he also carries them in a small knapsack, which he will offer, at the drop of a hat, to trade for something, perhaps what he needs, perhaps whatever comes to mind.
Headband- The only actual piece of cloth her wears, this is a faded red cotton. It is wide and wraps around his forehead to the back of his head, where it is tied.
Various- This collection is always shifting, but its mainstays are the ratted old knapsack and a set of flat lock picking tools.
Personality:
His personality perfectly fits his looks, he is erratic, often going off in song, or rants, or babbling commentary, even fits of silence. Creatures who encounter him can frequently come away certain he is insane, off his rocker. And yet, others can get the distinct impression that he is a little queer, but still mostly sane. He has his bad days and his good days.
Birdthief is a compulsive kleptomaniac, has no apparent sense of direction, and has a knack for getting into trouble. He is not a malicious character, in fact, under his strange exterior he seems quite the calm, peaceable beast. What really attracts his attention is shiny things and feathers. He loves feathers, and will pick up a particularly good specimen and talk to and stroke it for hours before he finally finds a place worthy for the ‘fine thing’. Sometimes this brings him into disagreements with birds, for they are not always dropped feathers that catch his eye. This can be a problem, as he has no sense of danger, only the desire for what has caught his eye drives him.
His sense of direction is practically non-existent, so he sets out with no apparent plan of travel and eventually he gets to another place. He is a travelling entertainer, quite adept at sleight of hand and other magician-y hand tricks. He rarely plans out his thefts, being more a creature of the here-and-now, but can and will if need be.
He is alternately suspicious of new travelers and certain that they are his best friends in the world, to the collective embarrassment and bafflement of all but himself. Despite his obvious fallacies, he is a shrewd negotiator and trader, a competent thief and a passable magician.
Under the madness, Birdthief is a relatively steady-minded beast. He has no ‘true’ allegiances, not even to himself. He is peaceable, more liking the ‘coward’s way out’. He prefers negotiating and other secondary actions in response to any danger or threat, which he has a hard time with anyways, he can perceive danger subconsciously, but he doesn’t realize ‘this is a threat to you and you can get hurt’.
He loves song, and singing or playing music will calm the worst of his fits, after which he tends to sink into exhausted sleep.
Strengths:
Craziness Those who know him (I use the term loosely) and those who have only heard of him can tend to give him a wide berth, if only because he is unpredictable and mad.
Thieving, sleight of hand His movements are usually so erratic that the smooth transfer of beltpouch to knapsack or of an egg from behind an ear is astonishing, and can even earn him a scrap of food and a place to rest.
Birdtalk He speaks well many bird languages, his ‘First’ and best being Tern.
Weaknesses:
Ooh, -insert adjective here-! A compulsive kleptomaniac, he picks up anything that catches his eyes, often without detection and realizing.
Straight thataway Birdthief somehow manages to get lost on a straight path, most likely because he is so easily distracted, but his own terrible sensing of direction contributes a lot to this as well.
Would you like to trade me this for your… With no sense of danger, he’s very likely to get into trouble, it seems to look for him.
History:
Born long ago to a young stoatwife, he never knew his father. He was an odd child, though never as odd as he is now. Young Cadmus and his mother lived peaceably by the sea, mainly because she felt the warrior’s life was not the life for a child. They loved each other, but she never quite understood how he could go out for blackberries, and come back days later, berrystained and scratched but from a completely different direction. Or how he could talk to the great Terns of the Sea, known for their ferociousness and fearsome powers, and not show any fear.
He grew up, and he and his mother grew apart. When he was nineteen he wandered off and never went back. They’ve never met since. He had several friends over the years, the most notable at this time being Sidon, a Caspian Tern he met by the shores of Salamandastron. Sidon was young then, as was Cadmus. Cadmus sort of adopted the young tern, lost from his nest and hardly fledged. They spent ten years together, wandering the world and learning to exist in it. Sidon was a very down to earth bird, he was perfectly sane and possessed a healthy flight or fight response, something his partner lacked.
As Cadmus aged he became stranger, at first referring to himself as ‘Mad Cadmus’ in jest but eventually becoming truly what he lightheartedly mocked. Sidon, in the course of their travels had met and fallen in love with a female tern. Eventually he and Cadmus parted, meeting only occasionally. He now has had several clutches with his mate, Curia. She does not approve of Birdthief, as he now was being called, and steadfastly refuses to have him by her nest.
Birdthief now wanders alone, thieving and entertaining and collecting. He seems to be now thoroughly mad, and whatever travelling companions he picks up are soon gone.
Relationships:
Sidon: Caspian Tern, friend
Other
“Mad Cadmus” is only used by those who know him very well, or by those who have met him prior to the last ten years, when he still introduced himself to others as “Mad Cadmus”
