Pipkin Quickharvest (updated)

[nikki]

Name: Pipkin Quickharvest
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Species: Hazel Dormouse
Occupation: Farmer

Physical Appearance:
An overall average-looking dormouse, Pipkin is slightly large for his species - only a bit smaller than a mouse - and rather chubby; he has a noticable paunch, though his limbs are strong and sturdy. His fur is a rich golden brown with a darker stripe running down his back and the top of his fully-furred tail. Pipkin's tail is very long - about as long as his body - and his whiskers somewhat shorter than average. He has large black eyes rimmed in white, and has white undersides from muzzle to lower abdomen. He wears an old but well-kept faded green tunic and gray pants; in colder weather he has a thick cloak of brown wool, and he always carries a gray haversack and a quarterstaff. Laid back and more than a bit lazy, Pipkin is nevertheless a goodnatured dormouse, always ready to either nap in the sun or stop for a friendly chat.

Possessions:
Haversack: Filled with supplies from his farm - mainly preserved fruits and vegetables and cheeses, with a small bottle of elderberry wine to offer to fellow travelers.

Quarterstaff: A well-worn staff of high quality oak - normally used as a walking stick or in harvest season games, though in the right paws it makes a fine weapon for a traveler.

Personality:
A goodnatured dormouse with a welcoming smile for nearly anybeast, Pipkin is a well-meaning but lazy young beast who would rather be napping than almost anything. He is by nature slow-moving and steady-paced when not roused to action - and while usually gentle and calm, he can be irritable if roused for something he feels unnecessary. Though intelligent, he can also be somewhat unfocused, and tends to ramble off on tangents fairly easily; still, if one listens closely a philosophical side can be detected in his rambling, and when he appears to be napping he is sometimes simply letting his mind wander. All in all Pipkin is a dozy but genuinely goodhearted dormouse, ready for a chat or a nap at any time.

Strengths:
Creative Thinking: Pipkin does not always think linearly - which means he sometimes sees solutions others may not, simply because his mind easily goes off in directions others might see as unusual.

Staff Fighter: A skill normally seen in harvest festivals in his homeland, Pipkin is quite accomplished with his quarterstaff and a dangerous beast when pushed to act in defense of himself or others, due in part to the stout strength of his limbs from years of farmwork.

Camp Cook: A fair cook with normal equipment and implements, Pipkin has learned to really shine when working with foraged items over a campfire - a necessity on his long trip.

Weaknesses:
Laziness: There's really no way around it - Pipkin is lazy. Though he knows he shouldn't and feels guilty when it causes problems, he simply can't help slipping off for a nap when he should be doing chores.

Unfocused: Dreamy and often in his own head, Pipkin finds it difficult to concentrate on any one task for long; on the farm, accomplishing tasks of more than fifteen minutes to half an hour required a combination of heroic will and gentle prodding from a family member when he got off-track, and he is easily distracted at the best of times.

Slow Mover: Though quick with his paws, Pipkin is noticably slower-moving than many other beasts of similar size and age.

History:
A farmbeast from the plains south of the Broadstream, Pipkin was born to a quiet life in the fields and a nameless farming community that had served Noonvale, which was not far north of Broadstream, for several generations, trading food from their fields to the settlement in exchange for cloth, ink, paper, and other items not manufactured in their fields. The youngest of three pups, it was his responsibility to take part of the harvest to Noonvale as soon as he was old enough to make the trip alone; the young dormouse thus spent three seasons of the year working the fields and the fourth after the harvest enjoying the hospitality of Noonvale before returning home in the spring. It was in Noonvale that he learned the art of staff fighting as part of games, and it was a talent he put to use at harvest festivals to earn extra treats for his Noonvale friends.

He never expected to put his skill to use for anything outside the games.

One winter, a twenty-year-old Pipkin was wakened from sleep by a strange dream - a warrior mouse he'd never seen before urged him to hurry back to his farm. Confused but compelled to obey, he described his dream to the elders of Noonvale before setting out. He found a small band of rats and rogue shrews on the farm, the vermin intending to kill the dormice and take their stores and any items of value while the Quickharvest family hibernated; Pipkin was able to take the marauders by surprise and hold them off until the creatures of Noonvale arrived to aid... and all without waking the hibernating Quickharvests.

Once the confusion was over, Pipkin made ready to return to Noonvale to wait out the rest of winter. Instea of a relaxing winter, however, he found himself consumed with curiosity about the mouse from his dream, and began talking to the elders at Noonvale in hopes of some sort of explanation. Finally, dusty archives from seasons long past brought a possible solution - a warrior mouse who had disappeared into Mossflower Country long ago, never to be seen at Noonvale again. Less than pleased with the prospect of long-term travel but unable to stay in his homeland until his curiosity was fully satisfied, Pipkin set out at the first sign of spring thaw, loaded down with gifts from his family (who were bemused at their lazy youngest's sudden wanderlust, and determined to see him cared for on his journey). He has been traveling ever since, seeking the story of the strange mouse.

Pipkin's long (and somewhat slow) journey has taken him rambling through field and forest, weaving across the land in a crisscross but always moving more or less steadily south. Having never hibernated since he began his journeys to Noonvale, he has been well-suited to travel, needing only to pause in the most severe of winter weather, enjoying the hospitality of those he meets on his way and leaving a network of friends across the countryside. The years on the road have toughened the dormouse, and encounters with foebeasts and friendly warriors alike have honed his skills with his quarterstaff. Aside from ground-dwelling beasts, Pipkin has gone out of his way to make friends of the more peaceable birds, creatures who can carry news to his friends and family and bring replies back to him - and, when he's lucky, treats from them as well. Several times, Pipkin has been tempted to settle with one new friend or another; every time, his curiosity gets him moving again again.

As he moves further south, Pipkin has begun to hear confirmation of his approach to Redwall, and he feels his journey is coming to a close... and that he will at last learn the full story of the mouse who saved his family.

Relationships:
No major ones as yet, save the friends and family left behind as he traveled. Pipkin does keep in contact via the birds, particularly his elder sister Larken and the elders of Noonvale.

[Tracy]

I'd like to see the history fleshed out a bit, it's really vague. Tell me a little about his family and how they got involved with trades in Noonvale, as opposed to somewhere closer. Also, I might have to ask someone about this, but I'm not sure how easy a trip to Noonvale every year is. To me, in the book it seems it might TAKE weeks/months to get there. There's a reason the characters in the books never go there, nor mention it really.

Tell me a little about his travels this far, has anything come of it? Why is he compelled to travel? How did his family react to his decision to leave? Does he know where he's headed?

[nikki]

He's actually close to Noonvale; Broadstream is very close to Noonvale according to the map I'm looking at, which is why it's taken him so long to get close to Redwall. His compulsion to head south is not something he can explain - just that he needs to go there and look for the redstone building, which I can definitely flesh out a bit.

Will do edits when I get home!

Edit - updated to remove his Champion buildup and elaborate on his past and his traveling.

[Tracy]

Accepted.