Arryn Duggan
"Star Reacher"

Appearance:  Arryn is a healthy looking teenager of medium height and lean build. Her skin is a creamy color, perhaps suggesting that the girl has spent an ample amount of time underground or indoors. She has silky, mustard colored hair that falls a couple of inches below her shoulders. While adventuring Arryn will often don a green headscarf and place her hair in a ponytail to ensure it doesn't get in the way. Her eyes are deep-set, the color of dark chocolate. She has a small mouth and a strong chin. Her wardrobe indicates that she is a traveler of a sort - sand colored tunic, green cloak, dark fingerless gloves, brown belt, short brown breeches, long brown stockings, and a pair of tough black shoes.

Personality:  Still very much in her teenage years, Arryn has plenty of youthful energy and vim. Although she has yet to completely come to terms with the death of her father, she remains an optimistic soul, one who yearns to travel the world, learn new knowledge, and uncover juicy exposés and stories around the land. Much like her father when he was her age, she is gripped with a wanderlust - she considers herself a novice traveler and adventurer and will journey wherever the wind or the fates or the flip of a coin directs her. This is a very exciting prospect to Arryn, although if she stops and dwells on it for a long time, there is a hint of sadness underneath, due to the fact that she has no place to call a permanent home any longer. She is fairly mature for her age, although she is prone to getting caught up in an unrealistic flight of fancy from time to time.

Arryn will typically remain loyal and friendly to those who treat her well. For the most part, she is charismatic enough to earn such treatment from others (though a select few have treated her poorly in the recent past). At this point in her young life, she is not the type to bear grudges or show outright hate to anyone. Though she has been gifted with certain talents that would allow her to steal, she would never knowingly rob a person or do anything malicious in nature.

Due to certain circumstances regarding her father's past (see history), Arryn is not a very religious person, although she remains open-minded about the subject. She acknowledges that the Arbiter grants divine powers to the clerics of the Solace Church (she has witnessed clerical magic herself), but she wishes to know more before she would become a member of the flock. Obviously, there was some important reason why her father left the church all those years ago. If the opportunity to find out why ever presents itself to her, Arryn would surely investigate further. She knows little of primalism, other than snippets read in books, but is also willing to learn more about this practice too.

Arryn has a love of maps and hopes to one day have a collection of her own, from cartographers near and far, ancient and contemporary alike. In the meantime, she will often sketch out maps of her own travels, noting in meticulous detail her finds and discoveries. It is a dream of Arryn's to one day compile all of her maps and footnotes into a series of tomes for inquisitive minds of the future generations to peruse.

Arryn also enjoys being underground and exploring caves or mines. Having spent some of her youth hanging around gruff miners instead of fraternizing with other pre-teens, she has a little bit of tomboy in her. Although she generally maintains good hygiene habits, she has no problem getting dirty if she has to. As a result of this, Arryn seems to have little time for prissy, spoiled girls.

In matters of the heart, Arryn has virtually no experience outside of the romance stories she read as she was entering puberty (she actually found them to be quite dull, insipid, and ultimately predictable). At this point, Arryn seems to have no interest in a romantic interlude of any sort, although she is vaguely aware that this attitude could change as she gets older.

History:  Nearly thirty years ago, Mortimer Duggan, one of the first well-respected and well-traveled human friars, renounced his religion and left the Solace Church behind. Mortimer hoped to find an anonymous new life he could live in peace - far away from anyone who knew him. He walked for months on end, his experiences as a roving friar helping to keep him alive during the dangerous trek. The former cleric finally found himself in a small, isolated mining community known as Sennetta. Mortimer quickly decided to settle himself there, figuring there was no better way to get lost than to throw oneself into a dark mine shaft and work the tunnels for a living.

Mortimer spent almost two years as a laborer in the copper mines. Although it was difficult and physical work, Mortimer kept his mind open at all times, paying close attention to the prospectors - where they chose to dig and why, noticing the layout of the underground and learning the telltale signs that a cave-in or flash flood was just around the corner if the miners struck at the wrong angle. When the old foreman retired, Mortimer easily won the job by impressing the mining company with an impassioned speech, his old life as a cleric (and orator) coming in handy once again.

The mines prospered under Mortimer's supervision - the man had learned his new trade like the back of his hand, and he developed a good rapport with the men by being a fair and lenient boss, allowing the workers extra time off to spend with their families if they so desired and, budgets permitting, raising the wages by a couple of copper pieces whenever he could. It was during this period that Mortimer felt a desire to start a family of his own for the first time. Unfortunately, Mortimer made the mistake of confiding in one of his assistants with this information. Miners being almost as bad as tavern wenches when it comes to gossip, the news that Mortimer was looking for a wife quickly spread across the village of Sennetta, potential candidates almost lining themselves up outside Mortimer's front door for the opportunity to marry a mine foreman who was on the fast track to becoming a wealthy man.

Though he desired a family, Mortimer had doubts he would ever meet the 'right' woman whom he could fall in love with. He was eventually coaxed (after a number of mugs of ale at the pub from the father of the bride) into marrying a young baker's daughter named Sasha. The girl was pleasing on the eye and seemed to have a friendly personality. Mortimer was hopeful that a true and lasting romance would soon develop between himself and his new wife.

Although young Sasha was soon with child, the couple had a difficult time connecting with one another. They were at least two decades apart in age, found they had little in common, and Mortimer's profession forced him to spend a great deal of time in the mines instead of at home (to compensate for sending his men home to spend more time with their families, Mortimer would often selflessly put in many extra hours himself). Mortimer wished that the newborn would help bring he and his wife closer, but the child seemed to have the opposite effect. Instead of caring and nurturing for her baby, Sasha was repulsed by it. When the youngling - a fair-haired girl named Arryn, was only seven months old, her mother ran off with a stablehand she had been having an affair with, never to return.

Mortimer should have been devastated by this, but he hardly noticed the woman's departure. Although it was not a romance as he thought it might be, the miner had finally found a true love in his new daughter. He hired the best nanny his money could buy to look after the girl while he was away, but when he was home he spent every waking hour with young Arryn. As he was an educated man, he schooled Arryn himself when she was old enough to start lessons, teaching his girl how to read and write and speak other languages at a young age. Later, he would teach Arryn the art of cartography, a skill which he had learned at the church many moons ago, one that aided him on his many travels.

He would often read stories from weather-worn, dog-eared books to Arryn, regaling her with mythical tales of faraway lands, or stories of brave heroes and heroines from hundreds of years ago. Mortimer would take Arryn outside at nights and show her the stars, the young Arryn desiring nothing more than to find a ladder tall enough to climb up to them (much to her father's amusement). Soon the girl was attempting to write stories of her own, stories where she would venture deep into the Outerlands or sail the length of the Endless Sea , discovering lost cultures and ancient treasures along the way - clearly Mortimer's daughter had inherited some of his wanderlust.

One thing Mortimer rarely discussed with his daughter was the subject of religion. He would explain to the girl certain things about the Arbiter and the church in bits and pieces every now and then, usually if Arryn overheard some manner of religious discussion in the village, but he never went into great detail or discussed the religion at length. When Arryn was 10 years old, her father was visited by another roving friar still very much a part of the church, a hobbit who had tracked down Mortimer after all these years. Listening at her bedroom door, Arryn could hear her father and the friar having a very heated discussion in the living room, though she could not tell what exactly they were talking about. After nearly an hour of shouting at each other, the friar left in a huff, slamming the front door on the way out. Afterwards, Arryn finally asked her father outright what the man wanted and why Mortimer seemed to have no faith in the Arbiter. Mortimer reluctantly told Arryn of his past as a friar for the Solace Church , though he couldn't bring himself to explain exactly why he had lost his faith and left his post at the church. He agreed to disclose the whole truth when Arryn was a few years older, explaining that the girl was still too young to understand what Mortimer described as a "very complex and convoluted situation". Unfortunately, Mortimer would pass on before he had the opportunity to share his revelations with his daughter.

It was around this time that Mortimer showed his daughter the mines in which he worked for the first time. Although some of the local villagers were mortified that the foreman would bring a young child into a mine shaft, Mortimer always made certain the girl was well protected with safety gear and had supervision whenever she visited him at work. The workers loved having the child around - her bouncy and youthful exuberance would often lift their spirits even after a grueling day of driving a pick axe for fourteen hours straight (not to mention - she was the daughter of the boss, so the men always treated her well). Arryn discovered she had a number of tomboyish qualities during this time of her life - she had no problem getting dirty, and she loved crawling around and investigating the dark corners of the mines. During breaks in the work, the miners would often show Arryn around, pointing out to her particular cracks or crannies that were to be avoided, or how to tell where exactly the water level was. It was thought by some workers that Mortimer was actually grooming his daughter to be the next mine foreman, although this was not Mortimer's intention by any means.

Arryn's father, Mortimer Duggan, died in the mines when she was only 13 years old. A pair of overenthusiastic diggers believed they had discovered a new ore of some kind and wished to proceed with the digging, but upon inspecting the area, Mortimer rejected their proposal to start excavating. The foreman had no idea why, but his miner's senses told him not to dig any further down the tunnel. Against orders, the diggers decided to go ahead anyway, sneaking off while most of the other workers were taking a meal break. Hours later, Mortimer and his men heard the echoes of screams and shouts coming from the off-limits area of the mine shaft. The foolish diggers had dug right through into the lair of a pack of winged gremlins, who wasted no time in ripping the intruders to shreds. Mortimer and his assistants dashed in to try and save the men, but they were badly outnumbered and already weary after many long hours working the mine... they soon fell in battle. The rest of the miners retreated and condemned the mine until weeks later, when a pair of traveling sellswords were hired to lead the local militia into the gremlin lair and clear the place out.

Unfortunately, Mortimer hadn't yet recorded a will or put his estate in order. After weeks of legal wrangling and arguments, a magistrate ordered that the village council would gain possession of Mortimer's home. Arryn was to be adopted by a foster family in Sennetta, her only consolation a small portion of Mortimer's savings (the rest was claimed and divided by the council). Mortimer's remains were never recovered from the mine - his funeral was purely ceremonial, with an empty casket being buried.

Still grieving, Arryn was taken in by a local carpenter and his family. The arrangement only lasted a year and a half. Arryn found little love or support with her new family. The mother was oblivious to her existence, their son and daughter seemed to scorn Arryn's existence and were annoyed with the newcomer infringing on their territory, and the father turned out to be a terrible drunkard. Although he was mercifully not a violent drunk, he was prone to crashing about the house and singing horribly out of tune tavern songs late into the night, usually resulting in sleepless nights for all other inhabitants of the home. It was during this time that Arryn learned to tread softly and keep her presence as unnoticed as possible. The less her foster family noticed her, the better.

Arryn also discovered she was good at hiding in dark corners and listening in on conversations not meant for her ears. The teenager was using these 'talents' one evening when her foster father was entertaining a friend from the local pub at the house. The pair stayed up late, drinking bitter lager and playing cards. Her foster father made a drunken confession to his pal that he only took Arryn into his home because the taxman gave breaks to families with more than two children. This information was the straw that broke the camel's back for Arryn. She knew that the family thought little of her, but to find out she was being used so the drunken carpenter could have more coin to spend at the pub made her furious. She packed her meager possessions and snuck out before dawn, stowing herself into the back of a merchant's wagon destined for the neighboring village.

A runaway without a home or any family to speak of, Arryn decided (in her youthful exuberance) that she would take up a life of adventure like the heroic figures from the stories her father used to read to her when she was a little girl. She had wisely saved all of the bits and tokens she had been awarded after Mortimer's death (somehow keeping all the coin safe from her greedy foster family), and was able to purchase enough provisions to begin a life on the road - traveling wherever the wind took her. Having just turned 16 a few months ago, Arryn is ready to explore the world, discover lost treasures, encounter the mythical races only briefly hinted at in the legends, and perhaps one day - find a ladder tall enough so she can reach the stars...

Campaign Events:  Teaming up with a few others, Sunny delved into the caverns and helped vanquish the Sinister Shroom.  She also helped rescue several prisoners the Shroom had captured.  Afterward, she decided she would help the prisoners return to their home in Narin, and so left the party.

After this, she and one of the prisoners, a young warrior named Thuskar, went back to Sennetta when they heard there was trouble at the mine.  Supposedly, they managed to help in some way, although the details are fuzzy.

DM's Commentary:  Arryn was an interesting character, especially under Matthew's control.  It's a pity he gave up on her so early on.

Relations:
Nalini:  Friendly
Firerain:  Friendly
Sunny:  Friendly
Drogo:  Friendly
Zevar:  Cautious

Favored Weapon:  Darts
Favored Spell:  N/A
Special Ability:  Gadgetry
Henchmen:  None (5)
Birthday:  Sardonx 17, 585

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