(Art by Niere)
(Banner art by Artmetica. Click here to see the full art this banner is from.
There's also a mix/soundtrack that goes with this story; that can be found here.)
~The Acolyte's Map - Raff's Story~
Info and Prologue
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Deleted scene
Miscellaneous Writing:
~Raff's Introduction Post~
About Raff:
Name: Rafion Goldenstrings
Race: half-elf (human/high elf)
Age: 35 (equivalent of about 28)
Height: says he's 5'6", but that's likely wishful thinking- more like 5'5"
Appearance: long brown hair, bright green eyes, deceptively slight, elven-looking
Birth Rank: only child (has a brother-by-choice, though)
Class: cleric (with ranger training)
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Highest Stats: Strength and Charisma
Weakest Stat: Intelligence
Favorite Spells: Charm Person and Speak With Animals
Favorite Hobbies/Skills: disguise, mischief, and gittern (medieval guitar)
Favorite Color: emerald green
Detailed info:
Like Cyneric, Rafion Goldenstrings (but call him Raff- he's quite aware that his name is silly) is a Messenger- a priest of Hermes. On this particular continent Hermes is one of only two Greek deities remaining- the other is Apollo. That pantheon has slowly waned over the centuries, but these two gods likely stuck around when the new deities arrived because their followers are useful. Healers and Messengers are always needed.
Raff's a thirty-five year old half-elf, which means that he's the human equivalent of late twenties or so. His sidekicks always include animals; at the moment he has a pet mouse (Rhy) and cardinal (Neru), and in the course of his story acquires a dog (Jack), as well.
His robes are always travel-worn because he just doesn't notice when they start to fall apart; he's one of the Messengers out on constant delivery assignments, rather than working from a specific home mosque, so he's bound to look more travel-worn than other Messengers, anyway. Generally Raff enjoys being able to travel, but after a while will likely start hinting that he wants delivery assignments that take him back towards his home town. Raff loves going undercover so any time he's not on duty delivering messages and letters, he'll frequently be found out of uniform and either dressed as a minstrel or in the simple green and brown elven clothing that he finds most comfortable.
Raff was originally training to be a ranger before he was Called by Hermes, and, charismatic though he is, he hasn't quite grasped all that goes along with civilization, such as tidy clothing. The other skill he possesses is that of a minstrel; his father, a musician (hence Raff's rather flamboyant name), taught him how to play the gittern as a child, and he'll often use this ability for a disguise. His father passed away when Raff was a teenager but his mother is still off ranging across the continent somewhere. He has no siblings except for an older brother-figure who he has known since he was young; though not related to him by blood, Raff will always refer to Kendric as his brother. Otherwise Raff considers the Messengers to be his family, and one of those priests in particular.
Yes, Raff is a half-elf, but don't ask him to hide his ears to pass as a human like most half-elves are expected to do- he prefers to look elven because then he can look more unique. There aren't a lot of elves in his part of the world, and if the Messengers don't care that he's a half-elf, why should he in turn care what anyone else may think? Lacking in self-confidence, Raff is not. ...except when people underestimate him because of how slight he is; then he gets angry and feels the need to show them just how strong and competent a fighter a slender elven-looking priest can be. Pretty much the only time he'll voluntarily try to appear human is for a mischievous disguise, and usually has to settle for human teenager because of that lack of height.
Something that's fairly noticeable about Raff is his accent- or, more accurately, the way he talks. By default he has a strange combination of slight Elvish accent (he spent the first half of his life around mostly elves) and lower-class human slang (the rest of his time has been spent solely around humans, and usually ones who aren't high-born), which ends up sounding like something of a brogue. This constantly changes, though, depending on who he's around, if he's in a disguise, or how stressed out he is. He can speak Common as well as any human can if he thinks about it, but he generally chooses not to sound flawless- it adds to that "other" aspect of being half-elven that he usually embraces. He's also lost some of that brogue as he's gotten older; in any story I write where he's younger, the accent will generally be stronger than in something current.
Raff isn't the brightest of Messengers; that isn't to say that he's dumb, he just tends to be lazy and feels that he can get by on charisma and luck alone. Why bother avoiding a bad situation when you can just Charm your way out of it? (Or, that failing, fight your way out of it...) He's extremely friendly, outgoing, and cheerful and that charisma means he's very good at getting people to do what he wants them to and talking himself out of trouble. On the flip side, however, he has a tendency to jump into things without thinking about the consequences, especially if it's something that could be potentially exciting. Yes, he could think his way through a situation, but where's the fun in that? Quick to anger, Raff is equally quick to forgive. This could be seen as him having a short attention span, but I prefer to see it as just another facet of his mercurial personality. Raff will be the first to admit that he's certainly not normal.
Luck has to run out sometime and his story is pretty much a continuous string of unlucky things; he still tries to stay positive, though, and will crack jokes even in the face of adversity
