Roderich Edelstein

[Guest]

Picture credit to Tearworkshop on photobucket

Name:Roderich Edelstein

Age:28

Gender:Male

Quarter: Northwestern

Job: Roderich works as a bookbinder and scribe in the Northwestern quarter.

God(s): Roderich’s devotion is directed to Belenus a god of healing, success, prosperity, and the sun, and to Bragi god of bards and poets.

Gift: Roderich was granted a healing gift that he uses sparingly. He’s capable of healing by touch, but the drain it places on him is equal to the severity of the wound--every time he heals a wound he loses as much time from his life as if he had taken the wound on and passed through the recovery himself—the worse the wound the longer the recovery. Through this gift he is able to share that loss by acting as a conduit from one person to another, it decreases his life by far less than the normal healings, but the giver has to be completely complicit in the healing of the other.


Personality: Roderich is a perfectionist, possibly tending towards a bit OCD. It helps him a great deal with making certain the books are ordered and the script is neat. He does his best to curb these tendencies around others. Although he expects his high standards in others he’s rarely surprised when they aren’t evidenced.

He is very formal, and rarely smiles more than a slight quirk of his lips. He prefers to spend his time with ink and parchment, but is civil and courteous when he does deal with people. He prefers the quiet of his own company, but even then he does look forward to a certain level of human interaction outside of business deals. He’s introverted and can be rather quiet. On the other hand if you irritate him you’re likely to receive a scathing look and a sarcastic remark, though as he’s gotten older he’s grown better about this and certainly wouldn’t dream of it toward a superior.

When he does let himself relax enough to be around friends (or even to make friends) he’s still quiet, but he’s much gentler. His tone softens and his posture relaxes. However, this same tendency to relax also means that if he’s comfortable he’s more likely to let the person know exactly what he thinks. This is not a man who regularly shows emotion, but be assured that if he does it’s genuine.


Appearance: Roderich is a slender man of moderate height. There isn’t much remarkable about him. He has dark brown hair with one stubborn curl that he’s never been able to get to lay flat. His violet eyes are attentive to his surroundings, but hidden behind a pair of glasses.

He always carries himself with a poise befitting a station he doesn’t have. Though he certainly doesn’t expect the respect which comes with that station he does make certain that he is more than capable of commanding what respect he does feel he deserves. He wears older suits, preferring to save his money rather than see to new ones. The suits have grown shiny at the elbows and knees from wear and most have at least one repair somewhere on them—though these are expertly done and hard to see. Most of his shirts have ink stains right at the cuff, due to the amount of time he spends with pen in hand. When working he can often be found without his suit jacket, his vest in place and his sleeves pushed up. If he rolled them up instead he might actually avoid staining them, but he tends to be a bit hurried. He also wears a pair of gloves much of the time (except when actually writing or binding). This is done out of habit—one he established when he was quite young and has continued, though the necessity for it has decreased.


Strengths: Literacy—Roderich grew up around books and writing and gained a love for them and passion for sharing the art that is the written word.

Reliability—If Roderich says he will do something or be somewhere by a certain time, you can bet he’ll do his best to do so. If for some reason he can’t there is always a legitimate reason.

Attention to detail—though his perfectionism doesn’t always lend itself to winning friends and influencing people, he has an eye for the details, and is more than willing to see to them when others aren’t.

Loyalty—though it can take some time to earn it, once you have gained Roderich’s loyalty he will stick with you to the end even when it may be to his own detriment.

Compassion—Roderich wishes to better life for others, but knows that he has to keep himself from doing so impulsively—for his own health.

Weaknesses: Physical strength—Roderich has never put much merit in the physical side of things, much preferring the more cerebral pursuits. As such (although he’s thin—in part due to the fact that he gets busy and frequently forgets to eat) he has very little strength and in a physical match he’d be at a distinct disadvantage.

Compassion—Roderich’s desire to help others is one that he has done his best in recent years to keep under wraps, but when it does show up it is rarely in a monetary form. Often it cycles around physical aid and the more he does that the less help he can give.

Grudges—Just as Roderich holds loyalty to others beyond all logical bounds, so also he holds grudges. He remembers wrongs done to him and to those he cares about for a very long time and is unwilling to forgive the offender, especially if they hurt his friend.

Sarcasm—for someone who is willing to help heal the physical hurt in others, Roderich is quick with a sharp word or cutting remark. He’s not afraid to state his opinions and they can on occasion be rather unkind.

Complete lack of direction—his internal compass has been broken for as long as he can remember, directions are a sure way to get him lost, and having him give you directions is a sure way to get yourself lost. He knows how to get from point (a) to point (b) and knows his way around his own neighborhood well enough, but anything outside of his immediate ken and he’s hopeless. Never give this man a map, it will do neither him nor you any good.


Likes: Visual art—he finds it beautiful, words made visible is one way he describes it, though he can’t create it—he finds a different person for any illumination required on manuscripts.

Pastries—comfort food, he especially likes cake.

The color blue—there really isn't any justification for it, he just likes the color.

Tea—it works almost as well as pastries and music for calming him down.

His violin—It’s the one instrument he owns and he takes care of it, his love of music only coming through that and the music he’s always humming. And while we’re at it…touching the violin is probably a bad idea without express permission.


Dislikes: Arrogance—the irony of this tends to be lost on him, but he does try to keep his own ego in check.
Having to give directions or having to go someplace that requires directions.

People who look without buying—he’s running a business, if you have no use for it, why bother coming to look over the wares?

Those who think they can sing or play music when they obviously can’t—his musical sensibilities tend to recoil at these people.

Any shortenings of his name—Roderich or Mr. Edelstein will do just fine, thank you much.


Quirks: Runs his hands through his hair when thinking or frustrated—due to his profession this usually means that (a) his hair ends up in disarray and (b) he’s likely to end up with some ink in it as well.

When thinking he chews on the corner of the nail of his little finger (or the end of his quill).

He has a tendency to hum under his breath while working, thinking, sometimes even while waiting during a pause in conversation.


Phobias: Failure—deeply rooted in his childhood, he cannot abide the thought of letting himself or anyone else down. Though he keeps it pretty well under-wraps it is what drives his need for perfection, both in himself and those around him.

Damage to his hands—sprains, breaks, cuts, scrape, his livelihood depends upon his dexterity. One cannot write or bind books if ones hands are damaged, and any pain to them puts his business at risk.


History: Roderich was born to a wealthy merchant and his much younger wife. His father was always too busy and found a child to be a nuisance. He rarely interacted with the boy except to critique him: he was too loud, he was too quiet, he smiled too much, he didn’t smile enough, he was ungrateful, he was kissing up. His mother, a quiet almost sickly woman, never spoke up in his defense and the boy grew to resent her for it—though he now cannot help but see the wisdom in that choice.

When he was quite young, Roderich found that he could make other children’s hurts go away, but also felt extremely tired afterwards. His mother insisted that he take to wearing gloves until he understood the gift the gods had given him. He still wears them, though it is more infrequent now, more in her memory than due to necessity having determined how to keep his health his own rather than giving it to those around him.

The violin he possesses was his mother’s and she taught him to play before he was ten. He still isn’t nearly as good as he remembers her being, but he practices when he can find the time. When he was twelve he was apprenticed to a bookbinder and sent away from home to live with his master. He figured this would be the last he heard from his family and he wasn’t far wrong. He received a message shortly after he turned fifteen that his mother had taken ill and he should come quickly. Gaining permission from his master, he returned home in time to receiver her blessing and bid her farewell. He stayed as long as he claimed his master would allow—though the old bookmaker had told him to stay until his father no longer had need of him—which in total amounted to approximately a week. He left and hasn’t returned since.

Roderich opened his own bookbinding and scrivener’s shop near the entrance to the Northwestern quarter shortly after leaving his master. He’s settled into a regular routine and, thus far, has seen no reason to change it.


RP Sample: Roderich carefully sharpened his quill, dipping it in the inkpot as he scanned the, currently, blank page. His mind filled the blank parchment with words and artwork. He would have to see to it that his notes were clearer as regarded the illumination this time, the last one hadn’t been quite what he’d expected. At least the customer had been satisfied. He tapped his quill on the edge of the inkwell before carefully beginning his work, humming a tune he’d heard around the streets.

He was nearly finished with the page, just dipping his quill in one last time, when he heard a step in the main part of the shop. With a sigh, Roderich rose and entered the front half of the store. “Can I help you?”


Out Of Character
Name: Meadowlark, ML, Meadow, Lark, and I will answer to my character’s name(some sites have me as Meadowlark4491 but that’s neither here nor there)

Age: 20

Contact: meadowlark4491@yahoo.com

Anything else?: Hm… Hermes perhaps. Or Athena. If we’re looking at lesser known deities then maybe Airmid