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Raff's Stories &Writing



(Short story/ficlet set five years in the future)

~Halfway Human (Raff's backstory)~
Prologue
(Following chapters to be added later.)


About Raff:
Quick Stats:
Name: Rafion ("Raff") Goldenstrings
Race: half-elf (human/high elf)
Home Country/Region: Great Centeria (family is from Goth)
Birthday: February 19th, 673
(He's 22 [human equivalent of 17] in "In the Cards" & Part 1 of Halfway Human,
35 [26] in Acolyte's Map, and 40 [29] in Calling in a Favor.
As a half-elf he ages slower than his chronological years.)
Astrological Sign: Pisces
Tarot Card: Knight of Cups
Height: 5'4"
Appearance: long brown hair (usually partly braided), bright green eyes,
slender, deceptively slight (stronger than he looks)
Occupation: Messenger (priest) and almost-ranger
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Highest Stats: Strength and Charisma
Weakest Stat: Intelligence
Favorite Hobbies/Skills: disguises, mischief, and gittern (medieval guitar)
Favorite Color: emerald green


Detailed info:
Rafion Goldenstrings (but call him Raff- he's quite aware that his name is silly) is one of the few half-elven priests of Hermes. Instead of working from a specific home mosque, Raff is one of the Messengers out on constant delivery assignments (a "Messenger errant"). Generally he enjoys being able to travel and has a strong case of wanderlust, but after a while will likely start hinting that he wants an assignment that will 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 in disguise or wearing the simple green and brown clothing that he finds most comfortable.

Much like Meren, Raff grew up outside of civilization in the forests and woodlands. He had the training to follow in his mother's footsteps and become a ranger, but at sixteen he was Called by Hermes. This abrupt change of career plans did not bother him in the slightest since he is always up for fun and excitement, but he has kept up with many of his original talents and abilities. While his tracking skills have gotten somewhat rusty over the years, he still has far more skill with weapons and fighting than any of his priestly brethren and has a way with animals that tends to either impress people or cause them to think he's crazy (sometimes both). He is mostly civilized now, but he still retains a brogueish, somewhat foreign accent and, as you can tell by the travel-worn look of his robes in the drawing above, he is not the tidiest of priests. Besides his skills with weapons and the wilderness, the other non-Messenger ability he has involves music; his father was a musician (hence Raff's rather flamboyant name) and taught him how to play the gittern as a child. This isn't something Raff excels at, but he will often use this musical ability for a disguise or when he's feeling particularly nostalgic.

While he got to see his father occasionally before he passed away, Raff was raised mostly by his mother alongside her assortment of animal followers. (Needless to say, this makes Raff a little species confused at times and has left him with the unique ability to be able to hold an entire conversation just through barks and growls.) He has no siblings except for an older brother-figure; Kendric is actually the brother of Raff's mate, but he "adopted" the half-elf as an honorary brother a long time ago. Raff's long-time best friend and boyfriend is Cyneric, although the two don't get to see each other often because their assignments constantly take them to different parts of the continent.

Raff has never been self-conscious about being a half-elf in a place that's mostly populated by humans. 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 his size. Then he always gets defensive and feels the need to show them just how strong and competent a fighter a slender, elven-looking priest can be. Most of the time Raff is the sweetest, most caring, cheerful, and passionate person that you could find, but on occasion he can become moody or sullen- or violent. These negative traits, particularly the last one, largely stem back to a horrifying experience that he had as a teenager. He won't be violent just for violence's sake, but it has left him with an even more protective nature than he started with and a tendency to react with anger if anyone tries to hurt him or anyone he deems innocent. (In the future I see him getting promoted to weapons master; this is the perfect job for him as it involves using the skill he is best at to teach self-defense to the people he cares most about.)

Raff isn't the brightest of Messengers. This isn't to say that he's dumb, exactly, but he tends to feel 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; his tarot card for "In the Cards" is the Knight of Cups, so the water and fire parts of his personality are constantly at odds.

As was mentioned above, he has a gift with animals and at any given time he has at least one as a sidekick. Currently (as of The Acolyte's Map) he has a pet mouse (Rhy), a cardinal (Neru), and a dog (Jack). In the past his pets have included a fox (Felix) and a series of mice (Tyu and Bip, to name two).


Cosplay of Raff in his off-duty clothing: