[NOBLES] Zolf Smith's Backstory

This the backstory Ben submitted for Zolf. Any content which could give away plot points has been removed. 

Born in the small, predominantly Dwarven, mining town of Chislinghull on the banks of the river Severn to Hirald and Gertenz Smith, Zolf was always going to become a miner. His birth, his blood and his older brother Feryn made sure of that. 

Even at age twenty Feryn was already an incredibly talented miner and pleased his parents no end by actively pursuing the craft, often attempting to sneak down into the mines with the main work crews, just to see how it all worked. Zolf on the other hand, had no such interest: he spent his youth attempting to get out onto the river Severn to sail, fish or anything else that gave him an excuse to get out on the water. His parents, both miners (as were their parents before them, and their parents before… you get the idea) did not approve of this behaviour at all and went to great lengths to try and get Zolf to follow in his brother’s coal-blackened footsteps.

It was during one of these sessions where the now incredibly experienced Feryn had taken his brother down to one of the newer shafts of the mine to try and teach him how to identify potential seams when there was a cave-in, the source of which was never discovered, which killed Feryn and left Zolf traumatised. Unable to go back down the mines Zolf ran from his home and his family to escape his own guilt and the feeling that his parent’s would have traded his life for Feryn’s.

Succumbing to the call of the sea and a desire to put as much wide-open space above his head as possible, Zolf joined the Meritocratic Navy. He threw himself into this new line of work and very quickly became a skilled and reliable seaman, although given his humble background and rather blunt nature, he never rose in the ranks. During this time he also became caught up in the cult of Poseidon, a common enough belief system amongst sailors, and found the Ocean-God’s demands of respect for natural forces and the safe passage therein. Zolf eventually became the spiritual go-to (if not the official cleric) for his ship, the Triumph of Reason. After seven years of active service the Triumph was completely destroyed in a violent storm on patrol just west of the Straits of Gibraltar. Zolf, thinking that he would surely perish, threw himself from the deck into the sea, leaving his fate in the hands of Poseidon.

His faith seemed to have paid off, as he regained consciousness on the deck of a ship known as the Sea Troll and found himself in possession of miraculous powers, a gift from the Sea-God. Zolf owed his life to the crew of the Sea Troll and particularly to its Captain, Erika Brijnholm. He decided to attach himself to the crew and provide them with spiritual guidance and support. Five years and various life threatening situations later (including a particularly harrowing encounter with a water elemental during which Zolf lost a leg) and Zolf considered the crew of the Sea Troll almost as family. 

Eventually though he felt compelled to move on and so travelled to London to sign up for the Mercenaries Guild. He then bought himself a tiny flat in the lower city, and put out a series of advertisements in the Friday papers and Sword and Sorcery monthly, hoping to attract some other aspirant adventurers to his band.