Background:
Daniel was brought to the orphanage a couple of months after me. We were both about five years old. He was blind from birth. All he knew of his parents were their voices. He does not know if they died, or left, or just lost him. He came up to me, one day in the yard, and asked “Tor, why are you unwanted?”
“It is not like I have a choice.” I snapped back.
“No, I mean; Ryan is Unwanted because he is slow, me because of my eyes. Aendraes is one of us because she is half-elven. I don’t understand why you are one.”
I stared at him, to see if he was playing a trick. His expression is difficult to read. “I am a Changeling.”
“What does that mean?”
I was at a loss for a moment. I never had to put it into words before. If someone didn’t know what a changeling was, I would just show them. How could I show Daniel? Finally I said to him, “Hold my hand.” He reached out. After he held my hand a moment, I changed my hand to adult size.
“Brother Ball?” He tried to pull his hand away. I didn’t let him.
“No, it is still me.” I changed my hand back.
“That’s unbelievable! What else can you do?”
Before I could answer we heard a yell from across the yard. “Hey, look at the sissies holding hands.” It was one of the older boys Rod.
I changed to look more feminine and called back “You are just jealous because you want to be next.” Then I winked at him like the older girls do. The other kids laughed at him, then laughed harder when he ran away. I resumed my usual shape.
“You sounded like Sara when you said that,” Commented Daniel. “Are you really a boy?”
I did not hit him. Every other kid that asked that question got hit, but I did not hit Daniel. “Yes, I am really a boy. Are you?”
He laughed, “I guess I am. Everyone says I am, but I can’t see the difference.”
I started to laugh with him.
Design notes:
Time Period:
For those who know Eberron, the orphanage (as I am describing it) exists sometime between 965YK and 990YK. For those who are
not using Eberron, there is a longstanding war between human kingdoms. This tends to create orphans. Elves took the opportunity to claim some territory from one of the kingdoms. This leads to half-elven children.
Races:
Human; The orphanage is set in a (predominantly) human village. Most of the children in the orphanage are human. Most of the human children, the healthy and able, are considered war orphans.
Elves; If an elven child were found alone without family they would be adopted into the next war-band that came along. They would not stay at the orphanage. (No one at the orphanage would live long enough to see an elven child reach adulthood anyway.)
Half-Elves; The elven religion reveres ancient traditions. Half-elves are seen as a step away from those traditions. There are typically four or five half-elves at the orphanage. All are considered unwanted.
Halflings; There are some halflings in this region, but they tend to keep together. Sometimes (rarely) a halfling child is found by someone and brought to the orphanage. Someone from the child’s tribe arrives and claims the young halfling within a year. For the time he or she is there, the halfling is one of the unwanted.
Dwarves and Gnomes; So far, I cannot imagine any dwarves or gnomes at the orphanage. Their territory is far away, and they are too long lived “grow-up” there. However you are welcome to include them if you can come up with a reason for them to be there.
Half-Orcs; The orc territory is far to west. (The tribal monsters of this region are hobgoblins, or elves depending on who you ask.
) However some orcs and half-orcs were hired as mercenaries in the war. It is possible to have half-orc children at the orphanage, they to would be unwanted.
Shifters; This is race is half-human and half-lycanthrope (were’). They are not very common in this region, but there is usually at least one shifter orphan. If you are not using this race in your campaign then make shifter characters half-orcs.
Changelings; This race is half-human and half-doppelganger. If you are not using this race in your campaign then you will need to do some major editing to use the orphanage, because the purpose of all this is to create background for the character I am playing, who happens to be a changeling. However, I am sure you can use parts of the orphanage without my character.
Character:
Unwanted, Half-Elf, Commoner L1; AL N;
HD 1d4-1; hp 2; Init +1; Spd 20 ft; AC 12;
BAB +0; Melee Unarmed -1 (1hp subduel/ crit x2); Ranged Sling +2 (1hp/ crit x2 /50 ft);
SQ Immunity to
sleep, Low-light vision, Small size (child);
SV Fort -1, Ref +1, Will +1(+3 vs. enchant.);
Str 7, Dex 12, Con 9, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10.
Skills & Feats: (12 points) Climb 4 (+2), Diplomacy 0 (+2), Gather Information 0 (+2), Listen 2 (+4), Hide 1 (+5), Search 0 (+1), Spot 2 (+4), Use Rope 2 (+3); Run
Languages: Common & Elven
)
