- Character Biography
- Click Here
Kiptooth Rowanheart
Skills
Skills
Total Points Available To Spend |
|---|
12 |
Physical | Mental | Social |
|---|---|---|
Spear [Novice] (1) | Trauma Surgeon [Seasoned] 5* | Bedside Manner [Proficient] (3) |
Skill [Rank] (Points) | Medical - Pathology [Proficient] 3 | Skill [Rank] (Points) |
Skill [Rank] (Points) | Skill [Rank] (Points) | Skill [Rank] (Points) |
Total Points in Category: 1 | Total Points in Category: 8 | Total Points in Category: 3 |
*Age has atrophied physical capabilities in this area from a higher-levelled reputation.
General Information
Age: Somewhere in his late 60’s - mid 70’s, though he could not give you an exact year.
Species: Pine marten
Size: Shorter side of average (Avg. 5'7")
Physical Description
A distinguished gentleman in his older age, Kiptooth is of no great height, walking as he does with a slight stoop. He is leaner now after losing muscle mass with age, and the lustre of once luxurious chestnut fur has aged to a coarser coat of grey, white and silver. His face remains handsome, if lined and grizzled with the years, and his grey-blue eyes seem as bright as ever behind old glasses.Age: Somewhere in his late 60’s - mid 70’s, though he could not give you an exact year.
Species: Pine marten
Size: Shorter side of average (Avg. 5'7")
Physical Description
A scar runs from armpit to hip on his left side, for which he has long learned to adapt as stretching his left arm overhead can prove bothersome, and a blurry old tattoo sits on his left shoulderblade in the shape of a swift. When Kip speaks his voice is somewhat raspy: this is attributed to whatever he has inhaled across the years of experimental medicine, though he does not know it.
Clothes are elegant yet, as lifelong habits dictate, practical. A smart white stiff-collared shirt, sleeves easily rolled up, sits beneath a heavy-duty but well-made waistcoat, often in reds or purples, completed with a cravat or necktie. Beneath his shirt he wears an ornate ring on a chain.
Inventory and Real Estate
- Ornate ring on a chain.
- Portable medical supplies.
- Books, scrolls and stacks upon stacks of loose papers.
- Parchment, quill and ink for writing.
- Long-bladed knife – for practicality’s sake and self-defence.
- Small home on Kutoroka and an apartment in the Trenches.
- A small often-locked case inside which he keeps a collection of notes and trinkets passed on to him from beasts once in his care.
Personality
Work has claimed his life’s focus and he does not, nor has he ever, really known how to socialise well. He will not jump to the fore to speak above a din but will lead a lecture with glee and enjoys healthy debate when it comes to his interests. The only times he will ever really be seen heated is when he sees fellow doctors practicing in ways he deems unethical. He’s often enjoyed the role of mentor or teacher and warms to the opportunity to pass along skills.
Despite the optimistic outlook he offers, there persists something of a detached, melancholic air about the marten; a sense of an alternative life unlived and the weight of numerous lives he has seen cut so brutally short in his time. Coming from a different time as he does, he is cagey about his sexuality and can come across and standoffish or aloof about his private life. For this reason he has rarely made many connections past the professional but will owe deep loyalty to those few he bonds with.
Generally, Kiptooth has a dry sense of humour and is not against the odd dark joke after all he has seen. The passage of time has cooled his old exasperation with a crew gone mad, but time will tell if such a calm demeanour lasts now that he’s in the thick of things once again.
Strengths
Age has only leant more wisdom to the marten’s observations and a penchant for empathy. Many a night he has held the paw of a dying beast and assuaged their guilt, heard their confessions, or communicated their passing to a loved one. Much of what he has seen and heard, he feels, should have jaded him: instead, it has given him a deep appreciation for the fragility of life.
Weaknesses
Though he has served as something of an emotional confidant and counsel as well as an aid to physical injury, he has often been better at offering the wisdom than taking it himself. Much of his life has been spent in the service of others: he would not know what to do with putting himself first. Many years have been spent buried in research as testament to dedication – or obsession built on deep shame and survivor’s guilt. Research in medicine has not only captured his imagination, but had its own adverse effects on his body, he is certain, beyond more than a bad back.
There is also no disguising that age is catching up with Kip at long last from quite the physical occupation. His joints ache, his movements are slower, and his muscles are not what they used to be. Though paws remain steady his eyesight is not what it once was. Surgeries requiring strength and speed tend to be delegated to those under his watch save in complex cases, so charge is taken mainly over long-term recoveries, medications and research these days. Likewise, he no longer possesses the reaction speed or strength to truly hold his own in combat. Fights are saved for the young’uns.
History
This peace shattered during his teen years: when questioned by his father about his close friendship with the jill Marram explained that he was in fact attracted to other jacks. The conversation ended with the lifelong scar along his flank. Their relationship was never the same again, and, concerned for his wellbeing, Marram offered that he live with her family until things cooled. They never did.
Over the next couple of seasons it became evident to Kiptooth that Marram was in a difficult situation with her own family, who had become eager to marry her off for the dowry and were increasingly concerned that Kiptooth could be hampering this. Options for a husband who would treat her well were slim and the two, close as ever, decided that if it would keep the village from talking and give them some freedom there was one solution. Theirs was by all accounts a lavender marriage, keeping both Kiptooth and Marram safe, but it was by no means devoid of deep platonic love.
The pair moved into a home together, and, through necessity, welcomed a kit into the world: not what he had imagined, but his daughter stole his heart the moment she was born and he adored her. It was unconventional, what they had, but it was safe, and the couple understood one another in ways the rest of the village did not. For a time the family moved to the University at Length after the village had saved up to send him, and once qualified the marten returned to the place of his birth to continue working.
What came next was an unprecedented sickness which swept the island chains one summer, wiping out the small settlements and towns one after another. The disease was like none they had encountered before, and medics were woefully unprepared. Ships began to cease trading for fear of catching illness, and the islands went silent one by one.
Their kit was lost to the sickness first and Marram six weeks later.
Maddened by grief and a mounting fever of his own, Kiptooth set sail one night from the nearly deserted town and, with limited sailing experience, ran aground on an uninhabited island in the chain. He doesn’t recall much of what happened after he wandered until collapse, nor why he of all creatures survived. Only in fragments does he recall a young vixen named Tanya, claiming to be from a passing Navy ship who had put in for fresh water.
The crew had not expected the sick to be on this island, but Tanya did not fancy simply leaving him to his fate and argued his case over several days. They never discussed what compelled her to stay and debate so hotly with the crew about taking him aboard, though over time he has suspected it far less poetic a reason than kindred spirits despite clashing personalities: more likely she was playing fast and loose with her life and wanted to make a point against authority.
Still, the pair bonded at once and grew close as companions. Now aboard the Hide, he began his first few voyages as a general handiworker, picking up the post of surgeon’s mate once his skills were noticed and soon rising to head surgeon when the previous beast was killed in action.
The seasons passed eventfully, though for Kiptooth he was always on the periphery of the action, content to keep his head down and read his books or care for his patients. As Tanya grew into her role of Last Quartermaster they would often share knowledge of medicines, antidotes and poisons, the marten forgoing his distaste of causing harm in the pursuit of aiding the one who had settled him to this new life. He also, over the years, became closest friend and confidant of the vixen: increased head trauma seemed to change her moods rapidly, and he was one of the only beasts able to weather her storms. She, in turn, provided a listening ear and support in his post. She was the only beast he came out to, and she held his secret.
Over the years he took on multiple cases, gaining some small renown for his ability to work with the more psychologically unstable beasts within the Navy. He personally aided the delivery of multiple kits born aboard the Hide, and his work was soon aided by the skills of the late Julia Freedom, of whom he was immensely fond.
When Tanya and Jeshal were electing to leave the Imperium, Kiptooth decided that it was time for his own change of scenery and to give Julia the chance to step into his role. It was also left unsaid that Jeshal the Ironclaw remained an unknown quantity: he was still wary of the todd’s intentions. He took Tanya’s twins with him and set off on private charter to reunite the children with their mother. Together, the small group spent some time exploring to find the best place to settle, landing eventually on Kutoroka.
Here Kiptooth set up his own dwelling and practice nearby, providing additional medical services to the town and settlements. It wasn’t as dangerous or exciting as working aboard a ship, but the change of pace was a welcome one. Having an extra set of paws also proved helpful for the young family: with three adults it was easy enough for each to work (often requiring travel) and still have a beast or two able to care for the twins - then the two new ones on the way.
Kiptooth fell deeply into academics around this time, writing books, manuscripts and treatise as he began a foray into the emerging field of pathology. Once the kits were old enough that sharing duties was less of a concern, he started to travel more extensively again and became a regular for guest lecturing at the University of Length.
Rumours persist that during this time the marten found happiness with another male – some say to another marten, some to a “lea-murre” or “sea-vet” of all creatures. Private as ever, Kiptooth has only ever acted evasively when it comes to discussing his personal relationships and has neither encouraged nor disparaged said rumours.
With the children all flown and their parents making a return to the Imperium, Kiptooth has elected to make the journey back to the Imperium itself. His dear friend had requested his expertise for a voyage or two aboard the BlackShip, a fabled old craft he had never served aboard before, and he can’t resist the opportunity. After all, at his age, how many more is he going to get?
