Garth Avery/ Helcrani/ Acrobat

Name: Garth Avery
Nickname: Mouse
Gender: male
Age: 25
Race: Human
Tribe: Helcrani
Occupation: Acrobat, Harlequin
Title: Agile Harlequin

Appearance: Although Garth is a Helcrani, he is far from normal. Since his birth, he has been very small, in fact about the height of a well-sized hobbit. When stretching to his full height, he stands at about a ped and a palmspan. Due to his deformity, his limbs seem a little disproportioned, even though this doesn’t seem to hinder him when performing his acrobatics. He weighs about 6 hebs, and his chest and arms are rather muscular. Unfortunately, this only adds to the disproportioned look of his body, as does his waggling gait which arises from the shortness of his legs. The reason that he looks so disproportionate is that his body is about the same size as a normal Helcrani’s, but his limbs are smaller.
His hair slightly curls. In the summertime it has the golden blond colour of honey, and in the right light it has a slight reddish shine over it. In wintertime and when it is wet, it’s more of a dark blond colour.
His facial muscles are very mobile, and he uses them often. This has given him the nickname of ‘Mouse’ very early in life, and he has carried this nickname with him ever since, often introducing himself with that nick instead of with the more normal sounding Garth. With his clear blue eyes, bordering on the grey of an overcast sky, he looks at the world seriously, although not many people care to discover this in him. Most people only see his acrobatics and jestings, and when he is not performing, they usually only see his short stature, while pointing and whispering.

Clothes: The colour of his clothes depends on whether he is travelling or performing.

-Travelling clothes: Plain simple brown garments, namely a tunic and pants. They have quite obviously seen many years of use, and are more patched up than anything else. Along with this, he has a mantle that can only still be called green when it’s held exactly right in the sunlight. Most people would call it grey, if asked. Somewhere he got the idea that he would be safer from robbers wearing faded and patched-up clothes than when the clothes seem new. This may be true, or it may not be true. Whichever, it is very likely that robbers will not think a little man in old clothes riding a donkey worth their trouble. Fact is that he hasn’t had much trouble with robbers during is travelling.

-Performing clothes: folded up inside a pack which is tied over Pepik’s back are three suits which he wears to perform. All three have the same pattern: two different colours are put so that the right hose of the pants is the one colour, and the left part of the shirt is the same one. The left hose and right part of the shirt are the other colour. The suit which he wears on the commonest occasions (for example, performing on market squares) is chequered red and green. He saves the white and light-blue one for a little less common events – performing at an inn. The yellow and violet suit is for very special occasions, for example when he is invited to perform at a rich man’s house. This suit is used the least, but kept the cleanest.
He keeps all three scrupulously clean. There isn’t a spot or torn cloth to be found on any of them. This is why he keeps a needle and thread with him always. For his travelling attire, he doesn’t care about a tear more or less, until he has no choice but to fix it, in which case it just gets another patch.

Personality: Garth is very good in making people laugh. Many people underestimate the effect that this has on his personality, they think that he is a joker at all times. In fact, the contrary is true. While it doesn’t make him sad, it makes him serious. He rarely finds those things funny that other people laugh hardest about. As a consequence, his smile is rare and his laughter even rarer, which is a shame. His smile, once he shows it, lights up his entire face, making you forget his size. On the other hand, it might be that rareness which makes it so brilliant.
He doesn’t easily trust people. He suspects – often rightly, but not always – that they are more focused on his deformity than on his person. He is invariably polite to everyone, but it takes him something to go from politeness to friendship. Once there, however, he is fiercely loyal to his friends, because he knows that they value him for himself, and not just to mock him.
From time to time, he is sad that he isn’t normal, like everybody else, but he has learned to cope with that. His size, in any case, has taught him to put things in perspective, which leads to his not being run away with by his feelings easily.

Strengths:
- His acrobatics, which allow him to earn a little money or find a sleeping place.
- He has learned to put things in perspective, an art which not many people know. Most will only look at things from their own point of view, while Garth always wishes to know all the sides of a story before making judgment.
- He is a good listener, not having the urge to talk about himself much. This doesn’t mean that he will tolerate every stranger that crosses his path yapping at him, but once you get to know him a little, you can go to him when you feel the need to talk. When he is prepared to listen, it is usually a sign that he is letting you in, going from common politeness to friendship. One should, however, remember to talk loud enough, so that he can hear what you’re saying.
- His seriousness. In spite of (or maybe thanks to) his profession, he isn’t one to make fun of others, just for the heck of it. Contrariwise, when he sees someone being made fun of because of how they look, he will do everything he can to stop it, however little that may be, because he knows what it feels like. It’s one of the few things that makes him angry.
- Garth is quite a quick thinker, which can help to get himself out of unpleasant situations. He quickly sees the solution to a problem. However, his seriousness and sense of perspective keep him from jumping to conclusions.

Weaknesses:
- His size is obviously a great disadvantage. Not only does it make him the target of whispers (or shouts), which gives him an uneasy feeling, but his strange walking gait and his short limbs prevent his being as strong and as fast as other people.
- Though his seriousness is also an advantage, it partly leads to a disadvantage. He is not easily amused, and thus he takes life much more seriously than other people. This leads to a galling view, until his sense of perspective takes over. When he is in such a mood, he can make it very clear that things aren’t alright, all the while staying quite polite. This can make people angry, especially those who don’t know him yet. All this is of course when he is not performing, because then he can make most people laugh and enjoy themselves.
- His hearing is worse than for most people. As a child, he was prone to an illness that affected his ears, leaving him deafer every time. Eventually, it didn’t come back so often, but even now he fears that he will go deaf completely. Right now he doesn’t hear close-by soft sounds, such as a low voice or whisperings. At the most, he will notice that he is being spoken to, but when he doesn’t, people can get the feeling that he is ignoring them, even though they just should have spoken a little louder.
- When he is not performing and sees a crowd of people, he is very much afraid of them, fearing that somehow they will turn against him. He can still work up the courage to go amongst them, but it takes some sweating, clammy hands and hammering hear to get there. As the years progress, the fear is getting stronger. But when he is performing, he doesn’t feel it. He knows then that he is in control, at least partly, of their emotions.
- Another great fear of his are beasts that sting, especially bees and wasps. Whenever there is one near, he acts strangely, doing everything he can to avoid it. This jumping can be very funny to see. Although most of the time it’s not really a weakness, it could be exploited by one who knows it.

History: Garth was born in a small Helcrani village near Milkengrad. His father was a famous warrior, his mother a seamstress. He inherited her hair and eye colour, and seemingly nothing from his father. At first, he seemed normal and healthy enough, albeit that his head was a little too large. Soon, however, they saw that something was wrong. His arms and legs didn’t grow as fast as the rest of his body, and he never crawled like other children, on hands and knees. Instead, he pushed himself forward with his feet and elbows.
By the time he was three, it was clear that he would never be as tall as other people. His father started ignoring him, concentrating on his other boys, who were normally built and of an age to bear arms. While his mother didn’t ignore him, she only took care of him out of a sense of duty, not out of love. Other children made fun of him. It made him sad, because he really only wanted to be like them.
In the household of five, the only one who really loved little Garth was his oldest brother, Nathan. With Nathan’s help, Garth learned to take care of himself, and he gained some independence. His fondest memories of his childhood all involve Nathan. In fact, his very first memory is Nathan’s hand, playing with some stones to distract him.
The first big change in his life, the one that would decide his future career, happened when he was seven years old. A group of entertainers stayed at the village for two days, and they performed one night. Nathan took Garth to see them, because no one else would. He had seen a group once before, while he was in Milkengrad. He was amused by Garth’s obvious fascination, when an idea struck him. Of course he had seen his parents’ lack of love for his little brother. Living in the same household, it was rather hard to miss. He likewise knew that travellers had a hard life. Still, he judged that Garth’s chances of happiness would be greater with them than staying at home.
That night, he talked for a long time with the small boy, about what such a change would mean for him. Whoever thinks that children don’t know anything and that wisdom only comes with age, is wrong. Nathan noticed it again that night, not for the first time. He knew that he would dearly miss him, but it was his brother’s happiness that he had in mind.
It seemed that Garth understood exactly what Nathan was talking about. He had known for a long time that his parents didn’t love him because he wasn’t normal. As far as he knew, those entertainers from earlier, and especially the things they could do, weren’t normal either. There was only one person he would miss, who was sitting opposite right now. As a result of this conversation, the following day saw the sturdily built 21-year-old and his small 7-year-old brother walking towards the inn, where they asked to see the leader of the group.
Jameson was very nice to them, listening with sympathy to their tale and request. He wanted a little time to talk it over with the others, but soon he returned: Garth was allowed to join. He never once wondered what his parent might have felt at his disappearance. 7 years of not being interested had made sure of that. To Nathan, he said a thorough goodbye. Later in life, he kept on visiting his older brother once in a while.
In the artists’ band, everyone soon grew fond of this smaller version of a person. At first, he was told to go around during and after the show, cup in hand, to ask for some money. This taught him to exploit his abnormality, which (for him) proved a good manner of learning to cope with it. He put up puppy-eyes while exaggerating his swaying gait. People were very generous when he did that, as he soon found out.
During this period, as before when he was still living home, he sometimes became ill. The illness always attacked his ears, leaving him feverish and with throbbing ears. After a while, he had it less and less, but he didn’t hear well anymore. Over the years, it slowly grew worse.
Whenever he wasn’t going around, he was watching the show, especially the acrobats, open-eyed. When they knew where his fascination went to, they agreed to teach him some tricks. The process of learning was slow and painful for his short arms and legs. Sometimes he would think about giving up, and just staying with going around with the cup. Yet he always went on, doggedly learning everything to become a good acrobat.
While training, he unconsciously moved his facial muscles, contracting and loosening them as his concentration shifted. One acrobat, by the name of John, who was his favourite acrobat and the tallest man in the group, started calling him ‘Mouse’ because of it. This nickname spread, and soon everyone called him that. Members who joined after that didn’t even know what his real name was.
When Garth was ready for it, the artists started introducing him into the show. The more he learned, the oftener he was seen. His act was popular among the lookers-on, and when he went around with his cup again, he didn’t even have to exploit his size anymore.
The more he became popular during the show, the more he came to fear walking in great crowds. On stage he never feared them, because he knew that they loved his act – which included falling and looking as if he hadn’t meant to fall – but in the years with the artists he had seen enough prejudice and developed enough sense to know they wouldn’t accept him because of his size, and for the he feared that a crowd would turn against him some day.
As his hearing worsened over time, so did his fear. He would often see people close-by talking, without hearing them. This led to imagining that he was the subject of the conversation. He always tries to ignore this feeling, but still he has to work up his courage every time that he knows there will be a great crowd without his performing.
When he was twenty – he had then been with the group for thirteen years – a second big event changed his life. Within a very short time of each-other, both Jameson and John died. Both men had been much more of a father from him than the real one. He was overwhelmed with grief, but succeeded eventually in giving it a place. Still, he wished to move on, and the others understood. As a parting-gift, they gave him a young donkey, which he named Pepik. Despite the reputation of donkeys of being stubborn, Pepik never gave him (much) trouble.
Now free to go where he wished, his first business was to find out what had happened to Nathan. He discovered that his parents had both died the year before, but this only made him think of Jameson and John, without causing any feeling for the man and woman who had never loved him.
Nathan had married and moved to some town to the north of where they used to live. His big brother, who now had two children of his own and a third on the way, was very glad to see him, as he had never stopped wondering what had happened. His wife loved the little man too, thanks to the good things that Nathan had told about him.
After this, he travelled Santharia alone. Whenever he ran out of money, he would perform his act, either at the inn where he wanted to stay the night, as a form of payment, or on the market square, for some coins. Not one performance is exactly the same as the next.
When he is on the road, he always practices, trying to perfect his art. He still goes to meet many of his acrobat friends – most of whom settled down and started a family. When he is not visiting someone, he travels while trying to bring a smile to other people’s faces, as he has done for many years since.

Weapons: none

Belongings:
- Three performing suits (white/blue, red/green, yellow/violet)
- Travelling clothes of a brown hue
- Some balls and other things to use while performing
- A pouch on his belt with his money in it (when he has some)
- Needle and thread and some rope
- Soap, shaving materials
- A blanket that he puts over Pepik while travelling and wraps around himself when sleeping against Pepik’s back.
- Some food and water

Familiars: Pepik, his donkey, whom he rides without a saddle. Pepik wears a sack, containing Garth’s stuff. Despite what the name suggest, Pepik is a female donkey. Her back is Ithild grey, with a small Norsidian line running from head to tail. Her tummy, head and legs are much lighter, a kind of Yealm Beige. She is about 1 ped in height. To mount her, Garth places his blanket over her back, then puts his hands on it, pushes himself up and puts a leg over her back.

Edited by: Kalina Merenwen at: 8/23/06 16:08