Poet
Bard (Grinner)
Poet
Species
Half-Elf
Appearance
Poet is a tall, beautiful Black man whose presence seems to enlarge the room around him. His thick black dreads fall to the middle of his back, each one bound near the end with small brass, bone, or painted wooden beads recording places where the Umbral Theater changed history. His well-kept goatee is threaded with a few silver hairs, though his face remains strikingly youthful. He moves with the measured economy of someone always aware of an audience, turning his shoulders before his feet and letting silence arrive ahead of him. His hands are elegant and expressive, but the fingertips of his left hand are permanently stained with violet ink. The unexpected contradiction is that his magnificent voice and commanding bearing conceal a slight tremor in his right knee, the remnant of an old battlefield injury that worsens whenever he lies.
“His speech is rich, breathy, and deliberate, with soft sibilants that make even ordinary statements sound rehearsed. He favors concrete images over grand abstractions, pauses before names, and lowers his voice rather than raising it when angry.”
Ability Scores
Alignment
Distinguishing Features
A silver bead shaped like a closed eye is braided above his left temple
Violet ink permanently stains the fingertips of his left hand
His right knee trembles slightly whenever he tells a deliberate lie
The inside of his coat is covered in the names of the dead
His shadow sometimes mouths the final word of his sentences a heartbeat after he speaks
Voice
“A deep, resonant baritone with a breathy upper register. He can make a crowded hall fall silent by speaking softly, then carry a chorus over wind, rain, and marching drums without seeming to strain.”
Clothing
A deep indigo longcoat lined with crimson fabric, tailored charcoal trousers, soft black boots, and a high-collared shirt fastened with a tarnished copper brooch. The coat's inner lining is covered in handwritten names. He wears a broad sash containing chalk, folded testimony, sealing wax, and a dozen tiny bells that never ring when he moves.
Body Language
He stands almost perfectly still while speaking, allowing only his hands, eyes, and head to move. When angry, he smooths the left side of his goatee. When frightened, he plants his injured knee firmly and smiles as if greeting a late guest.
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