Few things are greeted with more annoyance and complaint than the announcement that students will be expected to do homework over the weekend, so when I broke the news that I wanted each of the players to bring me character descriptions on Monday morning, I did so tentatively, expecting wild protests. (Writing exercises are the most dreaded.) What I got was amiable consent, especially when I mentioned that the reward for completing this project would be 5 XP. It wasn't, I told them, compulsory. To my continued awe, not one of the children chose to skip the description. My words cannot express the results, so I've opted for simply reproducing them here, along with the avatars they each carefully made following Final Fantasy 2 cross stitch patterns:*
The Goblin Mage of Always and Cleverness - Goblin Mage
"The Goblin Mage of Always and Cleverness was born in The Caves of Nogobelinious Enterous in the last days of the council of elves. His home was known to thousands of nameless goblins who lived for many years without any concerns. After he heard of wizards and powers beyond goblin history, he set off on a mission to find and enslave the wisest living wizard. After two years of searching, he found the name of The Great Wizard Nohidaw in the Valley of Shhh. In anger, for the discovery that Nohidaw was not a know-it-all at all, The Goblin Mage of Always and Cleverness destroyed Nohodaw’s home and stole his star. This goblin travelled for many years in search of another wizard, but eventually decided to give up. He then earned gold by using his knowledge to give information to people who were willing to pay in gold. He also occasionally practiced magic with his stolen staff. For an unknown reason, the practice of this magic caused letters to appear on his neck. In no time The Goblin Mage of Always and Cleverness had the seven letters 'T. G. M. O. A. A. C.' stained on himself. From this, 'The Goblin Mage of Always and Cleverness' was what he became known as for hundreds of years."
Dragidore - Elf Rogue
"My character’s name is Dragidore. He was born in the forest with all the other woodland elves, but his hair never grew longer than his chin. When he grew older, he became a thief and got into so much of trouble with the council, he was banished from the land. He resisted, so they murdered his father, and he swore revenge. In time, he invented the hidden blade which he used to assassinate the second and fourth in charge of the Elf council. Dragidore will not rest until the Blood of Horbak (the leader of the council) is on his hands. Horbak is the one who put a blade through Dragidore’s father’s heart. Dragidore usually gets information from a goblin named Ogmoac about Horbak, but other times he will send out a spy. Even today, he is still trying to find Horbak so that he can kill him."
Kathrine - Vampire Mage
"Kathrine was born in a small Celtic town in ancient Britain sixteen years before King Arthur drew Excalibur from the rock. Her father was a man of great intelligence who later came to be known as the wizard Merlin. During the battle between King Arthur and the Anglo-Saxons, Kathrine was badly wounded and lost a lot of blood. To prevent the death of his daughter, Merlin uncovered an ancient spell that would return her strength. To seal the spell, she drank her father’s blood and thus became a vampire. When Kathrine’s village became aware of what she had become, they called her a witch and wanted to burn her at the stake. Merlin learned of their plans and arranged for his daughter to flee to the land across the sea. Kathrine took with her all of her father’s books of medicine and magic. She never forgot what her father taught her. Years later, Kathrine learned that the villages had murdered her father once they realized he had helped her escape. Kathrine returned to the place she had once called home and took revenge on the entire town, feasting on half and turning the rest into vampires. This is when Kathrine began her reign of terror. She is still, to this day, the most dangerous being alive. Well, in her case, not alive."
David - Vampire Warrior
"I became a vampire because I chose it because vampires are cool. I am a warrior and I have a sword, a big sword. My character became a vampire because he had a bottle of blood and he drank it and that’s how he became a vampire. My vampire is good. My sister is a werewolf. I hate Dracula because he’s scary and I’m also scary but I’m good."
Wolf - Werewolf Warrior
"He has red eyes and he does not fight, he just bites people. He has black armor and he has a knife but he only kills bad werewolves and bad people. He’s a vampire werewolf. When it’s night time, the sun’s black, and only I can see the sun when it’s night because I’m a werewolf vampire. When I see it, it’s yellow."
*The youngest two needed help with their avatars and, for the most part, dictated their characters' stories.
