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Name: Jem Costmary

Job: Baker

Age: 39 1/2 years

Height: 5'9"

Appearance: A thin older man, tall and bright-eyed. His hair is thinning and fading and cropped short for his line of work, but the color is deep ginger. Actually, it's a nice color. In his own way he's attractive. Not in the traditional sense, but he's nicely balanced: his limbs aren't gangly and his hands are finely shaped and small despite being on the tall side. His eyes are gray, his mouth thin and serious, his nose long and sharp, his entire face very angular.

Personality: A persnickity, fierce scholarly type who demands perfection and rarely softens a blow with honey, preferring the rawest and bluntest words available. Generally regarded as humorless; his sense of humor is way out in left field and when he tries to make a joke, nobody recognizes it. So he doesn't usually try. Very prone to explosions of temper. He likes children as long as they're smart, quiet and attentive; basically, no child that exists. Jem actually does like cats, and some birds, but the rest of the animal kingdom is out.

Short story: He doesn't speak freely about the past. To go a step further, he doesn't speak about the present or the future either, but that's beside the point. What remains of his family lives on the other side of the continent; Jem has a fair amount of traveling and adventuring under his belt, not that you'd understand this to look at him, all tall and solemn and fierce. When the adventure ran out of his system he took up shop in Loghedge. He'd learned to bake in his home village; he has too much honor to have ran away, but evidently him and his master were not fond of each other, the master having kicked Jem out as soon as he'd learned the necessary skills of the trade.

Other details: One surprising thing about him is that he actually has a crush. A lady from far away took over her brother's housekeeping. This brother owns the local mill. She is often around when he comes to order flour, and Johannes finds nothing more hilarious than seeing his master moonstruck.

Between the two

The relationship between the two belongs in a movie. Johannes is the friendly, rambunctious kid who baffles the older, stern man, and tries to draw him out of his shell. He banters, he teases, he plays jokes...all that good stuff. Jem sometimes is startled into a laugh, which is all the younger boy wants.

Unfortunately, it is not always as warm as that. Jem has shouted Johannes out of the bakery and come close to hitting him for going too far. He never has - he admires himself having too much control for that - but Johannes knows there's a danger zone involved. This was especially true in the beginning of his apprenticeship. Since then Jem has relaxed. Somewhat.

The two are outcasts in a world where jobs are passed from father to son. Jem hadn't a hint of baker in his blood. Johannes did, but he wasn't working for his father. He came to work for a stranger instead.

The work day

The day begins in the wee hours of the morning. Johannes trots over in the dark to heat the ovens and wake Jem, who gets the bread ready for baking. The next few hours are a baking frenzy. The shop opens in the early morning and customers begin to come in - Johannes is still back by the ovens, while Jem mans the counter. During quiet hours he has time to work on the more delicate pieces, often ordered by the richer residents, and has Johannes deliver them at the appointed time - usually dinner.

The shop officially closes around dinnertime. The floors are then swept, the remaining loaves put down in price, the ovens cleaned and the earnings of the day counted. Jem chases Johannes out so he can get ready for the next day in peace.

Questionnaire Jem

How does your character fit in this setting? What type of world was he born into?
If "upper lower-class" makes sense, that's where he'd be. His father was respected by the local baron as a hunter and his talent at making fine sweets is well known by nearby nobility; he often gets orders from them. But his main line of work and style of living fits into the multitudes of poorer folk.
He was born into a slightly more priviledged world than many.

How does he react to things out of the ordinary?
With great, great caution. He doesn't like odd things one bit, but he thinks before reacting and looks at the whole situation first.

How superstitious is he and what would he do to prevent ending in an unlucky situation?
Highly superstitious, though it doesn't show on the outside. He believes in the old tales, passed through his family, about fairies and brownies and trolls that are invisible to the naked eye. He doesn't speak of it to anyone, as it may be taken as a challenge to the views of the Church.

What types of food does he like the most?
Simple fare. One specific love would be roasted chicken stuffed with bread, herbs and vegetables. It was his mother's specialty.

When getting supplies for himself, what, where and how would he get them? And how long would it take?
Some supplies are easy to come by in his line of work. There is a mill by the river that supplies the flour for white breads, dark breads, and fine flour for cakes. Yeast can be found in the brewery. Sugar is another matter. For local fare honey is a fair sweetener, but when baking for higher citizens he needs to have sugar shipped in for a hefty price, and keeps a store of it in case what he needs doesn't arrive in time. At the back of the bakery a small herb garden used for various purposes, such as herbed bread.

What's his interaction with the church and how does he view it? And how about the heretics?
No fanatacism about the church; he follows the religion, he goes to church every Sunday but rarely feels the need to pray. Heretics he takes care to avoid for his image, but wishes them no ill. Actually, he's very interested in their cooking/baking methods, since they go places many people have never been. What herbs do they use? What spices have they found?

There are rumours and sightings of strange creatures. What's his attitude towards it?
Hearsay. He'll believe it when he sees it.

Why and how did your character started performing that job?
The choice wasn't really his. His mother and the local baker had been good friends for a long time, and as the lad grew up, the baker took an interest in him and offered an apprenticeship at the age of 10. He wasn't incredibly interested, but didn't have a particular interest in anything else either, and so accepted. Even now the man says "It's just a job". You can tell that he's really grown into his role as baker and takes pride in what he does.

What exactly he has to do for a living?

How does that affect his and others lives?

Write a regular day for him in rp format. You can use existing or invented characters to interact with


::Under MAJOR construction::

Questionnaire Johannes

How does your character fit in this setting? What type of world was he born into?

How does he react to things out of the ordinary?
Fear. But being the kid he is, if he saw something suspicious he would definitely keep an eye on things...at a safe distance.

How superstitious is he and what would he do to prevent ending in an unlucky situation?
Pretty superstitious. He doesn't go out of his way to avoid bad luck, but that's because he always has a lucky charm or two on his person at all times.

What types of food does he like the most?
Sweets ^o^ Roast pheasant, venison, fish - anything that costs more than he could possibly afford.

When getting supplies for himself, what, where and how would he get them? And how long would it take?
This is mostly described up in Jem's questionnaire. He does errands for the bakery and his family's meals; usually from a very cheap vendor.

What's his interaction with the church and how does he view it? And how about the heretics?
He views it with awe and slight fear. Of course, he'd take the church over heretics any day; his mother was good at stories about how they'd roast children and did dark rituals at night. But he still is scared of magic, and despite going regularily to church, is somewhat afraid of it as well.

There are rumours and sightings of strange creatures. What's his attitude towards it?
Jem insists there's nothing to be afraid of, but Johannes is getting spooked. He doesn't leave home without locking the door and makes sure to stick around town nowadays - no more wandering into the wilderness, not for him!

Why and how did your character started performing that job?
Johannes comes from a line of bakers. His older brothers took over his father's bakery, his mother got him apprenticed to Jem, who was the nearest in the area.

What exactly he has to do for a living?

How does that affect his and others lives?

Write a regular day for him in rp format. You can use existing or invented characters to interact with