Getting to Know: Brindin Belwatch

Brindin Belwatch is the child of Nanguu Hearthstone and Arkan Belwatch. He has dark skin in a rich, warm brown, aside from an hourglass-shaped patch of light beige that surrounds his eyes and mouth. He will often trace the edge of this patch with metallic cosmetics to suit his mood, and occasionally will paint the pale skin for special events, occasions, holidays, and performances.

He has grown up in Library Inn, working for his birth parent, Nan, helping out in the kitchens and spending every spare moment among the library's seemingly endless stacks. (Nan is ungendered in a female body. As such, they use ungendered pronouns and nouns such as "parent" in place of "mother.") His endless explorations and adventures in his free -- and not-so-free -- time have given him an intimate knowledge of the entire castle and its grounds. This includes many, though nowhere near all, of Crossroads Island's secrets.

As a teen, he was promoted to be the personal chef for Shiv Moonsong. This is because she tends to be a light eater, and needs constant observance to ensure that she does, in fact, remember to take in food, lest she fade away. Much of his work in this regard involves making sure that there is a selection of light snacks nearby for Shiv to dip a hand into as she passes.

Behind this wall there are major spoilers for my upcoming novel, The Haunting of Library Inn.
Reading this will give away some things that happen very early in the first act of the novel.

Brindin is about to be promoted to being Shiv's apprentice. This happens very early in The Haunting of LIbrary Inn. She has observed a great deal of growth in him and she has come to rely on his presence as a sounding board and assistant. She believes that he has earned this, and furthermore, she needs someone whom she can trust in the coming time of turmoil and upheaval.

Campfire Questions

Brindin, what is something Shiv has done that makes you porud of or impressed by her?

Shiv is so entirely dedicated to the wellbeing of Argentii, as a whole. Where people tend to be distracted by their own problems, their families, their jobs, their communities, Shiv's concern is the entire continent. She looks out for the grand, sweeping, cosmic things so that the people can go about their every day lives. I don't know how she does it. I know I can't do it. But I can remind her that taking care of herself, which is something she often forgets to do, is essential to her being able to care for others.

Have you told her this?

Oh, yeah. When I was assigned to this job, I was told in no uncertain terms that Shiv Moonson is not more important than her need to eat, and that if I needed to tell her so, I should stand up and do it. Well, one time I did. I told her that if she stop what she was doing right that moment and take food, that she would be disappointing not just me, but all of Argentii for her inability to continue to be of service to her people. She was so stunned, she sat down and at an entire meal, five courses, just to see me satisfied.

What do you feel has more value: science or art?

I don't think that you can divide the two. Science is built on facts, and art is built on feelings. Together, they make truth. You can no more separate the one from the other than you could divide the head from the heart. Without science, we would have a chaotic world without honesty and lacking in the fundamental stability of things like solid buildings and sound bridges. Without art, we have an unyielding world of cold emotion, binary states, black and white without the empathy and intuition of imagination and creativity.

Which language or culture has always fascinated you?

Ohhhh, that's easy. I love the old Dragon lore and have been trying to expand my Ancient Argentin vocabulary. But it's a quasi-dead language and due to The Conflagration's destruction of The Queen's Royal Library, many of the old sources have been lost. Still, there are lost books being found all the time. So we'll see what the future holds.

Who do you think is the most famous person who has ever lived?

Wow. Where are you getting these questions? Cause, they're really making me think. I'm going to have to go with Talla of Smouge. We might refer to Tige the Uniter, but it's Talla's calendar that we still use, and it was Talla's Desire that established the Rights of the People and which still protect them today.

Questions from: The Ultimate RPG Campfire Card Deck