Sundry Tom
They say Coranthia is the black market that keeps every other black market stocked, and any illicit market worth its weight needs a pirate worth their salt. Sundry Tom is not that pirate. He is, however, well-versed in the business of imports and exports. If you have need of something, Tom can find it for you... for a price of course.
Background
Sundry Tom is a Florin who has spent millennia outside the purview of the The Church of the Lady Rose. Legends say that during the Horaflurian Revolution, he was a blockade runner serving under Heliantha. After the deaths of Heliantha, Ipomoea, and Girasol, and the end of the war, he settled down in the warm subtropical region where Coranthia now reigns. He has been "importing and exporting" ever since. He will tell anyone who asks that such stories are ancient history and no business of theirs in the first place.Appearance
Sundry Tom is a Florin, which can be difficult for the mortal mind to grasp. Florins can choose how they present their physical form based on a number of characteristics intrinsic to their being and Tom has not changed how he presents his in several thousand years. His head closely resembles an overripe heirloom tomato which has spent far too long in the sun and has begun to burst and dry out. The seam from which this "bursting" appears to have happened shows his face, as the seedy pulp inside shifts to form eyes and a mouth that mortals can recognize as facial features. From the blossom end of his tomato-head juts a stubbly, dark brown goatee. At the stem end of his head, which extends out the top of where his skull would be, is a thick, green neck vine. His body is formed from two strong vines branching off at a 'V' near where his waist would be. One vine leads to his neck, while the other coils around and around his neck-vine with many-leafed petioles jutting off at various intervals. These petioles he uses as hands, allowing him to perform several tasks at once. He walks on a rolling mass of roots which he regrow at will and which carry him across most surfaces with ease. When the need arises, he can also form new heads from special fruiting branches which function as less-developed versions of himself. Using this ability, he can adequately multitask and is rarely ever caught unawares. He speaks with a strange accent, very unlike the thick Dwarven ones found throughout Coranthia. Tom's Common Tongue is spoken with an abruptness and notable lack of rhoticity. He tends to draw out his vowels. Many believe this has to do with the Long Island he was born on.Sundry Tom's Shipping Co.
Sundry Tom has made a name for himself by procuring any item his clients request, but he keeps the lights on by selling any number of mundane things as well. He has been in Coranthia far longer than any other inhabitant, and thus has had ample time to amass a fortune. Tom prefers not to do any dirty work himself so he employs several dozen privateering vessels to raid ships trading around the Midsea Colonies and Microsian naval convoys, then resells the loot to the folks in Coranthia or to traders moving throughout the Open Territories. Although he does not typically lead any of the piracy, his sailors know better than to question his authority. Those who have tried are seldom heard from again, and rumors among the crews say that Sundry Tom has a taste for men's heads when angry.The Fishing Bear War
About 40 years prior to the Desolation of Schnifflestein, the Coranthian Archipellaggate and the Linnæan Federation went to war over fishing rights in the Straits of Chora, the narrow sea lanes separating the archipelago of Coranthia in the south and the coastal plains of the Linnæans to the north. During the war, Sundry Tom refused to send his privateers against the Linnæans' inferior forces despite the direct request of then-Queen Olgabald Highsails. Tom cited a deep respect for the Linnæans' way of life and sympathy for their cause.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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