Tordal the scholar

The Scholar, Lord of Letters, Paperhoarder Tordal Steelbolt

Tordal is a Sanctified scholar who claims to have traveled most of Ospur. He was in the middle of chronicling his observations in On Ospur and her Inhabitants when he disappeared. Rumors concerning his disappearance vary from the mundane such as merely dying to raiders or beasts, to the absurd such as being taken by Utopia Pacification Forces or assassinated by a paranoid isolationist sect afraid of him revealing their secrets. However he met his end the fact remains that he never finished his written work.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Torthal was a Sanctified and grew up inside a Sanctuary. He was always a curious child, and joined the acolytes of Archanos at a young age. Over time he grew tired of merely gathering tales from travelers. Hoping to gather tales of his own, Torthal set out to study the world.
According to Torthal and his tome, On Ospur and her Inhabitants, he traveled the breadth of Ospur and met most of its peoples. However these claims are difficult to verify.

Education

Torthal attended school in the Sanctuary City of his birth. From an early age his instructors noticed his uncanny memory, but struggled to captivate his young mind. He was adopted as an Archanos priest's acolyte to finish his education.

Employment

He quickly grew bored of serving in the archives and being consulted by Shipmasters and other Sanctified about what he saw as trivial historical precedents. In an effort to nurture him the Archanos priests assigned him to collecting tales from upworlders in an effort to chronicle the wilds of Desemshia. In time Torthal grew bored of this work as well. Leaving the priests of Archanos and his Sanctuary City he set out to learn the upland for himself.

Intellectual Characteristics

He has an uncanny memory and seeks out new and novel information.

Morality & Philosophy

Torthal values truth and knowledge above all else. This occasionally works against him when he is trying to pry knowledge from an unwilling individual.
Early in his life he held compunctions about violence and killing. These were permissible and easy to maintain inside a Sanctuary City. Later in his life he become more accustomed to using violence to defend himself in the ruthless lands of Ospur. However he always strove not to inflict permanent damage.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

A ravening hunger for knowledge at any cost drives Torthal forward into untold lands.

Vices & Personality flaws

Torthal grows quickly bored of repetition

Social

Religious Views

Torthal is almost fanatically devout to Archanos and its mission of gathering and recording knowledge. Despite his devotion he clashes with more orthodox Archanos priests.
They insist on gathering knowledge second hand and not "foolishly gallivanting about merely imitating a scholar." According to their tenets, first hand experience causes one to become emotionally involved in the experience and no longer capable of being an impartial recorder. Torthal strongly disagrees. He insists recording the same tired tales from travelers who would not know a Construct from a Simulant denies critical details from being recorded.
Torthal hopes to one day convince the priests of his devotion to Adomos  with his detailed tome on his adventures. Unfortunately he did not survive to accomplish this task. However his untimely death has left a few Archanos priest feeling quite vindicated.

Species

Human

Ethnicity

Sanctified

Life

1012 PS 1043 PS 31 years old

Circumstances of Death

Presumed Killed

Known Languages

Ancient Shipspeak, Cha'reh Speech, Mejornic, Trader's Kant, Ormiric, Modern Shipspeak, and Ospurian.