Rosemary "Rose" Lightkeeper (she/her) is a character played by Felix (they/them) in Clownnapped: A Tiresian Archives Nonfiction One-Shot. She is a wood elf life cleric, level 6.
Description
Rose is 6 feet tall, has black hair, and tan skin with green undertones. She's kind to a fault but doesn't trust anyone in authority. She's anxious and not particularly self-confident.
Backstory
Rosemary was born into a family that tends to a beautiful temple at the edge of a bright forest filled with all kinds of magic and wonder. She was born into the family of wood elves that originally moved to that forest and built their temple to their god Pelor many many years ago. She was not born with a last name as the members of her sect, the Dawnfather’s Hand, are given their last name at the conclusion of a special rite called the Rebirth ceremony.
Rose was allowed to spend the first fifteen years of her life running around the forest laughing, playing, and enjoying the warm sunlight that streamed through the trees. There is not much in the world she loves as much as a warm summer day. Once she reached fifteen she entered study, spending her days learning the teachings of her sect and developing a relationship with her dear god Pelor. On her 35th birthday, it was finally time for her Rebirth ceremony after which she would earn the name Lightkeeper and officially begin her duty going to the little towns nearest her temple and helping all in need.
On her birthday, Rose woke up at dawn to begin praying in preparation for the ceremony. At noon, she went out into the trees and found a branch to add to the great fire that roars at the heart of their temple, a living symbol of the gentle warmth Pelor provides to all. After she added her branch to the fire, there was a great feast in celebration of her Rebirth. At this feast, her father gave her a priceless family heirloom, a sword with the symbol of the Dawnfather’s Hand on it (the symbol is a great golden tree with many branches, and in its branches instead of leaves there is a full, shining sun). Once night fell, Rose had the honor of staying in the middle of the temple and tending their great fire throughout the night. At dawn the next day, she was officially reborn as Rosemary Lightkeeper.
Now that she was reborn as a Lightkeeper, it was time for Rose to get to work helping the temple spread the blessings of Pelor. She headed to a nearby town with one of her cousins, a paladin by the name of Briar who was about 200 years old. They were to go to a small house on the edge of town and heal a little girl who was terribly sick. The girl was being raised only by her father as her mother had died several years before. They did not have much money, and so the girl’s father had been saving up for many months to be able to pay the fee required to receive the services of a member of the Dawnfather’s Hand.
Once they arrived, Rose’s cousin found out that the father did not have enough money to pay as their rates had recently risen. He turned to leave, but Rose insisted that they stay and heal the little girl anyway. Was it not the will of their god that they show compassion to all around them, especially those much less fortunate to them? Was it not their duty to help wherever they could in any way possible? Rose could not stand to see an innocent soul suffer, and before she could be stopped she put her hands on the girl and healed her. Rose then turned to the father and apologized for her cousin’s rudeness, refusing to accept any form of payment for having healed the girl as it was of course the will of Pelor that they help somebody in need. Enraged, her cousin grabbed Rose by the arm and dragged her all the way back to the temple. He did not let go of her until they were in front of the elders, and he angrily threw Rose in front of them and reported what she had done.
Instead of seeing Rose’s point of view, the elders also became furious at her for daring to disrespect the proper procedures of the temple. Pelor would not, they argued, want them all to help others at the expense of starving and dying themselves. Charging every single person who requested prayers or healing from the temple was the only way for them to fairly offer help to all those around them and also make enough money so that they themselves could survive. By acting so selfishly, Rose could have started a terrible downward spiral that would lead to her own family starving! For four long months, Rose was confined to a small room inside the temple which she was never allowed to leave. The only interaction she had with anyone during this time was when an elder would come in daily to reteach her all the ways of the Dawnfather’s Hand. Instead of emphasizing love and compassion like Rose always remembered in her old lessons, these teachings took on a much darker tone. Without compensation, a member of the Dawnfather’s Hand could not provide any service, no matter how small, to a person in need. To do this work for free was to steal money directly from the temple and, by extension, her family and her god. There was to be no questioning of any of the teachings of the Dawnfather’s Hand. Any who questioned the will of the elders was a heretic, and heretics were not to be tolerated. Members of the Dawnfather’s Hand who questioned the teachings would be reeducated, as Rose was. People who were not part of the Dawnfather’s Hand who were too outspoken about the way their sect operated were denied any of the sect’s services, and the Dawnfather’s Hand would strongly encourage all those around them to shun the heretic until they were a complete outcast. In extreme circumstances, the temple’s guards would take matters into their own hands and personally dispose of heretics in a discreet way, always ensuring that the sect could not be tied back to it but never bothering to quell the rumors that spread fear of opposing them.
Rose recognized the very real danger of the darker side of her family, and though she knew how wrong these teachings were, she also knew there was great danger in speaking up and outwardly trying to fight the teachings of the sect. She simply kept her head down and did as she was told, waiting patiently until she would be allowed an opportunity to escape. After nine long years she was finally sent out on an assignment by herself. As soon as she had set out far enough, Rose gathered up most of her belongings and set them on fire at the side of the road. She only kept the most essential of things, but the one thing she absolutely could not part with was the sword that her father had given her on the happiest day of her life, a day that was now as bittersweet and sad as it was happy.
Before she could be seen, Rose started to run as hard and as fast as she could north towards a town called Ambergate she had heard of before. As she ran, she began to cry tears of joy at the thought of finally being free. Those tears very quickly turned sad as she recalled the faces of all those she denied help in the time she was pretending to be a faithful servant of her sect. She wandered on for quite some time until she met kind travelers who happened to also be going to Ambergate.
Though there were strange houses, strange people, and a strange section of the forest in this place, Rose knew that she had to turn all these strange things into her new home as she could never go back to her old life. She found a place to sleep for the night, and the next day she began to look around and figure out what she could do for work. Rose found a sense of purpose in helping out all those in need around town, taking whatever payment could be afforded and refusing to take payment if a person in need looked like they could not afford to spare any money. Rose was taken in by a kind 85 year old halfling woman named Hilda Morgenstump who saw all the good Rose was trying to do for others and decided to give her a place to stay in exchange for doing chores and helping buy food.
As they began to know each other, Rose started to regard Hilda as a mother. Rose began to take up adventuring to try and help as many people as she could and also learn more about the places and people all around her, but though she may be gone for months at a time she always comes home and Hilda is delighted to hear all of her stories.
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