Scribbulus Longleaf

A halfling Druid of the Prehistoric Circle, and budding Divination Wizard. He has a charming Ankylosaurus companion named Wilbur.

## Backstory

Scribbulus breathed deeply and with gusto as he held his nose to the mud of a new land. He had always loved to travel, and since he was young made it his ritual to sniff the earth of every island he visited. The soil says so much about the place. It lays there unseen, while the inhabitants both draw their life from it and give bits of themselves back to it every day, inextricably linked in the circle of life.

These days, visiting a new place always reminded Scribbulus of a particularly special moment in his life - meeting Wilbur. Glancing over at the cheery ankylosaurus, he smiled at how both he and Wilbur has blossomed in their friendship. When they met, it was a moment so like and yet so different to this one. Fresh onto the shore of yet another island after living alongside a squad of turtles for a few months, he was mid-mud-sniff when he was overwhelmed by a scene of great distress. By the water's edge just down the coast was what looked to be the biggest turtle he had ever seen. Scribbulus's second love, on par with exploring new environments, had always been turtles. He loved their slow and steady way of life, how their principal combat tactic is overwhelmingly defensive (sheltering themselves and sometimes others by accident), and how they can have a cosy night in on-demand absolutely wherever and whenever they are. He thought the world would be a better place if everyone lived more like a turtle.

It was for all of these reasons that Scribbulus was gawping in amazement for several seconds before he realised that the 'giant turtle' was not out for a leisurely day at the beach, but had fled there in fear for its life. Trees were flung aside wildly as, for the second time that day, the record for the largest animal Scribbulus had ever seen was smashed. What can only be described as a gargantuan two-legged toothy-boi advanced on the frightened and innocent-looking girth-turtle with the same look in its eyes as a vegan who's just seen a particularly plump lettuce.

Never one to hesitate from saving a life, Scribbulus jumped into action. As a halfling, it was always his kinship with nature that granted him the power to change the course of events, rather than his ability to use physical force. And thus it was on this occasion. The tunnel-vision of the toothy-boi prevented it from seeing the vines that erupted from the earth and sand surrounding it, until it was far too late. Its muscular legs were caught mid-stride and its momentum carried it rapidly forwards and down to crash into the sand. Being cursed with arms that Scribbulus himself could have probably taken in an arm wrestle, the creature kicked and writhed helplessly as its mighty lower limbs were restrained ever tighter. Seeing its opportunity, the girth-turtle was barrelling into the trees even before Scribbulus did anything more, and it was all he could do to keep it in sight.

After tracking down the turtle, clearly dangerous over short distances but little else, Scribbulus acquainted himself with the magnificent creature. By healing its wounds he gained its trust, and over the next few months the two grew extremely close as they helped one another to survive an island apparently filled with all manner of weird and wonderful perils. Their bond grew slowly but surely into a close friendship, with each growing in vitality and kinship with nature alongside the other. Eventually, the anklyosaurus shared his name with Scribbulus. 'Uhldr'. Or 'Wilbur', in common (ankylosaurs have a sort of irish-level of odd letter combos).

Scribbulus was busy reflecting on these happy memories when he was startled back to the moment by a monumental splash. Turning around, he saw a joyfully laughing humanoid with deep blue skin literally riding atop a giant creature that he now knew to be a plesiosaur (a giant sea creature with flipers, a long neck and big pointy teeth), creating a splash that drenched Wilbur and Scribbulus as they burst to the surface. "Hello there!" cried the cheerful watery stranger. Always happy to make an acquaintance, particularly one who banterously rode giant animals, Scribbulus replied with a hearty greeting.

Coming ashore, the stranger introduced himself as Corus, a young Triton from the realms below the sea. Both being pleasant fellows, they got chatting and got along like a house on fire. From Corus, Scribbulus learned of the mysterious underwater people, the Tritons, and their stewardship towards the ocean. As soon as he heard this, he knew he'd found his true calling - to be for the land what the Tritons are for the ocean. And as a pressing subquest on this journey, to help to protect Wilbur's fascinating but perilously dwindling species.

Scribbulus too shared his own tales over the course of the evening and much wine. Listening to these stories and on discussing Scribbulus's new-found passion for the Triton way of life, Corus realised he could help the young druid to achieve his noble goal, using magic that would forever turn fortune in his favour. And so began a very basic training in the ways of the diviners. They spent days together just frolicking and studying all day, and with his sharp and curious mind it wasn't long before Scribbulus was becoming attuned to the magical techniques and making the next logical leaps himself. As an aside, Corus was very pleased to note that this matched one of his research outcomes (spreading the good word of the Tritons and furthering their stewardship) without actually having to do anything other than enjoy his research (which he cheerfully noted down).

When Corus finally had to depart, Scribbulus and Wilbur continued their wandering, but imbued with far more purpose. It wasn't long before, having spoken to almost everyone in every bar or town ever about their journey, someone mentioned that the archaeology guild was putting together a team to explore a mysterious period of times long forgotten. Immediately realising the potential of this for finding out more about Wilbur's species, how they became endangered and thus how they could be protected, Scribbulus replied with an enthusiastic "You son of a bitch, I'm in". (Some banterous bar fellow told him this was another way of saying 'lovely person'). He has since promptly made his way to the island of Ilbidor, and is spending his days once more frolicking on the beaches with Wilbur, and protecting baby turtles, while he awaits the start of the adventures...