Froderik Penderghast

Froderik Pendergast is a male human wizard and one of the Joined of Vesper played by Tim in the Emeron campaign.

## Froderik Penderghast

### Aliases

Bill Jones the brick salesman, Guy Normal the soldier

## Associations

### Relatives

"Nana" (grandmother), Walter (father), Molly (mother), Thaddeus (older brother), Alice Brewster (older sister), Miles (older brother), Archibald (older brother), Phoebe (younger sister), Tabitha (younger sister), Abram Brewster (brother by law)

### Affiliation

Joined of Vesper (aka the Notorious Nine)

## Vital Statistics

### Eye Color

Green

Born in Emeron City, Froderik Penderghast is the fifth of seven children and is the youngest son of Walter, a bookbinder and Molly (nee: Vaughn), a housewife.

Froderik was recognized as gifted at an early age. When he was two, Froderik taught himself to read while hanging around the printing house his father worked at.  At four, he was doing accounting work for his father and correcting the spelling of manuscripts sent to the printing house.

While not wealthy, his family managed to scrape together enough money to send him to school at age five. While he excelled at his lessons, he was liked by neither the schoolmaster nor the other children. The children saw Froderik as a weirdo showoff, and Froderik could not relate to their juvenile interest in ball games and play fighting. When he talked to them, he would grow frustrated at their lack of understanding and was often highly condescending. He was in many fights, most of which he lost. It was even worse with the schoolmaster, a proud scholar who despised insubordination from his students. He was constantly at odds with young Froderik, who would often interrupt, correct, or challenge the lessons being taught. Froderik suffered many beatings by his hand. Over time, his bad attitude and defiance of authority led to his expulsion at the age of 7 after he corrected a mistake and called the schoolmaster a troll brained dung peddler in front of the class. Unsure of what else to do with him, Froderik’s parents began teaching him the family bookbinding business.

That summer, Froderik attended a fair with his family that changed his life.  A traveling magician named Schmendrik the Amazing performed a show using sleight of hand and a few minor cantrips. Froderik stayed all day and watched the show over and over with rapt attention. That evening when he returned home, Froderik was able to duplicate the magician’s tricks exactly. Amazed at the nascent abilities their son was showing, Walter and Molly began seeking out a teacher for him.

Walter saw his chance one afternoon when the renowned wizard Jon Sumnim came into the printing house to place an order for a 10 volume history of Emeron he was writing to be bound. Froderik was there, ostensibly learning his future trade but as usual, he was nose deep in a book. Sumnim agreed to meet with the boy and was impressed by his intelligence and natural grasp of magic. Sumnim took a liking to the awkward bookworm and sponsored him for a spot in the Emeron Wizard’s College, where he would attend on scholarship.

The next 13 years were a mixture of pure joy and frustration for Foderik. He grew close with Sumnim and Jaymes Chickwood, two distinguished mages who took Froderik under their respective wings. While Froderik respected them and learned a lot, but felt constrained by the limitations of school in general and what he considered arbitrary rules and regulations. Froderik knew he could achieve more than his teachers were letting him.  He was also treated badly by the better off children because of his scholarship. Froderik had to work in the kitchens, cleaning, and whatever else the staff needed from him in order to maintain his scholarship.

While attending classes Froderick met the ratman alchemist Shren, who lived with his kind in the sewers and hidden places in Emeron City. Shren and Froderick bonded over a love of magic formulae and became friends.

In the early spring of 1159, Froderik got into trouble for attempting to access restricted spell books. The faculty was just going to reprimand him, but Froderik went off on a rant about small minded bureaucrats, trying to hold him back due to jealousy, and how school is “not a place for smart people.” After the meeting, Froderik decided to drop out and continue his studies on his own.

## Journey to the Brokenback Swamps

In the restricted library Froderik had read a rumor of a different type of magic supposedly studied in the Brokenback Swamps. Froderik vowed to investigate and Shren agreed to accompany him. The two were met just outside the swamps by Zenga, who convinced them not to investigate further in return for her traveling with them and teaching her about the magic she knew. Shortly after this all three experienced a flash of light and suddenly found themselves imprisoned with the rest of the Joined of Vesper.

## Personality

Froderik is an incredibly intelligent young man, and is often the smartest man in any room. His intelligence often makes it hard for him to relate to others though and he is often impatient when other cannot keep up with him intellectually. As a result of this and a general lack of good social skills Froderik frequently comes off as arrogant and condescending.

Like many wizards Froderik believes that magic can resolve nearly any problem, and that sorcerers are are inferior magic users.

## Abilities

Froderik is a skilled practitioner of the Arcane Arts, having mastered the fourth circle of magic as of the Dragon of 1159.

Having been a prodigious reader, Froderik is well versed on a number of academic topics.

Froderik also spent some time occasionally performing street magic shows for extra coin, and as such is versed in showmanship and slight of hand.

### **Mordechai**

Froderik has a hawk familiar named Mordechai. Within a couple months of Froderick becoming Joined of Vesper Mordecai also began developing strange powers that make him able to resist damage and magic as well as greatly harm certain evil creatures.