Peregrine 'Grin' Whoreson

## Peregrine 'Grin' Whoreson (Lowy)

### Backstory

Mom had sex with an elf dignitary, Dad was gone before Peregrine was even born.  Ran away from home when he was 12, hired onto a ship going to the other continent as a cabin boy.  Turns out he gets miserably seasick, and got off at The Quints, a collection of islands halfway between the two major continents.

An older lady known to the gutter kids of the Quints as Aunty Em, head emeritus of the street gang the Silverfish, got him a job at the docks as a Picker- the people, generally children, who were charged with getting smuggled goods off ships.  He moved up the ranks quickly, eventually being promoted from Picking to Planting- getting smuggled goods onto ships, to Fencing- the buying and selling of stolen or illegal goods.

He's been in the Quints nearly a decade now, and he's not beholden to Aunty Em and the Silverfish anymore, though they remain friendly.  If you need something bought or sold, and fast, and maybe you don't care if you get top dollar for it, Peregrine's your man.

A few years back he hired a  kid named Loren Salt, another bastard, to do some work for him, they became close partners then close friends, and then they were basically family.  Peregrine was very protective of Loren- overly so really.  They called Loren 'Glower' for his surly expression and as a foil to Peregrine 'Grin'.  They shared a flat in the same building as Aunty Em for several years.

On his 12th birthday Loren ran away to seek his fortune, much in the same way Grin had. Grin, worried about his 'brother' asks Aunty Em for a loan so he can charter a ship to "drag that stupid ass child home before he gets himself killed." Instead, Em gives him her old adventuring kit, already packed and ready.  Winks, and slams the door in his face with an only mildly condescending "you're a smart boy you'll figure something out."

He found someone looking for a ship down at the docks, and it's only when they're out of sight of the Quints that Grin remembers just how seasick he gets.

### Call to adventure

Aunty Em was finishing her afternoon tea when she heard Peregrine trudging past her door and up the stairs towards the flat he shared with Loren.  Sighing, she stood, shuffled toward the door, and waited.  It didn't take long.

She heard a loud thud at the landing, Grin had presumably jumped down the first flight of stairs.  And another thud as he presumably jumped down the second toward her rooms. She opened her door to see him, looking down at her, eyes wide with panic, hand raised to aggressively knock.

“Where-?” He began, before Aunty Em raised her hand, cutting him off. He abruptly stopped, and she spoke.  “Perry, Loren is going East to make his fortune.” A beat. “He doesn't want you to follow.” She lowered her hand, allowing Grin to speak.

“Like 'Ell,” he snarled, his voice slipping into the clipped cadence of Ce Rule, “Bast too yun. Get kill fore-” Aunty Em had raised her hand again and even in his growing fury Grin knew better than to talk when the hand was raised.

“You mean to follow?” Aunty Em asked.  Grin, whose lips were pushed so tightly together they were turning white, nodded.  Em nodded back.

“I thought you'd say that-,” she said, reaching down to heft a heavy rucksack, from beside the door, “this is for you.” She heaved it into his hands.

The bag was heavy oilcloth, waterproof and sturdy.  It's outside was stained and scarred with decades of use.  It was old, but it was beautiful as well worn tools often are.  Embossed in silver on top flap was the letter M in a curling script reminiscent of a cresting ocean  wave.  Grim stumbled a bit as he took the bag- it's weight was not insignificant.  He levelled a gaze at Aunty M. Seeing no raised hand, he asked, “From the Silverfish?”

Aunty Em smiled, like one does when caught breaking a rule. “Of course not.  You're not a Fish anymore, it would be inappropriate for a Head Emeritus to assist you. This,” she gestured to the bag “is from your downstairs neighbor who was just going to throw it away anyway.  You'll find your things are packed, along with some old equipment that should still be serviceable.” She smiled a bit wider as she looked at him, remembering the first time he had come to her door, asking for food and a job. Oh how times change.

Grin didn't notice, he was still too busy admiring the rucksack.  “Thank you,” his voice was back to his normal, wandering Common cadence. “Would my neighbor also have gold for a ship, and would she have a better idea of where I should look so I can drag that stupid child home before he gets himself killed?”

She pursed her lips in a smirk trying to suppress a laugh.  “I gave my savings to Loren so he could afford a ship to go East and make his fortune.”

Grin looked at her, dumbfounded. “You mean to say-” he cut himself off as she raised her hand again.

“I have given both of you the means to acquire your goals, as opposed as those goals may be to each other.” She stepped back and put one hand on the door, preparing to close it. “The rest is up to you. You're a smart boy Perry, you'll figure something out.”

She winked, and then shut the door- one hand still raised to keep Grin silent.

Once the door was shut she heard a string of expletives, cutting shorter and shorter in that Ce Rul cadence until it sounded more like a dog barking than it did human speech.  It faded as he walked away from her door.

Inside, Aunty Em turned away and retreated to the overstuffed chair she kept near the hearth.  She giggled to herself as she settled into it, “The look on that boy's face! You've still got it Malvadora, no matter what those minnows say. You've still got it.”

### The Rail

The last thing most sailors do before departing their homeland is visit The Rail.  The fixture in the Quints was unremarkable. It's adornment, less so. Large salt-crusted bolts held The Rail to the perimeter of the observation dock, only half a foot above the waterline, coated in barnacles and weathered green with tarnish. Looped on it were hundreds upon hundreds of thin brass chains only slightly thinner than your little finger, catching the midday light like a golden veil.  Each chain draped from the rail into the water, light enough that they rustled against each other with each wave that met the dock, making a sound like muted chimes.  The sailors that had placed them there would have a portion of the talisman themselves, an anchor made from the same metal as the chain that would guide them home in times of trouble- or so the legends went.

Grin walked the length of the dock, leaning over the edge looking at the chains, wondering if Loren had remembered to tie the knot properly. Wondering if Loren had remembered to visit The Rail at all. Finding a spot near the end of the dock, furthest from the shore, Grin knelt and removed the charm from Aunt-no, from his pack. Lowering himself to his stomach, Grin reached over the edge of the dock, chain and anchor a single piece in his hand. He started the knot around The Rail, singing the old sailors’ rhyme quietly to himself as he did.

Once around for Journey sought,
Then once around again.
Twist and pull that anchor knot
To come back home again.

He lowered his hands into the water as he finished the song and the knot, the anchor held lightly in his grip.   Once it was well and truly submerged he pulled sharply at the anchor breaking the last link in the thin chain, leaving it dangling into the water. Another thread of The Rail’s shimmering curtain.

Grin pushed himself up into a crouch, resting on the balls of his feet, pulling a rawhide string from his pocket as he did. His hands trembled as he tried to thread the string through the loop at the top of the anchor.  After several attempts he managed it, and tied it into a tight bracelet around his left wrist.  Grin exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.  With that done he was ready to leave the Quints.  With that done he was ready to follow Loren.