Jovle

Name: Jovle (pronounced Yo-vul, like Vrykul but with a Yov instead of a Vryk

Race: Dwarf

Role: Cook/Medic

Appearance: 4'10" and just a mound of muscle. Salt and pepper beard, more salt then pepper, and many scars from various types of wounds all over his body.

1. To make people happy with the food he cooks. That no matter how bad someone's day is, he will try to make them forget about their troubles, even if just for a moment, with his meals.
2. Honesty. Don't lie to him about how well you handle spice or how much you liked his dish. The more honest you are with him the better he can serve you next time. He enjoys discussions and feedback about people's tastes.
3. People with inflated egos. There's enough bullshit in the world, why try to act above others instead of being down in the dirt, all helping each other.
4. His memories and dreams. Jovle was a young adventurer that had gone out into the world with the goal of being the best adventurer around. A little cocky but not annoyingly so. When the Tide struck the world, the village he had been hired to guard was hit and in the chaos of all the killing and smoke from the burning houses he accidentally killed a young boy that had approached him for help. The horror of what he'd just done and what all was happened caused him to flee and he eventually made his way, like most dwarves, back under the mountains.

In the years spent underground he was haunted by everything that had happened and fell into a deep despair. It wasn't until he met a cook, Kinvor, that he was able to eventually start opening up to someone. Kinvor was someone that believed food could be a type of therapy, both in making people feel happy on a more surface level but also letting them eventually talk through the things troubling them. What began with pleasant chatter back and forth over a bowl of soup turned into more private meals and, eventually, Jovle telling him about the Tide attack. Kinvor's understanding and acceptance of what happened pushed the relationship into a romantic one, with them eventually taking each other as husband.

Married life suited Jovle well and he started to let go of his ghosts with some help from Kinvor as well as a group of others that met regularly to share their experiences of the horrors the Tide brought with it. Kinvor also started to teach him how to cook and always impressed his philosophy of food on him as much as the actual recipes.

Many years passed and eventually Kinvor became sick with an illness no doctor could treat. Jovle tried to stay strong for his husband but Kinvor could often see how scared he was and would reassure him that he would be okay once Kinvor was gone and that it was important to not fall into that despair again but to instead keep living a good, full life.

Not too long after Kinvor had passed word started to spread that orcs hadn't been seen in years and the world was starting to reopen a little. Feeling he had no place left in the mountains Jovle once again set off out into the world, only this time not as a warrior with weapons and armor and delusions of grandeur but just as a man with cooking utensils and spices, and the desire to spread the love Kinvor had shown him and others through his food.