Rolf Hobbson/History

## Surviving the Rotgut District

Rolf was born as a bastard to an unknown father to Tatye Hobbson, a bar wench serving in the Rotgut District in Riddleport. Being pregnant during a lapse in her of Calistra's Kindess to save on coins. She cared for him little, and often left his care to the numerous seedy men and women that she attracted.

Rolf had become a killer at the age of ten, but in the Rotgut district that wasn’t anything extraordinary in itself. He had taken his first step in rising to the top of a violent society, a long ladder to climb in a city where poverty was prevalent and criminal elements ran rampant. He might have climbed towards the top in the years that followed had he only been gifted with a bit more brains, but it was brawn that the gods gave him with great generosity and it was with that brawn that he proved himself to be useful to the sorts of criminals who needed a good blunt instrument to get their dirty work done.

“Rolf the Bastard” was the name that he had earned by the time he was ten, though its meaning shifted over the next four years; going from being an obvious statement about his parentage to a statement about how he treated the people around him, especially those who persisted in commenting about his parentage. He had developed a reputation of someone who could be hired to apply a bit of muscle to a problem and whose personal ambitions were not great enough to cause too much trouble. He was dumb muscle but possessing a certain cunning that gave him something of an advantage over the competition. He was hired at first to clear drunken vagrants from the doorsteps of select businesses, then later on to keep parts of the docks clean of thieves and potential stowaways.

His choice in blunt instruments as his preferred method of dealing out violence made him stand out early on. While truncheons were not an unusual weapon for Riddleport’s youth, those where usually abandoned for blades as a better means of spilling blood. Rolf, on the other hand, retained a passion for blunt instruments, moving from clubs to maces and hammers, as he found a certain satisfaction in crushing bones and smashing skulls.

Rolf was known to be fairly easy to work with once he found his place within a gang. He was blunt in how he spoke to others above or below him, and he was often cruel to his victims, but not to an extent that might seem self-indulgent or might become a distraction from his duties, but, most importantly, he was loyal so long as his boss maintained a position of strength and demonstrated the competence to lead properly.

He was never known to have any interest in art, poetry, or music. He was not one for sentimentality, and often preferred to beat the stuffing out of anything that he saw as being too sweet. He was never romantic, instead being very direct about his appetites. And those appetites only got stranger as time went on.

His earliest memories are those of men paying him in coppers and beer to start fights with other kids. Or with Halflings. The extend to which he defended his mother was that she was a bar wench, not a prostitute. Sure, she slept around, but not for money. As his notoriety rose and he started to finding paying work, he quickly forgot about his mother and has had no contact with her since the last time he visited Riddleport four years ago. He in on her bar to say hello, not having seen her in some time. After some conservation she commented that he looked good enough to sleep with, where he not her son. Her boyfriend of the time said something to the affirmative, asking if he had never had such relations with his mother before. Rolf answered by breaking the man's jaw and throwing him out of a balcony windows. He and his crew mates then proceed to start a brawl that left the bar in in shambles and he left, never looking back

## The Bloody Tide

Rolf started on the Bloody Tide as dock security and had impressed the captain enough to be invited onboard as a part of the crew. His strength and ferocity in combat quickly made him a favorite of the captain, though his quarrelsome nature regarding other members of the crew made him a challenge to work with. Rolf had a strong sense of hierarchy reinforced by strength, and when someone stepped too closely into what he regarded as his responsibilities, or his personal space, he would not hesitate to respond with corrective violence.

 As a part of the Bloody Tide’s crew, he quickly forged a reputation as a ruthless pirate, adding to the already blood-soaked legacy of that ship. They were wolves of the sea, and Rolf was a very unapologetic wolf. Anyone weaker than him or his crew were rightfully prey, and he had little restraint in what he was willing to do with his prey. Kidnapping, rape, murder, holding prisoners for ransom or selling them off into slavery, there wasn’t ever a point in which Rolf seemed to think that he had gone too far. He was never known to have any regrets. Onboard his ship, they made their own rules of society, so long as the captain permitted it. And their captain permitted quite a lot.

 Rolf had secured his nickname as The Bloodwall during a particular battle with the crew of The Hanged Man’s Revenge, a rival pirate ship that attempted to steal their prize after having captured a merchant’s ship. His single-minded ability to hold a gangplank, bathed in blood while swatting aside boarders with his warhammer and shrugging off their blows, left a powerful impression on his captain and the crew alike. He served on the ship for seven years and he would have been considered for higher rank were it not for his lack of strategic insight. Even at his best, he still served best as a blunt instrument. He knew that he was being held back, in spite of what his captain thought of his capabilities, and his resentment over this grew until he finally left the crew at Magnimar.

## The Band of the Rose and the Thorn Arc

The period where the Band first starts out rescuing Renare, getting the manor, and doing odd jobs to build their reputation.

## The Race for the Gold Arc

The escalated events that lead to the Band getting the gold and returning it to the city.

## Twilight of the Scaithsidhe Arc

The events of the Scaithsidhe invasion and travelling to the Shadow Court to stop a war

## The Dreams and Portents Arc

Returning from the Shadow Court the Band starts to push back against the gangs and cults, run afoul of hags, and more.

## The Lily and the Orchid Arc

Starting from when decided to run for Lord Mayor, it details the period leading up to the election