Omhbus Stumbleduck

As a child he was always more lively and inquisitive than the other Deep Gnomes around him, less interested in stone and hard toil, more interested in knowing what everything was and how it worked.

His father a merchant by trade, one of the few Deep Gnomes to leave their underground city, decided it may be best to take his child with him up to the surface during his usual business travels, at the very least to try and satiate his appetite for knowledge, and at most scare him in to the comfort of life grafting at home with the rest of his kin.

As the days of travelling went on his fathers hopes of a simple life with his son grew ever smaller, as every encounter with foreign creatures seemed more to peek his sons interest, and test his wits than his resolve. Making notes in the face of adversity instead of screams.

Sitting at a table in the corner of a quite tavern scribbling notes of his encounters on the journeys with his father, he is approached by a curious individual. Noticing the small grey gnome child's obsessive interest in his book, the figure mentions "Ah a fellow bookworm I see, you must be here for the famous library we have here." The boy seemingly uninterested at what the stranger had to say at first has his ears twitch at the mention of library "You mean there is a place filled with many books like these?" The somewhat elderly fellow laughs to himself at the understanding that the gnome child has never heard of vast libraries before, "Yes books on every topic your mind can imagine...animals, fauna, monsters, history, religion and so forth. It an oh so lovely building right in the centre of town, would you like to come see?" The young gnome nods his head vigorously in agreement. Excited the boy rushes over to his father asking to see this so called library, his father dismissing the elderly gentleman as a mere shady merchant tells him he's not interested in anything he's pushing and drags his son away to their room "We are here for my business and it's time for bed, I have meetings to attend in the morning!".

Later on that night the young gnome boy snuck away from his father in to the dead of night in search of this 'library'. Somehow managing to make it right to the building without being accosted by guards or miscreants, the boy enters through the seemingly giant front doors, greeted by the familiar elderly face at the front desk "I had a feeling you'd come here eventually, you seem to have that spark about you, would you like to read something or do you just want to stand in awe all night?" the elderly man says as the little gnome boys jaw drops in astonishment looking beyond the front desk to see the rows upon rows of gigantic bookshelves housing thousands of books.

The boy spends all night reading snippets from several books at once, trying to fathom the amount of material kept under one roof. The elderly librarian sends a message to the tavern where the boys father is staying notifying him of his sons location. Upon arriving the father tries to force his son to come with him, begging and pleading the boy resists his father, clinging tightly to a table leg, seeing this the elderly librarian mentions "If I may sir, we do have an opening for an intern at current and your son seems awfully dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, I'd be more than happy to ensure his well being for you if you want to leave him with me?". After much back deliberation and back and forth between the son and his father, they agree on the condition that up until his son becomes an adult he shall be visiting every time he's on business up on the surface.

Ombus quickly reads his way through the majority of the library, using all his spare time in between his chores and sleep his makes his way through every book known to him in the mundane library. Still hungering for more the librarians soon realise this boy may even surpass them and pass him on to the secret arcanological department underneath the library, where Ombus trained in the arts of understanding the very fabric of the material and immaterial.

Eventually reaching adulthood and free from his restraints he set out to other libraries to devour their vaults of knowledge.

He does this for many years, until he reaches 100 years old and hit a wall in his research on magical theory. He realises his work cannot be completed merely through theoretical calculation, and so sets out to put his knowledge in to practice, in hopes of gaining further insight in to his field and the unknown world around him, or what's left of the unknown.

**Strengths:**

Having a lot of theoretical knowledge on almost everything that's been documented/observed, Speed reading, Perfectly comfortable in total silence, Despite being a book bound scholar he's fairly hardy and dexterous.

**Weaknesses:**

Not having much practical life experience or skills outside of the arcane, Not very charismatic and always offends people with his use of literal descriptions.

**Likes:**

People that appreciate knowledge and truth, A good book, Star gazing, Experimenting with things not for the outcome but for the process, Bubbles.

**Dislikes:**

Bullshitters, Butterflies, Booze, Forks.

**Quirks:**

Carries around a spork as he refuses to use forks, Often walks around with a cup of tea no matter where he is, Mumbles to himself when he's in deep thought.

**Favourites**

**Environment:** Library

**Colour:** Pinkish Red

**Food:** Biscuits and Cheese

**Beverage:** Herbal Tea

**Sound:** Silence

**Smell:** New Book

**Touch:** Parchment

**Sight:** The Stars