Olly

"Blind" Olly "Thingfinder" Sykes was a player character from the original Fellowship campaign. Olly was a Gnome bard gifted with the ability to move folk to tears with his soulful blues playing.

Biography


Oliver Wendell Sykes was born in the town of Trope to Warren and Sonia Sykes, a pair of gnomish merchants/haberdashers. Olly spent his formative years in the market square, running errands for his family and meeting all manner of travelers, from merchants to pilgrims to adventurers. Encountering such a wide variety of people taught Olly to be open minded and accepting of different people and viewpoints. However, not everyone in Trope was so kind.

Trope was a very stratified town, where the established families with old money controlled the political and social apparatus. Olly saw how many shop-owners and their employees worked hard but never seemed to get ahead. How the rich families looked down on anyone who didn't look or dress or speak like them. How the town council wrote laws geared toward making life easier for those who already had it easy. The plight of the people was too much to bear, and young, idealistic Olly was propelled into action.

The smaller races of the realm can travel unseen through society better than most, and Olly was particularly advantaged in this area. He was a small member of an already-small race, and the world has a way of overlooking its less fortunate. Working in his parent's shop, he overheard who was needing a fabulous outfit for lord and lady whats-it's grand gala, which they were just dying to attend. Thus, while the well-to-do would tete-a-tete, Olly would sneak-through-the-back and loot-the-room. He would then sell pilfered goods to one of the many travelling traders who came through town once every few months, then distribute the gold throughout the slums of Trope. The first few excursions were a success, but it only takes one bad meatball to ruin everything. Olly was caught in the act by a low-level bureaucrat home with a stomach ache, and dragged before the priests of St.Cuthbert, god of justice and retribution. He was branded with a Mark of Justice, dumped outside the town gates, and forbidden to return to Trope under penalty of terrible, crippling curse.

The road before him was dark, and Olly had never been out on the open road by himself before. At a loss for what else to do, he began to wander towards the nearest town. After an hour or two, Olly's dire circumstances finally hit him. He was a marked criminal, and forcibly removed from everything and everyone he ever knew. He cursed the greedy nobles, cursed the self-righteous clerics, cursed himself for being so foolish. What would he do? Where could he go? What was that song playing off in the distance? Wait, what?

It was a sound Olly had never heard before, but it sounded familiar all the same. It seemed to carry all his depression and loss in its notes, but lifted his spirit in spite of that. Olly followed the notes through the darkness, and eventually found an old dwarf sitting atop a large rock by the side of the road. When the dwarf finished playing, Olly cleared his throat and said, "Um... Nice song. I've never heard anything like it." Not looking down from his rock, the dwarf said, "Thank you kindly, young'in. Now just what is a little fellow like you doing out by his self so late?" Olly hesitantly explained his situation. He wasn't sure he should share so much information, but it felt good to commiserate with a stranger. "Sounds like you've got a bit of the blues in you, son" the dwarf said. Olly had never heard the word, at least not in a context other than the sky, water, or fabric. "The blues. Troubles. Hard times. You know how to play an instrument?" Olly responded with a negative. "You know how to sing?" the dwarf asked. Another no. "Good. That kind of stuff don't matter anyway. Playin' the blues is all about what's inside. The name's Muddy Mortars. Why don't you step inside and I can tell you all about it." It was then that Olly noticed two things. First, that a large house had magically appeared behind the dwarf, and second, that the dwarf was wearing sunglasses, even though it was the middle of the night.

Other Stuff?
"Eyes: Green. Hair: Grey. Skin: Chocolate"

- Olly's character sheet

Trivia

 * Olly's many names were drawn from many sources. The name Olly was drawn from the MTV sock puppet duo Sifl and Olly. Sykes was borrowed from blues musician Roosevelt Sykes. His full birth name was taken from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. His blues moniker "Blind" is a stereotypical name, while "Thingfinder" is drawn from John Hodgman's list of 700 Hobo Names.
 * Despite a focus on enchantment spells, Olly never learned any spells involving charms or mind control. This is due to his belief in personal freedom and choice. He may make you magically depressed or temporarily stupid, but Olly refuses to control another's thoughts or actions.