Accidental Protagonist

rodge-er pen-dul-ton ford

Roger: 'famous spearman' apparently. this has nothing to do with the plot i just really like the name roger okay

Pendleton: 'overhanging settlement', i picked this one bc it has that kinda posh feel but also i was thinking about the pendle hill witch trials. take what you will from that ig

Forde: 'river crossing',, that could be symbolic tbh but it wasn't intended like that, i just needed a one-syllable upper-class-sounding name for the other half of his surname

Male, AMAB, uses he/him pronouns

20

he's a Tall
probably 6 foot

cool, mid-dark brown

short, straight, and kept meticulously tidy.

quite an angular face, with well-defined bones and features and a squareish chin.

none

Cloudy grey

• fairly thin, straight eyebrows


• natural crease between his eyebrows gives him a slightly worried-looking default expression, but his face is very expressive and he can mask this easily

• angular, thin nose with a prominent bridge


• excellent teeth


• smiles on the right side of his mouth

pale white

tall and skinny, with long limbs and pointy elbows. no muscle whatsoever he's a noodle

wears suits almost exclusively, loves dressing smartly

• smart black or brown shoes


• grey trousers


• white shirt with purple tie


• pale brown waistcoat


• medium grey blazer

very dignified, carries himself well and always has a straight back and good posture.

He's tried to train himself out of most nervous habits and mannerisms in order to blend in socially. It works - he's a very good actor and able to act how people expect him to in most situations. The one thing he still does unconsciously is fiddle with his blazer lapels, particularly when he's nervous.

• Helping people. He's always been the kind of person who wants to try and make things better for as many people as he can.


• Live up to his family's expectations of him - act like the perfect son and blend in to his upper-class society.


• Achieve high in his Classics course at Cambridge to make his family proud and learn as much as he can

• Puts others' needs before his even when he needs time for himself


• Takes on too much work


• Worries about what people think of him, constantly trying to change himself to fit in with their expectations

• Slight internalised homophobia due to his upbringing and family

• He's an excellent actor, able to behave how others expect him to, even when that doesn't align with his real self. Able to mask the parts of himself that he doesn't want people to see very easily.


• He's good at analysing what people say, both in real life and in books. He's an observer, able to discern people's motivations and emotions quickly.

• Reading, particularly old works such as Shakespeare, Greek epic poetry, myths and legends, and history of ancient civilisations


• Visiting his favourite coffee shops in Cambridge for a cup of tea


• Exploring the city, walking, sitting by the river


• A few sports: badminton, tennis, cricket and rowing

Roger is an observer. He pays close attention to the people around him and through this is able to perfectly replicate their behaviour and words in order to fit in. By watching people and mirroring their actions, he's mastered the art of acting how people expect him to. Additionally, Roger is very perceptive, able to quickly discern someone's true nature and what motivates them. This makes him good at knowing the perfect thing to say or do to anyone in order to please them or do what they expect him to.

Naturally empathetic, Roger is extremely sensitive to people's feeling and cares deeply about people. He's never really fit in with his family, who care about little else other than their wealth and status, and learnt early on to keep his thoughts and desire to help other people to himself. He views his empathy as a curse and wishes he could feel everything less.

At the end of the day, Roger is just lonely. His desire to help others sets him apart from his elitist, detached family (who also expect him to marry well and would never accept him if he told them the truth about his sexuality). All this isolates Roger completely from his family and he's desperate to find someone who understands him and who he could have a real conversation with, without having to act.

The Blessing

Roger (although he doesn't know it yet) is a Vessel of Netherith, the goddess of destruction magic. (More on that in his powers section)

• His family finding out the truth about his true nature and sexuality


• Having to live a lie for his whole life


• Failing university

He was raised a Christian by his parents, but stopped believing in God when he was a teenager and began realising he disagreed with most things his parents said.

• Believes everyone should have the freedom to be who they are, and live their life their way


• However, he's too worried about what his parents think of him to voice his views openly

Classics student at Coleridge College, Cambridge University

Pinks and purples

• Favourite food is scones


• Favourite drink is tea and he consumes an ungodly amount

His books, they provide escapism for him

Roger isn't really a fighter, preferring to solve conflict through talking things over (which he's excellent at). If he was to fight, he'd probably use a bow and arrow for long-range attacks or in later books, his power as he learns to use it.

Pigeons (he's often seen feeding them in Cambridge)

Cloudy and cool

• His regular coffee shop


• His university library

• Reading


• Tea


• Old buildings and architecture


• History


• Biscuits


• Spending time with friends

• Always playing a part


• Not fitting in


• Coffee


• Maths and sciences


• Studying without tea

13th May

Excelled at school and now working towards a Classics degree at Cambridge University

Born into a very rich family, Roger has been playing the part of the elite socialite his entire life. His parents always expected him to conform without question to the expectations of their wealthy societal circles, an endless parade of dances and events. They have no idea that as he's got older, Roger has begun to realised just how much he doesn't fit in with their coldness, their arrogance, or how they expect everyone to be the same. He wants to escape, but he doesn't know how.

Formerly his parent's house in Little Elleborough, and student housing in Cambridge, now lives with Brent Ashlight in the centre of Hearth.

Albert and Hillary Pendleton-Forde
It's safe to say Roger doesn't have a great relationship with either of his parents, however, neither of them suspect a thing thanks to Roger's talent at acting to fit in. Albert and Hillary were both born into the high upper class and constantly look down on anyone beneath their status, considering themselves and their money much more important. They are both extremely cold and uncaring in comparison to Roger, an extremely empathetic person, and Roger is torn between his desire to help people and his worry of being ostracised by his parents if he shows any kind of compassion to someone they see as 'beneath' them.

Sister: Jocelyn Pendleton-Forde

Roger doesn't fit in with his family whatsoever. His kind and empathetic nature contrasts sharply with their arrogance and entitlement, but without them, he has nobody, so he keeps pretending to be somebody he isn't.

Roger is gay, another thing he would certainly be ostracised from his family were he to voice it. His sexuality is just one more thing that sets him apart from them.

Roger meets Brent Ashlight when Brent is sent to Roger's world to track down Netherith, the goddess of destruction. Roger is pretty baffled by this strangely-dressed man who has apparently NO idea about how society works, but he's interesting, and he seems kinda lost, so they meet up a few more times for tea and they talk.

Brent is the one person Roger has ever met who he can talk to without pretending to be someone he's not. Maybe because he isn't from round here (where is he from, anyway??), but he seems to challenge everything Roger thought you had to do and be. He understands Roger like no-one ever has, and he gets the pressure of having to act exactly right for everyone else around you. Roger finds himself telling Brent things about himself he's never voiced aloud before, from how he doesn't fit in with his parents to how he doesn't feel the same about girls that everyone else seems to. But more than that, he's a friend. They can laugh and just talk about pointless things and Roger doesn't have to pretend to be interested in family 'secrets' he's heard a hundred times before.

One day when they're in the middle of tea and scones, a seemingly normal morning, the door of the cafe bursts open, revealing a small girl in oddly similar clothes to the first outfit Roger had seen Brent wearing. Roger only gets more confused when the girl marches over to their table and demands to know what Brent thinks he's doing. Roger and Brent are marched through the portal back to Feralthia, and honestly...a few things about the mysterious Brent make a bit more sense now.

Over the course of the story, Roger and Brent, plus a few friends of course, face the adventure of their lifetimes and Roger starts to admit to himself that maybe he doesn't just see Brent as a friend. However, they never lose the easy friendship and trust between them. Even when Roger finds out about the amount of people in the Brent Ashlight Fan Club.

• 
  Brent Ashlight


• 
  Ember Crow - Roger and Ember have faced a lot of the same struggles. Both of them deal with snobbish family members who want them to be something they're not, and they look out for each other despite their rocky start. During the quest, they both learn to confide in each other. Roger helps bring Ember out of her shell and stop pushing her friends away, while Ember helps Roger realise he isn't alone in what he's going through. Aside from their shared problems, the two of them both love to learn, and exchange stories about their respective worlds, which they both find very interesting.

Wraith Arrowsmith - While Roger and Wraith are both very different people, they become good friends throughout the duration of the quest, Wraith helping Roger become more adventurous and showing him that he should live life his own way. (Wraith is also secretly conspiring to get Roger and Brent together. Roger is pretending he doesn't know.)

Heather Wintersun - Initially, Heather wasn't sure what to make of Roger, as he seemed to be the reason Brent, the great hero of Feralthia, had failed his quest. Heather, who is determined to protect her home, thought maybe Roger was some kind of dark wizard who had thwarted Brent's mission. However you only have to spend five minutes with Roger to know that he definitely isn't a dark wizard, and after spending time together on the quest, Heather comes to see him as a friend and would protect him as she would Ember or Wraith.

Roger is able to see into the heart of a person very easily, seeing quickly someone's true motivations and character. In general, Roger is extremely compassionate and wants to help other people, but in his parents' social circles, he's learnt to squash that part of himself down, defaulting to mimicking the behaviour of everyone around him. (basically what i'm attempting to say is general attitude towards people = be nice!! help out!! but general attitude towards rich cambridge people he KNOWS are entitled idiots = HIDE BEHIND THAT DAMN FACADE ASAP)

Roger is a vessel of Netherith, the goddess of destruction magic, but his power isn't overt death and destruction. He has the power to make things go wrong in much more subtle ways than that, in ways that might not look like much but that are usually pretty incovenient or annoying (one reason no-one realised he had magic for so long). Some of the ways Roger's powers manifest themselves throughout his life include:

• being hideously bad at taking care of plants. every plant he tries to look after dies in less than two weeks


• something belonging to his parents breaking or falling inexplicably when he's feeling particularly angry or alone


• the precious and extremely spoilt cat of a rich aunt getting sick after roger was forced to spend a torturously boring week there


• a girl roger's parents tried to arrange for him to "pURSUE" falling down the steps of her manor house, twisting her ankle, and subsequently moving to the coast to Recuperate


• an ancient relic cracking, the head wizard's chair suddenly developing a wonky leg, several young wizards in the room breaking into a sneezing fit, and a passing dragon crashing into the roof of the council building when roger, brent and ember are being questioned by the feralthian high council

• roger was invented one day when i was playing badminton