Tippetarius

Finwen, a pleasant but somewhat awkward Altmer student at the College of Winterhold. He makes some appearances in The White Phial.

I commissioned Ann Chovi to draw Finwen a couple of years ago, and I still absolutely adore this. The style, the expression, the colors-- all perfect. Check out more of Ann Chovi's art on Tumblr and DeviantArt!

[The following was originally posted to Tumblr on March 18, 2017.]

Dug this up when I was hunting around for something else. I forgot how long ago I made a first stab at writing the scene where J'zargo sees his room at the College for the first time. This was back in August, and it’s pure dialogue. I’m not sure why I thought the College would give Rumarin a room too; as far as these mages are concerned, Rumarin’s a nobody.

Gotta love the Winterhold furnishings. Your room periodically resets too, so if you hide the skulls somewhere, they mysteriously find their way back home.

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Although The White Phial is becoming a story about three characters and how they evolve over the course of events, Rumarin was the reason I started writing it.

Rumarin is one of many characters from Interesting NPCs, a Skyrim mod I can't do without now. He's an Altmer who introduces himself as a "professional adventurer, bladebinder, and grave robber," and he’s also a former jester who has plenty of amusing things to say. (For more official descriptions, see the Interesting NPCs pages Rumarin and Character Profile - Rumarin.)

I had some challenges trying to get Rumarin to “feel right” for the story, though.

First challenge: I struggled to get a handle on Rumarin's personality because there are different ways to interpret the kind of person he is. He puts himself down a lot and calls himself half a halfwit, but is he? He hates studying (at least if it involves spell tomes), so we can make a case for that. But I don't go along with it. He notices things that aren't quite right (like Tolfdir's decision to make a bunch of new apprentices split up and explore what turns out to be a dangerous crypt), he throws around words like "alliteration" and "insufferable," he grew up around actors, and he once made it his business to play the fool.

Other interpretations: he's insecure and has a warped sense of self that doesn't match reality. Or he puts himself down so people won't expect much from him, or so they'll trust him more, or so they won't punch him too hard if he gets too snarky. Or he picked up the habit of self-deprecation when he was still a jester. Or any combination of these, really.

(Apparently I’m not the only one who struggled with getting into Rumarin’s head--there are some interesting comments about that in TrueNorth’s Heroes, Unlikely and Otherwise.)

Second challenge: Rumarin is a passive follower who's more than happy to let the Dragonborn lead the way and do the thinking. But followers pretty much have to be passive because they're not the ones playing the game; of course the Big Damn Hero of Skyrim calls the shots. This works in the game, but I couldn't make it fly in a multi-chapter story. Rumarin needed motivation to be more dynamic and make his own choices, so I saddled him with debt and set things up such that if he doesn't pay it off soon, Bad Things will happen to him. Also, he doesn't have a powerful leader-type he can depend on.

Third challenge: Rumarin is secretive. He won't tell you his views on politics or religion even if you're married to him. Almost everything he says is amusing, but after a while it feels like he's using humor to hide his true self and keep your character at arm's length. But maybe that’s worth exploring in a story: why does he feel the need to do this? Is he really trying that hard to avoid all the unpleasant things in life (in which case being an adventurer is a terrible way to go about it)? Can this change?

Fourth challenge (more like a point of interest): what should we make of all the stray comments that suggest Rumarin has been involved in some pretty questionable stuff? He knows a guy who makes counterfeit swords and College robes, he had dealings with a forger, he hopes he doesn't run into anybody he knows in a smuggling cave, he sometimes carries around an empty skooma bottle... yes, he could be joking around, but I think it's more interesting if there's something to it.

After all that, I think I ended up with a Rumarin who's a little more shady and much more of a go-getter than the Rumarin you meet in the game. But hopefully he still feels like Rumarin.

Addendum 10 Feb 2017: Everything I said about Rumarin being an entertainer/former jester? Rumarin tells you this stuff, but not everyone thinks he’s being truthful about his background. How deep the lies and half-truths go is wide open to speculation.

[Originally posted on Tumblr on October 7, 2016; edited with an addendum on February 10, 2017]