Barnabas Haim

[Alteripseity]

Returning Beta Player Character

Do you have any prior experience with Requiem? If so, please detail when and what characters you previously played:
Yes. I played during acts III and IV. In act III, I was a member of The Apothecary Corps. by the name of Rustley. In Act IV, I was the farmer Yale Vaughn Foulkes. I currently play Barnabas Haim, an engineer, in Act V.

Briefly summarize your prior role-playing experience:
I’ve role-played for 21 years online; in 36 simulations from AOL chat rooms to virtual environments. I also have about 12 years of experience playing tabletop role-playing games; in 22 campaigns between Dungeons & Dragons, Shadowrun, Vampire the Masquerade. I have been a player, a lore writer, a plot weaver, a dungeon master, a storyteller, a map builder, a scripter, and an administrator.

Why do you wish to play on Requiem, and what do you expect from the shard?
I’ve known Requiem to set the quality standard of role-play and storytelling among Ultima Online shards. I want to be a part of this community for as long as this ride lasts.

What will your character’s name be?:
Barnabas Haim

Please briefly describe the physical attributes of your character, including age, looks, height, weight and notable features:
Barnabas is a man of considerable years, and time has not been kind. His youth, like his hair, recedes thin and pulls back. Only his eyes and lips droop, looking like they carry considerable weight upon them. Still, he seems well rooted in where he stands, even with a forward lean and occasional sway. His colors fade to winter.

Briefly state your character’s intentions for entering the First Province:
Barnabas has been in the First Province since 1338. He lived in Tor up until its fall in 1342. With the First Province under quarantine, he has no ambitions to leave. He fully intends to work his way back to Tor. There are a good many tools and resources left behind that are no doubt invaluable to turning the tide.

The Church and Legion failed to push back Torment and repel rebels during the Three Hour War. Barnabas believes those factions are ill equipped to handle the fight to come. If victory is to be had, it will be through ingenuity and the POWER OF STEAM! The price of failure is steep and none know better than the Foundry that prosperity is never free.
“Laeta Uero Numquam.”

Briefly provide the pertinent details of your character’s history:
Dewfall 24, 1285 AS:
Barnabas is the third son born to Abraham Derry and Chloe Barr in a small mining town of the Athaerun foothills. Abraham disappears soon after. The townsfolk believe he abandoned the family; however, Chloe professes supernatural forces drew Abraham to vanish within the mine’s depths. Unable to provide for Barnabas, he is adopted by Johnathan Haim and his wife Winnie. His adoption is kept secret for many years.

1292 AS:
Jonathan Haim dies from black lung. Winnie sends Barnabas to work in the mines. Despite the strained relationship Barnabas has with Winnie, they share his paycheck for the rest of her years.

1307 AS:
Barnabas shows an aptitude for engineering. No longer does he crawl through mine shafts, but instead maintains tools and machinery. In this year, on his sixteenth birthday, he learns the truth of his adoption: close friends are really his brothers, the food line lady his mother. It suddenly makes sense as to why he received more food than the other workers. Upon learning Chloe’s suspicion of his father’s fate, Barnabas searches the lower mines. No evidence is found to support his mother’s claim.

Dewfall 7, 1311 AS:
After several years of courting, Barnabas marries Daphne Feldman in a small ceremony held within the local Decusian temple. His adoptive mother, the cruel Winnie Haim, passes later that month. It’s a good year for Barnabas.

1312 AS:
Resolve teachings reach the Eastern Baronies. Thaumaturgy is in practice. Barnabas picks up an interest in these teachings, however finds the complexities of magic beyond his current understanding. On Highharvest 12, Samael Haim is born. Daphne endured a difficult pregnancy; she loses her hearing during a brief bout of sickness with a high fever. A Resolvist fortunately magically restores her senses.

1313 AS:
Torment strikes Vitaveus! The Eastern Baronies are able to hold their own against the afflicted. Though Barnabas feels secure, he prays often to Decus for protection.

Dewfall, 1314 AS:
Side effects of the Resolve’s immunizations against Torment and cures for various ailments manifest. Daphne suffers delusions of voices, which none but her bear witness. The church exposes the Resolve is to blame and Barnabas shares their scorn. He joins the local posse’s own inquisition during Purge of the Witchkin. The village suffers the loss of several businesses.

Daphne claims to hear people trapped within the mines. One night, she takes off to save them. Barnabas gives chase, but loses her along the way. Daphne is never seen again. Barnabas searches for her beneath the mountain for a full year. He finds no sign of her, however he does find a pocket watch belonging to Johnathan Derry. It still ticks.

1315 AS:
Efforts to combat the afflicted increase demands for resources. The local mine is completely tapped out. Without the mine, and the loss of several businesses during the Purge, the village goes into steep decline. Barnabas and his son move on, leaving what remains of his family behind. He joins the Foundry and relocates several times throughout the Midlands repairing reclaimed steam engines.

1319 AS:
The Consortium is established. Barnabas is weary of permitting magi to practice their craft, but would rather have them on his side against the Resolve. He takes a renewed interest in magic, striking conversations with whatever Consortium members he comes across.

1333 AS:
Colonists begin settling The End of the World. Barnabas pushes his son, Samael, to join the colonies for a better life. Samael eventually relents and joins the colonial efforts at MacArthur’s Gate. Barnabas is now on his own.

Greengrass, 1335 AS:
The new Archbishop, Karl Anslem, ceases colonial efforts into Ancora. Communication and travel is completely shut off. Word of MacArthur’s Gate’s fall reaches the public. Barnabas never hears from Samael again. Barnabas blames himself and the church for sending Samael to his perpetual doom. He loses faith with the church administration, though still clings to belief in Decus. He prays Decus will intervene.

1338 AS:
Archbishop Anslem decrees efforts to restore the Midlands be abandoned. Barnabas returns to the Eastern Baronies and settles within Tor. He takes up new work with the Foundry maintaining the engines that run sewer pumps. Rats and abominations below are difficult to deal with. Barnabas tinkers with traps and learns to swing his tools offensively.

1339 AS: Barnabas’s prayers are answered! The foul treachery of Anslem is illuminated. He is pleased to see Johan Landcaster and his companions take up church leadership. His faith in the church is restored.

Barnabas begins dabbling in his own home for a better way to combat the Torment. He understands there are ways to armor one’s self from Torment; but men still fall and rise again as Afflicted. Perhaps they may be a way to have the armor itself fight. Though he has a few vague ideas, Barnabas does not draw up conclusive plans.

1341 AS:
A week-long eclipse heralds the Everdark and its unspeakable abominations. Resolve activity is discovered within Tor. When the dead rise within the Torian Cemetery, he joins the local posse in putting them down. Though he was not there to witness Galgarious and his Guardians of the Eternal Flame’s defeat of the Seventh, he shares in their revelry.

Threats of the Everdark and Torment stress and fracture faction relations. The Council of Bishops disagree on how to handle the Consortium. Warbishop Naum Alexandrov’s execution of a licensed Consortium mage sparks outrage and the Three Hour War begins. Barnabas does not take action during the revolt. Learning the Church abandoned Tor, his faith in the establishment falters again.

When lawlessness breaks out in the city, Barnabas becomes reclusive.

Icereign 1342 AS:
Tor falls to the Torment in one night. Barnabas keeps one district ahead of the Afflicted as they spill out from the Consortium district to Heartwood. With Torment closing in on their last bastion, Barnabas chooses to abandon Tor. He is one of the few lucky survivors to reach Orespod before the local militia destroy the bridge into town.

1345 AS:
Barnabas then heads for the refuge of Fort Praesidum near the Rumbling Pass. Cut off to the town, by busted bridges and dangerous roads, he occupied a northern plantation for a time. Nearby miners ran him and other refugees off, forcing Barnabas to forge his way down south to Fort Praesidum.

Briefly write an in-character response to the following scenario:
You have finally arrived at your destination; the Rumbling Pass checkpoint. Before you stands a massive outpost, looking to have been erected only recently, of which is patrolled by numerous Legionnaires and Church Templar. The outpost guards the only viable entrance to the recently quarantined First Province; the home of Tor, the fallen capital of the Republic. Sitting at the foot of the massive mountain line that effectively contains the First Province within, the outpost serves as the last obstacle you must overcome before gaining entry into the quarantined territory. You and others like you assemble outside of the palisades of the outpost, awaiting the opportunity to speak your case to the presiding Legion officiant who is processing admittance to the Province.

You watch as but a scant few of the dozens that approach the officiant, whom stands at the outer gates of the outpost flanked by a few heavily armored Legionnaires, are actually allowed to pass through the man-door and into the outpost. You see some slip pieces of gold to the officiant, while others plead their cases and rationale as to why they should be allowed to enter the recently fallen territory. Some appear to provide some sort of paperwork to the officiant, whom promptly waves them through. While eavesdropping, you manage to overhear the well-rehearsed speech the officiant provides to those whom don’t provide paperwork or grease his palm.

“By decree of the Venerated Church, the First Province is considered to be a mortal health hazard, and as such, is quarantined under Article Eighteen of the Republic Treatise of Health Act of 1320. Citizens who do not possess a Quarantine Visa issued by one of the recognized Factions of the Republic are considered non-essential to the reclamation of the First Province. Under Article Eighteen, non-essentials seeking entry into an official quarantine zone must petition for entry into a said zone, and state just cause for the issuing of a visa by the perimeter authority. State your business and make it good, citizen; we’ve enough bodies in there to keep us busy for months without adding yours to the pile.”

You ponder the situation for a moment, evaluating your options. It’s well known that with the right connections and the right amount of coin, one can get their hands on a Quarantine Visa from any one of the major Factions of the Republic, or even a passable counterfeit from more nefarious sources. At the same time, it would appear that the officiant doesn’t appear to be above some simple bribery. However, you’re sure that some of those let in appeared to have made a convincing case with the officiant. Gathering your wits, you make your decision as to how to gain access to the First Province.

“I am an essential and I have faith. Do you have faith, sir? I am Barnabas Haim. I have as many ways to apply a science, mathematical methods, and engineering innovation as there are ways to die. My assets are these hands and my mind. My tools are the pick and wrench.”

Barnabas extends two fingers to his brow, horizontally with his thumb facing upwards. His eyes briefly close. His fingers drop, so the tips of two extended fingers touch his hips. Finally, those fingers land above his heart.

“I have faith, because I have seen great men forged in fire. It is a privilege of lesser men to ignite the flame. I am essential for I maintain and devise the necessities to stoke those flames.”

[Sic]

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