((Just wanted to say oops straight off the bat - I tried to make an account, because I thought that I needed it to post this. So just ignore that oversight, please. >.< ))
~~~OOC~~~Character: Senior Lecturer Hodgerick.
Class: Priest (Holy Specced).
Why do you want to join the Cult?: In a nutshell, for the role-play possibilities and for the Forsaken only community that you offer.
I've been on the Defias Brotherhood server for a while now, but I grew dis-enchanted by the lack of Forsaken roleplay opportunities. I didn't want to settle for a mixed race guild (it removes the focus from the struggles of the Corpse-folk), but I arrived after the Blighted Crown was already in decline, and there was little left in its place. I left the game for a long while, until, interestingly enough, the existence of your guild was passed on to me by a friend from the Second Gurubashi Empire. He spoke very highly of you, both the community and the role-play, and suggested that I return and join. The lore of the Shadow is interesting and compelling, as is the information on the Cult itself, so it seemed an ideal fit.
I was sold from the start!!
How did you come to learn about the Cult: From the Guildmaster of the Second Gurubashi Empire. He's got nothing but glowing recommendations for your guild and efforts.
IC Application: The heavy parcel was left sitting carefully on a side table, aligned at a right angle to the edge, wrapped in thick brown paper only made slightly damp by the heavy downpour outside. It bore the heavy, ornate sigil of the Royal Apothecary Society on its sides, gleaming and dark in the dull candlelight of the room. A thick envelope rested on the top of the package, pinned to keep it in place, the same governmental symbol pressed in black sealing wax to keep the heavy parchment closed. The cramped writing inside was untidy, and quickly scrawled, scrambling across the page in a tumble as though scribed by a hurried hand:
Good evening to you, Curator.
Forgive me for a lack of the usual posterity in sending this missive to you, for we have not spoken before this correspondence. I am however, writing to you on a matter of some urgency, so I would beg leave on this matter of minor vulgarity in view of the larger picture.
Little do I need remind you of the struggles of our people, for they are as much your hardships as they are my own, but we do, all of us, strive in our efforts for the prosperity of the Forsaken people. Each of us works as it is his skill, his own lot in death, to better the prospects of our society. Some duties are, however, less glorious than others and unfortunately, in these dark times, it falls on you to endure a most unpleasant burden for the sake of our people.
The name of the burden is Hodgerick.
He is the Forsaken who delivered this parcel to you, and despite attempting to aid me earnestly in my duties for the Dark Lady, he is one of the most persistent annoyances in my work. He needlessly lectures me on the minute details of all manner of subjects, at all hours of the day, seeking to clarify and expand upon [i]any task that I give him, or question that I ask of him. The simplest instructions can drag into quarter hours of explanation, as Hodgerick informs me of a plethora of factoids about a given focus, each of them as meaningless as the last. He has often made it impossible to focus on my experiments over his droning accounts, much to my frustration and that of my fellows who depend on my research. My work, whilst always important, is nearing a critical juncture at which I will not have the free time to deal with him.
And thus the burden of Hodgerick falls to you, as it was passed onto me, and to my predecessor before me. Understand that whilst you alleviate my colleagues and I of a problem, you also gain a potential opportunity - Hodgerick, though boring and dry as dust, does have his uses, detailed below.
First and foremost he is a competent Priest, though one would not think it to look at the man. As he has told me (repeatedly, and at length) he was once a Chapel Priest for a children's school in Tarren Mill, and he retains much of his former training and manner. He was served our Dark Lady in a prolonged, though low profile, capacity in this regard - frequently accompanying military patrols to deal with the Scourge threat in the outlying areas we rule. He has proved himself competent in this duty, and has secured us many small skirmishes against the Hated Enemy.
Secondly he remains to this day one of the most useful sources of information that I have come across - a fantastic reference tool for my own research. There is rarely a problem that he cannot provide some additional information or advice on, even if one must sieve through the rambling explanations he provides for the facts first sought. Even if only used as a starting point for more focused study, his encyclopaedic knowledge of many subjects of academia has proved a great boon for my own experimentation.
Lastly, there is perhaps no task too small or mind-numbing to occupy him until he has completed it precisely. Hodgerick appears unable to become bored or unsatisfied (how ironic) with any task given to him, and has frequently occupied himself for weeks on end with the most tedious of accountancy of monies, stock-taking of alchemical supplies and numerous other duties too tedious to assign even the most stubborn of individuals to.
Needless to say, if would be looked upon as a great - if unofficial - favour to the Royal Apothecary Society if Hodgerick could find a place more directly within your Order. I have checked and found his beliefs to mirror your own, so you need not worry about him upsetting your other cultists. I would be very mindful of this assistance in the future, not to mention extremely grateful, and my own opinion about your faction would certainly carry much weight within my organisation and peers.
If you wish to find some (any) use for Hodgerick you will find him waiting in Brill, where he has booked rooms upon my instructions, after delivering this package to you.
I will be indebted to you for a swift resolution of this situation,
~ Apothecary Lycanus
P.S. If this has not been enough of an incentive to accept Hodgerick into your Order, please note the generous donation to your organisation contained in the parcel. I will make a similar donation every month that Hodgerick remains out of my laboratory.
Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:08 pm