The Sunless Citadel: ECL 1 Bishop Bathula lesser fey'ri cleric of Tvashtri 1: Bio

Bathula’s Bio

Early Life and Adulthood

I grew up in farming communities. I never learned to read or write. Never had a need to. Not back then. All my life was working the farm. This is where I learned how to be aggressive and decisive, taking appropriate measures against beast and humanoid alike. Anyone or anything that would threaten our livelihood was dealt with swiftly. I learned to appreciate the things of nature, animals, plants, and insects. When you understand the beasts of nature, you can use that to your advantage on the farm.

Middle Age

As I began to approach my 200^th birthday, I started attending a local church of Tvashtri. It was here that I first saw that book. That book became the center of my every passion. I was given a free copy of this religious book when I joined the church. They couldn’t believe that I was nearly 200 years old and didn’t know how to read. When they said that all the answers about life were in this book, I took it upon myself to finally learn how to read. I wanted to see for myself what was in that book. And one day long about my 190s I found myself sitting at home reading to myself for the first time in my life. And I had a real religious experience too. I began to see omens in every event and action around me. Tvashtri’s silent voice could be heard everywhere. I also began to teach the happy teachings of my book to others at our church every week. They began calling me Bishop Bathula. I kind of like the sound of that. Bishop Bathula.

Old Age

Now at 299, only a few months until the big 3-oh-oh, I discovered hidden meanings in that book. That book had secret codes and phrases. If you took the first letter of each paragraph, or the last letter of each chapter, or the last letter of the middle word of a each sentence in a paragraph, etc., it was spelling out a message. I took this information to our church leaders and they took me for an crazy old crock. I began to decipher this code on my own, making endless notes in my journals. More than once lately, a “good” member of our church has come to visit and tried to steal my book from me. I see them everywhere, sometimes. They don’t want me to find out the secret message in that book. So far, I have found out that it’s a secret language, not just a code. A language that the gods used to create the multiverse. Its all hidden inside the text. I’ve tried saying some of the words out loud and strange things have began to happen. The other day I broke a window in my house with one of the words, but I’m still not sure I said it correctly. I’m close to finding out how to form sentences in this creative language of the gods. If I can only keep the “good members” of the church of Tvashtri from stealing my book. I want to learn how to speak and manipulate the world around me with only my words. The creative words of the gods.

Now

Tomorrow is my 300^th birthday and I stopped attending that church now (but I didn’t inform anyone). I can’t ever go back. But I’m keeping my book. I will spend all my waking time making notes from it. Deciphering its hidden codes. Now I have to go on the run so they can’t find me…