Post by Skipper on Feb 4, 2009 13:05:22 GMT -5
(I know otters are a bit overused, but I don't think this character will turn out properly otherwise.)
Name: Barr Stromness
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Species: Sea Otter
Marital Status: Widower
Position and Home: (Champion-to-be) Although Barr was previously a wealthy trade merchant of the Western Sea, he has since abandoned it all to live a peaceful life at Redwall Abbey.
Strengths: Firstly, Barr is powerful, and intimidating, which can be rather useful in deterring possible threats. He also uses these traits to his advantage when fighting, usually gaining the upper paw simply through brute force. Secondly, Barr is rather skilled with the sword, as well as just about any weapon, except a sling -- he simply can't seem to aim well at all with such an awkward weapon (or any long range weapon for that matter).
Strangely enough, he is also a skilled businessbeast, having succeeded as a trade merchant for about fifteen seasons near the Western Sea. He can argue any one point, and win the argument whether his position is valid or not. His brother complains that "He'll keep changing the subject ever so slightly 'til yore quarreling o'er the meaning o' words, an' eventu'lly, ye have no choice but to give up arguing, 'cos ye won't be arguing about the same thing anymore."
Barr's senses of hearing and touch are only slightly more developed than a typical otter's. This is because when the body is deprived of one of the senses, the other four compensate by working harder (Wait for it...).
Weaknesses: Barr is blind in his right eye, and therefore has no depth perception. Without the ability to perceive the depth of an object, he cannot judge distances very well at all, because he is seeing everything in only two dimensions. Up, down, left, and right are all he can see. He is a bit clumsy due to this, sometimes tripping over objects, or running into walls on account of judging their distances from him incorrectly.
Barr is a very stubborn, overprotective father, and will therefore neglect his own needs in order to meet those of his family. This has led to problems in the past, and is likely to do so in future as well. Also, as explained before, Barr is a very intimidating otter, which makes befriending anybeast an initially somewhat difficult task.
Alignment: Good.
Appearance: Barr stands proportionally 6'10 in feet. Burly in stature, his broad shoulders and deep chest have earned him the simple description of "large" among a good number of the abbeydwellers. Overall, he is a rather intimidating individual. The combination of his height and strength sometimes make unnecessary the option of fighting, as his opponent will seek a different resolution. If, however, a beast does choose to engage in such a conflict, Barr is not, in any way, shape, or form, naive or incapable of utilizing these physical attributes to his advantage, and will do so as best he can. Simply put, anybeast who has chosen to fight Barr will have found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Barr is covered head to footpaw in a typical, darkly-coloured brown shade of fur, the only exception being that of his belly, which fades softly into a creamy, light brown patch of fur. Although his fur is beginning to put on a silvery tint, Barr refuses to admit it.
He possesses one, deep blue eye that seems to perceive everything about a beast. The other eye, his right, is covered by an eye patch nearly all of the time, not because it is wounded or missing, but because he was born half blind. The eyepatch only adds Barr's menacing appearance, especially when he tells somebeast the next improvised story about how he lost his right eye. He has multiple scars from various incidents in his past, but nothing too significant as to distinguish him very much from any other hard-working otter of his age. Upon his right upper arm, he bears a simple tattoo of an anchor attached to a broken chain, but is otherwise clean of all traditional otter tattoos.
Being an abbeydweller, Barr dresses accordingly, donning the traditional green habit of Redwall Abbey. But every now and again, he'll wear the clothing typical of him prior to arriving at the Abbey. Aside from his eye patch, his consists of a navy blue tunic, faded black trousers (though after all the seasons, they've become more of a gray color), and large black boots that probably haven't been cleaned in seasons.
Redwall's disallowance (that isn't a word, is it?) of weapons prevents Barr from carrying such equipment, but he will not venture outside the Abbey without a weapon or two, usually a sword and/or dagger -- he never could manage to aim well with a sling like most otters.
Altogether, he can look a very intimidating beast when anywhere other than the Abbey, and even there, he doesn't seem too approachable.
Personality: Outwardly, Barr appears to be a very serious beast, and equally dangerous. Be this as it may, the old otter is about as harsh as a puddle of kittens. But as with most, there are different sides to him. For a majority of the time, he is quiet, gentle, and thoughtful. He prefers to keep attention from himself unless he has something to say, often keeping his thoughts unspoken.
On the other paw, Barr is a stubborn, determined beast, and is not easily persuaded to change his mind. When he sets his sights on something, it will be accomplished, heedless of almost any consequences. At the same time, though, he can debate a point until the sun burns out, and always win the argument either by logic or pure persistence. He used this ability when working as a business beast on the shores of the Western Sea.
And on the other paw, he is a very stern father. His parenting skills aren't too impressive, but somehow or another, they seem to work. He raised his children each in different manners, based on his view of their future. Granted, this wasn't the best of ideas, but their personalities weren't much affected by this (due in part to their mother), and each grew up with a unique, focused skill area, which turned out to be rather useful in the end. For instance, his eldest daughter was taught to notice certain features about a beast in order to discern whether or not he/she was speaking truthfully. The second daughter was taught to be a singer and ventriloquist, among other such things. The youngest daughter was too young to be taught much, but she was naturally talented at arguing, screaming, and throwing fits, giving the impression that she might end up being raised a politician -- if only politics existed. His only son, Lachie (pronounced: Lockee), was raised to observe nearly every detail about any scene, and to remember exactly what said scene looked like until he no longer cared to remember it.
And on the other paw (If I weren't so bad at math, I'd be really freaked out right now...), Barr is generally overprotective about his family. His main concern is over the safety of his wife and children. Having the innate obsessive need to protect and care for anybeast close to him, he ofttimes neglects, and sometimes even forgets entirely about his own needs, and has gone days without remembering to eat due to trying to feed his own family. This overprotective side of Barr takes the form of over-control, and can easily cause him to lash out at others, sometimes violently, depending on the severity of his worrying, and the severity of the threat that might be posed by the one at whom Barr is lashing out.
When it comes to Barr's mind, he is nothing more or less than a sensible beast. He refrains from entering either side of the spectrum; he isn't too intelligent, nor is he too dull. Other than this, there is little else to be explained.
History: Barr's father had always marveled at the ability of beasts to adapt to almost any circumstance, to move past almost any obstacle placed in their path. When Barr was born half blind, he knew that his son would easily overcome the sight impairment; it would not too greatly affect his son's life. Although, it wasn't evident that anything was wrong with Barr at all during his first few seasons, until his father noticed that the little dibbun was walking into walls, tripping over various objects, and overall judging distances poorly. He tried covering either of Barr's eyes; when he covered the right, Barr didn't react, whereas covering his left eye would deprive him completely of sight. At that point, it was official: Barr was half blind. Barr's father refused to allow this handicap to affect his son's life, a decision that would ultimately defeat its initial purpose. He began to make Barr work harder than his three elder brother before him, but it wasn't all too terrible. Barr was made to do harder work in less quantities, whereas his brothers were made to do only moderately hard work in larger quantities. In other words, Barr did most of the heavy lifting while his brothers did...well...everything else. As well as the harsh physical tasks, Barr was also made to perform mentally challenging tasks beyond what was expected of a beast his age. His father would ask him a question that didn't quite make sense, and Barr would be told to figure it out. Most of the tasks were logically oriented, and mainly required common sense to complete, yet were very difficult regardless. He would always contradict and argue with Barr so as to get Barr to explain his position, which was probably the easiest chore for him, having practically been born with the natural ability to debate. Barr's father's intention was to have Barr compensate for his sight impairment with sheer strength and intelligence.
Barr grew to admire his father, despite the impossibly high standards he had set for him. Barr's father was a former sailor, and had spent seasons protecting the isle of Ruddaring from searats and any other vermin invaders. It was Barr's dream to do the same, and during his eighteenth season, the young otter finally joined the crew of one of the larger clans of Ruddaring.
At the same time, a young ottermaid, Aileen was attempting to join the same crew. Otter clans were very strict, holding to tradition strongly, and, to the ottermaid's dismay, females were not allowed to fight, and that included Aileen. She was arguing with the Skipper (a very impolite action for an ottermaid) when Barr arrived to join the crew (being the prepared otter he was, he had met with the Skipper a week before to discuss his joining). Despite knowing naught of the hot headed ottermaid, Barr came to her defense -- it was only natural that he join the argument. He posed the idea that Aileen was perfectly qualified to become a member of the crew, as long as she did not participate in any battles, quarrels, or otherwise violent 'activities' (for lack of a better word) as part of the crew. Debating with Skipper nearly cost Barr his position in the crew, but finally, the otter chieftain conceded, agreeing to allow Aileen join the crew, granted that she was to stay on the isle of Ruddaring in the event of a threat being posed to the isle. And thus, Barr met Aileen.
Due to the general lack of vermin during those seasons, Barr experienced little excitement as part of the otter crew....No, that's not true; he frequently placed himself in messes of trouble. As a matter of fact, toward the end of his first season as a crew member, Barr was nearly banned from even coming close to any boat, ship, or anything that even closely resembled a water vessel. The Skipper had left Ruddaring to meet with the current Skipper of Redwall Abbey, and took the otter crew with him, except for the few to which he had entrusted the responsibility of taking care of the ship, two of which, were Barr and Aileen. The first several days passed without a problem, and Barr, Aileen, and Muireachdach, Barr's friend from the highlands (whose name was so strange, that it was shortened to simply 'Murdock.'), did little but the usual duties such as cleaning the ship, which turned out to be less fun than it sounded. But a day before Skipper was scheduled to return, Barr and Murdock decided to play with a special, flammable powder that apparently ignites on impact. As expected, the ship was nearly burnt down, but fortunately, the three otters managed to put out the fire before anything was seriously damaged. Unfortunately, they could not hide the damaged done to the now-blackened deck. "At lehst it makes a naece little pattern," offered Murdock. Unfortunately, Skipper wasn't quite so optimistic. Still, their punishment was light, thanks to the combined effort of Aileen's sharp mind, and Barr's talent of debating.
This wasn't the only such case; Barr, Murdock, and Aileen had many more little adventures over the next seven seasons. Their biggest, however, would be their last as part of the crew.
A small vermin fort had sprung up on Sampetra seasons before, but the otters of Ruddaring paid little heed to them, as their forces were weak on account of most of its inhabitants being farmers -- Sampetra posed no real threat. Terramort, however, seemed to jump to life over night. It wasn't until the vermin were practically on top of them that the otters of Ruddaring realized that a powerful fortress had been built on the isle. The otters fought the invading forces off, driving them back to Terramort, but not before many of Ruddaring's inhabitants had been slain.
Deciding that action must be taken to crush this new threat before Ruddaring was overrun, the otters planned a series of attacks on Sampetra. Aileen was eager to aid the crew in fighting the vermin, but Skipper remembered the deal she had made with him, and the sullen young ottermaid was forced to remain behind. She and Barr had no time to exchange their farewells before the crew departed.
The otters carried out several attacks on the fort, but to no avail -- the vermin force was too powerful. During the eleventh strike, Skipper charged into battle, frustration replacing common sense, and was slain in the midst of the fighting. Despite all the trouble that Barr had caused over the seasons, everybeast knew that were anything to happen to Skipper, the half-blind otter would be the one to take up the responsibility. Donning for the first time his eye patch, Barr readily assumed full responsibility of the crew. Unlike the previous Skipper, Barr didn't attack Terramort blindly. He gathered as much information as he could about the place, searching for any weakness, whether current or potential. Within his first week as Skipper, he had decided the course of action he would take. The new Skipper explained his idea to Murdock. "Terramort 'as been everybeast's main focus since the vermin first attacked. Nobeast 'as paid a bit o' heed to Sampetra. Terramort is fully stocked and completely prepared everytime we've attacked 'em, but everybeast on that isle is a warrior, so they have t' be gettin' their supplies from Sampetra." As mentioned before, a majority of the inhabitants of Sampetra were farmers or smiths; it was not a militant state. The perfect target, Sampetra was Terramort's largest weakness, and Skipper Stromness intended to take advantage of it.
The attack on Sampetra was executed perfectly, and the small vermin fort was quickly overtaken. The only problem occurred when Barr found himself engaged in a fight with the leader of the small fort. Upon losing his weapon to the skilled ferret, Barr was held as something of a hostage. Were it not for the fact that Murdock had been directly behind the ferret the entire time, Barr might not have lived. Short lived though the experience was, it had a profound effect on Barr nonetheless -- death was not something he was fond of coming close to. Terramort was completely dependent on the isle of Sampetra, and was therefore forced to surrender after the attack.
Aileen had waited for Barr all day; the moment she heard that the crew was returning, she ran to the shore to wait, among others who were either relatives or spouses of those in the crew. Upon the crew's return, every otter rushed to meet with his family, glad to be alive. Barr literally swept Aileen off her feet, and the two shared a short, but meaningful kiss. Neither liked the idea of Barr going to battle again, and so Barr resigned, passing the title of Skipper on to a very reluctant, unhappy, yet understanding Murdock. Soon afterward, Barr proposed to Aileen, and the two were married almost a season later.
Barr and Aileen then left Ruddaring behind, the only reminders being Barr's eye patch and tattoo, and sailed to what used to be the caves of Luke. It was there that Barr spent the next fifteen seasons working as a trade merchant. Being a trade merchant of that area was dangerous work -- Barr wasn't a stranger to being held at sword-point. Still, Barr was known very well in the area for being possibly the toughest goodbeast ever to dwell there. Aileen disapproved of the dangerous business, but Barr knew that it provided much wealth, and promised her that he would stop as soon as he could -- vermin didn't take well to a canceled deal.
Aileen gave birth to their first two otter babes, Lachlan (nicknamed Lachie) and Lachina (pronounced: Lockeenuh). Like father like son, Barr raised his son to observe and remember every detail about any scene. Lachie may as well have been an elephant, because he never forgot anything he looked at. Unfortunately, Barr could not hide anything from his son; the little otter noticed everything (as a matter of fact, he could discern almost everything about anybeast with just one hard look, but he could learn so much that nobeast knew whether he was a seer, or if he was really that hyper-observant). Lachina was born only two minutes after Lachie (...or was that Lachie who was born two minutes after Lachina...). Barr raised Lachina similarly to Lachie, teaching her to notice certain features about a beast in order to determine whether or not that beast was telling the truth. Barr regretted this slightly when he attempted to use one of those little white lies parents use when they don't want their children to know something -- she knew immediately that he was lying, and wouldn't stop nagging about it until he finally conceded. Ten seasons later, Aileen gave birth to another daughter, Alison. Seeing as Barr had chosen how to train the previous two children, and knowing that Barr wouldn't not train each otter, Aileen decided that she would be the one to choose how Alison would be trained. Barr reluctantly agreed to allow Aileen to teach Alison to use her voice in almost every imaginable way. Aileen had always loved to sing, and so Alison was taught to sing before anything else. Strangely enough, despite being raised in rather unorthodox ways, the three otter babes grew up to enjoy stable, happy lives, and all three siblings got along well with each other. Barr was thirty-eight seasons of age when Aileen gave birth to their final child, Kirsty. Although Kirsty was too young to be taught much at all, she was naturally talented at arguing, screaming, and throwing fits, giving the impression that sh...you've heard this all before.
When Kirsty was three seasons of age, Alison of six seasons, Lachie and Lachina of fifteen seasons, Aileen of forty-four, and Barr of forty-one, they decided that they could officially move away from the area. Barr wanted to move to Redwall Abbey, but Aileen wanted to live at Green Isle, among other sea otters. Being the typical all-powerful wife that she was, Aileen won out in the decision. Before any more vermin could show up to make deals with Barr, the half-blind otter had in his possession, an already prepared ship ready to leave. Unfortunately, Barr had some extra business to take care of before he could leave, so he sent his family ahead of him on the ship.
Two nights later, Barr had taken care of all business, and was ready to leave, but one of his friends caught up with him just as he was boarding the ship. The friends he had made in the area, as well as several former clients of his were throwing a "farewell feast." Strange as it may be, Barr agreed to stay, but he warned them that he would be leave the moment the sun disappeared over the horizon. Glad that he accepted the invitation at all, they brought him over to what used to be his house. Filled to the brim with his friends, clients, and many other beasts he didn't know, Barr couldn't wait to leave. Despite his unwillingness to be there, Barr had a good time, discussing his future plans, being introduced to his friends' friends' friends, and exchanging farewells. He hardly noticed when a messenger bird enter the house, the one he had hired to keep watch over the ship. The bird informed him in the calmest voice it could muster: Barr's wife, three daughters, and son had all died in a shipwreck.
The world seemed to come to a halt. Nothing around him seemed to exist anymore. Although the noise of the feast continued throughout the house, Barr could not hear it. One of his friends was tapping his shoulder, but he couldn't feel it. All that existed was Barr, and the messenger bird. He stared into the eyes of the bird for what seemed an eternity. Barr dropped the cup of ale he had held, but he wasn't aware of it. Barr left the feast silently, the noise of the world dying with his own.
Barr did not sleep until the ship reached the place where his family had died. Barr became ill at that moment, so the captain returned the boat to shore. Barr walked along the shoreline, still in shock. How could this have happened? Of all the time he had spent on the sea, why did this one ship have to wreck? Little Kirsty had been afraid of the sea, and he had told her that everything would be all right, that there was nothing to worry about, that nothing would happen to her...He could never make it up to her...All Barr could see were images of the ship sinking...memories of his wife smiling as she held the newborn Kirsty, of Lachie beaming after coming home from his first sailing trip, of Lahina laughing when her father tried to lie about accidentally losing her makeshift pawring, of Alison's tear-filled eyes when she confessed to breaking the table -- no one ever could figure out how she did it...the footpawprints...
...The footpawprints? Barr shook the memories from his mind as he realized that he now stood before a set of relatively fresh prints in the sand, and they weren't his. Barr followed the tracks, desperately hoping to find his family (a futile hope, as there was only one set of prints). Before he could reach the end of the footpawprints, somebeast launched himself at Barr. At first, Barr thought the beast to be an attacker, but then the realization struck him: It was Lachie. Lachie had launched himself at Barr in (what we at ML know as) a tackle-hug, but because Barr didn't fall, it was less of a tackle, and more of a hug.
Unable to muster the strength to sail to Green Isle, Barr and Lachie traveled eastward to Redwall Abbey. Lachie had suffered a large gash to his left leg from the shipwreck, but thought little of it. He seemed to heal naturally at first, but almost immediately after the two reached Mossflower country, he collapsed, suddenly unable to walk. Barr carried Lachie the remainder of the way until they found themselves before the legendary Redwall Abbey. Barr's only immediate concern is finding a cure for Lachie.
Codeword: Martin the Warrior
When the last drop of rain has fallen...
Name: Barr Stromness
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Species: Sea Otter
Marital Status: Widower
Position and Home: (Champion-to-be) Although Barr was previously a wealthy trade merchant of the Western Sea, he has since abandoned it all to live a peaceful life at Redwall Abbey.
Strengths: Firstly, Barr is powerful, and intimidating, which can be rather useful in deterring possible threats. He also uses these traits to his advantage when fighting, usually gaining the upper paw simply through brute force. Secondly, Barr is rather skilled with the sword, as well as just about any weapon, except a sling -- he simply can't seem to aim well at all with such an awkward weapon (or any long range weapon for that matter).
Strangely enough, he is also a skilled businessbeast, having succeeded as a trade merchant for about fifteen seasons near the Western Sea. He can argue any one point, and win the argument whether his position is valid or not. His brother complains that "He'll keep changing the subject ever so slightly 'til yore quarreling o'er the meaning o' words, an' eventu'lly, ye have no choice but to give up arguing, 'cos ye won't be arguing about the same thing anymore."
Barr's senses of hearing and touch are only slightly more developed than a typical otter's. This is because when the body is deprived of one of the senses, the other four compensate by working harder (Wait for it...).
Weaknesses: Barr is blind in his right eye, and therefore has no depth perception. Without the ability to perceive the depth of an object, he cannot judge distances very well at all, because he is seeing everything in only two dimensions. Up, down, left, and right are all he can see. He is a bit clumsy due to this, sometimes tripping over objects, or running into walls on account of judging their distances from him incorrectly.
Barr is a very stubborn, overprotective father, and will therefore neglect his own needs in order to meet those of his family. This has led to problems in the past, and is likely to do so in future as well. Also, as explained before, Barr is a very intimidating otter, which makes befriending anybeast an initially somewhat difficult task.
Alignment: Good.
Appearance: Barr stands proportionally 6'10 in feet. Burly in stature, his broad shoulders and deep chest have earned him the simple description of "large" among a good number of the abbeydwellers. Overall, he is a rather intimidating individual. The combination of his height and strength sometimes make unnecessary the option of fighting, as his opponent will seek a different resolution. If, however, a beast does choose to engage in such a conflict, Barr is not, in any way, shape, or form, naive or incapable of utilizing these physical attributes to his advantage, and will do so as best he can. Simply put, anybeast who has chosen to fight Barr will have found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Barr is covered head to footpaw in a typical, darkly-coloured brown shade of fur, the only exception being that of his belly, which fades softly into a creamy, light brown patch of fur. Although his fur is beginning to put on a silvery tint, Barr refuses to admit it.
He possesses one, deep blue eye that seems to perceive everything about a beast. The other eye, his right, is covered by an eye patch nearly all of the time, not because it is wounded or missing, but because he was born half blind. The eyepatch only adds Barr's menacing appearance, especially when he tells somebeast the next improvised story about how he lost his right eye. He has multiple scars from various incidents in his past, but nothing too significant as to distinguish him very much from any other hard-working otter of his age. Upon his right upper arm, he bears a simple tattoo of an anchor attached to a broken chain, but is otherwise clean of all traditional otter tattoos.
Being an abbeydweller, Barr dresses accordingly, donning the traditional green habit of Redwall Abbey. But every now and again, he'll wear the clothing typical of him prior to arriving at the Abbey. Aside from his eye patch, his consists of a navy blue tunic, faded black trousers (though after all the seasons, they've become more of a gray color), and large black boots that probably haven't been cleaned in seasons.
Redwall's disallowance (that isn't a word, is it?) of weapons prevents Barr from carrying such equipment, but he will not venture outside the Abbey without a weapon or two, usually a sword and/or dagger -- he never could manage to aim well with a sling like most otters.
Altogether, he can look a very intimidating beast when anywhere other than the Abbey, and even there, he doesn't seem too approachable.
Personality: Outwardly, Barr appears to be a very serious beast, and equally dangerous. Be this as it may, the old otter is about as harsh as a puddle of kittens. But as with most, there are different sides to him. For a majority of the time, he is quiet, gentle, and thoughtful. He prefers to keep attention from himself unless he has something to say, often keeping his thoughts unspoken.
On the other paw, Barr is a stubborn, determined beast, and is not easily persuaded to change his mind. When he sets his sights on something, it will be accomplished, heedless of almost any consequences. At the same time, though, he can debate a point until the sun burns out, and always win the argument either by logic or pure persistence. He used this ability when working as a business beast on the shores of the Western Sea.
And on the other paw, he is a very stern father. His parenting skills aren't too impressive, but somehow or another, they seem to work. He raised his children each in different manners, based on his view of their future. Granted, this wasn't the best of ideas, but their personalities weren't much affected by this (due in part to their mother), and each grew up with a unique, focused skill area, which turned out to be rather useful in the end. For instance, his eldest daughter was taught to notice certain features about a beast in order to discern whether or not he/she was speaking truthfully. The second daughter was taught to be a singer and ventriloquist, among other such things. The youngest daughter was too young to be taught much, but she was naturally talented at arguing, screaming, and throwing fits, giving the impression that she might end up being raised a politician -- if only politics existed. His only son, Lachie (pronounced: Lockee), was raised to observe nearly every detail about any scene, and to remember exactly what said scene looked like until he no longer cared to remember it.
And on the other paw (If I weren't so bad at math, I'd be really freaked out right now...), Barr is generally overprotective about his family. His main concern is over the safety of his wife and children. Having the innate obsessive need to protect and care for anybeast close to him, he ofttimes neglects, and sometimes even forgets entirely about his own needs, and has gone days without remembering to eat due to trying to feed his own family. This overprotective side of Barr takes the form of over-control, and can easily cause him to lash out at others, sometimes violently, depending on the severity of his worrying, and the severity of the threat that might be posed by the one at whom Barr is lashing out.
When it comes to Barr's mind, he is nothing more or less than a sensible beast. He refrains from entering either side of the spectrum; he isn't too intelligent, nor is he too dull. Other than this, there is little else to be explained.
History: Barr's father had always marveled at the ability of beasts to adapt to almost any circumstance, to move past almost any obstacle placed in their path. When Barr was born half blind, he knew that his son would easily overcome the sight impairment; it would not too greatly affect his son's life. Although, it wasn't evident that anything was wrong with Barr at all during his first few seasons, until his father noticed that the little dibbun was walking into walls, tripping over various objects, and overall judging distances poorly. He tried covering either of Barr's eyes; when he covered the right, Barr didn't react, whereas covering his left eye would deprive him completely of sight. At that point, it was official: Barr was half blind. Barr's father refused to allow this handicap to affect his son's life, a decision that would ultimately defeat its initial purpose. He began to make Barr work harder than his three elder brother before him, but it wasn't all too terrible. Barr was made to do harder work in less quantities, whereas his brothers were made to do only moderately hard work in larger quantities. In other words, Barr did most of the heavy lifting while his brothers did...well...everything else. As well as the harsh physical tasks, Barr was also made to perform mentally challenging tasks beyond what was expected of a beast his age. His father would ask him a question that didn't quite make sense, and Barr would be told to figure it out. Most of the tasks were logically oriented, and mainly required common sense to complete, yet were very difficult regardless. He would always contradict and argue with Barr so as to get Barr to explain his position, which was probably the easiest chore for him, having practically been born with the natural ability to debate. Barr's father's intention was to have Barr compensate for his sight impairment with sheer strength and intelligence.
Barr grew to admire his father, despite the impossibly high standards he had set for him. Barr's father was a former sailor, and had spent seasons protecting the isle of Ruddaring from searats and any other vermin invaders. It was Barr's dream to do the same, and during his eighteenth season, the young otter finally joined the crew of one of the larger clans of Ruddaring.
At the same time, a young ottermaid, Aileen was attempting to join the same crew. Otter clans were very strict, holding to tradition strongly, and, to the ottermaid's dismay, females were not allowed to fight, and that included Aileen. She was arguing with the Skipper (a very impolite action for an ottermaid) when Barr arrived to join the crew (being the prepared otter he was, he had met with the Skipper a week before to discuss his joining). Despite knowing naught of the hot headed ottermaid, Barr came to her defense -- it was only natural that he join the argument. He posed the idea that Aileen was perfectly qualified to become a member of the crew, as long as she did not participate in any battles, quarrels, or otherwise violent 'activities' (for lack of a better word) as part of the crew. Debating with Skipper nearly cost Barr his position in the crew, but finally, the otter chieftain conceded, agreeing to allow Aileen join the crew, granted that she was to stay on the isle of Ruddaring in the event of a threat being posed to the isle. And thus, Barr met Aileen.
Due to the general lack of vermin during those seasons, Barr experienced little excitement as part of the otter crew....No, that's not true; he frequently placed himself in messes of trouble. As a matter of fact, toward the end of his first season as a crew member, Barr was nearly banned from even coming close to any boat, ship, or anything that even closely resembled a water vessel. The Skipper had left Ruddaring to meet with the current Skipper of Redwall Abbey, and took the otter crew with him, except for the few to which he had entrusted the responsibility of taking care of the ship, two of which, were Barr and Aileen. The first several days passed without a problem, and Barr, Aileen, and Muireachdach, Barr's friend from the highlands (whose name was so strange, that it was shortened to simply 'Murdock.'), did little but the usual duties such as cleaning the ship, which turned out to be less fun than it sounded. But a day before Skipper was scheduled to return, Barr and Murdock decided to play with a special, flammable powder that apparently ignites on impact. As expected, the ship was nearly burnt down, but fortunately, the three otters managed to put out the fire before anything was seriously damaged. Unfortunately, they could not hide the damaged done to the now-blackened deck. "At lehst it makes a naece little pattern," offered Murdock. Unfortunately, Skipper wasn't quite so optimistic. Still, their punishment was light, thanks to the combined effort of Aileen's sharp mind, and Barr's talent of debating.
This wasn't the only such case; Barr, Murdock, and Aileen had many more little adventures over the next seven seasons. Their biggest, however, would be their last as part of the crew.
A small vermin fort had sprung up on Sampetra seasons before, but the otters of Ruddaring paid little heed to them, as their forces were weak on account of most of its inhabitants being farmers -- Sampetra posed no real threat. Terramort, however, seemed to jump to life over night. It wasn't until the vermin were practically on top of them that the otters of Ruddaring realized that a powerful fortress had been built on the isle. The otters fought the invading forces off, driving them back to Terramort, but not before many of Ruddaring's inhabitants had been slain.
Deciding that action must be taken to crush this new threat before Ruddaring was overrun, the otters planned a series of attacks on Sampetra. Aileen was eager to aid the crew in fighting the vermin, but Skipper remembered the deal she had made with him, and the sullen young ottermaid was forced to remain behind. She and Barr had no time to exchange their farewells before the crew departed.
The otters carried out several attacks on the fort, but to no avail -- the vermin force was too powerful. During the eleventh strike, Skipper charged into battle, frustration replacing common sense, and was slain in the midst of the fighting. Despite all the trouble that Barr had caused over the seasons, everybeast knew that were anything to happen to Skipper, the half-blind otter would be the one to take up the responsibility. Donning for the first time his eye patch, Barr readily assumed full responsibility of the crew. Unlike the previous Skipper, Barr didn't attack Terramort blindly. He gathered as much information as he could about the place, searching for any weakness, whether current or potential. Within his first week as Skipper, he had decided the course of action he would take. The new Skipper explained his idea to Murdock. "Terramort 'as been everybeast's main focus since the vermin first attacked. Nobeast 'as paid a bit o' heed to Sampetra. Terramort is fully stocked and completely prepared everytime we've attacked 'em, but everybeast on that isle is a warrior, so they have t' be gettin' their supplies from Sampetra." As mentioned before, a majority of the inhabitants of Sampetra were farmers or smiths; it was not a militant state. The perfect target, Sampetra was Terramort's largest weakness, and Skipper Stromness intended to take advantage of it.
The attack on Sampetra was executed perfectly, and the small vermin fort was quickly overtaken. The only problem occurred when Barr found himself engaged in a fight with the leader of the small fort. Upon losing his weapon to the skilled ferret, Barr was held as something of a hostage. Were it not for the fact that Murdock had been directly behind the ferret the entire time, Barr might not have lived. Short lived though the experience was, it had a profound effect on Barr nonetheless -- death was not something he was fond of coming close to. Terramort was completely dependent on the isle of Sampetra, and was therefore forced to surrender after the attack.
Aileen had waited for Barr all day; the moment she heard that the crew was returning, she ran to the shore to wait, among others who were either relatives or spouses of those in the crew. Upon the crew's return, every otter rushed to meet with his family, glad to be alive. Barr literally swept Aileen off her feet, and the two shared a short, but meaningful kiss. Neither liked the idea of Barr going to battle again, and so Barr resigned, passing the title of Skipper on to a very reluctant, unhappy, yet understanding Murdock. Soon afterward, Barr proposed to Aileen, and the two were married almost a season later.
Barr and Aileen then left Ruddaring behind, the only reminders being Barr's eye patch and tattoo, and sailed to what used to be the caves of Luke. It was there that Barr spent the next fifteen seasons working as a trade merchant. Being a trade merchant of that area was dangerous work -- Barr wasn't a stranger to being held at sword-point. Still, Barr was known very well in the area for being possibly the toughest goodbeast ever to dwell there. Aileen disapproved of the dangerous business, but Barr knew that it provided much wealth, and promised her that he would stop as soon as he could -- vermin didn't take well to a canceled deal.
Aileen gave birth to their first two otter babes, Lachlan (nicknamed Lachie) and Lachina (pronounced: Lockeenuh). Like father like son, Barr raised his son to observe and remember every detail about any scene. Lachie may as well have been an elephant, because he never forgot anything he looked at. Unfortunately, Barr could not hide anything from his son; the little otter noticed everything (as a matter of fact, he could discern almost everything about anybeast with just one hard look, but he could learn so much that nobeast knew whether he was a seer, or if he was really that hyper-observant). Lachina was born only two minutes after Lachie (...or was that Lachie who was born two minutes after Lachina...). Barr raised Lachina similarly to Lachie, teaching her to notice certain features about a beast in order to determine whether or not that beast was telling the truth. Barr regretted this slightly when he attempted to use one of those little white lies parents use when they don't want their children to know something -- she knew immediately that he was lying, and wouldn't stop nagging about it until he finally conceded. Ten seasons later, Aileen gave birth to another daughter, Alison. Seeing as Barr had chosen how to train the previous two children, and knowing that Barr wouldn't not train each otter, Aileen decided that she would be the one to choose how Alison would be trained. Barr reluctantly agreed to allow Aileen to teach Alison to use her voice in almost every imaginable way. Aileen had always loved to sing, and so Alison was taught to sing before anything else. Strangely enough, despite being raised in rather unorthodox ways, the three otter babes grew up to enjoy stable, happy lives, and all three siblings got along well with each other. Barr was thirty-eight seasons of age when Aileen gave birth to their final child, Kirsty. Although Kirsty was too young to be taught much at all, she was naturally talented at arguing, screaming, and throwing fits, giving the impression that sh...you've heard this all before.
When Kirsty was three seasons of age, Alison of six seasons, Lachie and Lachina of fifteen seasons, Aileen of forty-four, and Barr of forty-one, they decided that they could officially move away from the area. Barr wanted to move to Redwall Abbey, but Aileen wanted to live at Green Isle, among other sea otters. Being the typical all-powerful wife that she was, Aileen won out in the decision. Before any more vermin could show up to make deals with Barr, the half-blind otter had in his possession, an already prepared ship ready to leave. Unfortunately, Barr had some extra business to take care of before he could leave, so he sent his family ahead of him on the ship.
Two nights later, Barr had taken care of all business, and was ready to leave, but one of his friends caught up with him just as he was boarding the ship. The friends he had made in the area, as well as several former clients of his were throwing a "farewell feast." Strange as it may be, Barr agreed to stay, but he warned them that he would be leave the moment the sun disappeared over the horizon. Glad that he accepted the invitation at all, they brought him over to what used to be his house. Filled to the brim with his friends, clients, and many other beasts he didn't know, Barr couldn't wait to leave. Despite his unwillingness to be there, Barr had a good time, discussing his future plans, being introduced to his friends' friends' friends, and exchanging farewells. He hardly noticed when a messenger bird enter the house, the one he had hired to keep watch over the ship. The bird informed him in the calmest voice it could muster: Barr's wife, three daughters, and son had all died in a shipwreck.
The world seemed to come to a halt. Nothing around him seemed to exist anymore. Although the noise of the feast continued throughout the house, Barr could not hear it. One of his friends was tapping his shoulder, but he couldn't feel it. All that existed was Barr, and the messenger bird. He stared into the eyes of the bird for what seemed an eternity. Barr dropped the cup of ale he had held, but he wasn't aware of it. Barr left the feast silently, the noise of the world dying with his own.
Barr did not sleep until the ship reached the place where his family had died. Barr became ill at that moment, so the captain returned the boat to shore. Barr walked along the shoreline, still in shock. How could this have happened? Of all the time he had spent on the sea, why did this one ship have to wreck? Little Kirsty had been afraid of the sea, and he had told her that everything would be all right, that there was nothing to worry about, that nothing would happen to her...He could never make it up to her...All Barr could see were images of the ship sinking...memories of his wife smiling as she held the newborn Kirsty, of Lachie beaming after coming home from his first sailing trip, of Lahina laughing when her father tried to lie about accidentally losing her makeshift pawring, of Alison's tear-filled eyes when she confessed to breaking the table -- no one ever could figure out how she did it...the footpawprints...
...The footpawprints? Barr shook the memories from his mind as he realized that he now stood before a set of relatively fresh prints in the sand, and they weren't his. Barr followed the tracks, desperately hoping to find his family (a futile hope, as there was only one set of prints). Before he could reach the end of the footpawprints, somebeast launched himself at Barr. At first, Barr thought the beast to be an attacker, but then the realization struck him: It was Lachie. Lachie had launched himself at Barr in (what we at ML know as) a tackle-hug, but because Barr didn't fall, it was less of a tackle, and more of a hug.
Unable to muster the strength to sail to Green Isle, Barr and Lachie traveled eastward to Redwall Abbey. Lachie had suffered a large gash to his left leg from the shipwreck, but thought little of it. He seemed to heal naturally at first, but almost immediately after the two reached Mossflower country, he collapsed, suddenly unable to walk. Barr carried Lachie the remainder of the way until they found themselves before the legendary Redwall Abbey. Barr's only immediate concern is finding a cure for Lachie.
Codeword: Martin the Warrior
