Sheldon is the resident mutant raccoon. He's about 4 feet tall and walks on two legs. He's not the cute kind of raccoon at all. His fur is matted and stinks to high heaven. He doesn't speak much, but when he does his pronounced teeth make it look and sound like he's snarling. He never wears armor as it interferes with his climbing abilities. In fact the closest thing he comes to wearing anything is the canvas backpack he salvaged, with a crowbar and shovel looped through the straps.

Sheldon lives on the fringes of society. He's constantly pulling things out of backpack and offering to trade. Sometimes he puts things in and pulls things out that are impossibly large to fit in there. Residents quickly realized this was a trick of his mutation. Large pieces of scrap would shrink down to actual size by the time they carried them home. His standards for trade vary by shininess and edibleness, so he may stiff you over one day, then trade you a working artifact for a fresh grapeapple pie the niext.

Stylus is apprentice and clerk to the village Shaman;  the old man who is said to be the keeper of the Old Lore.
While Stylus doesn't live in the Seeing Place (the old abandoned lighthouse atop the highest peak) with the old man, he spends much of his time either in that place, or travelling between it and the village on chores, tasks and errands.

Stylus doesn't talk about the old man much at all, even if asked; nor does he talk about what goes on in the Seeing Place ... including what he himself does there.

But he is well educated, by Far Island standards, and as the Seeing Place is known to contain much wealth of information  - Ancient books and such, which must have come to this place aboard a ship/s long ago - most speculate that Stylus spends a lot of time reading, translating, writing and making notes for the old man.

Also, as the village Shaman is known to read portents and omens using the Ancient knowledge, some might assume that Stylus assists in these arcane matters.


Stylus lives in his own place, on the outskirts of the village; just alongside the path that leads up to the Seeing Place.
He lives alone, and never really socialises much ... and has never been known to have any intimate relationships.

That is not to say he is a hermit.   While quiet and shy, he does enjoy some time at the tavern, and attends village events and festivals.     And he maintains many friendships and acquaintanceships about the village.
He is simply a reserved and unimposing.

That said, he is always happy to help those who come seeking his aid with intellectual and academic matters.

Tunic deSanguine is nearly invisible when naked, appearing as little more than a shifting pattern of empty space, with a bit of stubble covering his face. Born about 20 years ago, he reached his full height after he was only 8 years old, and complains about his body as if he was far older. His hair is visible, when he lets it grow out.

Shortly after he reached his full height, he started shedding some of his invisible skin, which he stitches into covers for his gear, rendering it as equally invisible as he is.

Between his natural invisibility, and his family's penchant for working with bows, he makes a natural scout. He claims to have a precognitive nose, which sometime bleeds right before danger strikes him.


Tunic backs down from conflicts so hard that he often comes back to the situation from the other side. His family takes ruthless advantage of this, with the matriarch of his family, Gramma deSanguine, a particularly source of dysfunctional and possibly abusive love.

Less than a year ago, he returned from one of his scouting trips with an Eye Dog companion, a sort of pitbull that is absolutely covered in eyes. The dog, whom he named Spot, seems to have no trouble locating Tunic. Spot is poorly trained, but very affable. While in town, Tunic keeps Spot on a makeshift leash made of chain.

Something about his kinship with Spot has opened the heart of the normally self-pitying lad, and he's been more social lately, although he's as weak willed as ever.

Frank is a mutated Alligator Snapping Turtle and a fisherman by trade. He lives near the coast in series of old shipping containers partially burried into the hillside along with his parents and small clan of relatives.

Unlike Mawr, Frank uses more "Modern" means to provide fish for consumption and sale. He uses a canoe, along with rods, line, hooks and things of that nature. He usually carries a creel basket on one side, along with an ancient sun bleached "boonie hat" on his scaly head. While more tools than weapons, he also carries a filet knife and a long gaff for securing his catch and discouraging sharks.

A bit surly, Frank drinks beer and and smokes from a pipe when he can get the tobacco.

While not an "adventurer", Frank has a reputation as a solid and capable member of the community. Aside from being tough, he can generate a "force field" around himself, easily bite through a broomstick, and swims fairly well. He can be something of a hypochondriac however and gets squeamish around filth.

So it seems that both Frank and Mawr are fishermenfolk.
Do they live or work together?
Please, are Frank's 'parents and small clan of relatives' mutant Snapper Turtles like himself? or is he an individual mutation among them?

It also seems that Sheldon, Kaden and Tunic are woodsy, hunting folk.
Do they live or work together?
How much contact do these two have with Juffi-wup?

Mawr is used to working alone.  He is mostly shunned by humans, and he is the only polar bear on the island.  There are a small number of brown bears, but they aren't mutated and tend to be afraid of his size, even though he is still young and smaller than he will grow.  Most of his fishing is for self-sustainment, as he doesn't live in a dwelling, currently, just hangs out near a stream and fishes where he wants.

In reply to Stylus (msg # 7):

Tunic lives with his mom. I mean, his family.

He works whatever jobs his family tells him to. And then once someone figures out how easy it is to talk Tunic into doing things, he works whatever they tell him to do, too.

I would love him to have a Growing A Spine story arc, but this is how I'm representing a Mental Mutation, and I'll need to figure how to represent that flaw in a different way, first.

Sheldon's pretty much a loner except for stopping to trade.

He probably wouldn't know what to make of the walking plant if it isn't edible and just ignore it.

Wait, who?

Frank seems to be something of an exception among out animal folk in that he is fairly social, despite being generally grumpy. He obviously relies on trade for just about all of their commodities and feels that it is important to work together as a community.

His parents are also turtles, and they claim to have known others of a similar strain over their long lives. Surely some talented scientist night be able to make a case as to why this genus, or a particularly region was host so such a widespread mutation, but all they know is that they are not alone. Obviously they can also produce children, although the "clan" has a decent amount of variation. Colors, size, shape and intelligence have all varied. There are eight of them in total, three generations, living in the shelter.

In reply to Mutant Lord (msg # 1):

Desi is human, born on the Isle, in the Settlement.  Mother is dead, father was lost at sea. Desi has two living brothers, but unlike them, Desi is an albino.  The three siblings run a late-night underground gambling and fighting establishment which caters to all manner of clientele.  Desi acts as a pit boss for games, as well as supervising fights.  She and her brothers are well-known in the settlement, if not entirely respected.

Given the hibernation abilities and isolationist tendencies of turtles, it is also possible that there are 'relative' out there in the wilderness sleeping, or living alone for decades (like human hermits might live for years).

Maybe we'll meet some of your relatives as the adventures go by.


Now, I am visualising Morla from Never Ending Story.

Desi P,  noice.   Welcome along

In reply to Desi P (msg # 13):

Welcome, Dee!

I'm having the same issue with your backstory that I had with mine. With an island population of 400, does that profession even exist?

In reply to Tunic deSanguine (msg # 16):

Thanks.  I hear you.  I had a hard time figuring that out too.

Funny, living in Australia, every small town has an inn or some kind of establishment with slot machines, they call them pokies, and there is always some type of recreation or another.  It actually makes sense to me, and Mawr might indeed have participated from time to time in the fights.  Never lost, but never made a habit of it.

Hi guys! hope you all are having a good week..just submitted my backstory to our fearless leader so hopefully I can post it here soon :)

Maybe it's cock or dog or jackalope fighting?

In reply to Sheldon (msg # 20):

I figure it's whatever they can get away with: bare-knuckle boxing, wrestling, some MMA equivalent, maybe. Just not to-the-death.  With the low population, killing's probably prohibited. Also bad for business.

Juffi-wup is a strange plant-being from the more forested part of the island. Although he looks a lot more like a mushroom than a plant. He comes to the town often on trading runs for the plant-people. He usually brings raw materials and trades for more processed goods, especially those requiring fire to produce.

He has a stout body topped by two wrinkly mushroom-capped "heads" (like morels rather than the iconic fly agaric mushroom cap). Instead of arms, he has a set of thin tentacles coming out from under his mushroom caps, giving him kind of a walking-jellyfish look. Up and down his body-stem are pink and purple glowing globes. He has no visible sensory organs or orifices. He doesn't talk so much as project images directly into your brain. (Anyone who has associated with him a significant amount would know he can do this to about 30 feet).

Despite his odd appearance he's quite patient and even likable, although his sense of humor is completely alien.

Hmm. 'Nic probably knows Juffi-wup, and has sought their advice on training Spot. Cuz, you know, Juffi has NO eyes and Spot has LOTS of eyes, so clearly....that's, uh, you know....what you'd need. In this case.

Hey Tunic? have you ever read the Wildcards series? there's a character in it with a special nose too :)

Mawr might have taken a leak on the plant people, being previously oblivious to them.

For as long as people have existed, there has been waste and tho it's evolved over time, it's still basically the same..people make it, it needs to be dealt with, and Freddy's family has been doing it for as long as any one can remember even when they knew what their original last name had been, they were the haulers, handlers and disposers of the village, of the whole island in fact, keeping what would be useful to the family and getting rid of the rest, in ways and places no one knew or could find, yet it was never worried about..

And then came Freddy, different from all the rest of his family, in one way that was beyond obvious, and several that weren't..his tail so much a part of him growing up, and his parents thankfully supportive if not always happy, it was just another part of him growing up, if anyone had a problem with him or his tail, he never really cared, he did get in to a few fights, but having that extra weapon meant they didn't last long, and with his sense of humor and love of jokes both practical and not so, he was generally liked and happy..

Even on an Island it's possible to lose one's way, to become lost, except for him, no matter where he was, he knew inerringly what direction he needed to go in, no matter the weather or lack of light..

But one day changed his life, a day he learned something about himself that both fascinates and terrifies him still

It was a day like any other, he'd taken care of all the refuse and rubbish, and as he stared at what he'd collected, he felt tired and wished it would go away, just disappear, and something inside him seemed to listen, and the world went white..then black..and when he finally awoke, it was gone..every last bit of it..and he was terrified yet thankful..

And after dragging himself home, he experimented, learned the ins and outs..but truly learned one very important thing..never take it for granted or lightly..for it was much a danger as it was a help..

I figure he knows most or all of you since he's probably picked up your refuse and no longer wanted items..

Kaden is human, with no visible mutations except that he moves and acts roughly twice as fast as a 'normal' person, unless he restrains himself, which he rarely feels the need or has the patience to do so. That, along with his rumored ability to read minds means that he's not considered to be very trustworthy to people who don't know him well.

He does, however, come from a family that's fairly well regarded on the island. He, his brother, and his father, all possess the ability to alter the weather. This makes them very useful members of the community (such as it is) when it comes to both farming and fishing. Kaden, in particular, is often sent out with the fishing fleet to keep it safe. He's considered rather more expendable than his family members as he's....how shall we say....not so bright.

He is, however, an honest and diligent worker, albeit one with the tendency to complain when he's bored. And fishing is very boring work...  In his limited free time he has a love/hate relationship with whatever organized diversions can be had, as again he isn't trusted by most folk. He's always up for a good foot race, though. ;)