Tollem of Wyvernia

At the end of one of the many alleyways of Wyvernia stands a ramshackle four-story tenement filled to the brim with the fifty-one members of the Arnog clan, a rowdy group of urban laborers. The current pride of the clan is twenty-six year-old Tollem, who has "made good" by landing a crown job with a fine salary, Wyvernia City Guardsman.

It is said that when Tollem was born, his mother's screams could be heard across the river and past the Spurgate. The baby was huge, weighing about as much as a new paving stone. He was also hard-headed; when his father spanked him, he often tried to hit back. By the time he was ten, Tollem was almost as big as a full-grown man, and nearly as strong. Unfortunately, he contracted a fever one summer after swimming in the Rock. (Jumping from the North Wall and swimming to the boat stage is a popular pastime for boys during the warm season.) It was almost six months before the lad recovered, and by then the fever had spread through his brain, leaving him somewhat simple-minded and hard of hearing. Tollem's bout of sickness had no long-term effect on his muscles, however, and at twelve he joined the older clansmen in their daily search for work. By his sixteenth nameday, the young man was famed throughout the city for his strength, and was winning fair contests regularly, beating even the Oluk Orcs in arm wrestling matches. He was also becoming increasingly well-known as a brawler - the clan line had bred true once again.

In 8165, a grizzled veteran of the city guard jokingly suggested that since the guard couldn't beat Tollem, they might as well join him, or vice versa. The idea took hold as the sergeants of the watch imagined patrolling the rougher parts of town with a giant to cover their backs; he would prove especially useful in evicting the lingering humanoids that refused to leave after the Liberation. They convinced the watch captain to approve it by the end of the year.

It took some time (and some help from Tollem's great-uncle), but the concept of stopping rather than starting fights gradually worked its way into Tollem's consciousness. The mechanics are the same in any event, and Tollem is remarkably effective at his new job; most combatants help each other flee at his mere approach. He has also proven impervious to bribery - he cannot grasp the idea of working for more than one employer at a time. This has been a disappointment to the Rogues' Guild and some of his co-workers, and while the crime rate in Wyvernia remains steady, the crime rate in Tollem's vicinity tends to decrease rapidly as non-law-abiding citizens migrate to another part of town for the night.

Most of the city guard rotate shifts and assignments, but Tollem never seems to pull gate duty, and only works the market during the busy summer months. Most of the time, he patrols the slum districts and taverns, reminding everyone who sees his head bobbing above the crowd of the importance of keeping the peace, lest he keep it for them.