Asgard application

[brother_cadfael]

OOC INFO;
Player Name:Robin
Contact Info: email: Rschwartz@gmail.com, plurk: Rschwartz501, discord: Rschwartz501#6755
Current Character: n/a

IC INFO;
Character Name: Cadfael
Canon: Cadfael (tv series)
Note; some background information will be taken from the book series of the same name, so long as it doesn’t contradict what’s seen/heard in the tv series.

Canon Information:

Cadfael is a tv series based on the book series The Cadfael Chronicles, a series of mystery novels set mainly in England of the 12th century, during the civil war between King Stephen and his cousin, the Empress Matilda ‘Maud’. At the start of the series, the war had been going on for some years, with either ruler claiming and defending one territory or another over the years. While the first episode introduces King Stephen and one of his keeps, the monarchs are otherwise only mentioned and referenced for the whole of the series. Instead, the overall focus of the series focuses on the nobles, peasants and tradesmen throughout the country and how their lives are affected by the war between cousins.

The title character of the series, Brother Cadfael, is a monk of the abbey of Shrewsbury, where a majority of the series takes place. Whereas many of his brothers came to their vocation as children, Cadfael himself was in his 40s when he became a monk, seeking a life of peaceful retirement and contemplation, after years of first fighting in the First Crusade, spending some years as a sailor, and then joining Henry 1st in his war with Normandy. He brought with him the knowledge of medicine and botany from his time in Antioch, and settled himself as the Abbey’s herbalist and doctor, along with the steady and peaceful life of a monk, healing men after spending years killing them.

A peaceful life isn’t always possible, even with monks. With refugees and noble children escaping capture from various rebels or enemy armies, many go to the abbey for sanctuary.. Even those not directly affected by the war aren’t safe, as word passes of other abbeys, Halls and even villages being attacked by rogues, rebels or other groups looking to prosper in the ongoing chaos.The first time we meet Cadfael, he defends a beggar being picked on by soldiers, then literally disarming the soldier who tried to turn him to a target as well. Unlike his brothers

More importantly for Cadfael, along with acting as doctor he will often find himself called to tend to the dying or dead, to assist in burials (as a brother he’s unable to give Holy Orders). As of late in the series though -for every person who died from natural causes, Cadfael would find one murdered. Unlike the rest of his Order, who deal only with spiritual matters, he is too rooted in the Earth to leave out of things. His assistance in finding and solving crimes has lead to an interesting friendship with the Sheriff of Shropshire, Hugh Beringar; the latter often visiting the older man in his hut for advice, council or just to share a jug of wine.


Canon Point:
Age: 58
God Houses: At the end of episode 3, season 2 ''A Morbid taste for Bones
Sygin:
The house Cadfael will most likely align himself with, especially with his penchant for gardening and nurturing the sick. His motivations, above all else, is the result of his need to help people, and he will never turn down someone because of their rank, religion or place of birth, as he understands how uncertain life is and won’t judge a person for their mistakes. He makes it a duty and privilege to aid lepers with no fear of the dease, and will go out of his way to listen and give comfort to any who seek it from him.

Odin:
A monk with a study of medicine, Cadfael is well read and values the careful knowledge of a thing instead of emotional judgements. Be it from plants or people, he’s always careful to study the facts and his own observations before jumping into conclusions. When studying a body for evidence, there’s almost a reserved excitement that comes from reading what the corpse is trying to tell him. Though not part of the law enforcement at the time, he nevertheless takes great care to share what he knows to either Beringar, knowing the man to appreciate evidence as much as himself.

Tyr:
More often than not, Cadfael has had to take a stand against someone wrongfully accused. He firmly believes in justice and will put his position and life on the line if such be the case. Moreover, his experience in the world and among everyday people gives him a sense of even grounds with them. Though he understands the need for self defense (even going as far as to sometimes conceal a short sword on his person), in truth, Cadfael would rather speak out against conflict rather than exchange blows. He feels he’s done enough killing for a lifetime and even if it means trickery or sly words, he would rather that then resort to violence.

Personality:

At the end of the first episode, Cadfael is referred to as a rare benedictine; and no true words could describe him as a character. Having spent years as a soldier and sailor, Cadfael has experience in the physical world that his brothers lack and a perspective more fitting to a detective than a sheltered monk.. He’s killed, traveled, lived with a muslim woman for a time (and only finding 26 years later he had a child by her), all before becoming a monk. Thanks to these experiences, he’s more humane and open to those who seek his counsel, understanding that desperate people will do desperate things regardless of the law, and while he may not like it, he won’t conden the person either. He’s not one either to hold his position over people either, but would prefer to help them instead, either medically, lending an ear or even aiding them in their tasks.

This goes with two of Cadfael’s most defining traits, his compassion for others and need to see justice done. He has no issue with going up against an armed soldier picking on a defenseless man, even using physical force to make him drop his sword. Later, he easily detects that a young novice is really a young woman in disguise, but instead of reporting her, he gives her shelter in his hut and does all he can till she can get safely to Wales, where the law can’t reach her. He believes it’s his duty to serve others in their physical as well as their spiritual trails, even if it means working outside the range of his station. He may’ve been a simple man-at-arms in his younger years, but his need to assist those who can’t help themselves is almost an impulse to him. Unable to give absolution after confession, he nevertheless understands that sometimes a person’s ills can be caused by as much mental as well as physical ailments, and will offer them his own wine and an ear or two if they would wish to talk. If it were up to him, he would gladly spend his time in the Abbey hospital tending to the sick and needy, then to break up his work for the duty to praise God through song and prayer.

Cadfael’s work as a soldier and physician have given him a strong talent for reading people and surroundings, as well as a sense of practicality about the world around him. Rare is there an episode that doesn’t have him cross with a dead body, and with that is the need to find answers to what happened, especially when there are signs of foul play; for someone to stand unjustly accused and without even a chance to defend himself, is something he’s unable to stomach. He knows when a person’s lying and isn’t afraid to use misdirection and words to get the truth from someone, especially when someone’s life is at risk. Whenever he comes across a body in the series, he knows what to look for, and how to read the signs if a person was murdered; how to read a person’s injuries, approximate when a person was killed, and collect whatever bits of evidence in plants, hair or dirt that can tell. He can tell when a wound is from self defense or if it was brought on from behind; when a kill is meant to look like a suicide, he’s able to quickly deduce murder by the lack of blood on the weapon. Having struck a friendship with the sheriff, he appreciates anyone who looks over evidence first and judges later, and more than willing to lend help when asked, especially when his talents are called to aide.

Even as a monk, Cadfael is still human and by his own admission, the vow of obedience is the most difficult for him to follow, and the lateness of his orders have given him a pragmatism about his environment. Though as a monk he was meant to give up his personal possessions, by stealth or persuasion, he’s kept the armor, tabard and short sword from his time as a crusader, and on more than one occasion has seen the need to carry the later hidden among the folds of his robes for protection. Given his need to keep his stock of herbs high and need to keep up with patients, he’ll use such explanations for being away, collecting plants sometimes, but often enough times, he’ll sneak away to visit friends or just to be by himself. His other fault (though he’d argue otherwise) is that he’s not above using trickery and sneaking around if it’s for the greater good. Rather, he sees it all as a means to an end; smaller grievances to prevent an even larger one from going through. If he must sneak out or stay later to help a patient, so be it, or recruiting his assistant or friend to collect evidence for him. All of this puts him at odds with his superiors in the abby, especially with the confessor brother Jerome, who seems more concerned with keeping order than the welfare of the people they’re with. The only exception to this of Abbot Radulfaus, a priest as worldly and valuing of practicality as himself, who appreciates Cadfael’s knowledge of the world and his ability to talk to (not down upon) the common man.

Cadfael’s pride and joy is his garden. He learned the arts from the widow Mariam (the muslim woman with whom he had a relationship with) while fighting in the crusades, and even jokes that it’s his own garden of Eden. In his workshop, where he makes medicine, balms and poltrices for the Abbey and townspeople, he also makes his own wine, both for the rare visits and for anyone who might need it to relax (secretly he calls it his best medicine). If allowed, he would spend all day taking care of and studying plants, finding in them a sort of wonder of God’s creation of the wider world. Along with tending to food crops and herbs, Cadfael also appreciates colorful flowers as well, valuing their scent as much as any medicinal value they offer. More than once, his workshop has been a place of safety or gathering information; at one point, he even mentions having a cot within the small hut, likely used when his age gets the better of him and he wishes to steal way for a midday rest.


Writing Sample:

A day into his being here, and Cadfael still wondered if he wasn’t dreaming, that he hadn’t acquired some disease of the mind and now was suffering the effects of a fever. Of course, he knew this was unlikely. In all his travels, only a few of his experiences had come close to what he was witness to, and not even that.

Of course, he knew of the heathen gods of old. The inclusion of the Norsemen in France wasn’t so far that the Normans didn’t forget their history, and he’d spent enough time with them so as to hear some of the stories. No one really believed in them anymore, but history and lore of that sort was never easily forgotten, however they might claim so to the outside world.

Well, whatever the case was, they were real now, or at the very least, they believed themselves to be gods. Certainly they were powerful enough to bring these people here, to grant them a bit of power. He’d learned by experiment just how vital the bracelets were; however strange and out of place they appeared on him. He compromised by covering them with his sleeves, and by thinking of the gods more as saints than what they were. He was here and that was the end of it. He’d lived long enough to understand that some things were beyond the scope of humans, and he was better off dealing in the now as opposed to worrying about the future. Worrying did no one any good, and was a waste of energy best used for something more productive. There were other people here after all, people that needed looking after, and if for no other purpose, he would do as he always did; explore, study and help where he could. The hospital in this place, he confessed, seemed beyond anything he could recognize, and the knowledge procured there seemed more advanced than anything he’d learned in his travels.

Yes, if he must be here, than atleast he could do some good. If not for these..gods..then the humans residing here.

He resided himself to spending time in the woods, collecting, marking, and noting the locations of various plants in the area. The writing tools here were fine enough, and so easily given away, to say nothing of the collection of small, bound leaves of paper he was provided with. The doctors, once they heard of his experience, were more than willing to give him what he needed, and even more generous, allowed him a room in the hospital that he might use for his workshop, to help patients that didn’t require surgery or anything more serious. To have such a clean and organized room, lit up by lights that required no flame and allowed him to work there all day if he could-all in exchange for his help and learning about the more advanced procedures.

Not for the first time since he arrived, he was glad he didn’t recognize anyone from home. If prior Robert or Jerome knew that such advancements woke up his brain as much as any tonic, they’d file him for excommunication right away-nevermind the good he could do to the people here. They’d hear of the old gods (saints, it was easier to think of them as saints), and that would be the end of it.