Tiberius Khol

Tiberius Khol, the fool of Thornwick.

Every village has its fool, the one who makes some people laugh and frightens the rest. What sets Thornwick apart is that its own knows arcane magic, which changes the nature of the laughter. He was not born in these woods, and he belongs to no family in any house in the village. Every time he has been driven off, he has left behind him parchments covered in a hand that no one here has ever been able to read.

Describing him

You hear him muttering before you see him. When you find him, he is on all fours in the middle of his parchments, spread out in every direction. Startle him and he will be on his feet in one bound. He will not look at you straight away; he will look behind you, to the right, to the left, to learn whether you came alone. If there are several of you, he will vanish without a word, and you will be left standing over his papers and his charms, abandoned on the ground.

Playing him

Never let him settle. Ask his questions for him. Cut the player off to put another one to him. Do not finish your sentences; let them drop, and fill the gap with a click of the tongue or some noise of the mouth that you will repeat three times before setting off somewhere else. Keep one hand raised throughout, with an energy crackling at the fingertips that you never once throw, because it is not a threat but an insurance he has been paying for years. And if a player finds the sentence that reassures him, become another man in a single second: offer him tea, pour it, and have no tea.

What he says

"Are you alone? Did you come alone? Who gave you my name?"
"Don't walk there. No. Not there either. Can't you see?"
(warmly, an empty cup in each hand) "Sit down! You'll take some tea, surely."