Tori Longwood

Victoria Longwood's parents worked on the docks for years. They would do whatever work came their way and barely make ends meet most of the time. Victoria figured heavily into her mother's panhandling routine, tugging at heartstrings with the image of a young mother and her infant on the streets. That routine kept them fed for about a year, until she got "too old". Her parents blamed her for everything, much like they blamed everyone else for their apathy and financial woes. Her father hit her when he got mad, but that didn't last long. Victoria didn't like her parents and she didn't want to become them, so she decided to do something about it. She grew tall and strong, kept her head down, and she got friendly with people who could help her to escape.

Her father came home in one of his bad moods, but this time he lost to his daughter. She kept screaming, "My name is Tori!" as she beat him unconscious. Her mother started berating her. Tori told her, "This is your chance, mom. You're free if you want to be." Her mother kept going with her rage-filled tirade. She didn't listen, so Tori didn't stay. Nobody ever called her Victoria again without bloodshed.

The very next high tide, she left Fellport on the Jolly Prince Robert, a trading schooner out of Occam. She literally learned the ropes and made friends with the rest of the crew, though she kept her distance from anyone who reminded her of her parents. Despite her being only 14, she was stronger than almost everyone else, so she rarely found herself in difficult social situations. She could talk or bully her way out of trouble, and she could sense trouble and avoid it early. Everyone sang her praises when she single-handedly repelled boarders with nothing more than an oar, knocking a dozen pirates into the sea.

She found steady work on several crews over the next 9 years, but eventually she found herself on land hunting treasure. One of her friends hired her as extra muscle, outfitting her with armor and a maul to help protect the party in following a credible treasure map to a hidden cove. They battled a pack of wolves, a pair of ogres, the skeletons of the buried pirate crew, and even a sneak attack betrayal from within the party of treasure hunters, but she alone prevailed. Everyone else succumbed to poison or the loving touch of her maul on their skulls.

As the only survival, she found herself with a ridiculous amount of treasure, enough to do whatever she wanted with the rest of her life. She laid low for a while to avoid questions from friends and family of her deceased party and to consider her options, but she knew she needed to return to Fellport and confront her parents to close that chapter of her life for good. She made her way back two months after the Godstorm hit the city. She discovered that her parents had been lost in the flood, probably passed-out drunk and swept out to sea, but their bodies were never recovered. She bummed around town for a while, taking a few side jobs, not feeling inspired, and sort of coasting through life for a while.

Then she saw the wreck of the Fair Weather Friend on Dockside. She received a vision of what she wanted to do with her life, and it involved putting smiles on other people's faces. She talked with carpenters, distillers, and engineers, and she planned for about a year. She brought her proposal to the Fellport Council who approved it, and she started renovating.

A year later, she opened the doors of The Weather Deck Distillery and never looked back. She expected it to take a while to get established, but she wisely named her signature clear rum Holy Water, which brought all sorts of attention (and sales) from the sailors paying their respects at the Lightspire nearby. Things haven't slowed down for her in the 29 years since then. She spends most of her time making rum and tending bar, though she has a staff now and a chef to make food for her patrons. She has taken plenty of lovers over the years, both men and women, but she never settled down, deeply afraid of repeating the cruelty inflicted on her by her parents. She enjoys the experience for what it is, and when it plays out she moves on without regret or recrimination.

Tori keeps her black hair cut short and never wears anything with sleeves if she can help it, preferring a leather vest and gauntlets. She's over six feet tall, and she has a solid muscular presence that's hard to deny. She trains every day, so physically she looks like she's in her mid-30s, not 53. She enjoys her work, both brewing and serving customers, and she always acts as bouncer in her bar, flinging troublemakers into the harbor if they get in her face. She decided long ago to never drink to excess, so she bought a silver pocketwatch with a timer. When she finishes a drink, she sets the timer for an hour and refuses to drink anything except water until the timer goes off.

Tori rolls with the punches (physically and socially) and laughs often, but she wears her discipline like armor. She's starting to think about her legacy and how The Weather Deck might continue after she's gone, but she still has some time before it becomes an issue. She's well-connected, and occasionally she sets up low-level adventuring parties with interested customers. Once she makes the introduction, both parties promise to treat the other fairly, or Tori will get involved and impose consequences. Her reputation means the world to her, so she won't tolerate betrayal from anyone she works with or vouches for.

Tori Longwood
Human (Fellport) Battle Master Fighter (Level 4) (Sailor Background; Crusher, Tavern Brawler Feats)
Str 16  Dex 10  Con 12  Int 12  Wis 14  Cha 14
Athletics +5, Insight +4, Intimidation +4, Perception +4, Persuasion +4

Part of T.W.Wombat's Lore 24 project, detailing the world around Fellport.
For all city posts, see the Fellport Index. For posts about the wider world, see the Beneterra Index.