Tessa Finnegan

Like all the Finnegan pillars of the community before her, Tessa enjoys a level of celebrity in the Hills neighborhood of Fellport. Everyone knows her and strives to stay in her good graces. She can fight equally well with her fists or with The Persuader, her hammer that appears in her hand whenever it's needed, and she has dragged more than one troublemaker out of Finnegan's in a headlock. She has a drill sergeant's bellow that can stop riots. She moves through crowds in the blink of an eye to wherever she can do the most good. She listens to people with compassion, giving good advice and tough love, and she gathers the people at a table who can things done. She neutralizes wizards with a cutting joke, and some say she sees better in the dark than in the light. She leads The Hills from the middle, rarely taking credit, but always part of the process.

Tessa is the firstborn child of the previous Finnegan family heads: Connor and Dara Finnegan. She claimed inheritance of the family pub and took over when her parents retired, 23 years ago now. She has three siblings: a brother and two sisters. Her sisters Maeve and Ida and their families still help out, but her brother Rian died in his teens, knocked unconscious and washed overboard while attempting to repel a pirate attack. His body was never recovered.

Tessa learned Occam side-by-side with Common, as family tradition demands. She helped out around the bar in her youth, getting into fistfights and learning the ropes of running the business with her extended family. She suddenly felt trapped in her destined future after she talked her parents into trusting her with running Finnegan's at 15. Call it cold feet, but needed to get out. She took to the ocean at 16 to see the world.

She served on board the merchant ship Feckin' Dream, heading to the Island Kingdoms and the jungle-choked land of Ndali as well as Ionia, Dunhill, and other ports on the near coast. She learned the ropes, serving as a watch commander by the time the sea tired of her. She wasn't ready to head home yet, so she petitioned to join up with the Gallowglass Mercenaries to impress her father, who also served. One of her contracts had her unit serving the Molten Throne, chasing down a rebel group of dwarves and humans attempting to take control of one of the Throne's trading posts. She scored the killing blow on a dwarven skald, and she claimed his magic warhammer as spoils of war. The Persuader has served her incredibly well ever since.

She tired of fighting for money after the minimum two year tour, so she retired from the Gallowglass Mercenaries and headed home with martial skills and an interest in arcane matters from her many conflicts with spellcasters. She worked at Finnegan's every night, preparing to take over the family business. She also helped train recruits for the Caps at the College in exchange for access to professors and library resources to help her with magical research. She learned magic as part of her martial skills and became an Eldritch Knight. While there, she fell in love with Ollie Taylor, a lieutenant in the Caps. They married immediately, and he took her surname to keep a Finnegan in charge of Finnegan's.

Two years later she celebrated her parents' retirement and took sole control of Finengan's. She was well into her second pregnancy, and her sisters and cousins gathered around her to help raise the kids and run the bar. She expanded Finnegan's (nicknaming the expansion Brand New Finnegan's) to add private function rooms and a couple of suites for rent while expanding the kitchen. Her life filled with everyday tasks and time passed quickly. She and Ollie had three kids: Brigid, Lochlann, and Henry. Ollie died on duty with the Caps while fighting a demon accidentally summoned on the quad.

Tessa has remained a widow for the past 12 years, busying herself with raising her kids, training recruits for the Caps, running the bar, and investigating summoning and eldritch secrets in her idle moments. She eventually learned Devil's Sight to see through all forms of darkness as part of her studies. She engineered her spells to become less offensive and more utilitarian, learning blade ward, mending, misty step, shield, and mage armor so she no longer needed to wear armor at work.

She turned 49 earlier this year, her chestnut hair sprouting a few grey hairs in its everyday bun. She was never pretty, doubly so with the old mace hit sending her nose askew, and she has finally aged into her crone-like looks. She brooks no shit form anyone, and her sense of humor remains sharp. She will browbeat troublemakers into submission with both a soldier's and a sailor's dictionary of creative insults. She never moved terribly fast, but she makes up for it with her tenacious strength. She is a force of nature, and heavens help those who try to stir up trouble in her presence.

Tessa Finnegan
Dunhill Human Eldritch Knight Fighter (Level 12) (She/Her)
(Sailor Background; Eldritch Adept, Mage Slayer, Skill Expert, Tavern Brawler Feats)
Str 16  Dex 10  Con 14  Int 12  Wis 12  Cha 14
Athletics +7, History +5, Insight +5, Intimidation* +10, Perception +5, Persuasion +6

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.