Beulah Garland
Beulah Garland is a Bard of the School of Eloquence, and the public "face" of The Ladies' Hiking Club.
As an outlander who never really fit in with the rest of the village and a pirate at heart, Gavinus was more than willing to spend the better part of each year (9-10 months) captaining a sailing vessel, moving goods in and out of the village rather than sitting in on endless gossip about people he did not know and did not particularly care to meet.
For her part, as a merchant in a largely isolated community situated between steep cliffs and shoreline, Beulah provided a vital link between Greyshore and the wider world, and many families depend on her for their flour and molasses. She dealt with them fairly, and was so well-liked by most of the community that she inherited the "Aunty" cognomen upon Aunt Bat's death, despite Beulah having been away from home at the time.
Beulah is a founding member of the Greyshore chapter of the Portavian Mercantile Guild, and although it is not a very active or powerful organization even at the highest level, she always ensures her annual dues are not late.
Proceeding through the catacombs beneath Anthur-Ro, Beulah's little-exercised skill in speaking Gnomish came in handy on multiple occasions, including shutting down a number of partially sabotaged sentry systems and interpreting a note left on the body of a member of the Inside Team. After accessing the tower proper and proceeding to the prison cells to rescue Tarts McGillicuddy and condemn "Bob" to an endless existence in a static abyss, Beulah managed to talk the group out of being discovered in the Anthur-Ro library. Beulah fared well in the ultimate escape, despite taking a hard one-two emotional punch as Tarts fell to his death during the chase and Chantrelle accused her of being a "petty tyrant" in trying to restrain Fanny from going after him while under airship surveillance. After that exchange, Beulah's role as the "face" of the party seems to have mitigated somewhat, with results yet to be determined.
Personal History
Born in the Portavian member-state of Greyshore on the 17th of Spring, 804WA, Aunt* Beulah Garland is a respected elder in her community. She is widely recognized as one of the best singers and tale-tellers in a culture that highly values these traits. She learned the trick of bardic magic as a girl from her own Aunt Bat, who is still remembered for her talents even so many years after her passing. At Aunt Bat's urging, she then traveled to the Wandering City, to the College of Bards, to further her craft. She cut her teeth at the Lamplight Cabaret in Crackclaw, in the Portavian Quarter as Bella Garland, singer and raconteuse, before her growing fame ushered her towards the metropolitan areas. Ultimately the seediness and organized crime connections of the entertainment industry in that metropolis made it a less appealing option than the course she ultimately did select. Unbeknownst to her, her performances during this period of time were captured with Gnomish engineering, and have been stored in Hearthaven and are accessible during festivals. Those recordings made her a cult figure among music aficionados in her long absence. Bella Garland caught many an eye in her late teens and twenties and indulged herself in traveling the world and, ultimately, adventuring. In the course of those travels, she met her husband, Gavinus Garland, nee Carey. They sailed in two ships: first the Mounted Stag, and later the Mercy. Though their crew came and went, she developed the closest relationships with Torwall Ignus, Lamark, Marina Sitwell and Lucida Baldelli. She formed a fast bond with the rascally Joshua Bridle on a particularly ill-fated adventure in Cinnédil, and was pleasantly surprised to have the opportunity to get reacquainted in the Hall of Events Non-Canonical after his violent death. There were, of course, numerous other connections and colleagues over the years but Beulah and Gavinus have largely lost track of the other adventurers from those days, it having been some 40 years since they were last at sea together. After several years' adventuring on the high seas and collecting a small fortune in plunder, Beulah found herself pregnant with Brinda Garland when a huge potential score came across the bow. Concerned for the safety of their child and growing out of the daily grind of adventuring at age 29, Beulah began to push Gavinus to finally settle down and retire his black flag. Reluctantly, and on the condition that he would still be sailing most of the year, returning home for the holidays, the lovers agreed to marry. Gavinus and Beulah were married and retired to a mercantile life in Greyshore, in Beulah's home town of Come-by-Chance.
Top: The Mercy passing through the Withrow Arch in the Elder Swamp
Below: The Mounted Stag putting in to Greyshore
Below: The Mounted Stag putting in to Greyshore
Return to Adventuring
In 865WA, Gavinus failed to return from his annual journey. While concerned, Beulah understood there were any number of reasons why a ship might be delayed for a few months, or even a season if the cargo had been lost. When he failed to return without sending word in 866, however, Beulah left her eldest daughter in charge of the docks and headed south. She lost her horse to a broken leg on the cliffs just north of the Upper Steeple and decided to walk the rest of the way along the High Spine to avoid any further vagaries of the landscape and ensure any settlements with possible news would be in sight. She arrived in Bridlip the evening of the Siege of Bridlip and encountered there the other members of what would come to be known as the Ladies' Hiking Club. They survived the siege, explored ancient Yishamin ruins below the local temple, and upon learning of a cult working towards a potential apocalypse made the decision to head south to Anthur-Ro to learn more about the risks and a possible solution. Beulah welcomed the company, as the Wandering City was her prime prospect for finding news of Gavinus, and the trip by horse, or even by land, is generally safer and faster than sailing around if one has no cargo to worry about.Some of us are invested in how things turn out after we take our bows.Since that time, Beulah has largely been the "voice" of The Ladies' Hiking Club, talking the group out of trouble and on occasion even liaising with demigods, as was the case with Mote of the Seelie Court just after the events at The Purple Peach, wherein Beulah secured the services of a standing emissary by the name of Peaseblossom.
-- Beulah Garland
News of Gavinus
Beulah found characteristic Shorefolk tea at Cedric Rustapot's shop in Bridlip, marked with the stamp of their old counting-house, the Merry Maid, in the Wandering City. She followed that lead to the customs office at the The Overcroft, where she learned that the ship had come in under Nessardine colours through the Wandering City, on a ship called the Daughter of Mercy.An Insanely Busy Week in the Wandering City
Having just arrived in the Wandering City, Beulah was immediately struck by a poster bearing Gavinus' likeness and bachelor name. (My God, that's some shocking, wha'?) It appeared that Gavinus was to be named a Commodore of the Tenth Fleet and to be inducted into the Order of the Stag: one of the higher awards for gallantry that Tenthun had to offer. Following up with Roger Carminieri at the Merry Maid in Rightfin, Beulah was able to confirm that Gavinus had indeed been coming in at regular intervals to move inventory, though just about 18 months ago his crew seemed to have rolled over and there were new signatures in the manifests. On 17th Winterfall, 866WA, Beulah gave an unforgettable return performance at The Scarlet Squid Public House in Rightfin, to the delight of the musical cognoscenti in that borough. Resettling closer to "home", Beulah and the ladies took up residence at The Lamplight Inn in The Portavian Quarter. After a welcome discussion of days gone by, Minnie Stone agreed to allow Beulah to perform the following afternoon and further rented the Lamplight attic to the team at a rate of 5g/day. The following day, Beulah made the acquaintance of Torwall's Patron: an entity subtly suggesting itself to be the demon that had granted Beulah's old shipmate his supernatural powers. He invoked Beulah's use of powers that had been taught to her by Torwall as a debt outstanding to him, and put to her that he could forgive such a debt in exchange for the IOU the ladies had obtained at The Purple Peach and subsequently traded to Mote as part of the agreement that sent Peaseblossom across to them as emissary to the Feywild. Beulah was notified by Minnie that she had a letter waiting for her at the Foxall post office. Beulah's return performance that evening was an absolute blockbuster that made her an immediate local legend. Traffic stopped in the street to hear her rendition of old Greyshore standards that most of the locals hadn't heard since they were dozing off in a crib. The musical cognoscenti that had been tipped off to her return at The Scarlet Squid Public House were in attendance, and the secret is out on the most exciting, moving and culturally relevant act in the city. Perhaps the most important guest of The Lamplight Inn that evening, however, was Violet Verihendrion Miller, who came to see her perform at Vega's urging. She confessed to Beulah that she had an inclination to "this" -- gesturing to the adoring fans lined up out the door -- but was not sure if her future lay in performance or the more tedious aspects of bardic learning: spiritual guidance or diplomacy. Beulah assisted Fanny in breaking the news to Violet that she was likely Clytemnestra's daughter, and possibly in great danger.Near-Death Experience
While exploring the Portside Sewer with Cherry on 19th Winterfall WA, Beulah was seized by one of three lurking Gelatinous Cubes and devoured. She lost consciousness briefly and most of her clothes and a good portion of her hair were burned off in the extremely acidic environment within the cube. She was saved at the last moment by Vega Spritzer sprinting on to the scene and managing to heal her at a great distance through a fluke glance of her hand as the cube submerged itself. She remained suffocating and decomposing in the cube, however, and would likely have perished if not for Cherry's frantic leap on to the creature and a thunderclap that knocked her unconscious once more. She awoke in a soft bed in the sub-penthouse of The Moons Inn, in the Port Metro, without any explanation as to how she got there. Upon returning to the Lamplight, she spotted Torwall's Patron having a pint and barked at him, being in no mood to be harassed for a progress report. To her satisfaction, he actually seemed cowed. After Violet came and went for her follow-up dinner with Fanny later that evening, Beulah begrudgingly wrapped her scalded body in a bedsheet and trailed Vega and Fanny as they pursued the Patron. (They feared he might be stalking Fanny's daughter.) A fight broke out at Sister Janet's temple when it was discovered that the Patron was doing precisely that. The team being exhausted, depleted and understaffed, Beulah nearly panicked at the demon's threat to drop a telekinetically lifted Vega about twenty storeys to the ground. Beulah grudgingly promised to contact the Seelie Court about the IOU within two days in a desperate attempt to stop the fighting. Skeptical that Beulah would make all reasonable efforts, and offended at the ambush, the patron -- revealed later by Sister Janet to be a Glabrezu (a term of no particular significance to Beulah) -- dropped Vega into a demiplane to be held as collateral for the transaction. After the fight, Beulah collapsed in tears over the loss of two of her friends in the same day, bedsheet soaking in the rain. Sister Janet took her and Fanny inside, comforting them and offering Beulah a novitiate robe to wear home. Violet made tea but no one drank it. It's cool though, it's very easy to boil water on an unlit wood stove, whatever. Beulah then proceeded to collapse in her room at the Lamplight. Unbeknownst to both Beulah and the Glabrezu, Vega made a quick escape and was already in the next bunk over. After a warm reunion, Beulah and Fanny took off for a shopping montage at House of Harriet Fashion, where the bard locked down a pretty fancy new leather outfit. She visited old acquaintance Reghyxesh at The Arcanaeum as well, where she learned something of the status of her old friend Torwall Ignus. On her return to the Lamplight, she read a letter from Brinda Garland advising that she and her sister-in-law Carla were both expecting, but that there was no need for Beulah to rush back. She reinforced that the family supported her mission and that things were under control back home on the docks. In many ways settled and restored, Beulah took the stage at the Lamplight later that evening to a raucous and expectant crowd, giving easily the worst performance of her life. The crowd was hushed with suspicion and concern. Beulah handed the stage off to Fanny and Cherry, the latter of whom in particular managed to save the performance, but there were more than a few whispers on the way out to the effect that she couldn't have been the real Beulah Garland. Someone noted that a cleric had openly cast a spell on her just prior to her performance and there is now a growing and resentful rumour that this dotty old bat in Crackclaw is the Ashlee Simpson of Milli Vanillis.Investiture Ambush
After having waited years for a reunion with her estranged husband Gavinus, Beulah attended the investiture ceremony advertised on the poster she saw when she first arrived in the Wandering City. To her horror, the ceremony was a trap -- and specific plans had been laid to separate and eliminate her and Cherry, while keeping Fanny passed out upstairs. The Ambush at Commissioner's Hall ended with Beulah having escaped from Carrie and Yorick Quattrociocchi by the skin of her teeth and sobbing, bloody, on the train back to the Lamplight. A later conversation with Reghyxesh crystallized her immediate suspicion that the hit was put on by one of the Overmeres, or possibly General Kuzoh.Deal with a Demon
Upon her return to the Lamplight, Beulah reached out to her old friend Torwall Ignus and advised him of the difficulties she was having with his former patron. He proposed that she "ask that greasy motherfucker if he is voiding their deal, or if he simply can't read". He further encouraged her to come visit, and provided his address on the Port Metro. Beulah then entered the Lamplight and engaged with Torwall's Patron. The two came to a fresh arrangement. She agreed not to communicate with Torwall directly or indirectly for two days, during which time she would secure for the Glabrezu the IOU of Azas. She required the guarantee that the IOU would not be used in any way to harm any sentient being. In exchange, she demanded that the Glabrezu obtain for her answers to three questions. The demon promised he would do so provided the answers did not conflict with his personal interests, and they shook on it through the flame of a candle. Beulah was criticized roundly for the deal by Fanny and Charity, who voiced no objection during the negotiations themselves, as well as Vega who had an unpleasant encounter with him as she returned from dropping off Violet at the Temple of Eldath. Vega reinforced to Beulah that demons can't be trusted. Devils might deceive and work tricks with words in a contract, but demons are liars.Contact with Gavinus
At long last, after having worked herself back into fighting shape arcanically over the past several months, Beulah was self-possessed enough to successfully cast a Sending spell to Gavinus. The exchange was as follows (dealt with in more detail here):Brinda is pregnant. I’m on the shell. Someone used your likeness to trap me. Almost died. Been looking for you. Find me. Jerk. Love. Pen, please, Joba. [long pause] 375,214,811,330. There are ten rats on the docks. They’ll bite if I stop moving. [pause, shouted, apparently to someone in the distance] Please be careful, gutterpunk! We’ve got nine weeks!
Touching Base with Reghyxesh
Because the deal with the Glabrezu prohibited her from contacting Torwall directly or indirectly, Beulah allowed Vega and Fanny to handle that contact and gathered the information both through them and their brief interaction with Tara Thessaly that Reghyxesh was involved with an upcoming Assault on Anthur-Ro. Given that the assault had something to do with releasing or at least interviewing a condemned prisoner that had something to do with hindering Anthur-Ro's interest in the phylactery of Naraoch (i.e., Fanny), the Ladies volunteered for action in place of an Outside Team that had previously consisted of Tara (now chickening out), some other unknown party (now deceased) and Indocril, Roger Carminieri's muscle.The Assault on Anthur-Ro
Reghyxesh briefed Beulah and Fanny on the operation and the assault commenced. They started with a path through the Portside Sewer and up a shaft in Reghyxesh's chambers into the Hall of Events Non-Canonical. In the course of fighting The Hobgoblin Who Got His Dog’s Throat Cut And His Balls Almost Torn Off, Ongli, The Silent Man and the bunny Vega killed in the Seelie Court, Beulah's new best friend Chantrelle was viciously stomped to death by one of the Silent Men, who fixed her with an emotionless yet somehow smug stare as he ground her broken skull beneath his heel. After considerable difficulty in besting the Silent Men, Beulah was overcome with grief at the loss. When she found that Cherry's shade (for it looked more like Cherry than anything more novel) had been resurrected as a shade, she used the one question they had with her to ask through tears if the shade wanted Beulah to fulfil Charity's heart's desire of singing for the Zaratan. Miraculously, through the unique rules of the encounter chamber, once the question was asked, Cherry responded incredulously. While she was deeply confused about why everyone was so emotional, she did not decline the overwhelming affection that followed immediately afterwards.An Unsettling Dream
Just after dawn on the day after Stille'en, Beulah crashed in her Tiny Hut and got some well deserved sleep. That sleep was interrupted, however, by an unsettling dream that started out pleasantly enough: she was having her morning tea, watching the bay through her attic window back in Come-by-Chance. She headed downstairs and Brinda Garland began going through the morning rounds, working through typical issues: a community request that she give a eulogy later that week, disciplinary issues for the dockies turning up drunk, Waveyina Garland getting into the petty cash again and an overholding issue in the west warehouse for a Corran aedile. Brinda suggested selling the overdue inventory before it rots and offering the aedile diminishing returns based on the date of pickup. Gavinus chimed in that it was likely more of a certainty to simply charge rent and destroy it after it goes bad. Less money, perhaps, but it doesn't turn off the customer and you can claim a share of his insurance proceeds rather than demanding cash out of pocket. Beulah settled on a middle path: taking Gavinus' approach but seizing upon any good offer for the sealskins along the way. Then, in the most vivid part of the dream, Fidelius charged into the main house announcing that her granddaughter, Lucette, was hurt. The family rushed out to their docks to see her being tended to by Healer Devon and fussed over by her mom. Marcus Graves pointed to a dead rat nearby, indicating that it was the culprit. At that, Beulah looked around and suddenly became aware that this was a dream, that the other figures on her docks weren't familiar; they were sinister, faceless men encroaching upon her and her family. She shook herself awake at that, reeling at the bizarre nature of the dream but confident that it had a ring of truth to it: that her subconscious had just figured something out.Personal Characteristics
Beulah Garland is a short, slight Human woman with short-cut neatly-kept grey hair, and who generally dresses sensibly. Her gaze is direct, unflinching, her eyes a pale blue. Her mouth twitches as if she often has to restrain a grin, although she also frequently abandons that restraint. When she does grin, it can be seen that she only has a few teeth left, but they look to be in good condition. Beulah always carries a stout stick that is adorned with various bits of metal that jangle, with a single well-worn boot attached on bottom. Although it often serves as a walking stick, and occasionally as a means of giving someone a good deserved thumping, it is actually a percussion instrument and her spell-focus. She has a woolen cozy she can place over it if a situation requires her to be stealthy, to mute the jangles.Garland Family Tree
*Aunt is an honorific title that is unrelated to actual familial relationships.
Relationships
Alignment
Neutral Good
Age
62
Date of Birth
17th of Spring
Birthplace
Come-by-Chance, Greyshore
Spouses
Gavinus Garland
(Husband)
Current Residence
Garland Estates, Come-by-Chance, Greyshore
Eyes
Blue
Hair
Grey
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Light
Height
5'2"
Weight
130 lbs.
Aligned Organization
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