so i decided maybe i should type up a post about clayborne to match my keelan and sovelia posts, partially to hurt anybody who sees it because apparently his backstory is just inordinately sad
so, clayborne is a gnome bard. he plays trombone (full sized), makes dumb jokes to alleviate tension, and is generally just A Fun Dude. youll find him breaking up bar fights and sending an inordinate amount of letters to his hometown, which he… doesnt seem to talk about. see, the village he comes from was isolated and happy– homes were built into the sides of a valley with a small creek running through it, children ran and laughed and feared no evil, craftspeople filled the market with homemade wares and homegrown crops, and all was good.
clayborne had two spouses there (a common trait in their village), a wife, who named herself hardigan, and a husband, who hardigan named fulbright. (hardigan named clayborne “belden,” a name that she said felt like the stones he took from the creek for his altar. he doesnt use that name anymore.) hardigan wrote, thus the names she gave everybody– she recorded the village history, copied down folktales, and wrote her own novels– long, beautiful, handbound by fulbright and illustrated by herself. she and clayborne loved to bake together, while fulbright embroidered (his favorite hobby) on the couch. (when he pricked himself, he always asked them to kiss it better. they played rock paper scissors for the privilege.) fulbright loved pottery, too, and he and clayborne often stayed up late in the village studio molding pots, not having to speak, but feeling the bond between them grow. they were a happy trio.
but one day, the creek flooded. theyd seen the creek flood before, but never this high, and never this fast. their homes that theyd built high into the sides of the mountains werent spared by this flood like they had been for centuries before, and clayborne was the one to sound the alarm. he was just a potter with an affinity for music and baking, but he singlehandedly carried half the town to safety. however, when he realized his home was beginning to flood, he also heard a small child call out. he was torn, but he chose to rescue the child.
his wife and husband were in the house. they drowned peacefully, still asleep. (theyd been planning to start a family soon. clayborne always did love children.)
he spearheaded the rebuilding efforts through his grief, researching enchantments and seals to keep the water out of their homes, should such a flood happen again. he left the village once the homes had been rebuilt, and began traveling from town to town to help others and find information and supplies to help his village. all he wants to do is help enough people to fill the void in his heart left by his spouses, but its never enough.