Player Name | Benjamin Press |
---|---|
Relatives | Alive |
Languages | Dwarvish, Gnomish, Infernal, Common, Goblin, Draconic |
Affiliations | Jewelspar City Watch |
Marital Status | Married |
Date of Birth | 699 |
Place of Birth | Jewelspar |
Species | Human |
Gender | Male |
Height | 5'10" |
Weight | 160 lbs |
Eye Color | Hazel |
Physical Appearance[edit | edit source]
Roderick "Sam" Samwell Vimes is tall, skinny, unshaven, and generally grizzled in appearance. His knuckles are scarred from other people's faces, and his boots are scuffed from other people's groins. You will never find him without his Jewelspar Watch badge.
Personality[edit | edit source]
Sam is a recovering alcoholic, but he has a worse addiction that he'll never be able to free himself of. Being a Copper. The stain runs deep. He's a down and dirty fighter, and will do anything it takes to ensure that whatever fight he's in is stacked on his side. He has killed before, but only when he's been forced to. Some people are too crazy to know when to surrender. Inside Sam is a darkness, a beast of rage and primal indignation at the injustices of the world that whispers that it would be so easy to just push things that one step further, to remove some of society's problems more permanently than the law allows. He keeps it in check, letting it out sometimes when necessary, but always on a leash.
‘Quis custodiet ipsos custodies? Your grace.’
‘I know that one,’ said Vimes. ‘Who watches the watchmen? Me, Mr Pessimal.’
‘Ah, but who watches you, your grace?’ said the inspector, with a brief smile.
‘I do that too. All the time,’ said Vimes.
History[edit | edit source]
Sam Vimes was born in Jewelspar to a family that was, in his words, "Too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash." They lived in a district that was one step up from lawless criminal abandon. Sam Vimes went to school only briefly when he was very young, and only for as long as his mother was able to pay the penny-a-day tuition. During his brief stint, he was named Blackboard Monitor.
Sam, like many other children of the streets, ended up joining a gang. Street gang life taught him to take any advantage he could in a fight, and that the strong tend to step on the weak unless the weak kick 'em in the fork. It also taught him a lot about how the seedier types of people think. After all, he was one of them.
Eventually, Sam Vimes managed to get a job in the City Watch, which at the time was corrupt and ineffectual. They were a token force whose main job was to walk down the street, ring their bell and shout(carefully, not too loud or someone might come see who's making the racket), "Twelve O'clock and all is well!" If all was not well, they found a different street. Vimes was a policeman born and bred, and this life of avoiding criminals and running just slow enough so that people could get away eventually drove him to drink.
Vimes eventually worked his way up to Sergeant by dint of being able to write, and handle thoughts more complex than "Do I hit him, or run away from him?" During his time as a Sergeant, there was an attempt to overthrow the king by an upstart who had managed to find a book of magic. Vimes managed to be in the right place at the right time to metaphorically bump the unlucky sod's elbow, causing a spell to backfire and turn the wannabe mage into a toad instead of the king. Over the course of this adventure, Vimes met the woman who would end up being his wife, the Lady Sybil Ramkin. Thanks to saving the life of the king, Vimes was promoted to Lieutenant. After this, he gave up drinking and took up cigars instead.
A few months after his promotion, Vimes saved Lady Sybil's pet imps from an angry mob who thought they were responsible for recent vandalism in the city. Sybil, being the pragmatic, sensible, and insightful woman that she is could tell that Vimes was going places, and decided she wanted to help him get there. She married him, much to his chagrin, and she has been using her considerable fortune to support the efforts of the watch.
A year or three after that, Vimes assisted in rescuing the King after he was kidnapped, and was instrumental in convincing the King to consider legalizing magic. As thanks for his aid, Vimes was promoted to Captain. As part of the requirements for his promotion, Vimes had to arrest Braeden and Juris. They were brought to trial, where they were sentenced to two months community service in the City Watch under Vimes.
Shortly after swearing in Braeden and Juris and giving them their badges, the city came under attack by a storm giant. All three rushed out in defense of the city, and they all ended up commanding units of soldiers in the attack against the storm giant. Thanks to help from surprise ally Julian Winter, the giant was defeated.
On returning to the palace, Vimes, Braeden, and Juris encountered protesters demanding that magic stay outlawed. To make matters worse, posted all over the city was a threatening anonymous note saying that the giants will keep coming unless the magic stays banned. According to Commander Carrot(Vimes' superior), the prevailing theory is that the city of Nymphsview is attempting to instigate a civil war in Jewelspar, since that city's major source of income is the sale of magical weapons of mass destruction. Vimes was ordered to go and investigate to confirm whether or not Nymphsview is behind the attack.
Eventually, Vimes did confirm that the Storm Giant came from Nymphsview, seemingly hired out from a powerful guild of weapon makers known as the Dark Sons. When Vimes eventually returned to Jewelspar (bringing back Queen Hillevi with him) he launched an internal investigation of the city, ultimately revealing that Colonel Khaki had ordered the Giant with a Magic Spell in the Billiard Room!
...Yes, the story ended with a game of Clue.
Languages[edit | edit source]
Powers and Abilities[edit | edit source]
Sam Vimes has an extremely limited patience for magic, and so employs what powers he does have sparingly, and generally only when he must. Vimes is skilled with most weapons, but his go-to is either his trusty truncheon or a pair of short swords. His main strength is his determination when on the scent of a crime, and his years and years of learning to survive on the streets of Jewelspar. Vimes knows his city like he knows the sound of his own breathing, and is able to determine exactly where he is in the city by the feel of the cobbles beneath his boots. He could navigate through Jewelspar blindfolded.
Weapons [edit | edit source]
A pair of Shortswords of Wounding, longbow, truncheon.
Allies[edit | edit source]
Jewelspar City Watch