Miles Ookami
Contents
Man-at-Arms Miles Ookami of Crimson Wood, Dragonspine/Westmarch
"You're at a 10 right now. Keep it there." --Cadogan
"If your teeth were 'open', I think that would probably qualify as a dental emergency."
"You're going to have to come to our house and make that--what was it again? 'soba?'--for us some time." --Yugovich's mom
WARNING: Subject is extremely verbose. Proceed with caution; use of thesaurus strongly recommended.
Personal Information
Miles began his Amtgard experience in Crimson Wood on the day of the Crown Quals Weaponmaster tournament of 2006. After a brief love affair with the Monk class, having fallen prey to the somewhat fallacious idea that Monks are immune to everything after a few levels, he was appointed "Court Bard" by Baroness Elspeth and spent the rest two years or so working Bard up to sixth level (there was a bit of a hiatus in there for a while, what with relocation and all). This has become interspersed with Monster credits earned from playtesting two concept classes he has created, in the hopes that perhaps others will have a look at and enjoy these two classes, as well as perhaps working out any bugs. But, having attained his sixth level in Bard just in time for Voice to be nerfed by the introduction of the 7.5 version of the Amtgard Rules, Miles is now at a crossing of the ways--what standard class to focus on next? So far, Healer looks to be the most promising candidate, since Miles likes healing people--perhaps too much.
His striking, inexplicable loathing of short swords has caused him to be seen on the field with all manner of other weaponry, ranging from double-daggers to quarterstaves to his beloved (by him only, it seems) flail; an early attempt at making a sai produced the (not of legal specification) "Battelabra," which still remains enshrined in his folks' garage somewhere as a monument to First Weapon Syndrome. He also has a penchant for sashes and other strip-like pieces of cloth, which is evident in the custom garb graciously crafted for him by the talented Elspeth, in addition to the remarkably multi-purpose black sash he generally wears on the field at all times, weather permitting. He is easily recognizable by his lanky frame (easier to hit with swords, but not so much with arrows) and stubbornly resistant-to-styling hair.
His treasured Bardic flute, carved of a single piece of lovingly stained bamboo, was a gift to him from the kind Lady Ruby after his original instrument, an Irish tin whistle, was bent and smushed nearly beyond recognition, despite the fact that he still has the distorted object. However, after encountering difficulty with keeping even this pristine wooden instrument on his person during battlegames, making his continued (albeit unknowing) use of magic a bit dubious thereafter, he has since resorted to other measures for combat--such as a glow-in-the-dark cowbell, and a necklace made of multicolored kazoos. The Rules Revision Committee has responded by making it unnecessary for Bards to carry musical instruments to cast magic, come Revision 7.5--clearly they wish to nip his experimentation in musical accenture in the bud.
Miles is a zealous flurb and was recently termed the "yin to the yang" of Arthur MacGregor, a player renowned for his no-nonsense Stick Jock personality. The two share a heritage of migrating to Siar Geata from different lands (Arthur reportedly spent time in the Empire of the Iron Mountains), making this perhaps a truer statement than anticipated. Still, in any single-short duel, Arthur remains easily capable of defeating his flurby counterpart quite soundly. The fact that Arthur generally plays a 6th-level Monk makes this fact even more accurate in other events.
Miles' personality has at times been labeled "lacking in seriousness" or "extremely flurby." However, this, to him, is part of being in character; the role of a Bard is one of entertaining one and all, and as such he tends to be exuberant and whimsical, albeit supportive, on field days. This carefree exterior belies a mind and imagination ever at work, however, and the result of this tends to be a torrent of ideas to which whatever land he attends is habitually subjected. Some of these work, and sometimes even very well; others, not so much.
One such aspiration is to eventually move to Canada, England, or Ireland, and, while there, create a new land. Shoot for the moon, as they say...
Due to mundane events of the educational persuasion, Miles is currently living in the San Diego region, and will be attending field days at the Barony of Siar Geata as time permits, accordingly. While there, he has unwittingly picked up (from its denizens, naturally) an association with Unicorns--particularly those featured in episodes of Robot Chicken. This has even gone so far as to be included in the renowned Magic: The Gathering cards Milan of Amber crafted in the Summer '08 Crown Qual A&S Tourney, which featured an image straight from the show.
Honors
Miles was styled "The Just" by Baronial Champion Will Northam for his role in Will's ongoing quest scenario for the land; to wit, he attempted to get to the bottom of the mindless battle perpetuated in true Machiavellian fashion by Will's NPC Troglodyte, rather than fomenting the conflict. He earned his first Order of the Warrior on his first day of attendance by making it to the final match in the Great weapons section of the aforementioned tournament while wielding a polearm graciously loaned to him by Niveus, displaying from the very start his affinity for non-Short weaponry.
He recently received the crushingly ironic "Flurb Sword" for a strange achievement in a quest that involved killing Milan of Amber (in Azure Dragon form), despite the fact that Milan died only once (and even then, not at Miles' hand); thanks to Jack's undoubtedly masterful work in crafting it, the blade became detached from the hilt even before he left the field the same day. Undaunted, the magical bopstick has been reconstructed and will undoubtedly lure Miles into using short swords more often, what with it being shiny and all.
Other Accomplishments
Miles served as Court Bard for two reigns (Winter '06-Fall'07) under Baroness Sirrah Elspeth, while he was still physically present in Crimson Wood. He was later elected GM of Bards and Guildmaster of Heraldry for the summer-winter '08 reign in Siar Geata, and during the summer '08 Siar Geata Weaponmaster tournament for Crown Qualifications inexplicably placed third overall, proving that the odds of the odd are odd indeed. He currently also serves as GMR and Court Herald for Siar Geata.
Miles also most gracefully accepted awards at the Escondido Renaissance Faire with his arm macramed to his leg via the sashes on his own garb. He would like to add that this was because of his busy-fingered squire, and that she found it intensely amusing.
Belted Family
Miles is a Man-at-Arms to Morrzania Felbin Lacqueri squired to Dame Emer Rustytongue who was squire to Dame Weilok, who was squire to Sir Greywalker, who was squire to Viscountess Dame Andralaine, who was squire to Sir Deth, who was squire to Grand Duke Sir Gilos Dawnhope, who was squire to Grand Duchess Sir Tawnee Darkfalcon.
Membership
Miles is a new member of the Dreamweavers and of the Wandering Unicorns. Miles was appointed a member of the Crimson Wood Privateers during Mid-Reign of March 2007, and will be launching the Paroxysm Players household in the near future as a means of promoting Bardic events within Amtgard--its first act in commission being a re-enactment of Monty Python's "Michelangelo and the Pope," starring Siar Geata's Serbian Stallion, Yugovich, as the Pope himself. (Heavens only knows when dear Yugi will memorize his lines and actually perform.)
Other (Mostly Mundane) Information
Miles is a writer and poet, in addition to being well-versed in the sciences. He enjoys helping others learn and create, and is generally willing to help anyone who asks for assistance with such things as character creation, roleplay development, personal histories, etc. The AmtWiki is, to him, an important resource for making the sum knowledge of the Amtgardian realms available to all in an easy-to-navigate, cohesive, monolithic format, and as such he tends to go on article-editing and -creation sprees, leaving the Recent changes board littered with remains in his wake, 'til should he again surface--perhaps like a Gargantuan Reptillian.
His literary works have placed well in Clan-level events.
