Now we're down to the last few details of making our characters:<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Fur Color</span><br/>Choose a color for your mouse. There are five fur colors prominent in the Territories: brown, blonde, gray, black and red. Brown is most common, followed by blonde and gray. Black is uncommon and red is rare.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Cloak Color</span><br/>A guardmouse’s cloak is granted to him after he has completed his apprenticeship under his mentor. It is presented at his formal induction ceremony by his mentor. The mentor always chooses the color for his graduating apprentice. The color represents how the mentor views his former student’s disposition and personality.<br/><br/><strong>Contacts</strong><br/>If any of the usual contacts for your character are deceased (such as Parents) create another contact in their place, either a Friend or Enemy your character has made during their life, or a sibling, spouse or offspring. If your character has Mentored a Tenderpaw, add them to your contacts as well.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Parents</span><br/>Once inducted into the Guard, a mouse does not get a chance to visit home very often. However, family is very important to the mice of the Territories. Guardmice will attempt to use their patrols as excuses to visit their families during the holidays. Some guardmice even request winter quarters in their home cities so they can spend part of the year with their parents. In addition to providing guidance and support, a mouse’s parents give him his trade. Nearly every mouse in the Territories takes up his mother’s or father’s work. Though the Guard have more pressing duties, many bring their skills with them when they join and use them to benefit the Guard overall.<br/><br/>List the names of your parents (or other living family members) and their professions on your character sheet.<br/><br/>Parents During Play<br/>During play, if you’re in your home city, you may call on your parents for aid. You may sleep at their home and eat at their table. Parents will try to provide their sons and daughters in the Guard with supplies as well. Note, if these contacts are filled with character family members other that parents, those mice provide the same benefits.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Senior Artisan</span><br/>A young mouse seeking to join the Guard applies in either spring or fall. He meets with the guard captain in charge of new recruits and is welcomed into Lockhaven. Raw recruits are distributed among the various tradesmice in Lockhaven to act as assistants, laborers and apprentices. For their first two seasons of service, they are apprenticed to these artisans. These tradesmice serve the material needs of the Guard. They provide them with weapons, armor, food and other sundry supplies. They are vital to the survival of Lockhaven and the Territories. Often, but not always, a mouse is placed with a senior artisan whose trade is similar to his own. In this case, he doesn’t have to be trained from the ground up; he can aid them with his own knowledge. Sometimes, Lockhaven and the Guard have needs that overtake such considerations. In times of war, drought, famine or other trials, mice are placed where they are needed most—as laborers, foragers or harvesters.<br/><br/>List your Senior Artisan's name and profession on your character sheet.<br/><br/>Senior Artisans During Play<br/>A guardmouse’s senior artisan will provide his former charge with aid whenever the guardmouse is in Lockhaven if he is able. Senior Artisans can provide him with supplies relevant to his trade, basic sundries like food and water, and perhaps a loan.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Mentor</span><br/>After his apprenticeship, the recruit is granted the provisional rank of tenderpaw and assigned a guardmouse as a mentor. His mentor slowly introduces the tenderpaw to patrolling and other Guard duties. The tenderpaw’s job is to do the labor and grunt work so the more experienced Guard’s paws and mind are free for facing the dangers they encounter. After a few seasons under the tutelage of the mentor, the mentor will recommend the tenderpaw recruit to Gwendolyn for promotion to guardmouse rank. It is the mentor’s role to train the recruit as he sees fit. Some mentors may have more rigorous training methods or requirements than others. Some may focus on different aspects of Guard life—some may emphasize Weather Watching as one of the most important ways to stay free of danger, while others may focus on fighting and some stress scouting and pathfinding.<br/><br/>List your Mentor's name on your character sheet. If your Mentor is deceased, create a tenderpaw you mentored into the Guard instead.<br/><br/>Mentor During Play<br/>During play, you may call on your mentor for aid. Mentors are busy guardmice with their own duties and missions, but most mentors will do what they can to aid their former students. Most mentors, unless stationed at Lockhaven, can be found wandering the Territories, rarely in the same place twice. You may tell the GM and the other players about your mentor’s personality. Each player may state if he is on favorable or unfavorable terms with his mentor so the GM has a guideline to follow in play. You may also tell the GM where your mentor is most likely to be found in the Territories: patrolling the Scent Border, doing the mail run to Elmoss, on station at Calogero, etc. That’s the first place you’ll find your mentor.<br/><br/>If you have been a mentor to another mouse, they may call upon you in this way as well.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Friend or Ally</span><br/>Each character has a friend or ally whom he may call on for aid. You tell the GM and the other players about your friend’s personality and his position—if he’s in the Guard or not, where he lives, what his trade is. Thereafter, your friend may be found in this location in play. Once play begins, the GM controls the friend characters for the players. Friend characters, if asked, will always try to help. They’ll offer whatever they can—time, resources, advice.<br/><br/>Note your friend and their particulars on your character sheet.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Enemy or Rival</span><br/>Each character also has an enemy or rival. This is a character whom they know either from before their time in the Guard, or another guardmouse with whom they are not on the best of terms. You may tell the GM and the other players about your enemy’s personality and his position in a similar fashion to the rules for friends. Once play begins, the GM controls the enemy characters for the players. He may have them appear in the story at his discretion. An enemy character will only help you if it serves his own self-interest—only if it makes him look better than you do in the end.<br/><br/>Note your enemy and their particulars on your character sheet. It is permissible for characters to have a common enemy.