Park life is a focus for many community members. Everyone has their own uses for a communal green space, even if it’s just walking through. Add colour to encounters or narratives in a public park, with these RPG characters.
Old Noble and Servant
Amongst the cushions stuffed into the wooden wheelchair frame, there’s a noble dressed in dark thick cloth. Incalculable old, blurred eyes gaze out into open space as the mouth hangs slightly open. Every morning, just after tea, a servant wheels the noble to the same spot. From atop this rise, you can see the surrounding settlement and on a clear day even further. The servant looks bitter, bored and resigned to having to spend the next few hours in the park. Infrequently the servant will look up from their book and tend to the noble. This could be getting a drink, wiping away the drool or shooing away a pigeduck. Curiously the noble never seems to act to indicate their needs.
Pigeduck
Invariably, there’s a wizard who has too much time on their hands. For this park, the result a few centuries ago was a spell that merged all the ducks and pigeons. Perhaps the wizard in question thought to reduce the number of birds in the city. The result of the spell was a horrible mess. Pigeducks have the head and neck of a pigeon, the beak of a duck, four ducks legs and four pigeon wings. Worse still, the noise they make, quacoo, is high pitched. Colour wise, they are all mottled brown or grey. In pursuit of breadcrumbs they are disturbingly fast.
Practising Mage
In one of the larger open spaces, a young student mage is practising a spell display routine. A complex mix of gymnastics and flashy visual spells that requires expert timing. The mage can be heard counting out loud to themselves as they walk through the routine, rehearsing each move in turn. An occasional bang and thump of a heavy landing echo across the park. The student is having problems sticking the final jump and cast. Their practise robes are covered in dirt, grass stains and fairy dust. With the mage, sat amongst their belongings, is a music imp. The sinister little bastard watches the mage carefully with glowing red eyes as it beats out a simple rhythm on its tiny drum.
City Watch Jogging Group
The new commander has even newer ideas about how to run the watch. They’ve no interest in passively standing around deliberately avoiding getting into trouble. Step one of forming the watchmen into proper enforcers of the law is getting them physically fit. An out of town sergeant has been brought in and is pushing the watchmen hard. As soon as they come of shift, they muster at the bandstand before doing 8 laps of the park. Singing and sounding off as they go, the newer recruits have started to enjoy the training. The older watchmen are much more sullen as they resent the intrusion into their quiet and safe lives.
Gardeners
The gardeners of the park are a curious bunch. No matter the weather, they’re always dressed in shorts, heavy boots and thick jumpers. They move quickly through the park, using the secret little short cuts of their realm. Whenever you go to the park, you’ll see at least one, tending to a planting, sweeping a path or cutting the turf. Rarely a group of them will gather to look carefully at a particular problem. Talking animatedly in an esoteric vernacular all their own, pipes and mugs of tea are more gesticulated with than consumed.
Protest Group
All wearing the same colour clothing and brandish placards, a group of citizens have taken over a paved square in the park. To the sound of brass trio, they’re taking turns to stand on a wooden crate and rant about their problems. From all across the city’s social strata, the only thing they have in common is their hatred for bureaucracy. Each angry story is a tale of how their dreams or plans were dashed by the government. No-one appears to be suggesting any actual solutions, beyond calls for someone to do something about it. A couple of on duty watchmen wait patiently nearby.
Image Credit – Bench in the Sun by Cristian N. Mormoloc – CC-BY-ND.2.0