"Bear" Grissom

"Bear" Grissom

Background

I was born in the green mountains of Vermont just before the new century. My Da had jumped the pond from County Cork a few years earlier and married locally, but he took pains to remind me of my roots. He worked at keeping the equipment going at the local quarry, so I took to machinery early on. By the time I was in my teens, I was fixing tractors and trucks to make my own living.

Now, like I said, Da may have left the Old Country , but the Emerald isle was never far from his heart. He'd been part of this group of folks , called themselves Fenians or something like that, who were all for Ireland getting out from under England's boot. When a bunch decided to head back and make a difference, my Da was at the head of the line, with me in tow. Mind you, I wasn't that big a patriot, but I figured I owed it to the old man. Besides, Ma wanted me to keep an eye on him for her. For all the good it did.

So, we arrived in Ireland in the middle of a big hullabaloo. Folks are screaming and plotting on both sides. I stuck close to the old man, which is why, on 1916, I ended up running for my life as a bunch of folk tried to kick the British off the Isle and they kicked back, hard. A lot of Fenians ended up executed; I made it to a ship heading back to the States. My Da didn't.

I made it back home and told Ma the news. She wasn't too happy at losing her husband, and I felt rotten at letting her down. I guess at some point I went from feeling sad to feeling angry, 'cause next thing I knew, a judge was banging a gavel at me, saying I was guilty for certain acts I won't go into. Looking back, I think Hizzoner had some sympathy for me, 'cause he gave me a choice: cool my heels in the slammer, or "volunteer" to head to Europe and kick the Kaiser's hiney. I saw the handwriting on the wall and enlisted. Mrs. Grissom's darling boy was in the Army now.

Lucky for me, the brass recognized my mechanical skills and put me in the motor pool. When the "Jennies" started rolling in, I got a post helping to keep the birds in the air, which was tough enough, let me tell you. The way things were, I even got to fly a couple of the birds and let me tell you, there are very few things that can give you that kind of thrill.

When the war finally ended, I moped around, not sure I wanted to go back home. I hung around with a bunch of Aussies that had come over to fight. Man, those boys liked to drink. After one night and enough booze to fill Lake George, I cried in my beer about my lack of direction. I woke up the next day with a hangover in a ship headed to Australia. I had somehow agreed to head back with the boys during the night.

I bummed around down under for a couple of years, using my skills as a mechanic to keep me in food and beer. I ended up going walkabout, heading westwards, more or less.

Anyways, like I was saying, I've been to a lot of places. Seen quite a few things. Met a good number of highly interesting people. Some I drank under the table, others I laid out with the old one-two. Make my living as a mechanic most of the time. Haven't met an engine yet I can't take apart and put back together better than it was before.

That's pretty much what I do these days. Fixing engines, keeping things running smooth, if you know what I mean.

Visual Description

Bear stands about 5'9", although his wide shoulders and compact frame narrowing down to slim hips tend to make him look shorter. His well-muscled arms are covered with coarse, bright-red body hair and sport large scarred, gnarled hands that look like they've made violent contact with other objects plenty of times in the past. His face is broad; beetling brows over eyes that glint like blue ice chips, topped by a shock of orange-red hair.

Dress him in a leopard loincloth and hand him a club, and he could pass for a caveman. Normally, though, he wears a work shirt with the sleeves rolled up, well-worn denim trousers and sturdy boots, with a cap at a rakish angle to complete the "palooka" image.

Character Write-up

Archetype: Engineer
Motivation: Duty

Age: 38
Height: 5'7"
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Red

Body: 3
Dexterity: 3
Strength: 3
Charisma: 2
Intelligence: 3
Willpower: 2

Size: 0
Move: 6
Perception: 5
Initiative: 6
Defense: 6
Stun: 3
Health: 5

Skills: Base+levels=Rating(Average)
Athletics: 3+3=6(3)
Brawl: 3+5=8(4)
Craft/Mechanics: 3+3=6(3)
Drive: 3+1=4(2)
Firearms: 3+2=5(2+)
  Pistols: 6(3)
Gambling: 3+1=4(2)
Gunnery: 3+1=4(2)
Linguistics: 3+1=4(2)
Melee: 3+1=4(2)
Pilot/Aircraft: 3+1=4(2)
Streetwise: 2+2=4(2)
Stealth: 3+1=4(2)
Survival: 3+1=4(2)

Talent: Tough (+1 Body rating)

Resource: None

Flaw: Sucker For a Dame (+1 Style point when getting into trouble for trusting a woman)