Rowntree



Rowntree is a Moros mage of the Silver Ladder. He was the last Factotum of The Consilium By The Bay, as well as the first of The Consilium of the Stone Circle. He would, with the first set of elections, become the Chancellor of the latter Consilium, besting both Rynel and Red Hand. He is a member of the cabal The Rose. Rowntree is part of the Uncrowned King legacy.

Biography
Jonathan Fry was born in York. His family weren't exactly upper-class as such, but happily occupied that wealthy stratum of the middle class which ensured that money and social acceptance were never any sort of problem for them. He was an intelligent boy, good-looking and always tall for his age, educated at the prestigious Bootham School. His parents, both practicing Quakers, did their best to instill in their son the values of their faith without overpowering his individuality. The question was never if Jonathan was going to be successful; it was only ever how.

Jonathan went to Lancaster University to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics; once again, he quickly fell into a happy role as top dog of his social set, achieving adequate grades and balancing his life quite nicely. Everything was going exactly to plan.

Then, one winter's evening, Jonathan was driving home from a party. He wasn't drunk, just a bit tired, but the roads were icy. When Andrew Miles, an elderly homeless man, stumbled out in front of his car, Jonathan was unable to stop in time. When he finally got his vehicle back under control, he jumped out and ran back to check on the old man. He found him gasping in a pool of blood, clearly dying. Jonathan held the man's hand, and wordlessly sat with him as he passed away. When the man finally breathed his last and his soul slipped from its mortal vessel, Jonathan was carried along with it. He doesn't remember well how he crossed the Abyss, how the light of the Watchtower of the Lead Coin lead him across the real of Stygia, how he realised that what he had carved into the base of the tower was in fact more his real name that the one his parents had given him. Then he was back, sat in the street, holding the hand of a man he had killed.

Rowntree was not alone after his Awakening. A police constable called Ralph had witnessed the incident, and had seen... something happening when Rowntree Awoke. Together they called the incident in, and went through the aftermath together. In the days that followed, Rowntree and Ralph were able to talk over what had happened and in some way process the change that had overcome them both. The pair are still good friends, and Ralph's Sleepwalker status has helped Rowntree out on a number of occasions.

Shortly after Rowntree's Awakening, another young Moros Awoke at Lancaster University. Aside from being American, he and Rowntree were almost entirely the same in terms of background and personality; he even called himself Rockefeller. The two became best friends, and when they graduated, they both moved on to the same project: expanding the Lighthouse Project, a homeless charity, into Lancaster. This fit nicely with their notions of how mages ought to act: as powerful, enlightened beings, they had a duty to use their power and privilege to benefit those lower down the social and spiritual order than themselves. The pair ended up jointly managing the charity's operations in Lancaster, a state which endured until Rockefeller's untimely death at the hands of Ford and Slingshot during The Hallows Murders.

Rowntree first joined The Wanderers, until The Sargasso Incident led to things becoming extremely awkward. He then transferred to the newly-formed cabal of The Rose, where he has since made his home. Rowntree has continued as Hearthmaster of the cabal, after volunteering his own house to act as the Sanctum. He worked with the rest of the cabal in the resolution of The Hallows Murders, events which cemented the cabal's relationship as young high-fliers in the Consilium.

Rowntree has since risen to a position of some prominence as the Consilium's Factotum, which he has parlayed into a good working relationship with the Hierarch. He was instrumental in organising the recent Convocation, and has worked hard to effect the merger between the Preston Consilium and the Consilium By The Bay.

Personality
Rowntree is, at heart, a politician. He combines the belief that he has to do something to help people with the certainty that he is the one who knows what help people really need. He is deeply averse to conflict, though his near-obsessive need to play peacemaker is slowly starting to recede. He has a tendency to get carried away when taking on projects, often ending up with 100% of his time pledged to helping other people with their problems. While he goes through phases of cutting back on the responsibilities he's taken on, it is unlikely that he will ever fully break this habit.

Ultimately, Rowntree's consuming obsession is being a better person by helping other people. While this has led him to do a lot of good for a lot of people, his absolute dedication to his own definition of what it is to be a good person often leads him to be intolerant of people who reject his creed of constant, unhesitating altruism.