From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur :
The avian generally do not have a reputation for wisdom. There are exceptions of course, the most notable being Crismus the Owl. It is the common consensus that he is the wisest being in all of Pelaria. In addition to his great wisdom, he has also at times demonstrated a limited soothsaying ability. For these reasons, furs, scales and avian are willing to flock from all over Pelaria to his roost in northern Verdant to seek his counsel. Crismus’ knowledge of the future is far from absolute. Things normally come to him as feelings rather than visions. He is understandably reticent to provide any details unless he is certain of them. This will often make it hard to get a straight answer from him. I have heard him on more than one occasion say that while he may know your destination, it does not mean he knows which path you’ll take to get there.
In addition to providing advice to those who visit him, Crismus also serves as a member of the admissions council for the Academy. In fact, it was a much younger Crismus who signed my acceptance letter way back when. I have always therefore felt a special connection with the wise owl. I frequented him often in those school days, sometimes for advice, but more often just to discuss with him. Even now, I like to stop by just to talk and he always seems happy to see me. I think he appreciates having someone visit him who isn’t seeking his help.
Crismus does not readily speak of his past, though I’ve managed to glean bits and pieces from our conversations together over the years, such as the facts that he was born in Verdant and that has no surviving relatives. Also, although I am not positive, I believe he was a world traveller in his early days, much as I am now. He knows too much of the world to have been cooped up in Verdant his whole life. As for how long he travelled, or what convinced him to settle back down in Verdant, I have no idea however. It is my hope that someday he may open up to me. It would be fascinating to chronicle his life before he dies.
Carja’s Notes:
Considering his timely introduction in the Funnies, you might think that I created and named Crismus specifically for use at Christmastime. You would be wrong however. As I was brainstorming ideas for Age of Animus, I decided to use one of those classic tropes for stories involving anthropomorphic animals, namely that I would have a wise old owl that everybody comes to for advice. The name I gave him was Crismus (pronounced Criz-mus). I quickly realized that it was a possible homonym for Christmas, and I even debated whether I should change the name or not (obviously I chose not to).
Crismus first appears in Nektara’s introductory story, written in August 2011, pretty much as I originally envisioned him, a cryptic, old wise bird.
Then we skip ahead a few months to late November, when I’m wondering if I’m going to do anything for Christmas in the Funnies. I felt that there was no logical context for the characters to be celebrating Christmas and I didn’t want to go the Star Wars Christmas Special route and have them celebrate “Life Day” or something like that. It’s then that I decided to embrace the sound-alike nature of Crismus’ name and just have the animals get together to celebrate his birthday.