Bilbo Baggins of Bag End

Bilbo had very fine things in mind when he first came to live in Erebor.  Adviser to the King was a very important status to have, especially when the king was still gravely injured and still insisted on wandering around the halls.  Bilbo, therefore, was most engaged in advising the king to sit down, advising the king to eat everything on his plate, and advising the king not to snarl at elves when they were helping with the restoration as a sign of amended friendships.

Needless to say, the king didn't think that any of Bilbo's advising was in particularly good taste, but after all they'd been through, Bilbo didn't much care at all what Thorin II Oakenshield thought.  Too much protest, that's what he said.  No means yes.  Maybe means yes.

"Thorin?"  Bilbo pushes open the curtains around the king's bed and of course.  Of course.  "Why would I think you'd be sleeping?  It's only before dawn," he remarks.  "Yes, we're inside a mountain but even I can tell the time without feeling for the sun and--"  The hobbit sighs and puts down his tray to move towards the glowering figure at the fire.  He stands between Thorin and the flames.  "What is it that I can do you for you relieve you of some of this pressure?" he asks, mostly to himself.  Thorin's vocabulary is mostly grunts and sighs any way.  What comes to the hobbit's mind is--

Well, it's what tends to from time to time.  Spring is here.  New things grow.  Animals seek each other out.  Thorin must be suffering from something akin to that.  He must need a little relief.  Bilbo puts on hand on the heavy arm of the chair and leans in, his other hand moving to the wide belt of the king.

"You need to relax."

Player Information
Player name:  Jen
Contact:  substituteskull 
Are you over 18: yes
Characters in The Box Already:  Jack Harkness, Mohinder Suresh, Thor Odinson

Character Information
Character Name: Bilbo Baggins
Canon: Middle Earth (Hobbit, Lord of the Rings)
Canon Point: Post Bilbo's first escape from Smaug
Is your character Dead, Undead or Alive: Alive
History: Here and here

Personality:
Before the wizard or the company of Thirteen arrived on his doorstep, Bilbo was more or less like every other sort of hobbit. He loved to eat, to grow things, to cook, to smoke pipe weed, to drink good wine, to visit with friends or have them visit him (so long as gave him plenty of notice, thank you!) and to keep a good, clean hobbit-hole happily under the Hill. Despite a few small character flaws in his youth, according to respectable hobbits at least, of being adventurous and a bit of a day dreamer, Bilbo had grown into a very nice gentlemanly hobbit after he came of age.

With the death of his parents, Bilbo inherited their home and became obsessed with keeping things as his mother had. He became a very careful sort of fellow and was quite happy with that until Gandalf came to call on him one day and brought with him an adventure that Bilbo had not at all been happy to have fall into his lap. Unfortunately for the hobbit, his old adventurous spirit (inherited from his mother who came from a family well known to enjoy exploration and wandering outside of Hobbiton) crept up and he left his home to join the dwarves on their quest to rid their ancestral home of a very clever and violent dragon.

Bilbo Baggins started off on this quest as a timid creature who, although he often spoke his mind, was something of a doormat. Very concerned with looking and acting proper, he not only accepted all of the uninvited dwarves into his home, but also allowed them to eat most of his pantry and nearly demolish the place (though to their credit, the dwarves did clean up after themselves and were not at all awful guests). He had little stomach for adventure and the description of the dragon caused the poor thing to faint. His time with the dwarves and all of the perils he was forced to face, however, quickly brought out a side of the hobbit that no one had known actually existed.

Bilbo has proven himself to be exceptionally clever and a quick thinker on his feet. Outwitting trolls to stay outside of their cave after sunrise to rescue his companions, defeating the creature Gollum in a a game of riddles, and chatting up a dragon to avoid being immediately eaten are but a few examples of this. Loyalty, protectiveness and steadfastness are also major parts of Bilbo's personality. Though nearly leaving the party at one point to return to his home, Bilbo nonetheless exemplifies what a true friend is. Despite a clash of personalities with the leader of their party, Thorin, an exiled dwarven king who routinely talks down to him and makes him feel unwelcome, Bilbo still manages to prove himself time and time again by being resourceful and good-intentioned. Not a strong fighter and considered a liability throughout most of the early stages of the quest, Bilbo's loyalty can best be proven by the way he protects a fallen Thorin while being outnumbered by cruel and terrible orcs and how he still chooses to keep his promise when venturing into the lair of a sleeping dragon. That he is willing to die for members of a race that do not seem to like him shows his resilience and his desire to do the right thing, even in the face of certain death.

Items on your character at canon point:
The One Ring (ability to turn invisible for periods of time)
Sting (a short sword forged by elves that glows in the presence of goblins and their kin)
A few errant pieces of gold from rolling around a treasure pile
Pipe
Pipeweed
The Arkenstone

Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses:
Bilbo is in possession of the One True Ring, which grants him invisibility when he wears it. His shadow and any sounds he makes can easily have him found out, however and standing in direct sunlight might allow others to see him. Otherwise, he's very clever and good at puzzling out (and talking himself) out of situations. He is also a whiz at conkers. Though he's been given the label of burglar, at this point in his canon he's never really gotten the chance to prove himself worthy of that more or less made up title.

As a hobbit, Bilbo has a long life and though he is 50 years old, he is still quite young as his people typically come of age at 33. He has very sensitive ears and can see exceptionally well in low light. His eyes are also extremely sharp and he is capable of noticing more than the average Man or dwarf might about an area he's looking at. Hobbits have the benefit of being born with large, tough soled feet that allows them to go about barefoot as if they were wearing thick soled shoes. This also gives them the ability to move very quietly. Hobbits have the fortunate ability to not be seen should they decide not to be. As such, sometimes Bilbo is able to disappear into a crowd easily or blend into the forest without being noticed, even without use of the ring.

Finally, Bilbo has a half-repressed heroic streak that comes out only at the most harrowing of times and he has been known to put himself in danger for others, even for people that might not always like or appreciate him.


Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample:
[Having been told that this strange object is capable of sending letters remotely to others, Bilbo Baggins has decided to sit down and 'pen' a letter to those back home.]

My dearest Lobelia of the Sackville-Baginses:

Though I have left in some haste on my current journey and may well have forgotten to properly secure the door to my home against the intrusion of wanderers-by, I would like to remind you that there is nothing currently within Bag End that is earmarked as takeable or even perusable.  I intend to return shortly to Hobbiton and the Hill and would like to find my mother's doilies, the contents of the mantle, my fathers casks of elvish wine and whatever remains in the sad state of my pantry to be just as I had left them.

My adventure (and do not be so crass to gasp loudly and longly about my travels) so far has been more or less uneventful. Should word reach you of my untimely demise due to trolls, orcs, wargs, dragons, an infestation of dwarven fleas, the wiles of a clever wizard, or anything of that nature, I assure you that they have been grossly exaggerated. I am fine, full of life,  relatively unscathed and as well fed as one can hope to be.

However, as a token of my esteem and gratitude for keeping my possessions in order, I have sent along a gift from Rivendell where I was recently a guest of the great Lord Elrond at the Last Homely House, his beautiful manor there.  It should arrive there before this letter by elven courier.

Do send my regards to cousin Otho and let me remind you again that I have a very keen memory and will know if any of my family's heirlooms have somehow shifted away from their usual spaces. Please kindly return all the silver to it's proper cases and place those cases where they had been found.

My esteem and yours in sincerest gratitude,
Bilbo Baggins


Prose Log Sample:
Though hobbits were fairly good walkers, many did not care to do more than their fair share of it. A journey to the Green Dragon or the occasional -- and slightly frowned upon -- jaunt down to Bree for a pint was all the travel most hobbits would consent to. Bilbo, however, had gotten to like walking, just as he had when he was a boy and set off to the forest to look for elves. His reasons for this were a bit different, however. The exercise was unwanted, he barely had enough to eat as it was without working up more of an appetite and lately, they'd been doing more climbing and sprinting that, more than anything else, made a simple stroll far more appealing than it had ever been before.

Wanting more than anything to leave the cold of the mountains far, far behind, all that Bilbo could do was be sure everyone had their fair share of the small rations they'd procured (all right, stolen) from Elrond's people and from Beorn. It kept his mind active and away from the thoughts of honey and jam on crusty bread and well-seasoned fish-- Oh, bother! So much for that! Now he dared not go through his pack for fear of finding very little bread left indeed for supper!

"Mister Baggins!"

"Mister Baggins!"

Fili and Kili calling for him caused Bilbo to quicken his pace in a hurry to catch up with the two. The younger dwarves, though so much more brash than Bilbo was use to, tended to be his advocates to their uncle on his behalf. He fell into step between the pair and blinked at the offering of dried out cheese and some figs each held out to him. Bilbo was utterly flabbergasted that they might share. "I-- T-Thank you!"

Not all of the dwarves might care for him. One, in fact, had until recently openly loathed him. These small kindnesses bolstered Bilbo's heart. Though the journey may be tough, he was not a quitter.  A bit of cheer and something to nibble on from the young brothers certainly gave the hobbit.  The road was still quite far ahead and the forest was endless.  No wonder the rest of the Company looked at their halfling strangely when he turned his smile towards them for dwarves, you know, are not as privy to the joy a little food might bring.  No matter the hardship.

They say this world is cruel to those born after the apocolypse came and went, but William would like to respectfully disagree. His nephew, Freddy, had never known what it was like to nip down to Tescos for milk or what milk tastes like. While that might sound horrible, it also means that he can't miss it. For him, tea is always bitter, when they had been able to find it. Chocolate isn't a given for good deeds, it's more like the most amazing birthday gift in the world. There's no video games to rot his brain or distract him from life.

Then again, there's no sense of safety either. But Freddy had never known what it's like to be safe. And he'd question is poor uncle why the older man woke up at night or stood, quaking, at the shambling sounds of the infected if they got too close to their hide away.

Believe it or not, the old Baker Street tube station had been a fairly good place to live for the last five years. William, or as Freddy called him since he was little, Uncle Bilbo, and his young nephew had taken shelter there when the infection spread through London and the hospitals had been shut down. Some entrepreneurial Samaritans had taken the liberty of bricking up the tunnel entrances and the community had flourished more or less. They were careful. Bilbo took care of the children. They'd made due for several months with just the subterranean shops. And when that ran out, they had parties that headed up to the surface for supply runs.

Five years of that might have seemed enough to drive a man mad but William hadn't minded it as much as some that took the easy way out with wasted bullets early on. By their fifth year after the infection hit, they'd gone from seventy-three people to a healthy group of forty-two. They had spaces carved out of those old shops and a barter system that worked very well. Crime had been a minimum. Stress was low.

And then one of the hunters got careless. Infection ran through their happy little home. It took his friends. It took Freddy. And sometimes, William wishes that it would have taken him especially after having to flee the only safety he'd known for years. London's a ruin. The streets are trashed. There are no supplies anywhere around. William has had no choice but to find places to stay, places to hide, and no choice but to keep moving.

He has no food.

He has no water.

London might as well be the desert.

On the fifth day since his forced exile, William climbs the steps of the National Museum of art at Trafalgar Square and pushes his way inside the massive doors, long since pulled from their hinges to haphazardly block the way in. He sits under the dome in the atrium, he looks up...and when sleep comes, he lets it take him, falling back with his arms spread out.

Goldsick Thorin is no one to triffle with.

Good news: Thorin loves Bilbo
Bad news: Mahal won't sanction it.

Going to sleep in Lake-Town doesn't always mean you'll wake up in Lake-Town!

Bilbo's attempt to tend Thorin's wounds becomes a little more than he bargained for.

Be gentle with Bilbo. He's new at this.  With Thorin, Kili and Fili.

And don't threaten him with knowledge of the future.  With Thorin.