Ferris Wheeler, the Woodcutter’s Son
"I know a lot of people around here don't really care anymore... but somebody has to."The Basics
N A M EFerris Wheeler
A G E20
B I R T H D A YSpring, Day 9
G E N D E RMale
O C C U P A T I O NLumberjack, although he doesn’t shy away from foraging or doing carpentry and repairs around town. He’s not very good at hunting, though; his aim is terrible.
A Bit of Personality
P E R S O N A L I T Y T R A I T SShy, quiet, brooding, solitary and hard-working. Ferris is mostly content living out his simple life, collecting wood and performing repairs on the old buildings around town. He seldom speaks to people aside from his mother except for business purposes, and gets nervous around large crowds. However, Ferris is extremely hopeful that the town might be able to bounce back from these hard times, and thrive as it once did before BigCo.
Ferris happens to be quite tall and brawny, given all the time he spends swinging an ax around. Unfortunately it hasn’t given him the confidence he’s lacking.
F A V O R I T E S E A S O NSpring! It’s when the forest is the prettiest.
F A V O R I T E C O L O RGreen
F A V O R I T E F O O DPancakes with maple syrup
L I K E SAnimals, eating pancakes, foraging wild flowers and plants, woodcutting, music, working with his hands. Ferris enjoys trying out new mediums like sculpting, whittling, and pottery.
D I S L I K E SWolves, BigCo, existential dread, people who speak ill of his dearly departed dad
D O Y O U B E L I E V E I N M A G I C ? Ferris doesn’t just believe in magic; he is a devout follower of the village spirits. Ferris continues his parents’ tradition of bringing offerings to the forest spirits’ shrines, even though their power doesn’t seem to hold sway anymore. Ferris still holds out hope that one day the Harvest Goddess and her sprites will revitalize the area, but as more and more villagers begin to move away, others are beginning to wonder if Ferris’ determination and faith is an admirable last stand against corporate greed, or a fruitless delaying of the inevitable.
The Family History
F A M I L Y M E M B E R SFerris’ closest living relative is his mother Irene, a forty-five year-old florist who creates flower arrangements for the town. Unfortunately, with so many residents leaving, business is starting to dry up. In particular, the Petal Dance which once provided the florist enough money to last for months is no longer the same massive event. Irene can be aloof at times, but genuinely does care about her son and the town. Given her adherence to the old faith and fascination for rare plants, there are some old rumours about her being a witch, but those couldn’t possibly be true.
A N I M A L F R I E N D SMaggie, his father’s old hunting dog. She’s far too old to hunt anymore, pushing on 14, but despite her scars and tendency to sit still most of the day, she is incredibly affectionate.
Maggie has befriended a small bird who occasionally rests on her back, but Ferris has yet to name it.
H O M E L I F EFerris lives just outside the main town in what was once a small log cabin (spot #12 on the map). It has been expanded significantly in the past fifteen years, sitting as one of the largest properties on the forest’s edge, and now boasts a workshop and impromptu lumberyard. The cabin is surrounded by an impromptu lumberyard complete with sawhorse and workbench, and has several wooden planters full of beautiful flowers. The word “Wheeler’s” is painted in red cursive on a wooden sign above their door, decorated with a hammer and nails motif on one end of the text, and a bouquet of flowers on the other.
S T O R YFreddy Wheeler, Ferris’ dad, arrived in Root River after inheriting a small log cabin on the forest’s edge from his grandfather. Although originally a lawyer from a large city, he soon became enamoured with the little town and married a local girl, a florist named Irene. Although not everyone believes the stories, Freddy and Irene apparently used to commune with the local nature spirits in the area, bringing them fine wooden crafts, furs and bouquets to increase the bounty of the woods. In time, the area around the cabin flourished, and the couple was blessed with a healthy baby boy.
Ferris’ childhood was happy, uneventful, and (thankfully) quite boring. He learned the family trade, and the town saw relative prosperity while living in harmony with the nature that surrounded it.
This changed when BigCo came to Root River with their bulldozers and cranes, hoping to tear down forests and buildings that were hundreds of years old to build a gaudy resort. While most assumed their efforts would fail at first, they eventually began putting up offers for the land that could not be refused. When they began to clear-cut the woods and divert the rivers, however, Freddy took things into his own hands. The cityfolk-turned-woodsman still had a license to practice law, and with the help of various hunters and lumberjacks in the region he was able to put together a convincing case against BigCo violating a number of environmental ordinances. It seemed as though the lawsuit was going well, and that no matter how much land they purchased, BigCo would not be able to proceed with their construction plans. Freddy’s efforts sent a wave of hope through the townspeople, elevating him to being somewhat of a local hero. He had applied to have the region designated as a protected area when tragedy struck.
On one of Freddy’s usual trips to deliver tribute to a shrine deep in the forest, he vanished. It’s unknown exactly what became of him, but his body was never recovered. The only thing left of him was his woodcutter’s ax, lying with its blade stuck in the dirt. With nobody else willing to take up the case, the suit against BigCo was eventually dismissed, and the company was allowed to continue with its development of the region into a tourist trap.
Ferris became more socially isolated after his father’s disappearance, feeling as though he was unable to fill the shoes Fred had left behind. To make matters worse, much of the money Freddy had saved in case an emergency should befall the family was used to fight the difficult legal battle against BigCo, one that now seemed to have been pointless. Ferris still holds out hope that one day his father will return, but knows deep down in his heart that Freddy Wheeler has more than likely joined the spirits he once revered so much. Sadly, when Freddy disappeared, he took many of the townspeoples’ hopes with them.
