It's the questions we can't answer that teach us the most.
Name: Kvothe
Age: 18
Book: Kingkiller series (Book 1: The Name of the Wind Book 2: A Wise Man's Fear)
Role: Protagonist
Personality: Kvothe is very smart and cunning. In every situation he puts himself, or gets put, in he will be thinking of a back up plan. He doesn't feel safe unless he has a plan to start out with, finding that no plan at all is much more dangerous. He knows how to act, meaning that he knows how to manipulate people. Kvothe tries not to do this to his friends, but everyone else is fair game especially when he wants something. He is also very cocky and arrogant. He knows he's smart and can get away with a lot of things. Sometimes he thinks a little too highly of himself, which is one of the main reasons he gets into trouble, that and he always speaks his mind no matter who you are. He doesn't like to be looked down upon especially if the person doing so is only doing it because he is a Ruh. He likes to think he knows most secrets and ways to manipulate people, but after a slip up he will be humbled, if only just a learner. He is a "go-and-get-it" type of person, meaning if he wants something he will do almost anything to get it, whether it pulling dangerous stunts, or just being overbearingly patient. Though at times he may come off as very wise, having lived through his fair share hard times, he can also overlook some of the smaller details especially when it comes to reading others. He may be able to manipulate people, but he is far from understanding how they actually function, so his social skills are a bit chaotic at times (for the nobles though he just acts however he needs to).
With all his faults Kvothe is very kind, especially to those who are seen as being an outcast. He'll listen to younger children while others just over look them. He tries his best to be respectful to women, though not understanding them doesn't help. As much as he's a people person, he is also a bit of a loner; having lived by himself most of his life. He knows how to appreciate nature, how to listen to the wind and the babbling brook, how to stand still when looking at views. He's learned the hard way of being wise. He sparingly knows of the Lethani; an inner voice that helps point to which path is the right path, though it still troubles his mind how it works. Kvothe is a thinker and learner, he absorbs all information like a sponge and yet still seeks to know more. Knowing things is his greatest skill, having the memory of an elephant to help with his troubles. He is very proud, this is not his arrogance but another part of him that is closely related to that. His pride comes from being a trouper, from being an Edema Ruh. He holds his heritage above everyone like a flag, though most of the time this flag he must hide to keep himself safe. Even when he's in trouble financially especially, he has a harder time for asking for money. He'll do whatever it take to ask his friends for money, alerting to them how poor he really is.
When it comes down to it, Kvothe gets in trouble because of his heart. His heart holds his worries and his problems, his ego and his caution, and most importantly it holds his sympathy (not to be mixed up with the sympathy that is taught at the university). Though it's his mind that gets him out of trouble. His mind holds his cunning, his knowing, his learning, his memory, and his wisdom. These two parts of him, his mind and his heart, work against each other all the time, yet work together to make Kvothe who he is. A very proud, very clever Edema Ruh.
Dislikes: being judged for being of the Edema Ruh, not having his lute or it being broken, cold weather, getting caught, arrogant asses who think they're better, people who manipulate him (he knows this is hypocrisy, but it's how he feels), being told he's a liar when he is finally telling the truth (though if he's called a liar and he is lying it's much less of a problem), and not having a plan
Skills: thieving, lying, acting, gambling, playing the lute, sympathy (the one taught at the University), picking locks, and telling stories
Weaknesses: people who are outcasts, other troupers/street performers, Denna (the girl he loves), he has a bad and quick temper, keeping his mouth shut, and following rules
Quirks: tapping his fingers when things get to be too quiet, climbing roofs, checking on his lute as often as he can, and picking at scabs
Fears: getting lost, losing or breaking his lute, not learning about the Chandrian, the memories of what happened to his family coming back, and ending up living like he did in Tarbean again
Bio:
Kvothe was born into a group called the Edema Ruh; whom traveled around and preformed on stage. He grew up learning to play the lute and how to be a great actor, his life was simple, but he loved it and his troupe. Eventually a professor of what was known as "magic" started to travel with them and began teaching Kvothe about math, science, and about a place called the University; a place where magic turns into science and sympathy (where you connect two items with a metaphorical string so that you can make it so that what happens with one object will happen to the other). The professor and Kvothe became close friends, but the professor had to leave eventually, leaving Kvothe to study on his own and dream of going to the University.Then evening while he was away getting water to cook dinner with disaster happened. He came back with his troupe dead and their camp completely destroyed, blood and burnt hair filled the air. He saw a small group of creatures called the Chandrian, standing over the bodies. The Chandrian were believed to be of fairy tales, but now that Kvothe knew they were not he was determined to find.
After his troupe died he lived in a forest by himself as a wild animal for three years. He hunted for his food, collected water whenever he could, made a small shelter, and played his father's lute until only one string was unbroken. When that last string broke he began to walk and eventually found a road. He followed the road to a town where he hitched a ride with some nice people. They took him as far as they could, to a town city called Tarbean. He had no money for food so he soon became a thief. Life on the streets was hard; he was hungry all the time, if he had a loaf of bread for three weeks that was really good. He was beaten often by the other urchins that lived on the streets, but living there made him strong and fast, cunning and cautious. One day he heard a story from a sailor at one of the pubs about a group of warriors that lived long ago called the Amre. The Amre had fought the Chandrian. This story sparked something inside Kvothe and he suddenly had to get to the University no matter what. So he hitched a ride with a large group of people that were heading that direction and traveled for a month or so before he made it. There he met Denna for the first time and since then has been hooked on her; though unlike all her other suitors or the men that are interested in her, he plays the part of the best friend whom she can always come back to.
Kvothe was fifteen when he made it. The admissions test was stressful, but he had learned a lot from his friend the professor long ago. The administrators were highly impressed with Kvothe and he soon became the youngest student in the University by six years, as well as the poorest as most of the other students were the children of nobles. Three days in Kvothe moved up the ranks from an E'lir (the lowest rank) to Re'lar, which normally takes an average student three years to get. He was brought up against the law of the school several times and whipped nine times in all. He plays at a famous pub across the bridge from the University to help pay for room and board. He's traveled to far off villages looking for the Chandrian and has called the name of the wind, using the wind to attack a fellow student he has a well known grudge match with. He's built a big reputation for himself at the University, only about ten percent of it being true.
Then he was brought up against the court of the town across the river and some of his professors encouraged him to take time off from the University because they knew that after the court, even though he was found innocent, his tuition would be raised to an amount he wouldn't be able to pay. So he did. A good friend of his told him of a great man, a King, who might be a possible patron, but there would be tests. So Kvothe headed to see the Maer Alveron. The tests were simple enough to pass. Though Kvothe went beyond that and went as far as save the Maer's life from his physician. Then the Maer sent him with three mercenaries to find and kill a group of bandits that were causing trouble. It was a long journey, but in the end they managed to succeed, mostly because of Kvothe's desperate attempts and his use of sympathy.
After words the group, the mercenaries and Kvothe, were on their way back to the Maer, only to spot a fae fold woman named Felurian. There are stories wrapped around her that say when she sings she captures men and takes them to the Fae where she has her way with them sexually until they die of exhaustion. Kvothe runs after Felurian, wanting to know if she knew anything about the Chandrian or the Amre, since his search on them has got him nowhere. While in the Fae he and Felurian become close, he learns a little about the different cultures in the Fae towns and a little about their language. Then he makes a deal, tricking her into letting him go, he tells her that he can't finish the song about her unless he experiences what human women are like so that he may compare them to her fairly. She agrees and he is let go. as a goodbye gift she makes him a cloak that is made out of shadows. The first man to come back alive and his mind unbroken. At first no one believes him, but then they start to see the truth.
As the group of mercenaries splits up, Kvothe goes with Tempi an Adem mercenary. Tempi had been teaching Kvothe about the Lethani and Ketan (an exercise/series of movements that help make a man strong and quick and is very finicky to learn), but when other Adem people learn what Tempi was doing he gets in trouble. Kvothe goes with Tempi to the mercenary's town hoping that his presence there might help relieve the trouble off Tempi. Though when he gets there he is called and treated like a barbarian. Tempi initial punishment (banishment, which is worth than death for the Adem) is lifted and instead Kvothe must learn from a woman called Vashet. Though the only lesson that Vashet is teaching is that Kvothe is unwanted there and should leave and never come back. She is teaching this lesson by whipping and beating Kvothe.
This is as far as I've read up to and where I've ended is in the second book of the series A Wise Man's Fear
