Renson Whistlestick

Renson Whistlestick's life changed forever the day he was bequeathed the actual wooden whistlestick from his grandfather who had mysteriously disappeared years before.

Renson was surprised to learn that his surname was based an a device that has both aided him and filled his days with dread. The powers that are embodied in that carved stick are strange and unpredictable, and Renson often wonders if the stick owns him , rather than he it.

It is still unknown who carved the device, but it has been established that the wood came from the same grove of trees that once supplied bats for Babe Ruth. The connection between Renson's grandfather, and his relationship with Babe Ruth, started Renson on a lifetime search for answers.
What he didn't realize is that he would find himself thrust into dangers and facing enemies far beyond his wildest imaginations.

In time, Renson gathered a group of people who also had acquired strange devices carved from this strange wood. They agreed to travel together in search of the source and to set them free from the curses that seem to come to the bearers of these artifacts.

To remain incognito, they traveled in the guise of a carnival and freak show, since most of the searchers were cursed with physical deformities that would often repulse others at first glance. Little did the world know that as they passed themselves off as freaks, they were all brilliant and highly skilled artisans and scientists.

Renson now manages the carnival, and has most of the contact with the outside world. He met his wife Winifred while wandering through the Alps in Austria. She was a gypsy woman who was revealed to have great powers of her own, often carrying strange potions in the pouch on her side.

This traveling carnival is never far from great danger, as they seek to be released from their curses, and find dark forces and enemies everywhere.

Renson's 'home' is the traveling carnival, which he sometimes leaves in the capable hands of Winifred, when he is called by the Brotherhood of Thaumaturgic Cartographers to embark on some mission of questionable need or importance.