Introduce your Characters

[Hussar]

Hey folks. Figured it might be a good idea to sort of gather together all the character background stuff. I don't want character sheets and stats in this thread please. Just the flavour stuff. Background, traits, ideals, bonds, flaws, that sort of thing. You might also want to throw up a character portrait if you have one.

So, please follow the following format (just for my sanity so I can find information quicker:

Name:
Portrait (if you have one)
Class
Trait
Ideal
Bond
Flaw
Background:

Try to give some thought to the traits and stuff. I find that if you give me something to work with (for example, Away's last character, Hyr, had a flaw of "I would kill to acquire a noble title" which led to the party becoming Lords of the Wall) it becomes so helpful for me.

Thanks guys.

[Whiter Ninja]

Name: 
Grodd "Tuskhorn" Autumnbrow

Gender, Age, Height, Weight:
Male, 31, 6'4", 284 lbs.

Alignment:
Lawful Evil

Portrait: 

Class:
Barbarian

Trait:
I believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I can't help it- I'm a perfectionist. I will stop at nothing to get what I want.

Ideal: 
Community. It is the duty of all civilized people to strengthen the bonds of community and the security of civilization. (Lawful)
Greed. I require money and influence to maintain my own social stature, and I will do whatever it takes to get it. (Evil)


Bond:
I have one true love and will do whatever it takes to secure my future with her by my side.


Flaw:

I'm never satisfied with what I have- I always want more. I would kill to acquire a noble title.
I am short tempered and have no tolerence for being disrespected, a side effect of my Orcish heritage.

Background:
I'm still on this and will edit this post later on.

[stormwarden]

Name: Gollor-Eco (Professor Geco)

Class: Wizard (Order of Scribes)

Portrait / Physical Description: His hands are not webbed, and he is bluish-purple with dark blue stripes. He is sexless, with no known genitalia. He identifies himself as being male and adheres to male social roles due to the register of his voice and because the dwarves of Stoneshaft Hold referred to him as such. The organs on the side of his face are secondary vocal projectors allowing him to produce the full range of sounds of deep speech. He is hairless. His skin is always somewhat clammy. He has no discernable odor. He typically wears very practical traveler’s clothing including a hood to conceal his features when in public.)


These images are of his familiar, Mary Ann. In cat form, it is a Tressym. Mandibles spring forth from its mouth when it eats. In winged snail/octopus form, it is mechanically an owl.



Race: Unknown (Lucidling, but this is not actually known to him or anyone else. His anatomy is unique.)

Alignment: Neutral

Trait: Incredibly inquisitive and fascinated by weird little details of things. Acts as though he’s experiencing many things for the first time. Carries a journal, and is constantly taking notes and sketching things.

Ideal: Acquiring knowledge is the only goal.

Bond: Borin Stoneshaft (sage of Stoneshaft Hold), numerous other residents of Stoneshaft Hold, Chip (sorcerer)

Flaw: Generally oblivious to social norms. Has difficulty understanding subtext and social cues. Tends to be overly honest and blunt – occasionally to the point of being rude. Often very long-winded, especially when discussing lore. (Think Sheldon from Big Bang Theory)

Background:

Gollor-Eco opened his eyes. Standing in the surf, looking at the beach and beyond to the hills, the mountains, and a keep built into a nearby cliffside, he felt drawn to the land and to the knowledge it contained. For Gollor-Eco, knowledge was everything, and acquiring more was the only goal. He knew many things. He knew the sea, its deeps, its denizens, and its secrets. He knew ancient lore about the formation of the world, the rise of the gods and their bipedal worshippers, and of the workings of the planes and the cosmos itself. He knew the workings of magic and how to bend its essence into spells. Strange, then, that he did not know how he had come to be on this beach or how he had come to be at all. He knew himself, and he knew a great deal of lore, but he had no inkling of his existence before this point. “Curious,” he thought, and he strode up the beach.

While studying the beach grass and the small insects within it, Gollor-Eco was accosted by a patrol of dwarves who tied him up and took him to their nearby fort, Stoneshaft Hold (or Thornhold). There he was locked away in a cell until the dwarves could determine what to do with him. The dwarves questioned him for an exceedingly long time, and though they eventually determined that they would learn no more about him, they could not for certain say that it was safe to let him go. He was a strange creature and one made even stranger by his inability or unwillingness to share details about his past.
Gollor-Eco languished for some twenty years in that cell. During that time, he got to know the chief sage of Clan Stoneshaft, Borin. Borin would lend him books and provide materials to write and to paint. In exchange, Gollor-Eco openly shared the lore he knew, wrote several books on sea creatures and ancient lore for Borin, and created numerous sketches and paintings of exotic creatures and of the residents of Stoneshaft Hold. Many of these still decorate the halls of the Hold. Gollor-Eco made so many notes and wrote so extensively, that Borin eventually gave him a magical journal to use.

Borin eventually convinced the clanlord, Ebeneezer, to allow Gollor-Eco to leave his cell and to wander the grounds (under guard, of course). For the next ten years, Gollor-Eco was a fixture at Stoneshaft Hold, and the locals took to calling him The Professor or Professor Geco. He helped Borin with scribe work, taught classes on ancient lore and biology, and wrote a four volume treatise on the flora and fauna of the Sword Mountains.

After a time, Lord Ebeneezer decided that it didn’t make sense and was too costly to keep Geco as a prisoner. He still didn’t fully trust him, though, so he ordered that Geco be set free and expelled from the Hold. Borin knew that the Professor would have trouble fitting in outside the Hold, and he made arrangements with a friendly merchant to take him to Waterdeep and introduce him to a sorcerer named Chip whose own nonstandard heritage might make him sympathetic. Chip and Geco hit it off right away, and Chip invited him to stay with him and help with some of his experiments. Chip introduced Geco around the city, and his stature and power helped grease the wheels for the Professor’s general acceptance into society.

Professor Geco has worked with Chip for a little over three years now. Chip introduced him to the Society of the Quill and made it possible for Geco to be accepted into the group as a field researcher. His work as a biologist and a specialist in creature lore is an excellent fit for the Society. Several members of the group are leery of Geco due to the vagaries of his background (and some take umbrage at his usage of the unearned title, Professor), but they are unable to deny his intellect and his capabilities as a scholar. Master Sulphon is particularly taken with Geco and his impressive knowledge of aberrations. They spend countless hours discussing a variety of topics, and Sulphon is particularly intrigued by Geco’s take on aboleths. (Geco is an aboleth apologist. "The aboleth, you see, are much misunderstood and maligned. They ruled the world long before the rise of humanoids, and like any deposed king or overthrown kingdom, they long for the return of what they see as the rightful order of things. You wouldn't begrudge a dwarven king for wanting to wrest his ancient home from the goblins that took it over centuries before, so why would you begrudge an aboleth's desire for a similar homecoming and restoration?") Masters Tszul and Jasmal are also quite friendly toward Geco.

The Truth about Golorr-Eco

This information is unknown to the characters (including Geco). Stop reading now if you would rather not know.

SPOILER: Click to show

Golorr-Eco is a lucidling, a literal dream made flesh. He is the manifestation of a dream by the aboleth Golorr in which it desired to learn the knowledge of the surface world. Geco is an independent entity but is also an extension of the aboleth’s psyche. All of his memories psionically transfer to Golorr each night when he dreams. Geco has never met Golorr, and is completely unaware of the connection. He has a burning desire to learn everything he can about the surface world, but he doesn't know why and has no particular direction or time frame for that impulse. Subconsciously, Geco is also tasked with misinformation and misdirection regarding the true power, location, and intentions of the aboleth and with obtaining knowledge that the aboleth can use in their quest to restore the proper world order.

[Merkuri]

Name: Strikthennael "Strix", Ursanni

Character Sheet

Gender, Age, Height, Weight: Female, 36, 3'8", 30 lbs

Portrait: (Except instead of an actual owl, she's humanoid with human-like arms and owl-like wings sprouting from her back)


Class: Artificer (planning for Battle Smith)
Race: Owlfolk (small)

Personality Traits:
I prefer the company of those who aren’t like me, especially people of other races.
I am fascinated by all forms of technology, especially constructs.
I try to be kind, but can be absent-mindedly offensive or cruel without realizing it.

Ideals:
Knowledge. By understanding our world we can learn to manipulate it for the greater good.

Bonds:
I want to make magic more accessible to those who cannot use it naturally.

Flaws:
I am sometimes so distracted by my work that I forget everything else. I may not realize how my work affects other people. I may neglect to eat or sleep.
I talk to my creations, even those that are not remotely lifelike.

Background: Anthropologist
Feature: Adept Linguist
You can communicate with humanoids who don’t speak any language you know. You must observe the humanoids interacting with one another for at least 1 day, after which you learn a handful of important words, expressions, and gestures—enough to communicate on a rudimentary level.

History:
Strikthennael, or "Strix", as she likes to be called, grew up in the Feywild as part of the ancient Ursanni house of owlfolk. The owlfolk were a proud race, known for their deep connection to magic, and tended to keep to themselves. The Ursanni house ruled over a moderately sized town and the surrounding villages and farms. The Ursanni's crest is a golden bear standing on its hind legs on a field of red. They were an unimportant house in the grand owlfolk kingdom, but they were still proud and proper.

Despite the owlfolk's innate ability with magic, Strix never manifested this talent. She memorized all of the books and spells, had a deep grasp of magic theory, could identify many different types of magic, could perform the gestures and speak the words perfectly, but just could not make the spells work on her own. It was almost like she had a disability - she was missing something that allowed her race to work with magic.

She became somewhat of a disappointment to the house, though they would never say so to her face. The family was kind and tried to treat Strix like any other child, however Strix was very aware that her limitations made her different. Her parents even went as far as to import several magical items from the material plane - something normally unheard of in the slightly xenophobic owlfolk society - that would allow her to accomplish tasks that came so easily to the rest of the family, like creating a magical spark to start a fire, but those items just felt like crutches to Strix. They made her feel even more different and ostracized. No one in owlfolk society used enchanted items, especially not to do simple tasks they could do with their own magic.

Strix withdrew from owlfolk society more and more as she got older, preferring to keep her own company and stay away from the staring eyes and whispers. She spent long hours trying to push through whatever block had stopped her magic, but to no avail. However, after many long years of studying, she found that she could create copies of the magic items her parents had gotten for her. Furthermore, she could leverage her magical training to imbue objects with completely different spells from those original items. Strix discovered that, although she herself did not have the spark that allowed one to learn to do magic, she could imbue items with that spark. They could do magic for her.

Strix hid her creations for a long time. She was embarrassed by them, and thought they were more crutches she created for herself. Her creations were flimsy, and almost always lost their enchantments the first time they were used. She had to continually maintain and re-enchant them. When she finally felt confident enough to let others see her work, she tried to disguise it as "ordinary" magic. She hid her enchanted items on her person and practiced invoking them without it being obvious that the item was the one performing the magic.

When her family saw her demonstrate this magic, they were overjoyed that she had finally gained her magical spark. They had a great feast in her honor and invited the entire town to celebrate her "graduation" to full wizarddom. It was almost as if she had been dead and had suddenly come back to life.

Strix should have been overjoyed, but instead she felt like a fraud. She had deceived her whole town into thinking she was something she was not. She made them think she could do magic when it was parlor tricks and faking. She spent the party shaking hands, smiling, and laughing, but inside she wanted to cry and scream that they shouldn't be congratulation her. She had cheated.

The night after the party, Strix ran away. She left a vague note apologizing for not being what she seemed, then she packed up her tools and enchanted items and ran as far as she could go. Somehow she found passage to the material plane.

From that point until today, Strix remained on the material plane. For years, she moved from place to place, living among the various peoples and cultures of the material plane. After having been isolated among the owlfolk for so long, she became fascinated by the sheer variety of Faerûn and its people. She especially enjoyed the gnomes of Lantan, and lived with them for nearly a decade. What she loved most about the material plane and the Lantanians was that no one thought it odd that she had items to do her magic for her. Crafting magical items was a respected skill, and no one cared that she could not do magic without her items. Although she had fallen in love with Lantan, Strix found that the wanderlust had overtaken her once more, so she set out again to explore more of the world.

About a year ago (from the campaign start), Strix's wanderings took her to Waterdeep, where she met Vlorn Keenear from the Society of the Quill. She joined the Society to help her further her research into the cultures of Faerûn and magical technology. She enjoyed studying with both Vlorn and Haerun Mhammaster, learning about the peoples they studied, and she started her own research into magical technology.

[awayfarer]

Name: Trundlecart (real name unknown)
Height: 6'0
Weight: 290 lbs
Class: Cleric
Trait: I'm convinced that people are trying to steal my secrets.
Ideal: The goal of a life of study is the betterment of the self.
Bond: I've been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question.
Flaw: Unlocking an ancient mystery is worth the price of a civilization.
Background: Sage



There was a tall window in the library, flat at the bottom but rounded at the top, and the pale grey light of the frosty morning lent the glass the air of a tombstone. Half steeped in the light from the window the creature stood, rifling through this book or that as it put them away. It's back was bent and try as he might Chip—full name Ankuthargamaranasaza'cha'chip, an undead wizard of the skeletal sort—could not determine if this hunch was a feature of its construction or if it merely slouched as it worked. It did not have the same aura of threat that so many golems do: there was no sense that this one was some sort of guardian to leap to life and beat you into the floor. No, Chip thought as he stroked his long white beard, what this one had was more subtle. Perhaps even more sinister.



“Remind me again,” Chip said to his guide, the red lights of his eyes flickering with interest, “it says it came from the H'kanthar ruins?”


The guide, a young scholar by the name of Trern, nodded so hard the green cap on his head nearly shook off. “Yes. Professor Bexore was able to puzzle it out once we were able to get it to speak common. It also jibes with what little we know about the lost expedition. Four poor souls, as you now. We still have no idea what they were looking for and there's a chance this creature might have been it and...well...”



“Hm? Yes, go on lad.”



“Sorry. Your beard sir. It's just a bit distracting.”



“Is it? I thought it made me look dignified. d**n it I'll just take it off. Won it in a bet you know.” And with that, Chip crumpled the thing into a ball and stuffed it into his rib cage. A large rat slept inside. It gave a quick snort and then settled back into its dreams. “The sage Risom bet me his beard I didn't know more about the the Shulldar ruins than he did. I don't think he expected me to collect.”



“Erm, y-yes, thank you sir. Trundlecart—that's what we call it now, Trundlecart—it says the expedition members told him to flee shortly after he was unearthed. The last thing it remembers seeing of them they were in a battle with several hooded figures.”



“Does he know you're calling him "it?"

"It insisted sir."

"Pfft. Caught anyone doing that to me I'd make them into soup stock. Alright then, so these assailants, any idea who they were?"


“None sir. There are several cults known to have been in the area. The Serpent's Tooth, the Hydra's Hood, the—“



“Lotta cults, got it. Nevermind that kid, nevermind. That's probably not important. I've seen things like this before, yes. And no. What you have here is not just animated material but is sort of living as well.”



“What? What do you mean?”



“It has a soul. It lives. It can die,” Chip said, not taking his eyes off of the creature, which was now leafing through a brown volume with blue butterflies on the cover. A stroke of sun pierced the clouds for a moment and shone through the window, coating its body in warm light. The faint runes covering the golem came into better focus and Chip suddenly felt slightly nauseous and couldn't say why. Wasn't like he had bowels anymore. But the sun fled as quickly as it had come, as if alighting on this creature, this “Trundlecart” scared it away. “I made one once," Chip noted. "Or something like it, based on some plans I cottoned onto from the temple of Gond. Mine was sort of a bodyguard. The materials weren't as nice; I used up a lot of favors just getting all the alchemical ingredients I needed for it and had to make do with just ordinary iron and wood. But she lived, boy. And this one here, this one lives. Any old necromancer can just yank a soul out of Hell and stuff it in a statue, but I made a soul, kid,” Chip hissed, clenching a white fist while the red of his eyes flared. “Not just a body but an actual living soul. Do you have any idea how hard that is?"


Trern scrabbled for something to say. “But the last expert on constructs said it was probably just some serving golem.”



Chip snorted. “Pah. Professor Magnerborn, right? Piffle. Wouldn't know a homonculus from a donkey's butt. I can see how he was led down the wrong path though. That thing shines and the metal is... unfamiliar. And that means probably expensive.”



“It's an alloy sir,” the young Trern added, removing his spectacles to polish them. “Our forgemaster determined it. He's mostly steel. We think there's some mithril in there. And a little silver. The rest he wasn't certain of. He says as an alloy whatever it all is shouldn't work and he can't replicate it. Trundlecart was in quite poor shape when he arrived. As for maintenance, Forgemaster Brine did the initial work but the creature does it himself now.” It appeared to Chip that the boy was going to say more when a bell rang loud and clear throughout the library. Trundlecart, the creature, stood straight up and merely held the book at his side.



Chip was so surprised that it was not until the last of the three chimes rang that he realized the noise was coming from the creature. “Huh, does it always do that?”



“Sometimes,” said Trern. “It's the clock. We don't know how it works, or how it measures. It doesn't seem to function like any other clock we've seen. We can't even be sure it's a clock at all! But one thing we are certain of is it's counting—“



“—backwards,” Chip finished. It was staring at him now, unblinking. Unmoving “Would you excuse me for a moment, kid?”



Trern held up a finger but whatever he was going to say died in his mouth. The wizard did not hesitate. The creature was tall but he was not going to let himself be cowed by a stare, and strode imperiously forward to speak with it. He felt his heart race and remembered he didn't have one, and that it was feeding time for Ratty. He opened his robe and the familiar poked its nose through his ribs. “Yeah, I know. Hang on a minute,” he said, then looked up. “You there,” he said as he walked. “They tell me your name is Trundlecart.”



“True, and not,” it said. “It is the name I was given here. My true name is hidden.”



“You're awfully loud to be working in a library aren't you?”



“Apologies, sage. I am not always aware when the bells will ring.” It returned to its work placing books on the shelves in order.



“It's very impressive is what it is. Can I have a closer look at it?”



It gave no answer but turned to face him. Chip took it as an invitation and took his monocle from his pocket, the chain jangling loosely. “I see. And you know what none of these mean?”



“ I do not,” said Trundlecart.



“None at all?”



A click, a whir, and the machine spoke. “It is my belief that my memory is limited by the passage of time and my educated guess that the extent of it is 400 years. I thus have reason to believe that I was trapped in the ruins, beneath sand and rubble, for at least that long. Further memories of who I am, where I came from, any family or friends or loved ones, a home, a people, a purpose, are lost. I only remember sitting in the collapsed darkness for a very long time.”



“Oh man, I've been there.” Chip nodded. “Spent three centuries in a box when the crew of the pirate ship I used to captain sealed me away for... reasons. Nevermind that. Anyway they're all dead now so I guess I got the last laugh. Actually I'm dead too so I guess we kinda broke even. Anyway what is that you have on the chain in your robe?”



The robe seemed funny; it wasn't as if Trundlecart had modesty to protect but perhaps the sages had insisted. The creature's metallic fingers reached into its pocket and produced what could have been an old holy symbol of the same metal as it, only the surface had been obliterated by thick scratches and only a few small pieces of runes still clung to the edge.



“Are you a priest? And this connects you to your god?



“A god,” it replied. “I do not know if I am a priest. Can you tell me more?”



“A little, perhaps. As far as I know there are less than thirty of your kind—sort of forged people—that have ever existed in this world. You're rather different from the rest and the trouble is that they're a relatively newfangled invention. Only been around a few hundred years and still so expensive that only rich wizards and the like have them. You're clearly much older, and so...”



Trern looked on as the conversation continued. This sage, “Chip,” for his part seemed equal parts intrigued and worried. Their talk lasted shorter than he would have thought and soon Chip returned, somehow seeming deflated as Trundlecart continued with his work.



“So that's it then eh kid? You're all out of answers here and it's just going to continue being a page in a library for the rest of its life? Seems a shame. How many languages does it speak again?”



Trern shrugged. “ Four, I think? Unless it's learned another one since I last checked. And then there's the unknown tongue. We can't make heads or tails of it, even with magic. Even Trundlecart doesn't seem to know what it's saying but it speaks snippets of it here and there, mostly when the bells ring or when it utters a prayer. Anyway, everyone else here has given up on it sir. I... sir, one of the expedition members was my friend. Her name was Lily Tonammer. I'd hate to think she died for nothing. She was secretive about it but I think she thought that whatever they were going to find was important.”



Chip nodded. “One thing, kid. One thing I noticed that none of your masters apparently did. It's not much, but it's got me to thinking.” He opened up his robe and, plucking a small purple pouch out of his robe pocket, began to feed scraps of meat and bread to his familiar, a rodent that looked up and out of his chest with an air of malice.



“Yes, sage, what is it?”



“The runes on the symbol it carries. You say this thing is made of an unknown alloy. Stern stuff it seems. Light but strong. Do you know what adamantine is?”



“What? Sir, surely you're not—“



“I'm not,” Chip interrupted with a wave of his hand. He took a bite of what looked like old cheese and fed it to the rat. “No, just that if you had, say, an adamantine suit of armor you'd only be able to hack through it with a weapon of the same metal. Very hard stuff to forge. So if you wanted to scrape away some runes made of an unusually strong alloy, you'd need an object of the same alloy at least.”



“You don't mean...?” Trern said, narrowing his eyes.



“There's a good chance it scratched the face from that relic with its own fingers. I don't know why. Obviously it doesn't know why either. There's a chance it wanted those memories annihilated and was desperate enough to do the deed itself. But do you know what you should be more worried about?”



“What is that?” Trern whispered.



“Be worried that it wants them back.”

[awayfarer]

I don't have a set idea in mind as to Trundlecart's past, but here's a handful of possibilities.

1: Trundlecart was built as a containment unit for a powerful entity of unknown composition and origin. It's original creators managed to lock this entity away but neither they nor their civilization survived the attempt. The clock is ticking down to when they expect the wards will finally wear away and release the creature back into the world, and Trundlecart's powers unknowingly derive from tapping into it's own.

Option: the creature IS Trundlecart, having wrested control over its prison but lost any memory of its past life.



2: After much difficulty, an ancient and powerful cult managed to get a glimpse of the future and discovered much to its dismay that their religion had died off some centuries from now. Wanting to understand why but lacking the means to do anything, they built a golem at great expense (nearly bankrupting the cult) and sent it into the future the only way they could afford to: the long way. Trundlecart's clock is, unbeknownst to him, set to bring him back to the point he left, whether he likes it or not. His proficiency for learning was built into him.

Option: Ironically, the cost of undertaking this project is what ultimately doomed the cult.


3: In a place now known only to scholars as the home of the Three Mountains civilization, a war erupted between two religions. One, about to be displaced and destroyed, enacted a ritual to trap their diety in a metal body before the last of its power faded. The ritual worked all too well and robbed the priesthood of their ties to said diety, effectively ending what little influence they had left. Their last city was ransacked and burned to the ground, and the body built for their god defiled and buried before it could even be awoken.


4: Trundlecart already IS a member of Candlekeep, unbeknownst to itself, and only several centuries from now. Sent back into the past on a research mission, Trundlecart's limited memory was effectively overwritten with hundreds of years of junk data from his entrapment. It's possibly it was buried in the rubble for even longer than its estimation. A homing enchantment is why it knew its way to Candlekeep in the first place.

[stormwarden]

#2 is epic! I love it!

After reading Trundlecart's backstory, I assumed it was actually similar to #2. An ancient cult to a dying evil god created this immortal paladin thing to bring about the god's return. Sometime during it's imprisonment, Trundlecart had a change of heart and decided that the god was better off staying dead. It destroyed the idol you referred to and sat there playing tiddly-winks to distract itself long enough for its memory to reset and for it to forget the god. It's still connected to the dormant god that grants it abilities. What would happen if it ever found out what it was originally designed for?

[merrymayhem]

Name: Sönk Spaten (pronunciation: translate.google.com/?sl=en&tl=de&text=S%C3%B6nk%20Spaten&op=translate&hl=en)

Portrait: (replace pistol with hand crossbow and refavor leather armor as a leather duster.)



Class: Bard

Appearance: An attractive young male with stylish black horns. His skin is a pale red. Pitch black eyes obverse everything around him. His should length hair is pitch black and keep in a ponytail. He wears a dark grey heavy duster that has a slit in the back so his petite tail has easily move behind him. 

ALIGNMENT Neutral Good GENDER male EYES pitch black SIZE Medium HEIGHT 6'

FAITH Deneir & Helm HAIR pitch black SKIN pale red AGE 21 WEIGHT 180lb.

Background: Investigator

Feature: Official Inquiry
You’re experienced at gaining access to people and places to get the information you need. Through a combination of fast-talking, determination, and official-looking documentation, you can gain access to a place or an individual related to a crime you’re investigating. Those who aren’t involved in your investigation avoid impeding you or pass along your requests. Additionally, local law enforcement has firm opinions about you, viewing you as either a nuisance or one of their own.

Path to Mystery
Your first case influenced the types of mysteries you’re interested in. Why was this case so impactful, personal, or traumatic? Whom did it affect besides you? Why and how did you get involved? Was it solved? How did it set you on the path to investigating other mysteries?

Your best friend, Celelabeth, a young female elf, was wrongfully accused of stealing. You tracked down the actual thief, proving your friend’s innocence. This caught the attention of Zorbarum and he agreed to mentor you, starting your career as a detective.

Personality Traits
I never accept that I’m out of my depth.
I must know the answer to every secret. No door remains unopened in my presence.

Ideals
Truth. I care about the truth above all else, even if it doesn’t benefit anyone.

Bonds
I use my cunning mind to solve mysteries and find justice for those who’ve been wronged

Flaws
I need to find the best in everyone and everything, even when that means denying obvious malice. I will also try to redeem them. There’s a spark of good in everyone.

Allies
Zorbarum Ophinshtalajiir - Dragonborn Investigator / Mentor - Baldur's Gate.
Celelabeth - Female Elf - Baldur's Gate
Mirrormul Tszul - male human - Society of the Quill Sage - Waterdeep

Enemies
His great grandmother's Demonic Lover?
The young thief he caught in Baldur's Gate?

Backstory:
Sönk was born to his half elven parents in Baldur's Gate. His mother is named Lea and his father is called Brod. He has an older sister named Livvi and a younger brother named Vulre.

His parents were a bit surprised by his appearance at his birth. His mother remember tales about her promiscuous grandmother who was suppose to have a demonic lover so they guessed where his infernal heritage came from. His whole family loved him and treated him have a valued member of the family. Both his brother and sister are overprotective of him and tried to shield him from bullies as he grew up.

Sönk started observing everyone around him, noting when they misbehaved. He starting to have quite conversations with bullies as they accosted him, explaining do they really want to do this. He would not want to tell their parents about their various misdeeds. Soon he was no longer being bothered.

This family runs a general store / trading post in the city called Spaten's Supplies. That shop is earning enough that they can live a modest lifestyle. Both his brother and sister work in the shop, helping his parents run it.

In his teenage years, Sönk did not feel like being a shopkeeper like the rest of his family. He was also a bit worried that his unusual appearance would hurt his family’s business. After is first case, he meets a male Dragonborn named Zorbarum Ophinshtalajiir who was a detective in the city and was able to talk him into becoming his mentor and teach him about investigating.

Recently the Society of the Quill member, Mirrormul Tszul, contacted Zorbarum about getting his help down at Candlekeep. Zorbarum is very busy with several cases now so told Society of the Quill that he will send his assistant, Sönk, down to help.

Trinket: "A diary with seven missing pages" This is great grandmothers diary where she talks about meeting a new mystery man and the steamy parts were torn out of it. It picks up a few weeks later where she describing being pregnant.

Spellcasting:
When he casts a spells, the verbal component is him deep Gregorian chanting, the Somatic component is finger tutting and he uses a component pouch for Materials.

Investigator

AN INVESTIGATOR CONSIDERS EVEN THE STRANGEST EVIDENCE

You relentlessly seek the truth. Perhaps you’re motivated by belief in the law and a sense of universal justice, or maybe that very law has failed you and you seek to make things right. You could have witnessed something remarkable or terrible, and now you must know more about this hidden truth. Or maybe you’re a detective for hire, uncovering secrets for well-paying clients. Whether the mysteries you’re embroiled in are local crimes or realm-spanning conspiracies, you’re driven by a personal need to hunt down even the most elusive clues and reveal what others would keep hidden in the shadows.

Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Insight, Investigation, or Perception

Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, thieves’ tools

Equipment: A magnifying glass, evidence from a past case (choose one or roll for a trinket from the Horror Trinkets table later in this chapter), a set of common clothes, and 10 gp

Path to Mystery
Your first case influenced the types of mysteries you’re interested in. Why was this case so impactful, personal, or traumatic? Whom did it affect besides you? Why and how did you get involved? Was it solved? How did it set you on the path to investigating other mysteries? Roll on or choose details from the First Case table to develop the mystery that started your career as an investigator.

First Case

d8 Case

1 A friend was wrongfully accused of murder. You tracked down the actual killer, proving your friend’s innocence and starting your career as a detective.

2 You’re told you went missing for weeks. When you were found, you had no memory of being gone. Now you search to discover what happened to you.

3 You helped a spirit find peace by finding its missing corpse. Ever since, other spectral clients have sought you out to help them find rest.

4 You revealed that the monsters terrorizing your home were illusions created by a cruel mage. The magic-user escaped, but you’ve continued to uncover magical hoaxes.

5 You were wrongfully accused and convicted of a crime. You managed to escape and seek to help others avoid the experience you suffered, even while still being pursued by the law.

6 You survived the destructive use of a magic device that wiped out your home. Members of a secret organization found you. You now work with them, tracking down dangerous supernatural phenomena and preventing them from doing harm.

7 You found evidence of a conspiracy underpinning society. You tried to expose this mysterious cabal, but no one believed you. You’re still trying to prove what you know is true.

8 You got a job with an agency that investigates crimes that local law enforcement can’t solve. You often wonder which you value more, the truth or your pay.

Feature: Official Inquiry
You’re experienced at gaining access to people and places to get the information you need. Through a combination of fast-talking, determination, and official-looking documentation, you can gain access to a place or an individual related to a crime you’re investigating. Those who aren’t involved in your investigation avoid impeding you or pass along your requests. Additionally, local law enforcement has firm opinions about you, viewing you as either a nuisance or one of their own.

College of Eloquence

Adherents of the College of Eloquence master the art of oratory. Persuasion is regarded as a high art, and a well-reasoned, well-spoken argument often proves more persuasive than facts. These bards wield a blend of logic and theatrical wordplay, winning over skeptics and detractors with logical arguments and plucking at heartstrings to appeal to the emotions of audiences.

Silver Tongue
3rd-level College of Eloquence feature

You are a master at saying the right thing at the right time. When you make a Charisma (Persuasion) or Charisma (Deception) check, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10.

Unsettling Words
3rd-level College of Eloquence feature

You can spin words laced with magic that unsettle a creature and cause it to doubt itself. As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and choose one creature you can see within 60 feet of you. Roll the Bardic Inspiration die. The creature must subtract the number rolled from the next saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn.

Unfailing Inspiration
6th-level College of Eloquence feature

Your inspiring words are so persuasive that others feel driven to succeed. When a creature adds one of your Bardic Inspiration dice to its ability check, attack roll, or saving throw and the roll fails, the creature can keep the Bardic Inspiration die.

Universal Speech
6th-level College of Eloquence feature

You have gained the ability to make your speech intelligible to any creature. As an action, choose one or more creatures within 60 feet of you, up to a number equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one creature). The chosen creatures can magically understand you, regardless of the language you speak, for 1 hour.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a spell slot to use it again.

Infectious Inspiration
14th-level College of Eloquence feature

When you successfully inspire someone, the power of your eloquence can now spread to someone else. When a creature within 60 feet of you adds one of your Bardic Inspiration dice to its ability check, attack roll, or saving throw and the roll succeeds, you can use your reaction to encourage a different creature (other than yourself) that can hear you within 60 feet of you, giving it a Bardic Inspiration die without expending any of your Bardic Inspiration uses.

You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest

[Whiter Ninja]

Grodd Character continued...

May 10, 2021 21:23:24 GMT -5 Whiter Ninja said:

Name: 
Grodd "Tuskhorn" Autumnbrow

Gender, Age, Height, Weight:
Male, 31, 6'4", 284 lbs.

Alignment:
Lawful Evil

Portrait: 

Class:
Barbarian

Trait:
I believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I can't help it- I'm a perfectionist. I will stop at nothing to get what I want.

Ideal: 
Community. It is the duty of all civilized people to strengthen the bonds of community and the security of civilization. (Lawful)
Greed. I require money and influence to maintain my own social stature, and I will do whatever it takes to get it. (Evil)


Bond:
I have one true love and will do whatever it takes to secure my future with her by my side.


Flaw:

I'm never satisfied with what I have- I always want more. I would kill to acquire a noble title.
I am short tempered and have no tolerance for being disrespected, a side effect of my Orcish heritage.

Background:

An anomaly of his species, Grodd found himself a fan of the finer things in life; preferring coin and luxury to the constant battles and scavenging of life with his tribe. Starting off as hired muscle for local gangs and organized crime, Grodd used his natural physique and might to eventually acquire stable work as a bodyguard for a Tiefling named Malacar, a crime boss in Waterdeep.



After 8 years working closely with Malacar, Grodd has now been sent to candlekeep on Malacar’s behest in an attempt to establish profitable business connections within the city’s walls while making a delivery to a particular member of the society of the quill.



Spoilers for player characters below:

SPOILER: Click to show

Grodd has an ulterior motive for traveling to candlekeep. Unbeknownst to Malacar, Grodd has been in contact with the Xanathar's Guild in Waterdeep and plans to soon take over his employer’s territories in a hostile takeover of his business. The guild has promised Grodd a position within their guild, as well as the necessary funding and able bodies to stage his coup against Malacar, in return for locating information on an object of great power hidden somewhere within candlekeep’s walls.

[Cynceltri]

Name

Watercress

Class

Warlock

Trait

I have a strong sense of propriety that others don’t comprehend.

I begin and end my day with small traditional rituals that are unfamiliar to those around me.

Ideal

Adventure. I’m far from home, and everything is strange and wonderful!

Inquisitive. Everything is new, but I have a thirst to learn.

Bond

I hold no greater cause than my service to my people.

Flaw

I am slow to trust members of other races.

I am deeply suspicious (and more than a little fearful) of modrons.

Background

All Eyes on You

Your accent, mannerisms, figures of speech, and perhaps even your appearance all mark you as foreign. Curious glances are directed your way wherever you go, which can be a nuisance, but you also gain the friendly interest of scholars and others intrigued by far-off lands, to say nothing of everyday folk who are eager to hear stories of your homeland.

You can parley this attention into access to people and places you might not otherwise have, for you and your traveling companions. Noble lords, scholars, and merchant princes, to name a few, might be interested in hearing about your distant homeland and people.

History

There exists in the Feywild a place that would be considered peculiar even by that realm's denizens. A massive "garden", larger than many cities, spreads out for an interminable distance while hosting an improbable number of ecosystems and biomes, even for its great size.
None but the Archfey and a select few of this garden's inhabitants know how this place is maintained, for it is well-kept and largely resists the shifting nature of the Feywild, though it is by no means closed off from the rest of the plane.
Of more immediate interest to a hapless visitor might be the primary inhabitants of this place:

Dragonborn.

Dragonborn of all shades roam this place, and by all appearances are the only permanent population present. Indeed, all others always eventually find themselves beyond the garden's odd borders, no matter how long they had intended to stay.
These dragonborn treat each other as family, ignoring any apparent differences in their ancestry and adhering to no particular protocol one might expect to encounter in such people elsewhere.

From time to time, members of this strange family will venture out of the garden, out of the Feywild entirely, and into the material plane. What cause they have to do so is anyone's guess, but their initial departure never seems to rob them of their memory, and they embark into the mortal world with an adamantine-clad determination and boundless enthusiasm.

[merrymayhem]

Hello Beloved Father and Mother, Cherished Siblings

The trip to Candlekeep has gone well. We stopped in Beregost just the day before. We traveled to the Opulent Owlbear Inn to stay they night before continuing to Candlekeep. We spoke to the Mayor of Beregost, a retired Paladin named Clarence about what was going on. He told us he bought this land for a fair price from the old farmer, Eustace, who was not using the lovely hot spring. Eustace was not given any choice about selling his land so once payed, he moved out of Beregost. Clarence then build a fine inn on the old farm, using the hot spring for the bathhouse.

Poor Beregost is suffering from a horrible blight which started several weeks ago. Since we had a bit of time before continuing on to Candlekeep, my new companions and I looked into it. We have found out that this blight is magical in nature, reeking of necromantic aura. After talking to various townfolk, we were directed to do ask the Sage Matreous, who is an expert in curses.

The next day we traveled to Candlekeep. Thanks to Zorbarum's friend in the Royal Faerun Society, Mirrormul Tszul, we had a crate of rare and wonderous tomes that granted us ongoing access to Candlekeep. We were lead to the House of Rest where visitors are allowed to stay while researching and consulting the Sages.

We asked our guide, they are called the Avowed, where could we find the Sage Matreous. We were in lucky because he too was staying at the House of Rest. We when to his room which was empty. No one had seen him leave. The room had an unfinished meal and the tome, "The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces". Professor Geco examined the tome, realized it was the great Mage, Fistandia personal copy of it, with all her notes in the margins. He found that she had her own permanent Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion. Everyone here in Candlekeep knows about it and what the command phrase for opening it is but not where in Candlekeep it was located. It seems the Sage Matreous has figured out that the location is the room he reserved here in the House Of Rest. We spoke the command word and enter the portal.

Just inside we encountered the Sage Matreous, fondling a statue of an imp, who was happy to see us because he could not figure out how to get out of the mansion. We told him about Blight of Beregost. He promised to start researching it, if we would explore the mansion for him. He stated that he would open the portal to here in a hour. We agreed and the Sage Matreous left us. We did hear a loud scream just as the doorway back to his room closed.

I will not bore you with all the fine details of this Magnificent Mansion. It is a wonderous place floating in the void between realities. During our explorations, we discovered a series of books with the letters R, I, E, Y, T, L, B on their spines. Strix, being the clever artificer, figured out that the command word to exit the mansion is Liberty. Upon exiting the mansion, we found the dead body of the Sage Matreous with no sign of that imp statue. Thankfully Professor Geco's strange cat familiar was able to spot the hidden Imp, who probably was that statue back in the mansion. We were able to display the poor imp. We were concerned that our expert on plagues was not dead but we spotted among his books one called "Simple Curses and How to Cure Them".

Several Avowed entered the room, asking us what was going on. We explained about the mansion, imp statue, why we were looking for the Sage Matreous and what he asked us to explore Fistandia's mansion. We also updated them on the state of the mansion. They are going to allow us to housesit it for Fistandia, until she returns. Oh, Fistandia and her friend, Freyot left Candlekeep around 25 years ago to go looking for something that is only referred in her notes as H.

So looking through "Simple Curses and How to Cure Them" it suggested that a nearby hag named Sally Pigteeth could be a possible person who cast the curse. We found out that she lived in the Woods of Sharp Teeth which is east beyond Beregost so we decided to go talk to her about it. Since Beregost was on the way, we decided to stop there to see if anyone had any dealing with her. Outside the Opulent Owlbear Inn was a crowd of upset townfolk. We made our way past them to go inside and talk to Clarence about Sally. He had no dealing with her but did think that it would be a good idea to talk to her so asked us to do so. When I left a Inn, I was able to reassure the townfolk that we are adventures looking into this, think it could be Sally Pigtooth's fault and were getting really to go confront her about it. Everyone seems to know about Sally, seems she a locate boogie woman but no one have any interactions with her.

We left town, traveling east, making it to the Woods of Sharp Teeth. I spent some time talking to the local wildlife to find out where Sally Pigteeth's lair is. Once there, we found a huge door with the letters of “Enter my den and face my slaughter” on it. Again, Strix, being the clever on among us and use to how the people of the Feywilds think reached out to rub out the letter s on slaughter to turn it into laughter. When we opened the door, we could see a huge scythe about the doorway that surely would have slaughtered us. We followed the sound of laughter deeper into her lair. Sally had a few guardians to keep casual visitors away with we dispatched.

We meet Sally who seems happy to see us. We talked with her, learning that yes, she is causing the blight. Eustace had stopped by on his way out of town to pay her to curse Beregost. Sally loves to cause misery but not death and was getting bored with the curse. We asked what Clarence could pay to have the curse lifted and I was surprised to her that Sally wants to become a bartender at the Opulent Owlbear so she can revel into listening to everyone's tales of woe. We got assurances from Sally that she would just listen to woes and not cause any herself. She looks to be lonely. Of course, there is no way Clarence would hire a Hag but Sally told us that would be no issue and changed into a more normal looking human female. I promised that I would talk Clarence into hiring her.

Sally, as a gesture of her good faith lifted the curse after she had packed up what she was going to take with her. We traveled back to Opulent Owlbear, seeing that the fields were recovering around town. Once at the Inn, I explained that we had "taken care" of Sally. I introduced Ethel, the woman who we had rescued from Sally. Sally had traveled to Baldur's Gate to destroy Ethel's family tavern and kidnapped her. I stressed that the poor woman was homeless and without relatives to take her in, could he please hire her, as with the blight lifted, surely his inn would be very busy soon! He did hire her, on the spot and a celebration broke out.

During the party, I was able to spend some time talking with Ethel about Fistandia, who she does know. Fistandia had spotted by 25 years ago as she was leaving Candlekeep and Ethel is pretty sure H is Breven Hullstaff. Clarence overheard me repeating that name back to Ethel and wandered over to tell us what he knew of Breven Hullstaff, a powerful Warlock who looks to have retired to Baldur's Gate. If you run across him there, please be careful. Next time I am home, I'll look into him.

So we traveled back to Candlekeep. I am sorry to state, one of my new companions as left us. Do you remember the well dress half-orc, bit of a dandy? Anyway, Grodd told us he had to leave to pursue some business opportunity that just came up. Everyone else is safe. We are relaxing a bit, getting use to our new home here in Fistandia's Manor.

With all my Love
Sönk

[Hussar]

Yay, I get to play.

Korbach Angist Priest of Kossuth

Name: Korbach Angist Priest of Kossuth
Portrait (if you have one):
Class: Circle of Wildfire Druid
Background: Acolyte
Trait: I quote (or misquote) sacred texts and proverbs in almost every situation
Ideal: Power. I hope to one day rise to the top of my faith's religious hierarchy.
Bond: I seek to establish a grand shrine to Kossuth and this is the focus of my life.
Flaw: I am inflexible in my thinking.

History: A priest of Kossuth, Primordial Lord of Fire, Korbach has traveled up and down the Sword Coast for some time, spreading the word of the Burning One. An implacable foe of the Giants, he was instrumental in the recent events surrounding the breaking of the Ordning.

Sample Sermon upon the lighting of a fire: "Fire is purity and life. There is no life without fire and without fire there is no purity. That which is impure will be burned away in the fire until only good remains. That which burns is impure. Earth is an ally as it melts in the fire. Air is an ally as it feeds the fire. Eschew the water for it is impurity itself. Be not as the water, impure, unclean, wearing away the rock, clouding the air and suffocating the purity of the flame. All hail to Kossuth, the fire of life, the fire of purity, the fire of all.