Memory Keeper

"Every soul deserves remembrance. Every story deserves to be told. I am the voice that carries them forward."

Introduction

You are a Memory Keeper, chosen by the Matron of Ravens to preserve the lives, names, and stories of the dead. Unlike the Deathwardens, who serve as guardians of burial grounds and psychopomps, your sacred task is remembrance. You ensure that no life passes unmarked, that deeds are recorded, and that memory is protected against time, corruption, or profanation.

Detailed Description

As a Memory Keeper, you carry scrolls, tomes, or oral traditions of those who have gone before. You might have served in a funerary temple, where you transcribed last words and chronicled names, or you may be a wandering collector of histories, traveling to forgotten villages and war-torn lands to gather their stories before they vanish.

To the grieving, you are a comforter, preserving the voices of their loved ones. To necromancers and profaners, you are an enemy, wielding memory as both weapon and shield. The Matron entrusts you with the belief that memory is a form of immortality.

Background Feature: Echo of the Past

• You carry fragments of memory in sacred form. When you enter a new settlement, you can request the names of the dead and add them to your collection. Locals often welcome you, offering shelter or information freely, so long as you promise remembrance.
• Once per long rest, when you make an Intelligence (History, Religion, or Arcana) check, you can recall a memory echo from the dead. The DM may grant you information that would otherwise be lost to history, or you gain advantage on the check.

Background Bonuses

• Skill Proficiencies: History, Insight
• Tool Proficiencies: Calligrapher’s supplies, or one instrument used in funerary rites (such as flute or drum).
• Languages: Two of your choice, often reflecting cultures you preserve (Celestial, Elvish, Undercommon, etc.).

Background Feats

• You gain the Linguist feat (expanding your ability to learn and record memory across cultures).
• Alternatively, you may take the Magic Initiate (Cleric) feat, selecting cantrips like Spare the Dying or Guidance to aid in sacred preservation.

Background Ability Bonuses

• Increase Intelligence by +2 and Wisdom by +1, or distribute +1 to three different ability scores.

Background Specific Table: Keeper’s Role

Choose or roll to determine your approach to remembrance:

d6	Role	Flavor
1	The Chronicler	You write the lives of the dead into tomes, preserving their words against time.
2	The Singer	You carry the stories of the departed in songs, poems, or chants.
3	The Lantern Bearer	You light a candle or lantern for each name, symbolizing their continuing presence.
4	The Mask-Bearer	You wear carved masks of the dead during ceremonies, speaking with their remembered voices.
5	The Storyteller	You wander, recounting tales of the fallen so they are never forgotten.
6	The Witness	You walk battlefields and graves, preserving the last words and images you find.

Background Equipment

• Calligrapher’s supplies or funerary instrument
• A black-bound tome or scrollcase filled with names of the dead
• A funerary mask or lantern used in remembrance rituals
• Traveler’s clothes
• 15 gold coins

Background Characteristics

Personality Traits

1. I record every name I hear, so none are forgotten.
2. I speak softly, as if addressing both the living and the dead.
3. I carry a book of the departed and treat it as sacred.
4. I never forget a face once seen.
5. I am obsessed with stories and seek them eagerly.
6. I am slow to anger but merciless to those who profane memory.

Ideals

1. Remembrance. To remember is to grant immortality.
2. Truth. Memory must be preserved faithfully.
3. Comfort. The grieving deserve solace in remembrance.
4. Sanctity. Memory is sacred, not to be twisted by lies.
5. Justice. The profane shall be remembered only for their crimes.
6. Balance. Memory preserves both joy and sorrow, glory and shame.

Bonds

1. I carry the names of my entire village, destroyed by war.
2. I swore to remember every soldier who fell in a battle.
3. I wander to preserve the stories of forgotten places.
4. I serve the Last Rites, ensuring memory accompanies judgment.
5. I keep the final words of my mentor as a sacred mantra.
6. I protect my tome of names with my life.

Flaws

1. I refuse to let go of grief, drowning myself in others’ memories.
2. I struggle to form new bonds, fearing they’ll be another name to preserve.
3. I cannot forgive those who twist memory with lies.
4. I’m obsessed with adding to my collection of names, even at risk.
5. I believe my memory is infallible—even when it is flawed.
6. I envy the peace of those whose stories have ended.

Contacts/Organization

Memory Keepers are often tied to the funerary houses of Ozythralis or serve alongside the Last Rites, recording names of the fallen after their missions. You are welcomed in libraries, archives, and shrines dedicated to remembrance. Scholars and grieving families alike recognize your sacred role.

"To speak the name of the dead is to let them live again, if only for a breath. This is my duty, my oath, and my gift."

Memory Keeper Trinket Table

When you create a character with the Memory Keeper Background, roll a d12 or choose one trinket from the list below.

d12	Trinket	Description
1	Name-Bead Necklace	A string of tiny beads, each etched with the name of someone you swore to remember.
2	Funerary Mask Shard	A broken piece of a mask once used in a remembrance rite, worn as a talisman.
3	Lantern of Echoes	A small black-lacquered lantern; when lit, the flame flickers in patterns like voices whispering.
4	Black-Bound Journal	A travel-worn tome with dozens of blank pages, ready to record the names and stories of the fallen.
5	Raven Quill	A feather quill that never dulls, said to belong to a raven sent by the Matron herself.
6	Memory Stone	A polished stone engraved with the name of the first soul you swore to preserve.
7	Wax Effigy	A small black candle molded into the shape of a human face; when burned, it releases a faint whisper.
8	Eulogy Scroll	A tightly rolled parchment filled with the final words of someone long forgotten, preserved in your care.
9	Silvered Bell Pendant	A tiny bell that never tarnishes; its chime is used to begin remembrance rites.
10	Name-Coin	A coin etched not with a sovereign’s face, but with the name of someone lost to history.
11	Embalmer’s Thread	A spool of black silk thread used to sew the garments of the dead, kept as a relic.
12	Echoing Charm	A crystal pendant that, when held to the ear, faintly repeats a name you’ve spoken recently.

 

Rituals of the Memory Keeper Table

When you take the Memory Keeper Background, you may choose or roll on this table to define the sacred practices you perform. Each ritual reflects your devotion to the Matron of Ravens as preserver of memory.

d8	Ritual of the Memory Keeper	Description
1	The Recitation of Names	At dawn, you speak aloud a list of the dead you carry in your book, ensuring their names remain alive through your voice.
2	The Ink Offering	Each week, you pour a few drops of black ink onto consecrated ground, symbolizing the words you will write in memory of the fallen.
3	The Lantern Rite	At nightfall, you light a lantern and whisper a single story of the dead into the flame before extinguishing it. The smoke carries the memory skyward.
4	The Masked Vigil	You don a funerary mask during times of meditation or storytelling, allowing you to “speak with the voice of the remembered.”
5	The Storyteller’s Gift	You share one tale of the dead each week with a stranger, ensuring their deeds are carried beyond your own memory.
6	The Written Whisper	Each evening, you write one line in your journal about the day, dedicating it to the memory of someone you’ve vowed never to forget.
7	The Stone of Echoes	You place a smooth stone by a gravesite or battlefield, carving the first letter of a forgotten name into it.
8	The Raven’s Quill	Before you sleep, you draw a single sigil of remembrance (often a feather or eye) in ash, chalk, or ink, calling the Matron to preserve the memories entrusted to you.

 

Ability Scores: Increase Intelligence by +2 and Wisdom by +1, or distribute +1 to three different ability scores.

Feat:

• You gain the Linguist feat (expanding your ability to learn and record memory across cultures).
• Alternatively, you may take the Magic Initiate (Cleric) feat, selecting cantrips like Spare the Dying or Guidance to aid in sacred preservation.

Skill Proficiencies: History, Insight

Tool Proficiencies:

• Calligrapher’s supplies, or one instrument used in funerary rites (such as flute or drum).

Languages:

• Calligrapher’s supplies, or one instrument used in funerary rites (such as flute or drum).

Equipment:

• Calligrapher’s supplies or funerary instrument
• A black-bound tome or scrollcase filled with names of the dead
• A funerary mask or lantern used in remembrance rituals
• Traveler’s clothes
• 15 gold coins

Suggested Characteristics

d6	Personality Trait
1	I record every name I hear, so none are forgotten.
2	I speak softly, as if addressing both the living and the dead.
3	I carry a book of the departed and treat it as sacred.
4	I never forget a face once seen.
5	I am obsessed with stories and seek them eagerly.
6	I am slow to anger but merciless to those who profane memory.

d6	Ideal
1	Remembrance. To remember is to grant immortality.
2	Truth. Memory must be preserved faithfully.
3	Comfort. The grieving deserve solace in remembrance.
4	Sanctity. Memory is sacred, not to be twisted by lies.
5	Justice. The profane shall be remembered only for their crimes.
6	Balance. Memory preserves both joy and sorrow, glory and shame.

d6	Bond
1	I carry the names of my entire village, destroyed by war.
2	I swore to remember every soldier who fell in a battle.
3	I wander to preserve the stories of forgotten places.
4	I serve the Last Rites, ensuring memory accompanies judgment.
5	I keep the final words of my mentor as a sacred mantra.
6	I protect my tome of names with my life.

d6	Flaw
1	I refuse to let go of grief, drowning myself in others’ memories.
2	I struggle to form new bonds, fearing they’ll be another name to preserve.
3	I cannot forgive those who twist memory with lies.
4	I cannot forgive those who twist memory with lies.
5	I believe my memory is infallible—even when it is flawed.
6	I envy the peace of those whose stories have ended.

Contacts

Memory Keepers are often tied to the funerary houses of Ozythralis or serve alongside the Last Rites, recording names of the fallen after their missions. You are welcomed in libraries, archives, and shrines dedicated to remembrance. Scholars and grieving families alike recognize your sacred role.