I would like to post a picture I made from my mini from hero Forge, but I honestly have no idea how to do that, so I will explain him.
Enter: Craic, Goblin Jester. Ranger/Bard
I'm Craic, a goblin if you can't tell by looking at me. I was born in an old forgotten tribe deep in the Underdark, along with my best friend Frix we more or less tried to stick out of trouble. Now, mind you, I've been told that I'm really bad at being a goblin. I enjoyed making people laugh, seeing them smile, making life just a little bit easier for those around. Life is hard enough as it is, especially for us small folk, so I try to make it easy. My friend agreed.
When we were old enough and confident enough to set out on our own we did so with gusto. We tried to do good deeds but in the deep down dark deep down you have to be careful of who knows how friendly you are and have to be prepared to do some unsavory things. Throughout the next few years we would end up stealing enough gold to pay a kobold tribe to carve us out an area in the nearby rock formation. As they dug, our little dream grew.
We started off with an inn in them idle of nowhere, and people would come and we would serve them with food we would find and cook, offer some rooms. The more people knew of our safe place the more they came, and the more that people would think us an easy target. Luckily while Frix was good at talking, I was good at fighting and kept would be bandits at bay. It worked, for a time, until more and more came. With our growing fortune we paid the kobolds to dig more and more, eventually building a small town of stone, and the town would draw in traders who would want to set up business and eventually Frix would become the mayor of the town.
While Frix lead the people, I helped them stay in control and planned the construction of more buildings. By the time I reached 12 we had a sizable city, with guards, trade, a hub where everyone was welcome and no fighting was allowed. We ended up naming the city "Stillstone", because in our minds it wasn't going anywhere. And it was made of stone, but that part is obvious.
When the city was big enough Frix was crowned king by the people for their appreciation of what he has given them, and thus he named me his Jester and his second in command. I was given colorful glamoured armor that were my two favorite colors, green and blue, my hat will bells, new drums that I could carry anywhere, and my prized possession: My scepter, with a metal shaft and mistletoe wrapped around the head. And the head of the staff was a literal head, the shape of mine but smaller, and I could make it speak! Life was good.
Now, thing you should know about goblins is that Jester is a position of power. Every goblinoid respects the hat and staff, from the lowly goblin to the highest hob. Even bugbears knew to let me be, go where I want, do what I want, as I represented our last living god. Well, most bugbears.
A gang of bugbears came to Stillstone and, in their jealousy, demanded the throne. I made a deal, with my king's permission of course, that is their leader could best me in one and one combat we would gladly step down. The fool thought me easy pray, and I guess in the end he was right. We fought, and I surprised him with my skills with my staff and sword, my magic and shield, and when it looked like I may win, the others jumped in. They beat me good, I was only one goblin versus, what, 6? 7 of them? I'm sure they'll get a nilbog for their disgrace of my position but in the end, when I was about to die, my king spoke.
If they left me alive, he would exile himself and leave the throne empty. If they did not, he would call the full force of his growing army down on them. So of course they chose life, and such I lived. I woke the next day to see my king gone and my injuries tended to. The woman who tended to me, a drow of all thing, told me that the king left me a message and handed me a letter. In the letter he told me that he was already gone, but that I couldn't let the bugbear's win with their dishonor, and attached was a map. A map that lead to his room... back in the castle.
So I made my way to sneak in to my own home, and would have made it past the new bugbear guards undetected. Once in my friends room I followed the map and found, hidden beneath the bed, a small lock box. I followed the map to the second clue and found a key in kitchen, and with that I unlocked the box to find in it... another key? And a note. It told me that this was the key to the vaults, and that without the funding the bugbears would never be able to keep the city up, and they would become the victims of uprising. A disaster by their own hands.
With this victory I would then flee the city and remain lost in the Underdark for months as I looked for the true king. Unable to pick up his trail I would then do the only thing I knew what to do: I went up. And up, and up, and up. I would make my way up to the surface and my first sight was a giant glorious forest, completely different form the fungal forests that I have come to know. Mist would flow through the trees and in the distance, a lake with a tree growing out of the middle, mountains with snowy tops above me... and I was awestruck by the beauty of this world.
In that moment I believed that everything would work out, how could it not with this type of world ahead of me? Well, I'll tell you how not. Humans.
Once I made my way to a human village I was almost shot immediately, and I had to plead to them to get them to understand that I lost my home and friends and sought a new life. With distrustful glances they would give me the chance, and I got a job as a hunter and entertainer. Some nights I would play my drums at the inn, some days I'd go into the forest to hunt a beast for whoever asks, and with luck the small village would come to trust me, and even welcome me back when I would leave for long periods of time and return. But despite all of this, I was still a goblin, for the most part.
A farmer would come to ask me for aid to stop a group of goblins that came from the Underdark as I had, he hoped that I could talk to them. Trust me, I tried! I arrived at his farm to see the fields aflame and a good number of goblinoids ransacking everything. Their chieftain would be a bugbear that revealed himself to be an assassin to kill me and take back the key, and that's when it hit me! I LEFT THE DAMN BOX AND THE NOTES ON THE DAMN KITCHEN COUNTER! Well I'll be damned, I accidently told them EVERYTHING! Well, none too pleased about this I attacked and managed to kill the assassin and the rest fled.
Well, now it seemed that I had a mark on my head and also, screw bugbears. So I went back to the village, told them what happened, and bid my farewell. If the assassins knew I was there they would attack the village, so I left to keep them safe. I hired a ship passage leading anywhere and it was there that I met my new best friend, a rat I would name Veak. With Veak at my side I could do anything! And proved it by making it my goal to make as many people smile as possible. After all, what else are jesters for?
I know it's long, but I love my goblin guy. And I hope to play him some day!
Looking to play this character at some point. Human draconic bloodline sorcerer. Loosely based on the Iron Maiden song "Dance of Death". I think it leaves plenty of hooks for the DM to have some fun.
Arixen’s earliest memory was of wandering through the scorched remains of his home village at the age of seven. Finding no other survivors, he fled to a large city with nothing but the charred clothes on his back and a strange crystal pendant with the name “Arixen” inscribed on the back. Homeless, and with no one to provide for him, Arixen turned to theft as a means to support himself.
It was during this time that Arixen, or “Arix” as he like to call himself, discovered that he could make small objects move on their own, light or snuff out small fires with a glance, or create simple illusions to hide from the city guard. As he grew over the years, so did his powers, until one night Arix had a strange dream:
He was a boy again as he walked into the forest outside his village. The treetops glowed beneath the light of the full moon. He felt as though he was being called deeper into the forest until he came to a large clearing where five figures dressed in dark robes sat around a large ring of fire. They silently beckoned for him to join them. Though he was afraid, Arix felt an irresistible desire to move into the circle of fire. He found that the flames didn’t harm him as he walked onto the coals. Upon reaching the middle of the circle he felt himself lift into the air, but looking down, he saw his body sitting there blankly looking skyward. It was then that the light of the fire revealed the faces of the robed figures. Each of them were gaunt and skeletal, their skin stretched tight over their bones. In place of eyes, there were empty sockets with points of light burning instead. They were chanting and making intricate hand movements in unison. He didn’t know if it was fear or blind defiance at the sight of the horrifying creatures that drove him back into his body, but when he returned the fire exploded outwards sending the figures reeling. Arix used the opportunity to run back towards the village. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the dark figures simply stand and watch him as he made his way back to the village.
Arix awoke with a start and, unsure if the vision was a forgotten memory or simply a dream, decided to return to his village. He found the remains of what used to be his home overgrown with vegetation as well as a ritual circle burnt into a clearing in the woods, around which no plant life had grown. Convinced that his dream had been real, Arix took up the life of an adventurer, searching for clues as to who the robed figures were, what they did to him, and what happened to his home.
/e great, I'm using mobile and I thought [spoiler][/spoiler] would work but it does not. I will fix this shortly when I get home and can.
/e2 spoilers have been fixed!
I'm new to d&d and plan on DMing for my little brother and his friends in a couple months when I move back home. In the meantime I decided to play myself through the lost mine of phandelver so I could understand a little better how the game worked. This lead to me creating 3 air genasi to play as. Afterwards I decided to create backstory for them.
Because they won't be played I didn't leave many gaps in the backstory to mess with in a game. They exist in a world I've created and there is a chance the players could run into them; to them just some random adventurers/commoners but something special for me.
They didn't know they were air genasi until they traveled to stormport. Stormport is a port full of air and water genasi. They knew they obviously weren't human but they had never met another genasi and no one in their small village knew what their race truly was.
Luana has repressed her memories prior to coming to Twin Peaks so she has no recollection of her father killing her mother and attempting to kill her.
I still have to edit wording some is preterite some is not.
Also it was intentionally done where it requires all three stories to understand their full backstory, but you can get most of it by reading a single one.
Whisk Windweaver
Whisk grew up playing with a boy named Aerial, it was a crush on first sight for her. They grew up in Twin Peaks, a very small tight-knit mountain village where being a genasi wasn't as big of a deal as it would have been in a large town or city. They were cared for by the community even when their moods abruptly changed. She would try and go everywhere that Aerial went wanting to impress him.
When she turned ten another genasi roamed into the village. Even though the other genasi was four years younger her and Whisk quickly became friends. Whisk invited Luana into her house and her mother agreed to shelter her. A couple years later Whisk's house was struck by lightning in the night while her and Luana were out playing in the woods with Aerial, her mother did not make it out. It was then just Whisk and Luana, even though she was only a couple years older, Whisk made it her duty to raise and care for Luana.
A couple years after the death of her mother Aerial abruptly left the village without warning, Whisk never even got to see him or say goodbye. Whisk and Luana being and feeling alone in the village, start providing labor for food to continue living until one night Luana convinces her that they should leave the village. The next morning the two girls visit the village elder, Vaydark. They talk to him and explain that they are going to leave the village and attempt to survive on their own and thank him for everything hes done for their family.
Two versus the world they make their way east and create a camp, where they regain their morale and don't actually run into much in the shape of danger. One early morning she is abruptly woken by a screaming little sister she exits the tent to see Aerial several hundred feet north of them submerged slightly under the rising tide. After pulling him out from the oceans grasp Luana heals him and begins dancing around and cheering in joy for Aerials return. Whisk not being able to contain herself begin weeping with joyful tears kisses him and lays her head on his chest. After a couple moments they return to the camp and begin talking.
Whisk happy to have Aerial back in her life follows him to Whiteridge, one of the capital cities on the continent of Aelira where they purchase a cozy little house and begin working as a trio bounty hunter group.
Aerial Hydrablade
Aerial and Whisk grew up together in Twin Peaks, a small mountain village on the continent of Enesh. Whisk being two years younger than Aerial was eager to please him. When they were young Aerial played with Whisk but felt she would always follow him around like a lost puppy and it annoyed him.
When Aerial was twelve Whisk made a new friend, Luana who was even younger. Luana was to Whisk as Whisk was to him, but Whisk loved Luana and treated her like a little sister, mostly never getting annoyed at her hanging around, instead wanting to take care of her. They quickly became a trio, running around the village causing a ruckus.
When Aerial turned sixteen he left the village, leaving Whisk and Luana behind to train as a cleric. On his own and lost he floated between worshiping multiple gods, until one night two years later he had a dream about an old memory. A night him, Whisk and Luana were on the peak of Stagpass, one of the two twin peaks. It was a dry thunderstorm night, beautiful streaks of lightning flying out beneath the clouds and back in. Except something was different, instead of the blank clouds that he recalls this time he sees a man in the clouds and the man is talking to him. This was his first contact with a god, Talos, the storm lord. Except it was not a peaceful conversation. Talos was demanding his worship, when he denied the demand Talos informed him Whisk's mothers death was no accident. He promised to do the same to Whisk and Luana if Aerial did not worship him.
Years later at the age of twenty two accepting his forced worship of Talos he returns to Twin Peaks because he can't stand being without Whisk, only to find Whisk and Luana left the village four years prior. Vaydark explained everything that happened to Whisk and Luana after Aerial left and told him they were headed east.
After months of aimlessly traveling and torment from Talos, whenever he contemplated no longer worshipping him, he found the coast and from the amount of agony he fell weak and collapsed on the beach unbeknownst just north of Whisk and Luana's beach camp. Awoken by Whisk and Luana hovering over him a reunion was had.
After getting back to full health Aerial convinced Whisk and Luana they should all head south to Silverfair. After reaching Silverfair they did odd jobs here and there doing lots of bounty type jobs. They raised enough money between them that they were capable of catching a boat to Stormport. After Stormport they made their way north to Whiteridge where they purchased a small hut along the outer wall of the city.
Luana Lionmight
When Luana was young her mother was murdered by a djinn who was probably her father, but she doesn't know and barely remembers what he looks like. However she was able to wild shape without knowledge of being a druid and escape into the forest. Not being able to shapeshift at will she wandered the wilds aimlessly gathering food as well as fishing for a few months until she wandered into the village of Twin Peaks.
In rough shape and smelling horrible she saw another girl who looked just like her! Luana had never seen another genasi and since they looked so incredibly similar they had to be sisters. After running up and hugging the girl, Whisk, they became acquainted and Whisk took her back to her house to clean up. She quickly became accepted in the village and met another boy just like her named Aerial. The three became a little gensai gang causing all kinds of ruckus in the village. Luana always made sure they didn't make so much ruckus that people disliked them and when they accidentally broke something she would find a way to fix it.
When Luana turned eight she lost her second mother to a natural disaster. Both Luana and Whisk, broken over the loss of their mother only grew a stronger bond with each other to only be broken even more two years later when Aerial decided to leave the village in the middle of the night.
Seeing how much this hurt Whisk, Luana tried to keep a smile on her face for the sake of returning all the favors Whisk did for her. When she turned twelve she convinced Whisk they should leave the village because of all the bad memories they had here. Leaving the village they traveled east until they ran into the coast after a couple weeks of travel. Luana being twelve and Whisk being sixteen built a small camp on the edge of the forest along the coast and began living there and regaining some of their happiness for the first time.
After four years of living on their own with minimal contact with anything friendly or foe one morning Luana rises and exits their tent to the sight of a person lying half under the rising water. She quickly wakes Whisk and they approach him only to realize its Aerial. Different, but similarly enough to recognize uses her druidic powers to provide some healing to Aerial thus waking him. With Luana dancing around happy like she was as a child and Whisk crying while lying atop Aerial, they return to the camp and begin catching up on everything that has happened with a multitude of apologies coming from everyone for everything that has happened.
Luana, with the new relationship between Whisk and Aerial likes to say she finally has the big brother she has always wanted just to tease and annoy them like she use to when they were younger. After a while they head south to Silverfair and board a boat east to Stormport, eventually making their way to Whiteridge.
Looking at the most recent UA it gave me some inspiration for a Lizardfolk Sorcerer Giant-Soul(Hill Giant)
Hulkulkan
Hulkulkan was never a typical lizardfolk, possessing a larger build and a force of will that few could resist. His charm was such that he was much desired by many of the females in his tribe, but there was only one that he had interest in. But there was a complication because another in the tribe desired her greatly because of her beauty, and was from a much higher caste in the tribe. In other regions they would label him nobility but Hulkulkan cared nothing for this noble's progeny and was secure in the knowledge that she only had eyes for him. When this nobles son approached her while she talked with Hulkulkan, she rebuffed him. He attempted to press his intentions to which Hulkulkan publicly mocked him, in a busy area, with many onlookers. He was embarrassed and very unhappy at this turn of events and stormed away furious at the disrespect he had been given. Hulkulkan thought nothing of the encounter and continued courting his beloved, writing a song to try and encompass her beauty. To somehow describe how she moved in the water and the way that water streamed from her face. He was determined to make use of the gift given to him by his beloved, a dulcimer she had personally made and had embedded with some of her shed scales that she had used to decorate it. But this moment of bliss was soon to come to an end.
Time passed and he continued writing his song for her. But soon he was taken away in the night without warning. Tied up in a sack he was taken away, away from his home, away from his beloved. When next the world of light was revealed to him it was the nobles son whom he had ridiculed some time ago. That face was sneering at him and telling him to enjoy his time in the pits. He gloated over how she would be his after all, now that Hulkulkan had abandoned her. Thus was he thrust out of his old life and into a new one of survival. He fought to survive in the gladiatorial pits he had been sold to as a slave. After surviving his first combat he fashioned a staff made out of the bones of that first kill. During these early fights he found he was tougher than he expected and with the use of guile and deception he continued to live. He became known for his theatrics in the pit, taunting his enemies till they made a mistake and exploiting them so that he might live to fight another day. During this time he began to develop powers he had not know he possessed striking enemies with more force than would have been expected from one such as himself, creating small magical effects to distract his opponents at critical moments when he needed them most. Some of his opponents even swore they saw things that were not there, mirages of some sort. Eventually he found that he could control his latent abilities and started using more flashy attacks and flourishes while he fought.
Hulkulkan became a favored fighter by his use of his abilities in the pits and was given greater leave and rewards for his prowess. But he never forgot where he came from or how he had come to be in this situation. He kept some of his abilities to himself and used them to change his appearance and leave the gladiatorial arena for good, making for his home to find his beloved whom he had been torn away from. What he found after surviving the roads homeward was nothing less than tragedy. He found his beloved, but it was not how he expected. All that remained of her was in her families possession in the form of her belongings. She had perished months prior having succumbed to a wasting illness while she was engaged to the noble's son. None could cure her of this disease and some ascribed it to death from a broken heart after Hulkulkan had abandoned her so unexpectedly. Devastated by this discovery he took the dulcimer that she had made for him and finished composing the song he had been creating before he had been torn from his world. He traveled into the wilderness, practicing and perfecting the song he had never been able to play for her. Over and over, blood coating the strings as he laid bare his love and his sorrow. New lines of sadness and discord crept there way into the piece as though they were meant to be there from the start. Completing his last song he would ever play. He considered killing the selfish noble, but found he had no interested in that particular worm. Let him live out his days as a petty creature doomed to create his own suffering. He considered joining his beloved in death as well but knew in his heart she would cast him away for his selfishness. So he set out, to find out what it was that had given him power and helped him to survive his time in the gladiatorial arena. Lamenting his losses, hoping to find happiness and perhaps even spreading happiness where he could. He fights with a flair and never lingers with any lover over long continuing to search for one as beautiful as his lost beloved. He still carries the dulcimer as a memento of his past but he is determined to live his life as a new person in the future. Sometimes becoming someone else is easier than living with who you were.
Yes I plan him to "Hulk out" with giant growth and late game even more size increase. Lots of deception and flashy attack spells, use of intimidation rather than persuasion. Adopting a new identity with every city he enters with the help of magic and his acting abilities he developed while mimicking and mocking his opponents. All of his traits and such were rolled randomly and made the framework for his story.
Bonus points if you know where the second part of his name came from.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I've had a lot of characters made over the years, but some have definitely grown on me due to their personality and tendency to get into situations where they are forced to "Make a difference" Here is the first of them.
Althor the One Armed: Half Elven Wizard/Fighter and Master Class Spell creator specializing in Force type spells.
Althor would have been just another talented fighter mage if he hadn't run into the gnolls when he was just starting out. And the magical world would never be the same because of it.
Coming from the nobility, Althor was well trained in weapons and liked to fight with ax and shield. However his father's wizard discovered Althor's inherent genius for magic and started him down the path of magic. A path that was soon a consuming passion for the young half-elf. Soon he was not only learning spells, but designing his own.
Then the fateful day arrived. Althor was helping escort his mentor to a wizard's convention a few towns over when a party of gnolls attacked. Usually this wouldn't have been an issue, but the gnolls got lucky and when they attacked at night, during their first volley of crossbow bolts, one snapped the main pole of Althor's tent collapsing it and knocking out and trapping Althor's sleeping mentor. As Althor finally got himself outside the tent, he was surprised by a large gnoll fighter who took off his right arm with one stroke of his mighty great ax. Staring at his arm lying on the ground and the gnoll snarling at him as it prepared to finish him off, Althor's genius suddenly went into overdrive and he managed to get off a verbal only variant of the magic missile spell he had been working on blasting the gnoll to pieces as he overpowered it to the max with his failing strength before fainting dead away.
When he woke up later, much to his surprise, he found that one of his friends had managed to use stop his bleeding and keep him alive, but his arm was lost as one of the few surviving gnolls took it with him as a "snack" when he escaped in the confusion. From that day on Althor has dedicated himself to helping himself and others who have lost limbs, becoming an expert in force related spells of which his best known are his Althor's Arm, Althor's Return and Althor's Ax spells. Althor also developed an extreme hatred of gnolls to the point that his friends who can shapechange always make sure they are never in the form of a gnoll lest he "accidentally" blow them to pieces.
Unlike many mages who prefer to memorize spells and then whip them off in battle, all of Althor's spells, including his cantrips, are rituals of one type or another that embed a spell structure and the magic to power it into a person or item and key it to trigger off a specific keyword or gesture. His spells are extremely complex and elegant requiring at least a 14 INT to learn just a cantrip and up to an 18+ INT to learn a 4th level spell. As such Althor's spells are usually prepared well in advance of their use and someone learning them had better plan on lots of casting prior to their being needed. On the other hand this also grants them the ability to be collected for future use and triggered rapidly, usually with either a reaction or bonus action.
Brief description of some of Althor's more famous spells
Althor's Arm: creates an invisible arm of force at the point the limb was severed which can be considered a normal arm for all intents and purposes (casting, lifting, weapons, etc) except, being force, it is immune to damage by normal non magical acid, fire, cold, etc
Althor's Ax: Creates a spell structure in an ax which, when triggered, causes the ax to float in the air near the caster and attack from behind anyone who attempts to attack the caster
Althor's Return: Creates a spell structure in an item or weapon, which when triggered, will cause the item to return to the user's hand at the end of every turn as long as the spell lasts and the item is in range. [The dwarves paid him a fortune for the advanced version of this spell which they use to make their thrown weapons return to them as well as preventing their theft.]
Flynn grew up on the streets of Athrenall, beginning life as an urchin and beggar. At the age of 10, I met "Father" Galdo. Galdo, a dwarf, who on outward appearance appeared to be a priest of the Temple to Per'landro, God of Charity, and the downtrodden. Galdo was actually a fraud, he acted as a priest of Per'landro, but in reality, worshiped The Crooked Warden, the god of good aligned thieves. Under the temple was the real place of worship, our living quarters, and our vault.
Galdo's small guild of six individuals didn't concern themselves with pick pocketing merchants or the common folk. We worked to have the wealthy freely give us their gold. Father Galdo educated his wards on all topics imaginable, except actual theft. He teaches them languages, mathematics, cuisine, culture, disguise, and how to carry oneself. With the proper use of disguises and attitude, people will willingly hand you over their coin without risking the loss of a hand, or worse.
The Gentlemen were able to acquire quite a bit of wealth in their vault. However, several months ago, a rival thieves' guild, the Back-Alley Thuggers, learned of our hoard and raided our stores. This happened as I was casing a new mark and was away from home. Father Galdo, and to my knowledge, the rest of my guild was killed. I will have sworn my revenge on Slag, the leader of the Thuggers. What I don’t know, is that one of my guild mates, Salvara, betrayed the guild to take the coin and has joined Slag as his first lieutenant.
The betrayal left most of my guild dead, me homeless, and all our treasure stolen. I am joining the player party for allies and help in my revenge. Once I learn of the betrayal, I want his payback to be public, humiliating and deadly. I've already concocted a months long revenge scheme that will have the entire city hunting for Salvara and he will know I was the architect of his downfall. He'll be screaming that he was set up by Flynn Wellington, but everyone knows that Flynn died in the Temple to Per'landro, the night the rest of the guild fell.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I thought I mentioned that he was based largely on Locke Lamora, but apparently I did not. Yes, he is a Gentleman Bastard.
MAkes me want to reread those books to be honest, I think there is a new one out. Or perhaps it is coming soon.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Figured I'd share another one. Here's Keothi Skywatcher Thailuga, my Goliath Tempest Cleric.
At seven feet tall, Keothi is fairly short for a Goliath, but the spirit of the storm rolled strongly within him. He was an avid goatball player (it's the best game, okay) and when he was of age, he was inducted into the ranks of the skywatchers, a kind of a mix between shaman, weather forecaster and guide for their tribe.
As he aged, Keothi never really considered having children or taking a bride. He was content to challenge himself in other ways, until a boy with piercing purple eyes wondered into his tribe's encampment. He was starving, cold and very small, compared to his saviors. Keothi felt the stirring of the storm within him and accepted the challenge of raising the boy, whose name was Unukalhai.
As Unukalhai grew, Keothi found him to be a capable fighter and a fairly apt student in the ways of The Storm, for what he assumed was a human. The pair were basically inseparable until one fateful day.
Orc attacks weren't a daily occurrence, but Keothi's tribe were well prepared when the horde descended upon them. Unukalhai and Keothi nodded and smiled at each other as the orc mustered, knowing that one another would be fine. In the roar of the battle, the pair were separated, but they fought on regardless.
Of course, Keothi wouldn't be much of an adventurer if things went well, would he? To be sure, he expected casualties, but when he saw Unukalhai's broken body lying in the snow, the storm within died out. He tried everything to save the boy who he considered his son, but nothing happened. For the next few months, he sat in his tent, moving only to eat and relieve himself. Nobody could bring him out of his funk until one day, he traded his possessions to the tribe for weapons and survival gear and exiled himself. 'If I cannot do my job,' he said, 'I have no place in this tribe. Farewell,' was the last he spoke to the tribe before he wondered off, seeking the end.
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the end did not come. Keothi seemed to find a steady supply of food and water, which he took as a sign that he needed to keep going, despite how broken he felt inside. Eventually, he came across a small village that had been overrun by goblins. The foul creatures were holding the elders at spearpoint as they dragged their children away to work in poorly-constructed mines.
As he saw this injustice unfold, Keothi felt a stirring within him that he thought was gone. He called upon a mighty cloud of fog and used the cover to rescue the remaining adults and stir the storm within them until they were ready to fight and get their children back. The goblins didn't stand a chance.
Filled with a renewed purpose, Keothi wanders the world, seeking good to do and innocents to protect.
Born a Green Dragonborn, the chromatic color of his scales led to him being discarded in to the wild, left to die alone a small hatchling. But the creatures of the wood and the Feywild, had other plans, he was taken to the Feywild. There he was raised by a great Arch-Druid, Drakio Thunderbreak, of a Moon Elf villiage located in the Feywild. Drakio was an Arch-Druid of Dreams, and had the power to control the Feywilds essence. Part of this power was gifted to Riv, when he was claimed as his son. Riv is not a large Dragonborn, he is in fact quite small, closer to the size of a man. Standing at only 6’ and weighing no more than 200 lbs, the green scaled druid is the runt of his kind. Riv growing up in the Feywild , and having a small sliver of his Fathers power, he took to the Druidic art quickly. Loving life and seeing life as a gift, he found the ability to sustain it, in his powers he too, was becoming a Druid of Dreams. But, as he grew older and his green scales grew, the others in the village began to fear he would attract a Green dragon. His father protected him the best he could, until on night, to save his father from any more anguish and scrutiny, he left through the village’s rift, and sealed it behind him. Now he travels Faerun doing his best to help those in need, and walking in his Fathers steps.
Alright i have No photo to show of my character but here is name: Basinet BashStonn, Human Paladin of Crime
Basinet was born of an very poor and starving house of other scum and hobos with his sister Sallet, he grew with a burning hatred for the kingdom of Bonnsnape, that subjected his people to such dowel conditions. So it only took him at the age of 13 to commit robbery again and again of the same rich fatcats who abused the lower folk below so he could feed his starving sister and friends, protect the poor from the corrupt and earn quite the reputation amongst the common folk as a "hero".One faithful heist he got cornered and he meet a Drow Paladin used his powers to save to powers to save him, this was all it took for Basinet to take the "oath"of a paladin, and study martial weapons from books . As he grew to his early 20s he became awestruck by how many types of paladins there where, but one caught his eye...............................The oath of Conquest, a oath that makes your foes kneel like slaves and live by your rules, afterwords he returns to find the city watch found his home and burned it to the ground, and he fought them so hard he lost his pinkie finger, had his left eye bruised and smashed his front teeth out, he fought on,knowing if he failed his little sister would get hurt or worse. After the long battle, he and his sister made a "oath" to conquer their home kingdom of Bonnsnappe and become protectors of good
His favorite weapon is the flail, a weapon that the common folk used as harvesting tools and hes pretty good with a shield.
My favourite character is a Lich, he is criminally insane and extremely intelligent ( think mad scientist ), while quite capable he does happen to have a disregard for life, next to no morals and will happily throw his humour and comments around with no thought to others unless they are of use or dare I say it he grows fond of their existence. He now exists within my own little plane/world I have created along side pretty much all of my characters, as I tend to DM more than anything and he was one of the founders for this plane.
He was originally the master librarian and intelligence operative for a organisation that dealt with various criminal activities including magic, he got into necromancy, enchantments and aiding ...slowly small changes happened to the other librarians, the library seemed to extend beyond the confines of the building, runes, inscriptions and the very atmosphere with the library seemed to alter. Unfortunately this was eventually noticed by a band of heroes and the kingdom the organisation worked in, what happened next is entirely the idiot paladins fault for deciding to stab him while he was trying to channel magic energy into his library to expand it..what actually happened was the power nearly destroyed the librarians beloved library which was what the Librarian had used as his phylactery, fortunately the librarian was able to use some of the power to shift his library fully into its own plane. However he was captured and imprisoned by the heroes.
While he has been imprisoned for centuries, tasked with forging powerful magical items and terrible creations of magic to further the plots of others he managed to slowly warp and distort the minds and will of those who inhabited the prison eventually making his escape. Later in life he would go on to form a group of individuals that would eventually form a plane of there own where they have existed ever since.
The story of Cygnus Tinkerton Clockwise Jones The 15th, a pathetically abismal Fighter, who could make all manner of useful tinker things (DM was really into it so I got away with some crazy shit later in the campaign this guy was used for :D) Sadly the campaign ended before I got to go on a revenge rampage in my "Masterpiece"
Born into a longstanding line of respected inventors and tinkerers, Cygnus Tinkerton Clockwise Gearmen Jones IV is of course 15th to his name, and damn proud. His family line ties deeply into the roots of technology and its advancement, in fact his father: Bolli Tinkerton Clockwise Jones XIV was chief in the creation of firearms for military use. But competition is fierce as in any buisiness, perhaps even more so in this specific profession. Cygnus and his family name found their home in (The gnome tinkering/technological capitol of the area) alongside many other families who were constantly looking to strip the Jones family of their position at the top. The most prominent and troublesome of these contesting families was the "Loanes". They earned a name for themselves in this trade a mere three generations after the Jones, and were constantly looking for a shortcut to the top of this innovation arms-race, so to speak.
Cygnus was merely 25 when he was put to following his fathers footsteps. Bolli set about teaching his young Cygnus all he knew. He was taught all sorts of things: The craft, what to avoid and what to pursue, the trade secrets, and all about their competition. He was taught that most tinkerers in (Name of the city) were good hearted hard workin folk who took pride in their work and as such were to be respected, but the Loanes were a canniving, cheating bunch who lie and steal instead of working for their fame like we Jones's. Cygnus learned that they would rather steal someone elses creation and claim it is their own than actually make something themselves! Over the next half century Bolli taught Cygnus all he needed to know, and had his heir apprentice under him in his workshop. The Great Bolli Jones XIV was hard at work over the next century, with Cygnus close at hand, on creating his masterpiece. It was planned to be an entirely automated mechanical suit of armor, that would turn an ordinary Gnome into an unstoppable warmachine. Cygnus couldnt help but get giddy when he saw the exitement in his father's eyes as he spoke of his masterpiece, this creation would have his father go down in history as the greatest inventor of the age, a legend.
Prototypes were completed and work had begun by the time Cygnus turned 200, and all was well. His father was more excited than ever and even his mother had become hopeful for Bolli, but there were whispers on the wind of the Loanes and their thieving ways. Father and I knew they were up to something big, and that they just had to be after Bolli's masterpiece! They couldnt allow their hard work to be stolen away, so Cygnus and his father staked out the workshop at the bottom of their tower home with shotguns Bolli had invented some 60 years back. Cygnus was tasked with protecting his mother while Bolli stood gaurd downstairs. They spent their nights as such for months, without so much as a rat intruding the workshop, but one dark night Cygnus fell asleep on his watch, and was awakened by the unmistakable thunderous booming of Bolli's signature shotguns. Startled into action Cygnus flew down the four stories of steep stairs to the workshop, nearly throwing himself down them. When he arrived at the bottom floor it was a visage of absolute brutality. Bolli, Cygnus's dear old father was shot through the chest with three crossbow bolts, and his head, or where his head used to be, was still smoldering with the thick black residue of a shotgun blast - the bastards had killed him and blew his skull apart with his own damn gun for the fun of it. Looking on further, the workshop which was once filled to bursting with drawings, trinkets, gadgets, wares, and most importantly the priceless prototype of his father's masterpiece, was now barren. The only things that remained were a few worthless bits and bobbles and the crackling fires set by the looters. Horrified by the sight of all this, a figure in the doorway caught his eye, staring back at him was the Loanes boy: Jum Metalman Buddlebin Clocksmith Loanes XII. His brain had barely registered what he was seeing before the first shot was sent across the devestated workshop and tore at the left cheek of the bastard Loanes. Little more than a quarter second passed before Cygnus had loosed a second and third after the thieving murderous son of a ***** who was now stumbling away in a half sprint. To his eternal credit, the late Bolli Tinkerton Clockwise Jones XIV made one hell of a firearm. The second shot caught the doorframe and exploded it outwards splitting the ironwood into a thousand pieces, and the third managed to catch Jum in the back of his calf, blowing his lower leg completely off at the knee and sending the murderer sprawling out onto the ground drenching the chilled earth in a warm crimson ichor. Cygnus hadnt noticed untill now, but the Loanes boy had accomplices: four gnomish figures all clad in black hoods and clothing like the boy. One handed a number of large scrolls, presumably the schematics, to another and ran back to retrieve his fallen comrade.
Cygnus tried to chase them, but the small flames around the workshop had become an inferno while his attention was diverted, and his mother was still trapped upstairs. Returning upwards, Cygnus retrieved his beloved mother and climbed down to safety on a rope made from bedsheets, as the first two levels of the building were now entirely engulfed in flame. The damned dirty theiving murdering canniving bastard Loanes had escaped, thankfully not unscathed, but their jealousy and greed had cost Cygnus his father, his home, his legacy, and he would sooner die than let those damn dirty Loanes take credit for his father's masterpiece.
After hunting for the Loanes for months Cygnus had derived that they must have skipped town to go hide like the rats they are. But life must go on, and he has a grieving mother to take care of. After a few months of labourwork Cygnus had managed to get himself and his mother a new workshop and home. While nothing compared to their old setup, it was better than the streets. Soon after this Cygnus's mother committed suicide out of grief by drowning herself. With no one left in Cyngus's life suicide became a constant and persistent temptation, but he could not willingly end himself knowing thay those mother******* dogs the Loanes were still out there somewhere with his fathers legacy. But Cyngus is smart, and Bolli was too. Anticipating the theft of their priceless schematics they encripted everything, and though it isn't impenetrable, it would easily keep those with a mind such as the Loanes's occupied for centuries, so he knew he had time.
Knowing that to be true, Cygnus spent the next two centuries perfecting his trade, becoming the best goddamn tinkerer/inventor the land had ever seen, with a few decades of firearms and armour training mixed in here and there of course. But he had no intentions of creating the music boxes and toy soldiers that other tinkerers occupied themselves with, Cygnus created thousands of devices and apperatus designed with the sole purpose of warfare, so that he may slaughter every last bastard in the Loanes's family tree. Cygnus created a number of armor pieces and firearms, but his father always understood projectile weaponry better than he did. As Cygnus approached his 450th birthday, he decided that the time for preparation is over, that he would set out to find Jum Loanes along with his lackeys and kill them all. But he knows that a prize as valuable as Bolli's masterpiece would not be given up readily, and he is no great champion or blessed spellcaster. He would need companions of his own if he ever hoped to reclaim his fathers masterpiece. And so, Cygnus set off on a search for a group of adventurers that could help him right the wrongs of the Loanes family once and for all.
Hi, I'm pretty new to dnd and this is one of my first characters, but I do really love her:
Faemiris, a primarily summer eladrin ranger
The daughter of King Oberon and a lost elf who wandered into the Feywilds by accident. She lost her sanity among the fae courts and but Oberon was fond of her and she was his favorite plaything. Faemiris lived in the Summer Court with her father until a Fae Prince, in a bid for power, attacked Oberon's home. Oberon was so amused that he didn't notice until it was too late that the prince had killed his toy and stolen his daughter. Oberon killed the prince in his rage but by then it was too late. Faemiris had already been taken to the material plane. There she was taken in by the previous Feywilds Plain Watcher who saw her half fae nature and knew she would be perfect for the job. He was killed in an excursion to the Feywilds and Faemiris continues the planes watcher tradition, even as her father attempts to enchant her back to his side.
I used the ideas of the seelie/unseelie courts for the fae and feywilds in the homebrew world I created
Here is my Elf Monk, Rosh Falanaar. He is 160+ years old so I wanted to give him a very rich background story. Being a curious individual who never knew his parents, he traveled far and wide looking for a place to call home. Enjoy.
(P.S. please pardon me if some of my dates are a bit off)
Circa 1320
Born in the Heart of the Dalelands, Rosh Falanaar never knew his parents and doesn’t know if they were murdered or if they abandoned him. He was found as a child by a human female Monk named Teesha Than. She raised him in the wilderness of the Deepingdale Forest, teaching him how to harness and control the movements of his body and the Monastic Way of the Old Order. She always knew that there was something different about this elf.
Circa 1335
Rosh grew up in the wilderness, the world was his playground. He was abnormally large for an elf, nearly six feet tall by the time he was 15 years old and still growing. He picked up hand to hand combat very easily and would routinely put Teesha on her toes – she was a very experienced monk. She knew the potential this young elf wielded and wanted to provide him with the best life possible.
One day Rosh and Teesha were training near the river when they were attacked by a group of Goblins. The birth of Rosh’s hate for goblins. Teesha nearly lost her life but the two managed to fend off and defeat the Goblins. In a panic, young Rosh carried Teesha’s body to the nearest road he could find and here the two were found by the great wizard Rhauntides. Rhauntides took the two to his tower in Highmoon, the capital of the Dalelands. There Rhauntides took the two in as his own children, teaching Rosh how to harness the magic in the plants around him with the alchemical craft. He learned how to use the herbs around him to cure ailments and diseases.
As Rosh was raised from a young elven boy into an elven man, his skill grew as well. His thirst for knowledge could not be quenched and his physical abilities grew more and more every single day. He was always interested in the lore behind the orders and of the gods they worshiped, however what really intrigued him was the spiritual connection the various different order were able to attain with their bodies. This ignited the fire in the young elf that would eventually guide him across the realm.
Many years passed and as time went on Rhauntides passed away and 1371, leaving his tower to Rosh and Teesha. This is when Teesha decided to create their own Monastery dedicated to the Old Order
Circa 1372 The First Monastery of the Old Order
Teesha and Rosh helped establish the first Monastery of the Old Order in the Dalelands. After Rhauntides passed away, leaving his tower to Rosh and Teesha, they wanted to share the word and create a safe haven to recruit more monks for the order. After some years after helping Teesha create the monastery, Rosh decided that he wanted to set out and see the world. He traveled to the far corners of the earth, seeking adventure and knowledge of the other Monastic Orders. Before leaving he wanted to prove his worth to both his adopted mother and the peers of the order. The others never held Rosh in high regard because of his age, but they always thought he was a talented young elf. The monks were keenly focused on defense and resilience. It was rumored that masters of the order achieved ranks by being able to survive a beating from an ogre while never raising a hand in defense. Before Rosh’s departure, he took beatings from two Ogres, then semi-unconscious, beat them into a pulp. Rosh forever was held in the highest regard by his peoples of the Old Order.
Circa 1373 – Disciples of St. Sollars the Twice-Martyred (Order of the Yellow Rose)
Rosh heard tale of the Monks to the north high in the peaks of the Earthspur Mountains that were known for they ability to ride the great remorhaz. He made his way north to the Glacier of the White Worm to learn the way of these monks and to ride the great beast.
Shortly after arriving, the monastery was besieged by a flight of maddened chromatic dragons sent by Sammaster to prevent anyone from finding lore pertaining to the Rage of Dragons sweeping across Faerûn at the time. Two hunters Dorn Graybrook and Raryn Snowstealer, the copper dragon Chatulio, and the song dragon Kara aided the monks in defending the monastery. The siege lasted for several days before the metallic dragons departed their refuge in the Galena Mountains to the monk’s aid and routed the evil chromatic dragons. The monastery community was nearly destroyed in the battle.
Rosh played an integral role in this battle having personally saved the life of Temmenische, the eldest and most senior monk in the monastery. This granted him favor and he was trained personally by the young Grand Master Cantoule. He spent 9 years with these monks, embracing the hardships that the frigid cold of the mountain tops had to offer. He had earned a name among these people and attained the rank of Master, quicker than anyone else in history. His day finally came and he was able to make the challenge for the rank of Master of Dragons. A monk who wished to challenge for the rank of Master of Dragons first had to undergo an initiation that involved an extraordinarily difficult test of skill and courage—to ride the remorhaz. This was on the one hand a test of their discipline but on the other a declaration of their devotion to St. Sollars the Twice-Martyred, a demonstration of their inner strength, courage, and determination needed to subdue the beast and ride mere inches away from death or terrible injury.
A monk who would attempt to ride a remorhaz was equipped with a simple lasso and a pair of magical leather-and-iron spurs of special design. They stood upon a certain rocky outcrop and waited for the white worm to slither past, at which point they tried to lasso it. If the monk missed with the lasso, then they could wait for another remorhaz to roll pass but missing three times was marked as a failure. They could try again after one week, but those going for Master of Dragons had to wait and train until they felt up to the challenge again. No one could help them in this. Rosh became a Master of Dragons on his first try and received the ceremonious white tattoo of honor on his face.
Circa 1382 – Order of the Broken Ones
After his adventures in the mountains he made his way back to Highmoon to spend some time with his adopted mother, Teesha. While he was home in Highmoon a band of traveling monks from the Order of the Broken Ones were traveling through the Dalelands to go west. Rosh decided to travel with them and maybe make his way to Waterdeep, the city where his mother was from. He spent two years studying with the Monks of the Broken Ones while traveling through northwest Faerun, passing through the great desert of Anauroch and even staying for a brief period of time in Silverymoon, known as “the Gem of the North”. With them he learned more of the God of Suffering, Illmater and the ways of the Broken Ones.
A Broken One monk pursued the paths of a healer and a hunter in service to the faith. As a healer, they learned the skills of treating injuries and dispensing medicine and could even develop the ability to lay on hands and heal injuries with a touch. As a hunter, they also learned the skills of wilderness survival and tracking. They were dogged in the pursuit of tormentors and could develop supernatural skill in following the tracks of Loviatans. Such hunters had only to touch the body of one recently harmed by a Loviatan to see the true face of their attacker. Some could even learn a locate creature spell specific to locating worshipers of Loviatar.
Some Broken Ones learned tactics in combat by which they could swiftly intervene and save an ally from an attack, at the cost of suffering the blow in their place. This effort could leave them wearied, if not slain by the blow.
Circa 1384 – Order of the Calming Wave
While Rosh was in Silverymoon, he had the great honor of meeting the renowned drow ranger, Drizzt Do’Urden during one of his frequent visits to Silverymoon to see Lady Alustriel Silverhand. Rosh traveled with Drizzt back to Mithral Hall and had to great honor of meeting King Bruenor Battlehammer. Rosh left Mithral Hall and finally decided to continue his adventure further to the southwest, to the great city of Waterdeep. The city where his mother was from. Here he spent the next two years in the city, frequently setting out on long trips with monks from the Order of the Calming Wave. Eventually he took out to the sea full time
Members of the order traveled the world by land and sea, spreading the teachings of Valkur. The order was formed by a group of pirates who ran into a fierce storm. After the crew had survived the storm, the captain decreed the storm was the doing of Umberlee, and that it had been Valkur that saved them. This lead to the crew abandoning their pirating ways in favor of Valkur's service. Rosh enjoyed his time with the Nomadic monks of the Calming Wave, but he longed for something more in life. The crew that he traveled with adventured up and down the Sword coast for nearly 4 years, exploring the various islands of the Sword coast, and frequently visiting the port cities of Luskan, Neverwinter, Waterdeep, and even the great far city to the south, Calimport a couple times. Rosh adopted the somewhat chaotic ways of the monks; however, he always kept his ideals and values intact.
In 1385, and during his time at sea the Spellplague was in full upheaval. The Spellplague, called the Blue Breath of Change by the inhabitants of Abeir (the twin planet of Toril), was a disaster that struck Realmspace and even the planes themselves in the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR. This was caused by a conflict between the Gods. The Mother of Magic, Mystra was assassinated at the hands of Cyric and Shar (the Gods of Trickery and Death. It continued for a decade, leading to the Wailing Years, during which arcane magic ceased to function and the planet of Toril was transformed.
Circa 1393 – Brothers of the Gray Mist
On his final adventure from Calimport to Neverwinter a large storm swept their ship far off course to the west, crashing on an island in the Korinn Archipelago. The next morning after the crash, the crew found their land laden ship surrounded by a band of orcs and goblins. Immediately the ship was boarded and a majority of the crew was slaughtered on sight leaving only Rosh, and a handful of others. Rosh and the rest of the crew was tortured by the island inhabitants for the next two years. On the island, there was another prisoner who also crashed on the island from the same storm. Like Rosh, the goblins murdered most of his crew on sight. This man was Afafrenfere, a human monk of the Brothers of the Gray Mists and a former member of Cavus Dun.
Eventually Rosh and Afafrenfere were the only two left alive. Goblins not being the smartest, left the two prisoners in the same cell. Over the course of two years between torturing sessions, the two monks taught each other the ways of their respective orders. Afafrenfere was a believer in the God of Courage, Torm. Before this time, Rosh was never a religious man. He acknowledged the existence of the gods and respected each and every one of them, but he was always more open minded and thirsty for knowledge. During his time as a captive, Rosh called upon Torm with his new found friend and believes that is the only way they found a way to survive. Rosh to this day is not a super religious man, however he still calls upon Torm for grace and mercy when need be.
The time came for their escape and one evening the two saw their opportunity to break free from their cell. They did so, and took a small boat out to sea after killing a small goblin horde. They traveled east in the small boat for what seemed like a lifetime, when they eventually came to Orlumbor, a small rocky barren island city-state in the Sea of Swords. Free at last, the two were nursed back to health and were destined to meet again. Both lusting for vengeance of goblin blood after the years of torture.
Circa 1395 – A Life in the Neverwinter Woods
At the conclusion of the Spellplague, Rosh found himself attracted to the “Jewel of the North” otherwise known as Neverwinter. He was fascinated with the amount of talent and craftmanship that came from the city. Rosh was never one for lavish things but having made himself known throughout the Sword Coast, he had managed to establish quite a name for himself. He always declined any sort of coin that was offered to him however, his friends in Neverwinter set him up nicely with a large piece of property in the Neverwinter woods where he coexisted peacefully alongside his Elvin neighbors that were a part of Eldreth Veluuthra.
The Eldreth Veluuthra (Victorious Blade of the People, also sometimes Eldreth Veluuthara), formed in 262 DR were a group of elves dedicated to the removal of all humans from Faerûn. Its main areas of activity were ancient elven forests, including the Ardeep Forest, the Border Forest, the Chondalwood, Cormanthor, the High Forest, the Moonwood, Neverwinter Woods and the Winterwood. Although this radical group was known for their radical beliefs, they left Rosh alone and would even cross paths from time to time.
One day Rosh was crossing through the woods, making his way to Longsaddle, a place known for their magic. He had made a close friend who was an inhabitant of the village, Harkle Harpell, a wonderfully odd old wizard. One evening on the outskirts of the Neverwinter woods Rosh came upon an encampment of Elves that was currently being attacked by a group of lycanthropes. Rosh knew that it was typical for lycanthropes to be members of Eldreth Veluuthra, and that sometimes they would turn on their own. Rosh, seeing that one of the elves was alive still, came in and saved her from her impending doom. Her name was Kyritha Ebonmoon and they immediately fell in love. She was a noble amongst her people and left them to create a life with Rosh who miraculously enough was the same age as her and even shared the same name day.
They spent the next 55 years, traveling across the vast expanses of Faerun and eventually returned to settle down and began to raise family in the Neverwinter Woods.
Circa 1451 – Mount Hotenow
Mount Hotenow was a volcano amid the Crags mountain range situated to the northeast of the city of Neverwinter on the Sword Coast North, deep in Neverwinter Wood. It was home to a large population of fire elementals, warming the Neverwinter River to the point where it never froze over, even in the heart of winter (hence the city's name). The volcano also had a tendency to attract creatures like fire giants and red dragons to make their homes near it. Since Neverwinter’s foundation, Mount Hotenow was featured in the bedtime stories and urban legends of the city inhabitants as the home of fire giants, the fearsome red dragon Karrundax, and many other blazing beasts.
In 1451 DR, a small adventuring party rediscovered the ancient dwarven city of Gauntlgrym beneath the volcano. The party, consisting of Dahlia Sin'felle, Korvin Dor'crae, Valindra Shadowmantle, Athrogate, and Jarlaxle Baenre, made it all the way to the legendary forges. There, the latter two were betrayed by their Thayan allies, with Athrogate hypnotically forced to activate the forge. This briefly awoke the primordial Maegera, who, in a fit of rage, released a burst of energy so powerful that it forced the eruption of the volcano. The resultant earthquake and combination of smoke and lava destroyed much of Neverwinter, killing thousands.
This event flushed Rosh and Kyritha out of their home and forced them to relocate. On their way east out of the Neverwinter woods they came across a goblin horde that were under the command of a fire giant. Rosh and his family were completely caught off guard and were attacked by the traveling troop, leaving his wife and children dead. Rosh was spared by the fire giant only reason but to watch his family be slaughtered by his goblins and to live with the agony. Nailed to a large tree through both of his hands, Rosh watched as hatred filled his heart. Left for dead, there was no more life left in the monk’s broken heart.
A young silver dragonborn girl was making her way through the Neverwinter Wood, trying to escape the madness that had just unfolded when she stumbled upon Rosh. She saw him, barely breathing, nailed to the tree with what looked to be a dozen dead goblins and his family slain before him. Rosh went down, but surely not without a fight. The young dragonborn female removed the nails from Rosh’s hands and carried his body to a safer location, further south to the southern end of Neverwinter Wood and then on to the village of Triboar.
Circa 1452 – Lagertha Korinn
Over the next few months the silver dragonborn, Lagertha, helped nurse Rosh back to health. The town was not too fond of the dragonborn; however, they knew of Rosh Falanaar and his wife Kyritha and were very sad to hear the news. The quickly warmed up to Lagertha and could tell that she was very kind hearted young dragonborn.
Rosh and Lagertha spent the next 32 years traveling together as a band of mercenaries, hunting down the goblins and fire giant that murdered Rosh’s family. Lagertha grew into a very large dragonborn woman, nearly as tall as Rosh. After years and years of searching the two never found the fire giant who killed Rosh’s family; however, they did kill their fair share of goblins. They traveled far and wide, Rosh wanted to show the young dragonborn girl the furthest stretches of Faerûn, even some places that he had shared with his beloved wife a few decades past. Rosh adored Lagertha, she was like the daughter that was ripped from his grasp too soon. She helped him heal, but Lagertha always knew that the elf still felt the heartache from that dreaded day.
Circa 1484 – War of the Silver Marches
The two traveled far and wide but never returned to Neverwinter. In the fall of 1484, the two companions we traveling to Silverymoon, a frequently visited destination for this was a city that widely accepted the dragonkin. When the two arrived, they found the city in preparations for war.
The War of the Silver Marches was a conflict against orcs that took place in the Silver Marches. The drow wizard Tsabrak Xorlarrin channeled the Darkening upon the Silver Marches under the orders of the Spider Goddess, Lolth, in order to prepare for the war. Soon, in the fall of 1484 DR, the drow minions of Quenthel Baenre incited the frost giants of the Shining White and two white dragons, Arauthator and Aurbangras, to ally with the orcs of the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, where the warmonger Hartusk gained the power.
A large army of orcs and drow, supported by frost giants and white dragons, assaulted the Silver Marches in the War of the Silver Marches. Nesmé, a small frontier city was destroyed by an orc horde led by Tiago Baenre riding the white dragon Arauthator and Sundabar, a dwarf stronghold to the north, was conquered by an orc army commanded by the warlord Hartusk and renamed Hartusk Keep. All dwarfholds in the area—Citadel Adbar, Citadel Felbarr, and Mithril Hall—and later also Silverymoon were besieged. During the Battle of the Cold Vale, Bromm, one of the twin kings of Citadel Adbar, was tricked by the half-drow Doum'wielle Armgo and beheaded by Hartusk.
At last, in the spring of 1485 DR, Bruenor Battlehammer, king of Mithral Hall, managed to unite all the dwarven forces to retake the River Surbrin bridge from the forces of Many-Arrows. In the sky above the battle, Drizzt Do'Urden and Rosh’s old friend Afafrenfere riding the copper dragons Ilnezhara and Tazmikella confronted Tiago Baenre and Tos'un Armgo riding the white dragons Arauthator and Aurbangras, leaving Tos'un and Aurbangras dead and Arauthator in retreat. Then in Flamerule, Rosh and Lagertha alongside Bruenor used the dwarven Ritual of the March and managed to conquer Dark Arrow Keep, restoring it to Lorgru, its proper ruler. Rosh and Lagertha led the final push that defeated Hartusk's remaining armies and killed Hartusk himself.
Circa 1488 – Present
After the War of the Silver Marches, Rosh and Lagertha stayed around northwest Faerûn still keeping an eye out for the evil fire giant that killed Rosh’s family. Rosh has experienced many hardships in his days and has traveled to every corner of Faerun. He has seen the beauty that this world has to offer and still cherishes the life he has, even after so much pain and suffering and remains hopeful to avenge his family.
Dude I love that one, it is rare for people to think about the long term backstory for an elf, I mean they live a long time. Granted most elves don't leave home till they are approaching their first century, and few have left the confines of their homeland during that time. Also sounds like you have read a number of Forgotten Realms novels.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
My character is Syru Ravenclaw, a Human Fighter, and here is his story.
Once looked down on, Syru Ravenclaw rose through the ranks of his kingdom's military forces. Viewed as a tactical genius after several notable battles, he gained more prominence within his clan Ravenclaw. A fierce clan born of warriors, the Ravenclaw Clan proved to be one of the best warrior clans. However, as the warriors were needed to patrol their kingdom of Kolnburn, Syru focused his attention to the clan. With fewer children being born into this proud clan for unknown reasons, Syru wants the tactics he's learned in battle to be remembered, joining the Kolnburn Army. Wanting his clan to be remembered for all time, he left the army and his kingdom to learn new tactics and teach them to his clan, whether he learns on the battlefield or in a tavern with a good ale in his tankard.
Wow this thread got BIG!
Awesome stories everyone! O: Keep posting them!
3D Artist - www.charliepharis.com
I would like to post a picture I made from my mini from hero Forge, but I honestly have no idea how to do that, so I will explain him.
Enter: Craic, Goblin Jester. Ranger/Bard
I'm Craic, a goblin if you can't tell by looking at me. I was born in an old forgotten tribe deep in the Underdark, along with my best friend Frix we more or less tried to stick out of trouble. Now, mind you, I've been told that I'm really bad at being a goblin. I enjoyed making people laugh, seeing them smile, making life just a little bit easier for those around. Life is hard enough as it is, especially for us small folk, so I try to make it easy. My friend agreed.
When we were old enough and confident enough to set out on our own we did so with gusto. We tried to do good deeds but in the deep down dark deep down you have to be careful of who knows how friendly you are and have to be prepared to do some unsavory things. Throughout the next few years we would end up stealing enough gold to pay a kobold tribe to carve us out an area in the nearby rock formation. As they dug, our little dream grew.
We started off with an inn in them idle of nowhere, and people would come and we would serve them with food we would find and cook, offer some rooms. The more people knew of our safe place the more they came, and the more that people would think us an easy target. Luckily while Frix was good at talking, I was good at fighting and kept would be bandits at bay. It worked, for a time, until more and more came. With our growing fortune we paid the kobolds to dig more and more, eventually building a small town of stone, and the town would draw in traders who would want to set up business and eventually Frix would become the mayor of the town.
While Frix lead the people, I helped them stay in control and planned the construction of more buildings. By the time I reached 12 we had a sizable city, with guards, trade, a hub where everyone was welcome and no fighting was allowed. We ended up naming the city "Stillstone", because in our minds it wasn't going anywhere. And it was made of stone, but that part is obvious.
When the city was big enough Frix was crowned king by the people for their appreciation of what he has given them, and thus he named me his Jester and his second in command. I was given colorful glamoured armor that were my two favorite colors, green and blue, my hat will bells, new drums that I could carry anywhere, and my prized possession: My scepter, with a metal shaft and mistletoe wrapped around the head. And the head of the staff was a literal head, the shape of mine but smaller, and I could make it speak! Life was good.
Now, thing you should know about goblins is that Jester is a position of power. Every goblinoid respects the hat and staff, from the lowly goblin to the highest hob. Even bugbears knew to let me be, go where I want, do what I want, as I represented our last living god. Well, most bugbears.
A gang of bugbears came to Stillstone and, in their jealousy, demanded the throne. I made a deal, with my king's permission of course, that is their leader could best me in one and one combat we would gladly step down. The fool thought me easy pray, and I guess in the end he was right. We fought, and I surprised him with my skills with my staff and sword, my magic and shield, and when it looked like I may win, the others jumped in. They beat me good, I was only one goblin versus, what, 6? 7 of them? I'm sure they'll get a nilbog for their disgrace of my position but in the end, when I was about to die, my king spoke.
If they left me alive, he would exile himself and leave the throne empty. If they did not, he would call the full force of his growing army down on them. So of course they chose life, and such I lived. I woke the next day to see my king gone and my injuries tended to. The woman who tended to me, a drow of all thing, told me that the king left me a message and handed me a letter. In the letter he told me that he was already gone, but that I couldn't let the bugbear's win with their dishonor, and attached was a map. A map that lead to his room... back in the castle.
So I made my way to sneak in to my own home, and would have made it past the new bugbear guards undetected. Once in my friends room I followed the map and found, hidden beneath the bed, a small lock box. I followed the map to the second clue and found a key in kitchen, and with that I unlocked the box to find in it... another key? And a note. It told me that this was the key to the vaults, and that without the funding the bugbears would never be able to keep the city up, and they would become the victims of uprising. A disaster by their own hands.
With this victory I would then flee the city and remain lost in the Underdark for months as I looked for the true king. Unable to pick up his trail I would then do the only thing I knew what to do: I went up. And up, and up, and up. I would make my way up to the surface and my first sight was a giant glorious forest, completely different form the fungal forests that I have come to know. Mist would flow through the trees and in the distance, a lake with a tree growing out of the middle, mountains with snowy tops above me... and I was awestruck by the beauty of this world.
In that moment I believed that everything would work out, how could it not with this type of world ahead of me? Well, I'll tell you how not. Humans.
Once I made my way to a human village I was almost shot immediately, and I had to plead to them to get them to understand that I lost my home and friends and sought a new life. With distrustful glances they would give me the chance, and I got a job as a hunter and entertainer. Some nights I would play my drums at the inn, some days I'd go into the forest to hunt a beast for whoever asks, and with luck the small village would come to trust me, and even welcome me back when I would leave for long periods of time and return. But despite all of this, I was still a goblin, for the most part.
A farmer would come to ask me for aid to stop a group of goblins that came from the Underdark as I had, he hoped that I could talk to them. Trust me, I tried! I arrived at his farm to see the fields aflame and a good number of goblinoids ransacking everything. Their chieftain would be a bugbear that revealed himself to be an assassin to kill me and take back the key, and that's when it hit me! I LEFT THE DAMN BOX AND THE NOTES ON THE DAMN KITCHEN COUNTER! Well I'll be damned, I accidently told them EVERYTHING! Well, none too pleased about this I attacked and managed to kill the assassin and the rest fled.
Well, now it seemed that I had a mark on my head and also, screw bugbears. So I went back to the village, told them what happened, and bid my farewell. If the assassins knew I was there they would attack the village, so I left to keep them safe. I hired a ship passage leading anywhere and it was there that I met my new best friend, a rat I would name Veak. With Veak at my side I could do anything! And proved it by making it my goal to make as many people smile as possible. After all, what else are jesters for?
I know it's long, but I love my goblin guy. And I hope to play him some day!
Looking to play this character at some point. Human draconic bloodline sorcerer. Loosely based on the Iron Maiden song "Dance of Death". I think it leaves plenty of hooks for the DM to have some fun.
Arixen’s earliest memory was of wandering through the scorched remains of his home village at the age of seven. Finding no other survivors, he fled to a large city with nothing but the charred clothes on his back and a strange crystal pendant with the name “Arixen” inscribed on the back. Homeless, and with no one to provide for him, Arixen turned to theft as a means to support himself.
It was during this time that Arixen, or “Arix” as he like to call himself, discovered that he could make small objects move on their own, light or snuff out small fires with a glance, or create simple illusions to hide from the city guard. As he grew over the years, so did his powers, until one night Arix had a strange dream:
He was a boy again as he walked into the forest outside his village. The treetops glowed beneath the light of the full moon. He felt as though he was being called deeper into the forest until he came to a large clearing where five figures dressed in dark robes sat around a large ring of fire. They silently beckoned for him to join them. Though he was afraid, Arix felt an irresistible desire to move into the circle of fire. He found that the flames didn’t harm him as he walked onto the coals. Upon reaching the middle of the circle he felt himself lift into the air, but looking down, he saw his body sitting there blankly looking skyward. It was then that the light of the fire revealed the faces of the robed figures. Each of them were gaunt and skeletal, their skin stretched tight over their bones. In place of eyes, there were empty sockets with points of light burning instead. They were chanting and making intricate hand movements in unison. He didn’t know if it was fear or blind defiance at the sight of the horrifying creatures that drove him back into his body, but when he returned the fire exploded outwards sending the figures reeling. Arix used the opportunity to run back towards the village. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the dark figures simply stand and watch him as he made his way back to the village.
Arix awoke with a start and, unsure if the vision was a forgotten memory or simply a dream, decided to return to his village. He found the remains of what used to be his home overgrown with vegetation as well as a ritual circle burnt into a clearing in the woods, around which no plant life had grown. Convinced that his dream had been real, Arix took up the life of an adventurer, searching for clues as to who the robed figures were, what they did to him, and what happened to his home.
/e great, I'm using mobile and I thought [spoiler][/spoiler] would work but it does not. I will fix this shortly when I get home and can.
/e2 spoilers have been fixed!
I'm new to d&d and plan on DMing for my little brother and his friends in a couple months when I move back home. In the meantime I decided to play myself through the lost mine of phandelver so I could understand a little better how the game worked. This lead to me creating 3 air genasi to play as. Afterwards I decided to create backstory for them.
Because they won't be played I didn't leave many gaps in the backstory to mess with in a game. They exist in a world I've created and there is a chance the players could run into them; to them just some random adventurers/commoners but something special for me.
They didn't know they were air genasi until they traveled to stormport. Stormport is a port full of air and water genasi. They knew they obviously weren't human but they had never met another genasi and no one in their small village knew what their race truly was.
Luana has repressed her memories prior to coming to Twin Peaks so she has no recollection of her father killing her mother and attempting to kill her.
I still have to edit wording some is preterite some is not.
Also it was intentionally done where it requires all three stories to understand their full backstory, but you can get most of it by reading a single one.
Whisk Windweaver
Whisk grew up playing with a boy named Aerial, it was a crush on first sight for her. They grew up in Twin Peaks, a very small tight-knit mountain village where being a genasi wasn't as big of a deal as it would have been in a large town or city. They were cared for by the community even when their moods abruptly changed. She would try and go everywhere that Aerial went wanting to impress him.
When she turned ten another genasi roamed into the village. Even though the other genasi was four years younger her and Whisk quickly became friends. Whisk invited Luana into her house and her mother agreed to shelter her. A couple years later Whisk's house was struck by lightning in the night while her and Luana were out playing in the woods with Aerial, her mother did not make it out. It was then just Whisk and Luana, even though she was only a couple years older, Whisk made it her duty to raise and care for Luana.
A couple years after the death of her mother Aerial abruptly left the village without warning, Whisk never even got to see him or say goodbye. Whisk and Luana being and feeling alone in the village, start providing labor for food to continue living until one night Luana convinces her that they should leave the village. The next morning the two girls visit the village elder, Vaydark. They talk to him and explain that they are going to leave the village and attempt to survive on their own and thank him for everything hes done for their family.
Two versus the world they make their way east and create a camp, where they regain their morale and don't actually run into much in the shape of danger. One early morning she is abruptly woken by a screaming little sister she exits the tent to see Aerial several hundred feet north of them submerged slightly under the rising tide. After pulling him out from the oceans grasp Luana heals him and begins dancing around and cheering in joy for Aerials return. Whisk not being able to contain herself begin weeping with joyful tears kisses him and lays her head on his chest. After a couple moments they return to the camp and begin talking.
Whisk happy to have Aerial back in her life follows him to Whiteridge, one of the capital cities on the continent of Aelira where they purchase a cozy little house and begin working as a trio bounty hunter group.
Aerial Hydrablade
Aerial and Whisk grew up together in Twin Peaks, a small mountain village on the continent of Enesh. Whisk being two years younger than Aerial was eager to please him. When they were young Aerial played with Whisk but felt she would always follow him around like a lost puppy and it annoyed him.
When Aerial was twelve Whisk made a new friend, Luana who was even younger. Luana was to Whisk as Whisk was to him, but Whisk loved Luana and treated her like a little sister, mostly never getting annoyed at her hanging around, instead wanting to take care of her. They quickly became a trio, running around the village causing a ruckus.
When Aerial turned sixteen he left the village, leaving Whisk and Luana behind to train as a cleric. On his own and lost he floated between worshiping multiple gods, until one night two years later he had a dream about an old memory. A night him, Whisk and Luana were on the peak of Stagpass, one of the two twin peaks. It was a dry thunderstorm night, beautiful streaks of lightning flying out beneath the clouds and back in. Except something was different, instead of the blank clouds that he recalls this time he sees a man in the clouds and the man is talking to him. This was his first contact with a god, Talos, the storm lord. Except it was not a peaceful conversation. Talos was demanding his worship, when he denied the demand Talos informed him Whisk's mothers death was no accident. He promised to do the same to Whisk and Luana if Aerial did not worship him.
Years later at the age of twenty two accepting his forced worship of Talos he returns to Twin Peaks because he can't stand being without Whisk, only to find Whisk and Luana left the village four years prior. Vaydark explained everything that happened to Whisk and Luana after Aerial left and told him they were headed east.
After months of aimlessly traveling and torment from Talos, whenever he contemplated no longer worshipping him, he found the coast and from the amount of agony he fell weak and collapsed on the beach unbeknownst just north of Whisk and Luana's beach camp. Awoken by Whisk and Luana hovering over him a reunion was had.
After getting back to full health Aerial convinced Whisk and Luana they should all head south to Silverfair. After reaching Silverfair they did odd jobs here and there doing lots of bounty type jobs. They raised enough money between them that they were capable of catching a boat to Stormport. After Stormport they made their way north to Whiteridge where they purchased a small hut along the outer wall of the city.
Luana Lionmight
When Luana was young her mother was murdered by a djinn who was probably her father, but she doesn't know and barely remembers what he looks like. However she was able to wild shape without knowledge of being a druid and escape into the forest. Not being able to shapeshift at will she wandered the wilds aimlessly gathering food as well as fishing for a few months until she wandered into the village of Twin Peaks.
In rough shape and smelling horrible she saw another girl who looked just like her! Luana had never seen another genasi and since they looked so incredibly similar they had to be sisters. After running up and hugging the girl, Whisk, they became acquainted and Whisk took her back to her house to clean up. She quickly became accepted in the village and met another boy just like her named Aerial. The three became a little gensai gang causing all kinds of ruckus in the village. Luana always made sure they didn't make so much ruckus that people disliked them and when they accidentally broke something she would find a way to fix it.
When Luana turned eight she lost her second mother to a natural disaster. Both Luana and Whisk, broken over the loss of their mother only grew a stronger bond with each other to only be broken even more two years later when Aerial decided to leave the village in the middle of the night.
Seeing how much this hurt Whisk, Luana tried to keep a smile on her face for the sake of returning all the favors Whisk did for her. When she turned twelve she convinced Whisk they should leave the village because of all the bad memories they had here. Leaving the village they traveled east until they ran into the coast after a couple weeks of travel. Luana being twelve and Whisk being sixteen built a small camp on the edge of the forest along the coast and began living there and regaining some of their happiness for the first time.
After four years of living on their own with minimal contact with anything friendly or foe one morning Luana rises and exits their tent to the sight of a person lying half under the rising water. She quickly wakes Whisk and they approach him only to realize its Aerial. Different, but similarly enough to recognize uses her druidic powers to provide some healing to Aerial thus waking him. With Luana dancing around happy like she was as a child and Whisk crying while lying atop Aerial, they return to the camp and begin catching up on everything that has happened with a multitude of apologies coming from everyone for everything that has happened.
Luana, with the new relationship between Whisk and Aerial likes to say she finally has the big brother she has always wanted just to tease and annoy them like she use to when they were younger. After a while they head south to Silverfair and board a boat east to Stormport, eventually making their way to Whiteridge.
A Graduation to be Remembered | A Village Bathed in Crimson
Looking at the most recent UA it gave me some inspiration for a Lizardfolk Sorcerer Giant-Soul(Hill Giant)
Hulkulkan
Hulkulkan was never a typical lizardfolk, possessing a larger build and a force of will that few could resist. His charm was such that he was much desired by many of the females in his tribe, but there was only one that he had interest in. But there was a complication because another in the tribe desired her greatly because of her beauty, and was from a much higher caste in the tribe. In other regions they would label him nobility but Hulkulkan cared nothing for this noble's progeny and was secure in the knowledge that she only had eyes for him. When this nobles son approached her while she talked with Hulkulkan, she rebuffed him. He attempted to press his intentions to which Hulkulkan publicly mocked him, in a busy area, with many onlookers. He was embarrassed and very unhappy at this turn of events and stormed away furious at the disrespect he had been given. Hulkulkan thought nothing of the encounter and continued courting his beloved, writing a song to try and encompass her beauty. To somehow describe how she moved in the water and the way that water streamed from her face. He was determined to make use of the gift given to him by his beloved, a dulcimer she had personally made and had embedded with some of her shed scales that she had used to decorate it. But this moment of bliss was soon to come to an end.
Time passed and he continued writing his song for her. But soon he was taken away in the night without warning. Tied up in a sack he was taken away, away from his home, away from his beloved. When next the world of light was revealed to him it was the nobles son whom he had ridiculed some time ago. That face was sneering at him and telling him to enjoy his time in the pits. He gloated over how she would be his after all, now that Hulkulkan had abandoned her. Thus was he thrust out of his old life and into a new one of survival. He fought to survive in the gladiatorial pits he had been sold to as a slave. After surviving his first combat he fashioned a staff made out of the bones of that first kill. During these early fights he found he was tougher than he expected and with the use of guile and deception he continued to live. He became known for his theatrics in the pit, taunting his enemies till they made a mistake and exploiting them so that he might live to fight another day. During this time he began to develop powers he had not know he possessed striking enemies with more force than would have been expected from one such as himself, creating small magical effects to distract his opponents at critical moments when he needed them most. Some of his opponents even swore they saw things that were not there, mirages of some sort. Eventually he found that he could control his latent abilities and started using more flashy attacks and flourishes while he fought.
Hulkulkan became a favored fighter by his use of his abilities in the pits and was given greater leave and rewards for his prowess. But he never forgot where he came from or how he had come to be in this situation. He kept some of his abilities to himself and used them to change his appearance and leave the gladiatorial arena for good, making for his home to find his beloved whom he had been torn away from. What he found after surviving the roads homeward was nothing less than tragedy. He found his beloved, but it was not how he expected. All that remained of her was in her families possession in the form of her belongings. She had perished months prior having succumbed to a wasting illness while she was engaged to the noble's son. None could cure her of this disease and some ascribed it to death from a broken heart after Hulkulkan had abandoned her so unexpectedly. Devastated by this discovery he took the dulcimer that she had made for him and finished composing the song he had been creating before he had been torn from his world. He traveled into the wilderness, practicing and perfecting the song he had never been able to play for her. Over and over, blood coating the strings as he laid bare his love and his sorrow. New lines of sadness and discord crept there way into the piece as though they were meant to be there from the start. Completing his last song he would ever play. He considered killing the selfish noble, but found he had no interested in that particular worm. Let him live out his days as a petty creature doomed to create his own suffering. He considered joining his beloved in death as well but knew in his heart she would cast him away for his selfishness. So he set out, to find out what it was that had given him power and helped him to survive his time in the gladiatorial arena. Lamenting his losses, hoping to find happiness and perhaps even spreading happiness where he could. He fights with a flair and never lingers with any lover over long continuing to search for one as beautiful as his lost beloved. He still carries the dulcimer as a memento of his past but he is determined to live his life as a new person in the future. Sometimes becoming someone else is easier than living with who you were.
Yes I plan him to "Hulk out" with giant growth and late game even more size increase. Lots of deception and flashy attack spells, use of intimidation rather than persuasion. Adopting a new identity with every city he enters with the help of magic and his acting abilities he developed while mimicking and mocking his opponents. All of his traits and such were rolled randomly and made the framework for his story.
Bonus points if you know where the second part of his name came from.
https://ddb.ac/characters/3512040/91hYNy since this is now a thing.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I've had a lot of characters made over the years, but some have definitely grown on me due to their personality and tendency to get into situations where they are forced to "Make a difference" Here is the first of them.
Althor the One Armed: Half Elven Wizard/Fighter and Master Class Spell creator specializing in Force type spells.
Althor would have been just another talented fighter mage if he hadn't run into the gnolls when he was just starting out. And the magical world would never be the same because of it.
Coming from the nobility, Althor was well trained in weapons and liked to fight with ax and shield. However his father's wizard discovered Althor's inherent genius for magic and started him down the path of magic. A path that was soon a consuming passion for the young half-elf. Soon he was not only learning spells, but designing his own.
Then the fateful day arrived. Althor was helping escort his mentor to a wizard's convention a few towns over when a party of gnolls attacked. Usually this wouldn't have been an issue, but the gnolls got lucky and when they attacked at night, during their first volley of crossbow bolts, one snapped the main pole of Althor's tent collapsing it and knocking out and trapping Althor's sleeping mentor. As Althor finally got himself outside the tent, he was surprised by a large gnoll fighter who took off his right arm with one stroke of his mighty great ax. Staring at his arm lying on the ground and the gnoll snarling at him as it prepared to finish him off, Althor's genius suddenly went into overdrive and he managed to get off a verbal only variant of the magic missile spell he had been working on blasting the gnoll to pieces as he overpowered it to the max with his failing strength before fainting dead away.
When he woke up later, much to his surprise, he found that one of his friends had managed to use stop his bleeding and keep him alive, but his arm was lost as one of the few surviving gnolls took it with him as a "snack" when he escaped in the confusion. From that day on Althor has dedicated himself to helping himself and others who have lost limbs, becoming an expert in force related spells of which his best known are his Althor's Arm, Althor's Return and Althor's Ax spells. Althor also developed an extreme hatred of gnolls to the point that his friends who can shapechange always make sure they are never in the form of a gnoll lest he "accidentally" blow them to pieces.
Unlike many mages who prefer to memorize spells and then whip them off in battle, all of Althor's spells, including his cantrips, are rituals of one type or another that embed a spell structure and the magic to power it into a person or item and key it to trigger off a specific keyword or gesture. His spells are extremely complex and elegant requiring at least a 14 INT to learn just a cantrip and up to an 18+ INT to learn a 4th level spell. As such Althor's spells are usually prepared well in advance of their use and someone learning them had better plan on lots of casting prior to their being needed. On the other hand this also grants them the ability to be collected for future use and triggered rapidly, usually with either a reaction or bonus action.
Brief description of some of Althor's more famous spells
Althor's Arm: creates an invisible arm of force at the point the limb was severed which can be considered a normal arm for all intents and purposes (casting, lifting, weapons, etc) except, being force, it is immune to damage by normal non magical acid, fire, cold, etc
Althor's Ax: Creates a spell structure in an ax which, when triggered, causes the ax to float in the air near the caster and attack from behind anyone who attempts to attack the caster
Althor's Return: Creates a spell structure in an item or weapon, which when triggered, will cause the item to return to the user's hand at the end of every turn as long as the spell lasts and the item is in range. [The dwarves paid him a fortune for the advanced version of this spell which they use to make their thrown weapons return to them as well as preventing their theft.]
Rogue/Swashbuckler/Charlatan
Flynn grew up on the streets of Athrenall, beginning life as an urchin and beggar. At the age of 10, I met "Father" Galdo. Galdo, a dwarf, who on outward appearance appeared to be a priest of the Temple to Per'landro, God of Charity, and the downtrodden. Galdo was actually a fraud, he acted as a priest of Per'landro, but in reality, worshiped The Crooked Warden, the god of good aligned thieves. Under the temple was the real place of worship, our living quarters, and our vault.
Galdo's small guild of six individuals didn't concern themselves with pick pocketing merchants or the common folk. We worked to have the wealthy freely give us their gold. Father Galdo educated his wards on all topics imaginable, except actual theft. He teaches them languages, mathematics, cuisine, culture, disguise, and how to carry oneself. With the proper use of disguises and attitude, people will willingly hand you over their coin without risking the loss of a hand, or worse.
The Gentlemen were able to acquire quite a bit of wealth in their vault. However, several months ago, a rival thieves' guild, the Back-Alley Thuggers, learned of our hoard and raided our stores. This happened as I was casing a new mark and was away from home. Father Galdo, and to my knowledge, the rest of my guild was killed. I will have sworn my revenge on Slag, the leader of the Thuggers. What I don’t know, is that one of my guild mates, Salvara, betrayed the guild to take the coin and has joined Slag as his first lieutenant.
The betrayal left most of my guild dead, me homeless, and all our treasure stolen. I am joining the player party for allies and help in my revenge. Once I learn of the betrayal, I want his payback to be public, humiliating and deadly. I've already concocted a months long revenge scheme that will have the entire city hunting for Salvara and he will know I was the architect of his downfall. He'll be screaming that he was set up by Flynn Wellington, but everyone knows that Flynn died in the Temple to Per'landro, the night the rest of the guild fell.
A right Gentleman Bastard that one is : )
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I thought I mentioned that he was based largely on Locke Lamora, but apparently I did not. Yes, he is a Gentleman Bastard.
MAkes me want to reread those books to be honest, I think there is a new one out. Or perhaps it is coming soon.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Figured I'd share another one. Here's Keothi Skywatcher Thailuga, my Goliath Tempest Cleric.
At seven feet tall, Keothi is fairly short for a Goliath, but the spirit of the storm rolled strongly within him. He was an avid goatball player (it's the best game, okay) and when he was of age, he was inducted into the ranks of the skywatchers, a kind of a mix between shaman, weather forecaster and guide for their tribe.
As he aged, Keothi never really considered having children or taking a bride. He was content to challenge himself in other ways, until a boy with piercing purple eyes wondered into his tribe's encampment. He was starving, cold and very small, compared to his saviors. Keothi felt the stirring of the storm within him and accepted the challenge of raising the boy, whose name was Unukalhai.
As Unukalhai grew, Keothi found him to be a capable fighter and a fairly apt student in the ways of The Storm, for what he assumed was a human. The pair were basically inseparable until one fateful day.
Orc attacks weren't a daily occurrence, but Keothi's tribe were well prepared when the horde descended upon them. Unukalhai and Keothi nodded and smiled at each other as the orc mustered, knowing that one another would be fine. In the roar of the battle, the pair were separated, but they fought on regardless.
Of course, Keothi wouldn't be much of an adventurer if things went well, would he? To be sure, he expected casualties, but when he saw Unukalhai's broken body lying in the snow, the storm within died out. He tried everything to save the boy who he considered his son, but nothing happened. For the next few months, he sat in his tent, moving only to eat and relieve himself. Nobody could bring him out of his funk until one day, he traded his possessions to the tribe for weapons and survival gear and exiled himself. 'If I cannot do my job,' he said, 'I have no place in this tribe. Farewell,' was the last he spoke to the tribe before he wondered off, seeking the end.
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the end did not come. Keothi seemed to find a steady supply of food and water, which he took as a sign that he needed to keep going, despite how broken he felt inside. Eventually, he came across a small village that had been overrun by goblins. The foul creatures were holding the elders at spearpoint as they dragged their children away to work in poorly-constructed mines.
As he saw this injustice unfold, Keothi felt a stirring within him that he thought was gone. He called upon a mighty cloud of fog and used the cover to rescue the remaining adults and stir the storm within them until they were ready to fight and get their children back. The goblins didn't stand a chance.
Filled with a renewed purpose, Keothi wanders the world, seeking good to do and innocents to protect.
Riv-Ma Thunderbreak Green Dragonborn Druid
Born a Green Dragonborn, the chromatic color of his scales led to him being discarded in to the wild, left to die alone a small hatchling. But the creatures of the wood and the Feywild, had other plans, he was taken to the Feywild. There he was raised by a great Arch-Druid, Drakio Thunderbreak, of a Moon Elf villiage located in the Feywild. Drakio was an Arch-Druid of Dreams, and had the power to control the Feywilds essence. Part of this power was gifted to Riv, when he was claimed as his son. Riv is not a large Dragonborn, he is in fact quite small, closer to the size of a man. Standing at only 6’ and weighing no more than 200 lbs, the green scaled druid is the runt of his kind. Riv growing up in the Feywild , and having a small sliver of his Fathers power, he took to the Druidic art quickly. Loving life and seeing life as a gift, he found the ability to sustain it, in his powers he too, was becoming a Druid of Dreams. But, as he grew older and his green scales grew, the others in the village began to fear he would attract a Green dragon. His father protected him the best he could, until on night, to save his father from any more anguish and scrutiny, he left through the village’s rift, and sealed it behind him. Now he travels Faerun doing his best to help those in need, and walking in his Fathers steps.
Item's - Sashelas' Spear, Thunder Beads, Diadem of the Owl, Bag of Stasis
Race - Fey-Touched
Subclass - Circle of Vitality
Monsters - Blood Bear
Spell - Arcbolt
Alright i have No photo to show of my character but here is name: Basinet BashStonn, Human Paladin of Crime
Basinet was born of an very poor and starving house of other scum and hobos with his sister Sallet, he grew with a burning hatred for the kingdom of Bonnsnape, that subjected his people to such dowel conditions. So it only took him at the age of 13 to commit robbery again and again of the same rich fatcats who abused the lower folk below so he could feed his starving sister and friends, protect the poor from the corrupt and earn quite the reputation amongst the common folk as a "hero".One faithful heist he got cornered and he meet a Drow Paladin used his powers to save to powers to save him, this was all it took for Basinet to take the "oath"of a paladin, and study martial weapons from books . As he grew to his early 20s he became awestruck by how many types of paladins there where, but one caught his eye...............................The oath of Conquest, a oath that makes your foes kneel like slaves and live by your rules, afterwords he returns to find the city watch found his home and burned it to the ground, and he fought them so hard he lost his pinkie finger, had his left eye bruised and smashed his front teeth out, he fought on,knowing if he failed his little sister would get hurt or worse. After the long battle, he and his sister made a "oath" to conquer their home kingdom of Bonnsnappe and become protectors of good
His favorite weapon is the flail, a weapon that the common folk used as harvesting tools and hes pretty good with a shield.
My favourite character is a Lich, he is criminally insane and extremely intelligent ( think mad scientist ), while quite capable he does happen to have a disregard for life, next to no morals and will happily throw his humour and comments around with no thought to others unless they are of use or dare I say it he grows fond of their existence. He now exists within my own little plane/world I have created along side pretty much all of my characters, as I tend to DM more than anything and he was one of the founders for this plane.
He was originally the master librarian and intelligence operative for a organisation that dealt with various criminal activities including magic, he got into necromancy, enchantments and aiding ...slowly small changes happened to the other librarians, the library seemed to extend beyond the confines of the building, runes, inscriptions and the very atmosphere with the library seemed to alter. Unfortunately this was eventually noticed by a band of heroes and the kingdom the organisation worked in, what happened next is entirely the idiot paladins fault for deciding to stab him while he was trying to channel magic energy into his library to expand it..what actually happened was the power nearly destroyed the librarians beloved library which was what the Librarian had used as his phylactery, fortunately the librarian was able to use some of the power to shift his library fully into its own plane. However he was captured and imprisoned by the heroes.
While he has been imprisoned for centuries, tasked with forging powerful magical items and terrible creations of magic to further the plots of others he managed to slowly warp and distort the minds and will of those who inhabited the prison eventually making his escape. Later in life he would go on to form a group of individuals that would eventually form a plane of there own where they have existed ever since.
The story of Cygnus Tinkerton Clockwise Jones The 15th, a pathetically abismal Fighter, who could make all manner of useful tinker things (DM was really into it so I got away with some crazy shit later in the campaign this guy was used for :D) Sadly the campaign ended before I got to go on a revenge rampage in my "Masterpiece"
Born into a longstanding line of respected inventors and tinkerers, Cygnus Tinkerton Clockwise Gearmen Jones IV is of course 15th to his name, and damn proud. His family line ties deeply into the roots of technology and its advancement, in fact his father: Bolli Tinkerton Clockwise Jones XIV was chief in the creation of firearms for military use. But competition is fierce as in any buisiness, perhaps even more so in this specific profession. Cygnus and his family name found their home in (The gnome tinkering/technological capitol of the area) alongside many other families who were constantly looking to strip the Jones family of their position at the top. The most prominent and troublesome of these contesting families was the "Loanes". They earned a name for themselves in this trade a mere three generations after the Jones, and were constantly looking for a shortcut to the top of this innovation arms-race, so to speak.
Hi, I'm pretty new to dnd and this is one of my first characters, but I do really love her:
Faemiris, a primarily summer eladrin ranger
The daughter of King Oberon and a lost elf who wandered into the Feywilds by accident. She lost her sanity among the fae courts and but Oberon was fond of her and she was his favorite plaything. Faemiris lived in the Summer Court with her father until a Fae Prince, in a bid for power, attacked Oberon's home. Oberon was so amused that he didn't notice until it was too late that the prince had killed his toy and stolen his daughter. Oberon killed the prince in his rage but by then it was too late. Faemiris had already been taken to the material plane. There she was taken in by the previous Feywilds Plain Watcher who saw her half fae nature and knew she would be perfect for the job. He was killed in an excursion to the Feywilds and Faemiris continues the planes watcher tradition, even as her father attempts to enchant her back to his side.
I used the ideas of the seelie/unseelie courts for the fae and feywilds in the homebrew world I created
Here is my Elf Monk, Rosh Falanaar. He is 160+ years old so I wanted to give him a very rich background story. Being a curious individual who never knew his parents, he traveled far and wide looking for a place to call home. Enjoy.
(P.S. please pardon me if some of my dates are a bit off)
Circa 1320
Born in the Heart of the Dalelands, Rosh Falanaar never knew his parents and doesn’t know if they were murdered or if they abandoned him. He was found as a child by a human female Monk named Teesha Than. She raised him in the wilderness of the Deepingdale Forest, teaching him how to harness and control the movements of his body and the Monastic Way of the Old Order. She always knew that there was something different about this elf.
Circa 1335
Rosh grew up in the wilderness, the world was his playground. He was abnormally large for an elf, nearly six feet tall by the time he was 15 years old and still growing. He picked up hand to hand combat very easily and would routinely put Teesha on her toes – she was a very experienced monk. She knew the potential this young elf wielded and wanted to provide him with the best life possible.
One day Rosh and Teesha were training near the river when they were attacked by a group of Goblins. The birth of Rosh’s hate for goblins. Teesha nearly lost her life but the two managed to fend off and defeat the Goblins. In a panic, young Rosh carried Teesha’s body to the nearest road he could find and here the two were found by the great wizard Rhauntides. Rhauntides took the two to his tower in Highmoon, the capital of the Dalelands. There Rhauntides took the two in as his own children, teaching Rosh how to harness the magic in the plants around him with the alchemical craft. He learned how to use the herbs around him to cure ailments and diseases.
As Rosh was raised from a young elven boy into an elven man, his skill grew as well. His thirst for knowledge could not be quenched and his physical abilities grew more and more every single day. He was always interested in the lore behind the orders and of the gods they worshiped, however what really intrigued him was the spiritual connection the various different order were able to attain with their bodies. This ignited the fire in the young elf that would eventually guide him across the realm.
Many years passed and as time went on Rhauntides passed away and 1371, leaving his tower to Rosh and Teesha. This is when Teesha decided to create their own Monastery dedicated to the Old Order
Circa 1372 The First Monastery of the Old Order
Teesha and Rosh helped establish the first Monastery of the Old Order in the Dalelands. After Rhauntides passed away, leaving his tower to Rosh and Teesha, they wanted to share the word and create a safe haven to recruit more monks for the order. After some years after helping Teesha create the monastery, Rosh decided that he wanted to set out and see the world. He traveled to the far corners of the earth, seeking adventure and knowledge of the other Monastic Orders. Before leaving he wanted to prove his worth to both his adopted mother and the peers of the order. The others never held Rosh in high regard because of his age, but they always thought he was a talented young elf. The monks were keenly focused on defense and resilience. It was rumored that masters of the order achieved ranks by being able to survive a beating from an ogre while never raising a hand in defense. Before Rosh’s departure, he took beatings from two Ogres, then semi-unconscious, beat them into a pulp. Rosh forever was held in the highest regard by his peoples of the Old Order.
Circa 1373 – Disciples of St. Sollars the Twice-Martyred (Order of the Yellow Rose)
Rosh heard tale of the Monks to the north high in the peaks of the Earthspur Mountains that were known for they ability to ride the great remorhaz. He made his way north to the Glacier of the White Worm to learn the way of these monks and to ride the great beast.
Shortly after arriving, the monastery was besieged by a flight of maddened chromatic dragons sent by Sammaster to prevent anyone from finding lore pertaining to the Rage of Dragons sweeping across Faerûn at the time. Two hunters Dorn Graybrook and Raryn Snowstealer, the copper dragon Chatulio, and the song dragon Kara aided the monks in defending the monastery. The siege lasted for several days before the metallic dragons departed their refuge in the Galena Mountains to the monk’s aid and routed the evil chromatic dragons. The monastery community was nearly destroyed in the battle.
Rosh played an integral role in this battle having personally saved the life of Temmenische, the eldest and most senior monk in the monastery. This granted him favor and he was trained personally by the young Grand Master Cantoule. He spent 9 years with these monks, embracing the hardships that the frigid cold of the mountain tops had to offer. He had earned a name among these people and attained the rank of Master, quicker than anyone else in history. His day finally came and he was able to make the challenge for the rank of Master of Dragons. A monk who wished to challenge for the rank of Master of Dragons first had to undergo an initiation that involved an extraordinarily difficult test of skill and courage—to ride the remorhaz. This was on the one hand a test of their discipline but on the other a declaration of their devotion to St. Sollars the Twice-Martyred, a demonstration of their inner strength, courage, and determination needed to subdue the beast and ride mere inches away from death or terrible injury.
A monk who would attempt to ride a remorhaz was equipped with a simple lasso and a pair of magical leather-and-iron spurs of special design. They stood upon a certain rocky outcrop and waited for the white worm to slither past, at which point they tried to lasso it. If the monk missed with the lasso, then they could wait for another remorhaz to roll pass but missing three times was marked as a failure. They could try again after one week, but those going for Master of Dragons had to wait and train until they felt up to the challenge again. No one could help them in this. Rosh became a Master of Dragons on his first try and received the ceremonious white tattoo of honor on his face.
Circa 1382 – Order of the Broken Ones
After his adventures in the mountains he made his way back to Highmoon to spend some time with his adopted mother, Teesha. While he was home in Highmoon a band of traveling monks from the Order of the Broken Ones were traveling through the Dalelands to go west. Rosh decided to travel with them and maybe make his way to Waterdeep, the city where his mother was from. He spent two years studying with the Monks of the Broken Ones while traveling through northwest Faerun, passing through the great desert of Anauroch and even staying for a brief period of time in Silverymoon, known as “the Gem of the North”. With them he learned more of the God of Suffering, Illmater and the ways of the Broken Ones.
A Broken One monk pursued the paths of a healer and a hunter in service to the faith. As a healer, they learned the skills of treating injuries and dispensing medicine and could even develop the ability to lay on hands and heal injuries with a touch. As a hunter, they also learned the skills of wilderness survival and tracking. They were dogged in the pursuit of tormentors and could develop supernatural skill in following the tracks of Loviatans. Such hunters had only to touch the body of one recently harmed by a Loviatan to see the true face of their attacker. Some could even learn a locate creature spell specific to locating worshipers of Loviatar.
Some Broken Ones learned tactics in combat by which they could swiftly intervene and save an ally from an attack, at the cost of suffering the blow in their place. This effort could leave them wearied, if not slain by the blow.
Circa 1384 – Order of the Calming Wave
While Rosh was in Silverymoon, he had the great honor of meeting the renowned drow ranger, Drizzt Do’Urden during one of his frequent visits to Silverymoon to see Lady Alustriel Silverhand. Rosh traveled with Drizzt back to Mithral Hall and had to great honor of meeting King Bruenor Battlehammer. Rosh left Mithral Hall and finally decided to continue his adventure further to the southwest, to the great city of Waterdeep. The city where his mother was from. Here he spent the next two years in the city, frequently setting out on long trips with monks from the Order of the Calming Wave. Eventually he took out to the sea full time
Members of the order traveled the world by land and sea, spreading the teachings of Valkur. The order was formed by a group of pirates who ran into a fierce storm. After the crew had survived the storm, the captain decreed the storm was the doing of Umberlee, and that it had been Valkur that saved them. This lead to the crew abandoning their pirating ways in favor of Valkur's service. Rosh enjoyed his time with the Nomadic monks of the Calming Wave, but he longed for something more in life. The crew that he traveled with adventured up and down the Sword coast for nearly 4 years, exploring the various islands of the Sword coast, and frequently visiting the port cities of Luskan, Neverwinter, Waterdeep, and even the great far city to the south, Calimport a couple times. Rosh adopted the somewhat chaotic ways of the monks; however, he always kept his ideals and values intact.
In 1385, and during his time at sea the Spellplague was in full upheaval. The Spellplague, called the Blue Breath of Change by the inhabitants of Abeir (the twin planet of Toril), was a disaster that struck Realmspace and even the planes themselves in the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR. This was caused by a conflict between the Gods. The Mother of Magic, Mystra was assassinated at the hands of Cyric and Shar (the Gods of Trickery and Death. It continued for a decade, leading to the Wailing Years, during which arcane magic ceased to function and the planet of Toril was transformed.
Circa 1393 – Brothers of the Gray Mist
On his final adventure from Calimport to Neverwinter a large storm swept their ship far off course to the west, crashing on an island in the Korinn Archipelago. The next morning after the crash, the crew found their land laden ship surrounded by a band of orcs and goblins. Immediately the ship was boarded and a majority of the crew was slaughtered on sight leaving only Rosh, and a handful of others. Rosh and the rest of the crew was tortured by the island inhabitants for the next two years. On the island, there was another prisoner who also crashed on the island from the same storm. Like Rosh, the goblins murdered most of his crew on sight. This man was Afafrenfere, a human monk of the Brothers of the Gray Mists and a former member of Cavus Dun.
Eventually Rosh and Afafrenfere were the only two left alive. Goblins not being the smartest, left the two prisoners in the same cell. Over the course of two years between torturing sessions, the two monks taught each other the ways of their respective orders. Afafrenfere was a believer in the God of Courage, Torm. Before this time, Rosh was never a religious man. He acknowledged the existence of the gods and respected each and every one of them, but he was always more open minded and thirsty for knowledge. During his time as a captive, Rosh called upon Torm with his new found friend and believes that is the only way they found a way to survive. Rosh to this day is not a super religious man, however he still calls upon Torm for grace and mercy when need be.
The time came for their escape and one evening the two saw their opportunity to break free from their cell. They did so, and took a small boat out to sea after killing a small goblin horde. They traveled east in the small boat for what seemed like a lifetime, when they eventually came to Orlumbor, a small rocky barren island city-state in the Sea of Swords. Free at last, the two were nursed back to health and were destined to meet again. Both lusting for vengeance of goblin blood after the years of torture.
Circa 1395 – A Life in the Neverwinter Woods
At the conclusion of the Spellplague, Rosh found himself attracted to the “Jewel of the North” otherwise known as Neverwinter. He was fascinated with the amount of talent and craftmanship that came from the city. Rosh was never one for lavish things but having made himself known throughout the Sword Coast, he had managed to establish quite a name for himself. He always declined any sort of coin that was offered to him however, his friends in Neverwinter set him up nicely with a large piece of property in the Neverwinter woods where he coexisted peacefully alongside his Elvin neighbors that were a part of Eldreth Veluuthra.
The Eldreth Veluuthra (Victorious Blade of the People, also sometimes Eldreth Veluuthara), formed in 262 DR were a group of elves dedicated to the removal of all humans from Faerûn. Its main areas of activity were ancient elven forests, including the Ardeep Forest, the Border Forest, the Chondalwood, Cormanthor, the High Forest, the Moonwood, Neverwinter Woods and the Winterwood. Although this radical group was known for their radical beliefs, they left Rosh alone and would even cross paths from time to time.
One day Rosh was crossing through the woods, making his way to Longsaddle, a place known for their magic. He had made a close friend who was an inhabitant of the village, Harkle Harpell, a wonderfully odd old wizard. One evening on the outskirts of the Neverwinter woods Rosh came upon an encampment of Elves that was currently being attacked by a group of lycanthropes. Rosh knew that it was typical for lycanthropes to be members of Eldreth Veluuthra, and that sometimes they would turn on their own. Rosh, seeing that one of the elves was alive still, came in and saved her from her impending doom. Her name was Kyritha Ebonmoon and they immediately fell in love. She was a noble amongst her people and left them to create a life with Rosh who miraculously enough was the same age as her and even shared the same name day.
They spent the next 55 years, traveling across the vast expanses of Faerun and eventually returned to settle down and began to raise family in the Neverwinter Woods.
Circa 1451 – Mount Hotenow
Mount Hotenow was a volcano amid the Crags mountain range situated to the northeast of the city of Neverwinter on the Sword Coast North, deep in Neverwinter Wood. It was home to a large population of fire elementals, warming the Neverwinter River to the point where it never froze over, even in the heart of winter (hence the city's name). The volcano also had a tendency to attract creatures like fire giants and red dragons to make their homes near it. Since Neverwinter’s foundation, Mount Hotenow was featured in the bedtime stories and urban legends of the city inhabitants as the home of fire giants, the fearsome red dragon Karrundax, and many other blazing beasts.
In 1451 DR, a small adventuring party rediscovered the ancient dwarven city of Gauntlgrym beneath the volcano. The party, consisting of Dahlia Sin'felle, Korvin Dor'crae, Valindra Shadowmantle, Athrogate, and Jarlaxle Baenre, made it all the way to the legendary forges. There, the latter two were betrayed by their Thayan allies, with Athrogate hypnotically forced to activate the forge. This briefly awoke the primordial Maegera, who, in a fit of rage, released a burst of energy so powerful that it forced the eruption of the volcano. The resultant earthquake and combination of smoke and lava destroyed much of Neverwinter, killing thousands.
This event flushed Rosh and Kyritha out of their home and forced them to relocate. On their way east out of the Neverwinter woods they came across a goblin horde that were under the command of a fire giant. Rosh and his family were completely caught off guard and were attacked by the traveling troop, leaving his wife and children dead. Rosh was spared by the fire giant only reason but to watch his family be slaughtered by his goblins and to live with the agony. Nailed to a large tree through both of his hands, Rosh watched as hatred filled his heart. Left for dead, there was no more life left in the monk’s broken heart.
A young silver dragonborn girl was making her way through the Neverwinter Wood, trying to escape the madness that had just unfolded when she stumbled upon Rosh. She saw him, barely breathing, nailed to the tree with what looked to be a dozen dead goblins and his family slain before him. Rosh went down, but surely not without a fight. The young dragonborn female removed the nails from Rosh’s hands and carried his body to a safer location, further south to the southern end of Neverwinter Wood and then on to the village of Triboar.
Circa 1452 – Lagertha Korinn
Over the next few months the silver dragonborn, Lagertha, helped nurse Rosh back to health. The town was not too fond of the dragonborn; however, they knew of Rosh Falanaar and his wife Kyritha and were very sad to hear the news. The quickly warmed up to Lagertha and could tell that she was very kind hearted young dragonborn.
Rosh and Lagertha spent the next 32 years traveling together as a band of mercenaries, hunting down the goblins and fire giant that murdered Rosh’s family. Lagertha grew into a very large dragonborn woman, nearly as tall as Rosh. After years and years of searching the two never found the fire giant who killed Rosh’s family; however, they did kill their fair share of goblins. They traveled far and wide, Rosh wanted to show the young dragonborn girl the furthest stretches of Faerûn, even some places that he had shared with his beloved wife a few decades past. Rosh adored Lagertha, she was like the daughter that was ripped from his grasp too soon. She helped him heal, but Lagertha always knew that the elf still felt the heartache from that dreaded day.
Circa 1484 – War of the Silver Marches
The two traveled far and wide but never returned to Neverwinter. In the fall of 1484, the two companions we traveling to Silverymoon, a frequently visited destination for this was a city that widely accepted the dragonkin. When the two arrived, they found the city in preparations for war.
The War of the Silver Marches was a conflict against orcs that took place in the Silver Marches. The drow wizard Tsabrak Xorlarrin channeled the Darkening upon the Silver Marches under the orders of the Spider Goddess, Lolth, in order to prepare for the war. Soon, in the fall of 1484 DR, the drow minions of Quenthel Baenre incited the frost giants of the Shining White and two white dragons, Arauthator and Aurbangras, to ally with the orcs of the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, where the warmonger Hartusk gained the power.
A large army of orcs and drow, supported by frost giants and white dragons, assaulted the Silver Marches in the War of the Silver Marches. Nesmé, a small frontier city was destroyed by an orc horde led by Tiago Baenre riding the white dragon Arauthator and Sundabar, a dwarf stronghold to the north, was conquered by an orc army commanded by the warlord Hartusk and renamed Hartusk Keep. All dwarfholds in the area—Citadel Adbar, Citadel Felbarr, and Mithril Hall—and later also Silverymoon were besieged. During the Battle of the Cold Vale, Bromm, one of the twin kings of Citadel Adbar, was tricked by the half-drow Doum'wielle Armgo and beheaded by Hartusk.
At last, in the spring of 1485 DR, Bruenor Battlehammer, king of Mithral Hall, managed to unite all the dwarven forces to retake the River Surbrin bridge from the forces of Many-Arrows. In the sky above the battle, Drizzt Do'Urden and Rosh’s old friend Afafrenfere riding the copper dragons Ilnezhara and Tazmikella confronted Tiago Baenre and Tos'un Armgo riding the white dragons Arauthator and Aurbangras, leaving Tos'un and Aurbangras dead and Arauthator in retreat. Then in Flamerule, Rosh and Lagertha alongside Bruenor used the dwarven Ritual of the March and managed to conquer Dark Arrow Keep, restoring it to Lorgru, its proper ruler. Rosh and Lagertha led the final push that defeated Hartusk's remaining armies and killed Hartusk himself.
Circa 1488 – Present
After the War of the Silver Marches, Rosh and Lagertha stayed around northwest Faerûn still keeping an eye out for the evil fire giant that killed Rosh’s family. Rosh has experienced many hardships in his days and has traveled to every corner of Faerun. He has seen the beauty that this world has to offer and still cherishes the life he has, even after so much pain and suffering and remains hopeful to avenge his family.
Dude I love that one, it is rare for people to think about the long term backstory for an elf, I mean they live a long time. Granted most elves don't leave home till they are approaching their first century, and few have left the confines of their homeland during that time. Also sounds like you have read a number of Forgotten Realms novels.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
My character is Syru Ravenclaw, a Human Fighter, and here is his story.
Once looked down on, Syru Ravenclaw rose through the ranks of his kingdom's military forces. Viewed as a tactical genius after several notable battles, he gained more prominence within his clan Ravenclaw. A fierce clan born of warriors, the Ravenclaw Clan proved to be one of the best warrior clans. However, as the warriors were needed to patrol their kingdom of Kolnburn, Syru focused his attention to the clan. With fewer children being born into this proud clan for unknown reasons, Syru wants the tactics he's learned in battle to be remembered, joining the Kolnburn Army. Wanting his clan to be remembered for all time, he left the army and his kingdom to learn new tactics and teach them to his clan, whether he learns on the battlefield or in a tavern with a good ale in his tankard.