End goal: Rogue(1), Monk(14) [way of the drunken master], Sorc(5) [wild magic (I like divine soul better for what he gets but wild magic is better for his theme)]
Vahlim Mah'Kerraduess (looked it up, last name is basically beggar of magic, could also be Kerraduess'Faer; Elven language). A human who was raised among the prideful high-elves, the elves don't know of his origin but the elders consider him far from being human. He has a kind of power within or around him that seems to change reality sometimes (explains the lucky feat). Because of this power (which all but the most keen of elves thought of as luck) he was originally (slighly later in life as he started without a surname) given the surname Dharashahrn (meaning 'he who wields fate').
The elves changed what they called him to Mah'Kerraduess after seeing how hungry he was for knowledge, as it seemed that all the joy he derived from life was in learning about how this fascinating world worked, whether it be magic or science, he had to know. This hunger for knowledge drove him to seek the elves’ most safeguarded secrets, which they naturally withheld from him, but somehow he would gain the knowledge he was seeking no matter how the elves tried to safeguard their secrets.
Vahlim hates the mindset of the elves, who care little for the exploration of new sciences and magic and devote their whole lives perfecting the arts of their ancestors. Though he sees great value in the knowledge that they do contain, he believes their specialized knowledge could be so much greater if they applied themselves more.
At one point, still at a young age, he obtained knowledge from an elf that did great research pertaining to the mind. Wrathfully the elf casted a very advanced version of the feeblemind spell on him. The elf didn't know what would happen, and the power within Vahlim lashed out, the overcome elf fell unconscious. At the same time Vahlim, without all of his knowledge and intelligence, became a monster of sharp instinct, in this state he killed the unconscious elf who had cursed him. He was at some point subdued and placed under arrest until the effects of the spell wore off... or mostly wore off. When the spell wore off he was placed under trial and after a month was exiled from the elven city, not for the crime of murder (for he was in a state without self control), but because he had taken his hunger for knowledge too far, and as a consequence of his hunger an elf was dead.
Even though the feeblemind spell had worn off there was still a terrible consequence. Vahlim retained his sharp memory for the past few days. He had a perfect memory of everything from the last 4 days, but then his memory of 5 to 7 days ago withered down to nothingness. Vahlim’s memory was limited to the past 7 days, all the extensive knowledge he had gained was now non-existent. During the time of his trial this was noticed. And before he left he began to keep a journal to preserve his memory.
Vahlim, recognizing, he couldn’t keep all his extensive knowledge in journals despaired, but he came to find over the course of his trials that when he slept, he would be able to recount all the knowledge he had forgotten through dreams. When he woke he would often remember glimpses of the great knowledge he once had. Because of this, Vahlim taught himself to dream lucidly so that he could make use of the knowledge he had previously gained (he was trained as a monk and a wizard among the elves, he has effectively taken his monk meditation training a step further to have control over his sleep/rest). Still every time he recounts this knowledge, it always vanishes before 7 days, like a wisp of smoke.
Vahlim has also found that he doesn’t get drunk easily, but by being drunk his vast knowledge seems to be more readily available to him.
Because Vahlim has a way of reobtaining knowledge that he lost, albeit temporarily, he has his journal short and exclusively for the use of two forms of information: dangers that he should avoid (particularly enemies he has made in his search for knowledge), and also sources of knowledge that he desires to someday seek out.
Now exiled, Vahlim Mah’Kerraduess explores the vast realms, seeking knowledge, experimentation and new ways to obtain knowledge. To Vahlim, destroying a reservoir of knowledge is a grievous sin. Whether it is a harmless scholar or an evil lich, if they have rare knowledge, especially knowledge that can’t be gained elsewhere, to destroy it is a sin. Though if he is dead, he can’t scour the world for knowledge. As such, Vahlim wouldn’t hesitate to remove such a reservoir if it meant keeping his life. He would first try exhausting all other options though. And would mourn greatly for the loss.
In Vahlim’s search for knowledge he has been to many places. He seeks to spend time among the gnomes or vedalkin if he has the chance. He enjoys human scholars driven by a similar (though rarely as strong) desire for knowledge and values elves specialized crafts (though he has a strong dislike for the apparently uninspired and stagnant elves).
Three times Vahlim was able to travel to the astral plane in search of knowledge from the githyanki. All three times nearly led to his death, he still has desires to visit the dread lich-queen of the githyanki, Vlaakith, and beseech her for knowledge. Having learned while among the elves that she sits on a throne fueled with the knowledge of many mindflayers and elder brains. Vahlim also has the goal to one day visit the githzerai in Limbo. He believes that if he hones the training he received as a monk, he may be able to appeal to the githzerai, who are very tied to monastic traditions, for knowledge.
The last time Vahlim attempted to visit the githyanki they flew into a rage and sent warriors after him. He was on the run for weeks, never able to escape because of the magic of githyanki diviners. Vahlim having no way to escape divination decided to turn to another pool of knowledge he wanted to learn from, a brass dragon, for protection. Known among the elves as dragons that craved conversation, brass dragons highly prized intelligent individuals.
Vahlim Mah’Kerraduess found refuge in the lair of the brass dragon Girac, a place the githyanki wouldn’t dare attack. There while he hungered after the brass dragons knowledge, he entertained the dragon, who exploited the fact that Vahlim couldn’t remember any further than 7 days past, in order to keep the man in his presence. Girac promised Vahlim an amulet that would hide him from the divination of the githyanki (amulet of proof against detection and location) in exchange for his company. The dragon learned that Mah’Kerraduess had a deep pool of knowledge hidden in his dreams. Everyday the dragon would hunger for the new knowledge Kerraduess sifted from dream, and in turn provided learning to the hungry Kerraduess. Though the dragon couldn’t stand the time Kerraduess was asleep, he occasionally used his breath (sleep breath) to send the man into his dreams, anticipating the conversation that would follow.
Later the dragon found that alcohol could bring out some of the depth of Kerraduess’s knowledge (though not as well as sleep). The dragon found this method favorable because it meant his company was still well and ready for conversation. Girac upon learning this took cheaper treasures into human towns to buy barrels of low quality alcohol.
Vahlim with his journal wasn’t naive to the dragon’s charade in keeping him there. Though he truly enjoyed his time learning from the dragon, he was quick to note that although the dragon’s knowledge was vast and deep, it was too general, and didn’t go as deep into any particular field as a being that made the field his trade. Having a desire to move on, Vahlim made attempts to persuade the dragon to part with him and the amulet. Vahlim was able to leave the dragon’s lair after 5 months in Girac’s company.
Since the time he obtained the amulet, Vahlim has made more enemies than just the Githyanki. And not only the Githyanki are searching for him through scriers. Vahlim is diligent in recording which entities and groups might go after his life. He reads through all of the dangers he might be facing, and the enemies he has made about every three days, making sure he doesn’t encounter someone who wants him dead that he is oblivious to (though this only works to an extent). He keeps the amulet extremely close, knowing that if he were to lose this amulet, he will likely lose his life with it.
The amulet was encased in a thin sheet of lead (prevents detect magic spell, if the DM rules that a sheet of lead would prevent the proof against detection from working then this would be removed from the backstory), kept on a steel chain around his neck, and held tightly against his chest by bandages, a security to prevent both pickpocketing and enemy awareness of the precious object in his possession; a possession he doesn’t even entreat allies or friends to the knowledge of.
Other information regarding Vahlim Mah’Kerraduess:
The elves, believing Vahlim to not be human, experimented using the spell banish to see which plane he belonged to (with consent of course, Vahlim was curious as well). What was found was that Vahlim wasn’t tied to any particular plane, he could go anywhere at random, and wasn’t anchored to the plane they were on either. Though he could end up anywhere, about a third or fourth of the time he ended up in the astral plane. It is theorized that he ended up in the astral plane more commonly due to that plane’s close connection to so many other planes. Some of these tests almost got him killed. One particular high elf elder asked if he wanted to be anchored to a plane, if that was possible. Vahlim was used for experimenting with the nature of planes (of course he became an authority on planar and interplanar knowledge himself, before the feeblemind that is), and in the end was anchored to the prime material plane (typical plane of forgotten realms). Banishment still sends him to a random plane but the banishment can’t be made permanent if cast from his anchored plane(concentrating on the spell for a minute). If he is banished from a different plane, he is more likely to end up on the prime material plane, but can still go elsewhere. Vahlim knew how to anchor a creature to a plane before the feeblemind incident. Of course he can still potentially look back into that knowledge through sleep or meditation.
Vahlim is trusting but doesn’t show all of his cards. He can make friends and will remain friends as long as that friend remains close. He doesn’t see friendship as something needing the attention of his journal, however (and is wary that if someone knew one of his previous friends, they could fake their identity to manipulate him). As such he can form attachments, but after 7 days of separation he will treat anyone as a stranger. This flaw has made enemies in its own right (not from friends, more-so from people who felt self-important and were forgotten by him). He does, however, record every clash (even simple clashes of interest) in his journal for the sake of self-preservation.
Though Vahlim records clashes, and the names of his enemies. He is a poor artist and doesn’t draw anything, as such he cannot remember faces from before 7 days ago. Anyone he hasn’t met or seen in 7 days truly becomes a total stranger. If he needs to know past relations of someone he has recently come in contact with, he can target those memories should he get the opportunity to rest after the encounter. In this way he can rekindle a friendship lost from memory.
One of the few ‘friends’ that is well noted in Vahlims journal is the brass dragon, though that was in part because he had to be wary of the dragon’s charades. Still, Vahlim is greatly impressed by the friendship he shared with the dragon. Because of his wariness Vahlim kept tabs on how many days he was in the dragon’s company, though, and is wary that if he ever met the dragon (or another brass dragon) it might be hard to escape again.
Because of the generalistic nature of the knowledge the brass dragon held, Vahlim noted in his journal that even though his time in the dragon’s presence was precious, it would probably be more beneficial to find a greedier chromatic variation of dragon and raid its lair for treasure, if possible kill the beast. This may allow for research of great magical objects (the dragons are more interested in owning the treasure than any properties of the treasure); as well as the funding of research from some great scholar, or bribery to know of greater knowledge. As of yet Vahlim lacks the confidence to raid a dragon’s lair, but his ambition for knowledge would certainly tempt him. Raiding a chromatic dragon’s lair is now a goal written in his journal.
In fact, Vahlim’s greatest idea of what to use a dragon’s treasure for, entails paying off a powerful wizard to assist him in raiding a mindflayer colony, with the goal of imprisoning an elder brain within a gem. Kerraduess salivates at the thought of possessing an elder brain in a ‘jar.’ His plan goes further, he will siphon what knowledge he can out of the elder brain, then when there is nothing more to gain from it, appeal to Vlaakith among the githyanki for the knowledge she, and her throne, possess. Vahlim’s ambition wouldn’t just stop him at imprisoning a single elder brain, he would surely continue his conquest as long as there were funds.
Though wrote the dragon's knowledge was generalistic, I didn't mean his knowledge was shallow in any way. I was really pushing the realization that the dragon's don't particularly participate in research. Their knowledge may in fact be very deep in a topic, but they wouldn't know it as deeply as the scholar that figured it out. Dragons in my mind are highly intelligent, but a lot of what they may learn would come from the people they came in contact with. This fact is also pointed out when I mention that in raiding a dragon's lair one could learn a lot by researching the magic items in their possession. Dragons aren't so interested in learning why the item is magical in the way it is, how it became that way, or how to use similar magic---The dragon is interested simply in owning the treasure.
Something Vahlim did highly value from the dragon: he would have knowledge lost to the ages.
Vahlim highly values treasure that allows for interplanar travel.
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Lawful Neutral, variant human with lucky feat
End goal: Rogue(1), Monk(14) [way of the drunken master], Sorc(5) [wild magic (I like divine soul better for what he gets but wild magic is better for his theme)]
Vahlim Mah'Kerraduess (looked it up, last name is basically beggar of magic, could also be Kerraduess'Faer; Elven language). A human who was raised among the prideful high-elves, the elves don't know of his origin but the elders consider him far from being human. He has a kind of power within or around him that seems to change reality sometimes (explains the lucky feat). Because of this power (which all but the most keen of elves thought of as luck) he was originally (slighly later in life as he started without a surname) given the surname Dharashahrn (meaning 'he who wields fate').
The elves changed what they called him to Mah'Kerraduess after seeing how hungry he was for knowledge, as it seemed that all the joy he derived from life was in learning about how this fascinating world worked, whether it be magic or science, he had to know. This hunger for knowledge drove him to seek the elves’ most safeguarded secrets, which they naturally withheld from him, but somehow he would gain the knowledge he was seeking no matter how the elves tried to safeguard their secrets.
Vahlim hates the mindset of the elves, who care little for the exploration of new sciences and magic and devote their whole lives perfecting the arts of their ancestors. Though he sees great value in the knowledge that they do contain, he believes their specialized knowledge could be so much greater if they applied themselves more.
At one point, still at a young age, he obtained knowledge from an elf that did great research pertaining to the mind. Wrathfully the elf casted a very advanced version of the feeblemind spell on him. The elf didn't know what would happen, and the power within Vahlim lashed out, the overcome elf fell unconscious. At the same time Vahlim, without all of his knowledge and intelligence, became a monster of sharp instinct, in this state he killed the unconscious elf who had cursed him. He was at some point subdued and placed under arrest until the effects of the spell wore off... or mostly wore off. When the spell wore off he was placed under trial and after a month was exiled from the elven city, not for the crime of murder (for he was in a state without self control), but because he had taken his hunger for knowledge too far, and as a consequence of his hunger an elf was dead.
Even though the feeblemind spell had worn off there was still a terrible consequence. Vahlim retained his sharp memory for the past few days. He had a perfect memory of everything from the last 4 days, but then his memory of 5 to 7 days ago withered down to nothingness. Vahlim’s memory was limited to the past 7 days, all the extensive knowledge he had gained was now non-existent. During the time of his trial this was noticed. And before he left he began to keep a journal to preserve his memory.
Vahlim, recognizing, he couldn’t keep all his extensive knowledge in journals despaired, but he came to find over the course of his trials that when he slept, he would be able to recount all the knowledge he had forgotten through dreams. When he woke he would often remember glimpses of the great knowledge he once had. Because of this, Vahlim taught himself to dream lucidly so that he could make use of the knowledge he had previously gained (he was trained as a monk and a wizard among the elves, he has effectively taken his monk meditation training a step further to have control over his sleep/rest). Still every time he recounts this knowledge, it always vanishes before 7 days, like a wisp of smoke.
Vahlim has also found that he doesn’t get drunk easily, but by being drunk his vast knowledge seems to be more readily available to him.
Because Vahlim has a way of reobtaining knowledge that he lost, albeit temporarily, he has his journal short and exclusively for the use of two forms of information: dangers that he should avoid (particularly enemies he has made in his search for knowledge), and also sources of knowledge that he desires to someday seek out.
Now exiled, Vahlim Mah’Kerraduess explores the vast realms, seeking knowledge, experimentation and new ways to obtain knowledge. To Vahlim, destroying a reservoir of knowledge is a grievous sin. Whether it is a harmless scholar or an evil lich, if they have rare knowledge, especially knowledge that can’t be gained elsewhere, to destroy it is a sin. Though if he is dead, he can’t scour the world for knowledge. As such, Vahlim wouldn’t hesitate to remove such a reservoir if it meant keeping his life. He would first try exhausting all other options though. And would mourn greatly for the loss.
In Vahlim’s search for knowledge he has been to many places. He seeks to spend time among the gnomes or vedalkin if he has the chance. He enjoys human scholars driven by a similar (though rarely as strong) desire for knowledge and values elves specialized crafts (though he has a strong dislike for the apparently uninspired and stagnant elves).
Three times Vahlim was able to travel to the astral plane in search of knowledge from the githyanki. All three times nearly led to his death, he still has desires to visit the dread lich-queen of the githyanki, Vlaakith, and beseech her for knowledge. Having learned while among the elves that she sits on a throne fueled with the knowledge of many mindflayers and elder brains. Vahlim also has the goal to one day visit the githzerai in Limbo. He believes that if he hones the training he received as a monk, he may be able to appeal to the githzerai, who are very tied to monastic traditions, for knowledge.
The last time Vahlim attempted to visit the githyanki they flew into a rage and sent warriors after him. He was on the run for weeks, never able to escape because of the magic of githyanki diviners. Vahlim having no way to escape divination decided to turn to another pool of knowledge he wanted to learn from, a brass dragon, for protection. Known among the elves as dragons that craved conversation, brass dragons highly prized intelligent individuals.
Vahlim Mah’Kerraduess found refuge in the lair of the brass dragon Girac, a place the githyanki wouldn’t dare attack. There while he hungered after the brass dragons knowledge, he entertained the dragon, who exploited the fact that Vahlim couldn’t remember any further than 7 days past, in order to keep the man in his presence. Girac promised Vahlim an amulet that would hide him from the divination of the githyanki (amulet of proof against detection and location) in exchange for his company. The dragon learned that Mah’Kerraduess had a deep pool of knowledge hidden in his dreams. Everyday the dragon would hunger for the new knowledge Kerraduess sifted from dream, and in turn provided learning to the hungry Kerraduess. Though the dragon couldn’t stand the time Kerraduess was asleep, he occasionally used his breath (sleep breath) to send the man into his dreams, anticipating the conversation that would follow.
Later the dragon found that alcohol could bring out some of the depth of Kerraduess’s knowledge (though not as well as sleep). The dragon found this method favorable because it meant his company was still well and ready for conversation. Girac upon learning this took cheaper treasures into human towns to buy barrels of low quality alcohol.
Vahlim with his journal wasn’t naive to the dragon’s charade in keeping him there. Though he truly enjoyed his time learning from the dragon, he was quick to note that although the dragon’s knowledge was vast and deep, it was too general, and didn’t go as deep into any particular field as a being that made the field his trade. Having a desire to move on, Vahlim made attempts to persuade the dragon to part with him and the amulet. Vahlim was able to leave the dragon’s lair after 5 months in Girac’s company.
Since the time he obtained the amulet, Vahlim has made more enemies than just the Githyanki. And not only the Githyanki are searching for him through scriers. Vahlim is diligent in recording which entities and groups might go after his life. He reads through all of the dangers he might be facing, and the enemies he has made about every three days, making sure he doesn’t encounter someone who wants him dead that he is oblivious to (though this only works to an extent). He keeps the amulet extremely close, knowing that if he were to lose this amulet, he will likely lose his life with it.
The amulet was encased in a thin sheet of lead (prevents detect magic spell, if the DM rules that a sheet of lead would prevent the proof against detection from working then this would be removed from the backstory), kept on a steel chain around his neck, and held tightly against his chest by bandages, a security to prevent both pickpocketing and enemy awareness of the precious object in his possession; a possession he doesn’t even entreat allies or friends to the knowledge of.
Other information regarding Vahlim Mah’Kerraduess:
The elves, believing Vahlim to not be human, experimented using the spell banish to see which plane he belonged to (with consent of course, Vahlim was curious as well). What was found was that Vahlim wasn’t tied to any particular plane, he could go anywhere at random, and wasn’t anchored to the plane they were on either. Though he could end up anywhere, about a third or fourth of the time he ended up in the astral plane. It is theorized that he ended up in the astral plane more commonly due to that plane’s close connection to so many other planes. Some of these tests almost got him killed. One particular high elf elder asked if he wanted to be anchored to a plane, if that was possible. Vahlim was used for experimenting with the nature of planes (of course he became an authority on planar and interplanar knowledge himself, before the feeblemind that is), and in the end was anchored to the prime material plane (typical plane of forgotten realms). Banishment still sends him to a random plane but the banishment can’t be made permanent if cast from his anchored plane(concentrating on the spell for a minute). If he is banished from a different plane, he is more likely to end up on the prime material plane, but can still go elsewhere. Vahlim knew how to anchor a creature to a plane before the feeblemind incident. Of course he can still potentially look back into that knowledge through sleep or meditation.
Vahlim is trusting but doesn’t show all of his cards. He can make friends and will remain friends as long as that friend remains close. He doesn’t see friendship as something needing the attention of his journal, however (and is wary that if someone knew one of his previous friends, they could fake their identity to manipulate him). As such he can form attachments, but after 7 days of separation he will treat anyone as a stranger. This flaw has made enemies in its own right (not from friends, more-so from people who felt self-important and were forgotten by him). He does, however, record every clash (even simple clashes of interest) in his journal for the sake of self-preservation.
Though Vahlim records clashes, and the names of his enemies. He is a poor artist and doesn’t draw anything, as such he cannot remember faces from before 7 days ago. Anyone he hasn’t met or seen in 7 days truly becomes a total stranger. If he needs to know past relations of someone he has recently come in contact with, he can target those memories should he get the opportunity to rest after the encounter. In this way he can rekindle a friendship lost from memory.
One of the few ‘friends’ that is well noted in Vahlims journal is the brass dragon, though that was in part because he had to be wary of the dragon’s charades. Still, Vahlim is greatly impressed by the friendship he shared with the dragon. Because of his wariness Vahlim kept tabs on how many days he was in the dragon’s company, though, and is wary that if he ever met the dragon (or another brass dragon) it might be hard to escape again.
Because of the generalistic nature of the knowledge the brass dragon held, Vahlim noted in his journal that even though his time in the dragon’s presence was precious, it would probably be more beneficial to find a greedier chromatic variation of dragon and raid its lair for treasure, if possible kill the beast. This may allow for research of great magical objects (the dragons are more interested in owning the treasure than any properties of the treasure); as well as the funding of research from some great scholar, or bribery to know of greater knowledge. As of yet Vahlim lacks the confidence to raid a dragon’s lair, but his ambition for knowledge would certainly tempt him. Raiding a chromatic dragon’s lair is now a goal written in his journal.
In fact, Vahlim’s greatest idea of what to use a dragon’s treasure for, entails paying off a powerful wizard to assist him in raiding a mindflayer colony, with the goal of imprisoning an elder brain within a gem. Kerraduess salivates at the thought of possessing an elder brain in a ‘jar.’ His plan goes further, he will siphon what knowledge he can out of the elder brain, then when there is nothing more to gain from it, appeal to Vlaakith among the githyanki for the knowledge she, and her throne, possess. Vahlim’s ambition wouldn’t just stop him at imprisoning a single elder brain, he would surely continue his conquest as long as there were funds.
A few notes here.
Though wrote the dragon's knowledge was generalistic, I didn't mean his knowledge was shallow in any way. I was really pushing the realization that the dragon's don't particularly participate in research. Their knowledge may in fact be very deep in a topic, but they wouldn't know it as deeply as the scholar that figured it out. Dragons in my mind are highly intelligent, but a lot of what they may learn would come from the people they came in contact with. This fact is also pointed out when I mention that in raiding a dragon's lair one could learn a lot by researching the magic items in their possession. Dragons aren't so interested in learning why the item is magical in the way it is, how it became that way, or how to use similar magic---The dragon is interested simply in owning the treasure.
Something Vahlim did highly value from the dragon: he would have knowledge lost to the ages.
Vahlim highly values treasure that allows for interplanar travel.