Hi guys! So here is the backstory of a character idea I had for an upcoming campaign, which I thought was really interesting. Please, please, please, don't hesitate to leave a comment or feedback, any fixes, criticisms or compliments would be very much appreciated!
Meeting Tiamat.
“I must know!” Dak cried in abject desperation, even as his body quaked in sheer terror.
The dragon queen guffawed sinisterly in her discordant chorus. “Foolish mortal” Her five heads boomed. “You speak to a primeval goddess, mother and destroyer of entire worlds. I reign supreme of dragon-kind and have levelled entire civilisations, devouring uncountable souls. Yet here you cower before me and beg, what, for peace of mind? A sliver of knowledge? A word?”
White, Green, Blue and Black and Red; they all stared down at him. Insignificant, pitiful, trembling in the volcanic soil of her lair. Her alien features glared with unrivalled malice and contempt, yet something else glinted in them also.
“Yesss.” Tiamat said, voice tinged with amusement. “The hero-founder of your people came to me for my aid, only her demise. Her warrior soul was offered up to me by Vlaakath, her advisor at the time, in exchange for my support in seizing power.” Her heads paused for dramatic effect. “Your ‘great journey’ is a lie.”
Lie. The word resounded in Daks mind, dread clenching his heart in it’s cold fist.
“Enjoy the revelation young one.” Tiamat growled, lips curling back in a sneer. “Not that anyone will believe you. Just another mad theorist to be quietly assassinated by the lich-queen for their heresy.”
Dak felt sick to his stomach. Millenia of slaughter and unquestioning fanaticism for a ruse. The goddess was right. His overlord would demand his death for this knowledge.
“Help me, please!” Dak beseeched. “Open the eyes of my kin, help them see through Vlaakiths illusion!”
A colossal paw of talons slammed down to the stone before him, obliterating a new crater in the cavern floor in a shower of rubble. Teeth snapped, a rumble bubbled from her every throat. “You try my patience mortal.” Tiamat snarled. “You are Insolent for one of your wretchedness. But you misunderstand, the illusion is mine. It was my servant who spread word of Giths ascendence all those millennia ago, for the reign of your queen benefits me just fine. Why would I rid myself of such a valuable pawn? Throw away the vast tithes of riches she presents me from your kinsmen’s raids? No. I am content.”
“Then give me the power to resist her at least! If I have to fight and die in a futile insurrection, so be it! I will not sit idly by as her followers hunt me down and massacre others!”
The dragon rumbled. The head of her red dragon neck snaked down lower before him, lips curled back, dragonfire threatening to gush from her great fanged maw. Then she leered. “So be it.” Her jaw snapped open, flame rushing over his skin in searing agony. Every inch of his flesh burned as he screamed. Then it stopped.
Dak’s eyes opened. Great amber eyes glared into his. Dak glanced down at himself to find his body unharmed, without a single scorch, but a mysterious orange light flickered across his palms and glowed like a fiery lamp from within his chest. Then that too faded away.
The crimson head rumbled, great draconic eyes boring into his soul. Dak was all too aware of the heat, and the threat that even this single aspect of Tiamat looming before him. She could tear to shreds in a heartbeat with those teeth.
“Go with my blessing, warlock.” She chuckled deeply, red rearing back to join her chorus. “But make no mistake, I expect you to perish before the year is up. Your kin do not look kindly on deserters and cultists, nor should you expect mercy from my children, for I have no qualms if they incinerated your pathetic form, as I should have done the moment you set foot in my presence.” Tiamat leered. “But if -by some miracle- you survive first contact, perhaps I will find more use for you in the coming eternity. Good luck Githyanki.”
Nothing is ever straight-forward with Fiends. The more a Fiend seems to be direct, the less direct the Fiend is actually being.
Expect that Dak has been tricked somehow. Tiamat may be from the Hells - normally known for Lawfulness - but Tiamat also has the minds of five different dragons who do not share the exact same alignment. Do not expect Tiamat to always be Lawful.
For all we know, Gith is serving another purpose for Tiamat and will actually return when the task is complete - "sacrifice" can mean many things in all kinds of contexts, but the easy and believable assumptions surrounding Gith's departure made even more convincing by Ephelomon's decree could be the real falsehood to make Vlaakath's interim rule a precarious one. Tiamat may be expecting the Githyanki to implode before Gith can return. Goading Dak into rebellion might serve that purpose.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Let's not forget: The only deal made here was the power to resist Vlaakath. There was no deal made to defeat Vlaakath or any of her supporters - as you pointed out - and also no deal have the truth of Gith revealed to Dak or anyone else. Nothing was offered to Tiamat for the information and it is likely that Tiamat gave nothing that Dak didn't already believe - truth or not.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Absolutely! Thank you so much for your input EricHVela! Absolutely, Tiamat is probably more scheming under the surface.
I kinda skipped the whole offering thing, yeah. More than anything it's just that I'm not really sure what Dak could possibly have offered the dragon goddess at level 0, so I left it in the dark and just made him beg for the truth, whether it actually is the truth or not, who knows. I also thought it would be wise to mention that he will not be given any leeway or favour by the dragon in his survivability because who knows what the DM will throw at us, though I do know mindflayers and githyanki will be involved in a threeway battle over Faerun.
Dak has reason to defend himself and the region he hid away at, and to hunt the mindflayers whilst fending off his kin.
Anyway, thanks again for your awesome reply! :)
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Hi guys! So here is the backstory of a character idea I had for an upcoming campaign, which I thought was really interesting. Please, please, please, don't hesitate to leave a comment or feedback, any fixes, criticisms or compliments would be very much appreciated!
Meeting Tiamat.
“I must know!” Dak cried in abject desperation, even as his body quaked in sheer terror.
The dragon queen guffawed sinisterly in her discordant chorus. “Foolish mortal” Her five heads boomed. “You speak to a primeval goddess, mother and destroyer of entire worlds. I reign supreme of dragon-kind and have levelled entire civilisations, devouring uncountable souls. Yet here you cower before me and beg, what, for peace of mind? A sliver of knowledge? A word?”
White, Green, Blue and Black and Red; they all stared down at him. Insignificant, pitiful, trembling in the volcanic soil of her lair. Her alien features glared with unrivalled malice and contempt, yet something else glinted in them also.
“Yesss.” Tiamat said, voice tinged with amusement. “The hero-founder of your people came to me for my aid, only her demise. Her warrior soul was offered up to me by Vlaakath, her advisor at the time, in exchange for my support in seizing power.” Her heads paused for dramatic effect. “Your ‘great journey’ is a lie.”
Lie. The word resounded in Daks mind, dread clenching his heart in it’s cold fist.
“Enjoy the revelation young one.” Tiamat growled, lips curling back in a sneer. “Not that anyone will believe you. Just another mad theorist to be quietly assassinated by the lich-queen for their heresy.”
Dak felt sick to his stomach. Millenia of slaughter and unquestioning fanaticism for a ruse. The goddess was right. His overlord would demand his death for this knowledge.
“Help me, please!” Dak beseeched. “Open the eyes of my kin, help them see through Vlaakiths illusion!”
A colossal paw of talons slammed down to the stone before him, obliterating a new crater in the cavern floor in a shower of rubble. Teeth snapped, a rumble bubbled from her every throat. “You try my patience mortal.” Tiamat snarled. “You are Insolent for one of your wretchedness. But you misunderstand, the illusion is mine. It was my servant who spread word of Giths ascendence all those millennia ago, for the reign of your queen benefits me just fine. Why would I rid myself of such a valuable pawn? Throw away the vast tithes of riches she presents me from your kinsmen’s raids? No. I am content.”
“Then give me the power to resist her at least! If I have to fight and die in a futile insurrection, so be it! I will not sit idly by as her followers hunt me down and massacre others!”
The dragon rumbled. The head of her red dragon neck snaked down lower before him, lips curled back, dragonfire threatening to gush from her great fanged maw. Then she leered. “So be it.” Her jaw snapped open, flame rushing over his skin in searing agony. Every inch of his flesh burned as he screamed. Then it stopped.
Dak’s eyes opened. Great amber eyes glared into his. Dak glanced down at himself to find his body unharmed, without a single scorch, but a mysterious orange light flickered across his palms and glowed like a fiery lamp from within his chest. Then that too faded away.
The crimson head rumbled, great draconic eyes boring into his soul. Dak was all too aware of the heat, and the threat that even this single aspect of Tiamat looming before him. She could tear to shreds in a heartbeat with those teeth.
“Go with my blessing, warlock.” She chuckled deeply, red rearing back to join her chorus. “But make no mistake, I expect you to perish before the year is up. Your kin do not look kindly on deserters and cultists, nor should you expect mercy from my children, for I have no qualms if they incinerated your pathetic form, as I should have done the moment you set foot in my presence.” Tiamat leered. “But if -by some miracle- you survive first contact, perhaps I will find more use for you in the coming eternity. Good luck Githyanki.”
Nothing is ever straight-forward with Fiends. The more a Fiend seems to be direct, the less direct the Fiend is actually being.
Expect that Dak has been tricked somehow. Tiamat may be from the Hells - normally known for Lawfulness - but Tiamat also has the minds of five different dragons who do not share the exact same alignment. Do not expect Tiamat to always be Lawful.
For all we know, Gith is serving another purpose for Tiamat and will actually return when the task is complete - "sacrifice" can mean many things in all kinds of contexts, but the easy and believable assumptions surrounding Gith's departure made even more convincing by Ephelomon's decree could be the real falsehood to make Vlaakath's interim rule a precarious one. Tiamat may be expecting the Githyanki to implode before Gith can return. Goading Dak into rebellion might serve that purpose.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Let's not forget: The only deal made here was the power to resist Vlaakath. There was no deal made to defeat Vlaakath or any of her supporters - as you pointed out - and also no deal have the truth of Gith revealed to Dak or anyone else. Nothing was offered to Tiamat for the information and it is likely that Tiamat gave nothing that Dak didn't already believe - truth or not.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Absolutely! Thank you so much for your input EricHVela! Absolutely, Tiamat is probably more scheming under the surface.
I kinda skipped the whole offering thing, yeah. More than anything it's just that I'm not really sure what Dak could possibly have offered the dragon goddess at level 0, so I left it in the dark and just made him beg for the truth, whether it actually is the truth or not, who knows. I also thought it would be wise to mention that he will not be given any leeway or favour by the dragon in his survivability because who knows what the DM will throw at us, though I do know mindflayers and githyanki will be involved in a threeway battle over Faerun.
Dak has reason to defend himself and the region he hid away at, and to hunt the mindflayers whilst fending off his kin.
Anyway, thanks again for your awesome reply! :)