OOC - Fiend's Embrace - D&D One-Shot Adventure

Land Outcast said:

Hum... that's some too-little info but... Would you be ok with a:
Tiefling Warlock? (Tiefling Sorc 3)
Aasimar Defender? (Aasimar Ftr2/Pal1)
Half-orc Swampthreader? (Half-orc Rng 4)

Click to expand...

wmasters said:

I posted interest before the crash, and am still interested! Glad to see that the game's going ahead.

Having established that my mounted warrior isn't appropriate, the character I was looking at was a human bard, a charismatic character that has no qualms about 'persuading' people of what they should be doing. Spells focus on enchantment and healing, as well as Inspirational Boost. Feats are probably Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment) and Extra Music.

I said I'd flesh this out a little with more background - I must admit that I haven't thought about it too much while EN World has been down, and wanted to see that the game was going ahead afterwards before I gave it too much attention. I'll pull together a bit more background for it soon now though.

Click to expand...

The scion of a farflung clan of dwarven brewmeisters, Harval Barleybeard is adventuring to raise the wergild to pay for the death of another dwarf he killed in his dwarfhold in a drunken rage and unable to return home until he does.

His time on the road has not been kind to Harval: Already not what anyone would consider a pretty dwarf, his nose has been badly broken, a chunk has been bitten out of his right ear and the thick golden red hair that once covered his right forearm has been burned off by acid, replaced with a livid red scar. But his green eyes are still bright, his braided beard and mustache are still thick and lustrous, his bald pate shiny and surprisingly unscarred and his limbs strong. At some point after a hard night of drinking, he thought it was a good idea to get the holy symbol of his god, the mug of Hanseath the Bearded One, tattooed on his left bicep, which he shows off proudly.

Much to the frustration of his clan elders, Harval never showed any interest in the clan's business, whether it was buying grain from human farmers, brewing the beer or selling it to dwarfholds. He couldn't even focus enough to learn how to read and write properly, relying on his brothers and many cousins for that, who mostly brought him along as a bodyguard on trading expeditions.

Despite his bluster, the dwarf is very insecure about not "being lettered" and his lack of education, as well as feeling a profound sense of shame about what led to his exile. Unfortunately, all of these are hidden behind a great deal of bravado and his hidden resentments and insecurities typically manifest as bouts of great rage, punctuated by vivid obscenities. He always suspects non-dwarves of talking down to him and of being an embarassment to other dwarves, and he reacts to both sorts of perceived slights by pushing away others and, eventually, rage.

His primary goal is to acquire enough gold to return home as quickly as possible, with a secondary goal of becoming a better dwarf, including, eventually, learning how to read and learning enough about beer to become useful to his clan as something other than a reliable pair of fists. So far, his primary method of research has been drinking until he falls down.

Those who have encountered Harval typically recall him as a drunken lout, but those who have fought beside (or against him) remember him instead as a spitting, cursing, snarling whirlwind of violence, which he seeks to call upon for the right reasons, with increasing success.

In his dreams, he follows a bear with fur the color of his beard northwards, ever northwards. What the bear is leading him towards, he does not know, but finds his feet turning north in his travels.

"Harval, what is best in life?"

"Fightin', eatin', drinkin', screwin', crappin'. Not necessarily in that order."

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Baeril Nebehed Callad Segerf Wanderwild Underhill is a well-off gnome from the secluded community of Greenfields.

The Underhill farm is a particularly prosperous one, and as one of the younger members of the large Clan Underhill, young Baeril had a great deal of time on his hands and the young gnome has gone on extended "vacations" into the outside world, visiting places of interest and sketching them and writing about them in his green leather-bound journal. (He wears gold-rimmed reading glasses when reading or writing in his journal, but can get along fine without them by squinting.) His last vacation included getting a degree from the Ignes School of Illusion at the Redhurst Academy of Magic, lasting several years, and he wears a signet ring bearing the school's crest as a souvenir.

Baeril is a chubby 71-year-old gnome, with a significant potbelly: He is 3' 5" tall and weighs 48 pounds. He has an unruly mop of curly blonde hair, bright green eyes and round apple cheeks. His traveling wardrobe includes a pair of leather shorts with built-in suspenders known as "lederhosen" in Gnomish and which are embroidered with mountain flowers on the waist. Beneath that he wears an elegant white shirt with pearl buttons, although he often throws on a heavy green woolen sweater atop his outfit along with a matching green woolen cloak. He wears green woolen knee socks and what he calls "sensible walking shoes," but which most would consider to be heavyweight leather hiking boots. Topping the entire outfit off is a heavy velour hat dyed a dark red with a rabbit fur brush above his left ear. When possible, he has added small souvenir pins from the places he has visited to his hat, which jingle very softly when he walks. His club is a sturdy walking stick, with a leather thong looped through the top as a wrist strap and shod at its tip with a steel point.

Baeril knows a little bit about everything, but is insatiably curious about the outside world, asking questions and scribbling in his journal. He remains sunny and cheerful in almost all circumstances, although he hates missing a meal, and hunger is one of the few things that will make a dent in his mood.

He sometimes smokes an elaborately carved Meerschaum pipe. He has a habit of singing softly to himself in a strange fashion he calls "yodeling."

His familiar is a small thrush named Half-Penny who is typically found riding along on Baeril's shoulder, his hat or the top of his walking stick. Half-Penny speaks Gnomish, but typically only speaks to her master.

Click to expand...