Kai Lord
Hero
Hey everyone,
Todd Lockwood was going to choose his favorite character to draw from the ENWorld Contest, but after narrowing it down to 10, he stated its so close he would like me to post a poll to help him decide. I'll leave the poll open for three days, and then send him the results. He may or may not choose the winner of the poll, but he is interested in your opinions before he makes his final decision.
He considered all the Finalists to be "Good choices!" but the Top 10 in particular he described as all having "sound fantasy stock with some inventive details" that he found particularly "compelling." Congratulations!
Read all 10 entries before voting and have fun! The winner will be announced by this weekend!
TODD LOCKWOOD'S TOP 10:
1. Krail Stromquism
Krail is an attractive woman in her early 20s. Her eyes are piercing but open and expressive. They retain an attractive innocence yet harbor a knowing maturity. If you've ever met someone and felt they had an "old soul", Krail exudes that quality. Young beauty harboring aged maturity.
Shes young and attractive, beautiful some would say. She has a strong voluptuous body and dresses to show it off. She has no qualms exploiting the weakness of men to her advantage especially in combat.
Her arms and armor are always silvered with a heavy black patina worked into the recesses and designed to show off her form. I envision the impossible plate mail boustier, cut low for ample cleavage. (Krails starting to sound really slutty but I swear shes not, I am, but thats another story)
She has a few favorite accessories. One is a Collar of Domination and its your run of the mill studded black leather (dog) collar. Her Custom built Wings of Flying, a long cloak of darkest raven feathers, it trails on the ground. A flaming long sword, no doubt a personal affront to her father and his choice of weaponry. And a Silvered Shield to match her armor.
Early on in her career shes gets tainted by chaos along with most of the rest of the PCs and pics up an oddity or two. First, tattoos, sharp, abstract, angular, tribal tattoos appear in various places on her body. Later on, in a second tainting, they all connect and begin to shift and change and move around on her body. In a final taintfilled episode she grows rams horns. She likes to keep her hair long.
2. Zanatose Everhate
As a towering pillar of muscled darkness, Zanatose Everhate stands a massive 15 ft. tall, draped in midnight robes of his station as the Arch Necromancer of the Realms. Being in posession of a body carved from obsidian, the Arch Necromancer appears to be an obsidian golem shaped to look like an battle hardened drow male (with a more human-looking body than the graceful elven form). His old body, that of a dessicated drow lich, lies encapsuled inside the stone that now contains his life essence and serves as his body.
His head, containing no decoration appearing as hair, is smooth, shiney, and covered in runic carvings which spill lavender and black flames all along his head and shoulders. This 'shadow mantle' crackles constantly, but doesn't seem to affect any of his clothing or items that might be around his head. His eyes are two large blood rubies which seem as expressive and pliable as living eyes. His face is sharp and angular (being made of hard to carve volcanic glass, one can expect that) with his chin being a flat chisled plain. A smile never crosses this creature's face, but it isn't known whether or not if it was carved like that or if he is just never satisfied with his own 'imperfections'. Unlike golems, Zanatose Everhate still moves as a living creature having no noticeable segments at the joints suggesting the body he possesses is fake at all.
His clothing is a volumous robe which remains open most of the time to show his chiseled chest and abdominal muscles (Think of the way Yul Brenner dressed in the 'King and I'). The robe itself seems to move as if in pain from touching its wearer. Faces, tortured and silently screaming, often form within its folds as he moves. When light shines upon it, noticeable runes can be seen floating and moving along the cloth. A belt of human and humanoid faces (sewn together at the sides) wraps his waist like a sash, holding spell component pouches in their sewn shut mouths. His massive legs are wrapped from his waist to just above his 'ankles' in black strips of cloth reminescent of a burial shroud (made to capture bodily fluids during mummification). His 'feet' aren't feet at all, but were completely carved to resemble boots.
Zanatose's weapons are a staff which is more than 20 ft. in length called 'Archimedes of the Huddled Masses', his spells, and the foot long razor claws which tip each of his unnatural fingers. Archimedes is a adamantite shaft decorated with thousands of precious black gems. The far end of the staff ends in a massive killing fork weapon and the three dimensional illusion of a skull which floats at the top of the staff spins and cackles manically in hundreds of different voices (thus, the 'Huddled Masses' title). This intelligent weapon never leaves Zanatose's possession and can always be seen within at least 30 ft. of the god of necromancy. The weapon is quite insane, being embeded with souls from when Zanatose was still 'mortal' and used it in combat. These souls often become the staff's dominant personality and annoy the lich-god to no end. His last weapon is a massive spellbook which is seemingly tied to his left hand by a thread of darkness. This book contains all necromancy spells which exist and those that will be created in the future of the Forgotten Realms. It has no specific appearance, as it constantly changes to resemble each and every book in which a new necromancy spell is penned. When a new spell is created, the book instantly changes to appear as the first book it is placed in.
3. Arianna Flamelocks
Class: Bard
Gender and race: Female Half-Elf
Height and weight: 5'9", 135 lbs.
Eyes and hair: Green, red
Age: 38
Possessing long, muscular legs and a lithe, dancer’s body, Arianna usually attracted her share of men’s attention. Her red hair was cut short, spikey on top. Tonight her green eyes and milky skin were set off by her all–black outfit: a strapless leather bustier, tight–fitting leggings, and soft leather boots cut to come just above the knee. Hanging from each slightly–pointed ear — an inheritance from her elven sire — was a silver chain ending in a small emerald. Dangling from the thin, black leather choker around her neck was a teardrop–cut emerald. Fingerless black silk opera gloves stretched the length of her arms. While her swordbelt and rapier hung in a kitchen alcove along with her hooded cloak, a dagger with a hilt of malachite scales was tucked away in the top of her right boot, in case the audience got too rowdy.
Arianna pulled her masterwork lute, an instrument she had lovingly crafted with her own hands, into her lap and began to tune it, her long, dexterous fingers caressing the catgut strings, ivory frets, and smooth mahogany pegs. After she finished, she ran her right hand through her hair and considered her opening number. Then another smile crept across her face as she decided how she would catch the crowd’s attention. She started to pluck and strum the lute’s strings. Four glowing spheres of light swept out through the tavern, barely missing the heads of several patrons. After reaching the back of the room, the spheres reversed course and arced back to the stage, drawing the attention of almost everyone in the room to Arianna. She began to sing in a strong, confident contralto that pierced the tavern’s quickly diminishing din.
4. Jacc Swinn the Swindler Bard
Ol' Jacc is the epitome of the raffish bawd: he sings poorly but makes up for it in volume. He can always be counted on for a good story (most of which prominantly feature himself). Jacc Swinn always tells the truth, but only if it makes a good story.
Jacc fancies himself comely, and is undoubtedly handsome in a rough-hewn sort of way. He sports a brass tooth and energetically courts the ladies. Jacc Swinn neither brushes twice a day, nor is he adverse to smelling of salami. Fortunately, he does not object to others sporting the same qualities.
He wears a multi-hued cloak patched together from various sources. Bells and baubles jangle from every button on his outfit. His shoes are often mismatched. He keeps a whistle tied to his neck that he suspects has magical properties -- if for no other reason than when he gets to blowing it, his friends dissappear.
Swinn fights masterfully with a most unlikely weapon: he wields a long, dented clarion (a sort of straight bugle blown by mideavil heralds and such). He is chaotic and self-absorbed, but fundamentally decent sort of fellow. He is like a wild uncle that never grew up.
His main sidekick is a giant pair of voluptuous magical lips with the unlikely name of..."Lips". Having been magically saddled to Swinn as the result of a curse (by a powerful sorceress who objected to a kiss he gave to her daughter...which Swinn subsequently denied), Lips floats behind Swinn and offers sarcastic commentary on Swinn's activities. Although Swinn is now powerful enough to have absented himself from this unlikely companion, some soft spot in him has prevented him from doing so.
5. Arlis Duskrider “the Blindfighter”
Human Male Ex-Monk/Barbarian/Fighter 2/2/4
Str: 18, Dex: 15(17), Con: 12, Int: 10, Wis: 15(17), Cha:9
Description:
Arlis is a massive figure, standing over six feet tall as is sometimes seen for those of Damaran descent. His entire frame is heavily muscled, and his foes are sometimes taken unaware when he proves how limber he is as well. His ancestry shows itself through his ice-white skin, short-cropped blond hair, and blue eyes. His eyes are rarely seen, however, as they are typically covered by a bandage that has been stained brown over time by head injuries that have bled into it unchecked. Having lived a hard life, often on the wrong side of the axe, his body is scarred in many places from cuts gone untreated. Though numerous, none of the scars differentiate Arlis from any other mercenary in the Realms. He bears his chest to the world, exposing the scars for all to see. People shake their heads in disbelief on cold Sword Coast evenings when Arlis arrives, not even shivering. They mutter that he must have been borne to a Frost giant to be so inured to the cold. His cleanly shaven face might have even been called attractive, if not for the bandage and his other tattered clothing. Arlis doesn’t seem to let anything bother him, the least of which is his clothes. He wears a pair of frayed breeches that allows him to move freely, much like the Broken Ones of his native, frigid land. Often times, Arlis can be seen crouched on an outcropping of rock, staring off at something unseen, his eyebrow cocked as he attempts to identify the sound. His lips are usually pressed together unless quietly giving advice to others or opened wide in a battlecry.
6. Balin Cormaeril, Bard and Paladin of Helm
This is how Balin looked back in the day.
He wore a suit of mithral full plate armor. It was enchanted with the Silent Moves and Shadow (Which is what made it black) abilities, allowing Balin to move stealthily, despite being fully armored. The helm was shaped as the head of a dragon, and the whole of the armor had a draconic theme to it. Balin also wore a purple cloak.
Balin wielded several weapons, continuing the draconic theme. The first was a Holy longsword ("Dragon's Tooth"), on the pommel of which he had a Holy Symbol of Helm. He had a Repeating Crossbow ("Dragon's Breath"), the front of which was designed to look like the mouth of a dragon, which fired Acidic bolts. He was also armed with a whip ("Dragon's Tail") of Disarming, and a heavy lance ("Dragon's Claw"). Lastly, he wielded a black shield bearing a Purple Dragon.
While still having some grey in his hair, it wasn't as prominent as it is, now. He was also clean shaven with hair cut short, and didn't have the beer gut which he has, now.
7. Gratis
Archmage - Male Sun Elf
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Physical appearance;
Gratis is a handsome elf, stern & intelligent looking. Piercing golden eyes & long blond hair, creatively interlaced with intricate braids, give Gratis what some have called in the past "the look of a noble". His otherwise handsome visage is presently marred by but one flaw (however Gratis considers it very striking). A twisted & barbed silver head band of intellect which seems to grow forth from his temples. This specially constructed ominous piece of jewellery has been magically grafted to Gratis's skull, a sinister artificial birthmark & crown the same.
He sports 3 visible magical tattoo's, beautiful calligraphic works he has created & enchants daily. The first 2 are nearly identical in appearance, (outwardly visible only on his forearms due to dress) and each run from the tips of his middle finger, up the length of his arm, ending at the shoulders. The third begins just above his navel & runs up his torso until it reaches his neck at which point it splits in two, circling like a necklace in the front, then arcing up on the side(s) of his neck to finish behind each of his ears.
The archmage is generally seen as a loner, often ditching the members of his party when in more public settings. However Gratis is almost never alone. His faithful Imp familiar Heccubus is always sitting (normally invisible) on his shoulder. Those who know & have met Heccubus fear him. Not due to Imp's powerful master, but because of the small black devil's own formidable talents. This twisted winged taste of hellfire is fiercely protective of Gratis & Gratis alone, turning on any and all who attempt to do His master harm.
Gratis's tends to dress for function & utility, rarely for aesthetics. Spell component bandoleers, high black suede boots, trousers (no pockets), white tunics (generally with the sleeves rolled up), dual black gloves of storing, & a cloak of the arachnid comprise his typical dress. Cleanliness is paramount, and some rightfully say obsessive, for Gratis. Everyday without fail he spends 1 hour in the morning & before bedtime magically cleaning himself, & his familiar. Then mending even the smallest of imperfections from his garments. Gratis consumes only magically created food & drink (which was a HUGE pain when he was a low level character).
8. Haldiir Kaldeskyre
Human Male, Chaotic Good
Barbarian 5, Fighter 5
STR 18 DEX 16 CON 20 INT 10 WIS 12 CHA 08
HP 116 AC 18 SPD 40 ft
Physical Description
Haldiir stands 6'3" in height and weighs about 220 lbs. He is 24 years old. His hair is black, although he keeps it cut to about half an inch to avoid having it used against him in fights. His eyes are ice blue. His physique is that of a life dedicated to combat and manual labour; well-muscled but not overly bulky, built for strength and durability. He has a wardog tatoo on his left shoulder, basically a black death's head with dog ears. A jagged scar runs from beside his left eye down to his jawline, a memento from a fight with a skeleton. His nose has been broken several times, a feature that has done little to improve his grim features.
Haldiir wears a chain shirt for armour, accompanied by an open-faced helm with a nose guard. The helm features two large black horns mounted on the sides that curve down to stand out 4-6 inches from his face. He will not say what creature the horns came from, but he insists that it was "not very pleasant.". His primary weapon is a keen greatsword +1, a sturdy though nameless weapon given to him by his former master. He also carries a heavy mace and a mighty composite longbow. His clothes are simple but sturdy traveling gear. Being a rather superstitious man, he wears a black feather around his neck that he waves at anything he feels is bad luck or evil. Most people assume that it is a raven or crow feather, but if asked Haldiir will explain it is actually a chicken feather. When pressed as to the effectiveness of a chicken feather in warding off evil or foul luck, Haldiir simply shrugs and says: "It was a black chicken. It tasted good. That seems lucky somehow."
Haldiir wears a ring on each hand. On his right hand is a Ring of Protection +1 which is just a simple bronze ring. On his left hand is a silver ring set with a triangular azure gemstone. This is a ring that bestows the protection against mind-control and possesion of the Protection From Evil spell, although only on effects/spells produced by evil creatures. He wears an Amulet of Natural Armour +1 around his neck, a bone disk carved in the shape of a turtle shell. Haldiir also wears a plain brown traveling cloak which is actually a Cloak of Resistance +1.
9. Talinthas Shadeslayn
Talinthas Shadeslayn (dragonlance character)
Male Sylvanesti elf Rogue/Shadow dancer (align TN)
Age- well over 500 years old.
Tal is an elf of about 5'5. The many soul drains and transfers he has endured have left him rather emaciated looking, with almost porcelin white, thinly stretched skin. However, following the ceremony by Dauroth, he has started to look a little more lively, with a fuller face and a shade darker skin. This change has been slow to come though, as his body has had five hundred years of abuse thrust upon it.
His hair is caught in a shoulder length pony tail, bound by an ornate clasp in the style of the tribe of his upbringing. However, it is notable that there are two streaks of molten silver hair that start at his eyebrows and go back to the end of his hair length.
His ears are raggedly cut at the tips, a symbol of his childhood, and his eyes, once a startling hazel/green, are now completely silver, with black irises and small red pupils. When he opens his mouth, his teeth are fanged, but as he never smiles, people hardly notice.
Around his neck is a battered coppery-green medallion impressed with the image of a Rose and Mantis, symbols of the God Majere, and only relic of Tal's birth. His clothing reflects his profession, and is black leather meant to blend in with shadows and appear completely unobtrusive from his coat to his thick hunting boots.
Around his waist are an assortment of pouches and packs, and two weapon holsters. One holds a blessed mace of disruption, granted to him by Majere during the Chaos war, and the other holding an ancient hunting knife dating to pre cataclysm tribes of the Plains of Dust.
However, these are all mundane things, for that which makes the Shadeslayn most noticable are the omnipresent shadows and spirits that dwell around him. Those who are Spiritually inclined, or dabble in Necromancy, can see that there are always shades and spirts in orbit around Tal, the way an electron orbits a nucleus. At times of trouble, Tal can gather these spirits and expel them in a damaging blast towards his enemies. Whenever the Shadeslayn walks into an area, all incorporeal undead, restless spirits, and lost souls are immediatly attracted to his presence, so this orbit is continually renewed. When normal, untalented people are around him, they get the eerie feeling that they are being watched, or feel a ghostly wind down their backs, or hear a faint whistle of haunted air. When clerics attempt to determine the presence of undead, Tal glows like a beacon to them.
For the most part though, the Shadeslayn is an elf in his 500th year of his existance, with much of that time spent in extreme pain and anguish. As such, his life view is bleak and dark, and he tends not to associate with people as much. The soul ceremonies have granted him a form of immortality, which the tired mind of Tal craves not at all. Some sages have likened it to the curse of Lord Soth, but worse, as Tal had done nothing to deserve this fate but be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
With the end of the War of Souls near, and the freeing of the trapped spirits, only time will tell what happens to the elf without a soul.
10. T’aria
T’aria is one of the rare cambions (half fiend, half human) that survived to adulthood. When first met, she would be constantly mistaken for a satyr… except for the fact that there are no female satyrs, and satyrs are not six-foot-one in height. Her fiendish heritage is difficult to hide in her physical appearance, although she can do so from all except the most observant when she wishes. She has 3-inch forehead horns, goat legs complete with cloven hooves, slight fangs noticeable when she smiles, and claws that even when retracted are often noted as unfashionably long and sharp fingernails. Ignoring those physical attributes, she has the appearance of a rather attractive human female of about 24 years of age (though she is truly over 100). T’aria has long, thick curly black hair with striking deep red highlights shot through it. Her hair falls past her waist, and is naturally falls into that attractive, semi-wild, tumbled curls state many women struggle to achieve. She will often plait small silver and crystal beads into it using small, hardly-noticeable braids for an accent. She always has at least two tiny, (unnoticeable in the wild mass of hair) finger-length poisoned silver daggers in sheaths that are braided into the mass of hair above her shoulders. Naturally, these are “Just for emergencies.”
While in her home city of Sigil or elsewhere where her demonic heritage is not a cause for immediate panic, T’aria generally wears more daring attire consisting of a black leather shorts that reveal her legs and cloven hooves, as well as a leather-and-silk top. The top is a simple band of black leather wide enough to cover her ample chest with a network of thin straps to hold it over her shoulders. A foot-wide length of silver-grey sheer silk is sewed to the bottom of the leather, in effect covering her torso from just below her chest to her waist. The overall effect is of the top half of a babydoll teddy, or some similar form of lingerie. One of her companions once wondered aloud which succubus she had robbed for her wardrobe.
When T’aria travels on the Prime Material Plane (where people are generally less accepting of her heritage than the Planes, and her home city of Sigil), she generally uses her skills at disguise along with many years of practice to assume the appearance of a ‘normal’, though highly exotic, human. While in disguise, she rarely utilizes her full six-foot-one height, instead opting to stand about five foot nine, allowing to her legs (and extensive practice) to alter her apparent height. She generally wears a unique headband studded with three-inch spikes that are set two inches apart and are slightly curved to match her forehead horns perfectly. Two of the ‘spikes’ are missing, and there are holes in the headband to correspond to where they would be set; when the headband is on and her horns are through the holes, it is nearly impossible to tell that it is anything other than an unusual piece of jewelry. A full, floor-length gypsy-like skirt conceals her legs and hooves. From the waist up, however, she generally wears much more daring attire – a form-fitting black leather vest, low-cut (and laced only far enough to barely be acceptable in public) is one of her favorites.
There is only one part of her appearance that is only rarely hidden when she travels to the Prime Material Plane. On T’aria’s right arm, she has a large design with geometrically precise and complex curves and twists tattooed to her skin. The design flows from the top of her forearm down, gradually spreading until it wraps completely around her arm at her wrist, where it ill-conceals (but serves to distract from) an old scar, which appears to have been the result of her wrist being nearly completely severed at some time in the past. The tattoo narrows and continues over the top of the back of her hand to her middle finger, on which she wears a silver ring set with a large gem that appears to be a black diamond the same smoky colour as her tattoo. The ink used replicates that smoky shadow-grey that true shadows have; and if one looks too long at the tattoo, it seems to shift slightly with her movements and breath as if it were truly a shadow projected onto the skin. When asked, T’aria merely shrugs and says it is simply a well-done tattoo – nothing more, nothing less.
Although her physical appearance is the most noticeable, T’aria has other, less blatant, traits inherited from her demonic sire. When she becomes angry, her eyes change from their normal cat-like green to a deep red, and seem to glow slightly. Her claws become excruciatingly noticeable (as she either cannot, or does not, retract them), her horns lengthen to between five and six inches, and she is surrounded by the smell of the Abyss – sulfur and brimstone. However, few people have seen her descend deep enough into anger to the point of her losing control, and fewer still have lived to tell the tale.
Todd Lockwood was going to choose his favorite character to draw from the ENWorld Contest, but after narrowing it down to 10, he stated its so close he would like me to post a poll to help him decide. I'll leave the poll open for three days, and then send him the results. He may or may not choose the winner of the poll, but he is interested in your opinions before he makes his final decision.
He considered all the Finalists to be "Good choices!" but the Top 10 in particular he described as all having "sound fantasy stock with some inventive details" that he found particularly "compelling." Congratulations!
Read all 10 entries before voting and have fun! The winner will be announced by this weekend!
TODD LOCKWOOD'S TOP 10:
1. Krail Stromquism
Krail is an attractive woman in her early 20s. Her eyes are piercing but open and expressive. They retain an attractive innocence yet harbor a knowing maturity. If you've ever met someone and felt they had an "old soul", Krail exudes that quality. Young beauty harboring aged maturity.
Shes young and attractive, beautiful some would say. She has a strong voluptuous body and dresses to show it off. She has no qualms exploiting the weakness of men to her advantage especially in combat.
Her arms and armor are always silvered with a heavy black patina worked into the recesses and designed to show off her form. I envision the impossible plate mail boustier, cut low for ample cleavage. (Krails starting to sound really slutty but I swear shes not, I am, but thats another story)
She has a few favorite accessories. One is a Collar of Domination and its your run of the mill studded black leather (dog) collar. Her Custom built Wings of Flying, a long cloak of darkest raven feathers, it trails on the ground. A flaming long sword, no doubt a personal affront to her father and his choice of weaponry. And a Silvered Shield to match her armor.
Early on in her career shes gets tainted by chaos along with most of the rest of the PCs and pics up an oddity or two. First, tattoos, sharp, abstract, angular, tribal tattoos appear in various places on her body. Later on, in a second tainting, they all connect and begin to shift and change and move around on her body. In a final taintfilled episode she grows rams horns. She likes to keep her hair long.
2. Zanatose Everhate
As a towering pillar of muscled darkness, Zanatose Everhate stands a massive 15 ft. tall, draped in midnight robes of his station as the Arch Necromancer of the Realms. Being in posession of a body carved from obsidian, the Arch Necromancer appears to be an obsidian golem shaped to look like an battle hardened drow male (with a more human-looking body than the graceful elven form). His old body, that of a dessicated drow lich, lies encapsuled inside the stone that now contains his life essence and serves as his body.
His head, containing no decoration appearing as hair, is smooth, shiney, and covered in runic carvings which spill lavender and black flames all along his head and shoulders. This 'shadow mantle' crackles constantly, but doesn't seem to affect any of his clothing or items that might be around his head. His eyes are two large blood rubies which seem as expressive and pliable as living eyes. His face is sharp and angular (being made of hard to carve volcanic glass, one can expect that) with his chin being a flat chisled plain. A smile never crosses this creature's face, but it isn't known whether or not if it was carved like that or if he is just never satisfied with his own 'imperfections'. Unlike golems, Zanatose Everhate still moves as a living creature having no noticeable segments at the joints suggesting the body he possesses is fake at all.
His clothing is a volumous robe which remains open most of the time to show his chiseled chest and abdominal muscles (Think of the way Yul Brenner dressed in the 'King and I'). The robe itself seems to move as if in pain from touching its wearer. Faces, tortured and silently screaming, often form within its folds as he moves. When light shines upon it, noticeable runes can be seen floating and moving along the cloth. A belt of human and humanoid faces (sewn together at the sides) wraps his waist like a sash, holding spell component pouches in their sewn shut mouths. His massive legs are wrapped from his waist to just above his 'ankles' in black strips of cloth reminescent of a burial shroud (made to capture bodily fluids during mummification). His 'feet' aren't feet at all, but were completely carved to resemble boots.
Zanatose's weapons are a staff which is more than 20 ft. in length called 'Archimedes of the Huddled Masses', his spells, and the foot long razor claws which tip each of his unnatural fingers. Archimedes is a adamantite shaft decorated with thousands of precious black gems. The far end of the staff ends in a massive killing fork weapon and the three dimensional illusion of a skull which floats at the top of the staff spins and cackles manically in hundreds of different voices (thus, the 'Huddled Masses' title). This intelligent weapon never leaves Zanatose's possession and can always be seen within at least 30 ft. of the god of necromancy. The weapon is quite insane, being embeded with souls from when Zanatose was still 'mortal' and used it in combat. These souls often become the staff's dominant personality and annoy the lich-god to no end. His last weapon is a massive spellbook which is seemingly tied to his left hand by a thread of darkness. This book contains all necromancy spells which exist and those that will be created in the future of the Forgotten Realms. It has no specific appearance, as it constantly changes to resemble each and every book in which a new necromancy spell is penned. When a new spell is created, the book instantly changes to appear as the first book it is placed in.
3. Arianna Flamelocks
Class: Bard
Gender and race: Female Half-Elf
Height and weight: 5'9", 135 lbs.
Eyes and hair: Green, red
Age: 38
Possessing long, muscular legs and a lithe, dancer’s body, Arianna usually attracted her share of men’s attention. Her red hair was cut short, spikey on top. Tonight her green eyes and milky skin were set off by her all–black outfit: a strapless leather bustier, tight–fitting leggings, and soft leather boots cut to come just above the knee. Hanging from each slightly–pointed ear — an inheritance from her elven sire — was a silver chain ending in a small emerald. Dangling from the thin, black leather choker around her neck was a teardrop–cut emerald. Fingerless black silk opera gloves stretched the length of her arms. While her swordbelt and rapier hung in a kitchen alcove along with her hooded cloak, a dagger with a hilt of malachite scales was tucked away in the top of her right boot, in case the audience got too rowdy.
Arianna pulled her masterwork lute, an instrument she had lovingly crafted with her own hands, into her lap and began to tune it, her long, dexterous fingers caressing the catgut strings, ivory frets, and smooth mahogany pegs. After she finished, she ran her right hand through her hair and considered her opening number. Then another smile crept across her face as she decided how she would catch the crowd’s attention. She started to pluck and strum the lute’s strings. Four glowing spheres of light swept out through the tavern, barely missing the heads of several patrons. After reaching the back of the room, the spheres reversed course and arced back to the stage, drawing the attention of almost everyone in the room to Arianna. She began to sing in a strong, confident contralto that pierced the tavern’s quickly diminishing din.
4. Jacc Swinn the Swindler Bard
Ol' Jacc is the epitome of the raffish bawd: he sings poorly but makes up for it in volume. He can always be counted on for a good story (most of which prominantly feature himself). Jacc Swinn always tells the truth, but only if it makes a good story.
Jacc fancies himself comely, and is undoubtedly handsome in a rough-hewn sort of way. He sports a brass tooth and energetically courts the ladies. Jacc Swinn neither brushes twice a day, nor is he adverse to smelling of salami. Fortunately, he does not object to others sporting the same qualities.
He wears a multi-hued cloak patched together from various sources. Bells and baubles jangle from every button on his outfit. His shoes are often mismatched. He keeps a whistle tied to his neck that he suspects has magical properties -- if for no other reason than when he gets to blowing it, his friends dissappear.
Swinn fights masterfully with a most unlikely weapon: he wields a long, dented clarion (a sort of straight bugle blown by mideavil heralds and such). He is chaotic and self-absorbed, but fundamentally decent sort of fellow. He is like a wild uncle that never grew up.
His main sidekick is a giant pair of voluptuous magical lips with the unlikely name of..."Lips". Having been magically saddled to Swinn as the result of a curse (by a powerful sorceress who objected to a kiss he gave to her daughter...which Swinn subsequently denied), Lips floats behind Swinn and offers sarcastic commentary on Swinn's activities. Although Swinn is now powerful enough to have absented himself from this unlikely companion, some soft spot in him has prevented him from doing so.
5. Arlis Duskrider “the Blindfighter”
Human Male Ex-Monk/Barbarian/Fighter 2/2/4
Str: 18, Dex: 15(17), Con: 12, Int: 10, Wis: 15(17), Cha:9
Description:
Arlis is a massive figure, standing over six feet tall as is sometimes seen for those of Damaran descent. His entire frame is heavily muscled, and his foes are sometimes taken unaware when he proves how limber he is as well. His ancestry shows itself through his ice-white skin, short-cropped blond hair, and blue eyes. His eyes are rarely seen, however, as they are typically covered by a bandage that has been stained brown over time by head injuries that have bled into it unchecked. Having lived a hard life, often on the wrong side of the axe, his body is scarred in many places from cuts gone untreated. Though numerous, none of the scars differentiate Arlis from any other mercenary in the Realms. He bears his chest to the world, exposing the scars for all to see. People shake their heads in disbelief on cold Sword Coast evenings when Arlis arrives, not even shivering. They mutter that he must have been borne to a Frost giant to be so inured to the cold. His cleanly shaven face might have even been called attractive, if not for the bandage and his other tattered clothing. Arlis doesn’t seem to let anything bother him, the least of which is his clothes. He wears a pair of frayed breeches that allows him to move freely, much like the Broken Ones of his native, frigid land. Often times, Arlis can be seen crouched on an outcropping of rock, staring off at something unseen, his eyebrow cocked as he attempts to identify the sound. His lips are usually pressed together unless quietly giving advice to others or opened wide in a battlecry.
6. Balin Cormaeril, Bard and Paladin of Helm
This is how Balin looked back in the day.
He wore a suit of mithral full plate armor. It was enchanted with the Silent Moves and Shadow (Which is what made it black) abilities, allowing Balin to move stealthily, despite being fully armored. The helm was shaped as the head of a dragon, and the whole of the armor had a draconic theme to it. Balin also wore a purple cloak.
Balin wielded several weapons, continuing the draconic theme. The first was a Holy longsword ("Dragon's Tooth"), on the pommel of which he had a Holy Symbol of Helm. He had a Repeating Crossbow ("Dragon's Breath"), the front of which was designed to look like the mouth of a dragon, which fired Acidic bolts. He was also armed with a whip ("Dragon's Tail") of Disarming, and a heavy lance ("Dragon's Claw"). Lastly, he wielded a black shield bearing a Purple Dragon.
While still having some grey in his hair, it wasn't as prominent as it is, now. He was also clean shaven with hair cut short, and didn't have the beer gut which he has, now.
7. Gratis
Archmage - Male Sun Elf
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Physical appearance;
Gratis is a handsome elf, stern & intelligent looking. Piercing golden eyes & long blond hair, creatively interlaced with intricate braids, give Gratis what some have called in the past "the look of a noble". His otherwise handsome visage is presently marred by but one flaw (however Gratis considers it very striking). A twisted & barbed silver head band of intellect which seems to grow forth from his temples. This specially constructed ominous piece of jewellery has been magically grafted to Gratis's skull, a sinister artificial birthmark & crown the same.
He sports 3 visible magical tattoo's, beautiful calligraphic works he has created & enchants daily. The first 2 are nearly identical in appearance, (outwardly visible only on his forearms due to dress) and each run from the tips of his middle finger, up the length of his arm, ending at the shoulders. The third begins just above his navel & runs up his torso until it reaches his neck at which point it splits in two, circling like a necklace in the front, then arcing up on the side(s) of his neck to finish behind each of his ears.
The archmage is generally seen as a loner, often ditching the members of his party when in more public settings. However Gratis is almost never alone. His faithful Imp familiar Heccubus is always sitting (normally invisible) on his shoulder. Those who know & have met Heccubus fear him. Not due to Imp's powerful master, but because of the small black devil's own formidable talents. This twisted winged taste of hellfire is fiercely protective of Gratis & Gratis alone, turning on any and all who attempt to do His master harm.
Gratis's tends to dress for function & utility, rarely for aesthetics. Spell component bandoleers, high black suede boots, trousers (no pockets), white tunics (generally with the sleeves rolled up), dual black gloves of storing, & a cloak of the arachnid comprise his typical dress. Cleanliness is paramount, and some rightfully say obsessive, for Gratis. Everyday without fail he spends 1 hour in the morning & before bedtime magically cleaning himself, & his familiar. Then mending even the smallest of imperfections from his garments. Gratis consumes only magically created food & drink (which was a HUGE pain when he was a low level character).
8. Haldiir Kaldeskyre
Human Male, Chaotic Good
Barbarian 5, Fighter 5
STR 18 DEX 16 CON 20 INT 10 WIS 12 CHA 08
HP 116 AC 18 SPD 40 ft
Physical Description
Haldiir stands 6'3" in height and weighs about 220 lbs. He is 24 years old. His hair is black, although he keeps it cut to about half an inch to avoid having it used against him in fights. His eyes are ice blue. His physique is that of a life dedicated to combat and manual labour; well-muscled but not overly bulky, built for strength and durability. He has a wardog tatoo on his left shoulder, basically a black death's head with dog ears. A jagged scar runs from beside his left eye down to his jawline, a memento from a fight with a skeleton. His nose has been broken several times, a feature that has done little to improve his grim features.
Haldiir wears a chain shirt for armour, accompanied by an open-faced helm with a nose guard. The helm features two large black horns mounted on the sides that curve down to stand out 4-6 inches from his face. He will not say what creature the horns came from, but he insists that it was "not very pleasant.". His primary weapon is a keen greatsword +1, a sturdy though nameless weapon given to him by his former master. He also carries a heavy mace and a mighty composite longbow. His clothes are simple but sturdy traveling gear. Being a rather superstitious man, he wears a black feather around his neck that he waves at anything he feels is bad luck or evil. Most people assume that it is a raven or crow feather, but if asked Haldiir will explain it is actually a chicken feather. When pressed as to the effectiveness of a chicken feather in warding off evil or foul luck, Haldiir simply shrugs and says: "It was a black chicken. It tasted good. That seems lucky somehow."
Haldiir wears a ring on each hand. On his right hand is a Ring of Protection +1 which is just a simple bronze ring. On his left hand is a silver ring set with a triangular azure gemstone. This is a ring that bestows the protection against mind-control and possesion of the Protection From Evil spell, although only on effects/spells produced by evil creatures. He wears an Amulet of Natural Armour +1 around his neck, a bone disk carved in the shape of a turtle shell. Haldiir also wears a plain brown traveling cloak which is actually a Cloak of Resistance +1.
9. Talinthas Shadeslayn
Talinthas Shadeslayn (dragonlance character)
Male Sylvanesti elf Rogue/Shadow dancer (align TN)
Age- well over 500 years old.
Tal is an elf of about 5'5. The many soul drains and transfers he has endured have left him rather emaciated looking, with almost porcelin white, thinly stretched skin. However, following the ceremony by Dauroth, he has started to look a little more lively, with a fuller face and a shade darker skin. This change has been slow to come though, as his body has had five hundred years of abuse thrust upon it.
His hair is caught in a shoulder length pony tail, bound by an ornate clasp in the style of the tribe of his upbringing. However, it is notable that there are two streaks of molten silver hair that start at his eyebrows and go back to the end of his hair length.
His ears are raggedly cut at the tips, a symbol of his childhood, and his eyes, once a startling hazel/green, are now completely silver, with black irises and small red pupils. When he opens his mouth, his teeth are fanged, but as he never smiles, people hardly notice.
Around his neck is a battered coppery-green medallion impressed with the image of a Rose and Mantis, symbols of the God Majere, and only relic of Tal's birth. His clothing reflects his profession, and is black leather meant to blend in with shadows and appear completely unobtrusive from his coat to his thick hunting boots.
Around his waist are an assortment of pouches and packs, and two weapon holsters. One holds a blessed mace of disruption, granted to him by Majere during the Chaos war, and the other holding an ancient hunting knife dating to pre cataclysm tribes of the Plains of Dust.
However, these are all mundane things, for that which makes the Shadeslayn most noticable are the omnipresent shadows and spirits that dwell around him. Those who are Spiritually inclined, or dabble in Necromancy, can see that there are always shades and spirts in orbit around Tal, the way an electron orbits a nucleus. At times of trouble, Tal can gather these spirits and expel them in a damaging blast towards his enemies. Whenever the Shadeslayn walks into an area, all incorporeal undead, restless spirits, and lost souls are immediatly attracted to his presence, so this orbit is continually renewed. When normal, untalented people are around him, they get the eerie feeling that they are being watched, or feel a ghostly wind down their backs, or hear a faint whistle of haunted air. When clerics attempt to determine the presence of undead, Tal glows like a beacon to them.
For the most part though, the Shadeslayn is an elf in his 500th year of his existance, with much of that time spent in extreme pain and anguish. As such, his life view is bleak and dark, and he tends not to associate with people as much. The soul ceremonies have granted him a form of immortality, which the tired mind of Tal craves not at all. Some sages have likened it to the curse of Lord Soth, but worse, as Tal had done nothing to deserve this fate but be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
With the end of the War of Souls near, and the freeing of the trapped spirits, only time will tell what happens to the elf without a soul.
10. T’aria
T’aria is one of the rare cambions (half fiend, half human) that survived to adulthood. When first met, she would be constantly mistaken for a satyr… except for the fact that there are no female satyrs, and satyrs are not six-foot-one in height. Her fiendish heritage is difficult to hide in her physical appearance, although she can do so from all except the most observant when she wishes. She has 3-inch forehead horns, goat legs complete with cloven hooves, slight fangs noticeable when she smiles, and claws that even when retracted are often noted as unfashionably long and sharp fingernails. Ignoring those physical attributes, she has the appearance of a rather attractive human female of about 24 years of age (though she is truly over 100). T’aria has long, thick curly black hair with striking deep red highlights shot through it. Her hair falls past her waist, and is naturally falls into that attractive, semi-wild, tumbled curls state many women struggle to achieve. She will often plait small silver and crystal beads into it using small, hardly-noticeable braids for an accent. She always has at least two tiny, (unnoticeable in the wild mass of hair) finger-length poisoned silver daggers in sheaths that are braided into the mass of hair above her shoulders. Naturally, these are “Just for emergencies.”
While in her home city of Sigil or elsewhere where her demonic heritage is not a cause for immediate panic, T’aria generally wears more daring attire consisting of a black leather shorts that reveal her legs and cloven hooves, as well as a leather-and-silk top. The top is a simple band of black leather wide enough to cover her ample chest with a network of thin straps to hold it over her shoulders. A foot-wide length of silver-grey sheer silk is sewed to the bottom of the leather, in effect covering her torso from just below her chest to her waist. The overall effect is of the top half of a babydoll teddy, or some similar form of lingerie. One of her companions once wondered aloud which succubus she had robbed for her wardrobe.
When T’aria travels on the Prime Material Plane (where people are generally less accepting of her heritage than the Planes, and her home city of Sigil), she generally uses her skills at disguise along with many years of practice to assume the appearance of a ‘normal’, though highly exotic, human. While in disguise, she rarely utilizes her full six-foot-one height, instead opting to stand about five foot nine, allowing to her legs (and extensive practice) to alter her apparent height. She generally wears a unique headband studded with three-inch spikes that are set two inches apart and are slightly curved to match her forehead horns perfectly. Two of the ‘spikes’ are missing, and there are holes in the headband to correspond to where they would be set; when the headband is on and her horns are through the holes, it is nearly impossible to tell that it is anything other than an unusual piece of jewelry. A full, floor-length gypsy-like skirt conceals her legs and hooves. From the waist up, however, she generally wears much more daring attire – a form-fitting black leather vest, low-cut (and laced only far enough to barely be acceptable in public) is one of her favorites.
There is only one part of her appearance that is only rarely hidden when she travels to the Prime Material Plane. On T’aria’s right arm, she has a large design with geometrically precise and complex curves and twists tattooed to her skin. The design flows from the top of her forearm down, gradually spreading until it wraps completely around her arm at her wrist, where it ill-conceals (but serves to distract from) an old scar, which appears to have been the result of her wrist being nearly completely severed at some time in the past. The tattoo narrows and continues over the top of the back of her hand to her middle finger, on which she wears a silver ring set with a large gem that appears to be a black diamond the same smoky colour as her tattoo. The ink used replicates that smoky shadow-grey that true shadows have; and if one looks too long at the tattoo, it seems to shift slightly with her movements and breath as if it were truly a shadow projected onto the skin. When asked, T’aria merely shrugs and says it is simply a well-done tattoo – nothing more, nothing less.
Although her physical appearance is the most noticeable, T’aria has other, less blatant, traits inherited from her demonic sire. When she becomes angry, her eyes change from their normal cat-like green to a deep red, and seem to glow slightly. Her claws become excruciatingly noticeable (as she either cannot, or does not, retract them), her horns lengthen to between five and six inches, and she is surrounded by the smell of the Abyss – sulfur and brimstone. However, few people have seen her descend deep enough into anger to the point of her losing control, and fewer still have lived to tell the tale.
Ah well, there are some good characters, and I personally voted for Arianna. I'm anxious to see how it turns out.
