Character Cast for Chapter 1: Prison of the Firebringer
Canter Farstrider
Chaotic Neutral Human Cleric 10/ Contemplative 5 of Fharlangan
One of the most powerful servants of the God of Roads, Canter is a kindly, somewhat contrary, but still outgoing and friendly chap who travels as his god demands, and aids fellows on the road of life. His main goal in life appears to be, for some obscure, strange reason, outfitting the Colossal Fiendish Centipedes that he summons with his divine magic, with little yellow booties and galoshes. We have no idea why (though we give him leeway, y'know, he's a holy man who sees his god everywhere, so you can't expect him to be -too- lucid. Though privately we suspect the Travel domain's to blame... in other words, his mind's far gone now. Though we'll never say it to his face... we need our healing, after all.)
Solvius Van Falken
Chaotic Neutral Human (Undead) Psychic Warrior 10/ Dread Champion 4
The High Liege of the Falcon Throne of the Land of Inglessia, King Solvius is what you think of when somebody mentions "decadent, decaying royalty". It’s not really his fault; he can't help it. You see, he's undead, the twisted experiment in re-animation conducted by an obese vampiric bard who can't even sing very well. Which is damn ironic, because in life, he was one of the most dedicated hunters of the dead to walk his land - he used his skills as a ranger to hunt down the undead hordes that plagued his land, cleansing their taint with torch and whip. (Castlevania, baby.) For all his hatred of the damned, though, Solvius was like them even when he sucked air through the holes in his face - for he did not love life as much as he needed to hate death.
Now however, it seems that he's just going to have to get used to being another one of the shamblers.
Ever since his, hmm, change, he's got a bit of a love-hate relationship with Canter. In the course of a particularly tough fight, Canter just instinctively says "ok, who needs healing?" and gets ready a mass cure wounds, and Solvius goes "Arrrgh, I VILL DRINK YOUR VLAAAD!" when he smells the positive energy cookin'. Then again, party dynamics is bound to get weird when one member of the party can Turn another...
Seth
Neutral Good (??) Human Sorceror 6/ Elemental Savant 9 (Air)
A mysterious willworker of great power, who commands forth eldritch energies of the sky and wind, Seth was until very recently, dead. He does not remember much about his past and is amnesiac, but does remember that he was one of the pioneering developers of elementalism about 3000 years ago. He also claims to be the Duke of an ancient, enlightened forgotten people, who were supremely gifted in magic, but also susceptible to an arcane malady; apparently, he developed some sort of remedy for this magical plague, but it is not known if it succeeded or not, for he died under mysterious circumstances shortly thereafter.
The chronal distortions and time-slips that have been ravaging Dominaria however in recent years seem to have brought about a congruence of circumstances that have led to his unlikely resurrection. Only time will tell if he’s on the side of the angels or not… Place your bets! Place your bets!
Master Yang Yun
Lawful Good Human Monk 15, Seeker of the One
A dutiful, talented martial artist, Master Yang is the latest heir of the secrets of “The Empty Hand that Grasps the White Blade”, a series of powerful grappling and throwing martial arts techniques developed by the ancient grandmasters of the pacifistic monastery he serves. He is also privy to an occult dynasty of esoteric lore and mystic secrets that allow him to peer briefly into the karmic threads of fate. He has been sent forth by the current Grandmaster of the Three Cliffs to seek out the reincarnation of the One, the legendary warrior and ascended hero-deity of mortals who defends the Prime Material against the onslaughts and predations of powerful spirits and outsiders. A time of chaos comes, and in order for mankind to ride the storm and survive, a champion must be found... and thus Master Yang searches for the One in hope of protecting humanity.
Secretly though, Master Yang despairs of the veracity of his quest, and harbours some doubts about the One; maybe he’s been searching so long that he doesn’t know what he’ll do once he finds the One, or maybe he’s just burnt out. A mystic vision was sent to him, indicating that Peter the White is close to the One, and that a time of chaos will arise that will consume many – Master Yang fears that even the One can do nothing against this reckoning, and this spiritual poison slowly stirs in his soul.
(Sounds nice, eh? However… we have our suspicions that his erratic behaviour is just uneven roleplaying from his player.
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Acolyte Lian Wuhai
Lawful Good Human Monk 3/ Psion 7/ Lucid Cenobite 4
Lian’s a junior of Master Yang, and they’re from the same monastic tradition. Unlike Master Yang, who’s sort of like the Monastery’s golden boy, obedient, respectful, and skilled in both ascetic and aesthetic arts, Lian’s a bit of a problem child. He’s the reincarnated essence of the Red Bird of the South, the legendary Phoenix Spirit of the 4 Guardians of the One. His destiny was discovered when he was sickly and suffering from fevers as a child by a shaman, and his family sent the frail child whose body coursed with unstable
chi to the monastery to learn self-control.
Lian was locked up in a mountain cave and sealed off from the world, to allow him to learn focus, but he rebelled against that treatment. His latent powers manifested and he blasted his way out, and became a bandit, revelling in his ability to control flame and become literally unkillable. Master Yang was sent to subdue this scourge to the land, and the ex-monk bandit lost the duel. In the ensuing chaos, a mysterious Tengu, one of the oldest patrons of the Monastery, stole Lian’s comatose form, and revealed the responsibilities of the Red Bird to the young psychic. Lian went through a rebirth and retraining in the ways of the Lucid Cenobite, and has since then travelled the lands seeking to make amends for his past crimes and find redress to those poorer and weaker than him.
Most recently, Lian was recalled to the Monastery by the Grandmaster of Three Cliffs, and instructed to aid Master Yang who was in faraway foreign lands in his search for the One. With the Red Bird’s gift of instantaneous travel through the spirit realms, Lian was the most suitable assistant for Master Yang at the present…
(This is my character, also jokingly referred to by everyone as “that dumb fool”, “the boy scout”, and “you stupid idealist” for the amount of trouble my ethical code gets the party into. Sorry guys, but hey, at least I didn’t cause a TPK. Right? Right? Ok, maybe not yet.)
Coreyl Belarus
Lawful Neutral Human Rogue 10/ Shadowdancer 3/ Psychic Warrior 2
This is the party's skill monkey. He's got the superb stealth skills, the impressive repeitoire of NINJA SUPREME DEATH POWER techniques, and is generally likable and a fun guy to have around (especially when he rolls his Hide check 45 and goes around confidently in the battlefield, then the DM says nonchalantly, "The purple worm has tremorsense" and he shouts eeek! and jumps off his chair.)
He's a nice guy, really. A failed product of a training academy of assasins, Coreyl comes from House Belarus, a coalition of amoral demon-worshippers and devil-binders. His big break came when he was supposed to slay Peter, the orphaned son of a deceased paladin-general, for some political de-stabilisation House Belarus had planned- unfortunately, his conscience kicked in as Peter looks like his very first kill which he had always regretted. He protected Peter, became a sort of surrogate father to the idealistic young lad and he's been on the run. His fiendish Patron is Prince Levistus – it’s almost a tragic joke, about how akin his fate is like his Patron’s, destined to be caught in the freezing maw of despair seemingly forever, never finding peace, working with the shadows and against them as well, trying to balance on the threshold of light and darkness.
(and trying his level best to avoid Ankhegs, Giant Crocodiles, and basically anything with the Improved Grab ability. hee hee.)
Peter the White
Lawful Good Human Paladin 5/ Monk 10 of Heironeous
This is an NPC, really, but he’s such an integral part of the story we just kiss the lad and accept him with loving arms. He’s young, idealistic, good-looking, and while he may not be the sharpest shuriken in the knife pouch, he’s still a pretty good guy to have around. He’s grown up under the tutelage of Coreyl and the mysterious half-orc warrior Aketh, but when these two men disappeared from his life, he was adopted by a brown wyrmling dragon, Mekhet. He soon learnt martial arts and chivalry in equal regards from a severe old dervish of Heironoeus, and then travelled forth to pursue his childhood dream of heroism and righteousness.
Of course, he’s only eighteen years old, which makes him just a wee bit gullible at times…
Last and not least,
Mekhet the Wyrmling
This wily little brown dragon fulfils the role of the smart guy in the party; he organises the treasure, splits the loot, and chats up the girls so that shy lil’ Peter will get a chance to use him as a conversation piece. He’s also our agent, and hires us out on dubious quests and invests our money in regrettably pointless pursuits. If we're the band in That Thing You Do, this darling's our Tom Hanks. At the same point of time, we’re just his pet humans, so we can’t complain.…
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