Charbryn Nago

Character Sheet

Fri, 18 Jun 2021 14:50:56 GMT

A live version of the character sheet can be found here.

Name: Charbryn ~~Baenafin~~ Nago-Ach'Drech
Race: Drow

Age: 46
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 100 lbs

Alignment: Neutral Good
Background: Urchin
Levels: 19 Ranger (Horizon Walker) / 1 Rogue

Maximum HP: 183
Armor Class: 19
Movement: 30 ft
Initiative: +10

Stats

Strength: 9 (-1)
Dexterity: 20 (+5)
Constitution: 16 (+3)
Intelligence: 9 (-1)
Wisdom: 18 (+4)
Charisma: 14 (+2)

Senses

Passive Wis (Perception): 26
Passive Int (Investigation): 15
Passive Wis (Insight): 20
Sight: Darkvision 120 ft

Saving Throws

Strength: +5 •
Dexterity: +11 •
Constitution: +3
Intelligence: -1
Wisdom: +4
Charisma: +2

Advantage against being charmed.
Magic cannot put me to sleep.
Advantage against plants magically created or manipulated to impede movement.

Proficiencies & Languages

Languages
Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Dwarvish, Elvish, Thieves' Cant, Undercommon, Instability

Armor & Weapons
Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields, Martial Weapons, Simple Weapons

Tools
Disguise Kit, Thieves' Tools, Painter's Supplies

Skill List

DEX Acrobatics: +5
WIS Animal Handling: +4
INT Arcana: -1
STR Athletics: -1
CHA Deception: +2
INT History: -1
WIS Insight: +10 •
CHA Intimidation: +8 •
INT Investigation: +5 •
WIS Medicine: +4
INT Nature: -1
WIS Perception: +16 ••
CHA Performance: +2
CHA Persuasion: +2
INT Religion: -1
DEX Sleight of Hand: +11 •
DEX Stealth: +17 ••
WIS Survival: +11 •

Racial Features & Feats

Trance: Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.

Drow Magic: You know the dancing lights cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the faerie fire spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the darkness spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Drow Weapon Training: You have proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.

Feats
Drow High Magic: You learn more of the magic typical of dark elves. You learn the detect magic spell and can cast it at will, without expending a spell slot. You also learn levitate and dispel magic, each of which you can cast once without expending a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast those two spells in this way when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for all three spells.

Alert: You gain a +5 bonus to iniaitive, you can't be surprised while you are conscious, and other creatures don't gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen by you.

Background: Urchin
You know the secret patterns and flow to cities and can find passages through the urban sprawl that others would miss. When you are not in combat, you (and companions you lead) can travel between any two locations in the city twice as fast as your speed would normally allow.

Ranger Features

Favored Enemies: You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them. When you gain this feature, you also learn one language of your choice that is spoken by your favored enemies, if they speak one at all.

→ Aberrations are utterly alien beings. Many of them have innate magical abilities drawn from the creature's alien mind rather than the mystical forces of the world. The quintessential aberrations are aboleths, and slaadi. Language: Abyssal.

→ Undead are once-living creatures brought to a horrifying state of undeath through the practice of necromantic magic or some unholy curse. Undead include walking corpses, such as vampires and zombies, as well as bodiless spirits, such as ghosts and specters. Language: Dwarvish.

→ Humanoids are the main peoples of a fantasy gaming world, both civilized and savage, including humans and a tremendous variety of other species. They have language and culture, few if any innate magical abilities (though most humanoids can learn spellcasting), and a bipedal form. The most common humanoid races are the ones most suitable as player characters: humans, dwarves, elves, and halflings. Almost as numerous but far more savage and brutal, and almost uniformly evil, are the races of goblinoids (goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears), orcs, gnolls, lizardfolk, and kobolds. Language: Draconic.

Natural Explorer: You are particularly familiar with one type of natural environment and are adept at traveling and surviving in such regions. Choose one type of favored terrain: arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp, or the Underdark. When you make an Intelligence or Wisdom check related to your favored terrain, your proficiency bonus is doubled if you are using a skill that you’re proficient in.

While traveling for an hour or more in your favored terrain, you gain the following benefits:

→ Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
→ Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
→ Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
→ If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
→ When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
→ While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.

Favored terrains:
→ Underdark
→ Mountain
→ Forest

Fighting Style: Two-Weapon Fighting
Archetype: Horizon Walker

Primeval Awareness: Beginning at 3rd level, you can use your action and expend one ranger spell slot to focus your awareness on the region around you. For 1 minute per level of the spell slot you expend, you can sense whether the following types of creatures are present within 1 mile of you (or within up to 6 miles if you are in your favored terrain): aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. This feature doesn’t reveal the creatures’ location or number.

Horizon Walker Magic: Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Horizon Walker Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.

→ 3rd - protection from evil and good
→ 5th - misty step
→ 9th - haste
→ 13th - banishment
→ 17th - teleportation circle

Detect Portal: At 3rd level, you gain the ability to magically sense the presence of a planar portal. As an action, you detect the distance and direction to the closest planar portal within 1 mile of you.

Planar Warrior: At 3rd level, you learn to draw on the energy of the multiverse to augment your attacks. As a bonus action, choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The next time you hit that creature on this turn with a weapon attack, all damage dealt by the attack becomes force damage, and the creature takes an extra 1d8 force damage from the attack. When you reach 11th level in this class, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Land's Stride: Starting at 8th level, moving through nonmagical difficult terrain costs you no extra movement. You can also pass through nonmagical plants without being slowed by them and without taking damage from them if they have thorns, spines, or a similar hazard. In addition, you have advantage on saving throws against plants that are magically created or manipulated to impede movement, such those created by the entangle spell.

Hide in Plain Sight: Starting at 10th level, you can spend 1 minute creating camouflage for yourself. You must have access to fresh mud, dirt, plants, soot, and other naturally occurring materials with which to create your camouflage. Once you are camouflaged in this way, you can try to hide by pressing yourself up against a solid surface, such as a tree or wall, that is at least as tall and wide as you are. You gain a +10 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks as long as you remain there without moving or taking actions. Once you move or take an action or a reaction, you must camouflage yourself again to gain this benefit.

Distant Strike: At 11th level, you gain the ability to pass between the planes in the blink of an eye. When you take the Attack action, you can teleport up to 10 feet before each attack to an unoccupied space you can see. If you attack at least two different creatures with the action, you can make one additional attack with it against a third creature.

Vanish: Starting at 14th level, you can use the Hide action as a bonus action on your turn. Also, you can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail.

Spectral Defense: At 15th level, your ability to move between planes enables you to slip through the planar boundaries to lessen the harm done to you during battle. When you take damage from an attack, you can use your reaction to give yourself resistance to all of that attack’s damage on this turn.

Feral Senses: When you attack a creature you can't see, you don't have disadvantage on your attack rolls against it. As long as you are conscious and can hear, you are also aware of the location of any invisible creature within 30 ft. that isn't hidden.

Rogue Features

Sneak Attack: Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon. You don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t have disadvantage on the attack roll. The amount of the extra damage increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak Attack column of the Rogue table.

Thieves' Cant: During your rogue training you learned thieves’ cant, a secret mix of dialect, jargon, and code that allows you to hide messages in seemingly normal conversation. Only another creature that knows thieves’ cant understands such messages. It takes four times longer to convey such a message than it does to speak the same idea plainly. In addition, you understand a set of secret signs and symbols used to convey short, simple messages, such as whether an area is dangerous or the territory of a thieves’ guild, whether loot is nearby, or whether the people in an area are easy marks or will provide a safe house for thieves on the run.

Equipment

Attuned Items:
→ Kiegan's Armor
→ Nine Lives Stealer Shortsword
→ Oathbow of Vandroia

Equipped:
Wakefield Quakes Tags: Silver ranking, worn visibly.
Bofur's Necklace: A gift from Torin, worn beneath armor.
Vandria Relic: Gaze upon it and gain inspiration for 24 hours.

Kiegan's Armor: Legendary medium armor. AC 17. When attuned, allows user to look like any race. Attunement required.

Nine Lives Stealer Shortsword: Martial, Finesse, Light. 1d6+7 piercing. You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. If you score a critical hit against a creature that has fewer than 100 hit points, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be slain instantly as the sword tears its life force from its body (a construct or an undead is immune). This is a sentient weapon. Attunement required.

Sword of the Relentless: Martial, Finesse. 1d8+5 lashing. If you miss with an attack during your turn you can use your reaction to immediately make an additional attack with advantage. Any attack you make this way causes +2d10 piercing damage on hit.

Oathbow of Vandria: Ammunition, Heavy, Range, Two-handed. 150/600. 1d8+5 piercing + 3d6 piercing against sworn enemy. When you nock an arrow on this bow, it whispers in Undercommon, "Swift defeat to my enemies." When you use this weapon to make a ranged attack, you can, as a command phrase, say "Swift death to you who have wronged me." The target of your attack becomes your sworn enemy until it does or until dawn seven days later. You can have only one such sworn enemy at a time. When your sworn enemy dies, you can choose a new one after the next dawn. When you make a ranged attack roll with this weapon against your sworn enemy, you have advantage on the roll. In addition, your target gains no benefit from cover, other than total cover, and you suffer no disadvantage due to long range. If the attack hits, your sworn enemy takes an extra 3d6 piercing damage. While your sworn enemy lives, you have disadvantage on attack rolls with all other weapons.

Arrows: Arrows are used with a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a ranged attack. Each time you attack with the weapon, you expend one piece of ammunition. Drawing the ammunition from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon). At the end of the battle, you can recover half your expended ammunition by taking a minute to search the battlefield.

Obsidian Arrows: +1 ammunition. On critical hit, +1d6 damage, non-salvagable.

Dagger: Finesse, Light, Thrown. +1. 1d4+6 piercing.

Carried:
Potion of Invisibility: This potion's container looks empty but feels as though it holds liquid. When you drink it, you become invisible for 1 hour. Anything you wear or carry is invisible with you. The effect ends early if you attack or cast a spell.

Cloak of the Bat: While wearing this cloak, you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. In an area of dim light or darkness, you can grip the edges of the cloak with both hands and use it to fly at a speed of 40 feet. If you ever fail to grip the cloak's edges while flying in this way, or if you are no longer in dim light or darkness, you lose this flying speed. While wearing the cloak in an area of dim light or darkness, you can use your action to cast polymorph on yourself, transforming into a bat. While you are in the form of the bat, you retain your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. The cloak can't be used this way again until the next dawn. Attunement required.

Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location: While wearing this amulet, you are hidden from divination magic. You can't be targeted by such magic or perceived through magical scrying sensors. Attunement required.

Charbryn's Longbow: Ammunition, Heavy, Range, Two-handed. 150/600. 1d8+5 piercing + 1d6 fire. Strung with a fire string to add fire damage to all arrows shot with this bow.

Rapier of Wounding: Martial, Finesse, Light. 1d8+5 piercing. Hit points lost to this weapon's damage can be regained only through a short or long rest, rather than by regeneration, magic, or any other means. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack using this magic weapon, you can wound the target. At the start of each of the wounded creature's turns, it takes 1d4 necrotic damage for each time you've wounded it, and it can then make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, ending the effect of all such wounds on itself on a success. Alternatively, the wounded creature, or a creature within 5 feet of it, can use an action to make a DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check, ending the effect of such wounds on it on a success. Attunement required.

Jade Xiphos: Finesse, Light. 1d6+6 piercing. If this weapon deals or takes >30 points of thunder or force damage, it shatters for 6d10 damage and is not repairable. It can also be shattered by a Bard Performance Check of DC 25.

Scimitar: Finesse, Light. +1. 1d6+6 slashing.

Shortsword: Finesse, Light. +1. 1d6+6 piercing.

Rapier (x2): Finesse. 1d8+5 piercing. Drowish style.

Charbryn's Armor: AC 11. The breastplate and shoulder protectors of this armor are made of leather that has been stiffened by being boiled in oil. The rest of the armor is made of softer and more flexible materials. This is Drowish style, of the order of Horizon Walkers.

Coin of the Goddess: This heavy silver coin shows the smiling face of the goddess of luck on one side, and her scowling face on the reverse. Many thieves carry such coins and flip them before a high-risk job, or any difficult task. The smiling goddess coin has 3 charges. As a bonus action, you flip the coin. Roll a d6: on a 4-6, the smiling face appears, you expend 1 charge, and you add 1d4 to your next attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. On a 1-3, the scowling face appears, and you subtract 1d4 from your next attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. (Alternately, flip a coin.) The coin regains all expended charges at dawn. Instead of flipping the coin, you can feed a single drop of blood to its scowling face. This causes the scowling face to smile as well. The next time you roll initiative at the start of combat, you and up to two creatures of your choice receive a bless spell that does not require concentration. Once used in this way, you somehow manage to lose the coin before you can use it again, no matter what precautions you take. 3 charges, reset at dawn. 1BA: flip the coin. Roll d6, on 4-6 add 1d4 to attack roll, saving throw, ability check. 1-3 subtract 1d4. Alt. give blood and bless yourself and two of your choice - lose the coin if used this way.

Ring of Telepathy: Able to communicate telepathically with anyone else with a same ring.

Scroll of Thunderous Smite: The first time you hit with a melee weapon attack during this spell’s duration, your weapon rings with thunder that is audible within 300 feet of you, and the attack deals an extra 2d6 thunder damage to the target. Additionally, if the target is a creature, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet away from you and knocked prone.

Spells

Cantrips:
Dancing Lights: At will. 120. VSM. Conc up to a minute. You create up to four torch-sized lights within range, making them appear as torches, lanterns, or glowing orbs that hover in the air for the duration. You can also combine the four lights into one glowing vaguely humanoid form of Medium size. Whichever form you choose, each light sheds dim light in a 10-foot radius. As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the lights up to 60 feet to a new spot within range. A light must be within 20 feet of another light created by this spell, and a light winks out if it exceeds the spell's range.

First Level:
Cure Wounds: 1A. Touch. VS. A creature you touch regains a number of hit points equal to 1d8 + your spell casting modifier (4). This spell has no effect on undead of constructs. +1d8 for ever spell slot level above 1st.

Detect Magic: At will. 1A. Self/30 sphere. VS. Conc up to 10 min. For the duration, you sense the presence of magic within 30 feet of you. If you sense magic in this way, you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic, and you learn its school of magic, if any. The spell can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.

Faerie Fire: 1/LR. 1A. 60/20 cube. Conc up to 1 min. DEX 15 save. Each object in a 20-foot cube within range is outlined in blue, green, or violet light (your choice). Any creature in the area when the spell is cast is also outlined in light if it fails a Dexterity saving throw. For the duration, objects and affected creatures shed dim light in a 10-foot radius. Any attack roll against an affected creature or object has advantage if the attacker can see it, and the affected creature or object can't benefit from being invisible.

Hunter's Mark: 1BA. 90. Conc up to 1 hour. V. You choose a creature you can see within range and mystically mark it as your quarry. Until the spell ends, you deal an extra 1d6 to the target whenever you hit it with a weapon attack, and you have advantage on any Wisdom (perception) or Wisdom (survival) check you make to find it. If the target drops to 0 hit points before the spell ends, you can use a bonus action on a subsequent turn of yours to mark a new creature. When casting with a spell slot of 3rd or 5th level you can maintain 8 hours, when you use 5th level or higher then 24 hours.

Protection from Evil and Good: 1A. Touch. VSM. Conc up to 10 min. Until the spell ends, one willing creature you touch is protected against certain types of creatures: aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. The protection grants several benefits. Creatures of those types have disadvantage on attack rolls against the target. The target also can't be charmed, frightened, or possessed by them. If the target is already charmed, frightened, or possessed by such a creature, the target has advantage on any new saving throw against the relevant effect.

Second Level:
Darkness: 1/LR. 1A. 60/15 sphere. VM. Conc up to 10 min. Magical darkness spreads from a point you choose within range to fill a 15-foot-radius sphere for the duration. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can't see through this darkness, and nonmagical light can't illuminate it. If the point you choose is on an object you are holding or one that isn't being worn or carried, the darkness emanates from the object and moves with it. Completely covering the source of the darkness with an opaque object, such as a bowl or a helm, blocks the darkness. If any of this spell's area overlaps with an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower, the spell that created the light is dispelled.

Healing Spirit: 1BA. 60/5 cube. VS. Conc up to 1 min. You call forth a nature spirit to soothe the wounded. The intangible spirit appears in a space that is a 5-foot cube you can see within range. The spirit looks like a transparent beast or fey (your choice). Until the spell ends, whenever you or a creature you can see moves into the spirit’s space for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, you can cause the spirit to restore 1d6 hit points to that creature (no action required). The spirit can’t heal constructs or undead. The spirit can heal a number of times equal to 1 + your spellcasting ability modifier (minimum of twice). After healing that number of times, the spirit disappears. As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the spirit up to 30 feet to a space you can see. +1d6 for every spell slot >2. The appearance of her spirit is of a fey dragon named Renketan.

Levitate: 1/LR. 1A. 60. VSM. Conc up to 10 min. CON 15 save. One creature or loose object of your choice that you can see within range rises vertically, up to 20 feet, and remains suspended there for the duration. The spell can levitate a target that weighs up to 500 pounds. An unwilling creature that succeeds on a Constitution saving throw is unaffected. The target can move only by pushing or pulling against a fixed object or surface within reach (such as a wall or a ceiling), which allows it to move as if it were climbing. You can change the target's altitude by up to 20 feet in either direction on your turn. If you are the target, you can move up or down as part of your move. Otherwise, you can use your action to move the target, which must remain within the spell's range. When the spell ends, the target floats gently to the ground if it is still aloft.

Misty Step: 1BA. Self. V. Briefly surrounded by silvery mist, you teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that you can see.

Third Level:
Dispel Magic: 1/LR. 1A. 120. VS. Choose one creature, object, or magical effect within range. Any spell of 3rd level or lower on the target ends. For each spell of 4th level or higher on the target, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell's level. On a successful check, the spell ends. Automatically dispels any spell cast at a lower level than Dispel Magic is cast at.

Haste: 1A. 30. VSM. Conc up to 1 min. Choose a willing creature that you can see within range. Until the spell ends, the target's speed is doubled, it gains a +2 bonus to AC, it has advantage on Dexterity saving throws, and it gains an additional action on each of its turns. That action can be used only to take the Attack (one weapon attack only), Dash, Disengage, Hide, or Use an Object action. When the spell ends, the target can't move or take actions until after its next turn, as a wave of lethargy sweeps over it.

Lightning Arrow: 1BA. Self. VS. Conc up to 1 min. DEX 17 save. The next time you make a ranged weapon attack during the spell’s duration, the weapon’s ammunition, or the weapon itself if it’s a thrown weapon, transforms into a bolt of lightning. Make the attack roll as normal. The target takes 4d8 lightning damage on a hit, or half as much damage on a miss, instead of the weapon’s normal damage. Whether you hit or miss, each creature within 10 feet of the target must make a Dexterity saving throw. Each of these creatures takes 2d8 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The piece of ammunition or weapon then returns to its normal form. +1d8 damage for every spell slot >3.

Wind Wall: 1A. 120. VSM. Conc up to 1 min. STR 17 save. A wall of strong wind rises from the ground at a point you choose within range. You can make the wall up to 50 feet long, 15 feet high, and 1 foot thick. You can shape the wall in any way you choose so long as it makes one continuous path along the ground. The wall lasts for the duration. When the wall appears, each creature within its area must make a Strength saving throw. A creature takes 3d8 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The strong wind keeps fog, smoke, and other gases at bay. Small or smaller flying creatures or objects can't pass through the wall. Loose, lightweight materials brought into the wall fly upward. Arrows, bolts, and other ordinary projectiles launched at targets behind the wall are deflected upward and automatically miss. (Boulders hurled by giants or siege engines, and similar projectiles, are unaffected.) Creatures in gaseous form can't pass through it.

Fourth Level:
Banishment: 1A. 60. VSM. Conc up to 1 min. CHA 17 save. You attempt to send one creature that you can see within range to another plane of existence. The target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be banished. If the target is native to the plane of existence you're on, you banish the target to a harmless demiplane. While there, the target is incapacitated. The target remains there until the spell ends, at which point the target reappears in the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied. If the target is native to a different plane of existence than the one you're on, the target is banished with a faint popping noise, returning to its home plane. If the spell ends before 1 minute has passed, the target reappears in the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied. Otherwise, the target doesn't return. +1 target for every spell slot >4.

Grasping Vine: 1BA. 30. VS. Conc up to 1 min. DEX 17 save. You conjure a vine that sprouts from the ground in an unoccupied space of your choice that you can see within range. When you cast this spell, you can direct the vine to lash out at a creature within 30 feet of it that you can see. That creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be pulled 20 feet directly toward the vine. Until the spell ends, you can direct the vine to lash out at the same creature or another one as a bonus action on each of your turns.

Guardian of Nature: 1BA. Self. V. Conc up to 1 min. A nature spirit answers your call and transforms you into a powerful guardian. The transformation lasts until the spell ends. You choose one of the following forms to assume: Primal Beast or Great Tree

Primal Beast:
Bestial fur covers your body, your facial features become feral, and you gain the following benefits:
→ Your walking speed increases by 10 ft.
→ Gain darkvision to 120 ft.
→ Make STR-based attack rolls with advantage.
→ Melee weapon attacks deal +1d6 on hit.

Great Tree:
Your skin appears barky, leaves sprout from your hair, and you gain the following benefits:
→ Gain 10 temporary hit points.
→ Make CON saving throws with advantage.
→ Make DEX- and WIS-based attack rolls with advantage.
→ While on the ground, ground within 15' is difficult terrain for enemies.

Fifth Level:
Conjure Volley: 1A. 150/40 cylinder. VSM. DEX 18 save. You fire a piece of nonmagical ammunition from a ranged weapon or throw a nonmagical weapon into the air and choose a point within range. Hundreds of duplicates of the ammunition or weapon fall in a volley from above and then disappear. Each creature in a the affected area must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 8d8 damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. The damage type is the same as that of the ammunition or weapon.

Freedom of the Winds: 1A. Self. VSM. Conc up to 10 min. Wind wraps around your body, tugging at your hair and clothing as your feet lift off the ground. You gain a flying speed of 60 feet. Additionally, you have advantage on ability checks to avoid being grappled, and on saving throws against being restrained or paralyzed. When you are targeted by a spell or attack while this spell is in effect, you can use a reaction to teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. If this movement takes you out of range of the triggering spell or attack, you are unaffected by it. This spell then ends when you reappear.

Steel Wind Strike: 1A. 30. SM, a melee weapon worth at least 1s. You flourish the weapon used in the casting and then vanish to strike like the wind. Choose up to five creatures you can see within range. Make a melee spell attack against each target. On a hit, a target takes 6d10 force damage. You can then teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet of one of the targets you hit or missed.

Teleportation Circle: 1 min. 10. VM. 1 round. As you cast, you draw a 10ft diameter circle on the ground with sigils that link your location to a permanent teleportation circle of your choice as long as it is on the same plane of existence. Any creature that enters the portal instantly appears within 5 feet of the destination circle or in th enearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied. A permanent teleportation circle can be created by casting this spell in the same location every day for one year. You need not use the circle to teleport when you cast the spell in this way.

Wrath of Nature: 1A. 120/60 cube. VS. Conc up to 1 min. Choose a point you can see within range. The spirits of nature cause trees, rocks, and grasses in a 60-foot-cube centere don the point to become animated until the spell ends.

Grasses and Undergrowth:
Any area of ground in the cube that is covered by grass or undergrowth is difficult terrain for your enemies.

Trees:
At the start of each of your turns, each of your enemies within 10 feet of any tree in the cube must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 4d6 slashing damage from whipping branches.

Roots and Vines:
At the end of each of your turns, one creature of your choice that is on the ground in the cubev must succeed on a Strength saving throw or become restrained until the spell ends. A restrained creature can use an action to make a Strength (Athletics) check against your spell save DC (18), ending the effect on itself on a success.

Rocks:
As a bonus action on your turn, you can cause a loose rock in the cube to launch at a creature you can see in the cube. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 3d8 nonmagical bludgeoning damage, and it must succeed on a Strength saving throw or fall prone.

Seventh Level:
Etherealness: 1BA. Self. VS. 8 hr.

You step into the border regions of the Ethereal Plane, in the area where it overlaps with your current plane. You remain in the Border Ethereal for the duration or until you use your action to dismiss the spell. During this time, you can move in any direction. If you move up or down, every foot of movement costs an extra foot. You can see and hear the plane you originated from, but everything there looks gray, and you can't see anything more than 60 feet away.

While on the Ethereal Plane, you can only affect and be affected by other creatures on that plane. Creatures that aren't on the Ethereal Plane can't perceive you and can't interact with you, unless a special ability or magic has given them the ability to do so.

You ignore all objects and effects that aren't on the Ethereal Plane, allowing you to move through objects you perceive on the plane you originated from.

When the spell ends, you immediately return to the plane you originated from in the spot you currently occupy. If you occupy the same spot as a solid object or creature when this happens, you are immediately shunted to the nearest unoccupied space that you can occupy and take force damage equal to twice the number of feet you are moved.

This spell has no effect if you cast it while you are on the Ethereal Plane or a plane that doesn't border it, such as one of the Outer Planes.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 8th level or higher, you can target up to three willing creatures (including you) for each slot level above 7th. The creatures must be within 10 feet of you when you cast the spell.

Inventory

Personal Journal (leather bound, outlines her journeys)
Writing utensil & ink
Necklace of Snowflakes (gift from Nanaa)
West Water Hero Medal
Vandria Pendant
Aestall Map (has many notes)
Saen'dal Map
Werther's Original (heals for the amount of all dice owned rolled)
Small knife
Very Comfy Pillow (+1d12 when healing if used for short rest)
Potion of Seeming (lasts 4 hours)
Keys to Daxio Icarus
Blackbend Tankard
Gagoas'ihd's Fancy Gloves
Flask of Dwarven Moonshine (3/4 full)
Ornate beautiful crossbow (legendary relic, 1/3 peices)
Tattooing kit
x3 pairs of ugly winter solstice socks
Ragga Dragga Treasure
Poison (x6 blade or arrow coating)
Fancy Red Vest Suit Clothes
Pickled Pepper Jam
Shadowfell Prison Key
Arvad's Bones (take to Halstin family in Freijing)
Glider for the elemental Plane of Air
Slight pinch of death blossom
Ach'Drech Sending Stone
Ach'Drech Recall Stone/Hearthstone/Teleportation Stone

Books:
Knots To Know on the Sea
Indigenous Fish of the Ocean
Folklore of West Water
Woes and Tales of Pirn
Abyssal Skill Book

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The Warden

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 15:38:56 GMT

In an age history has all but forgotten, the man who would later be known as The Warden was once a member of an order devoted to gathering and protecting Arcane knowledge. The masters of this order tasked him with guarding a hidden underground vault filled with dangerous and corrupted magical artifacts. The Warden was incredibly strong-willed and methodical, which made him well-suited to such work.

The vault The Warden guarded was buried deep beneath the citadel at the center of an island chain and protected by runic sigils, arcane locks and potent wards. Spending such time in the presence of dark spells began to affect The Warden as the magic sought out his innate malice. For years the relics preyed on his insecurities, taunting him with his deepest fears and feeding his bitterness.

The Warden’s spite surfaced through wanton acts of cruelty, as his talent for exploiting vulnerability bloomed. He slowly tore pages out of a living book, binding it back together when it was all but spent. He scratched the glass of a mirror bound with the memory of an ancient mage until it was opaque, trapping the man in darkness, only to polish it anew and repeat. Just as a secret wants to be told, a spell wants nothing more than to be cast, and he Warden denied this each day. He would start to recite an incantation, then let the words trickle off his tongue, halting just before the last syllable.

He became exquisitely skilled at covering all evidence of his cruelty, such that no one in the order suspected he was anything other than a disciplined guard. The vault had grown so vast that no one knew its contents as completely as The Warden, and the lesser artifacts faded from the order’s memory, as did he.

He resented that he had to hide his meticulous work. Everything under his watch was evil, or corrupted in some way - why shouldn’t he be free to do as he would?

The vault held many peculiar magical artifacts but no people, until one day when a chained man was dragged into the sunken catacombs. He was a warlock who had infused his body with raw sorcery, which gave him the power to regenerate his flesh, no matter how grievous the wound.

The Warden was delighted at his new ward - a being who could feel the full range of human suffering, but would not perish, a plaything he could torment for years to come. He started methodically separating the warlock’s skin from his flesh with a hook, and used his chains to lash and tear the open wound until it healed. He took to wearing the chains as he patrolled the vault, reveling in the warlock’s fear at the long, dragging sound of his approach.

With ample charges to torment in the vault, The warden became even more distanced from the order above. He began to take his meals in his underground chamber lit by a single lantern, rarely emerging from the catacombs. His skin developed a pallid complexion from lack of sunlight, and his face became gaunt and hollow. Members of the order avoided him, and when a series of mysterious disappearances plagued the order, none thought to investigate The Warden’s lair.

The Warden has said to give birth to a line of research called the Arcane Lock project... where long lost reports have shown actual results of giving a average person magical arcane abilities through torture.

When the disaster known as the Calamity struck, magical shockwaves claimed the lives of all who lived on the isles and transported them into a state of undeath to wander forever in the Shadowfell. While others screamed in anguish, The Warden reveled in the ruin. He rose from this cataclysm as a spectral abomination, but unlike many who have passed into the shadow world, The Warden did not lose his identity. Rather, his penchant for cruel torture and ability to discern weakness was only heightened.

He relished the chance to continue his cruelty without fear of reprisal, unfettered by the limits of mortality. As a wraith, The Warden could torment the living and the dead endlessly, delighting in their despair before claiming their soul for an eternity of suffering.

The Warden now seeks only particular victims: the most clever and resilient, and those with a strong will. His greatest joy comes from tormenting his victims until they lose any last glimmer of hope, before facing the inevitable hook of his chains.

It is said he roams the ragged fields of the Shadowfell to this day. Searching for lost souls to torment that he may deem worthy of unending torture.

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The Forgotten Wastes: Shruin of Amduris

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 15:32:27 GMT

Shurin was a mortal emperor of long lost city called Amduris in a far distant age, a proud man who stood at the cusp of immortality. His hubris saw him betrayed and murdered at the moment of his greatest triumph, Thousands of years ago, the Amduris empire was a sprawling realm of vassal states conquered by powerful armies led by all but invincible warriors known as the Ancients. Ruled by an ambitious and power hungry emperor, Amduris was the greatest realm of its day; a fertile land blessed by the power of the sun that shone from a great golden disc floating atop the temple at the heart of its capital. A temple devoted to the god Pelor.

The youngest and least-favored son of the emperor, Shurin was never destined for greatness. With so many siblings ahead of him, he would never be emperor. Most likely he would take up a position in the priesthood or as governor of some backwater province. He was a slender, studious boy who spent more time perusing the texts collected in the Great Library of his brother Nehi than training to fight under the stern tutelage of the Ascended hero, Renkaton.

Amid the twisting shelves of scrolls, books and tablets, Shurin met a young slave boy who visited the library almost every day in search of texts desired by his master. Slaves in Amduris were forbidden to take names, but as the two boys became friends, Shurin broke that law and called his new friend Xilon, which means ‘one who shares.’ He appointed Xilon - though he was careful never to endanger him by naming him publicly - as his personal slave and the two boys shared their love of history by learning all they could of Amduris' past and its long legacy of Ascended heroes.

While traveling with his father, brothers and Renkaton on the yearly tour of the empire, the royal caravan stopped at a well-known oasis for the night. Shurin and Xilon stole away in the middle of the night to draw the stars and add their own celestial maps to those they had studied in the Great Library. While they drew the patterns of constellations, the royal caravan was attacked by a cabal of assassins sent by the emperor’s enemies. One of the assassins found the two boys out in the desert and was poised to cut Shurin's throat when Xilon intervened, throwing himself upon the assassin’s back. In the ensuing melee, Shurin freed his dagger and plunged it into his attacker’s throat.

Shurin took up the dead man’s sword and rushed back to the oasis, but by the time he returned, the assassins were already defeated. Renkaton had protected the emperor and slain the attackers, but Shurin's other brothers were all dead. Shurin told his father of Xilon's courage and asked him to reward the slave boy, but his words fell on deaf ears. In the emperor’s eyes, the boy was a slave and beneath his notice, but Shurin swore that one day he and Xilon would be brothers.

The emperor returned to his capital, with the fifteen year old Shurin now his heir, and unleashed a merciless campaign of bloodshed against those he believed had sent the assassins. Amduris descended into years of paranoia and murder as the emperor took revenge on any he suspected of treason. Though he was now heir to the throne, Shurin's life yet hung by a thread. His father hated him - wishing he had died instead of his brothers - and the queen was still young enough to bear sons.

Shurin trained in combat, for the attack at the oasis had revealed how little he knew of the deadly arts. Renkaton took up the task of teaching the growing prince, and under his aegis, Shurin learned to wield sword and spear, to command warriors, and to read the ebb and flow of battle. The young heir elevated Xilon, his only trusted confidant, and made him his right hand man. To better counsel him, Shurin tasked Xilon with seeking out knowledge wherever he could find it.

Years passed, but the queen was never able to carry a child to term, every conceived infant perishing before it could be born. So long as the queen remained barren, Shurin's life was relatively safe. Some around the court believed a curse was at work and a few even whispered the young heir’s name in connection with this – though Shurin claimed innocence and even executed some who dared voice such accusations openly.

Eventually, the queen bore a healthy son, but on the night of his birth a terrible storm engulfed Amduris. The queen’s chambers were struck again and again by powerful bolts of lightning, and in the subsequent blaze, both the queen and her newborn son were killed. It was said the emperor went mad with grief and took his own life upon hearing the news, but tales soon spread of how he and his guards had been found lying in pieces on the palace floor, their bodies little more than charred skeletons.

Shurin was shocked by their deaths, but the empire needed a leader, and with Xilon at his side he took control of Amduris as its emperor. Over the next decade, he expanded Amduris' borders and ruled with a harsh, but just hand. He instituted reforms to better the lives of slaves and privately developed a plan to overturn millennia of tradition and eventually free them all. He kept his plans secret, even from Xilon, and the issue of slavery would prove to be a continual bone of contention between them. The empire had been built on the back of slavery, and many of the great noble houses depended on enforced labor for their vast wealth and power. Such monolithic institutions could not be overturned overnight, and Shurin's plans would be undone were they to become common knowledge. Despite Shurin's desire to name Xilon his brother, he could not do so until all Amduris slaves were free.

Through these years, Xilon protected Shurin from his political rivals and guided the expansion of the empire. Shurin married and fathered numerous children, some by wedlock, others by ill-advised liaisons with slaves and harem girls. Xilon stoked the emperor’s grand vision of an empire greater than any the world had ever known. But to stand as ruler over the entire world, Xilon convinced Shurin that he would need to be all but invincible, a god amongst men – an Ascended being.

As the kingdom reached the zenith of its power, Shurin announced he would undertake the Ascension ritual, that the time was right for him to take his place alongside Nehi and Renkaton and their glorious forebears. Many questioned this decision; the Ascension ritual was highly dangerous and intended only for those near the end of their lives, those who had devoted their lives to Amduris and whose service was to be honored with Ascension. It was for the Sun god himself to decree who would be blessed with Ascension, not the hubris of an emperor to bestow it upon himself. Shurin would not be dissuaded from his rash course of action, for his arrogance had grown along with his empire, and he ordered them to comply on pain of death.

The day of the ritual finally came and Shurin marched toward the Dais of Ascension, flanked by thousands of his warriors and tens of thousands of his subjects. The brothers Renkaton and Susan were absent, having been dispatched by Xilon to deal with an emergent threat, but still Shurin would not turn from what he saw as his great destiny. He climbed to the great golden disc atop the temple at the heart of the city and in the moments before the sun priests began the ritual, he turned to Xilon and finally freed him. And not just him, but all slaves…

Xilon was stunned into speechlessness, but Shurin was not yet done. He embraced Xilon and named him his eternal brother, as he had promised he would all those years ago. Shurin turned as the priests began the ritual to bring down the awesome power of the sun. Shurin was unaware that Xilon had studied more than just history and philosophy in his quest for knowledge. He had learned the dark arts of sorcery, all the while nursing a desire for freedom that had grown like a cancer into a burning hatred.

At the height of the ritual, the former slave unleashed his powers and Shurin was blasted from his place on the dais. Without the protection of the runic circle, Shurin was consumed by the sun’s fire as Xilon took his place. The light filled Xilon with power, and he roared as his mortal body began to transform.

But the magic of the ritual was not intended for Xilon, and such awesomely powerful celestial energies could not be diverted without dire consequence. The power of the Ascension ritual exploded outward, devastating Amduris and laying waste to the city. Its people burned to ash and its towering palaces fell to ruin as the desert sands rose up to swallow the city. The sun disc sank from the sky and what had taken centuries to build was brought to ruin in an instant by one man’s ambition and another’s misplaced hate. All that remained of Shurin's city were sunken ruins and echoes of its people’s screams on the night winds.

Shurin saw none of this. For him, all was nothingness. His last memories were of pain and fire; he knew nothing of what befell him atop the temple, nor what became of his empire. He remained lost in timeless oblivion forever.. Even to this day.

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The Forgotten Wastes: Nehi of Amduris

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 15:31:50 GMT

While the pursuit of knowledge would always be his passion, Nehi’s grasp on military strategy and logistics ensured he became the youngest general in Amduris history. While he was a competent soldier, his genius lay not in fighting battles, but in planning them.

His strategic foresight became legendary. In war, he was always a dozen moves ahead of the enemy, able to predict their movement and reactions, as well as pinpoint the exact moment to push the attack or pull back. A deeply empathetic man who took his responsibilities incredibly seriously, he always ensured his soldiers were well provisioned, paid on time, and treated fairly. Every loss of life pained him deeply, and he often refused to rest as he planned and replanned his troop movements and battle dispositions until they were perfect. He was loved and respected by all who served in his legions, and he guided the armies of Amduris to countless victories. His brother Renkaton often served on the front lines of these wars, and the two of them quickly garnered an aura of invincibility.

Despite the acclaim Nehi won, he did not enjoy war. Though he understood its importance…. for now at least… in ensuring the continued progress of the empire, he firmly believed his greatest contribution to Amduris was in the knowledge he gathered for future generations.

At Nehi's urging, all the books, scrolls, teachings and histories of the cultures he defeated were preserved in great libraries and repositories throughout the empire, the greatest of which bore his name. His hunger for knowledge was not for selfish reasons, but to share wisdom with all of Amduris, to enhance understanding of the world and bring enlightenment to the empire.

After decades of dutiful service, Nehi was cruelly struck down by a terrible wasting sickness. Some say he encountered a spirit, a long-dead child king said to bear a terrible curse; others believed he was laid low by the evil magicks of an Betrayer god cult-leader. Whatever the truth, the emperor’s own physician declared, with a heavy heart, that Nehi… was incurable, and would be dead within a week.

The people of Amduris went into mourning, for Nehi was its brightest star and beloved by all. The emperor himself begged the priesthood for an augury. After a day and night of communing with the divine, the priests declared it the will of the sun-god that Nehi be blessed with the Ascension ritual.

Renkaton, now a great war-leader, raced back to the capital to be with his brother. The terrible sickness had advanced dramatically, and Nehi was little more than a skeleton, his flesh wasted away and his bones as fragile as glass. So weak was he that as the golden light from the sun disc streamed onto the Ascension dais, Nasus was unable to climb the final stairs and step into the light.

Renkaton's love for his brother was stronger than any sense of self-preservation, and he nobly bore Nasus onto the dais. Ignoring his brother’s protests, he willingly accepted oblivion in order to save Nasus. However, Renkaton was not destroyed, as was expected. When the light faded, two Ascended beings stood before Amduris…. Both brothers had been deemed worthy, and the emperor himself dropped to his knees to give thanks to the divine.

Nehi was now a towering, Jackal headed being of great strength, his eyes glittering with fierce intelligence, while Renkaton had been transformed into a heavily muscled behemoth bearing the likeness of a dragon. They took their place alongside the other rare Ascended beings of Amduris, and became its protectors.

While Renkaton had always been a great warrior, now he was virtually unstoppable. Nehi too had been gifted with powers far beyond the understanding of mortal men. The greatest boon of his Ascension… his newly extended longevity, which allowed him countless lifetimes to spend in study and contemplation - would, after the fall of Amduris… also prove to be his curse.

One sided effect of the ritual that disturbed Nehi was the increased savagery he saw within his brother. At the culmination of the siege of Nashrea, which finally brought that ancient city under Amdurin rule, Nehi witnessed the victorious Amdurin soldiers butchering everyone they came across and setting the city ablaze. Renkaton led the massacre, and it was he who set fire to the great library of Nashrea, destroying countless irreplaceable volumes before Nehi was able to contain it. This was the closest the brothers ever came to bloodshed, standing in the center of the city, weapons drawn against each other. Under the stern, disappointed gaze of his brother, Renkaton's bloodlust waned, and he finally turned away in shame.

Over the following centuries, Nehi bent his every effort to learning all he could, scouring the desert for years in search of ancient artifacts and wisdom, eventually going on to discover the legendary Tomb of the Emperors hidden beneath the Amdurin capital.

Nehi and Renkaton had both been lured away when the Ascension ritual of Emperor Shurin went terribly wrong, the young emperor betrayed by his closest advisor, the magus Xilon. The brothers returned as fast as they could, but were too late. Shurin… was dead, along with most of the capital’s citizens. Filled with rage and grief, Nehi and Renkaton battled the malevolent being of pure energy that Xilon had become…. Still retaining a humanoid form.. But his hand had become black and corroded and otherworldly

Unable to kill Xilon, they sought to bind him in a magical sarcophagus, but even that was not enough to hold him. Renkaton, perhaps attempting to atone for Nashrea years earlier, grabbed Xilon and bore him into the Tomb of the Emperors, bidding Nehi seal them in. Nehi refused, desperate to find another way, but there was no other option. With a heavy heart, he sealed Xilon and his beloved brother within the fathomless darkness, locking them away for all eternity.

The Amdurin empire collapsed. Its great central city sank into ruin, and the holy sun disc fell from the sky, drained of power by Xilon’s magic. Without it, the divine waters flowing from the city ran dry, bringing death and famine to Amduris.

Bearing the heavy burden of guilt for having damned his brother to darkness, Nehi took to roaming the sands, accompanied only by the ghosts of the past and his grief. A melancholy figure, he stalked the now dead cities of Amduris, watching as they were slowly swallowed by the desert, lamenting the fallen empire and its lost people. He embraced isolation, a lean, solitary nomad who the occasional traveler claimed to glimpse before he disappeared into a sandstorm or an early morning haze. Few believed such stories, and Nehi became little more than a legend.

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Lore Navigation

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 15:28:43 GMT

General World Information
Planet Name: Amandrius
Continents:

Aestall: Grassy plains with mountains, desert to the far east where the ruin of Amduris lie. Elfin kingdom of Lorelai and human kingdom Daxio. Site of the great Elfin-Human war of eld, as well as the great demon invasion. Former site of Moonflow Mountain, the place where all magical ley lines concentrated. The Wakefield Quakes, a guild for adventurers to pick up jobs and whatnot, is here. Wakefield was the center for the demon Allistair's dastardly plans as Wakefield was the mass graveyard for both elves and humans like from the Elfin-Human war. Off the west coast near Westwater is a sunken Elfin city that was swallowed by the sea for an unknown reason. The fire, acid, and water aldrenari live here.

Iwatai: Independent city-state between Aestall and Saen'dal. This is where the White Citadel is and is a place of grand study for mages, as well as something of a resort city. Esiquer Derringer, the Most Powerful Mage, lives here in the White Citadel.

Saen'dal: Desert continent, once grassy but the Ancient One sucks the life out of the place. Ruled by Grand Sultan Sinjin Leandis, with the House Ruger keeping a strong fist on Glenarm. The last remaining full Orc city of Org'ushbur is here. They have a hunting guild that is the Wakefield Quakes analog here.

Frae'zhing: Frozen tundra. Skyrim-like government with a jarl. The storm aldrenari is from here.

The Three Brothers of Amduris
The Ruins of the Forgotten Waste
Renkaton of Amduris
Nehi of Amduris
Shurin of Amduris

Misc Lore
Shadowfell: The Warden

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The Forgotten Wastes: Renkaton of Amduris

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 15:28:05 GMT

Renkaton was born to fight. From a young age he was constantly getting into vicious brawls. He had no fear, and was able to hold his own against much older children. It was often pride that led to these confrontations, as Renkaton was unable to back down, or let any insult pass. Every evening, he came home with cuts and fresh bruises, and while his more scholarly older brother, Nehi, disapproved of his street-fighting, Renkaton relished it.

Nehi soon moved away, having been chosen to join the elite Collegium of the Sun, and in the years he was absent, Renkaton's skirmishes became increasingly serious. On a rare visit home, Nehi was horrified to see his bloodied young brother return home from yet another street fight. Fearing Renkaton's violent nature would see him imprisoned or in an early grave, Nehi helped him enlist in the Amdurin army. Officially, Renkaton was too young for this duty, but his older brother’s influence smoothed away this detail.

The discipline and regimentation of the army was a blessing for Renkaton. Within a few years, he rose to become one of Amdurin's most feared and capable war-captains, and he fought on the front line in numerous wars of conquest to expand the empire. He garnered a reputation for ferocity and toughness, but also for honor and bravery. Nehi became a decorated general, and the two of them served in a number of campaigns together, remaining very close despite their inherent differences and frequent disagreements. Nehi's skill lay in strategy, logistics and history; Renkaton’s lay in battle. Nehi planned the wars, and Renkaton won them.

Renkaton earned the title Gatekeeper of Amduris after fighting a desperate battle in one of the mountain passes bordering Amduris. An invading force had landed on the south coast, striking toward the isolated city of Zuretia. If it was not halted, the city was certain to be razed, and its populace massacred. Outnumbered ten to one, Renkaton and a small contingent faced these aggressors, determined to buy time for the city to be evacuated. It was a battle that none expected Renkaton to survive, let alone win. He held the pass for a day and a night, long enough for a relief force led by Nehi to arrive. With barely a handful of warriors left standing, none uninjured, Renkaton was hailed a hero.

Renkaton served on the frontlines for decades, and never lost a battle. His presence was inspiring to those fighting alongside him, and terrifying to his enemies. Victory after victory were his, and such was his reputation that some wars were won without a sword even being lifted, enemy nations surrendering as soon as they heard Renkaton was marching on them.

Renkaton was of middling years, a grizzled and battle-scarred veteran, when word reached him that his brother was close to death. He raced back to the capital to find Nehi a pale shadow of his former self, having been struck down by a debilitating wasting malady. The sickness was incurable, similar to the rotting curse said to have cut down an entire noble line in antiquity.

Nevertheless, Nehi's greatness was recognized by one and all. As well as being a highly decorated general, he curated the great library of Amdurin, and penned many of the finest literary works in the empire. The priesthood proclaimed it to be the sun’s will that he undertake the Ascension ritual.

The whole city gathered to witness the holy rite, but the tragic illness had taken a terrible toll, and Nehi no longer had the strength to scale the stairs to the Ascension dais. In the ultimate act of self-sacrifice and love, Renkaton lifted his brother in his arms, and climbed the final steps, fully expecting to be obliterated in the process by the holy energies of the sun disc. He deemed his sacrifice a small thing to ensure that his brother would live on. He was just a warrior, after all, albeit a talented one, while his brother was a peerless scholar, thinker and general. Renkaton knew that Amduris would need Nehi in the years to come.

Renkaton was not destroyed, however. Beneath the blinding radiance of the sun disc, both brothers were raised up and remade. When the light faded, two mighty Ascended beings stood before the onlookers, Nehi in his lean, jackal-headed body, and Renkaton in his immense, dragon form. Their forms seemed appropriate the jackal was often regarded as the most clever and cunning of beasts, and the fearless aggression of the dragon fit Renkaton perfectly. Amduris gave thanks to have these new demigods as guardians of the empire.

Renkaton had been a mighty war hero before, but now he was an Ascended being, blessed with power beyond mortal understanding. He was stronger and faster than any regular man, and seemed virtually immune to pain. Though Ascended beings were not immortal, their lifespans were dramatically increased, so that they might serve the empire for hundreds of years.

With Renkaton at the head of the Amdurin armies, the empire’s military was all but unstoppable. He had always been a ruthless commander and ferocious fighter, but his new form gave him power beyond belief. He led the soldiers of Amduris to many bloody victories, neither giving nor expecting mercy. His legend spread far beyond the borders of the empire, and it was his enemies that gave him the name Butcher of the Sun, a title he embraced.

There were those, Nehi among them, who came to believe that a portion of Renkaton's humanity had been lost in his transformation. As the years progressed, he seemed to become crueler, relishing the spilling of blood more than was natural, and whispers circulated of atrocities he committed in the name of war. Nevertheless, he was a staunch defender of Amduris, and he faithfully served a succession of emperors, ensuring the security and greatness of Amduris for hundreds of years.

During the reign of the Emperor Shurin, word arrived that a magical being of fire had escaped the magical sarcophagus that bound it in its underground prison. It had laid waste to a Amdurin town, before fleeing across the desert to the east. Renkaton and his brother Nehi set forth to recapture this legendary foe. While they were absent, the young emperor, guided by the manipulations of his magus, Xilon, attempted to join their ranks and become one of the Ascended. The results were catastrophic.

Renkaton and Nehi were a day’s ride from the capital, but even so, they felt the shockwave as the Ascension ritual went awry. Knowing that something terrible had come to pass, they raced back to find the glorious city in ruins. Shurin had been killed, along with most of the city’s populace, and the great sun disc was falling, drained of all its power. At the epicenter of the ruin, they encountered Xilon, now a being of pure, malevolent power.

The brothers sought to bind Xilon in the magical sarcophagus that had held the ancient being of fire. For a day and a night they battled, but the magus was powerful, and would not be held. He shattered the sarcophagus, and assailed them with spells from his black unworldly hand, fueled by the power of sun disc, which crashed to the ground as they fought.

Knowing that they could not destroy Xilon, Renkaton finally wrestled him into the depthless Tomb of the Emperors, and bade his brother seal them inside forever. Knowing there was no other way to stop Xilon, Nehi reluctantly did as his brother ordered. As Renkaton and Xilon fell into darkness, Nehi sealed the tomb for all eternity.

In the darkness, Xilon and Renkaton continued their battle. For uncounted years they fought, as the once-great civilization of Amduris collapsed to dust in the world above. Xilon whispered poison in Renkaton's ear, and gradually, as the centuries rolled on, his viperous words and the ever-present darkness took its toll. The magus implanted the notion in Renkaton's mind that Nehi had sealed him in on purpose, jealous of his success, and unwilling to share his Ascension.

Piece by piece, Renkaton's sanity cracked. Xilon drove a wedge into these cracks, corrupting his mind and twisting his perception of what was real and what was imagined.

Nehi's brilliance was recognized from a young age, long before he was chosen to join the ranks of the Ascended. A voracious scholar, he read, memorized and critiqued the greatest works of history, philosophy and rhetoric within the Library of the Sun before he’d seen ten summers. His passion for reading and critical thinking were not passed down to his younger brother Renkaton, who was quickly bored, and spent his time fighting with other local children. The brothers were close, and Nehi kept a protective eye over his younger brother, helping to ensure he didn’t get into too much trouble. However, it wasn’t long before Nehi was welcomed into the exclusive Collegium of the Sun, leaving home to take up his place in this prestigious academy.

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