Character Backgrounds

If you would like to create a backstory for your character then please feel free to do so and post it here.

Please note: You are about to leave your homeland in the Saphire Isles and begin a new life in a new world. The capital city of the Saphire Isles is Lion's Gate. You should have some reason for wanting to leave your homeland.

Glórendil Dundragon is a half-elven bard. He grew up as the son of a human knight father and an elven wizard mother. His life was a peaceful one, and he always loved to hear the stories about his father's adventures. His father taught him how to play the lute from a young age, and his mother taught him the traditional Elvish songs. Soon he would travel to a bard's college to study, and along the way, he would meet a young human ranger named Brandon "Bran" Dundragon. The two would develop a relationship and get married. They are leaving Lion's Gate to write new songs and ballads about their adventures.

Magak was born to a human woman and orc male after the orc's tribe pillaged the village. Magak's mother did her best to raise him in an all human town but Magak was constantly teased and fought with. He had to grow up fighting the other kids in self defense but was always the one that got in trouble due to his size advantage. When he was 14, Magak ran away and joined a mercenary group. They trained him to be a soldier for hire. After three years with the group, he learned their true nature - they only took jobs that advanced their patrons politically. Magak did not agree with this policy and challenged the leader to a fight. Magak won but was disgraced from the group. He is leaving Lion's Gate to start a new life for himslelf.

Harbek is a Hill Dwarf cleric of Pelor. He started off as a member of the dwarven infantry within the Empire's army, and quickly rose to be a squad leader for the second combat healing unit known as the Sacred Hand, comprised of Pelor's battle clerics. Their primary responsibility was to accompany advanced units into the field and heal as needed, and fight alongside the other units.

After his time in the military he earned the opportunity to work full time for the church in Lion’s Gate. Due to his uncanny infinity for being able to understand the workings of magic more than most others in the priesthood, he has been assigned to the Royal Mage Society to assist with administrative tasks, healing as needed, and on occasion field operations (working with Witch Hunters, exploring new areas, etc.)

When the opportunity came about to move to a new land and possibly expand the church, while building a name for himself, Harbek jumped at it. He hopes some day to have a citadel under his control, from which he can bring the light to all those around, and be a beacon of hope in this new land.

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Quelenniavara Liadon Siannodel was born into an elven home. Living in a wooded area a few miles from the teeming city of Lion's Gate, she was raised in the quiet, venturing out into what little uninhabited land remained with her father to learn wilderness skill. Her mother taught her healing magics from an early age, and the combination of these two allowed Que, as the girl came to be known, to gain an affinity for magic and nature that few had. Realizing their daughter's potential, her parents escorted her secretly to the Druidic circle of the Sapphire Isles. Que had already been raised secretly to worship Mielikki, the goddess of nature revered by the elves. These druids furthered that teaching in Que, helping her to further understand the worship of the Nature Goddess as well as to learn druidic skills. Having completed her initial training, Que went into Lion's Gate to work as a healer. She would gather herbs from outside the city and cart them into town to use as a cover for the magic she was practicing. By mixing together several herbs in boiling water, waiting for them to cool and apply the supposed poultice to the wound in question, Que had a logical explanation for the healing that actually occurred because she laid her hands on the wound or spoke words of healing under her breath. Because of this ruse, she was able to improve on her mother's healing magic without having to worry about the guards which frequently passed her stall or even came to her for healing. In the process, Que was also able to secretly spread the worship of Mielikki. Many who came to her stall would ask the reason for her healing, and she would sometimes (if she deemed them trustworthy) tell them stories of the Nature Goddess and how she gifts everything to mankind through nature.
When the opportunity to see the new world arose, Que's interest was piqued. Upon bringing her thoughts before the Circle, of which she had remained a loyal member to adulthood, they blessed her and sent her as a sort of missionary-explorer. Not only would she discover, explore and protect new realms of Mielikki, but she would be a founder of a land in which the worship of the Nature Goddess was freely practiced.

Rabean Manyroff, the son of a human mother and half-elf father and eldest of five siblings, was raised in Chiry, a farming village a half-day's ride from the largest city in the province. The farming life was a simple one, but it suited Rabe and his family perfectly.

One day, Rabe was running errands in the city when a terrible storm swept in. Thunder rumbled, lightning cracked, and the streets became more and more dangerous as the winds picked up and began hurling debris. While running for cover, Rabe spotted a white-haired gentleman trapped beneath an overturned cart. As Rabe struggled to free the man, a pane from the window above shook loose and plunged to Earth right where they stood. Rabe raised his arm, hoping to shield them from the impact--but at the last second the window pane careened into the wall behind them and shattered. Rabe threw the cart aside, and the pair safely made it to shelter.

After the storm had passed, the gentleman--an Elf by the name of Kolm--insisted that he accompany Rabe to meet Rabe's family so that he might tell them in person of Rabe's heroism. Rabe was glad to oblige, but was flabbergasted--along with the rest of his family--when Kolm announced his intent to sponsor Rabe's tuition at an Arcane Academy. They survived the storm, he explained, not due to random fortune but to Rabe's spontaneous casting of a Shield spell, the first sign of a wellspring of magical aptitude. Kolm, as it turned out, was not only a wizard but an ambassador, and a wealthy one at that. Kolm explained that acting as Rabe's benefactor was an expression of not only gratitude, but his duty to foster the arcane arts wherever he could. He offered to act as Rabe's tutor one year, and pull whatever strings necessary to see Rabe enrolled in the finest magical institution on the continent. After a moment of stunned silence, Rabe and his parents accepted the offer with great joy.

* * *

Two years later, mere weeks before Rabe's first-year exams, he received a chilling letter: his parents had fallen ill, and would likely not live through the month. With hurried apologies to his professors, Rabe arranged for transport home as soon as he could--but it was too late. His mother had already passed, and his father was desperately clinging to life. That night was the saddest of Rabe's life, he and his oldest sister comforting their younger siblings, the five of them sobbing as their father's ragged breathing filled their tiny cottage.

* * *

Their father would eventually recover, but the illness would leave its mark: his lungs had been ravaged to the point where even a brisk walk would leave him breathless after mere minutes. With his father unable to mind the farm, Rabe had misgivings about returning to school, but his sister assured him that she and their siblings could take care of the homestead while he finished his degree. Against his better judgment, Rabe returned to school--and sure enough, several months later, he received a tear-stained letter from his sister: their property had been seized and their father thrown in debtor's prison. For the second time, Rabe abandoned his studies and returned home to find his family in a sorry state. He found his sister, now living with their siblings in a poorhouse, who explained that their father, despondent over the loss of his wife and his inability to work, took their savings and crawled into the bottom of a bottle. He was quickly unable to pay for his vice, and left his family homeless after their property was sold to pay his debts.

Desperate, Rabe wrote to Kolm, begging Kolm to take him and his siblings in. Kolm explained that he could not... but he knew of someone who could, a friend who had departed for the New World with the intent of starting a livestock business. Kolm assured the Manyroffs that if they could get passage there, Rabe and his siblings would be welcome hands for this venture and would gladly be given room and board in exchange for their assistance.

Upon arrival in the new world, however, this friend is nowhere to be found--and even more distressing, no one in town seems to have even heard of this purported entrepreneur. Thus far, the innkeeper of the Berda Trading Post has let them trade labor for a bed in the barn and whatever food can be spared, but her patience and larder are starting to run thin.

Rabe caught wind of an abandoned dungeon a few miles outside of town, a set out to explore it with the glimmer of hope that it might suffice as a temporary shelter--or that he might even chance upon enough forgotten supplies (or gold!) to fund an expedition to find Kolm's friend. But he was only a few steps inside when his exhaustion got the better of him and he tumbled into a pit trap laid long ago. He now sits on a cold stone floor, trapped within rusted iron bars and nursing a bruised behind.

I like to keep my character backgrounds, simple and mysterious. I invite others and the DM to contribute if they think of something they like and think it fits with the chracter.

Vrizz'ka is a blue ancestry dragonborn with teal scales, gold eyes and a nasal horn. Vrizz'ka is self conscious about their common and prefers to speak draconic if possible. Unlike many dragonborn they are not tall and strong they are 5' and built with lean limbs, think snake not Komodo dragon.

Vrizz'ka was transported for some crime. I don't know what. They're almost certainly guilty, but whether you or I would consider what Vrizz'ka did a crime remains unknown.

Vrizz'ka sniffs the air with their tongue and vocalizes their emotions with clicks and rattles and other noises that humans cannot produce.

Herod is a human monk, raised in a monastery after he was discovered by some crusaders that killed his barbarian family. His group was viciously slaughtered while he was about 6-7 years, and some well of mercy swept across one of the crusaders. He took the child to the monastery of his homeland and dropped the orphan off there, where they renamed him and raised him. He was always told of a great destiny he had, but he never felt particularly special. He has a violent streak that he suppresses through meditation to calm those internal voices and control his nature. When the new world was discovered, the monastery commanded him to venture forth and lay roots. However, maybe down the road, he will begin listening to those voices ever calling...who knows...He also has a distinctive manner of speech (very guttural from his barbarian native tongue) and a distinctive meditation style, and during meditation, he does not respond to his peers, but he is very aware of his surroundings.