Post your background here, you know I love em. The setting will be in the Forgotten Realms. This is where you can update your personal backgrounds and post permanent upgrades to your characters like Hit-point rolls.
Backgrounds
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Athos found out at an early age, that he was rather unusual for an elf. He was quite happy playing off in the woods by himself and when put into group play with the other children, quite often found that they irritated the ever-loving shit out of him. Many of the elders hoped he would grow out of this, but as time went on and he learned more about his people, his feelings toward them only worsened.
Athos found elves to be racists, prideful, stuck-up, fools boasting about the past as though it were some badge of honor to wear to ones grave. And from what he learned about elven history, many of the idiots did just that. Waring with themselves in the Crown Wars over foolish nonsense only be driven into the forests by the human kingdoms. Of course they meant to retreat as the Crown Wars taught them the folly of war, but they still whined about their glory days. Even so much as they continually spoke down about the other races who had obviously flourished and bested them in most ways that mattered. But beyond all that, elves were somehow better than the other races. Oh the reasons were plentiful, their cities are awful, their laws unjust, their life spans so short, the excuses for elven superiority were aplenty and it all just struck Athos the wrong way. Then there were the Drow! Oh gods they could go on about them. The boogie men of the sword coast, sure they were bad, but they were still elves. Not all of them were born evil, okay, well most of them, but just like all surface elves were born good either. It was the environment and society they were forced to live in that shaped them! That argument nearly got him ran out of the academy before he was ready to give them the finger on his own. He loved studying, so he let the argument go and kept his opinions to himself before his graduation. Regardless he did manage to graduate and with honors at that. His people had hoped he would go one to become a cleric or mage, as he had excelled at nearly every subject. Not surprising to some, he instead packed his things and gave his people a hearty fuck off! before wandering into the wilds. His family were rather aloof to begin with so they barely paid his departure any mind. He imagined this was for the best really as much of his detachment had originated mostly from his parents. He loved them, but he wasn't naive enough to believe they or any of his siblings would overly miss him. And he was right. With that chapter of his life done with, Athos wandered not only the forests, and eventually over to the Sword Coast, even venturing into it's cities at times. With his knowledge and curiosity he soon learned the ways of nature and the magic that could be found there. He discovered a few druid circles, which were mostly composed of humans and halflings which fascinated him to no end. He learned that they all shared a similar love of the natural world and had the knowledge to draw power from that. Unfortunately that was where a lot of the similarities ended. He found it difficult to tolerate some of their varied ways and so he never bothered joining a circle. Some of them were a little to militant about protecting the woods or the animals. Some swore off all meat, some ate only meat, others ate only fish, others ate only plants, just to be hated by the ones who ate only meat and vice versa. It became kind of ridiculous at times. He did find that he enjoyed the company of certain races though, and Humans and halflings were by far some of his favorite people. Humans were the most varied so they were usually fairly fascinating, though dangerous at times. But as far as halflings were concerned, once Athos was asked by a dwarven acquaintance who wasn't an overly grumpy fellow, at least for a dwarf, why he liked Halflings so much. Athos responded simply, "They love good food, have the best pipe weed, and don't overly bitch about things they can't control." His dwarven friend nodded solemnly and seemed to understand the sentiment. He eventually found himself in the forests and groves outside the great city of Waterdeep where no others and laid claim. So he decided to settle for a while to practice his magic and craft in relative solitude. Every seventh day however, he would wander through the boughs, into the meadows, and down the lonely dirt roads to the city. There he would make his way to a tavern he had come to be rather fond of called The Yawning Portal. There he would spend a day or two having a bit of stew or roast, drink several pints of ale, listen to some decent music and enjoy the stories of travelers and adventurers. Then he would stroll back to his grove again to return to his studies and the next week repeat his little ritual. All in all it made him quite content, but there was still an urge that was starting to grow in him. He felt that soon, if he did not put his skills and magic into a practical use, he might come to the end of what he could learn in his mixed solitude. This idea played in his mind as he walked into the Yawning Portal at the start of the weeks end for his customary meal and beer.
From the start, Leloth was the oddball of the family, actually of the town as she recalls it. Her parents both human with an unknown infernal lineage had given birth to a tiefling! They were surprised but she was stilled loved as their child. At the age of three Leloth lost her father who went out on a mercenary job and never came back. So she was raised by her mother with her two sisters, and had as normal of a childhood as possible for someone like her. Leloth had friends, whether they were, or were not, shady in her rundown neighborhood. They visited her house every once in a while and were surprised at her modest living style, thinking that she was poor. At around ten years of age Leloth's mother told her the story of how her father went missing and the work he did, begging that Leloth not follow in her fathers footsteps.
At fourteen Leloth knew she was destined to follow a life in mercenary work despite her mothers insistence not to, twas just a phase she giggles now. So for a year she went on as a hired hand and entertainment as she had the voice of an angel. On her final, and most spectacular job, a dragon appeared and took her and her party to its lair and ate them... or tried to. Leloth barely escaped with her life and lost a toe and most of her left horn from the experience. After that adventure she decided to leave the mercenary work to others and find a new line of work one with less danger, a lot less danger. Though it seemed that the cosmos had a very different plan in mind for her... The people who had hired her to go on her last mission had lost an outlandish amount of profit from her expedition and after learning that she survived had decided to vent their rage on the last surviving member of the group. By altering the path of a long going war, the soldiers brought ruin to her village completely wiping it from history. Leloth was forced to flee to a nearby village with the remaining members of her hometown and to take refuge there. For three months she and her family lived in the village tavern until a group of rough looking bandits came to the village exclaiming "The one named Leloth is the one who brought ruin to your home! She is the reason for your missfortune!" The people of both villages gasped at these words and vented their combined wrath on her. She was forced to flee to the deep forests whilst hearing the thugs laugh behind her. After spending several years in hermitude in the shaded regions of her forest, as she calls it. During this time she decided to claim a new title for herself in the form of the surname Lorekeeper. Leloth Lorekeeper had human interaction, albeit very little, such as traders, caravans, the occasional bandit/raider, a group of wounded soldiers of whom she healed for some silver, which she then she used said silver to have a fanciful night full of alcohol. Though there was once during her solitude that she met another hermit, who's name was Fi Yelsatra. Leloth had taken to this new companion quite quickly and soon become lovers, though one eventful evening a group of raiders had happened upon Leloth and Fi and tried to murder and loot them, Leloth laughs when questioned about this event saying only that "It was one of, if not the best, nights of my life". When Fi realized that Leloth would not survive this encounter she transformed into a beautiful silver scaled dragon slaying all in her path and retreating to the skies when the battle was won, leaving a very confused and drunken Leloth behind. At the age of twenty she made her way to the great city of Waterdeep, a place where none had heard about the tragedy of her home or the supposed criminal behind its destruction. Leloth is normally found in the Yawning Portal Inn singing, dancing, drinking, and occasionally beating the teeth out of a handsy drunk with an attitude. She always heals said drunk if the fight gets too tense though, it keeps her on the right side of the city watch.
03-06-2018, 04:49 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-15-2018, 03:42 AM by Arius Dezlentyr.)
Arius grew up in the city of Zazesspur, former capital of Tethyr, in the house of the Dezlentyr noble family there. The tales of his great-grandmother,Corina Dezlentyr (now well over 100 years old with her long half-elven lifespan), and her swashbuckling, sea-faring, and dungeon delving exploits have always fanned the fires of adventure in his soul. Especially the tales of how they began, with a noble-born adventuring company, the Deep Delvers, in the streets of Waterdeep, as well as the vast Undermountain beneath the city. Thus it is, that when he decided to seek adventure himself, his first destination was Waterdeep. He only arrived in Waterdeep a few days ago, and introduced himself to his cousins there, meeting the patriarch of the Waterdhavian branch of the family, his great-great uncle Corin Dezlentyr, twin brother of the matriarch Countess of Starspur. Corin welcomed his great great nephew and is allowing him to remain at the Dezlentyr villa. It is now time to explore, and he cannot resist.. he has to see if the Yawning Portal lives up to the reputation that great grandmother regaled him with in her stories. History of House Dezlentyr
03-11-2018, 03:45 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-17-2022, 01:53 AM by Kriv Turnuroth.)
Kriv Turnuroth, was born in the extremely spartan like dragonborn city of Harglast. As a Gold scaled dragon born he was considered a blessing to his clan, a sign of the god Bahamut's favor. Raised under that situation has made Kriv very sure he is destined for great things. As he was given much more encouragement, with the expectation of things to come. Of course Kriv used that to become a wizard as a youth. Which was odd for his family, but they tolerated it mostly thinking it a phase he was in. He is obsessed with magic and the weave. Focusing this fascination on dracons, especially their magic, and history was heavily frowned upon. So after he felt he had completed his training Kriv decided to head out from home, and learn more about the outside world. After a very long and regretful boat trip, where in he learned he does not possess the stomach for being a sailor, he found he was drawn to Waterdeep, as its history with dragons, and such was well known across the Realms. Not to mention the place was full of new magics, cultures, and people. Surely he could blend in here.
Kriv leaving his clan to go sightseeing was well not received well, as he had 'responsibilities' to the clan. As the only gold in his clutch he was expected to remain, and eventually become a leader in his clan. The others of his clutch resented his cavalier attitude and interest in the history of dragons, and magic in general. He was confronted about his choosing to leave, and several of them tried to force him to remain. Kriv fled, but not before he injured several of his family. He knows that many of his clutch will be chasing after him which is one of the reasons he has headed to Waterdeep first, it is also why he typically avoids other dragonborn. He is especially sure Kralo, and Krevit his two much more aggressive egg-brothers will be after him. Both were more martial than him, and as such he was surprised he managed to elude them in his escape. Kralo is a Copper Dragonborn paladin, who was very strict on traditional Harglast ways, and Krevit was a Bronze who was known to be a warrior brute. Both Kriv is sure will be seeking him, although he isn't sure if they will bring others or not. Still the pursuit of magic and adventure awaits! Now where were these dragons he had heard so much about....
03-11-2018, 10:37 PM
Natasha isn't sure exactly where she was born to her parents, Aust and Ingrid. Her father, Aust, was a elven merchant and her mother Ingrid was human sailor and so they travelled from port to port, selling and buying wares and seeing the sights of the world. Natasha grew up on their ship and has fond memories of the sea spray splashing her face to running amok with the city kids whenever they docked somewhere.
When she was just ten and they were in Luskan, she was creeping back aboard her home after playing all day, hoping not to be noticed as it was after dark and she wasn't supposed to be out that late. She heard strange voices coming from her parents cabin, two male voices, arguing over something, what she couldn't tell. She crept closer, the cabin door was ajar and spying inside she saw two men going through her parents things while the dead, lifeless bodies of Aust and Ingrid lay in unnatural positions on the ground. She fled, running as far away from the ship, the only home she ever knew, as her little legs could take her. She could find none of her city friends, they were all at home by now and she knew not where they lived. The night was cold and she nearly froze to death, huddling in an alleyway until the sun rose again. She went and begged the city kids' parents to help her, and a few let her sleep with them for a few nights, but it didn't last long before they asked her to move along. Most already had too many mouths to feed and she was basically a stranger to them. As she wrapped her now torn and tattered clothes around her behind a building that smelled of death, a well dressed man approached her. She had not seen such finery since being in this city but she had seen beggars, and so put out her hands in a cup, offering them hopefully. He took her hands into his own, keeled down to her level, his brilliant blue eyes looking upon her kindly. He offered to take her in, let her live with him and raise her as best he could. Natasha agreed, perhaps naively, but she felt she would be safe with this man somehow. She came to know the man as Linhart, her adoptive father and eventually mentor. Linhart lived in a large estate in town, relatively untouched by the gangs vying for control of the city. He not only clothed and fed her, but began to teach her of his vision to rid his city of its criminal reputation. He taught her how to track down the lowlifes of the city, apprehending them so what passed as law in the city could do something about them. His method of fighting was strange, using unorthodox weapons and teaching her how to use her own body as a weapon, instead of relying solely on external implements. He also enforced a rule of being disguised when doing this work, almost as if doing these deeds in your own name would somehow stain your soul. He was known as the Shade to those he interacted with on the job so she adopted the moniker of Nightingale, and came to wear a face mask when working. Now seventeen, Shade has instructed Nightingale that she needs to gain experience outside of Luskan, without his direct mentorship. So she finds herself staying at the yawning portal, an inn in Waterdeep, a city she has vague memories of in what now seems a lifetime ago.
07-18-2018, 01:46 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-19-2018, 01:21 AM by Lovise Cue.)
Lovise Cue is merely one of the alter egos of Drea Hana, daughter of the king's Spymaster. Few, even in the castle, are aware of Drea's parentage. As a Spymaster, her human mother, Anjanette Hana, did not want to expose such a weakness. Still, Drea was trained well in the arts of misdirection, even as she grew to be a beautiful and charming young woman alongside the royals at court.
Alas, she got a little too "friendly" with the heir to the throne. When the Spymaster's life was cut short by a terrible "accident", discontent about Drea's presence in court began to grow unfettered. Her lover insisted that they were meant to be, and that love would win out, but Drea knew better. She stole away into the night, without saying goodbye to the young heir. She thought about seeking out her father, of whom the Spymaster had spoken of once. But she figured that would not be a happy reunion, if he was even aware of her existence. So she began traveling with caravans, pulling off heists and cons in each city before disappearing back onto the merchant roads. She is a superb con-woman, pick-pocket, and burglar, and is determined to eventually make a name for herself, especially if that name is not her own. She built herself a new identity, Lovise Cue, complete with a papertrail that would never trace back to her lover in Tethyr.
The winds of the north were howling their fury as the woman, her child of seven winters, in tow, escaped the massacre of her tribe. Roars of warriors where drowned out by the blasting of horns and savage cries of the orc horde that flooded the valley home of the Tribe of the Boar, descending upon the barbarians in a tsunami of sword and axe. Her eyes blurred with the tears of shame and pain, as she would have rather died among her people then flee, but her man, her love, had sent her away. He knew that death was coming and wanted nothing more than to give his young progeny a chance to taste life.
As they fled south amid the flurry of snow and whipping winds, she was saved the horror of seeing her life mate cut down beneath a wave of rabid Garguran scum, but so too did she miss the wave of an advancing army coming from the west, their thick boots, axes on shields, and howling rage swallowed up by the sounds of a furious nature and slaughter of her tribe. When she finally collapsed from exhaustion and the wound she kept hidden from her son, the valley was miles behind them and the tears would no longer come. Over the next several days the two humans traveled south, the two more than capable of hunting down small game and surviving off the northlands though the woman was growing weaker day by day. On the fifth day, the high trees of the Moonwood far behind them, they came upon a patrol of warriors on horseback, the Knights in Silver, guardians of the large northern city of Silverymoon. As the men approached the two travelers, the woman collapsed upon the snow, her hand falling from that of her young son. Try as they might to help the barbarian female, the knights were unable to keep death from claiming her. As they began wrapping the body of the dead woman for transport back to the city, they discovered a symbol of Sune, in the form of a necklace about her throat. So her body carried respectfully between two of the horses, her son sitting behind the leader of the patrol, they returned to the Gem of the North, where both were turned over to the Priestess of Sune who resided over the Shrine there. There they discovered that the young barbarians mother had once served as an acolyte of Sune, who'd given up her life of worship to pursue her life mate into the frozen waste of the northlands. They also discovered, from a messenger sent from the north, that the Tribe of the Boar had been wiped out, prior to the arrival of the dwarven army out of Citadel Adbar, who were hunting the orc horde and in turn destroyed the evil Garguran and the shaman who had driven them into their murderous frenzy. Orphaned and alone, the High Priestess of the shrine took the young barbarian boy into her family. Renaming him Mourn due to the sadness that shown in his storm grey eyes, he became of Ward of Sune. When it became apparent that he wasn't fit for city life, the Priestess retreated to her home on the outskirts of Silverymoon where Mourn was allowed to grow without the constraints of civilization. Though she imparted language and the teachings of the Lady of Light, she allowed the wildling youth his freedom to roam the surrounding countryside without supervision. Having no where else to go to, he returned nightly to the manse of the Priestess, preferring the solitude of the stables to the large comfortable furnishings within the large manor. And so it would go on and on for the next seven winters with the Priestess, and her Paladin husband who had returned from his journey's east, continued to teach the young barbarian of his people, of Sune, of fighting for what is right and just, and of the world at large. At the age of seventeen, Mourn, now a squire of the Paladin, set off with his mentor to the north, to see if anything remained of his once proud people and the tribe of the boar. When they came upon the valley of his birth they were surprised to see that the small village he'd been born in was once more teaming with life. A new tribe had taken up residence in the valley of the Boar. At first this desecration of his people angered Mourn, had his mentor not been with him, he would have ridden down into the village and attacked those who would leech off the memory of his people. But instead, both men rode down the trail to the village. At first they were greeted with suspicion, but after speaking to the elder of the tribe, it was decided that Mourn would remain there for a time, to impart his youthful knowledge upon the Tribe of the Deer. This had been his mentors plan all along, to allow the barbarian in his young charge to flourish once more, so he could choose for himself his own path. Accepting the barbarian into their tribe, he underwent the marking of the warrior, but instead of allowing them to tattoo him with their tribal mark, he demanded and received the warrior markings of one of his own clan, pulled forth from memories of his chieftain father and imparted upon the shaman of the Deer tribe. This did a lot to change his view of those who had invaded his homeland and he grew to realize that they had never meant to disgrace his own tribe, but simply sought a fertile land for their own children to be raised. Over the next year, he remained among the new tribe, learning their ways, which differed greatly from what he remembered of his own war-like tribe. The Deer tribe were evolving into shepards, farmers, and breaking away from the old ways, that Mourn at first was once more disgusted, but as time passed and he grew to see the value in such a way of life, he began to speak against the gods that the tribes had followed so diligently and instead spoke of Sune, of the goddess of love and light, and so it was that he found his path in existence. He also realized that he could no longer stay with the tribes. That an entire world was out there, that the evil that had destroyed his people was still out there. Not the orcs who had committed the act, but those creatures who would instill such evil in the hearts of all. A months later, the young barbarian paladin found himself aboard a caravan heading to the largest city on the swords coast, Waterdeep. He hadn't had enough for the passage so instead, he offered up his sword arm as a guardian for the caravan. From Waterdeep, he caught another job guarding yet another caravan, this one heading north toward the frozen tundra of Ten-towns. It was on this caravan that he met Lovise Cue, a beautiful half -elf and a warrior to boot. The two obviously having more in common then the merchants he was escorting, struck up a conversation that slow developed into a friendship of sorts over the course of many days. And when they reached the small village of Oakhurst, they were met by a small contingent of dwarves who took over the duty of caravan guardian. Handed some thirty pieces of gold for his diligent work. Mourn bid the caravan good-bye and turned his attention to the small village.
08-30-2020, 09:48 PM
Background: Mivia grew up in the Feywild. She had a happy life and always seemed to have a touch magic in her blood. Even as a baby she could create minor magical effects. At first they were used to amuse herself but as she got older she became quite the little prankster. In her adolescents she would have vivid dreams in her Trances of the Seelie Court that seemed more like memories. Each such dream seemed to draw her deeper and deeper into her trances until she started to wish to never wake up. Then one night when she had her most vivid dream yet. In this vision Mivia met Titania. The Archfey asked Mivia to become her agent and in turn she would offer the girl great power. How could she resist such an offer, so she readily accepted! Mivia left the feywild and was directed by Titania through visions to seek out a Harper Agent She did and eventually joined the the Organization but always her true loyalty remained with her beloved Titania. Shortly after being accepted as a member of the Harpers, Mivia was sent by her patron, Titania, to investigate the Sunless Citadel. Mivia does not know why and she didn't bother to ask. When Titania wishes her to know, she will reveal her reasons.
05-17-2022, 12:46 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-06-2024, 08:27 PM by Ulfgar Gravendak.)
Born of pure Shield Dwarf stock, the young warrior son of a weapons-maker and his wife, Ulfgar had seen much of the Sword's Coast and lands further east in about the same time it would have taken a human to reach middle-age. Still considered a young lad by his parents he was raised in proper dwarven fashion. Taught the use of the hammer, both to forge weapons and defend their freedom. Schooled in the shield to protect kin and kind, to be a bulwark in the face of the horde. Brought up in the belief of Moradin, creator of his kind, as well as all the other dwarven deities. And still, he found himself falling into one scrape after another. Nursing head wounds or knife gashes and assorted broken bones, the young dwarf was always getting into trouble.
It wasn't until his families return to Citadel Felbarr that Ulfgar's inclinations toward violent displays got him beaten nearly to death by several gold dwarf thugs, who assaulted the fiery young Gravendak when he spoke of confessing his admirations for a non-dwarven lass. Awaking from his near demise, those around him were distressed to hear him speaking openly to Moradin, to Clanggedin, and Dumathoin or any number of other reverent Dwarven gods as though he were having a simple conversation with a fellow dwarf. Some say it was all the blows to the head that had addled his mind so, though many others believed it was his confession of love for the half-elven Ranger, Senna of Silverymoon that had won him the curse of the Soul-forger Moradin himself for such heretical statements. He was even observed angrily admonishing The Father of Battle for not warning the fiery bearded youth about the coward of a hill dwarf who'd cracked him over the head in that previous fight. And while many considered this blasphemous in the least, a priest, a distant cousin of Ulfgars simply laughed and said that Clanggedin enjoyed a good laugh as much as any dwarf. After a few years of traveling back and forth between the Citadel and Silverymoon, to spend time with the pretty Ranger, Ulfgar arrived back home in Felbarr only to be met by a counsel of young dwarves like himself. They tried to pressure the fiery bearded youth to give up his farse of a relationship with the non-dwarf. That his children should be of pure Shield Dwarf stock and "Not some mongrel, from a half-bree,...." The words were never finished and the dwarf who'd spoke them had nearly lost more then a dozen or so teeth when the outraged Ulfgar waded into the bunch with fists and curses flying. Howling his fury to The Silverbeard, he drove into his fellow dwarves with a rage that rivelled those of the fabled battleragers and was only subdued when his own father tore his son away from the melee. More than a little angry at his son's actions and more than a little proud of Ulfgar's defense of Senna's good name, the wily ole dwarf drug his son off to their home where they were met by several of Felbarr's officials. After a heated discussion, where Ulfgar's father began raging about himself, though his threats where of packing up his business and relocating to Mithral Hall, or Silverymoon, or by Berranor's rounded arse, to Waterdeep. It was decided that Ulfgar would have to leave Citadel Felbarr, exiled from the place of his birth instead of being imprisoned. And so the young dwarf set his boots to the road and headed for Silverymoon and within a few weeks time, he was reunited with his half-elven love. "Fool dwarf," was among the nicer things she'd had to say to him when he told her what had transpired. "What about your Ma, and your Da. Who will run the Gravendak Smithy when they can no longer lift hammer to anvil, Fool Dwarf!" It took Ulfgar several days to finally get back into Senna's good graces for she truly loved the warrior, their races not withstanding. "You cannot stay here though my love," Senna told him one day, after they returned to her small abode, which the city paid for, for her services, "This city will drive a firebrand like you mad in a fortnight, and I cannot stick around to keep you from getting into mischief." So after much discussion it was decided that Ulfgar would strike out with the caravans heading west. "If we are able to quell the tribes of goblins to a manageable level, I'll give notice in the spring and meet you in Luskan by Winter. Who knows, maybe we can escape to Ten-Towns and open a nice little smithy up there." |
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