Thread: The Crimson Claw of Calamity [Character Sheets]

Alerdene Du'hofferan Background Born to a family of innkeepers devoted to the goddess Waukeen she grew up as devoted as any, but as an inquisitive young woman she wondered if there was more to her life than merely being an innkeeper and choose to leave and went away to study wizardry - with her families blessing. Gaining membership within the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors within waterdeep she enjoyed the discussion and learning opportunities and also made an effort to expand her knowledge beyound this taking classes within some of the other institutes that would have her - and as such her quest for knowledge drew her to dark places and secrets such as the Enclave of Red Magic where she first encountered a text detailing some terrible knowledge - such as fleshwarping and the soul trade. Had her life progressed along this route she likely would have eventually found herself in trouble with moral authorities, used by immoral authorities, apprenticed to some horror or becoming some horror herself. However before her research could get her into real trouble she was called home by her family as her parents were ill and needed help with the inn and her younger siblings - which she did without compliant she was loyal to her kin and figured she had touched enough secrets to examine them more slowly, that her seniors within the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors had started to determine that she was breaching rules by studying outside of accepted lines of thought may also have made the choice to leave easier. Returning home she has found the village to actually be good for research itself as no-one questions anything odd a made might do providing she is helpful when they need help, which she endeavors to be offering fair trade for her services and assistance when needed - that she has formed a good working relationship with some of the nobility when they want some mystical favours also aids the village. With her parents retirement she is now a highly respected business woman and wizard within the community. Unbeknownst to most her dark research continues, the tenets of Waukeen include all trade - even nefarious trade, and she has devoted significent resources to expanding the inn - both to attract more business but also to aid her research and out of her inn she engages in some of the darkest practices in the region if the coin is correct, now an active part in the soul trade at times and offering some twisted nobles the option to truely harm or destroy their enemies also works to keep taxes down. Her Familiar, Cohort and Followers See more Her familiar Alzix Background Alzix did not come into existance in the normal method, instead it started as a stray cat wondering the streets of waterdeep - on Alerdene's first trip around the city she bought some fish and finishing what she wanted she tossed some to the stray - and so it started following her, and leaving her gifts of dead micebirds etc in the hope of affection. When she decided to take a familiar the cat was an obvious choice - and the two formed a friendship, it traveled with her spied for her and in some cases acted as perhaps her only confident. Returning to the village was good for her and the cat enjoyed the country life even if it found some of the people odd and it occasionally got in trouble for hunting creatures it shouldn't. It would have been a good life for a familiar if not for some paladin seeing it stalking some kids for harmless prank and quickly noting that it radiated ill will he launched an arrow at the poor creature, by the time Alerdene arrived the cat was about to pass away and it begged her to save it somehow - so she snapped up its soul, to recreate life for it. Weeks of research, numberous advanced scrolls purchased and favours called arrived at the end result - Alzix lived again, having captured the paladin alive Alerdene had undertaken her mastery of the Fleshcrafting arts upon it and a called minion of Waukeen who had been sacrificed in a trade, the cat's soul had been bound to the result of that twisted merger ... and it was pleased. Now it is more powerful than ever and can hunt new prey - delivering the soul gems of slain mice, rats and the formerly elusive birds back to its master when it doesn't eat them itself, and also can better observe and assist at various tasks, the only downside is some are more reluctant to pet it now. Her sister and cohort Agnes Background Anges never left home, solidly five years younger than her elder sister she was only ten when she left to follow her passions - something that relieved the young girl, she loved and respected her sister ... but she always felt that there was something dangerous in the older girl. The following years she helped her family, played with her friends and generally was a kid, getting into trouble and pushing boundaries - while taking on more responsibility, however when her parents got sick she realised that she couldn't run the inn herself - and that they were killing themselves trying to keep the work going well. Writting a letter to Alerdene she wasn't sure of what response she would get - but certaintly was not expected the older woman to drop everything she was doing and return - nor was she expecting the woman to have knowledge of healing techniques and the resources to provide them, there parents recovering in short order made her ecstatic ... her sister purchasing the Inn and refurbishing it was less appreciated, but the woman was family and took that seriously even if she was aloof. In the following few years Agnes has found herself effectively running the inn at times when her sister got distracted by academic pursuits which is something she is happy with, she knows her sister takes the inn seriously and is as devoted to Waukeen as the rest of the family ... but she also knows she engages in dark trades for more riches than most people see, and occassionally shuts down the inn to conduct some experiment or other for days at a time. Still her sister has provided her with some magical equipment which works to make her job much easier and she can appreciate that. Followers From the village Alerdene and Agnes have recruited a stable band of followers to assist them in running the inn and other tasks. The bard Shuo and rogue Sahba are the youngest siblings of Alerdene and Agnes both barely 16 but eager to impress there elder siblings even as they might occassionally be ignored as the elders fight - they provide the entertainment of the inn and occassionally run tasks as needed. The fighter Sunaki is a local farmer who was formerly briefly travelled as a caravan guard but returned home when he started a relationship with Anges and choose to stay around to assist her and offer her support when she needs it, often acts as a bouncer for the inn or for crowd control. The dwarven fighter Kazmuk was a drinking buddy of Alerdene's in waterdeep, one night he was the victim of a serious assault and nearly bleed out if not for Alerdene taking the time to patch his wounds, he hunted down and killed the person that had left him for dead but than shocked at his anger he turned himself in and served some years in prison - when he got out he choose to look for the only friend he remembered who had actually helped him, and seeing that she was well setup he choose to sign on with her offering his services as needed. The cleric Pratavh is devoted to Waukeen and as Alerdene tithes frequently he choose to offer his religious services to the village who lacked a cleric - frequently working out of the inn, and occassionlly handling trade matters for the sisters when both are preoccupied.