Rhysand Wyrmsbane

Rhysand Wyrmsbane is a Paladin with some wizard training that found his way to the Adventurer's Guild during its very early days and has served it loyally ever since then. As the original founders retired or died, Rhysand found himself a leader in the group of equals that is the Guild.

## Background Story

Rhysand (born Aedion Khestan) was grew up in the far north of the Archipelago of Moribus in the Brideveinese Theocracy. He speaks little about his early life, simply that his mother and father were good people who raised him the best they could under the ever-pressing thumb of the theocracy's leading council. As he grew, he excelled in school and martial arts, and when time came for his mandatory stint in the Army of the Seven (The Brideveinesian army), his aptitude for the blade and the study of magic quickly became apparent to his superiors.

He was quickly shifted from regular army to the ranks of the Brideveinese Inquisition, where he was further indoctrinated on theocractic principles and was taught to harness his magical ability to read the minds of others and root out conspirators against the council. Here he served into his late 20s, and certainly would have served for the remainder of his life had it not taken a turn during a raid on the *Glory of the Seven*.

The *Glory of the Nine* was a trading frigate which had come under suspicion of the inquisition as a possible supplier vessel for the rebels, and Rhysand's unit had been deployed to determine the truth of the matter. Much to Rhysand's horror, after hours of digging painfully into the minds of the crew and more physical methods by the rest of the unit, the crew was found innocent but was sentenced to death anyways to maintain the secrecy of the Inquisition from the general public. When Rhysand refused, he was restrained and tied to the mast to be taken back for re-indoctrination by the rest of the unit before they finished the job. With each fall of the blade by his comrades, storm clouds appeared in the sky and the sea began to roil.

Rhysand remembers little of what came next, just a flash of lightning, the boom of thunder, the splintering of wood, and the screaming of his comrades as the ship was dragged under the sea, with him still tied to the mast. As the mast sank and his breath ran out, Rhysand welcomed the oncoming darkness as an escape from the horrors he realized he had perpetrated in the Theocracy's name.

He awoke in a damp cave, across from a massive octopus who glared down at him. It was here that Rhysand was questioned and found deserving of a second chance by Umberlee, Goddess of the Sea. For each person that he had used his abilities on without their express consent, a name was burned into his skin in a spiraling octopus shaped tattoo. The pain of each name being inscribed varied from a simple itch to a hot poker based on how innocent the person whose life he forever changed was. He swore allegiance to her and vowed never to use his abilities against the innocent ever again, or be returned to the bottom of the sea where she fished him from. He then awoke for real, washed up upon a beach just north of Stilde, the tattoo on his body still raw and fresh.

He found a small fishing village where he obtained some new clothes, a new haircut, and his new name. He headed south to Stilde to begin his new life, found the small guild while looking for dock work, and the rest is history.

## Personality

To his friends, Rhysand Wyrmsbane is known to be jovial and friendly, always smiling and quick to offer a joke and advice. He speaks intelligently, with a Brideveinese accent considered strange to many as the Theocracy does not allow its people to leave its borders often. He's quick to forgive and offer people a second chance, as he knows that he himself was given one by Umberlee. He's inquisitive in nature, likely due to his past, and always sits facing the door of any room he enters as if expecting someone to come through it.

To those he's closest with, such as Rylik who he considers to be a close friend and confidant, its known that his fun-loving attitude covers up a great sadness and guilt about his past servitude in the Brideveinese Theocracy.

## Appearance

Rhysand Wyrmsbane is a tall 6 foot 4 inches with broad shoulders and toned muscles from training with a polearm for most of his life. His skin is tanned from life at sea and scarred from many years of battle. His long brown hair falls just past shoulder length, and his eyes are bright blue. His clothes are rarely anything other than a shade of blue, as it reminds him of the ocean, and a vial of a dark liquid hangs around his neck on an iron chain. He is rarely seen without his halberd, Kraken, within close proximity. Those who would see him without his torso covered would see a long spiraling octopus tattoo that at closer glance is a long list of names set into the octopus shape.

## Trivia

* Rhysand was nearly killed on the Gilbane's pride after climbing to the crow's nest and slaying a bronze dragon. This has earned him the moniker 'Dragonslayer'.
* Rhysand was the first to discover the true curse of Rylik was that he had become a lich's phylactery and has worked ever since to rid him of the curse.
* Rhysand owns a dinghy, which he often takes out into the bay of Stilde to fish and enjoy the sea.
* Rhysand was posessed by a trident in the White Plume Mountain and it took the entire party's convincing to get him to part with it.
* Rhysand hates doing Guild Tax paperwork and will shove it off on Bertram the first excuse he gets/invents.