Topsy

Topsy (left) and her brother Turvy

**Topsy** is a deep gnome wererat who has lived in the wilds of the Underdark with her twin brother Turvy most of their lives. Though they were born to the union of a Goldwhisker wererat and another deep gnome, the two deep gnomes were not raised among their fellow lycanthropes and they instead grew up parentless. When both of them discovered their lycanthropy, they traveled far away from Blingdenstone, eventually getting captured by slavers and brought to the outpost of Velkynvelve. Both deep gnomes would go on to participate in an escape attempt, leading to their eventual return to Blingdenstone.

Topsy is an NPC in the ongoing Out of the Abyss adventure.

## Description

Topsy is a adolescent female deep gnome with uncommon features that hint at her wererat origin- namely the amount of hair she has. She stands at about 3 feet tall (0.9 meters) and weighs about 30 pounds (13 kilograms). Due to the cruelty of her drow captors, she was not spared from the embarrassment of wearing burlap rags as 'clothing' during her captivity and afterwards.

## Personality

Topsy, though outwardly very shy, is very protective over her twin brother Turvy. In comparison to him, she is the sociable one of their duo, often speaking on his behalf when they were questioned by others. Due to her lycanthropy, Topsy tends to be distrustful of others, who she believes might harm her or her brother for being 'different'.

Despite her wererat nature and her desire to isolate her and her brother from others, Topsy is ultimately a well-meaning young teen looking for safety after a life of self-reliance and fearing persecution.

## History

Unbeknownst to her, Topsy and her twin brother Turvy were born to the union of unknown Goldwhisker wererat and female deep gnome. Unwilling to raise wererat children, their mother left them at the doorstep of the Ruby in the Rough, where the newborns were provided for by priests of Segojan Earthcaller. Even before their first full moon, Topsy and her brother seemed different to other children- acting on their lycanthrope instincts of self-isolation, over-protective behavior, and occasionally they even acted territorial. When they both experienced their first change in the year 1483 DR, they were already considered weird by other svirfnebli, causing them to leave Blingdenstone altogether to avoid being hunted like other wererats they'd heard whispers about.

Topsy and Turvy were both too young to have been told that the wererats of the Goldwhisker clan were not too far away, and so instead of seeking a home with their own kind, they attempted to leave Blingdenstone and its environs altogether. For a year they lived neared Whiteshell Mines, occasionally living off the kindness of other deep gnomes while avoiding any attempts by those miners to return the orphans to the deep gnome city. Eventually, they left the Upperdark altogether, with their travels bringing them closer to the Eastern edges of the Darklake.

While they were both out foraging for food in the year 1487 DR, they were captured by drow slavers and brought to Velkynvelve. There they became a source of amusement for the cruel drow, with Ilvara Mizzrym going so far as to force Topsy and her brother to dismember the corpse of Ront and feed pieces of it to a giant spiders. When the escape from Velkynvelve occurred, the deep gnome twins left drow captivity with twelve others. From there the twins were taken to nearby Sloobludop, where they witnessed the Rise of the Deep Father and narrowly escaped unharmed. During the days of Darklake Travel that followed, the twins tried numerous times to escape during the night- afraid that they'd undergo their transformations while around those they could not trust. These escape attempts failed, and although both twins would go on to admit their fears of returning to Blingdenstone, the party would only learn of their lycanthropy after witnessing their reaction to the full moon. To their surprise they were still accepted despite their conditions, and soon, two others of their traveling companions were also infected after an encounter with werebats.

After they were brought back to Blingdenstone, they were informed of wererats living in the warrens of abandoned Blingdenstone, and both Topsy and Turvy were brought before Chipgrin Goldwhisker during peace negotiations. When the chief of the wererats was asked about the twins, he was willing to allow them to stay with his kind- and the twins were more than willing to live amongst others suffering from the same curse. Thankful towards the party for helping them find a home with deep gnomes who wouldn't persecute them for their curse, Topsy and Turvy would go on to live in the Goldwhisker Warrens, adjusting quickly to a life with other svirfneblin wererats.