Alphie Graves

Art By: @SaintCinder

**Alphias "Alphie" Graves** was an NPC in MagiRPG, played by the Dungeon Master, GloriousGe0rge. He is a human cleric of Oghma, and often uses the priest stat block. He is the half brother of Pritchard Graves, born to a different mother, and was one of the main characters in Grim Domains.

## Description

### Appearance

Unlike his half-brother, Pritchard, Alphie has blonde hair in a parted bowl cut and blue eyes that make him appear far kinder and approachable than his half-brother. He has an average build as he does not eat much, but other than preparing bodies and coffins for burial, lives a sedentary lifestyle.

Like many clerics of Oghma, Alphie wears ceremonial robes of his god, his are light blue (his favorite color) and trimmed with gold threaded vestments. He wears brown gloves most of the time, taking them off to feel books the first time he opens one.

### Personality

Alphie is a jovial person when we first meet him, waking Pritchard up in the morning, getting food for the crew, and cleaning up after them with a smile. He often tries to take care of other people, and takes pride in his empathy and compassion.

As a cleric of Oghma, Alphie has a natural thirst for knowledge, and seeks it out wherever he goes. Always looking to learn more, and gather more scrolls, tomes and books for study.

Alphie has struggled since the death of his girlfriend. He's tried to move on but finds it hard to let go as so much of his life reminds him of her. Her passing, and the mystery of what caused it, has driven Alphie further into the pursuit of knowledge. His grief, as well as his fear of the situation Grave Matters finds themselves in, has made Alphie a tad more aggressive, lashing out at people he cares about, as he's unable to lash out at the cause of his problems.

## Biography

 The following area contains spoilers for previous seasons

### Early Life

Alphie was born to a human parents and was the light of his father's eyes for a majority of his life. Following his father's teachings and becoming a cleric of Oghma, it is fair to say he was dad's "favorite", but never, not once, did his father let him forget that his half-brother, Pritchard, was family.

For many years Alphie tried to befriend Pritchard, to develop those family bonds with limited success, so long as their father lived, there was always a barrier between them connecting.

It was no surprise to Alphie when Pritchard did not attend the funeral of Alphie's mother when she passed away, though he was delighted to receive a card in the mail from Pritchard weeks later. Likewise, Alphie was not surprised when he had to grieve his father's passing to old age on his own. Pritchard was off making his own life, and Alphie respected as much.

### Reconnecting with Pritchard

Years later, Alphie learned of the horrible tragedy that befell his sister in law and his niece. City Watch had reached out to Alphie, and brought his half-brother Pritchard to his home the night after the tragedy. Pritchard was in shambles, a devastated wreck of a man, and Alphie did all he could to be there for him.

He took care of the remains and funeral arrangements for Pritchard's family, he was there for Pritch as he grieved and he did all he could to help him make sense of what happened, although Alphie himself could hardly make sense of such cruelty in the world.

To help him move on, Alphie gave Pritch the majority of the upper floors of their manor, dubbing it Grave Matters Detective Agency. Hoping that the new occupation and business would bring Pritch out of his grief and sorrow. It helped a little, but mostly Pritch found his comfort in the bottom of bottles.

### Sickness and Death

In season 2, Alphie and Cordelia were captured by Jacqueline Renier and interrogated, in order to draw Jacqueline's wrath, he lied and said he was a noble and that Cordelia worked for him. Jacqueline kissed Alphie, biting his lip and infecting him with the Gnawing Plague, which Alphie then passed on to Pritchard and Cantarella.

While Pritchard and Cantarella were able to overcome their infections, Alphie was not as lucky. The disease slowly ravaged him each episode of season 2, leaving him in a confused, pained state of existence. This was made worse by Alphie's Clerical powers no working in the Grim Domains, leaving him to rely on traditional medicine.

Alphie expressed disinterest in being re-animated by Cordelia, and tried to impart to Pritch how much his father loved them both before he passed away. After Pritch left his bedside to kill Jacqueline (in hopes that it would cure Alphie or give him a better chance), Cordelia and Remy went to Alphie to preserve his soul and body to be re-animated later. To do this, Cordelia painfully smothered Alphie with a pillow while Remy played his lute in order to keep Alphie's soul from being consumed by That Which Waits For All.

Alphie's soul showed signs of fear before being confined to his body, but only Remy was able to see this.

## Relationships

### Pritchard Graves

Alphie feels responsible for Pritchard and tries his best to care for him despite Pritchard's occasional reluctance to accept help or support. At the same time Alphie looks up to Pritch for being his older brother and being as strong as he is to face the forces of evil directly. In moments of danger or conflict, Alphie will often look to Pritchard for leadership and guidance, even going so far as to fall into despair when he was unable to receive Pritch's help at the end of season 1.

### Remy Delafosse

Alphie has a complicated relationship with Remy, as on one hand, he thinks Remy is a horrible influence on Pritchard and has enabled Pritch's drinking habits. On the other hand, Remy has been a joyful addition to Alphie's life in his moments of levity and humor when Remy feels up to it. Alphie hopes to help Remy be a better person, but finds it hard to assist while also trying to do the same for Pritchard.

### Nikasia

Nikasia and Alphie had a romantic relationship prior to the start of the campaign, they'd gotten close enough to have adjoining bedrooms and were planning on going away together before the events of episode 1 and 2 of season 1. Her death and Alphie's feeling of helplessness during it, left a serious scar on Alphie's spirit and sense of safety. He was so hurt by her passing, and the horrible manor by which she died, that even after the funeral, Alphie found it difficult to cremate her remains as he could not let her go.

### Cordelia LaMonte

Cordelia was an unexpected arrival in Alphie's life but he quickly grew fond of her as she's proven to be both sweet and capable as a member of the Grave Matters' Investigations crew. Alphie has been slow to show his affection towards her as he's still been grieving the passing of Nikasia. Yet he has been willing to open up more with Cordelia than any other member of the crew, save for his brother Pritchard. When Alphie was sick with the Gnawing Plague in season 2, he encouraged Cordelia to "let the dead go", reflecting on his own failure to let go of Nikasia, when asked if he'd be willing to let Cordelia re-animate him.

### Cantarella

Alphie has never trusted or liked Cantarella since the day she entered his life and set fire to Nikasia who was already infected with worms from the Tome of Rats and Rot. However, he's seen her as a necessary evil if he is going to learn more about the forces of darkness that he blames for Nikasia's death, and so he's been willing, though cautious, to work with her. Alphie often encourages Pritchard not to trust Cantarella, as he believes Cantarella's plans are purely nefarious.

### Rev

Alphie has had very little interaction with Rev, as Alphie has been sick with the Gnawing Plague for most of the time they've known each other. However, on initial meeting, Alphie saw a little bit of himself in Rev, though he did not understand why.

## Character Stats & Abilities

Alphie uses the priest's stat block, but GloriousGe0rge has been flexible with the cleric spells and abilities Alphie has based on the story.

## References

1. ↑ [1] Grim Domains Season 1, Episode 1