Ansel Phirel

Ansel Phirel is a NPC created and portrayed by Justin Green. He is the brother of Glorihan Phirel.

**General Spoiler Warning:** This page has been updated with information as of Ep 33 - Dentistry trigger warning. Anything after that, if any, is not on this page.

## Description

Ansel is a very pale goth elf. He has pointy features and long greasy black hair. He wears a hooded black robe with a tacky skull clasp with glowing red eyes. He used to wear a small mithral buckler with metamagic gems before he gave it to Astra.

When he turns into Big Ansel, he becomes a gigantic half-undead monster with skeletal arms and large skeletal wings. He looks a little bit like the Norwegian metal band frontliner Mortiis.

He has a spell that can change his appearance and has used it to look like Chad. He currently looks like Harvel.

## Backstory

Ansel Phirel grew up in Faenalin alongside his older sister Glorihan. The two were raised by their abusive father, Pahpa Phirel.

After Pahpa Phirel lost his magic and shadow in an encounter with Abraxibulbula in the Whispering Woods, he became a recluse and did very little in the way of raising his children. Because of his own lack of magical ability, he pushed his children to become better casters but his resentment grew towards them. While attending Faenalin Academy, Ansel was (maybe) framed by his classmate Chad for casting necromantic spells and was expelled. Archmage Wynhorn presided over his expulsion case.

## Current Events

Sometime after his expulsion from Faenalin Academy, Ansel enters a partnership with Archmage Wynhorn. Wynhorn promises to protect Glorihan in exchange for Ansel’s compliance and help with his plan. Wynhorn kills all of Thune for Ansel to practice puppeting bodies and gives him a saphscryer that would allow him to keep an eye on Glorihan.

At the beginning of the month (Idius), Ansel stays at Zarmaz Ranch. When he left, he left behind memorabilia that a sheep got into, turning it into the sheep lich. At this point, he may potentially be at Faenalin Academy recruiting Cult Club members and causing the disappearances of students; the timeline is unclear and these could also be the actions of Wynhorn.

Ansel goes to Arrowpeak to key the saphscryer to Glorihan and helps her win the dungeon competition. Afterwards, Ansel stays in Thune, a small village near Shadowend, to stay close to Glorihan. Janni Squad shows up and confronts him in the town hall, but Ansel flees up the river to Faenalin. The squad tracks him down to the Court of the Archmage but they're distracted by Wynhorn as Ansel takes the secret passage to Faenalin Academy.

At Faenalin Academy, Ansel assumes Chad's appearance and continues prepping for the ley line ritual. Janni meets him while he's disguised as Chad and shoves him for making fun of Ansel.

At the Blitz game, Ansel plays on the field as Chad. As things escalate and Janni Squad starts killing zombies in the stands, Ansel-as-Chad attempts to announce that he framed Ansel Phirel. No one pays attention to "Chad" and he runs into a locker room. Astra follows him and he reveals himself as Ansel before turning himself into a big skeleton monster. Janni is pissed that he's killing people and reveals that Glorihan is dead. Ansel believes him and the saphscryer confirms it.

Ansel helps the squad close the ley line at Faenalin Academy. They go to Church of Salenas, where the clerics show them to the bodies of Glorihan and Harvel. Ansel stays in Faenalin disguised as Harvel so that he can protect Glorihan's body until they can put her essence back in her.

Ansel's name comes up in rumors in Mealnor around what happened in Faenalin. Patty successfully manipulates the rumor to say that he was framed.

## Random Facts

* Ansel has sinus issues.
* Ansel wanted to be a transmutation student but the jock bros didn't like him, so Chad framed him for illegal necromancy to get him kicked out.
	+ Technically Ansel is claiming this, so it's unclear how accurate this is.

* Ansel fell backwards out of a window which was cool, except he did somehow injure himself doing it.
* He designed skull masks for his cultists to wear based off his own poetry because he’s a dweeb.
* Mistmourn meant to take him into her squad until the duplication of Abraham Nieven forced her to make a cut.
* In the time loops, usually he or Harvel dies in Faenalin a week after Glorihan's death in an attempt to avenge her.

## Poetry

Some of his hits:

* "The dark miasma / of our tortured pasts / makes us all wear masks! / In the rain."
* "The blinding day washes us all out / like faint shadows we scurry / longing for the silver lady / to grace we gossamer figments with a gentle repose."
* "Pacifism is just another mask / in the rain / on bloody knees."
	+ This is about when Chad pushed him into the mud.
	+ This is a continuation of the first snippet of poetry about masks in the rain.

## Character Info

### Feats, Spells, and Abilities

* Stricken heart
* Flesh puppet
* Flesh puppet horde - the squad theorizes that maybe Wynhorn gave Ansel something to cast these fourth/fifth level spells
* Unnamed spell that turns him into a giant skeletal monster
* Assume appearance

### Previously Owned Items

All of these items are currently with Janni Squad:

* Black wooden box
	+ Wand of elemental body - Zelf
	+ Folding shovel - Janni
	+ Reversible cloak
	+ Onyx gem
	+ Stack of papers (Wynhorn contract, expulsion from Faenalin Academy, letters from Glorihan, his poetry) - Patty
* Arbiter pin - Astra
* "Zombies: They're Just Like Us" book
* Mithral buckler with metamagic gems - Astra

## Trivia

* All of Ansel's poetry is written by Andrew in their game chat.
	+ Andrew initially wrote 3 poems during Ep. 6 and Justin saved the rest to use in later episodes.

## Appears In

### In person

* Ep 5 - Garden variety zombie (unnamed)
* Ep 14 - Sunk cost fallacy (flashback)
* Ep 18 - Reverse gore
* Ep 22 - BCBPvP (as Chad)
* Ep 25 - Infamous Blep wiles (as Chad)
* Ep 26 - Accidental Pervert Territory
* Ep 27 - Snoodeling
* Ep 31 - Janni-shaped container

### Mentioned

* Ep 6 - Who knows who's coming back
* Ep 7 - The Dinner Party (unnamed)
* Ep 12 - Grapes for an Eleflute
* Ep 14 - Sunk cost fallacy
* Ep 15 - Like a drowned rat
* Ep 16 - The Great Mealnor Bake Off
* Ep 17 - That's not being a bro
* Ep 19 - Group snoop
* Ep 20 - I will join a sorority tomorrow
* Ep 21 - Found family plots
* Ep 23 - Infernal mouths make strange bedfellows
* Ep 24 - Haunted Mutton
* Ep 32 - Licking the lollipop of crime
* Ep 33 - Dentistry trigger warning
* Ep 35 - Unusual Body Stuff
* Ep 36 - More than enough teeth for everyone
* Ep 38 - Sticky teamwork
* Ep 45 - Consequence Debt

## References

1. ↑ Ep. 26
2. ↑ Ep. 5
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ep. 31
4. ↑ Ep. 24
5. ↑ Ep. 20: Sasha says on Idius 20 around 1am that her freshman roommate disappeared 6 days ago - i.e. Idius 13/14, the day before the first dinner party and after Ansel appears at Arrowpeak. This means either Ansel or Wynhorn were already planning for the ritual at this point.
6. ↑ Ep. 33
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ep. 22
8. ↑ Ep. 19
9. ↑ Ep. 27
10. ↑ Ep. 17
11. ↑ Ep. 12
12. ↑ Ep. 6
13. ↑ Ep. 18
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Justin, via Patreon Discord.
15. ↑ Justin, via his Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjgreenmachine/status/1545024459119235081