Risf

Official artwork of Risf by Jack Kaiser.

**Risf** is a character in Team Four Star's D&D series "TFS at the Table". He is a medicine and faith selling kobold who is devout to every Elder God.

## **Biography**

Risf was once the apprentice to a sorcerer who was well versed in the gods. One day, his master created a portal between realms and asked Risf to go through. He did so, but was unable to return home. Despite being stranded in another realm, Risf found the experience enlightening and began to wonder if there was a way to use these portals to become a god. To that end, he began studying every god.

A year before the abyssal incident, Risf met a man name Pliskin in Jahal Cove. One night, Pliskin waded his way into the water and nearly transformed into something. Risf, watching from the shore, called out to Pliskin, which allowed him to regain control of his senses and get back to shore. Since then, Pliskin and Risf have been inseparable.

Once, when trying to praise Usha, Risf accidentally created a zombie squirrel.

## **Appearance**

Risf is a tan-colored kobold. He wears a turban and has a gemstone strapped to his forehead. His robes have leather straps that are adorned with various symbols associated with the many deities he worships crossing his torso.

After being cursed by Vexkor in episode twenty-six, the left side of Risf's body underwent a change in appearance. Instead of the usual tan, his scales took on a coal coloration, and his eye, which he can no longer see out of, turned pure red.

## **Personality**

Risf has been shown to be a bit of a timid individual. He always tries to find the best possible solution to a conflict where he can anger the fewest people possible, if anyone. Despite this, he insists on following the teachings of every god rather than one, as he wishes to learn from all of them. Even though this has upset many people, he is not afraid to stand up for his beliefs.

Risf is also a very kind and friendly person, always willing to help anyone who needs it. Though if something goes wrong, such as a healing spell hurting someone instead, he starts to panic.

## **Adventures at the Table**

### **Chapter One**

In episode two, Risf, along with Eloy, Ezra, Wake, Skrung, Redd, and Pliskin, were held separately after the orc raid. After arriving at Jahal Cove, they were taken to see Meed, a pirate lord and governor of Jahal Cove, who explained that the island was on lockdown due to abyssal monsters threatening the seas, and they were offered the chance to help investigate the situation. While the rest of the group went to the Flappy Stingray, Risf and Pliskin left to take care of their own business.

The next morning, Risf went with Eloy, Ezra, and Wake to the Gimmi Brothers’ shop, the general store, and the Collective, where they met with Father Dorn, before stopping by the carve house.

In episode three, Risf was present when Harros explained the mission to scout the Navy company. Risf departed with Pliskin, Redd, and Skrung along the eastern path which took them near a Yuan-ti temple that had been repurposed into a carnival by the Fine Day Boardwalk Company.

In episode four, Risf met up with Eloy, Ezra, Wake, and Onslow Green at the village in Piranha Bog. Risf’s group was sent upriver to scout a naval camp while the others investigated Yeldin Cave. To assist them, Wake hired Onslow’s hunting partner, Old Young Cletus, to make a distraction.

During the trip, Risf’s group discovered a Yuan-ti woman named Zia’ka following them. They managed to ambush and capture her.

In episode six, Risf’s group was again joined by the Eloy, Ezra, Wake, and Onslow. Risf was disturbed by the conversation Redd and Zia’ka held in infernal.

After Ezra caused a distraction, Risf infiltrated the camp with Wake and Skrung. On their way out, they stole gold and weapons from the armory before igniting a supply of black powder. From the loot obtained in the raid, Risf received a staff of holy fire.

In episode seven, while Eloy, Ezra, Wake, Redd, Skrung, and Zia’ka went to the Yuan-ti temple, Onslow returned to Jahal Cove with Pliskin and Risf to report to Meed.

In episode eight, Risf, Onslow, and Pliskin were rejoined by Eloy, Ezra, Wake, Nedra, Redd, and Skrung at the Flappy Stingray when they reported their findings to Mary. When asked why the trio had not already informed her of what they had learned, Risf responded by saying he went to pray. During the conversation, Risf revealed that he had sacrificed the staff he received from the raid on the naval camp to his gods.

Risf was present for the parley with Captain Ave Lo in episode nine but was not chosen by the trio to accompany them to the south island. Eloy asked Risf about the different gods after seeing Troy Hultch heal Nedra’s and Timothy’s wounds.

### **Chapter Two**

Risf was mentioned as one of the people who went searching for the party during their week-long absence. During the week, he overheard Skrung's angry rantings about how Eloy made him lose a red cap he was hunting. Upon the party's return in episode twelve, Risf was ecstatic about their explanation, since it matched up with some religious text about the children of gods.

He later attended the party at the Flappy Stingray to celebrate the death of Viktor. Risf overheard Ezra's conversation with Ave Lo, then hung out with Pliskin and Father Dorne. When Ezra came over to talk, Risf kept his nose in his religious tomes. However, Pliskin got his attention when Eloy came over to talk to him about healing magic.

While going through his notes, Eloy spotted a picture that resembled the rift that Viktor opened. Risf explained that he was curious to know if there were ways of warping through the dimensions of the gods like the goblins can do with their rings. Risf also explained his desire to become a god.

Risf also told Eloy about the importance of the heart of the Collective One, which he believes is an acolyte of Uddath. Along with creating new land, the heart can also be used to teleport an individual through volcanoes. Eloy offered Risf the chance to join up with him, Wake, and Ezra to travel the world with them, which Risf accepted.

In episode thirteen, Risf left Jahal Cove with the rest of the Lockwood Natural Wonders. Upon learning he was to be the ship's doctor, Risf prayed to each of the deities he worshiped. He later identified the Witness Tower to the rest of the crew.

In episode fourteen, Risf and Redd accompanied Wake, Ezra, and Eloy in investigating the wreck of the Mantaruva. On Wake's suggestion, Risf used healing magic to try and heal a zombie, causing its skin to burn. Further into the ship, Risf was disturbed to see, alongside the zombies, a large number of defiled symbols to Ludarias. Further down, he got his face clawed by a zombie half-orc. He managed to clean the wound, but as he did, he felt his blood boil with some kind of contaminant.

In the crew's quarters, Risf discovered a ruined journal titled, "Bottled Lightning Project," and suggested they look for the missing pages. During the search, the group encountered a female vampire performing a ceremony who attacked Ezra. When Redd scared the vampire away with a fireball, Risf quickly cured Ezra so he wouldn't turn as well.

After Redd and Wake finished off the vampire, the contents of her ceremony, a vampire paladin, came to life and attacked the group. Risf translated a declaration by the paladin that he had switched from light to darkness and finished healing Ezra. Thankfully, the paladin was burned by Ezra's heat ring and Eloy's Heat Metal spell, slipped on Ezra's ball bearings, broke through the ship, and was attacked by sharks.

After the death of the paladin, Redd discovered the rest of the journal. Reading it told them about a plan to corrupt paladins and turn them into vampires despite their holy magic. Ezra also found holy robes among the treasury, which he gave to Risf for healing him, despite the size difference. Risf happily declared that his quest for godhood grew one step closer.

With their business concluded, Risf and the others left the ship while Wake set it ablaze. However, they were immediately attacked by a vampire great white shark. During their escape, a mako shark landed on the rowboat and tried to attack Risf, but he punched it in the nose. Afterwards, the group managed to pull themselves up onto Yeldin before the vampire great white could drag them under.

In episode fifteen, Risf joined the rest of the Natural Wonders (minus Gulfur) in exploring a deer populated island off the western edge of Bulkard. Risf was nearly trampled when several deer tried to board Yeldin. When Onslow Green transformed into a deer, Risf tried to identify what kind of magic was used to change him.

Soon after, Wake discovered a female kobold named Jalael who was also looking into the deer. Risf talked to her in draconic and was able to determine that the island had been like this for eight years and two beings she referred to as Him and the Faun Lady lived on the island. She then gave Risf her books written in common before leading the others to her hiding spot for the night. Risf identified a few clues in her books, including a small key and clues pointing the group towards the island lighthouse.

In episode sixteen Risf followed the party into the lighthouse, and was nearly deafened by the screech of the gargoyle, Carble. While the others went exploring, Risf found a journal that explained that Carble was designed to defeat the wendigo, but his creator was cursed before he was finished.

After leaving the lighthouse, Risf helped in the battle against several zombie deer guarding poison oak (which was needed to cure the afflicted) by casting Bless on Ezra. In episode seventeen, Risf was told to man the barricades alongside Redd and Zia'ka for the coming battle with the wendigo.

After Pliskin's cannon misfired on the second wave of deer, Risf took over manning Skrung's cannon while he helped Zia'ka and Redd to fight off the deer. Risf managed to aim his shot so well that the cannonball collapsed a building on the western side of town, making it impassable. During the third wave, he was deafened by Carble, who had screamed to eliminate an oncoming group of deer. When Pliskin failed to deal significant damage to the fourth wave, Risf tried to turn the cannon towards the advancing force. However, he lit the fuse too early and damaged a large portion of the Toad in the Hole, providing an opening for the invaders. This caused Risf to go into a moment of meditation for what he did and Blessed his shot for the fifth wave. His blessed shot engulfed the entire fifth wave in light and turned them to dust.

After the battle, Risf rushed over to Pliskin, who had transformed into a humanoid bull shark, to help him stay in control.

In episode eighteen, Risf tried to calm Pliskin after his secret was mentioned in casual conversation by Eloy at the Toad in the Hole.

When Calliope asked if any of the Wonders worship Salima, Risf approached enthusiastically and warned the crew not to mention Brooklyena, Salima’s opposing god.

In episode nineteen, Gulfur, Redd, Risf, and Pliskin stayed aboard Yeldin while the rest of the crew wandered Bulkard. Oso provided the Wonders with rooms at the Kal embassy for their stay in Bulkard.

In episode twenty, Risf was relaxing in the Kal embassy with several other members of the crew when they were interrupted by AJ, a raggedy looking elf. He claimed to have been cursed by Schrodinger, the god of time, to teleport around the world every twelve hours in search of 100 items on a list. Risf was intrigued by AJ’s situation, but declined to go with them to the zoo to find a dire elephant tusk.

In episode twenty-one, Risf was at the crew meeting where Wake explained his plan to use the blink pyramids to transport the Collective One’s heart aboard Yeldin after it had already set sail back to Jahal Cove.

In episode twenty-two, the crew meeting was interrupted by Raniero Confictura. The macabre tabaxi had arrived to parley with them on behalf of Lot Nyeth, the pirate lord. Risf winced after Confictura mentioned being present as part of a parley. After some debate, they decided to try and cooperate with both Gore and Lot in an attempt to avoid making enemies unnecessarily.

Before Eloy’s duel with the bard college headmaster, Risf and Pliskin were selling symbols of Salima to the audience.

In episode twenty-three, after congratulating Eloy on his performance, Confictura requested the Wonders’ presence at the arranged meeting with Lot. Risf was not one of the ones chosen to participate in the parley.

When the others returned from the parley and explained about the expedition to the Unwitnessed Kingdom the following day, Risf revealed that he had been researching that very subject and that the realm had sunken into the sea during the Onrush. After discussing the plans for both traveling to the Unwitnessed Kingdom and completing the mission assigned to them by Gore, they agreed to split into two parties to complete both quests in a timely manner. Risf would accompany the party heading to the Unwitnessed Kingdom.

In episode twenty-four, Risf helmed the Yeldin on the voyage to the Unwitnessed Kingdom. Arriving at the approximate location of their destination, Wake dove into the sea to get a more precise idea of where the submerged empire resided.

After Wake investigated the ocean floor and returned to the ship, Risf, Eloy, Ezra, Redd, Caster, and Barabus climbed into the diving bell and descended beneath the waves while the merman swam alongside them. When they reached the bottom, Redd cast water breathing on the group inside the diving bell. Additionally, Ezra provided some fine wine for Risf, granting a brief intelligence boost (+2).

Walking along the seafloor, they approached the large, domed barrier containing some remnants of an ancient civilization that Wake had found on his reconnaissance. Going into a cavern near the base of the arcane shielding, they used a weak spot in the barrier as an entrance to the long-forgotten realm.

Before braving the unknown ahead of them, the party took a short rest. Then, they ventured further into the caves, finding evidence of ancient equine centaurs and troglodytes, a race of lizard-like folk. Coming upon a submerged passage, Wake scouted out the path, returning with the terrifying knowledge that a blue dragon had made its nest on the other side.

They decided to attempt to sneak past the creature, hoping a fight with it would be unnecessary. With the assistance of Eloy casting silence on the dragon, the party was able to enter the room without waking it. Unfortunately, due to Caster’s actions, the dragon woke from its slumber, immediately noticing the intruders in its lair. Only Risf and Barabus managed to make it out of the room before the dragon blocked the exit with a massive claw.

In episode twenty-five, having made it past the dragon, Risf and Barabus proceeded through the tunnel to await their allies. Although Risf wanted to go back to assist them, Barabus convinced the kobold that the best course of action would be to have faith in the rest of the party.

When their allies joined up with them at the exit to the hallway, Risf was ecstatic to see they had safely escaped the dragon’s clutches. As they recounted the details of the encounter, Risf explained that the dragon’s name, Pabsvadri, means “water eruption” in draconic.

Proceeding deeper into the lost kingdom, the party stopped to rest in large room containing old medical equipment and centaur skeletons that seemed to have fused into the building. After the encounter with Pabsvadri, they decided to take a long rest with Wake, Barabus, and Risf keeping watch. However, Risf fell asleep during his watch and was abducted by a spectral creature.

After the rest of the party found Risf, the kobold was strapped to a table and praying to numerous deities in an attempt to resist having his soul ripped out by a bodak, the ethereal monster that had abducted him. Seeing Risf in such distress, Wake leapt forward to attack the creature. It let out a horrible screech, summoning the souls of Risf and three centaurs to its aid, though Risf’s soul remained tethered to his body.

In episode twenty-six, Risf’s body laid cold on the table as his soul was controlled by the bodak. After Redd struck the creature with a fiery blow, Risf regained his senses but couldn’t return to his body before being held in place by the bodak’s influence.

When two of the centaur souls had been defeated, the bodak summoned another pair to replace them. Even with its attention divided, Risf was unable to escape the influence of the bodak and return to his body. Instead, the bodak assumed control of Risf’s soul and used the kobold’s skills to heal itself.

As the situation continued to decline, Caster walked into the room. The aasimar’s divine aura illuminated the room, damaging the bodak with holy light. With the malevolent spirit now weakened, Eloy cast dissonant whispers at it, causing it to retreat far enough for Risf’s soul to escape the creature’s control and return to his body. Working together, the party was able to successfully defeat the bodak.

Although the battle had concluded, Risf remained unconscious, so Wake revived the kobold with some healing potions. After regaining his composure, Risf revealed that he had declined an offer from Vexkor to be an acolyte, who, in response, cursed Risf’s soul for all eternity. Hearing this prompted Redd, Barabus, and Caster to distance themselves from the kobold.

Having conquered the ethereal foe, Eloy discovered that what remained of the creature had transformed into a sentient staff that introduced itself as Grand’ejurefalt and explained some of history of the Unwitnessed Kingdom. In exchange for passage to the surface, Grand’ejurefalt agreed to guide the party through what remained of the fallen kingdom.

After the exhausting encounter, the party settled down for a long rest to recover before continuing on their adventure. When Risf woke up, the left half of his body had taken on a coal coloration, and his left eye, which he could no longer see out of, was pure red.

Resuming their journey, the party, now guided by Grand’ejurefalt, headed further up the spiral staircase and through more rooms, eventually coming upon a long bridge that led into a castle. Deciding to go across in two groups, Risf, Barabus, and Caster began traversing the bridge first.

In episode twenty-seven, Risf, Barabus, Caster, and Redd hurried ahead into the castle, fending off troglodytes that had appeared in front of them. As Eloy, Ezra, and Wake made it into the building, Redd closed an iron gate behind them, locking the trogs outside.

Venturing further into the castle, the party came across a young unicorn called Gilbert. After convincing him that they meant no harm, Gilbert led them to Gorroc, the elder unicorn, so they could speak with him.

Entering into a central chamber, they met Gorroc and explained their purpose for being in the Unwitnessed Kingdom. After they agreed to assist the unicorns in returning to the surface, Gorroc told them where to find an artifact that could amplify his abilities and strengthen the barrier he was maintaining over the castle, but he warned them that they would have to pass a trial to obtain the device.

Leaving the safety of Gorroc’s barrier, the party made their way into the remnants of a small town outside the castle grounds. Sneaking through the streets to avoid alerting any trogs, they came upon a house containing what appeared to be a troglodyte brood. When Ezra discovered that its head protruded from the building’s roof, Ezra and Wake decided to try sneaking through the second floor window.

After Ezra and Wake emerged from the house, they were followed by Uxekulvax, the alpha trog, who summoned the others of his race and led them into the caverns surrounding the kingdom.

In episode twenty-eight, the party continued to travel through the ruins of the ancient town until they wandered into a coliseum where they were greeted by a semi-functional sphinx. Once they had confirmed that they were there to take the Trial of Wills, Eloy, Ezra, Wake, Redd, Risf, and Barabus stepped into the central ring of the building and prepared to face the test. As an aasimar, Caster was exempt from participating and took a position in the stands.

When the sphinx began the trial, ethereal doppelgängers of the six participants appeared across from them. With the party preparing to take on their duplicates, the copies appeared to perfectly imitate each member’s actions. Suddenly, Ysoria, a stout, halfling-sized, female aasimar, appeared out of a portal. Appraising the situation, she began assisting the party by attacking their wraith-like clones.

Having moved close to Redd, who had injured herself by attacking her copy with a firebolt, Risf healed the sorceress, but his doppelgänger failed to do the same for Redd’s clone. Wake, whose clone had been enlarged when he attempted to avoid fighting it, gave Risf a hug and a high five which caused the merman’s larger duplicate to eliminate Risf’s double.

After Risf’s and Barabus’ counterparts were defeated, the remaining enemies each grew slightly larger. Due to Wake’s actions, Ezra’s clone was also vanquished, causing the remaining three foes to grow even bigger. When Barabus was knocked to the ground by a stray movement from Redd’s massive duplicate, Risf attempted to heal the kenku. However, Risf tried to use the cursed side of his body for the spell and accidentally pulled Barabus’ soul out of his body for a moment, rendering him briefly unconscious.

With a powerful blast of lightning, Ysoria slew Wake’s doppelgänger, whereupon the final two opponents were enlarged once more. Then, Wake defeated the duplicate of Redd with a strike from his water whip, leaving only Eloy’s copy remaining. As the ethereal centaur began growing once again, it also ceased copying its original, gaining its own sentience instead.

Seeing the new threat of an enormous Eloy doppelgänger, Risf cast a resistance spell on Barabus. After the entire party worked together to chip away at the creature before them, Barabus landed the final blow with his hammer, and the shadow deformed.

Having passed the test, the sphinx allowed the party to take a glowing cube that appeared to be emitting the same energy as the shield protecting the undersea kingdom. On the way back to the unicorns with the artifact, they noticed that Pabsvadri appeared to be trapped on the outside of the barrier.

When they returned to Gorroc, the cube’s energy rejuvenated the ancient unicorn and provided him with the strength to repel both Pabsvadri and the trogs. Thrilled to hear that the entire herd of unicorns would be able to escape through the portal Ysoria had appeared from, Gorroc escorted the party back to Pabsvadri’s den so they could recover their lost items and plunder the dragon’s hoard. Leaving the unicorns and Ysoria to pass through the portal, Eloy, Ezra, Wake, Redd, Risf, Barabus, and Caster rushed back to the diving bell.

Taking the bell back to the surface, they noticed that the Yeldin was accompanied by a naval vessel. Just as they made it back onto the ship, Pabsvadri emerged behind them, furious at the theft of his treasure. However, before Pabsvadri could make another move, the claw of an ancient brass dragon suddenly erupted from the water and grabbed the much younger dragon by the neck. As the brass dragon’s head rose from the beneath the waves, it revealed itself to be Lieutenant Gore.

In episode twenty-nine, the entire crew was stunned to discover that Lieutenant Gore was actually an ancient brass dragon. After he launched Pabsvadri far into the horizon, Gore returned to his human form and approached the Wonders, informing them that Skrung had been injured on his mission and was receiving treatment at Bulkard. Upon seeing the change in Risf’s appearance, Pliskin was shocked to learn how the kobold had turned down Vexkor’s offer to become an acolyte.

Before making their way back to port, there was an accounting of the treasure that had been collected on the expedition to the Unwitnessed Kingdom. Caster accepted Grand’ejurefalt’s knowledge as his share, leaving the vast quantities of gold and treasure for the Wonders to keep. Hoping they had retrieved enough to trade for the Collective One’s heart, the crew returned to Bulkard.

After successfully trading for the heart of the Collective One, the Wonders departed Bulkard and set off for Jahal Cove. Once they had arrived, Zia’ka placed the artifact in its proper location and returned to her people as a priestess of the Collective One. Then, the rest of the Wonders left Jahal on their next adventure.

### **Chapter Three**

In episode thirty, the Wonders began making their way to Eburkal. After retracing their path to Bulkard for a time, they diverged from familiar waters and turned more toward the mainland. As they continued their journey, the ship and crew were plagued by torpedo snails, small, black, poisonous creatures that occasionally turned invisible.

One night, a mysterious fog beset the Yeldin, and it was infested by numerous torpedo snails. Redd and Risf spent the night examining Nedra and Yt to learn more about the unusual behavior of the snails while the rest of the Wonders purged the scourge from the ship.

That morning, Yeldin ran aground onto the sandbar of an archipelago as they sailed through the fog. Deciding to take a short break after the long night, each of the crew took shifts on watch to look out for any danger. After everyone had rested up, they awoke to find Poliffi, a female, seagull aarakocra, entangled in the Yeldin’s rigging. She had gotten lost in the fog and requested to stay with the Wonders while regaining her bearings.

Bursting onto the deck, Redd revealed that the torpedo snails were infected with vampirism and demanded that the island be investigated. While Eloy, Ezra, Wake, Redd, and Nedra set off to explore, the others stayed behind to watch over the ship and scavenge materials from other wrecks on the beach.

In episode thirty-three, when the investigation party returned to the ship, Risf was meditating in his quarters and speaking with Vexkor. Risf had been informed that Joe Massacre, the acolyte of the death god, would be visiting soon. Wake had the kobold take a look at Nedra, who had gotten encased in a block of ice recently, and Risf revealed that she was very susceptible to the cold: her blood was partially frozen.

When Mite and Roc Ashdrake were invited aboard the Yeldin, they were intrigued by Risf’s relationship with Vexkor and pursuit of godhood but satisfied that the kobold did not seem malicious in his intentions.

With their business on the island concluded, the Wonders set sail for the port of Rite, staying near the archipelago rather than traversing the open ocean. After Gulfur had gone into a seizure as a result of sampling faerie dragon secretion manufactured with Ezra’s alchemy jug, Wake, Eloy, and Ezra managed to stabilize the dwarf. Then, Risf came in to oversee Gulfur’s recovery as the Eloy, Ezra, and Wake rushed above deck to investigate some loud noises.

During the voyage, the Yeldin had wandered into the presence of a massive storm giant and was caught amid numerous large manta rays trying to escape. Eloy garnered the giant’s attention by playing a soothing song on his bagpipes, but, when the song stopped, the giant seemed displeased. He grabbed the ship in his massive hands raised it to his face.

## **Notes & Trivia**

* Source for Risf's "Planar" class: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/238790/B5-Planar--5e-class