Donte

## Statistics

*See #Abilities for additional details.*

**Donte** was a shifter bounty hunter. He was especially known for taking down Barovia's darklord Strahd von Zarovich with a team of adventurers. Donte was also known for his immense strength.

Donte was almost always accompanied by Bingo, with whom he recieved mysterious wild magic abilities.

## Description

### Appearance

At age 34, Donte stood at 6 feet 2 inches tall, and weighed 224 pounds. He was an imposing, unkempt, burly man, with bad posture. Although a relatively young adult, Donte did not look his age. His skin was tough, beaten and scarred, and his hair, long and dirty. He had dark, emotionless eyes.

Due to his is shifter origins, Donte was a very hairy man. His facial hair grew in sideburns that Donte didn't bother shaving, except before important events. When Donte shifted, his features became more feral, his hair grew out, and his canine teeth jutted out like those of a saber-toothed tiger.

Donte's clothing — along with his skin, hair and fingernails — were covered in mud and grime. Over it all, he wore a dark leather trench coat.

### Personality

Donte spoke with a deep drawl. When not speaking, Donte was silent and pensive.

### Ideals

Donte usted to be a morally ambiguous man, not worrying about good and bad, right and wrong, but simply his own and his family's needs. However, after several weeks in Barovia, Donte saw the suffering of the world. He began lending a hand to the helpless and innocent, and lived with the principle that those he helped could one day help him in return.

### Bonds

As a bounty hunter, virtually all of Donte's gains — both honest and ill-gotten — went to his family, who he stayed away from. Despite distancing himself from his wife and daughter, Donte loved them more than anything. Between his numerous enemies, shifter origins, and unpredictable magic, he preferred helping them from a distance, lest harm befall them.

### Flaws

Being an estranged father, Donte had a soft spot for children, as they reminded him of his daughter. When children we're involved in the stakes of a situation, Donte's emotions could get the better of him.

## Biography

### Early Life

Much of Donte's childhood and early life is unknown. Prior to the wild magic ordeal, only a few details are known: Donte met and married his wife, had a daughter, worked as a bounty hunter, respectively making a handful of enemies.

### Wild Bounty

At some point during Donte's early life, a bounty lead him to a mysterious cave. Many of the details surrounding this event are blurry, but Donte recalls entering the cave with a halfling street magician named Bingo, who was also interested in the bounty — its nature forgotten. While within, the duo remember only one detail: the multicolored explosion that knocked them out. Leaving the cave, Donte headed home empty-handed — or so he thought. While in the comfort of his family cottage, an other explosion much like the one in the cave erupted from him, nearly killing his wife and infant daughter. Fearing this would happen again, Donte fled his home and sought the halfling Bingo, who had also experienced surges in magic.

### Life in the Streets

For many years, Donte feared returing home and bringing more harm to his family. He instead decided to live in the streets of Neverwinter with Bingo. The duo would scrape up just enough to get by, between Donte's bounties and Bingo's street magic. Almost all of Donte's income went to his family in parcels.

### Curse of Strahd

*See also: Curse of Strahd*
One of Donte's bounties lead the duo out of town searching for a certain "Strahd von Zarovich". Little did they know, this bounty would not be found on the Sword Coast, but rather in the Domain of Dread Barovia.

After walking through the Mists and arriving in Barovia, the duo — along with several other adventurers — swiftly met the domain's darklord Strahd von Zarovich. After tense conversation, combat erupted with Bingo succumbing to the vampire's bite. Devastated, Donte buried his friend and lived in solitude, trapped in his new prison of Barovia.

After many hardships in Barovia, Donte discovered the Amber Temple where he unlocked the Dark Gift of Zhudun, granting him the ability to resurrect his friend Bingo. Along with a new team of trapped aventures, Donte and Bingo killed Strahd von Zarovich.

## Relationships

### Bingo

In some ways, Bingo was Donte's opposite. He was small, energetic, and charismatis — all things Donte was not. The two were an improbable pair, forced together by fate, who complimented each other's skills. Donte was very protective of Bingo, much like a father or brother would be. While Donte was estranged from his own daughter, he

## Abilities

### Proficiencies

#### Skills

* **Athletics**.
* **Insight**.
* **Intimidation**.
* **Stealth**.
* **Survival**.

#### Tools

* **Playing Cards Set**.
* **Thieves' Tools**.

### Features

#### Gifts & Curses

* **Dark Gift of Zhudun**. Bestowed in the Amber Temple.

## Possessions

### Weapons

* **Greatsword, +1**. Gifted by Murrdak Nimbleshaft.
* **Boomerang**.
* **Lycan Dagger**. Gifted by Ismark Kolyanovich.

### Equipment

* **Tome of Strahd**. Recovered in the Werewolf Den.
* **Ring of Warmth**. Gifted by Kasimir Velikov.
* **Skennis' Electrum Flute**. Recovered in the Werewolf Den.
* **Skennis' Runic Ladle**. Recovered in the Werewolf Den.

## Appendix

### Trivia

* Donte's name is inspired by the genus Smilodon, more commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger.
* Donte's character was primarily inspired by Arthur Morgan, as well as Hellboy. Although Julien L. was not familiar with Bigby Wolf, the character has also been cited as similar.