Dante

Art By: @Caras Alexandra

Dante is a player character in MagiRPG, played by Momo Bee. He is a variant human Rogue Scout. Currently, he travels with Morryn, Nissa, Spring, and Court.

## Description

### Appearance

Dante has olive toned skin and yellow-green eyes with cat-like irises. Thick, dark eyebrows frame his eyes with a slash through the right. Freckles dust over his straight, defined nose. His hair is brown-black with streaks of white running through the front. The white started to appear soon after he entered the Feywild, 2 years prior to meeting the party. It reaches his shoulders in cascading waves and is often pulled up into a high ponytail. In place of human ears, he has two black fox ears on the top of his head. Each tipped with white. His right ear pierced with two golden rings. In addition, he has a black fox tail that skims the ground in length.

Dante wears a navy cloak lined with white fur to cover his ears and tail. Leather armor adorns his chest and arms to protect him from close quarters combat damage. Straps hug his thighs and hold his many tools from his days serving in an assassin's guild. Knee high combat boots help him in the forests terrain and city streets. Underneath this all, he wears a dark green bodysuit that covers him from neck to toe. Being uncomfortable with showing skin in the Feywild, he keeps himself fairly covered.

### Tattoos

Three tattoos adorn his arms. A sprig of Lily of the Valley is on his right forearm, a lone arrow on his left forearm, and a raven perched atop a small sword on his left bicep. After the fey marriage ceremony with Nissa, Dante gained a spiderweb like tattoo starting on his left hand going up to his mid forearm. While not a tattoo, Dante's back is covered completely in large gashes that have scarred over in a horizontal manner.

### Personality

Dante in adulthood is callous and reserved. While as a child he was rambunctious and curious, that was something that soon faded with the reality of the world becoming clear to him. Any sense of humor has since been beaten out of him with the years of training in an assassin's guild. He doesn’t often make friends as he tries to put people off by playing up his standoffish attitude. Dante prefers his solitude and tends to come across as awkward and perhaps even rude. Underneath his façade, he can be incredibly tender-hearted and loyal. Most of his bravado is truly just a shield to keep others away. It is unlikely for him to show his vulnerable side these days but will for a person he trusts.

## Biography

### Early Life

Dante had a fairly normal life growing up. While he did not have much, he found comfort in his friends as he had no family of his own save for the caretakers in the nearby orphanage. Dante did not know who his parents were and nothing is known of them. He is under the assumption that his biological parents died or abandoned him. He has since come to terms with this, though was much more troubled by it as a child.

Being brought up in such poor conditions led the young boy to turn to mischief. His curious nature often got him into trouble, whether that be climbing a tree that he had no way of getting himself out of or sneaking to the tops of roofs to toss water balloons at the unsuspecting sisters at the orphanage. Such antics gained him a reputation of being a troublemaker and through this he and his best friend, Alistair, would form a club known as the Toadies.

The group would soon form a rivalry with the town's other kid's club, the Croakers. While he took delight in pranking the other kids, he always went a bit farther with Myka, Morryn's little brother. If you had asked him at the time why he targeted the boy he would have denied such a thing. Though as an adult he now is aware as to why he misbehaved in such a way.

Upon entering the Witchlight Carnival at the age of 14, the boys fabricated their tickets. Dante would soon later hone this craft for use in future assassin's guilds he'd join. The group had a night of merriment and mischief that ultimately led to the boys being dragged to the Hourglass Coven. In the encounter with the hags, Dante was told that after the nights events the boy would struggle to ever find a reason to *smile* again, living a *joyless* life. Alistair scoffed at the hags, arrogant as always. The boy fought against the hags and ultimately lost his life as payment for the Carnival. As if the Hags knew, their prediction for Dante became true.

Upon Alistair's death, the Hourglass Coven transported the dead boy and his friend to Red Larch. The town disbelieving at what they saw, blamed Dante for the boy's death. Clutching his friend's body, he vowed that day to kill the Hags. Every last one.

Dante went on to be trained under a skilled assassin in a large city, far from where people knew the young man's name. There he spent the next 6 years honing his skills in the hope to become strong enough to fight the Hags who had taken his friends and childhood from him.

### Background: Feylost

Dante has spent the last two years of his life in Fablerise, a domain of delight ruled by the Archfey, Yarnspinner. The Great Spider came across the young man after he fell through a portal on the outskirts of a city. Upon falling into said portal, Dante was attacked by the infamous Jabberwock. Being fatally wounded, the Archfey took pity on him and took him back to Fablerise to recuperate.

There Dante was cared for and taught the ways of the Fey through storytelling, Yarnspinner's favorite method of communication. It was here where Dante started to open up and rekindle his love of nature and particularly flowers. Having the time to be in a place guarded and safe with the Archfey watching over him allowed him to reflect on his life's past events. It was at this moment that he realized he had held onto guilt regarding his friend's death and knew that the only way to let go of it and move on with his life would be to put an end to the Hag's machinations. Not just for revenge, but for justice. He thanks Yarnspinner for the lessons she has taught him and for setting him on the right path. The Archfey is like a mother figure to Dante and he truly believes he can never repay her for her kindness. While the fey is longwinded, Dante is quite fond of her.

### Fey or ???

Dante appears to be a type of fox fey mixed with a human. It is unclear to the party at this time what Dante really is. Only that he is not what he appears. Dante himself is not quite sure and wonders if his sudden change in hair color has something to do with his lineage or something else entirely.

## Relationships

### Courtney

As a child, Dante believed Court to be the most cowardly of the Croakers and rarely pulled pranks on the child because of it. As an adult, Dante believes that the 8 years have been the hardest on them. He believes that Court suffers from something more than whatever the Hags took but is unsure of what it could be. While he is not fond of them, he understands their grief, no matter how childish he may believe their behavior to be. After S2 EP6, Court did their best to comfort Dante after finding out Dante was in love with Nissa. The two shared an awkward, yet sweet, conversation. There Dante promised to help Court get back "their girl", referring to Dove. After having trouble casting the resurrection, Court gave half of their life to complete the spell. While Dante will likely never admit it, he believes he owes Court a great favor in return for the sacrifice. Since seeing Court go through the loss of Dove, Dante finds himself empathizing with them.

### Nissa Heartspring

When Dante was a child he often competed with Nissa in anything he could make a game out of. Whether it be archery, throwing knives, or skipping rocks. Even as a child she was very mature and often repaid any prank he pulled. Dante was fond of her in a way he didn't quite understand at the time. As an adult, he views Nissa as the only reasonable one amongst her friends. He worries that Nissa will be held back by her childhood friends and their childish nature may get her hurt. If Nissa were not here, he would have left the group to face the Hags on his own. He admits that seeing her again after 8 years has been a welcome surprise, though he is unsure how to kindle any type of relationship with her. After episode 5 of season 2, Dante was confronted by Nissa about his weirdly protective nature regarding her. The two walked together for some time, with Nissa insisting on Dante answering for his behavior as the environment betrayed his true feelings. Feeling he couldn't get away with hiding it any longer, Dante told Nissa that he had a crush on her since they were children. After this confession, Nissa was struck down by Granny Nightshade. The loss of Nissa tore at his heart, awakening feelings he only *suspected* were there. He has since come to terms with his feelings for the Ranger and vaguely confronted her about them by swearing to protect Nissa with his life. YarnSpinner sealed the bond with a tattoo between the two, that the Fae would consider a marriage.

### Spring Morningsky

At first Dante was weary of the faerie knight. However, he has found the creature to be quite friendly with him, if a bit forward. Spring's blunt attitude is a welcome trait to Dante as he doesn't have to wade through any bullshit with them. He didn't think he would find another ally in the Feywild but is pleasantly surprised to know that Spring would defend him after the confrontation with Court. Since seeing Spring go through the loss of Dove, Dante finds himself empathizing with the Fairy. He often wonders if Spring will ever truly recover from this loss from their recent vice.

### Morryn Riverbrook

As a child, Dante found Morryn very interesting. While not mature in the way Nissa was, Morryn was intelligent unlike other children. He was frightened of Morryn as a child and did well to steer clear of her when he could. As an adult, Dante is unsure whether it is fear he feels or something else entirely for the woman. He understands the ire with which the hag treats him but all the same wishes to be left alone by her. While he himself would never admit it, the two are similar in many ways. He often wonders if she had not become a hag what the girl would have turned out like. After the encounter with Skabatha Nightshade, Dante realizes while he holds some lingering feelings of dislike for the hag, he understands that she has been molded by these horrible creatures and the two share the same goal. After Nissa's death, Morryn sold her eyes to Baba Yaga. This act of selflessness touched his heart in a way he didn't expect the woman could do. Dante gained a great respect for Morryn after this day. Dante offered to trade his shadow for Morryn's innocence. Morryn then surprised Dante, by making a deal to return his joy to him.

### Alistair Rowley

Alistair was the first friend Dante ever made and thus is held in high regard within Dante's heart. He learned much from the boy and was/is one of the few people in the world he trusts. He misses him dearly and vows to get revenge for his friend's loss of life. Dante hopes in some way that killing the Hags will free him of the weight of Alistair's life. As time goes on Dante wonders if Alistair would want him to chase this revenge at the cost of his life.

## Equipment and Gear

Dante’s weapons of choice are his brass knuckles and his bow. His knuckles were fashioned himself when he took on the blacksmithing skill. His bow is a gift from the Archfey, Yarnspinner.

**Bruiser's Knuckles:** While wearing these knuckles with bladed edges, your unarmed melee strikes count as weapon attacks with the light and finesse properties.

Additionally when you strike, you may choose to do either bludgeoning damage or piercing damage, depending on which end of the weapon you use.

**Yarn's Bow:** This magic short bow has wrappings of white silk and is infused with the magic of Yarnspinner. When you roll an attack roll with this bow and score a critical hit, the arrow fired also creates the effect of the web spell, with a DC15 dexterity saving throw.

If you load no ammunition in the weapon, it produces its own, stitching the arrow from silk and magic when you pull back the string. The ammunition created by the bow vanishes the instant after it hits or misses a target.

**YarnSpinner's Blessed Tattoo:** A gift from his adoptive mother to commemorate his love of Nissa. A matching spider web wrapping around the wrist of both Dante and Nissa providing them both with a +2 bonus to AC.

### Abilities

* While Dante is a rogue, he was trained more akin to a fighter. He has a special ability that allows him to wield brass knuckles and still retain his sneak attack due to his fox-like nature.
* Dante has the Tavern Brawler and Fighting Initiate Feats

## Trivia

* Dante loves the language of flowers, not that he'd ever tell you that!
* Momo took inspiration for Dante from Ahri in *League of Legends*.
* Dante is loosely based off of kitsune/gumiho folklore.

## Quotes

* "They’re only going to drag you down." to Nissa
* ”Touch my tail again and lose your hand.” to Spring
* "I could crush you with one hand." to Spring
* ”People change,…I’ve changed.” to the party
* "I loved her, you fucking fool!" to Court
* "Is this still worth it? How many lives before it's enough?" -Dante to Nissa