Slake

**Slake** is a player character voiced by Hannah Culbert. They are a half-orc fighter who mainly uses climbing picks, which function as hand-axes when used in combat. They are nonbinary and use they/them pronouns. They travel with their pet Rhinoceros Beetle, Darius #8.

For most of their life they lived in the Red Caverns with their mentor, Namavee. Despite being born in an Orcish clan, they have been trained separately to serve the tribe's god, Yo-un the Insect.

They enjoy sculpting in their spare time. And also definitely give great hugs.

## Appearance and Personality

Slake is small for an orc, but muscular. They have mottled green skin, dark mossy green hair, and wear a pauldron salvaged from the carapace of a monstrous insect.

Out of all the guardians, Slake has the most common sense. They are eager to prove themselves useful to the guardians and excited to be on a hero's journey.

## In the Final Chapter Prologue

Hearing the voice of Yo-un, Slake follows the sound of skittering through the caves until they happen upon a ruin of Estra that crashed into the tunnels. There, Slake meets Yo-un and Vioni, who is in the form of an Orcish woman. Vioni asks Slake to be her champion and aid The Goddess, Fran, and Corbin in their battle against Torva. Slake excitedly takes on this sacred quest. After gathering their things and receiving well wishes from their mentor, they leave the caverns and move on to the town of Banfeld. In the Town market, they bump into their old friend Ainsley and her new best friend The Gap. After this interaction goes very badly, they buy a horse that they name Ainsley. Traveling to Madrea on horseback, they save a man from bandits and encounter an omen involving an earthquake, a flying creature, and later on in the night, a shape of a young man with a boob window. When they arrive at Madrea, Slake sees the city under attack and citizens fleeing the city. Vioni's voice sounds in the young guardian's mind, alerting that them that their goal is close and that they must hurry.

## In The Court of Spears

While being presented to the court for the first time, Slake is toppled over by Corbin into the crowd. At dinner, they are able to have fruitful discussions with members of the court, including one with Aggsprat about Gnomish engineering.

Along with Maeri, Slake heads over to the Library of Memoirs. They run into Queen Tenevein reminiscing over a portrait of her family. She helps them find a book on the Marchioness of Cavabon and shares that it has become more difficult to speak with others now that she's taken up the throne. The half-orc finds records on who checked out books from the library. They learn that Princess Renetta and Prince Azzam checked out books on the current and previous ruling families.

As the rest of the party attend to Lord Ngyuenian, Slake goes to gather information. They speak with staff members and learn that the estate had recently hired a new stablehand who attends to Lord Ngyuenian's horse. Slake bolts to the stable in an attempt to find the new hire, but instead happens upon the other stable hands playing a game. Speaking with them, Slake learns that this hire, Jarrod, was also from the same street cleaning crew as the new hire from the Marchioness' staff.

The next morning, they are woken up by Dodson Goodson and informed that Queen will be visiting the party. Dressed in mourning clothing, Slake along with the rest of the party is invited by the queen to a celebration of life.

## In A Fragmentary Passage

Slake creates gifts for Maeri and the Guardians from the items they have been collecting. As they travel to Ilfra, they make a makeshift doll for Maeri to help her sleep, a crab for Fran, and a chewable replica of Darius for Corbin.

### Tour of the Red Caverns

When the crew arrives at the Red Caverns, Slake excitedly gives a tour of their favorite places including a lake with glowing fish, some slime, and some worms.

Venturing further into the cave, Fran turns them into a fart cloud so they can safely scout ahead. Slake finds the exit to the Red Caverns and returns to the party to share their findings. Together, they don their safety gear and squeeze through the rest of the caverns towards the red fields.

### Pavilla's Tower

Slake asks Pavilla about the relationship between The Goddess and Vioni. They learn that The Goddess was angered that Vioni hitched a ride on Estra, but did not turn her in to The Conqueror. Although Vioni could not work directly with The Goddess to wreak her revenge against Torva, she chose Slake to act in her stead. Pavilla warns the half-orc that scavengers do not have moral compasses.

### Last Stop: The Art Gallery

Slake leads the party through the rest of the Red Caverns. They get a nice surprise when they pass by their gallery to find that their mentor sealed up the gallery as they requested. They are unable to resist checking up on their work and finds that there is a leak. Naively trusting the rest of the party to patiently wait at the entrance, Slake goes in to patch up the leak. Of course, curiosity overtakes everyone else and the Orcish guardian ends up having to reassure the party that they are not a bug or human serial killer.

## In the "Weeping God"

### God Slayer

Slake makes the final blow against Huugin, severing the beast god's spine with their picks.