Janet Baker

> "*On a scale of 1 to Janet, how screwed are we?*"
> ― Scales
>
>

Janet is a human rogue (arcane trickster)/warlock (Great Old One, Pact of the Chain). She is a member of Lorem Ipsum and is played by Annie.

### Personality

Janet has difficulty trusting others and is prone to anger and paranoia that is not entirely unfounded. She tries to do the right thing, but she sometimes makes bad decisions based on either fear, overconfidence, or a combination of both. She feels that she is easily abandoned by others, so it is hard for her to accept that she actually matters and others truly care about her, even the people she cares about herself.

## Biography

### Background

#### Early Life

Janet was born to a young couple who were members of a cult that worships an obscure entity called Kordel, whom the cult regards as a god. The cult is based on an island called Ardenrood. As a newborn, Janet was given the name Echo, and her father promised her to Kordel for some unspecified purpose. She grew up largely ostracized from other children, and quickly learned how to stay quiet and unnoticed. She learned to cook and bake, as well as how to hunt in the island forest. When she was in her early teens, Janet's parents had another baby, finally fulfilling their dream of having a son.

As Janet got older, she came to doubt that the cult's stories of Kordel were real, or that magic even existed. She saw little evidence of it among the cultists, and realized how those in charge could use these stories to control and manipulate people. Janet never vocalized these doubts, or said much of anything to anyone. She feared that the cult leaders would sacrifice her regardless of whether Kordel existed, so she made plans to escape. She considered taking her little brother with her, but he was still very young and she was not sure she could escape successfully with him. She hoped that he would be safe since he was a boy and therefore more valued by the cult.

After several years of secretly planning, training, and gathering supplies, Janet slipped away one night when she was about 17. She piloted a rowboat across the relatively short distance to the mainland. It seemed that she had made a clean getaway, and she headed to Tal'Dorei to find a big city where she could disappear.

#### Emon

Upon arriving in Emon, Janet took on a new name: Janet Baker, which had felt exotic and aspirational when she chose it as a young teen dreaming of a new life. She found work in a bakery, as she had hoped she could, and rented a small room above it. After a year or so, this mundane life began to wear on her. She felt a call to adventure, and eventually signed on to do mercenary work for Emon's city watch. There she met her first adventuring party, which included several other people including Kohai, Rowan, Nemo, and Nedrix. During the course of her adventures, she learned that magic was very real and a whole pantheon of gods exist. She began to learn some magic herself.

Ultimately, the party was betrayed by Aldo, who was in league with the Rosewind family. Barely surviving an ordeal in a wizard's tower, they scattered, and Janet traveled across the Ozmit Sea to Vasselheim along with Kohai, Rowan, and Nedrix.

#### Vasselheim

Now aware of how little she truly knew of the world, Janet wanted to go to Vasselheim to learn more about the gods and monsters of Exandria. To improve her monster-hunting skills, she joined the Slayer's Take after completing a trial mission to Marquet. On this mission, the party uncovered a long-lost temple to the goddess Saraenrae, the Everlight, which had been occupied by an evil fire elemental. During this trip, Rowan and Nedrix departed suddenly and the remnants of the party were joined by Brigid, Luciana, Deis, and Scales. They returned to Issylra by ship, thwarting a band of pirates who were interfering with trade on the way.

A band of assassins sent by Aldo attacked the party when they arrived, destroying the inn where they stayed. The innkeeper was killed and the party barely survived. Janet realized for the first time that she could not run from her problems effectively, as they had a tendency to catch up with her.

## Character Information

### Notable Items

Janet wears a Ring of Mind Shielding and Gauntlets of Ogre Power (which magically grant her a strength of 19 rather than her natural 9). She carries a Wand of Negation, which can cast Counterspell and Dispel Magic. Her weapons include a magical rapier, a magical Icy Dragonclaw Longbow, and a Dagger of Venom along with multiple mundane daggers. She has a pseudodragon familiar named Sirius and a warhorse named Cookie.

### Abilities

Janet has expertise in Arcana, Investigation, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth. She also is proficient in Deception and Religion, as well as cook's tools and thieves tools. As an arcane trickster, she can perform various spells.

Now under Kordel's influence, Janet gained warlock spells and abilities. She has Awakened Mind (short-range telepathic abilities) and Devil's Sight (can see normally 120 feet in either magical or nonmagical darkness).

### Rogue Spells

* Cantrips: Fire Bolt, Mage Hand, True Strike
* 1st Level: Healing Word, Shield, Sleep
* 2nd Level: Hold Person, Mirror Image

### Warlock Spells

* Eldritch Invocation: Mask of Many Faces (Disguise Self)
* Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Prestidigitation
* 1st Level: Dissonant Whispers, Find Familiar (Pact Boon), Hellish Rebuke, Witch Bolt
* 2nd Level: Detect Thoughts

## Quotations

Bliss (telepathically): *You can't trust anyone.*

Janet: I know!

## Trivia

Janet originally was 5’8” until an experience with a magical portal reduced her size by 90%, leaving her about 6.5 inches tall. When a Greater Restoration spell was cast on her at Emon’s temple of Bahamut, she rolled a high Religion check and ended up two inches taller than she started.