Rhys Irvaroth

Level 3 portrait of Rhys

> Why do people keep thinking I'll stab them?
>
>

**Rhys Irvaroth** is a tiefling bladesinger wizard from the Saimugal Ranges. He first met the party in the Guttering Candle in Khatinaro, where he wandered in looking for the individual known as the Broken Blade.

Rhys travels with Thistle by his side, and shares a constant telepathic connection with her.

## Description

### Appearance

Rhys is a pale skinned tiefling with bright yellow, unnatural-looking eyes, and unruly black hair with a shock of white kept in a loose high bun. Two curved horns frame his face, one of them halfway missing and reconstructed by black obsidian. His face is marked by what appear to be two long claw marks slashing his lips and chin, as well as a blue tattoo on the right side of his forehead and around his right eye, going down his neck and dipping below the collar of his shirt.

He wears comfortable leathers and cottons fit for travel and combat, and is usually seen with a large bear fur cloak on his back. He has a long tail with a dark tuft at the tip, as well as hooves. His build is well-shaped from training, though his body usually remains well hidden under his clothes.

Rhys is left-handed. On his right hand, he wears a simple signet ring that servers as his arcane focus.

### Personality

Rhys is extremely amicable and even in disagreements tends to keep a very civil approach. He's often first to see "the other side" of an argument, though questions most things out of curiosity rather than skepticism. This curiosity is often his driving factor - when questioned why he's left home, he stated that he wanted to see what the world was truly like.

He's expressed distaste to killing, and generally finds it an unnecessary cruelty. He's also the most talkative out of the party, and often makes light of that with jabs and jokes.

## Biography

### Background

Rhys grew up in the Saimurgal Ranges and spent the majority of his life there. As a very isolated community, he barely had any contact with people hailing from other places - only the occasional merchant that would rarely come across town.

When asked about his birthplace, Rhys told Vaita that they don't have a single ruler, but rather a council of people who make decisions for the community. He spent a long time listening to exaggerated claims about the Diarchy, and never managed to change anyone's mind about their ways.

### The Boiling Sea

On the way to Khatinaro, Rhys came across "impersonators" posing as people from the Ranges, wearing fake tattoos and accompanied by savage dogs instead of wolves. He managed to take one of those impersonators with him, intending to bring him to the court in Khatinaro, but he was killed in an ambush on the way there. His killers - other impersonators - later tipped him off about someone going by the name of The Broken Blade, who can be found in Khatinaro.

Once he reached Khatinaro with no allies or close associates, everyone's immediate distrust was on him. He met the group in a tavern while Thistle waited outside, and as they dispatched an ambush of bandits dressed up as guards, met with the Broken Blade herself - Kaitin. After the encounter and after the party agreed to stick together and help out, they revealed what they know about her in secrecy. Rhys never spoke against Kaitin publicly, and in fact made a conscious effort of being extra nice to her, even inviting her for drinks one night after they met the blacksmith Gryffin Dross. In front of Gryffin, someone he considers to be under Kaitin's thumb, he loudly questioned her ability to control the whole town, despite the fact that she'd very much demonstrated otherwise.

While the group was staying in the Guttering Candle, Rhys had a dream of a boiling sea calling upon him, sweat breaking his skin, and a voice calling to him, asking him to embrace it. He hesitated at first, but managed to convinced himself it's just a dream, one he's had before, and instead ran into the burning waters. When he woke up, he still remembered the words "It will consume you".

When the party ventured forth to a secret silkdusk mine and fought a bunch of wyrmlings, Rhys first demonstrated his spellcaster abilities. As he threw fire spell after fire spell under increasing distress at each kill, a *Burning hands* spell almost slipped him, roaring dangerously close to Vaita. Upon questioning whether that happens every time he casts, he seemed to avoid giving a straight answer for the first time since meeting the party, simply stating that he doesn't usually use his fire powers. Later on, Thistle noted that his hair seems to have gone a little whiter.

## Relationships

### Thistle

Thistle is Rhys's closest ally. The two share a bond that goes beyond a simple animal companion, and seem to be inherently aware of each other's emotions. Thistle is quite opposite to Rhys in terms of personality, oftentimes distrusting people as a default, and usually more prone to violence than Rhys is - which leads to an endless back and forth harmless bicker between the two.

### Vaita Nacht

As the two sword-wielders of the party, Rhys and Vaita had a weirdly charged friendly sparring match that ended in a draw that neither of them expected. They promised to spar again, although later on the party agreed that after their first mission together is done, they would go their separate paths. Vaita wanted to avoid going back west; Rhys wanted to avoid the east. Despite this, the two continued to confide in each other, finding camaraderie in their feelings about their past.