Opus

Songbird (By the people of Yana)

Happy Horns (By Janus)

Katie Gladberry (Adoptive Sister)

Bliss Gladberry (Sister)

Mikhaela Kondoron (Girlfriend)

Opus is the son of Music and Crieff and a member of the Opal Tower adventuring band. He is a bard who works in the Sanctuary Inn in Yana. He owns a grey cat named Spike. He was kidnapped and beaten by the Defiant Legion but left alive as a message to the people of Yana. After his recovery, he became a member of the newly formed Council of Yana. Since the end of the War of Defiance, Opus remained on the Council for a time, before going travelling around Tal'Dorei where he met Misha. Opus eventually uncovered an ancient keystone to Dominaeth and became one of the most wanted individuals in Exandria due to the information he now carried.

## **Description**

### **Appearance**

Opus is tall and thin, standing at 6'2". He shares his mother's alabaster white skin. He has humanlike blue eyes and messy crimson hair. His horns twist and curve in on themselves. He wears purple clothing edged with gold and his wrists and hands are wrapped in bandages. Following his discovery of Crieff being his father, he has taken to wearing jumpers and bard style coats that emulate Crieff's style more accurately. After his beating by Acora, Opus has a small scar at his hairline.

Since setting out travelling, Opus has grown his hair out longer, tying it into a braid that hangs down his back. Though it still remains messy and unkempt at the top. Since meeting Misha, Opus has gotten two tattoos, one of a Wren in flight on his left shoulder, representing his nickname of "Songbird" back home in Yana. The other is Misha's rat Creak, holding two breadsticks, which he got after realising his feelings for her, representing Misha, his street rat, and the first gift she gave him, warm breadsticks.

### **Personality**

Opus is charismatic and cocky. He shares his mother's empathy and compassion yet acts slightly more self centred. He cares deeply for others, though none more so than his cat, Spike or Misha. Much like his father, he enjoys working out how people work and gaining insights into their personalities. Following his treatment by the Defiant Legion, Opus has begun to pursue goals he regards as morally right, often involving protecting or caring for others.

His alignment is Neutral Good. Opus' birthday is Fessuran 22nd.

## **Biography**

### **Early Life**

Opus was born when Music was serving in Whitestone as a member of the Whitestone Rifles. He never knew his father, being told by Music that the man had been a soldier that died on a mission. For over the first decade of his life, Opus lived with his mother in Whitestone before they were recruited by Rosalind Songsteel to the Grey Valley Project and they moved to the village of Yana in the Grey Valley.

### **Grey Frontier**

In 843 P.D. Opus met The Sterling Rams while he was playing music at the Sanctuary Inn. He happily allowed Karr to feed Spike some milk although was slightly concerned when she attempted to lick the cat to groom it.

He next encountered the group while playing music for the Highsummer celebrations.

Opus then met Crieff directly for the first time whilst he helped his mother to create a speech for her campaign to become the Arlessa of Yana. After her success he was seen leading the people of Yana in drinking and giving a eulogy for the late Arl Ahvain Firahel. The next day, he was moving out his things from his family home along with his friends when he lost his grip on a box, which then fell and shattered his shin. He was quickly treated and healed by Crieff and his mother then came and took him home.

Opus worked with his mother to create a music box for Crieff as part of the secret gifting arrangements of Yana at Winter's Crest.

Opus and several of his friends were kidnapped by the Defiant Legion and while Opus was badly beaten and tied to a tree, the other six people captured were murdered and crucified as border markers between Yana and the territory of the Defiant Legion. Opus was found and saved by the Sterling Rams before being brought with them when they discovered the six border markers atop a nearby hill.

Opus was brought back to Yana by Crieff and taken to the clinic where he was healed through joint efforts by Crieff, Katie and Salve, although he still needed a long recovery time. He woke up a day later briefly, thanking Crieff for helping him. Music later soothed Opus to sleep by singing a lullaby to him.

Opus was later told by his mother that his father was still alive and he surprised her by revealing that he knew that Crieff was his father. Opus then met with and accepted Crieff, on the condition that Crieff never hurt Music again. Opus was later interviewed by the Sterling Rams and he told them that Acora had beaten him, that her wolf Shade had killed Dogren and that Shanna had been the one to orchestrate the kidnapping and murders.

Opus later joined his family when seeing his father leave to hunt down the Defiant Legion, hugging Crieff goodbye. When Crieff returned with Acora as a prisoner and she was later executed by Music, Opus remained at a distance, having no wish to see the woman again. The next day, Music was arrested for killing Acora and Opus, Katie and Elwen Galanodel all attended her trial together. There Opus spoke out in favour of removing Music from the Arlessa's post, knowing she hated the role anyway, and he instead supported the formation of a town council. What he was not expecting however, was that he would be voted onto that council due to how well he spoke during the trial.

Opus trained under Tred for the upcoming Battle of Yana, but later was told by Music and Crieff that he should stay out of combat and look after the town's non-combatants. While unhappy with this, Opus agreed and also took on the care of Steamy, one of Portia's drakes. He was given his father's *Ring of Beast Speech* to communicate with his cat during this period too as it helped distract him when the pain from his injuries from Acora caused migraines that stopped him from being able to act.

Opus and Katie were together told of Crieff being an Aasimar and of his story since Emon. Opus was slowly accepting, although initially he struggled to understand what this meant for his own bloodline. However once he came to understand that, he accepted and supported his father.

During the Battle of Yana, Opus remained further back at the Arlessa's mansion, protecting the non-combatants from the town. Though this was revealed to be a trap that Opus had set for Dread Mother Zilla, luring her in to tempt her into hurting the Sterling Rams before he aided the adventurers in slaying the ancient hag before retreating to Katie at her clinic in town. He remained at his wounded mother's side for the remainder of the battle.

Opus sang at the memorial service for the fallen of the battle, saying goodbye to the friends he lost. Afterwards, at the clinic, he and Katie were officially told about their parents' engagement and he was asked to handle planning and arrangements for the wedding, a role he took to with great enthusiasm. Over the next few months as he planned, Opus also dealt with nightmares and trauma left over from the War of Defiance, something Crieff became a great help with.

When Crieff left Yana to find the Metallic Dragon Enclave, Opus joined the other members of his family in making cards for him that contained messages of support and love. Opus' message contained the first time he ever told his father that he loved him. When Crieff returned to Yana, Opus met him at home and his father reciprocated the message. He later talked to his parents, asking them about their thoughts on his plan to begin travelling and was pleasantly surprised when they offered their support to him and offered to train him in various ways for the journey.

Opus travelled to Port Damali with his family for his mother's birthday, spending the day there before he and Katie were teleported back to Yana alongside Echthra. He later attended Crieff's bachelor party and ended up falling asleep alongside his father and Vulwin Zylric in a barn surrounded by small farm animals that Kaya Fernhand had provided for petting.

On the 15th of Brussendar, one year to the day since the Sterling Rams first met, Music and Crieff were married. Opus gave away his mother and her train was specially carried by Salve and Alchemy. Karr served as Flower Girl and Grace as a ringbearer. Crieff had Vulwin Zylric as his best man and Mission, Tred, Echthra and Lum as groomsmen. Music meanwhile, had Octavia Sunheart as her maid of honour while Shearer Dravarol, Feng and Elwen Galanodel were her bridesmaids. Much like Opus, Katie Gladberry gave away one of her parents, bringing Crieff to the altar. Halstein Varlund conducted the ceremony and married the two to one another. After the wedding ceremony, Music and her new husband were approached by Gale, the family's chicken and she revealed herself to be a disguised Sarenrae. The Goddess granted her own wedding gift to the couple, taking Crieff's aasimar heritage from him and restoring his humanity and normal rate of aging to him, allowing him to grow old at the same rate as Music.

Opus was later present when Boneclaws attacked the Sterling Rams for the Lord of Hunger, he assisted his mother and father in defeating the Boneclaw that entered their house, stopping it from getting further in and reaching his sister.

Once the Lord of Hunger was defeated, Opus was in the clinic when the Sterling Rams returned and he discovered that his mother was pregnant. In response to this news, Opus delayed his travels to assist his parents with the pregnancy.

### **Travels around Tal'Dorei**

In the spring of the next year, Opus' baby sister, Bliss Gladberry was born and after spending nearly two months getting to know her, Opus set off on the travels around Tal'Dorei that he had been planning. He travelled through Kymal with a caravan from the Songsteel Trading Company and after spending a few days seeing the city and staying with his friend Zinnia Starguard, he travelled further south to the swamp port city of Stilben.

In Stilben, Opus quickly found trouble with the denizens of the city after using the magic of the *Coin of Avandra*, which Crieff had given him, to win at a gambling game. In escaping he fled into an alleyway and encountered Misha, a half-goblin street urchin, with whom he formed an instant bond. After a period of bonding in Stilben, Misha joined Opus on his travels. The two left Stilben and stayed with the Songsteels again in Kymal, where they agreed to become best friends to one another.

### **The Fallen Citadel**

Misha and Opus ran into trouble in Whitestone where Opus was bidden by an unknown force to touch an artefact of pre-divergent power, which granted him a vision of a fallen and ruined temple on an island far to the north, split by a lava river. Not wanting to worry Misha, Opus told her nothing of this, instead preferring to continue travelling as they had been. They left Whitestone, though by that point several prominent factions had noticed the power that Opus carried and began to track them. Krotalis was among these interested parties.

By the time they reached Stilben again, Opus and Misha were unknowingly pursued by many enemies, and in a tavern there, they encountered a group of allies who warned them of this danger. Krotalis watched initially as Ophelia, Lonnel and Merril all approached Opus and pledged their protection over him. He also soon joined them, curious as to the boy's seeming lack of knowledge about the situation. It was then that the group was set upon by a force of enforcers working for The Clasp, led by Lorathin, an Eladrin thief. The battle between the two groups eventually saw Opus captured by Lorathin and brought to meet Sponsor G, the leader of The Clasp in Stilben. G didn't believe Opus' claims that he knew nothing of the artefact's information and had him tortured for additional information, though Opus claims it was "barely torture" in comparison to his experiences with Shanna, Acora and the Defiant Legion. He was rescued by Misha and the others who had pledged him their aid and assisted them in killing Sponsor G. When the group escaped Opus joined them at the local Songsteel Trading Company offices where they met Captain Kaylie Failte, who would take them to Port Zoon in exchange for the killing of Sponsor G. He also learned that the island from his visions was likely Eiselcross, to the north of Wildemount.

He boarded the *Dawnrunner* with his allies and sailed to Wildemount. Though along the way, the ship was briefly run aground during a storm and his friends had to battle off a hoard of undead, before lifting a curse on the island. Lonnel then helped Opus to read a letter that had been found on the island that spoke of the "*Forges of Aeor"* and the *"Primes of Dominaeth"* which seemed to trigger more visions in Opus, though he again lied to Misha, saying they had been unable to translate it.

In Port Zoon, Opus travelled with the others to meet Makara Zale, and explained the situation to the assassin, who proved sympathetic to his plight, and began to help Opus' group work out a way past the city lockdown before it got them caught, taking them to meet Eyes of Jade and her Golden Grin forces. Opus remained with Jade while the others went to find out what had become of one of her safehouses for escaped slaves of The Myriad. When they returned with Alek as a prisoner, Opus was shown to be worried for his friends, staying close at Misha's side through the night. When he woke and couldn't find her, he became panicked, hurrying around trying to find her. He refused to be in the room for her interrogation of Alek, due to his own experiences as a prisoner, though he did wait right outside the room for his friend.

On the journey to Nicodranas with Jade, Opus spent most of his time telling stories and taking in the sights, trying to recapture some of what was lost due to the interruption of his and Misha's travels. He also helped Misha translate and understand a letter from her mother, explaining her past and Alek's true parentage. These travels were interrupted by an attack by Myriad forces that freed Alek and allowed him to escape, though not before he spotted Opus and recognised him as the man with a bounty on his head. Following her brother's escape, Opus tried to care for Misha, staying by her and telling stories for the rest of their journey.

In Nicodranas, Opus and Misha snuck away from the group for a chance to recapture the wanderlust and more relaxed feel of their previous travels, venturing into the Mother's Lighthouse to explore. Opus also bought Misha a freakish looking teddy bear, a gift he knew only she would love. The group then travelled further north, into the Dwendalian Empire to Trostenwald. There they encountered a young mage named Hans Angwolfe, who encouraged them to seek out his master Ulvar Tussain in order to get themselves transported to Eiselcross and Aeor. Taking this under advisement, the party travelled onwards to Zadash, where they met with Merril's old teacher, Torthil, who advised them that she believed Carchuri, an old foe of Merril's was returning and plotting something within the city.

## **Relationships**

### **Music**

Music is Opus' mother and the two care for each other deeply. Since Opus grew up without his father, for a long time, Music was his only family. Music was greatly concerned when Opus broke his leg and despite her strained relationship with Crieff, she thanked him profusely for his assistance in healing Opus. Music became greatly concerned and protective over Opus when he was wounded by the Defiant Legion, staying by his bedside and soothing him with lullabies. Opus extends this protection in the other direction, making sure he was present at the formation of the Council of Yana and gave a testimony that kept his mother's sentence light. He also threw himself wholeheartedly into making sure his mother's wedding day was as perfect as possible.

### **Crieff**

> *"Hey Dad, be careful out there. Give 'em hell."*
>
>

Crieff is Opus' father and, despite their years of separation, the two care for one another. Opus worked out ahead of being told that Crieff was his father, recognising the similarities between himself and the man. Opus gave Crieff the condition that Crieff never hurt his mother ever again and, after gaining that promise from Crieff, he accepted his father.

> *"It doesn't matter to me how long you live, or if you look 40 when I'm 60. As long as you're still here. You'll still be my Dad."*
>
>

Opus came to truly love and care for his father over the time following his discovery of his parentage. He was quick to reassure his father that he would still accept him even through the reveal of Crieff's longer lifespan, which had been distressing Crieff.

### **Misha**

> *"Friends don't lie to friends Snarls."*
>
>

Misha is Opus' best friend, though it is clear to everyone who watches Opus for even a second that he has romantic feelings towards her, though he has yet to realise this himself. Opus often acts to explain things Misha doesn't understand, or introduce her to facets of society that she hasn't experienced. Misha in turn acts as Opus' protector or a safe place for him when things overwhelm him. The two have affectionately nicknamed one another, with Opus calling Misha "Snarls" on account of her tendency to growl and snarl in her sleep. He is also fond of Misha's real name "Mikhaela" but he agreed not to use it when she asked him not to. Their relationship became strained during their time in Shadycreek Run as Opus became aware of his feelings for her and eventually chose to leave and strike out for Aeor alone rather than see her hurt. Once they reunited, Misha was hesitant around Opus, becoming more aware of herself and unwilling to allow herself to be used or hurt.

> *"It's you Misha, always has been and always will be. Only you."*
>
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Following a battle that nearly killed them both, Opus approached Misha and revealed his feelings for her before kissing her, kindling their relationship properly. When Misha was killed fighting off Amaroche, Opus became desperate drawing on his own knowledge of magic to revive Ophelia, who in turn brought Misha back. Following this encounter, Opus revealed the tower to the party and told Misha that the room at the top could be her home, shared with him, if she wanted.

## **Equipment**

Opus carries several notable magical items, in addition to his regular equipment. His regular gear includes a lute, a suit of bard's clothing and a rapier. He also has a shirt of *Elven Chain* from his family that he wears beneath his usual outfit. Opus wears a *Ring of Speak with Animals* that used to belong to his father. His most notable piece of equipment however, is the *Coin of Avandra* which Crieff gave him when he started travelling. He also uses a Dancing Blade named the *Blade of the Reveler* which he took from the collection of the Azure Armoury.

## **Trivia**

* Opus is Demisexual, never showing interest in anyone until he developed feelings for Misha, which led to him not recognising those feelings and what they meant for a long time, even with Lonnel's help.
* Opus' singing voice is based off the voice of Peter Hollens.
* Opus and Misha's official art was drawn by AnnatheNewt.