Tjelvar Stornsnasson

## Tjelvar Stornsnasson (he/ him)

Art by @LhoBrockhoff on twitter. Used with permission. If using this art as reference, please credit the artist.

## Meta Information

### Last episode

Side Quest: The Tomb of Hannibal

Tjelvar is the archaeologist orc who helped Bertie get into Hannibal's Tomb.

## Appearance and personality

An athletic orc, grey skin, black eyes, "wild" black hair. "Superficial" scar across mouth, revealing top and bottom teeth. Manages to pull it off without being scary, probably because he's basically RQG Indiana Jones, hat and all. He is loud and forthright, occasionally to the point of pompousness. His driving motivation is archaeology.

## History

### Season 1

*[Bertie's Sidequest]*

Tjelvar first shows up in a letter, requesting Bertie's assistance in finding the tomb of Hannibal, following in the footsteps of Bertie's ancestor, Sir Everard MacGuffingham. He invites Bertie to The Yeti's Claw in Albertville if he is interested. He meets Bertie in The Yeti's Claw, at a table covered in papers and maps. When a barbarian starts a brawl with Bertie, Tjelvar tries and fails to mediate, but once the barbarian is immobilised by Friedrich, Tjelvar disarms him. Tjelvar desperately tries to salvage his papers while the fight is concluded and the barbarian is dragged out. Tjelvar notices that the stranger in the bar (Ed) wears a familiar necklace. Bertie and Tjelvar learn that Ed is one of the younger sons of the current Duke of York through inspecting the amulet around his neck. The amulet also has a clue on it - Tjelvar recognises the symbol on the amulet, which corresponds with a symbol in his notes, and he realises that they should be able to find Hannibal's tomb now.

The next morning, they stock up on essentials for the journey. They ride high into the mountains, along a river valley. The higher they get, the colder it becomes; eventually they can no longer continue with the horses and leave them. Tjelvar suggests they walk until the evening and then tackle the upcoming ravine once they've had a good night's sleep. They all agree, and head off once more, heading toward the east through another forested area. As they travel, Tjelvar picks up some kindling and other items that will help with starting a fire, and straps it to his backpack. Tjelvar notices something stirring in the trees above them, and its been following them. Suddenly, from the trees, a large snow leopard attacks, landing right on Bertie. The group fight and kill the leopard. They continue onwards, following the map; in the distance, a large creature roars and the party runs for safety. They make it to the end of the ravine and run up the slope through to a pass. The next morning, Tjelvar digs into the snow where Ed had prayed that morning, finding a flagstone.

Digging, they uncover the door. with carvings on it. Touching the hand carved on the door, they disappear. Tjelvar wakes up in an orchard filled with golden apples. He can see someone standing next to a pillar that extends into the heavens, spreading and getting thicker as it ascends. Tjelvar approaches him and realizes the being is indeed a giant and that he is holding the pillar up from beneath. Tjelvar, recognizes that this is Atlas and addresses him by his name. Tjelvar asks Atlas if there is an exit, but Atlas does not know of one because he is not permitted to leave his position holding up the sky. Tjelvar realizes that the Frieze on the door was actually an unfinished depiction of the twelve labours of Heracles. Tjelvar thus offers to prop the sky up while Atlas goes to get some golden apples. Atlas takes the offer up and Tjelvar purposefully holds the pillar a bit badly. When Atlas returns, he starts to talk about how he isn't sure he wants to switch back. Tjelvar uses his purposefully bad grip to convince Atlas to show him how to hold it properly so that Atlas can have a break for longer. When Atlas takes the pillar back, Tjelvar "trips and falls" so that he comes out from under the pillar, thereby escaping. He does place one of the apples in Atlas' mouth before grabbing the other and vanishing.

Tjelvar and Bertie flicker back into existence in a stone hallway inside of the tomb, wearing their cold weather gear. Tjelvar hears Eddie outside the tomb and thankfully Eddie hears him as well. Tjelvar and Bertie decide to go further into the tomb and leave Eddie to his own devices. They follow a bare stone hallway and go down some stairs, into another hallway. They can see a room at the end of the hallway with an altar, likely to be a sarcophagus. There is a patch at the beginning of the hallway where the stone is different from the rest of the room. It is glowing silver and obviously magical. Tjelvar immediately decides it's a trap. Bertie charges forward and an ear piercing scream sounds, giving the two of them sonic damage. They both begin to hear whispers in Latin. Bertie is overcome with the desire to attack Tjelvar and begins shouting about Tjelvar stealing his destiny whilst drawing his sword. Tjelvar leaps forward across the plate and attempts to roll off of it putting him out of Bertie's range of attack. Tjelvar finds he cannot speak in anything but babble. Bertie charges Tjelvar, landing a hit, and a section of floor opens up. Bertie manages to catch himself, falling backwards rather than into the newly opened pit but Tjelvar falls. They are once again effected by the whispers but Bertie is now compelled to babble incoherently and Tjelvar is now compelled to hurt himself. Tjelvar falls again, knocking himself out, and Bertie continues on to the sarcophagus.

Bertie returns to the hall to find the pit Tjelvar is in slowly raising to level with the floor. Eddie quickly heals Tjelvar back to conciousness. Now joined by his compatriots, Bertie shows them Hannibal's empty tomb. Tjelvar notices that the floor bears scorch marks. They realize that the historic mage, Isaac Newton, found the tomb long ago and simply didn't tell anyone. Bertie and Tjelvar decide to leave the fact that the tomb had been found prior to their own discovery to themselves. Tjelvar asks after the "gift" mentioned and when Bertie produces the Circlet, Tjelvar recognizes it. Tjelvar then tells Bertie that it should be in a museum and that the museum would likely pay Bertie for it. Bertie briefly tries to sell Tjelvar on keeping it himself to wear. Tjelvar convinces him that it would be worth more to him in the hands of professionals, and that Bertie would likely get credited for the discovery. Tjelvar makes arrangements for the sale of the circlet to Trinity College for a sum that will help fund his future endeavours, and agrees to take it there himself

## Additional Information

Tjelvar was introduced on the show as a bard, but according to Ben on the Discord, his character sheet was actually built as an archaeologist, which is a bard archetype.

## Mechanics

### Traits

* **Overlooked Mastermind:** +2 on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive checks. This bonus increases to +4 against other humanoids.

### Class Features

* **Trap Sense:** Tjelvar has +2 on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and +2 to AC against attacks made by traps.
* **Uncanny Dodge:** Tjelvar cannot be caught flat-footed.

### Feats

* **Precise shot:** No penalty for shooting at enemies engaged in melee.
* **Point blank shot:** +1 on attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at ranges of up to 30 feet.

### Skills

* Diplomacy
* Perception
* Linguistics: English, French
* Survival

### Equipment

* Cold weather gear: +4 on fortitude saves against cold weather.
* Masterwork survival kit: Contains high quality gear for surviving in the wild and a guide to identifying flora and fauna. Gives +2 on survival checks to get along in the wild, deal with severe weather, keep from getting lost, avoid natural hazards such as quicksand, and predict the weather.
* Barbarian kit: Contains a backpack, a belt pouch, a blanket, a flint and steel, an iron pot, rope, soap, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), and a waterskin.
* Reinforced scarf: An 8-foot-long scarf reinforced with chain links and metal plates. Can be used as a length of chain to climb short distances or bind an enemy.
* Ioun torch: A burned out Ioun stone with a continual flame spell cast upon it. Tjelvar can set it to orbit his head for a hands-free source of light.
* Traveler’s Any-Tool: A 12-inch iron bar lined with small plates and spikes. It can be folded, twisted, hinged, and bent, to form almost any known tool.
* Composite longbow (+2): Allows Tjelvar to add up to +2 of his strength bonus to damage rolls.
* Quiver