Henath

## Bio

Raised in the woods, Henath was ultimately a hermit who prefered the confinement of the forest where he worshipped *Ehlonna* without bounds. After reaching adulthood, Henath acquired a family heirloom which was an ancient relic called the *Orb of Occult* (not known to any family member at the time), given by Ehlonna to his clan to safekeep from the rest of the world. Later in his adulthood, a band of marauders invaded his home and killed nearly everyone. A necromancer lead the charge and was searching for the relic that Henath’s family was to guard. Henath was indisposed by a marauder during the assault, but the marauders never found the relic. After the horrific events, Henath isolated himself to nature and would only answer to Ehlonna.

## Adventures

Henath was summoned from his isolation when Ehlonna came to him in his sleep and gave him an odd task; to protect a druid on his pilgrimage. Regardless of the mysterious nature of the request, Henath obeyed without question and set off to find the druid, *Chokoff*. Henath eventually tracked down the druid and found him to be with a band of adventurers during the *Vithari* assault on *Durgrax*. After joining the party, Henath has been apart of various adventures ever since.

Henath was last seen accompanying his companions as they descended into the *Underworld*. The only witnesses to Henath’s fate were *Calirius*, Chokoff, and *Ealrith* who claimed he sought a duel with the *Lich* while they traveled in the Underworld. They ultimately believed him dead when the cave collapsed behind him before they could reach him. The Lich casted Power Word: Kill on Henath, killing him instantly.

## Player Written Backstory

Henath is a 350 year old Wood Elf, although he only appears to be in his mid 200's.  He is just under 6 feet tall and is slender in build. He weighs about 170 pounds. Henath shaves his head completely at least once every three days and wears a short neatly trimmed beard.  He practices proper hygiene as a form of meditation and very carefully trims his facial hair. He meditates for 4 hours to sleep but also meditates a MINIMUM of 2 hours a day on various subjects of thought.  Religion, the relic/ruin he protects, and the meaning of life in general are the main topics of his meditation. If Henath does not meditate for 2 hours in addition to the 4 he requires for sleep he will take Wisdom and Perception penalties due to his extreme displeasure in himself.  He will then punish himself through physical pain and fasting taking an HP penalty and some other small penalty that you may determine. He is used to fasting but it obviously still has its affects on any individual no matter how used to it they are.

Henath calcifies various areas of his body in order to make himself a human weapon.  His hands, his forearms, his shins, and his ribs are all harder than the typical Wood Elf.

--Some possible benefits and/or penalties--

Maybe a small MAX HP bonus at the cost of the daily meditation? Or a small AC bonus (I was thinking only plus 1) as if he had natural armor?  Maybe a small damage bonus to his unarmed since his fists will literally be stronger than wood and hopefully stronger than some stones? This could also give me a current HP hindrance in the form of physical self punishment and fasting, as well as the fact that he will never have full HP because he is constantly punching rocks and beating his own ribs against large trees and stone ruins.  He calcifies regardless but the bonuses and negatives, if you choose that they exist, are up to you. Just thought I would make some suggestions. Either way I am willing to take the current HP negative even if I gain no bonuses, sometimes you just have to role play.

Henath is extremely religious and worships Elhonna, seeing her as the only true Goddess of this world.  He understands the other Gods and Goddesses but sees their powers as inferior, both in nature and in actual force. Henath does not believe in the confines of law, seeing the world as a sandbox that Elhonna has created that all creatures were meant to grow and prosper within.  He is also very respectful of other religion, save those that promote deep evil and necromancy. He leans toward the Good side of things, but does not believe that the world can be simply divided between good and evil, rather that it is a world full of mostly of gray areas that are meant to be interpreted per a persons perspective.

He has no problems with any race of any kind, so long as they are not openly disrespectful of his religion or of him.  He does not deal well with discrimination, even believing that things in the underdark may yet be understanding, good, and beautiful in their own way.  Henath does not speak much and has very few friends. He knows only two wandering Druids and some Wood Elves (how many elves? He doesn't know many very well, he's a super Hermit.  Like, SUPER HERMIT) but other than that has cut himself off from society. The only bigotry that truly exists within him is against any form of Necromancy. Henath believes that death cannot be undone and once something is dead it is to become a part of the world again.  Necromancy is an exact contradiction to his beliefs. He will frown upon it, and may even fight against it in the name of his Goddess and the name of all living things. Besides that he is slightly partial to Druids over other classes but has no real issues otherwise.

Despite being attracted to women of nearly any race Henath has taken a personal vow of celibacy and will NEVER allow himself to engage in any sexual activities.  Henath has sworn, on his family name, on Gwenavyre's death, on his own personal merit, and to the Goddess herself (blessed be Her name Elhonna) that he will remain celibate for the rest of his days.  He instead dedicates himself to the knowledge of his relic/ruin, his religion, to the woods themselves, and to the martial arts.

Henath was raised to be a part of the woods themselves.  Although he understands society, he has never truly experienced civilization.  Henath has seen small villages and camps of people, but no larger settlements. He gave the term Hermit its true meaning by separating himself from all things.  Due to this Henath has a very low Charisma and does not exactly understand social protocol.

Henath was given a ruin/relic by his parents when he was very young and was told to guard it with his life.  His parents raised him in the woods with a few other small families of Wood Elves. He was also raised around Humans, Halflings, Half-elves, and the occasional Sun Elf.  During this time he fell in love with a human girl, who was nearly the age of 18 by the name of Gwenavyre. She was beautiful to him and was everything he had ever hoped.  She had long blonde hair and deep green eyes. She was a druid and wished to dedicate her entire life to nature and creation. They started a very young and smiled upon relationship.  It was both of their first relationships and, unbeknownst to the adults, they actually lost their virginity to each other and they believed that she was pregnant due to complete lack of contraception and love for fertility and all life.

Henath watched as each family and race slowly trickled away from the small village/camp that his family had created, although his girlfriend never left, staying due to their childhood love.  Eventually there were few left, and a great horror came when Henath was merely 90 years of age. A marauding clan composed of various races arrived to take everything that he had known. They were lead by a necromancer with great power.  He never even saw the race/gender of the individual but understood that they were raising the dead and commanding those he had known since birth to fight, even in death, against his family. They were after something important, he assumes they were sent after the ruin/relic.  During this time he was tied up and gagged, unable to raise the alarm. A large half-orc beat Henath within a few inches of his life, leaving him scarred physically and mentally. Henath watched as his entire family was slaughtered in front of him. His three elder brothers, his two elder sisters, and both of his parents.  He also watched the other families be slaughtered including his Gwenavyre, whom was almost surely bearing their first child. Her family escaped in the chaos, after seeing that there was nothing they could do for their child. His family fought to preserve the relic/ruin that he was given, but none of the marauders ever suspected that he was the one holding the relic/ruin.  They searched for it for hours, even during the fight, before they determined that some of those families that had fled must have possessed the relic/ruin. They then chased after them, completely forgetting that Henath was left bound and gagged. Henath has large scars as a result. One of his ribs was fractured and looks deformed, he has a noticeably crooked nose, a large scar from just under the left side of his chin all the way across the right side of his face and across the far edge of his right eye, he is missing a large portion of his left eyebrow, and has a large patch of missing skin that never healed correctly on the back of his head.  His hands, arms, shins, and ribs don't look quite normal either due to his calcification. These things also affect his Charisma negatively which is why it is so low. More on the side of inner conflict, Henath has a phobia of being tied up or bound. He doesn't deal with being imprisoned well either but mostly just is afraid of being shackled or physically restrained in any way.

Henath cried for a few hours in his binds before realizing that he was not yet dead.  He still possessed the ruin/relic and he must now dedicate his entire life to protecting and understand it.  He slowly worked his way out of his ropes, praying to Elhonna for strength and perseverance. It took him more than a day to escape from his binds.  He then left the camp with great haste, taking only the ruin/relic and basic survival equipment. He took a few extra clothes, a small bow for hunting, a whittling knife, a belt knife, a whet stone for sharpening them, a herbal kit, some basic medical equipment, some fishing equipment, a couple small game traps, a small staff to use as a walking stick, his mothers ring, and Gwenavyre's necklace.  (all of this is obviously negotiable. I just wanted to give him the basics he would need to live in the woods.)

Henath has since lived his entire life deep in the woods, emerging only to buy basic supplies for the winter and for emergencies.  He has virtually no contact with anyone except the Druids and the few Wood Elves, which he mostly has non-verbal communication with.  Henath worships daily and his religion is an important part of who he is. He understands he must eventually join society and help fight against the forces of necromancy and to discover how his revelation will change the course of history, he also understands that his ruin/relic must eventually be passed on to someone who can care for it properly and see that it is put to use for the forces of life, love, and fertility.  He is only waiting for the opportune moment.

Henath has had some great revelation that must be kept from others for the good of all living things, the revelation is up to you.

Will Henath ever find any others of his clan again?  Did any of them actually survive the onslaught?

Will he ever have the chance to avenge Gwenavyre?

Where will he go when he leaves the forest?

Who was the Necromancer that lead the marauders who slaughtered his clan?

Do any of the marauders remember him or was he dismissed as dead by the stupid half-orc who beat him?