Maba N'gashta

### Quote

"If the Watch will take this long to act, I may as well explore the world while I wait"

## Meta Details

### Level

8

Maba N'gashta is a hard-nosed former watchwoman. In combat she uses her battlemaster maneuvers to lock down enemies and force them to waste attacks against her heavy armor. She was first introduced in Going Rogue as an NPC.

## Appearance

Maba carries herself with a sense of pride and purpose, choosing not to hide herself or her looks in most situations. Her street clothes are plain and functional.

Tall and powerful, she stands at 6'2" and is well-muscled. Her skin is a relatively light green rather than the sometimes dark brownish skin of other orcs.

Maba wears significant jewelry, including a nose ring given to her by her parents when she "came of age". She also wears eight copper rings as a copper concordian of the Aurum's Sharn Branch. She typically keeps her hair short or in a pony tail, refusing to let it get in her way.

## Faith

Maba's faith is important to her, and she follows a variant of the Sovereign Host that is rooted in ancient orcish faiths.

* **Baaldra the Protector** is the righteous defender of the hearth and home *(Boldrei + Dol Arrah)*
* **Baalkan the Beastlord** celebrates the hunt and martial prowess *(Balinor + Dol Dorn)*
* **Garu-Umesh the One Eyed** celebrates violent rages and meticulous vengeance. *(Mockery + Fury)*
* **Ollarasht the Fateweaver** gives good fortune and preserves important souls in her web. *(Olladra + Keeper)*
* **Rokhanari the Wise** taught the orcs primal and divine magic to protect and preserve themselves. *(Arawai + Aureon)*
* **Typhon the Storm's Wrath** represents the destructive storms that wrack the Shadow Marches and the temptation to unfettered arcane power. *(Devourer + The Shadow)*

## History

Maba grew up in lower Dura, in the district of Callestan. Laboring under the harsh controls of the Boromar Clan, Maba sought a way to better her station in life and provide for her parents. To accomplish this, she joined the Brelish military.

### The Last War

When Maba joined the army in the fall of 990, she was sent out to the Darguun front to hold back Lhesh Haruuc's hosts. The stalemate on the border meant that Maba spent most of her time tending to logistics, whether it was reinforcing the trenches and barricades or working in the stable. Maba stayed in this position through the end of the war, only getting involved in a single skirmish during the time period with a goblin raiding party.

### Invitation

Leonardo Brenith first invited Maba to the foundation after the events of Going Rogue, however she did not accept until much later.

### Experience

After Going Rogue, Maba earned a promotion to detective for her bravery and work, in addition to spiting the Redcloaks that had taken over the investigation. She's spent the time since prioritizing organized crime, breaking up Tyrant operations as retribution for the harm that nearly came to her family. However, even as she works hard to clean up street-level operations she's found herself increasingly frustrated by the red tape and corruption that's prevented her from taking down any big fish - either the watch suddenly doesn't have the resources to pursue a lead before it's gone, or the evidence she finds and brings before a judge is deemed insufficient to pursue further action.

The biggest frustration came when Maba stumbled upon evidence that the Tyrants were importing something dangerous from Xen'drik on behalf of a Brelish noble. While she wasn't sure entirely what it was or who it was for, she caught wind of a midnight landing on the beaches near Sharn to avoid the usual inspections at the docks. Unable to gain approval from her superiors or any backup, Maba reached out to Leo and Atalie for help.

The trio disguised themselves and dispatched the mercenaries intended to receive the shipment. During the fight Maba gave the ringleader, a Stern man with storm-grey eyes, a wicked scar across his cheek. Maba, Leo, and Atalie chose to spare the mercenaries because their leader bore the Mark of Sentinel, recognizing that aggravating the Blademarks guild carried too much risk. The three changed into the Blademark's clothing to deceive the ship's crew and receive the large, mysterious crate.

Once they were out of sight, they opened it up to find a kidnapped Drow shaman. The shaman wasn't sure why he had been kidnapped, only that the kidnappers believed he had seen something related to "The Great Prophecy". Maba discreetly handled his return home, managing to avoid getting any heat for her extralegal intervention.

### Motivation

Frustrated with work as a Sharn Watchwoman, Maba had a lengthy conversation with her parents about what she wanted. She had managed to move them up to a quality home in High Hope, but her mother could sense Maba wasn't satisfied. While Mrs. N'gashta believed that it was because Maba was single, Mr. N'gashta pointed out that Maba's career prospects had stalled out due to her aggressive pursuit of organized crime. After much consideration, Maba reached out to Leo for something new, a change of pace where she could go out and see the world rather than spend the rest of her life chasing dead ends.

### Future Goals

~~Maba would like to go on an adventure to Xen'drik, something away from the hustle and bustle of the city.~~ Taken care of in Career in Ruins

Maba wishes to learn more about the power of her faith - either history or artifacts or both.

### Secrets

Noble who wanted the Drow kidnapped may have been a member of the Chamber or the LoD, not to mention the role of the Tyrant intermediaries.

### Enemies

Anyone interested in the Prophecy probably has enough scrying to figure out who Maba is.

The Tyrants

The mercenary crew of Blademarks that Maba took out certainly have a wounded pride.

Ophion the Byeshk Medusoid

## Personality

**Personality Traits**

* Organized and Disciplined. Maba learned the value of command structures and routines in the military, and has translated that over to her daily life.

**Ideals**

* Greater Good. Maba grew up seeing the damage corruption and greed did to her home district, and wishes to free the world from its influence. However, this has been tempered by a year of being stonewalled from making a difference within the Watch, which she realizes is a deeply flawed organization.

**Bonds**

* Family First. Maba has a very strong and close relationship with her parents.

**Strengths**

* Tough and resilient. Maba is willing to tackle the biggest problems and isn't easily scared away from challenge.

**Flaws**

* Stubborn and single-minded. Maba knows right from wrong, and will work a problem to the bitter end. This has begun to temper with her decision to leave the watch, as she now must face the reality that she can't fix every problem.

## Completed Missions

### Going Rogue

Maba was still a member of the Sharn Watch during Going Rogue, pulled in to help the Wayfinders on their mission. She was dragged in much further than she expected when the villains captured her parents and held them captive, forcing Maba to sabotage an attempted Redcloak sting operation. During the ensuing escape, Maba pulled out her trusty crossbow and singlehandedly felled every single pursuing vehicle, ensuring the Wayfinder's escape. The Wayfinders then succeeded rescuing Maba's parents, at which point Maba had to answer for violating protocol and return to the precinct.

### Purple People Eater

Maba was excited to go on her first expedition, but grew a bit impatient with the lengthy period of travel to arrive at the site. However, confronted with Sora Esma, Maba agreed to pledge the expedition to the glory of Dol Arrah in exchange for a helm made from the skull of a large boar. Later on their flight Maba discovered that the helm gave her the supernatural ability to smell roast pork from great distances.

Natalie 'Nat' ir'Tinak took an opportunity to paint the helm during the trip, and the beautiful work helped Maba get over her issues with changelings.

> Miss Diane sets to work decorating the helm, the Holy Symbol of Dol Arrah painted prominently on the forehead of the helm. From that point comes swirls of different colors held sacred by the Host, coming to claim separate parts of the helm with their symbols. Dol Dorn on the back of the head, parallel with Dol Arrah, with Balinor and Arawai on the cheeks, coming together to form Boldrei’s blazing hearth and Onatar’s hammer and tongs on the top of the head and with Kol Koran and Olladra’s symbols diagonally beneath on either side of Dol Dorn on the back. The left tusk is painted bright red on its underside, and the right gold in the same place to pay tribute to the Hosts martial champions.
>
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Once at the location, she urged the party towards bold action over caution, accepting though that some information needed to be gathered first. Maba stared down Ophion in the final fight, resisting both his and his basilisk's attempt to petrify as she sliced and diced the medusa.

### Downtime

   Maba failed to acquire a blessed flaming sword from the Temple of the Sun in Hope's Peak, so she went home to talk to her parents. Upon her mother's advice she returned to the Shadow Marches to investigate her grandparents clan. In Zarash'ak she discovered the N'gashta Clan was wiped out twenty years ago by a particularly violent storm. Venturing west, she discovered the Blazing Blade of Baaldra in Lantern Tower, fighting off undead Drowned with her new weapon.

### Career in Ruins

Maba found herself the de facto lead on the expedition, as her companions shunned the responsibility. While cautious of the city and aware of its reputation, Maba couldn't help but indulge in signing Dale the Dazzling's book. Maba's leadership established a truce between the Wayfinders and the mantisfolk, securing a proper guide for the expedition.

The body of the expedition went smooth enough for Maba as she let Vonan help their guide in the actual navigation. When the party arrived at the ancient temple, Maba volunteered to jump into the bottomless pit and face the trials alone. After she jumped, the rest of the party followed - to much worse results. Maba's athleticism and armor protected her from lethal damage (although she did break a few bones), but the others fared far worse, with Beckett and Matthias outright dying from the fall. Still, Maba remembered the purpose of the mission - finding a method of resurrection - and helped Fluke focus enough to complete the ritual to revive Beckett and Matthias.

Maba competently assisted in the trial of spirit but mostly sat out the trial of the mind, choosing not to interfere in the labors of her more erudite companions. In the trial of body Maba excelled, demolishing the self-repairing golems and re-linking the heavy chains.

### Careless Whisper

The initial venture of the expedition was troubling for Maba, getting crushed by a falling tree that killed her horse. Later, captured by the centaurs, Maba was challenged to a duel by Fargrim. The duel was short - Maba prepared for the charging barbarian and returned an overwhelming counterattack. Upon her victory Maba chose to take Fargrim's Spear as a trophy, rather than the speed-enhancing drugs he also had on his person.

She also received a prophecy

> Beware the flame, for it burns that which you hold close.
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## Crunch

### XP & Gold Log

*This transaction list must include all finished expeditions and the gold/XP earned for each, as well as all expenditures (what you bought and for how much).*

### Inventory

* Adamantine Plate - Turns critical hits into normal ones.
* Boar Skull Helmet - allows Maba to smell any pork that is cooking within a mile
* The Blazing Blade of Baaldra - an Ild Rune Longsword that deals 1d6 extra fire damage on hits.
* Ring of Arming - contains the Adamantine Plate to be readied with an action
* Concordian's Coin - delivers a slight shock to anyone except Maba who picks it up, forcing a DC 10 wisdom save every round to hold onto it.

### Character Sheet

* https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/ChaosOS/characters/21102927