Mariss D'Marothek

> *"Do you believe in free will, Noonan?"* (Mariss, Session 13)
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**Mariss Yu D'Marothek** (pronounced /mɛər-ɪss yu d-mɛər-oʊ-θɛk/ *MAIR-iss YOO d-MAIR-oh-thek*) is a yuan-ti pureblood sorcerer. He came to Waterdeep from Chult during his personal vacation time in hopes of finding a new opportunity to snatch.

## Description

Mariss D'Marothek is a yuan-ti pureblood that stands at 5 foot 9 inches (175 centimeters) tall and weighs 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms). He has golden brown skin, and his sharp facial features are accented by black and tawny snake snakes that appear all over his body, typical of a yuan-ti. He has thick, blue hair that he claims is natural and golden, reptilian eyes that shine with malice.

Mariss has a variety of outfits; the most common feature of them being the rich silks of their make and the lack of modesty they seem to have. He typically wears shades of blue, violet and black with golden accents and embroideries. He has several pieces of jewelry he constantly wears; golden necklaces, chokers, earrings, cuffs, anklets and a small gold and sapphire bellybutton piercing he keeps hidden under some shirts.

Mariss has one tattoo on each upper arm of a ring of lightning that twists around his arm like an armband. They are golden.

## Personality

Mariss is charismatic and cunning, and typically chooses to show only the necessary parts of his personality as he sees fit to others. To a stranger, Mariss is polite and charming, and loves to dish out compliments and promises to the delight of his captive audience. However, this charm is frigid and at arm's length, and although he appears to be warm and inviting, Mariss does not let anyone truly know him. This false charm and flattery can quickly give way for a more venomous side when he is angry. When angered, Mariss takes great delight in picking apart his unfortunate victim and almost appears to have a sadistic streak.

Mariss is the kind of person who holds grudges. When a person has disappointed him, Mariss will no longer waste his time buttering them up with flattery and niceness. He will take note of each time that person disappoints him and mock them for it. Depending on how severely a person has wronged him, Mariss may also consider murdering them so they can no longer repeat their mistakes ever again. Mariss's most poisonous grudge is the one he carries towards his father, who he fully intends to leave dead. As off-putting as this mentality is, Mariss's sense of justice isn't entirely flawed in its targeting, and Mariss's desire to remove people who do bad things to him from the face of the earth comes from the environment he grew up in: a colonized Port Nyanzaru that still operated under the colonial influence of Amn.

However, all of this abrasiveness and venom hides a very vulnerable person. Mariss's rough young adulthood fostered an anxious person who fears abandonment. Mariss's logic is simple; as long as he never slips up, he'll never be hurt ever again.

## Abilities

### Yuan-ti Pureblood

As a yuan-ti pureblood, Mariss D'Marothek has a few innate abilities that have been passed down from yuan-ti to yuan-ti for generations. Like other yuan-ti, Mariss is able to adjust his eyesight to see in the dark, and he is immune to poison. He is also magically adept like some of his peers; he has a resistance to magic, and can innately cast spells such as *poison spray, animal friendship* and *suggestion.* However, this magic is limited, and his abilities as a sorcerer eclipse the limited yuan-ti magic he knows.

### Social Proficiency

Mariss, as the son of a noble and then later as a courtesan, honed his speaking skills to the point of an art. He has been able to talk down tense situations, such as when the party got into legal trouble for threatening to loot graves, with nothing but the power of his speech. His smooth talking has also convinced many a former foe to reconsider their actions and even provide valuable allyship, such as in the case of Krebbyg Masq'il'yr and Loreloth. This social skill has outweighed his abrasive personality and allowed him to not only aid others but also start up his own business in Waterdeep.

### Sorcery

Mariss's prowess as a storm sorcerer eclipses all of his other abilities. As a sorcerer, Mariss has been able to conjure and shape lightning, evoke fire, use enchantments and psionics, conjure armor, control wind and even levitate and fly. Mariss's raw destructive abilities as a sorcerer are his greatest and final weapon and the manifestation of his thunderous rage towards a potential enemy who dares question his judgement.

## Possessions

Mariss's spellcasting focus takes the form of a few precious sapphires strung as beads through a string bracelet, the beads which he grasps in his hand as he casts spells. It is easy to miss on his wrist as it is strung over the cuff on his casting hand. Mariss has a sapphire tooth on his charm bracelet that functions as a *Stirring Dragon-Touched Spellcasting Focus*. Mariss also has a few daggers he has hidden on his body, usually strapped inside shirt sleeves or pant legs.

The yuan-ti usually stows the majority of his possessions in his room, the master bedroom on the third floor of the Awning Portal. Necessities are stowed inside a *Bag of Holding* kept on his person at all times that he got from the Hand of Nessus. One of these possessions is a large bag of taffy, which he brought to the city with him from Chult. He bribes Noonan to do a variety of tasks using these pre-wrapped candies.

Mariss is currently in possession of an orb that, when touched, occasionally allows the unsuspecting victim to make contact with an archdevil of Stygia named Alabaster. Said devil is currently trapped inside the orb. Mariss occasionally, when he pleases, makes chats with Alabaster, who hates it.

Mariss is in possession of a *Cloak of Many Fashions* that once belonged to Loreloth.

Mariss has a stash of magical paper birds, that when written on, will fly on their own to the message's recipient.

Mariss recently reclaimed Haldeth's Sleeping Death, a family heirloom that belonged to his mother that his father stole. It is a tube of poisoned lipstick that knocks its victim unconscious and then kills them.

## History

### Birth and Early Childhood

Mariss was born early in the morning on March 14th, 1470, as the worst storm Port Nyanzaru had ever seen raged in the harbor of the city. Despite the raging rain and thunder making access to a midwife difficult, Mariss and his mother survived. Mariss accredits his unexplainable sorcery to that storm, as he, nor anyone else, knows the true root of his powers. Mariss was born as the only son of Shulssu D'Marothek, an independent economic contractor, and Najhia Haldeth D'Marothek, the second daughter of Jian Haldeth of the Haldeth Clan, a noble family that lived in the city. Mariss grew up as their wealthy heir, pampered despite the horrible conditions of the Amnian colony where he lived.

As a child, Mariss secretly discovered his own magical potency as a sorcerer. He then nurtured this talent behind closed doors until his sorcery was discovered by his cousins Shaiming and Issi Gebrendi when the three children were playing at a family gathering. As Mariss had practiced, this "first" attempt at magic gathered the attention of his family, who believed him to be gifted. As no one had really seen his first spells, the secret of Mariss's somewhat underwhelming first spells has been lost to time.

Despite Mariss's status as a noble heir, Mariss and his family lived under scrutiny. When he was a child, Port Nyanzaru remained a colony of Amn, who forced the city to be a trade city, barring anyone who was not a trader or merchant from living in the inner city, leaving the slums on the outskirts of the city to be full of the starving poor. Shulssu and Najhia had to work tirelessly to keep their position in the city, lest they be sent to the slums. Additionally, Shulssu's family name carried a lot of weight; the surname D'Marothek was first born by a yuan-ti who lived a thousand years ago named Timaeuss D'Marothek, who got his claim to fame by committing a mass slaughter of Chultan yuan-ti from his floating tower before disappearing without a trace. The generational distrust of the D'Marothek name had all but faded out, but there was still some lingering bad feelings towards Mariss's father and family.

### Port Nyanzaru's Liberation from Amn

In the summer of 1488, just after Mariss turned 18, Najhia contracted sewer plague and fell gravely ill. As the city-state's trade was still being stifled by Amn, medicine and treatment costs were skyrocketing. This would have been no issue for the D'Marothek family to afford, but during one summer night, Shulssu squirrled away all of the family's gold and valuables and took a boat north, disappearing without a trace. Most offensively, he took the one precious Haldeth heirloom Najhia was bestowed, removing one of Najhia's only ties to her mother and father, and took away the financial means that would have saved her life. Left with no money and no means to pay the property tax on their home, Mariss and the gravely ill Najhia were forced into the slums, living on the barest scraps that Shulssu left behind. Eventually, Najhia succumbed to illness and passed away, leaving Mariss to sorrowfully bury her in an unmarked grave outside the city, the most he could afford.

Now an adult, and left without a single copper to his name, Mariss used his body and social skills to his advantage and turned to courtesan work, where he would hire himself out and get paid, fed and housed by the day. This line of work was stunted and he was forced to live with his uncle Huang Fu until Port Nyanzaru gained its independence from Amn in 1489, allowing the city to flourish with other trades aside from purely mercantile work. As craftsmen, farmers, musicians, poets and all walks of life re-entered the city, Mariss's work flourished and he found himself in a lucrative career. With his pockets lined, the now 19-year-old Mariss could buy himself all the things his father took away from him. He bought himself a nice house on the harbor, enjoyed the rich food his family ate, and got his fingers into politics. In 1491, Mariss got some intel that a few people who wronged him and the city were found around the Sword Coast, so Mariss took a ship up to the coast under the guise of a vacationer and headed up north to hunt them down.

### Waterdeep

Mariss arrived in Waterdeep in 1492 by boat in the Castle Ward docks. During the time that he spent alone in the city, he lived in the Yawning Portal, where he then met Noonan Lockheed, Reverence, Tribula Cochlea and Izora de'Xvim. He and this new group were asked by Volothamp Geddarm to find Floon Blagmaar, who went missing alongside Renear Neverember. Mariss and company rescued both Floon and Renear, destroying an entire sect of the Hand of Nessus on the way, and were rewarded with several hundred dragons and a piece of property, Trollskull Manor, which would then become the Awning Portal.

During this time, Mariss and the party were introduced to Felrekt Lafeen and Krebbyg Masq'il'yr- both of which worked under "J.B. Nevercott" and were instructed to look after Renear Neverember- after the party investigated Renear's home and the latter shot and nearly killed Izora. Mariss regarded Felrekt with disdain, but immediately attached to Krebbyg as both shared the same dry humor and distaste for incompetence. Additionally, after trapping them in an iron pot, the party was introduced to an imp, who Tri named "Cupcake". Cupcake went on to be Tri's familiar.

After Renear was saved, the party was both rewarded by Nevercott, who provided the party with weaponry and gold, and Mirt, who took interest in the party's abilities and offered to take the party to an opera. Shortly before this opera, the party intended to intercept a discussion of Nevercott's at the dock ward, only to watch in horror as Felrekt was shot and killed, leaving behind a bloody message of warning against intervening in Nevercott's affairs. After the opera was crashed by Loreloth (who Mariss tied up and interrogated), Mirt offered to finance the Awning Portal in exchange for a return on profits. The group agreed to this deal, and Mirt's representative Jethro discussed building plans with the group during this time. Additionally, Loreloth revealed that Nevercott was Jarlaxle Baenre, leader of Bregan D'aerthe, the organization that Felrekt and Krebbyg were members of. The party agreed to keep Loreloth safe in the Awning Portal and allowed him to work there as a barhand for income.

The party then gets into legal trouble as Noonan and Izora talk casually about looting graves, so Mariss goes to smooth it over. Izora also then reveals that she has plans to build a temple to Bane inside the Awning Portal. After following more leads and discussing poltergeist rights, the party returns to the Awning Portal, where Krebbyg appears and asks to talk to Tri in private. Krebbyg shoots Tri in a misguided attempt to avenge the death of Felrekt, causing the rest of the party (excluding Noonan, who is discussing construction at the carpenter's guild at this time) to burst in and intervene. Mariss, terrified that the rest of the party, including a feral wereflailsnail Tri, will kill Krebbyg, uses his magic to remove the party from the room by force and drags a still-resisting Krebbyg to his room, barricading them both in.

Krebbyg revealed to Mariss that Jarlaxle had lied and told him Tri had killed Felrekt. Mariss explained the party was innocent and the only role they played were unwilling witnesses to the murder. Krebbyg warily believes him but requests that Tri make a confession under Zone of Truth, a spell Izora can cast. Mariss agrees and goes down to collect some food, and returns to Izora in his room, locked in from the inside, threatening an unconcerned Krebbyg with a dagger. Mariss burned a hole through his own bedroom door to get inside, chasing Izora out again. Arguments continue as the following morning has Noonan climbing up the wall of the building and eavesdropping through the window, which Krebbyg catches immediately. When Noonan leaves, Mariss pulls his *Rope of Climbing* through the window, holding it hostage, forcing Noonan to try to disguise himself as Tri and persuade Mariss to give it back. Mariss refuses, and the real Tri, Izora, Reverence and Noonan come upstairs, and Izora casts Zone of Truth on everyone in the room. Mariss resists the Zone of Truth, and Izora tells everyone.

Tri reveals to Krebbyg that they are innocent and did not kill Felrekt. Krebbyg, aware that it is a Zone of Truth, is forced to accept the truth that Jarlaxle deceived him and tried to blame the murder of his best friend on a completely innocent and uninvolved person. Mariss appeals to Krebbyg and claims that Jarlaxle's breach of trust, not only to the party but also to Krebbyg himself, warrants his assistance. Krebbyg concedes and gives three names; Soluun Xibrindas, Llorath Pharn and Tylan Ilueph, top recruits of Jarlaxle that need to be taken out before Jarlaxle is challenged. Krebbyg also hypothesizes that Soluun likely is Felrekt's real killer, as Soluun has had a history of killing non-drow elves for fun.

Mariss then goes down to speak with Loreloth, as he has discovered the party alerted him to Krebbyg's presence in the tavern. He explains the situation to Loreloth, who is grateful that Krebbyg knows the truth about Jarlaxle, but is saddened to hear that Felrekt has died. Krebbyg then arrives, and the two begin to bicker, prompting Mariss to leave. When he returns, the two have reconciled.

Mariss begins to make preparations for the opening of the Awning Portal, setting up for a grand opening party. During this time, a bunch of guards, including Captain Lafaliir, arrive at the Awning Portal and tell Mariss that a suspect (described as Izora) attempted to steal from the Godcatcher Inn. Mariss, recalling a mysterious disappearance Izora had earlier and her worship of Bane, Lord of Tyrants, explains to the guard captain that Izora has had a history of evil god worship, and also encourages guards to be posted during the Awning Portal opening party. He then directs the guards to where Izora is currently; having a slumber party at Noonan and Reverence's apartment.

The following day, Mariss discovers that Izora and Noonan have both been arrested. This knowledge comes as Noonan and Reverence confront him about his involvement in Izora's arrest. Mariss learns that Izora has been arrested for the murder of a guard, as she resisted arrest and killed a guard by jumping down on him from the roof wearing full plate armor. She is not executed, but will spend the rest of her life in jail.

The next two days, just before the party, see the celebration of Tri's 300th birthday. Their sister, Auxi, supplies Rev and the Caedus family's butler, Tumbleworth, with the task of lugging a 200-lb cake several blocks to the Awning Portal, taking them over an hour. The cake, being several feet wide and tall, could barely fit through the door, and even though the Awning Portal housed 8 people, they could not eat it all. Mariss, worried about how they will dispose of the cake before the party, began freaking out, and Krebbyg finally caved to Mariss's request and agreed to attend the party as long as Mariss calmed down about the cake situation. Appeased, Mariss celebrated Mus's birthday with only a little bit of anxiety over the leftovers.

On July 26th, 1492, the Awning Portal in Waterdeep celebrated its grand opening. For the few hours beforehand, Mariss hurriedly prepared, meeting his uncle Huang Fu at the docks to carry crates of tropical fruits to the tavern to press into juice. The two Haldeth men also had a silent vigil for Najhia. As the tavern got set up for the party, people slowly trickled into the building, and Mariss (accompanied by Krebbyg) began to oversee the party.

However, the party did not go smoothly. The first problem began when Jane C'aedus appeared in the tavern to retrieve Auxi. She confronted Tri, which caught the attention of Mariss, who quickly came over, aggressively attempting to de-escalate. However, the two disappeared outside, and Mariss went to warn Auxi. Auxi foolishly instead went to seek her mother, who dragged her home, but not without revealing that Tri and Auxi do in fact have an aunt, and the siblings were lied to. Mariss did the best he could to provide Tri a quiet place to calm down, and returned to the party.

During this time, an individual claiming to be called "Captain Zord" accosted Krebbyg, who had chosen to return inside alone to the juice bar. "Zord" claimed to be a part of Bregan D'aerthe, and also claimed to be accompanied by Llorath and Tylan, who were said to also be somewhere inside the tavern. He demanded that Krebbyg come back to Bregan D'aerthe with him, which prompted Mariss to viciously fight back against these demands. Mariss told "Zord" that Krebbyg would not come back to Bregan D'aerthe unaccompanied, and that he would always look out for Krebbyg. Krebbyg asserted that "maybe he should come back to sort things out alone," but this worried Mariss, who asked if Krebbyg would be ok on his own. When Krebbyg did not immediately reply, Mariss appealed to him, admitting that he truly cared about him and felt that, even if Krebbyg felt that he needed to go alone, Mariss would feel just a little more secure if he had an eye out for him, and that he did not want to lose anyone else. Krebbyg conceded, and decided that he would stay with Mariss just a little while longer. "Zord" left, then, figuring he wouldn't get anywhere, and Mariss recognized him to be Jarlaxle, calling out "Goodbye, coward!" as he left the tavern with his men.

> *"We're going home... **together.**"* (Mariss to Mavuto Irmgard, Session 15)
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Before either Mariss or Krebbyg could emotionally process anything that just occurred, Mariss spotted a familiar masked figure in the crowd. He recognized the figure to be a human man named Mavuto Irmgard, a former merchant nobility who embezzled funds straight out of the new Port Nyanzaru government. Mariss discovered this fact after Irmgard decided to sexually harass and defame Mariss, prompting the yuan-ti to sneak into his private study and steal his economic papers, leaking the knowledge to the entire city-state. Irmgard immediately was placed under bounty, prompting the middle-aged man to flee the country. Mariss had hoped to find and arrest the man while in Waterdeep; the Waterdhavian Magistrate Davis had provided Mariss with intel and a contact that allowed him to do so. Mavuto's presence in the tavern was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Mariss. He plead Krebbyg to aid him, but Krebbyg, still emotionally distraught, dissented, and Mariss left him behind to pursue Irmgard through the crowd of people.

Eventually, Mariss approached the ex-nobleman, and began speaking in a seductive manner to attempt to convince Irmgard to willingly walk away from the party's crowd and go with him. This did not work, and an increasingly frustrated Mariss began to speak threateningly and malevolently, reminding Irmgard of his crimes and revealing his full intent to see him tried and decapitated in Chult. Irmgard began to flee, but Mariss obscured his exit, summoning a thick fog to confuse and disorient him. He caught up to Irmgard once more, continuing to attempt to threaten him into compliance.

Irmgard, terrified, attempted to flee the building. Mariss, desperate to not let this chance slip away, levitated Irmgard into the air, trapping the man in place. As Noonan came to Mariss's aid and tied him up, Mariss announced Irmgard's crimes to the now-watching guard, who summoned the Chultan emmisary, Uzin'ra, to take him into custody. Uzin'ra left with Irmgard in tow, securing his arrest, return to Chult, and eventual punishment. Finally, Mariss had gotten one of his marks punished the way that he directly believed they deserved.

After Irmgard is apprehended, the party, still under Mariss's direction, resumed. Mariss ushered in the conclusion of the opening party by making a speech, which was interrupted by Durnan of the Yawning Portal; however, Mariss reassured him that the Awning Portal had not violated Waterdhavian copyright, and Durnan left without causing a scene. As the speech concluded, the party wound down, and after some time, people began to file out of the Awning Portal, leaving Mariss to discuss hours and opening times with the residents of the building.

During this period of time, Lif the poltergeist discovered two Bregan D'aerthe mages, Tylan Ilueph and Lorath Pharn, listening in on the conversation under the cover of the *invisibility* spell. The poltergeist yelled, alerting everyone in the room to the presence of the two mages. Mariss and Noonan went looking behind the fireplace to find the pair, and wary, they attacked them. A firefight then ensued; Tylan and Lorath, believing themselves capable of taking on the group, fought against Mariss, Noonan, Rev, Mus, Lif and Krebbyg. Noonan easily grappled Tylan, but Lorath trapped the entire group under a *spider web* spell and Tylan teleported away using *misty step*, forcing the group to fight their way out of the sticky spell. Everyone but Reverence succeeded in escaping, however, and Mariss, Tri and Noonan immediately went in to attack Tylan and Lorath. Lorath got off a powerful *lightning bolt,* downing Noonan, his Eldritch Cannon, Reverence... and killing Tylan. This powerful attack allowed Lif and the still-standing Mariss and Tri to kill Lorath in succession.

Upon the death of the two Bregan D'aerthe drow, Mariss nursed his companions back to stability. He then removed the skulls and fingers of the corpses, and disposed of the remains by burning them in the Awning Portal's fireplace. The party had a greater chance of taking out Jarlaxle, and discussions about killing the Bregan D'aerthe leader began in earnest. After going out with Noonan to meet his old acquaintance, Ricky, it was discovered that the party was spied upon. Krebbyg, using a paper crane gifted to him by Mariss, sent for him to return home as soon as possible. Krebbyg had discovered and apprehended Soluun Xibrindas, who had been listening in on their conversation previously. Mariss happily gave the spying drow one of Tylan's fingers as a gift, and let him go, warning him that if he were to interfere with them in any way or disturb the patrons of the now open for business Awning Portal, that he would not leave alive. Soluun cooperated and left the building without a fight.

Finally free (for the time being) from spies, Mariss and the party accompanied Tri to the garden shop on Trollskull alley and helped carry back garden boxes for the second-floor balcony. It was now time for the party to enact a plan of attack and finally do something about Jarlaxle.

However, this simply didn't happen, as the following days' mail (courtesy of Jasper, the yuan-ti mailboy) carried interesting tidings. First of all, Tri had been disowned, requiring them to turn in their signet ring and change their name, and second, Jarlaxle had sent a letter to Krebbyg inviting the party to have peace talks. The party made arrangements to meet Jarlaxle at the Yawning Portal, while Mariss sent a different, more threatening note in secret warning Jarlaxle to come without an entourage and to play nice or his head would be Mariss's newest mantlepiece decoration. The group left the following morning in secret, with Mariss swearing to Loreloth that he cannot tell Krebbyg where Mariss has gone, and they arrived at the Yawning Portal early in the morning in the blustery summer rain that seemed to be following Mariss like his bad moods. After some characteristic bickering with Durnan, Mariss and the Awning Portal slid into the booths next to Jarlaxle Baenre, Soluun Xibrindas and two other Bregan D'aerthe mercs.

Mariss proceeded to immediately offer Jarlaxle a side of fingers, which he then provided by placing the fingers of the deceased Tylan and Lorath on the table for the entirety of the entourage to see, and then dragged Jarlaxle off to a different booth to threaten him. After making it Crystal Fucking Clear that if Jarlaxle came back to Waterdeep again, Mariss would kill him, the two returned to the booth to talk peace talks. Jarlaxle showered the party in gifts (including giving Mariss an odd-shaped sapphire tooth that was later revealed to be a spellcasting focus), swapped eye-patches with Tri and proceeded to spill the juiciest gossip possible: that the thing that Bregan D'aerthe sought, the Stone of Golorr, was a key of some sorts to a hidden Neverember fortune that not only Jarlaxle sought, but also the Zhentarim, the Xanathar's Guild and the Cult of Asmodeus sought as well, explaining Renear's presence in the Godcatcher Inn and Floon's appearance in the presence of Nihilor of the Xanathar's Guild. This vast fortune caught the eyes of Noonan, which Mariss immediately was wary of. Ultimately, Mariss allowed Jarlaxle to leave alive, but he sent for his uncle to send one of his ships north to confirm Jarlaxle's honesty in his intent to leave.

Mariss returned to his quarters that afternoon tired, stressed and believing nobody wished to speak to him, particularly Krebbyg, who he believed he had slighted. However, Krebbyg came upstairs seeking Mariss anyways, and Mariss tearfully apologized for his dishonestly towards him about Jarlaxle's whereabouts and the meeting the party had with him just prior. Krebbyg, however, had never felt slighted at all, and said quietly that "his boyfriend was crazy," alerting Mariss to the fact that Krebbyg believed they were already in a relationship. Mariss asked him if he truly meant it, and Krebbyg was reasonably confused as to why Mariss did not think he did. When Mariss explained that there was "a way it was done" and he simply didn't assume that there was anything further than just non-romantic intimacy between the two of them, Krebbyg reassured him that he did in fact feel the same way that Mariss did about him. Mariss ran off to buy his new boyfriend orchids, willing to concede to this unorthodox start to his relationship but determined to treat Krebbyg to all of the nice things that Mariss associates with a romantic courtship.

Upon returning to the Awning Portal, Mariss went down to the first floor of the building to ask Loreloth for his blessing in dating his surrogate son, only for Noonan to interrupt to harass Loreloth about the Stone of Golorr, as Loreloth was previously a member of a sect of the Cult of Asmodeus and the cult was seeking the Stone. Mariss intentionally made a large show of eavesdropping on this exchange before returning to the Magistrate's Office with Tri to accompany them to their name change. Mariss witnessed Mus C'aedus II become Tribula Cupcake Cochlea, and realized with a start that the phrase "tribula cochlea" translates to "flail snail" in Abyssal, a language he and his entire family speaks. This outrage came to a screeching halt when Cupcake the Imp began having physical issues, a fact easily revealed by them groaning in pain on Tri's shoulder. The group returned to the Awning Portal in grim concern as Tri whisked their familiar away to get to the bottom of what was ailing them.

Mariss, burdened with problems of his own, sought Krebbyg, realizing that now that he was in a relationship, that he owed Krebbyg some honesty. He gave Krebbyg three red orchids as a gift and told his boyfriend the truth: that he had come to Waterdeep to kill his father, Shulssu D'Marothek, marking the very first time that he had admitted to anyone his real reason for being in the city. He warned Krebbyg that if he were to fail, he'd be sent back to Port Nyanzaru, possibly permanently; Krebbyg agreed and, quite casually, said that "it'd be nice to see a dinosaur race again," telling Mariss that wherever Mariss went, Krebbyg would follow.

> *"I'm... very glad I met you, Krebbyg."* (Mariss Yu D'Marothek to Krebbyg Masq'il'yr, after telling him about his father, session 19)
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This tender moment was quite quickly interrupted by Tri and Cupcake, who wanted to go get the pastries for which the bread-loving imp was named, and offered to invite everyone along. Mariss and Krebbyg both accepted to come, to Mariss's shock and pleasant surprise, and with Noonan and Rev in tow, the Awning Portal headed off to the castle ward to Tri's favorite bakery. The baker clearly recognized Tri, but after Tri ordering a dozen angel food cupcakes and Mariss and Noonan also stocking up on pastries (including croissants for the usually stoic and uninvolved Krebbyg), Mariss claimed that Tri was his cousin (a lie) to detract her ire. She believed it and was immediately warm and kind to Tri, who admitted brazenly that Cupcake was no longer an imp: due to their alignment changing from lawful evil to chaotic neutral, the imp had transformed into a pixie. They revealed their newly butterfly-winged form to Mariss, who immediately had a lightbulb turn on in his head. After visiting a street market and getting tattooed (and also purchasing a gorgeous vase for the orchids), Mariss went to sleep, ideas buzzing about in his head.

The following morning was not as kind. While cooking breakfast with Lif, there was a knock on the door, and Mariss answered it to reveal his young friend Jasper... and his mother, a human woman who introduced herself as Peia, and with more pressing from Mariss on a surname, Peia D'Marothek. Suspicious, Mariss asked her if she knew someone named Shulssu D'Marothek, and to his utter horror, she said that Shulssu D'Marothek was her husband. Rattled, and terrified, Mariss realized that the circumstances were much worse than he could have ever anticipated. While the oblivious Jasper ran around the first floor of the Awning Portal with Pog, Mariss and Peia quietly talked in the second floor lounge, and Mariss relayed to her with mounting terror the story of his youth: that in 1488, after Najhia had taken ill with sewer plague, Shulssu had taken everything from them and it had lead to her death and Mariss's poverty. Peia revealed to him even more worrying information: that she and Shulssu had met *eleven years prior,* meaning that Shulssu had been with Peia out of wedlocke since Mariss was a *preteen* in 1481. She also told Mariss two things that sealed her fate in his mind: that she was due an inheritance from her father, but she had not received it yet, and the tube of poisoned lipstick known as "Nightshade Blue #3", the Haldeth's Sleeping Death poison that Najhia had inherited from her father, was in her possession and she was not aware that it was poisoned. Mariss begged her to bring the lipstick to him, and that he'd prove it was poisoned in the safest way he could; she said nothing, but left with her son.

Mariss returned to the first floor of the Awning Portal to a confused party, and with a genuine fear for the lives of his step-mother and half-brother, he finally explained to the party the secret he had been keeping. He begged them to help him: he needed someone to cast *lesser restoration*, and he needed someone to willingly come into contact with Haldeth's Sleeping Death, a contact poison that is quickly absorbed by the skin, and if left uncured, will first put its victim to sleep, and then kill them, causing the victim to fall asleep and simply never wake up again. The party solemnly agreed to help, and tearfully hugged it out with Mariss, who, emotionally distraught, sought out his boyfriend, leaving his friends alone.

After some time alone with his boyfriend, the party brought Peia upstairs, who had returned alone with a tube of lipstick, which Mariss recognized with chilling speed as Haldeth's Sleeping Death. He gently opened the extremely dangerous lipstick, revealing the bright blue poison within, and offered it to Rev, who took it from him and put it on, immediately collapsing. Mariss and Peia looked on in terror as Noonan cast *lesser restoration* and cured it, reanimating Reverence, who quickly tossed away the Sleeping Death before she got into any further contact with it. To Mariss's further horror, Peia then also took the Sleeping Death and applied it, falling into a similar state of unconsciousness as Rev. Noonan quickly revived her with *lesser restoration* as well, but the deed was done: Peia could no longer doubt what Mariss had told her, and truly knew in that instant that Shulssu D'Marothek intended for her to use the Sleeping Death unknowingly, which would secure her inheritance as his own.

Mariss apologised to Peia, and told her that what was his was hers: if she and Jasper needed somewhere to stay, or someone to put food on their table, he would do it, as they were now his family. He also apologised for what he would do: he knew that if Shulssu D'Marothek remained alive, that he would do away with her and his half-brother just as he had done with his mother and had attempted to do with him, and he could never look his grandfather Jian in the eyes until Shulssu had died by his hands. He knew that he could not live with himself if Shulssu remained alive, even if killing him would break Peia's heart, and for that, he apologised.

> *"Every single time, every single minute that I leave him alive, he keeps doing this. I am sorry for what I'm here to do... I'm so, so sorry."* (Mariss Yu D'Marothek, to his stepmother, Peia D'Marothek, while speaking of his father, Shulssu D'Marothek, session 19)
>
>

After Peia left again to mend her broken heart, leaving Mariss with Haldeth's Sleeping Death, Mariss quietly went down to the bar and watched as Noonan reunited with his mother, who came with his father to see Waterdeep for their anniversary.

## Relationships

### Noonan Lockheed, Reverence and Tribula Cochlea

Despite the group's insistence on trying to get Mariss to open up to them, Mariss refused to do so. This caused a rift in between him and the trio. Mariss, first and foremost, did not understand them: they have only known him for a short time, and yet they still aggressively pursued his friendship. Their collective trust in the goodwill of others and unabashed friendliness is not a mindset Mariss cared to understand, as he believed that kind of kindness would make him weak. Despite this, Mariss has learned to accept the trio's goodwill and kindness, and finally sees them not only as partners in crime, but as his friends. He opened up to them and allowed them to know his real reasoning for being in Waterdeep, and they promised to help him save his stepmother and half-brother and followed through on those promises. He may not see eye to eye with them all of the time, but he values their friendship and kindness and they have earned his steadfast loyalty. As long as, of course, they don't get him into too much trouble.

### Krebbyg Masq'il'yr

Mariss considers Krebbyg to be one of the closest friends he's had in a long time. Initially, Krebbyg was nothing more than a friend with benefits to him that he could easily banter with, but Mariss began to realize that Krebbyg is on his wavelength and appreciated him more and more. It came to a boiling point when Mariss needed to make the choice between letting Rev injure or possibly kill him or do something for his only friend. Mariss chose Krebbyg and was rewarded with Krebbyg's trust and a way to help Krebbyg, Loreloth and Tri from getting hurt by Bregan D'aerthe in the future. Mariss's blossoming romantic feelings for Krebbyg allows Krebbyg to calm Mariss down when he's upset. To Mariss's delight, his romantic feelings are reciprocated, and Krebbyg and Mariss are dating.

### Cupcake the Pixie

Mariss finds Cupcake to be both annoying and a bother, and also appreciates their craftiness. Mariss continually has been plagued by Cupcake's mischief, either by the pixie themself pestering him, or by having his belongings stolen. Mariss has had the urge to physically harm the pixie in the past, but refrains out of respect for Tri, who would be heartbroken if anything happened to them, and for Cupcake themself, who he appreciates the intelligence of. Mariss has also been shown to feel concern when Cupcake is distressed, such as when the imp metamorphosed into a pixie due to their alignment changing. Mariss would boil down their relationship to a love-hate relationship.

### Izora de'Xvim

Mariss, being from Chult, has understood that the evil devout are a dangerous force to leave unchecked. Izora, being a cleric of Bane, fits Mariss's definition of the evil devout. Throughout her entire sojourn as a member of the party, Mariss has seen her with nothing but distrust. As he discovered more and more about her questionable beliefs and actions, Izora and Mariss continued to butt heads until Izora's actions caused Mariss to lead the Waterdeep Guard to her, causing her to be arrested for murder. Mariss understands the party's attachment to Izora but does not forgive her for allowing her actions to put him and his party under the scrutiny of Waterdeep's law enforcement.

### Krentz and Pog

Mariss considers himself to be on good terms with Krentz and has reluctantly taken some responsibility over making sure Pog is safe and healthy while living in the Awning Portal. Mariss typically prefers sitting with Krentz, Pog, Loreloth and Krebbyg rather than the party when eating group meals at the Awning Portal. He appreciates Krentz and values the time he has spent with him.

### Loreloth

Mariss is grateful towards Loreloth's care towards Krebbyg and Felrekt and is happy that Loreloth has decided to provide assistance towards the party with his knowledge. He does find confusion in Loreloth's choice of pseudonym, however, and wonders why he is ok with being called "Jymmy Jyon" in private over his given name. Mariss sees Loreloth as Krebbyg's father figure and sees it as his responsibility to get to know Loreloth now that he and Krebbyg are dating, to Loreloth's irritation and consternation.

### Renear, Volo and Floon

Mariss finds the three socialites to be an extremely useful gateway contact in the future. He does not like them that much as people, particularly Volo, whose incompetence he does not find charming, but rather, annoying and troublesome. However, the group, especially Renear, has contact with other nobles in the city of Waterdeep, and Mariss would definitely like to exploit the group's friendship with them, particularly Noonan's, to further his current goals.

### Huang Fu Haldeth

Mariss is extremely close with his uncle, and accredits his current and long-lasting survival to the assistance his uncle provided him during his youth. After Najhia's passing, Huang Fu allowed 18-year-old Mariss to live in his house until Mariss was able to find his own financial foothold. Mariss is extremely grateful towards his uncle's financial assistance and has full intent to contact his uncle to buy tropical fruit from Chult from him, as Huang Fu is a merchant and sends fleets of ships to sell exports from Chult.

### Shulssu D'Marothek

The object of Mariss's most venomous hatred, Mariss fully intends to kill his own father. Mariss recently learned that Shulssu is alive and in Waterdeep, and it makes Mariss even more determined to see him dead before he hurts anyone else. Mariss believes Shulssu to be the reason why his mother died and believes that Shulssu deserves none of the Haldeth fortune he stole from his mother and his family. He also cheated on his mother for nearly a decade behind both her and Mariss's backs, and Mariss has a stepmother and half-brother he never knew until now to prove it. To make matters worse, Shulssu was only days away from murdering Peia before fleeing and disappearing again without a trace. Mariss believes that he cannot look his family in the eye until the monster he called his father is put out of his misery.

### Peia and Jasper D'Marothek

Although Mariss didn't know Jasper was his brother, Mariss was fond of Jasper and saw himself in the young yuan-ti child. This was more accurate than he could have ever known, as Mariss discovered that Jasper was of his blood and his father's second son to human Peia D'Marothek of Waterdeep. To add to the rather nasty similarities between Mariss and his half-brother, Shulssu was only days away from tricking his mother Peia into killing herself with Haldeth's Sleeping Death, which would have forced the poor kid to walk the same lonely path that Mariss did when Najhia passed away and Mariss was left parentless. Mariss believes he personally is responsible for the situation Peia and Jasper are in as he stalled to kill Shulssu, and accepts Peia and Jasper as his responsibility, as they are his family.

## Appendixes

### Gallery

Mariss and Mus arguing.Mariss's first winter clothes.Najhia teaching Mariss how to put on eye makeup.Mariss's lightning magic.Mariss and Krebbyg talking at the Awning Portal's opening party.Mariss's pupils.A very small Mariss displaying his powers.A very small Mariss and his uncle, Huang Fu, out and about in Port Nyanzaru.Mariss, age 7, and what he thought a sheep looked like.