Blažej

Blažej is Wahda Guild's childish little necromancer.

## Backstory

This little amnesiac had a rather murky recollection of his life prior to joining the Wahda Guild and has often dodged questions about his past by feigning ignorance. Since his encounter with the chelicerae, he has experienced memories in his sleep. It is not until Daisy begins to help him through these dreams and nightmares that Blažej's memories seem to have come back. His memories tend to be jogged by triggers and, even if he remembers, he may forget specifics. So, although his memory is still a bit spotty, even concerning new memories, he has more or less recovered his past. It's still unclear when his amnesia is genuine or him trying to deceive the one inquiring.

### Childhood

The earliest memory Blažej has is 'living' as a young ghoul in Mournfrost's dark catacombs with his mother and several corpses (dead and undead). His father, Vlaho, taught him how to care for and maintain the corpses. His father served raw meat from unclear origins and, when he could no longer fight his ghoulish hunger, Blažej would nibble at the corpses or hunt any critters that found their way in.

         Vlaho had kept him underground, claiming Blažej would be destroyed. There was nothing out there that Vlaho could not provide him with. For some time, Blažej believed that. Until the summer of 162, when a young varana monk-in-training found his way into the catacombs.

Manderu monks once had the duty to help cleanse Mournfrost's public burial sites. This little varana boy had grown bored of his master's small talk with Vlaho and soon wandered into Blažej's home from the mortician's kitchen. At first, the little ghoul was puzzled--his father had been the only living humanoid he had encountered before this day. He kept his mother from attacking the boy and soon befriended him; once the varana was no longer afraid. The boy jokingly introduced himself "Mar-Yao" and commented on Blažej's lack of any clothes, particularly pants.

Following that first meeting, Yao would sneak into Blažej's personal catacombs to play every season for two years. In that time, Blažej learned to dress up, was taught that eating people was very bad, and that there was a whole world outside his catacombs. Yao, in return, discovered Vlaho had been performing various "surgeries" on his son, including the alteration of his genitals. Though Blažej was unconcerned and stated his father wasn't hurting him.

Their last meeting ended in disaster during the winter of 164. Blažej took Yao through the catacomb's back door into the Dead Woods to play a game the varana had introduced to him. While playing, Yao discovered the evil extent of his new friend's existence at the sight of Borthax's mark upon his back. He had not realized it prior to learning from the monastery just what Borthax and undead were... In the midst of telling Blažej his father was evil for what he had done, an Annis hag (disguised as an elderly woman) arrived behind Blažej to defend him and his origins. The resulting confrontation lead to Addie scaring Yao to run off into the Feywild and becoming Lost for several years.

Shortly after this, Blažej was lost and confused. The Annis hag comforted him and put him to work for her. This relationship allowed him to experience life outside the catacombs. However it also lead to his departure from Mournfrost.

### In the Coven

Shortly after his first time out of the catacombs, before Yao was Lost, Blažej encountered an Annis hag lurking in the Dead Woods. She treated him kindly, contrary to what his father had told him of those outside his personal catacombs. He continually snuck out to visit her and she doted on him as though he were any other child. The fact that he was a ghoul did not concern her; if anything, it intrigued her.

After losing his first and only friend, Addie was there to teach him how to live outside the catacombs. He was unconcerned with her true appearance due to being an unbiased ghoul--although living humanoids would have been considered food if not for his awareness and Yao's distinction. When Addie was unable to play with him, she left one of Mournfrost's forest trolls, Rashi, to entertain and teach him about the living.

Eventually, Vlaho discovered that Addie has been communicating with his child (via the iron ring) and confronted her. The result lead to his joining the coven with Blažej and Mournfrost's eventual downfall at the hands of the hag coven and the starving forest trolls... It is unclear as of yet, exactly what role the two Necromancers played.

After Mournfrost's destruction, Vlaho and Blažej lived with the coven. While the Necromancer did the grandmother Bheur hag's bidding, Blažej followed the auntie Annis hag's whims. He did as he was told without question, eager for the reward of her attention and praise. The forest trolls under her command, particularly the young ones, were like siblings to Blažej. Rashi was comparable to an older sister figure.

Unfortunately, life with the hag coven had troubles common to such alliances. Grandmother Beulah grew wary of Addie's closeness to Blažej. The little ghoul was boosting the annis hag's strength with his efficiency and needed to be disposed of. Vlaho made plans to ensure Blažej's safety and Addie sent him off into the mountains with Rashi. Discovering this, Grandmother Beulah ordered a trio of Addie's trolls to pursue and destroy them.

When Beulah's trolls found them hiding out at the base of the mountains just south Seelie's Bane, Rashi sent Blažej ahead, facing the three trolls alone to buy him time. (Though Blažej did not understand the sacrifice until after joining the Wahda Guild.) He hid from them nearby in a crevice and watched them devour her in their frenzy. He did not leave the crevice until much later, when he was discovered by the cloud giant prince.

### The Grave Doll, Nibbles

Despite hiding where most medium sized humanoids could not fit, Blažej was found a couple of days after Rashi's death by Cirius, the Cloud Giant Prince. He had been told, by Vlaho, where to find Blažej and asked to take him in. As a favor for Mournfrost's most powerful necromancer, and because a living ghoul intrigued him, Cirius took Blažej home as his pet.

In the year 185, Nibbles officially started on the path to becoming a Necromancer. Cirius gifted him with Grógaldr, his first and present spellbook. Although Blažej was already familiar with many aspects of necromancy through his own nature and with his father's lessons, he had never been given the opportunity to practice on his own.

The favoritism Cirius expressed towards such an inexperienced ghoul made Blažej a target for bullying from Cirius' other pets. His projects were often sabotaged before he could make much progress and lesser pets studying at the Conservatory would harass or attack him directly. After a particularly traumatic experience (one that caused him to go feral) Cirius tasked Slithers with looking after him and fixing his mental state.

Since then, Slithers has been somewhat protective of him; despite using various poisons, potions, and experimental psionic therapies on him. Blažej did not seem to mind it outwardly, but he was very unaccustomed to having his mind probed and experiencing actual pain (as a result of her poisons). However, he was very grateful for her development of his hunger suppressant and her support for his Pet Project. Her psionic therapy sessions were the catalyst for all his past and present memory issues.

Truffles had been another prominent pet in Blažej's life with Cirius. He was a Druid of Spores that used to visit Mournfrost's catacombs before Blažej had been "born" and was an admirer of Vlaho's work. As a result, Truffles treated Blažej fondly but, like Vlaho and Slithers, he was interested in experimenting on Blažej. Though his experiments were more familiar to the young ghoul. Truffles would perform autopsies and test theories. He eventually began a Pet Project in conjunction with Jewel to reverse the undead condition of Blažej's body and together they performed various healing magics and techniques. Though Blažej ended up leaving the valley before they could discover the result of the tests.

At the end of 195, Cirius chose to take Blazej with him to find out why the Frost Giants had not been seen for years since journeying to the frozen peaks of Mega Gara. They were ambushed on arrival and Blažej was separated from his master.

### Joining Wahda Guild

Blažej had survived his separation by relying on a loner stone giant named Harold. The stone giant had lost his beloved Pet halfling to trolls and enjoyed the companionship of Nibbles. He was given the pet's old room to use as he wished. Blažej and Harold both waited for the Cloud Prince's return.

At the beginning of October 196, Blažej was foraging for food and bones when he saw a peryton. Fearing that it was looking for him, he dropped what he was doing and hid inside the mountain. Once he heard the peryton fighting something else, his curiosity got the better of him and he crept out of hiding to investigate. He was shocked to find that there were humanoids larger than him yet smaller than giants so close to home. He had only seen them when they visited with the transient cloud giants. He watched them attack the monstrous creature and, not wanting to miss the fun, cast his Chill Touch to finish the kill.

He played a prank, got slapped, and lost his familiar soon after helping them kill the peryton. Blažej offered to lead them up the mountain under the guise of wanting to make friends. He had been intending to get a little payback but the thought died promptly with the troll they encountered on the way up. Figuring they would be worth studying or at least take him to make friends at their settlement, he begged to join them and their guild.

Blažej does not regret this spur of the moment decision, though he does wish he had met them under better circumstances. He struggles to drop his guard around many of the members, always afraid they may reject him or worse if they discover his true self or if he were to ever get in their way/stop being useful. He can see that being a member has several advantages, similar to being a Pet in the Fey Valley but he has more personal freedom; even if he can't experiment quite as freely.

## Description

### Appearance

A deathly pale little (youthful) halfling with wavy, light silver hair and deep blue eyes, Blažej is rarely seen with fewer than four layers of clothing. Like most halflings he travels barefoot but his feet seem adapted for cold snow as the tufts of hair on his feet are especially thick and long. He wears red mittens over gloved hands, only removing them for mere seconds during his spells or when around those he trusts. In addition to mittens, Blažej also wears a red square blanket scarf made of a thick wool around his neck and collarbone. His brown fur ushanka is nearly always fastened under his chin unless he's just lazing about or eating. The outermost layer of his outfit consists of a medium-length, thick brown fur coat with plenty of room for the extra layers underneath.

* Wizard - Blazej
* Bard - Nyanta
* Samurai - Palar
1/3
#### Expanding Wardrobe

As Daisy was given Blažej's brown fur coat, the second layer of his outfit is now exposed to the mud and gore from his adventures. His second coat (and the layers exposed at the open front) is surprisingly nice and colorful when not covered in mud or gore. The long green coat is made with wool, dyed forest green with a hood that Tenga enjoys nesting in. The third layer, that has been exposed for people to see, is a brightly colored robe made from red and yellow cashmere with a dotted pattern for the part that covers his upper body. This robe parts wide from the shoulders before becoming a joined garment at the waist and the shirt underneath is revealed to be forest green silk, embroidered with the image of what appears to be a skull.

Blažej wears most of his layers open and keeps them secured at his waist by a thick wool sash. Brown, linen pants can be seen under his robe with the baggy fabric pooling right at his ankles. He is adverse to removing his hat but those that pay attention when he does might understand why.

Since entering a relationship with Daisy and living in a hut southwest of Alfenheim, Blažej has begun exploring other styles of dress. On his first 'date' with Daisy, Nyanta was roped into taking him shopping for new clothes, leading to his 'Bard' ensemble. Shortly after dealing with one of the later Zodiac dungeons, Palar mentions to Yao about how comfortable a Hakama is. Curious, he inquires further and decides he'd like to dress in such an outfit. He purchased various, nice materials from both Alfenheim and even a few from the Cloud Giant Kingdom. Thus is borne, his 'Samurai' ensemble.

He will often wear the 'Bard' outfit out around town and his 'Samurai' outfit will mostly be worn at home and, when he tires of the Nyanta's outfit, around town. During missions, Blažej will don his wizarding outfit and the wooden skull mask Warren carved for him. When he's leisure or doing dirtier tasks around his hut, he will be wearing a simple tunic and loose sack-cloth pants that he wears under all his wizard layers. He has also added a nice, simple dress to match Daisy on some of their outings.

#### Underneath the Layers

Blažej's body, seen by only those especially close to him, is riddled with relatively fresh scars and patches of discolored skin. His right hand is not his original hand--it belonged to a dwarf; he has said that his original one was fed to one of the Strella's perytons. His chest has seemingly been reconstructed, his right side is nearly all scar tissue and his left pectoral is a bit lumpy. The majority of his scars will be holes (from maggot infestation), surgical scarring of various methods, and marks on his arms & legs where his flesh had been ripped off by teeth.

His two most notable markings/scars are the ones on his head and back. His scalp has a portion on the left that is scarred over (like he had been scalped) and his hair will never grow there again. His back is the nastiest, and not just because of the faint aura of necrotic energy that's stored there. A mark of Borthax--specifically the hand-- was burned into his upper back, down to the bone. As a result, his spine is somewhat visible. The magic filled brand looks like it had been done post-mortem and the surrounding area has not been affected by the magic that brought Blažej's body back to a living state--in other words, it technically isn't a scar.

### Personality

Blažej prefers being mistaken or treated like a child in most circumstances and will therefore act like one. He will pull pranks and act out for attention but then pull an innocent act when he is being scolded. Even if they do not acknowledge him as a child, they may still hold back or ignore him for his ignorance. However, whenever necessary, Blažej will drop his childish façade and show a bit of his true nature.

Blažej may discuss philosophy and various other topics when dropping his facade. Though it was--and still is--rather difficult for him to find a person with which he can carry a deep conversation. After the vampire was slain, he felt that he had missed out on a wonderful and enlightening opportunity to discuss necrotic, conjuring, or even illusory arcana. All three of which are subjects he is quite passionate about.

Like any wizard, Blažej has a thirst for knowledge and loves to learn when given the opportunities. As one of Cirius' prized Pets, he would hungrily research anything and everything concerning the undead and performed experiments to recreate whatever caused him to "awaken." Blažej is very sympathetic towards undead creatures like zombies and ghouls and does not like to see them harmed unnecessarily. He treats all of his own undead like friends and gives his orders more like a request (or subconsciously) rather than demanding. He takes a bit of pride in his maintenance routine and unorthodox methods of "control."

However, Blažej still struggles to understand a lot of the nuances of the living. Morality also seems difficult for him to comprehend although he has made significant improvement since joining the Wahda Guild. Since he can now feel physical pain, Blažej is adverse to harming others in ways that will make them feel it unless the guild believes that it is deserved. He personally does not think anyone deserves to feel pain but he acknowledges it as a vital part of being alive. Just as eating flesh was a vital part of his being a ghoul or taking children was vital to being a hag. His scarred skin and muted nerves also numb a lot of the pain and so he may just be unaware of just how painful things can really be...

#### His "Mask," or A Split?

Blažej acts like an ignorant child and plays the amnesiac card to avoid or else get out of trouble at any opportunity. Although there are many times when he seems unable to control his childish behaviors. He enjoys pulling pranks and will express his excitement much like a child would. He craves many things a child would want from parental figures; Attention, Guidance, Validation, and Praise. His mind also tends to have difficulty focusing on one thing for very long though this could be a result of Slithers' experiments or something else.

## Relationships

Blažej is drawn towards large, powerful, and arguably unattractive or odd characters. Any character that expresses too much interest in him or that attempts to befriend him too early immediately falls under suspicion.

### Tarthurac

As the largest and most intimidating member of the Wahda Guild, it was only natural that Blažej would eventually latch onto the dragonborn paladin. He relied on him for protection and, perhaps most notably, discipline. Though he idolizes Tarthurac and defends him to the best of his abilities, Blažej is unwilling to open up or have any sort of serious or personal conversations with the dragonborn. Tarthurac is not the type to force others to talk about things like feelings and this is just one of the traits the little necromancer loves most about him. Though he has recently started to become apprehensive of the violent paladin due to his reactions to necromancers and the undead. Though after being assaulted by so many undead under a truly evil necromancer, Blažej can see where the feelings are coming from. He is now quite motivated to prove to Tarthurac that he is a necromancer unlike any other.

Threatening the paladin causes Blažej to mark you as an enemy and to actually harm or kill Tarthurac would cause the necromancer to make them his new "friend" the moment he gets the chance. He was actually quite disappointed that he missed the chance to reanimate the dragon rider.

Presently, Tarthurac is somewhat of a father figure to Blažej. They look to Tarthurac for recognition and discipline.

### Prize

Prize was rather quick to pique Blažej's interest with the odd way she spoke and her lack of social understanding. He felt a connection due to this shared trait of theirs and finally got the chance to know her better when he obtained a home away from the guild. Prize had been willing to keep him from feeling lonely and listened to his confessions without passing judgement. He was devastated when he caused her to lose her memories and felt a strong desire to protect her from his own fate or at least help her through her struggles. He has subsequently made it a goal to help her fix her mind and punish the one to trap it.

### Daisy

Daisy is the person Blažej feels the closest to. The first and only person that took the time and effort to get to know just who Blažej was. For that, they feel incredibly grateful to

### Nyanta

He's obsessed with his daughter and, from what Blažej has researched, an excellent father. Since coming to this realization, he can't help but compare his own father to the Tabaxi bard. Tarthurac really likes him too. He was devastated when he was forced to try and kill Nyanta and has been trying to make up for it while struggling with the knowledge that he may not be as free as he thought. When he saw that Nyanta's people were nearly eliminated by the Githyanki it only fueled his desire to commit genocide as revenge.

### Selena - Majessia

Tarthurac doesn't like or trust her so Blažej doesn't like or trust her. It seems that every time she shows up, bad things happen. Blažej is not good with people--Selena's type especially. Although she's just as annoying as her sister, at least Helena is actually useful. He is also upset that she messed with Prize's mind without any concern or thought for Prize. She doesn't even know her... Needless to say, she's expendable and would be much more enjoyable as a corpse. The only thing keeping Blažej from snapping at her is probably the fact that he's a good boy... And Warren would be upset. Prize too now...

### Têmtûm

The bad influencing uncle in Blažej's life, Têmtûm is usually responsible for teaching Blažej vulgar things he was not privy to prior to joining the newly settled society. The pirate has a soft spot for kids but does acknowledge Blažej is not a child. He was the first to trust him with his own mission. Unfortunately it was a poor decision since the little wizard was no match for the spell eating spider. He had only been intending for them to do recon on reports of undead. Once Têmtûm learned that Blažej could set magical traps against Intruders, the tiefling commissioned him to place glyphs at various locations to protect his treasure rooms. He trusted the halfling, as Blažej has no interest in any goods or valuables, enough to show him how to enter the rooms. Blažej returns that trust by not revealing the entrances to anyone. Just the fact that they exist in the guild.

## Abilities

As a necromancer, Blažej is not very welcome in societies making it difficult to hone his favored skills and utilize them efficiently. However, while he prefers playing with corpses, he also has a strong interest in Conjuration and Illusion magic and even runes when the opportunity presents itself. Illusion is quite handy for playing his pranks...

### Magical Items

* **Grógaldr** - A spellbook bound with darkened peryton leather and decorated with its feathers that was a gift from Cirius. He usually keeps his book in a large pocket on his yellow robes. Or tucked in his first layer of loose clothing, at his waist.
* **Black Furcula**- This item had been discovered in a hidden room of a dungeon, setting forgotten in one of his many pockets until one day it began to react oddly. Daisy told Blažej about a tradition of wishing on such a bone. Upon wishing for friends, two zombies under his control from anywhere will appear from the dirt under his feet when the bone is broken. This can only be used once a day.
* **~~Iron Token Ring~~** ~~- - An ring of iron crafted from the tooth of an annis hag. It allows the wearer to communicate with the hag when within a certain distance and could allow the hag to always know where the wearer is.~~ Since Addie's death, this ring is now powerless on Blažej's right middle finger.
* **~~Necklace of the Capricorn~~** ~~- Free spider climb and can get up from prone without expending movement. Retrieved mysteriously after some forgotten dream, he had no idea he had this necklace until Tarthurac brought it to his attention...~~ Was given up so he could participate in The Gauntlet.

## Trivia

* Ashley doesn't know why she picked the name Blažej. Maybe something to do with some necro type of famous person/figure.
* Blažej has grown 4" since joining the Guild. What a growth spurt!
* Coffee seems to be his favorite consumable.
* He takes little bites. Lately, when eating meat that is too raw and bloody, it takes him awhile to bring it to his mouth. This is because it reminds him of his struggle with his ghoulish hunger when he was still undead.
* He only fears three things; Loneliness/Rejection, Ghosts/Spirits, and Children. If anyone were to ask him about his fear of children, he would say they're too noisy, squirmy, or mean. Daisy is the only one that has been told his main reason for being uncomfortable around children.
* He has a strong dislike of bullies due to his own experiences. He views the killing of undead and other creatures as a form of bullying since (he believes) they do not know any better. Forest trolls are one of the other creatures that Blažej is protective of. He may be reconsidering hags.
* He does not understand the concept of Stranger Danger. Quite the opposite. It's All Strangers are Friends or will become 'Friends.'
* He was originally created to be a Pathfinder Necromancer. However this 5E campaign started first.