Leander Brightwise (Birds of a Feather)

**Leander Brightwise** is a human Battle Smith Artificer, played by Capwithoutacountry.

He is accompanied along his travels by his Steel Defender, a clockwork hummingbird named Buzz.

## Backstory

Born **Leander Cassius Livingston**, he is the youngest of the nine children of Penelope Nevermoore and Syndor Livingston, and the sibling of Cassandra, Ygraine, Florian, Tacitus, Roxandra, Galerius, Morrígan, and Astrophel Livingston. When Leander was young, his mother, an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer who experienced incomprehensible glimpses of the future in her nightmares, told him: "Blue is the color of death, with wings and wind and wisps of light."

Growing up, he was kept largely oblivious to the criminal and occasionally demonic dealings of his family, but when his father died under questionable circumstances, several of his siblings scrambled to seize power, and Leander used the chaos to flee the country. Making his way in the world on his own, Leander assumed the pseudonym of "Brightwise" to distance himself from his lineage. Early in his career, he worked with a group of adventurers including Cleric Endral Starsgard, Druid Preston Forrester, Rogue Lucky Chambers, and Ranger Eclipse of the Moon.

## Battle of Blood and Bone

Stopping off in a tavern while visiting the town of Everborough and in need of some quick funds, Leander agrees to a pitfight with a Tiefling brawler; the two trade blows until Leander incapacitates his opponent with a burst of energy from his *Shocking Grasp*. The two are healed by a house cleric, and Leander collects his winnings at the bar, where he is approached by Sgt. Simeon Haskill of the Town Guard, who offers him a job investigating a nearby town that hasn't been heard from in nearly a month.

Leander enlists a party including Luxodon Fighter Aboukir, Half-Orc Druid White Claw, Elven Rogue Aoife, and Dragonborn Barbarian Shamash, and they negotiate a price of 250 gold each for their services. They pick up provisions from the townguard and set out for the neighboring city of Torris, but are intercepted along the road by a group of bandits who demand payment for passage; in the ensuing skirmish, the party kills four of the bandits and scare off the remaining three, after which they discover another victim that the bandits had attacked. Before dying, the man admits that he had previously visited Torris, where he had sold an item to a child without knowing what the item was truly was.

The party makes camp for the night, then presses on to Torris, which they find entirely deserted except for one boy alone in a building near the edge of town, holding a black mask in the center of a summoning circle. Aboukir incapacitates the boy, and the mask reveals itself to be a Blood Elemental, while the boy reveals itself to be a Bone Devil in disguise; the party becomes trapped inside the building, stranding Aiofe outside alone to face a Gauth. Aboukir destroys the Bone Devil, White Claw destroys the Blood Elemental, and Leander leaps from the window to help Aoife fight the Gauth as Shamash destroys the black mask to banish the aberration back to the Shadowfell.

Leander and the party return to deliver news of the events in Torris to Haskill and collect their compensation from him.

## Trolls of the Narrough Pass

About ten months after the battle in Torris, Leander travels with Aoife to the town of Sanctuary, having heard that work is available there for adventurers with their particular skills. Examining the job board of a local tavern, they take a job from an elderly retired thief who hires them to deal with a pack of trolls that have made his cache of acquisitions inaccessible by setting up an encampment along the pathway to it. They travel south of the town the next day before turning to the east along a game trail the day after that, finding a pack of trolls by midday. With Buzz's help, they defeat the creatures, though Aoife finds herself overly distracted by concern for Leander's safety, missing her attacks and suffering injuries because of it. They collect the teeth of the trolls as proof of their success before returning to town, where they receive a Ring of Mind Shielding from the man as payment for their effort.

The next morning, Leander wakes to find a note from Aoife, who left in the middle of the night, reading: "Nothing personal."

## The Vineyard of Hartsfield

A couple of months after leaving Sanctuary, Leander finds himself in the company of the Aaracokras Sicarr and Ryn, the Aasimar Samurai Masa Mune, and the Cleric Melanalin, who travel to the town of Hartsfield to investigate reports of necromantic activity. They quickly find themselves battling a horde of undead that they defeat with little trouble before proceeding into the town itself, confronting a dozen more necromancers and zombies. They take significant damage in the battle, but Sykaar and Ryn deliver aerial attacks, Masa unleashes his *Necrotic Shroud*, and Melanalin summons a spiritual weapon, while Leander picks off necromancers with his infused crossbow.

After clearing the town center, the party continues on to a clearing that leads to the entrance to a subterranean temple, where they encounter a desiccated lich; he explains that the town was devastated by a plague, and that he raised the dead as zombies to provide for the living. Exhausted by the effort of maintaining his necromantic spells, he willingly offers to give the group his phylactery: the heart of his own granddaughter preserved in a glass cube, which the party takes after some deliberation. They cross through the town center once more, and Leander stops to pick up the red ribbon from one of the zombies before the group returns to the winery, where Melanalin performs *Dispel Magic* to allow the souls of the undead townspeople to move on to the afterlife.

The heart dissolves into dust, and the party buries the container in the vineyard, marking the location with a portrait of Alden and Anila.

## Valley of the Darkbeast

Several tendays after confronting the zombies and necromancers of Hartsfield, Leander, Masa, and Melanalin are traveling again while Ryn and Sicarr have taken time to recuperate. Masa, Mel, and Leander find themselves recruited by the Minotaur Totem Warrior Barbarian Duulan, who has been hired to investigate reports of increased Draconic activity in the Prismatic Forest. The group follows the directions given to Duulan, who refuses to admit when he's gotten the party lost, and the four are eventually attacked by a pair of Flurrys. The group battles the vine-like monstrosities, which successfully restrain Masa before a platoon of Dragonguards arrive; the party destroys Flurrys, causing one of the Dragonguards to flee as another of them demands to know why the party has entered their precinct of the Forest.

Mal answers by *Command*ing the captain and his soldiers to flee, and they all promptly drop their weapons and retreat back toward their camp. Masa collapses in the aftermath of the battle, and a static discharge erupts from the samurai's body as he becomes possessed by a Darkbeast Paarl that lashes out against Duulan, Mal, and Leander. Duulan attempts to battle against the electrostatic creature, but Leander refuses to attack, ordering Buzz to flee the valley before telling Masa: "Everybody gets to die, so if we go today, then we go together, but if you're still in there, you can fight your way out," after which Mal successfully casts *Dispel Magic* to dissipate the essence of the Darkbeast Paarl. Leander stands his ground, taking the brunt of the final discharge in order to shield Duulan and Mel, and falls unconscious.

Masa is restored and Mel heals Leander, who regains consciousness to find all of his teammates alive. He retrieves the longsword dropped by the Dragonguard captain before recovering his own crossbow, feeling the red ribbon tied to the stock.

## Hoard of the Blue Dragon

Having discovered the tracks of the Dragonguard through the Forest, Sicarr and Ryn arrive shortly after the Darkbeast is defeated, at which point Leander leaves the group to search for Buzz.

## The Siège of the Demon

Having rented a room with Aoife at The Sea Trough tavern in Benneth Knor, Leander finds Silvius Silvertongue drinking in the common room; he introduces Aoife to him, and the three spend the evening drinking and exchanging stories of their adventures over the past six months. The next morning, Leander wakes alone and briefly assumes that Aoife has departed again before realizing that her equipment is still in the room; soon after, she returns to the room with a Goliath wizard and explains that all of the tavern's chairs have been stolen. The three join up with Silvius and the Tiefling Rogue Rider Mentiroso to track the furniture out of the city and through the forest to a clearing where they discover a cult in the process of summoning the lesser demon Chairnabog. They fail to stop the cult, but after a vicious battle, they manage to destroy the demon before it can escape into the Material Plane; they subsequently return the remaining chairs to the tavern, where they are rewarded with free dinner and drinks, as well as room and board for the duration of their stay in Benneth Knor.

## Ambush at the Midnight Tree

Following the funeral of a local celebrity, Leander witnesses an injured courier stumble into the tavern during a homegoing celebration, and three first-time adventurers agree to track down the bandits who ambushed him; Leander sees Endral cast *Aid* on the group, and as the three leave, Endral asks Leander to follow them and make sure they don't die. He does, casting *Invisibility* on himself and tracking them first to the fork at the Midnight Tree, and then along the road toward Westfield until they encounter five bandits. He watches as the adventurers battle the bandits and emerge victorious without his help, at which point he returns to The Starry Knight in Focksford to inform Endral that the group was successful.

## Belongings

* **Valor**, a hand crossbow enhanced with an Artificer's Repeating Shot Infusion (prior to "Battle of Blood and Bone")
* **10 gold pieces** from a tavern barkeep for winning a pitfight ("Battle of Blood and Bone" prologue)
* **Shards of the Black Mask** (four pieces) from Torris after defeating the Blood Elemental and Bone Devil ("Battle of Blood and Bone")
* **Jasper Spellbook** after defeating the Blood Elemental and Bone Devil ("Battle of Blood and Bone")
* **2 claws** harvested from the Bone Devil following the confrontation in Torris ("Battle of Blood and Bone")
* **3 teeth** harvested from the Bone Devil following the confrontation in Torris ("Battle of Blood and Bone")
* **250 gold pieces** from Sgt. Simeon Haskill for investigating Torris ("Battle of Blood and Bone")
* **Type 0 Bag of Holding**, created with the Artificer's Replicate Magic Item infusion (between "Battle of Blood and Bone" and "The Vineyard of Hartsfield")
* *2 vials of acid* from a chest in the Hartsfield Winery; given to Sykaar and Ryn, used against the necromancers of Hartsfield (*The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* *2 potions of haste* from a chest in the Hartsfield Winery; given to Masa and Melanalin, used against the necromancers of Hartsfield (*The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* *4 potions of healing* from a chest in the Hartsfield Winery; one spilled, three given to Masa (*The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* **3 vials of unidentified black liquid** from a chest in the Hartsfield Winery (*The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* **Crystal Ball** from the subterranean temple beneath Hartsfield, surrendered by Adonai before his death (*The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* **18 daggers** recovered from the necromancers of Hartsfield; four given to Masa, four given to Mal, three given to Sykaar, three given to Ryn (*The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* **72 gold pieces** recovered from the necromancers of Hartsfield; 15 given to Masa, 15 given to Mal, 15 given to Sykaar, 15 given to Ryn (*The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* **Alden's note of warning**, recovered from the corpse of a zombie in the vineyard after the battle with the necromancers of Hartsfield (*The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* **Boots of Walken** recovered a zombie in the vineyard of Hartsfield (*The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* **Silver ring** with no magical properties recovered from a necromancer in Hartsfield (*The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* **Red ribbon** recovered from the corpse of Anila and tied to the stock of his infused crossbow, "to remind me to use my words more often" (after *The Vineyard of Hartsfield*)
* **Discretion**, a magical longsword recovered from a Dragonguard (*Valley of the Darkbeast*)
* **Hillstar**, a heater shield infused with an Artificer's Enhanced Defense infusion (prior to "Battle of Blood and Bone")
* **Stone of Good Luck**, given by Mama Kay while in Sanctuary (after "Valley of the Darkbeast" and "The Siège of the Demon")
* **Adamantine Half Plate** (between "Valley of the Darkbeast" and "The Siège of the Demon")
* **Cloak of Displacement** (after "Valley of the Darkbeast" and "The Siège of the Demon")

### Infusions

* Enhanced Defense: Hillstar
* Repeating Shot: Valor
* Replicate Magic Item: Bag of Holding

## Kill Count

* Alistair (prior to "Battle of Blood and Bone")
* Bandit #3 (in "Battle of Blood and Bone")
* Troll #3 (in "Trolls of the Narrough Pass")
* Zombie #6 (in "The Vineyard of Hartsfield")
* Zombie #3 (in "The Vineyard of Hartsfield")
* Necromancer #1 (in "The Vineyard of Hartsfield")
* Anila (in "The Vineyard of Hartsfield")

### Level Progression

* Level 1: Artificer 1 – Fighting Initiate: Archery (prior to "Battle of Blood and Bone")
* Level 2: Artificer 2 – Infusions: Replicate Magic Item (Bag of Holding), Enhanced Weapon, Armor of Magical Strength, Repeating Shot (prior to "Battle of Blood and Bone")
* Level 3: Artificer 3 – Battle Smith: Steel Defender (prior to "Battle of Blood and Bone")
* Level 4: Artificer 4 – Sharpshooter (prior to "Trolls of the Narrough Pass")
* Level 5: Artificer 5 – Extra Attack (prior to "Trolls of the Narrough Pass")
* Level 6: Artificer 6 – Infusions: Mind Sharpener, Enhanced Defense, (prior to "The Siège of the Demon")
* *Level 7: Artificer 7 – Flash of Genius*
* *Level 8: Artificer 8 –*
* *Level 9: Artificer 9 – Arcane Jolt*
* *Level 10: Artificer 9 / Wizard 1 – Spellbook*
* *Level 11: Artificer 9 / Wizard 2 – Order of Scribes, Wizardly Quill*
* *Level 12: Artificer 9 / Wizard 3*
* *Level 13: Artificer 9 / Wizard 4 – Gift of the Metallic Dragon*

## References

The character is named after the Abydonian protagonist of the Greek myth of Hero and Leander.

## Appearances

* "Battle of Blood and Bone" (level 3)
* "Trolls of the Narrough Pass" (level 5)
* "The Vineyard of Hartsfield" (level 5)
* "Valley of the Darkbeast" (level 5)
* "Hoard of the Blue Dragon" (cameo)
* "The Siège of the Demon" (level 6)
* "Ambush at the Midnight Tree" (cameo)