Borocles Nephus

Borocles During Noshima Arc

### Connections

Eyes of Rhista, Neolantin Royalty, Neolantin School of Arts, House Nephus of Neolantin.

## Stats

### Level

14

**Borocles Nephus** was a Triton Bard and a current member of Fingies of Rhista. He was played by Garrett Brice.

## **Intro**

*"Ever Heard of me? Borocles of House Nephus of Neolantin? Really? Well....That's a shame....*

### **Appearance**

Tiberius was a red dragonborn who wore glasses and a blue robe embroidered with green.

### **Personality**

Tiberius was not the keeper of extraordinary wisdom. He was a reckless and chaotic dragonborn who loved to use his spells freely and plentifully. To support these desires, Tiberius had a Ring of Spell Storing and an Ioun Stone, both of which helped him prepare additional spells. When someone had a conversation with Tiberius and managed to outsmart him, he quickly switched to magic to defend himself, exploiting as many spells as he needed to dominate the argument.Template:Ep refTemplate:Ep ref

Many times the group was unhappy with his rushed decisions. When the Slayer's Take tasked half of Vox Machina to slay a rakshasa, they trailed him to the Velvet Cabaret and were to pursue him further. However, after Tiberius spent all of his sorcery points, he was reluctant to proceed and demanded a rest. His careless character led to a mini-conflict, as almost the rest of the party wanted to advance rapidly.Template:Ep ref

### **Background**

Tiberius hailed from Tyriex in Draconia, where he came from a large political family. Besides his personal quest, Tiberius's reason for leaving Draconia was to avoid being forced into the Draconian Council. He was fluent in the Common, Draconic, and Dwarvish languages.

Draconian society had institutional class- and tail-based slavery, which is why Tofor Brotoras had negative reactions to Tiberius. When Tofor made it clear she didn't like him, Tiberius responded by insulting her any time she spoke up and referred to her as "peasant" instead of using her name.Template:Ep ref

Tiberius often got unwelcomed looks. According to popular belief, chromatic dragons were, and still are, considered evil in comparison with the metallic kind.Template:Ep refTemplate:Ep ref On his way to Fire Ashari tribe, Tiberius sprinkled some dust of illusion, altering his red scales and turning them silver.Template:Ep ref

Tiberius may have worshiped Bahamut, as in Template:Ep, he shouted "By the blessings of Bahamut, I choose Emon!" while casting *Teleportation Circle*.Template:Ep ref

### **Before the Stream**

Tiberius once disguised himself as a female troll to distract a couple of male trolls that were around a fire. The situation almost ended badly for Tiberius, but his teammates and Allura Vysoren rescued him.

After half of the party fell into a cistern under Emon, they fought an aboleth that resided in the waters. In their search for an escape, they found the remnants of an ancient town where a hag named Trysta resided. Tiberius made a deal with Trysta that, in exchange for helping the party escape and giving them the Mending Wheel, she could take a part of Tiberius's fortune. Tiberius never learned what that meant. The party also agreed to get rid of a group of Umber hulks which had built their nest in the ruins. During this battle, Tiberius killed one of the umber hulks by dropping it out of the nest. He later jumped out of the nest down a 170-foot drop and drank a *Feather Fall* potion, barely managing to make a saving throw.

Tiberius was inside the Ivory Tower when it collapsed into a pearl due to Allura's security magic, though he safely jumped out of the window and cast *Feather Fall* on himself to avoid taking damage.

Tiberius was so enraged after Juurezel the glabrezu killed Pike that he couldn't speak coherently, and he sobbed when Pike came back to life.

### **Season 1: Tyndale**

After Grog had been captured in the Underdark and lost the Bag of Holding along with the Mending Wheel, Tiberius went to Draconia and purchased his own Bag of Holding in which to store the Mending Wheel. It was Tiberius' most powerful artifact, so he wanted to keep it safe himself.Template:Ep ref

As a fond spell user but quite an unwise person, Tiberius often tried to combine two concentration spells: *Flying* + *Invisibility* or *Stoneskin* + *Alter Self.*Template:Ep ref He persistently asked Scanlan for his Circlet of Concentration, which allows its wielder to simultaneously concentrate on two spells for two rounds. However, Tiberius's persuasion was not successful unlil Template:Ep episode. Reaching Vasselheim, he finally successfully manged to bargaine the Circlet for his Ioun Stone.

### **Arc 2: Virelia**

**Template:Ep**
Tiberius wrote to his father, Kruvanis Stormwind, invoking "the ambassador's right of wartime" and requesting an army to be readied to attack the Briarwoods-controlled Whitestone. Kruvanis admonished him: the authority to invoke war belonged not to Tiberius but to himself, and Tiberius — who was inexperienced and thus prone to jumping at shadows — had one chance to provide solid proof.Template:Ep ref

**Template:Ep**
During the journey to Whitestone, Tiberius left the party to better prepare himself for the upcoming conflict.Template:Ep ref While gone, he tried to convince the Draconians to help them and did not return to Whitestone.

**Template:Ep**
Upon returning to Emon, Tiberius announced to the other members of Vox Machina that he was leaving, as the "path of Vox Machina and the path of Tiberius Stormwind haven't been aligned for some time." Specifically, he hadn't made progress on his quests or earned the respect of his family.Template:Ep ref

### **Arc 3: The Chroma Conclave**

**Template:Ep**
Tiberius Stormwind's body was discovered by Percy, who found it frozen in ice and locked in time as a hero defending Draconia from Vorugal the Frigid Doom. Unable to transport his body at the time, Vox Machina gave a short burial service for their longtime friend and ally. However, following the death of Vorugal, Scanlan approached the Ravenites to discuss a more permanent and dignified burial beneath the dragon's former lair. Among the requests was that a statue of Tiberius be built atop his grave, with an etching below reading *"I Encourage Peace"*. Tooma, the leader of the Ravenites, agreed with Scanlan's request and tasked Korsa, one of the Ravenites' finest stonemasons, with the construction of the statue.Template:Ep ref

## **Relationships**

### **Stormwind Family**

Tiberius had two brothers: Jerahd, a warlock he would contact for information on creatures and artifacts, and Faeryn, a silver dragonborn monk in another *D&D* campaign that Orion played. Faeryn and Tiberius did not interact during the stream, but Orion tweeted a picture of a letter Tiberius sent to Faeryn along with a Tear of Bahamut. Tiberius also had a sister named Drakka, a bronze dragonborn. However, Matthew Mercer implied that Tiberius may not be his father's child. Though Vox Machina learned of Tiberius's death,Template:Ep ref the party never learned the fates of his siblings.

### **Keyleth**

Tiberius and Keyleth had a strong friendship, with Tiberius acting as a sort of loyal adviser and referring to Keyleth as "Your Highness" whenever he helped her through a very emotionally tough time. This was partly seen in Template:Ep when Keyleth became upset and difficult to reason with during an argument with Lady Kima.

### **Scanlan**

Tiberius and Scanlan had a somewhat bullying form of friendship that started at some point before the stream.

### **Vex'ahlia**

Tiberius and Vex'ahlia were good friends. Tiberius was overjoyed at seeing Vex again when Vox Machina reunited after the events of the Trial of the Take, and he embraced her first when Vex'ahlia's group returned to the Slayer's Take guild.

Tiberius has admitted to being attracted to Vex'ahlia. This was seen in Template:Ep when Tiberius asked Scanlan to describe Vex'ahlia's breasts to him after he missed seeing her flash Grog during Grog's fight with Kern. Later in the episode, while Tiberius scolded Vax'ildan for being harsh on Kynan, he admitted to being frightened of and attracted to Vex.

### **Lady Allura**

At some point, Tiberius became infatuated with Lady Allura. While she hinted that she liked him as well, it was still ambiguous, and their relationship turned south after Template:Ep. Tiberius also stated to the rest of Vox Machina that Allura was more powerful than him.

## **Character Information**

### **Quests**

His personal journey was to collect several fabled magical artifacts that were rumored to either be myths or no longer exist.

**Artifacts**

* Mending Wheel (found)
* Boros Ring
* God's Hammer
* Pale Stone
* Ropes of Mercy

One of Tiberius' personal goals was to find a way to re-enchant the Carpet of Flying, which lost its ability to fly after it was nearly destroyed by acid.

### **Notable Items**

#### **Current Items**

* Circlet of ConcentrationTemplate:Ep ref
* Cloak of Displacement (purchased by Vox Machina in Gilmours;Template:Ep ref picked by TiberiusTemplate:Ep refTemplate:Ep ref)
* Decanter of Endless Water (blessed with holy water once per day)Template:Ep refTemplate:Ep ref
* Deck of IllusionsTemplate:Ep ref
* Earring of WhisperTemplate:Ep ref
* Infinite Air BottleTemplate:Ep ref
* Ring of Spell StoringTemplate:Ep ref
* Ring of protection (+1)Template:Ep ref

#### **Former Items**

* Ioun Stone of Reserve (traded to Scanlan for Circlet of Concentration)Template:Ep refTemplate:Ep ref

#### **Tiberius's Crafted Items**

Tiberius enchanted some magical items for the group:

* Blazing Bowstring (for Vex'ahlia)
* Chain of Returning (for Grog)
* Earrings of Whisper (for Vox Machina)
* Hand Cone of Clarity (for Scanlan)
* Scroll(s) of Telescription (for himself)
* Surge bladeTemplate:Ep ref (Tiberius enchanted himself a couple of daggers and tied them to the end of the quarterstaff)Template:Ep ref

### **Abilities**

Tiberius was known for having various spells which he often used in combat. His trademark spell in combat was *Fireball*.

#### **Dragonborn Abilities**

* Draconic Ancestry: Red Dragon
* Breath Weapon (4d6 fire damage)Template:Ep ref
* Damage Resistance: Fire

#### **Sorcerer Abilities**

* Flexible CastingTemplate:Ep ref
* MetamagicTemplate:Ep ref
	+ Empowered Spell
	+ Quickened SpellTemplate:Ep ref

#### **Sorcerer Spells**

##### **Cantrips**

* *Control Flames*Template:Ep ref
* *Fire Bolt*Template:Ep ref
* *Light*Template:Ep ref
* *Mage Hand*Template:Ep ref
* *Prestidigitation*Template:Ep ref
* *True Strike*Template:Ep ref

##### **1st-level**

* *Feather Fall*Template:Ep ref
* *Ice Knife*Template:Ep ref

##### **2nd-level**

* *Alter Self*Template:Ep ref
* *Blur*Template:Ep ref
* *Hold Person*Template:Ep ref
* *Invisibility*Template:Ep ref
* *Misty Step*Template:Ep ref
* *Scorching Ray*Template:Ep ref
* *Silence*Template:Ep ref

##### **3rd-level**

* *Counterspell*Template:Ep ref
* *Dispel Magic*Template:Ep ref
* *Fireball*Template:Ep ref
* *Fly*Template:Ep ref
* *Grand Columns/Obelisk of Stone*Template:Ep ref
* *Slow*Template:Ep ref

##### **4th-level**

* *Blight*Template:Ep ref
* *Glacial Blast*Template:Ep ref
* *Greater Invisibility*Template:Ep ref
* *Stoneskin*Template:Ep ref
* *Watery Sphere*Template:Ep ref

##### **5th-level**

* *Obelisk of Iron*Template:Ep ref
* *Telekinesis*Template:Ep ref
* *Teleportation Circle*Template:Ep ref

## **Quotations**

* "I encourage violence." *(Tiberius telling Grog to kill the Duergar who tortured Kima of Vord)*Template:Ep ref
* **Osysa**: "I have been "keeper of this temple for hundreds of years.."
**Tiberius**:"You don't look a day over 20!"Template:Ep ref
* "Greeting and salutations. I'm Tiberius Stormwind from Draconia."Template:Ep ref
* **Tiberius**: "I need about 1,500 of them [mirrors]. Can I get 1,500? How many can I get?"
**Matt**: "There aren't that many mirrors in the city."
**Tiberius**: "Okay. All of them."

## **Trivia**

* Tiberius has the lowest Wisdom score of any player character on Critical Role thus far.
	+ This is also the lowest score for any individual stat for any player character thus far, tied with Shakäste's strength score.
* In the *Critical Role Major Arcana Tarot Card Set*, Tiberius represents I - The Magician.
* Early in the campaign, Tiberius's *Teleportation Circle* was the only way for Vox Machina to travel far distances quickly.

## **References**

**Art:**

Template:Nav-VoxMachina

1. ↑  See "Carpet Throwback" by Liam O'Brien from 0:00:33 through 0:01:07
2. ↑ After Orion tweeted the colors of Tiberius's siblings, who are all metallic while Tiberius is chromatic, Matthew Mercer tweeted that "Tiberius's father might have some questions for his mother... ;)". However, the winking emoticon could mean this was meant in a joking manner and is not to be taken seriously.
3. ↑ Matthew Mercer stated that the Hand Cone of Clarity "[...] is a custom item crafted by Tiberius for Scanlan. When spells or Bard abilities are cast through it, it increases the DC by 1" (source).
4. ↑ Orion explained his Obelisk of Stone spell on Twitter.
5. ↑ Matthew Mercer explained Tiberius's rock pillar spell on Reddit.
6. ↑ Orion posted the stats for Glacial Blast on Twitter