Taliesin Garman

"Mark my words, my boy, that I will grasp The Eclipse, and I will bring an end to this age of dust." -Taliesin Garman.

Taliesin Garman is a Human Monk, a Soulless man seeking the power of The Eclipse. He is also one of the main antagonists of *Dumdums & Dragons: Sundown*.

## **History**

Taliesin Garman was once a simple explorer. He wanted nothing more than to wander the land of Sundown, chronicling all that he could. During his journeys, he came across The Soul Forge, an ancient ground used for creating Soul Weapons. There he created his own Soul Weapon, The Cartographer, an aid to him in his journey and a memento of his time amongst the stewards of The Soul Forge.

However, his adventure came to an end one day, when he met the leader of the Maelstrom Tribe, Monsoon. Monsoon a war chief and bandit, was a Soul Wielder himself, and took an interest in the young explorer, but ultimately failed to join him to his cause of fighting against his perceived corruption of society. Following this failure, Monsoon destroyed The Cartographer, believing himself to have killed Taliesin in the process. However, Taliesin survived, having become a Soulless, and soon responded by killing everyone in the Maelstrom Tribe, including Monsoon, and took his weapon, The Tsunami, despite not being able to use its power, due to being Soulless.

Having become a new man, and having taken in some of Monsoon's nature as his own, Taliesin found, upon returning to civilisation, that he could not tolerate it as it was, having had his eyes opened to the corruption of the people of Sundown. At this time, he set off for another journey, this time, to end Sundown as it was, and to recreate it as he saw fit. To do this, he set his eyes on the fabled Eclipse, an ancient Soul Weapon wielded by Norassu, The King of the Desert, the destroyer of the Sahari people. With such a weapon, he would be able to achieve his new goal.

In order to achieve his aims, he would need the power of The Twelve Spirits of Sundown, which the first Soulless, Mouri, had used to seal The Eclipse away from mortal hands in the first place. And so he set off to do just that, along the way, gaining twelve followers, all of whom he guided to become Soul Wielders.

## **Dumdums & Dragons**

The Heroes first met Taliesin at the beginning of their own journey, in the town of Rivercleft, where Taliesin had ventured on his way to Shenmi, in order to gain the Soul Weapon of Shehen, The Serpent. There, Taliesin used one of his powers gained over the previous years to corrupt the mayor of the town, Pedro Voteed. This also resulted in Pedro ordering the execution of all travellers in the town, including The Heroes. He then left Rivercleft for Shenmi, leaving The Heroes behind in his wake.

## **Twelve Followers**

Taliesin has recruited twelve followers, all of whom are Soul Wielders, either having already having been Soul Wielders, or were taken to The Soul Forge by Taliesin. All of these followers have sworn to uphold his ideals, and, in the event that his plan succeeds, they will be the ones to exert his will upon Sundown. These twelve are as follows:

* Ichiro Nakamura
* Shinichi Nakamura
* Dhokha Javana (Giant Monk, betrayer of the the monks of The Soul Forge)
* Babaaru (Dark Elven Old Witch, of the Sahari Desert, seeks the power of the Sahari people)
* Suhalu (Draconic Storm Herald Barbarian, from the volcanic city (Yet to be Named))
* Nero (Human, Big glove boxer guy, from the big city (Yet to be Named))
* Beipan (Human, old rejected martial arts master, from a city of martial arts)
* Milligan Terrington (Half Elf, rich genius, from the big city)
* Crawford (Tiefling Ranger Lady Sniper from Smar)
* Wicklan (Kobold Rogue, Weak but Skilled guy from one of the more brutal Furalkiin Tribes (maybe) and possibly give him the time stop Soul Weapon, letting him set up his stuff)
* Rashid Bahar (Half Dark Elf Sand Pirate, basically desert Sinbad, not sure as to his Soul Weapon yet, want to go with that wind one I came up with though)
* Jinka (Weird Jester guy, Changeling Mystic, here for the lols)

## **Personality**

Before becoming a Soulless, Taliesin was a rather timid man, though kind and curious in equal measure. His inquisitive nature resulted in his initial quest, and his love of various cultures is what let to him creating his Soul Weapon, The Cartographer. After The Cartographer was destroyed, Taliesin became Soulless, and his being took in elements of the natures of surrounding beings, which in his case, happened to be the rational, yet radical, Monsoon. After this point, Taliesin became such that he could not tolerate what he perceived to be corruption in society. This included greed, and lust for power, that drove mortals to perform evil acts. He sees himself as ridding the world of its evils, though has ultimately only become evil himself in the process.

## **Abilities**

As a Soulless, Taliesin has the ability to easily read people, as he literally feels as they do. In the rules of Dungeons and Dragons, 5th Edition, this allows him advantage on any Wisdom (Insight) roll that he makes. He also has the ability to wield the power of someone else, provided he has that person's permission to do so, and has, through this ability, gained the powers of a Monk and a Sorcerer. As a monk, he is considered to be of all of the Monastic Traditions, and as a sorcerer, he is considered to be of all of the Sorcerous Bloodlines.

## **Appearance**

Taliesin appears as a handsome man in his early thirties, clean-shaven with blond hair, dressed in a white suit. His eyes spark with an apparent madness.

## **Trivia**

* Taliesin is named for the Taliesin of Arthurian legend, who was a man who, once magically inspired, became a new man, and travelled the world as a bard and adviser of kings, as well as a prophet. His last name, Garman, is a reference to Mark Garmin, a character played by Anthony Simon, in two previous campaigns run by James Fisher.