Flard Hellsnout

Flard Hellsnout is a male goblin gunslinger in the Asprana campaign. He is a PC played by Hoyce.

## Associations

### Relatives

Xarm (father), Lethee (mother), Krayg (younger brother), Flaang (younger sister) Desee (younger sister) Rin (younger sister)

### Affiliation

Ishmael's Pilgrims, Vadray Army (former), Bootice Police Department (former)

## Vital Statistics

### Eye Color

Yellow

Flard Hellsnout is a former soldier and member of a treasure hunting team called Ishmael's Pilgrims that accepts jobs for Io Naeran.

## Background

Flard Hellsnout was born in Kellistab, a large industrial town in Vadray. His family was surprisingly wealthy, most unusual for goblins. It’s not known what the family did to get it’s money in the past, but most presume it was something shady. Nevertheless, they were well regarded and well thought of, and many who know of them point to the Hellsnouts when arguing that goblins aren’t persecuted since they’re doing so well. The Hellsnouts were also supportive of the government, active in fundraisers and donations to whatever local politicians best support their economic interests.

Flard’s father, Xarm, owned and operated a large manufacturing concern, and was a ruthless businessman, often breaking contracts or agreements when it suited him, and siccing a team of lawyers on anyone who made a stink about it. In spite of this, they maintained a decent reputation in the business world, both due to effort and a willingness to portray anyone calling them on this behavior as being biased against goblinkind.

Flard’s mother, Lethee, concerned herself with social, religious and obsessively charitable functions. Flard is the eldest child, and has one younger brother (Krayg) and three younger sisters (Flaang, Desee and Rin).

The family ostensibly offers prayers to Sanctuary or Innovation, but is not really especially religious beyond taking pains to appear to be church going folk.

### Early Life

Flard attended religious schooling as a younger boy, and was sent to a top tier private high school. His parents expected him to be politically active and continue the family name to the next level past business success...acquiring political power. He was pressured into political interests in high school and ran for class president at his parent’s urging and won, in spite of not having much interest in the matter or in politics in general.

Flard’s friends growing up were mostly from other well off families (and often not goblin) and in spite of these relationships being encouraged by his socially conscious parents, Flard did not find much kinship with the bulk of them. In fact, as he grew older and wiser he began to see his parents as petty, materialistic hypocrites and had less and less interest in following their wishes for him. He desired to be his own man, and vowed to be more moral than he felt his parents were.

### Joining the Military

When he graduated high school, he informed his father that he would not be going to the top tier university as desired, but instead would join the Vadray Military Academy. He further informed his father that in spite of an arrangement with a good family, that he would not be marrying the rich goblin girl (Ida Starkgob, of the prosperous Starkgob family of Corin) they had forced him to court to continue the family’s climb. Flard informed them he would find his own way and court and marry only whom he desired.

His parents were furious, and threatened to cut him off if he did not do as they commanded, but Flard did not care. He enrolled in the military academy and worked hard, doing well for himself and earning a commission as an officer, based more on the pedigree of the school he’d gone to and his family’s renown than his grades, though he did work hard and got decent grades. He received top marks in pistols, proving to be a natural crack shot.

Flard had a favorite instructor at the Academy, a gnome named Hortix Bipplebixx, who taught several classes on history as well as pistol combat and gunsmithing. Flard took to these lessons well and had the most interest in those classes. He graduated from the academy with a commission as a lieutenant.

### Military Service

Flard did his best to look out for his soldiers as best he could and guide them, though his gruff personality did create some issues. One of his most promising soldiers, however, was a woman named Hannah Bishop. Nicknamed “Deadshot”, presumably for her superior marksmanship skills, Flard also had a great deal of respect for her integrity and overall competence. Promoting her to Staff Sergeant to act as his second in command was a no-brainer and the two got along quite well and often saw eye to eye.

#### Incident in Raskin

As luck would have it Flard’s unit was deployed to the allied City State of Raskin in the Democratic Republic of Batize. They had engaged in a shooting war with the City by the Bey and Vadray agreed to send “advisors” to help bring the conflict to an end.

While in Raskin, Flard was assigned by his ogre commanding officer, Captain Dekrok, to help Raskinite forces take a warehouse that was reported to be a munitions factory that the Beys were using to manufacture weapons. His platoon was working in conjunction with a Raskinite platoon led by a bugbear captain named Dorr Vevomikk. They two units swept in and took the structure with almost no resistance, which struck Flard as odd. The lack of resistance soon became clear, the structure was a makeshift medical facility, not a munitions factory. It was obvious they had received bad intelligence.

Flard ordered a thorough search to ensure there were no hidden munitions and, indeed, none were uncovered. Vevomikk's men also appeared to come up empty on their search as well. Flard prepared to order his troops to withdraw, until Sergeant Bishop reported to him that Captain Vevomikk was ordering his men to prepare to execute the wounded and the medical staff.

Flard confronted Vevomikk and demanded he stand down. When Vevomikk refused, stating that if the Beys were healed they’d just rejoin the fight and it would be better to execute them here. Flard ordered his men to take position against the Raskinites, and stated that if Vevomikk opened fire on the wounded he would order his men to fire on the Raskinites.

There was a tense standoff that was only broken once Vevomikk realized that “Deadshot” had taken a squad and maneuvered into a sniping position to begin the potential battle with rifle shots to Vevomikk and his non-comms.

Vevomikk agreed to stand down, but vowed that he would see Flard court martialed for this betrayal. Unbeknownst to Flard and Hannah, Vevomikk had connections with the politicians of the Raskinite government, who put pressure on the Vadray government to see the unit punished for the “betrayal.” It had all the makings of a full blown international incident, and all at a time when a trade deal was being negotiated between the two countries as well, which means a great deal of business leaders were also keenly interested in ensuring the Raskinites were kept happy, lest a great deal of money be put at risk.

Captain Dekrok informed Flard and Hannah that the blame for the incident needed to be put on the two of them in order to appease the Raskinites, and that the pressure to do this was coming “all the way from the top.”  Dekrok wouldn’t admit it outright, but it was obvious that in order to prevent all this pressure from impacting he and the officers above him, Flard and Hannah were being made the sacrificial lambs of the incident. The two were given a General Discharge and with that their military careers were over.

### Entering Law Enforcement

Between the incident in Raskin, and observations Flard had made as he observed the other officers, he saw just as much hypocrisy and concern with making rank and improving one’s own position as he’d seen in his family. Disgusted, but still seeking justice and to help people, Flard sought a job in law enforcement.

Eventually Flard got a job as a policeman in a small town named Bootisa and though he enjoyed helping people where he could, he found that even a small town was not immune from the hypocrisy and backbiting and political climbing at the expense of people that he’d grown to detest so much in his family and the military. After seeing evidence that the chief of the town’s police was taking bribes, he brought the matter to light. The chief lost his job but was not arrested and faced no other consequences for his corruption because of his friendship with a local politician. Flard was dead to the rest of the officers and the new chief made it clear that he could not keep the goblin on and still maintain control of the rest of the department.

Flard quit this job too, now totally disgusted with a system that served only to protect the powerful and sought a new way to support himself while also being able to live with himself for the decisions he’d need to make.

## Employment by Io

   While Flard was seeking employment his old friend Hannah Bishop reached out to him, stating that she had a lead on a job for the two of them. Flard agreed and attended the meeting Hannah had arranged, where he met the two other applicants, Sanibel Travaris and Zencey, and they agreed to accept the treasure hunter job offered by Io Naeran.

#### Kassen's Tomb

The first mission was to travel to Kassen's tomb, near Atticus Bluff, to try to recover a piece of the Everflame and an amulet that was said to be interred in the tomb. During the mission Flard and his companions took note that in addition to a number of undead that seemed to defend the tomb, there were a number of more recent bodies indicating that another team had also made an effort to search the tomb and died in the process.

The mission was ultimately successful, with the heroes destroying a skeletal warrior that was the remains of a creature that had slain Kassen. This caused the ghost of Kassen to thank them and announce he could finally pass on to the afterlife.

The amulet was not found, though they recovered the requested piece of the Everflame and a number of other trinkets found paid handsomely for the job.

#### The Library Job

After a couple of months Io contacted Flard and the others again, offering them another job, this time to secure information stored in the library of the South Prodan Academy of the Arts and to procure information about a cult he believed was responsible for beating him to the amulets he sought in Kassen’s Tomb.

The quartet traveled to the city of Pandora and was able to take advantage of a distracting concert to sneak into the archives of the library. Within they found a number of texts, including the one sought by Io. They were able to successfully parlay with the sentient magical guardian of the restricted archives, secure the information requested, and slip back out of the library without anyone being the wiser.

## Formation of Ishmael's Pilgrims

Flard and his companions decided to formalize their mercenary concern, choosing the name Ishmael's Pilgrims, after Sanibel's adorable familiar, Ishmael. Their first mission under their new moniker was to accept another job offered by Io Naeran.

## Personality and Abilities

Flard is a bit gruff and curmudgeonly but he means well and has a strong interest in justice. Doing what is right is far more important to him than doing what is easy or even legal. Often to the point where he makes life harder on himself that it probably needs to be, since active injustice enrages him. That the world doesn’t reward such a philosophy likely does not improve his mood or his attitude, as he tends to presume most people are as self interested as most he has encountered unless they prove otherwise. One of the few exceptions has proven to be Hannah Bishop, his old second in command and pal. Flard finds Hanna to be equal parts competent and just, and as a result their friendship has outlasted either of their time in the military.

Flard has a strong interest in westerns style movies and the culture and technology of that time period. Partially for that reason, he favors revolvers over more modern weapons, though he is capable with any firearm. He is a trained marksman with pistols and even received a medal for it in the army. His current pistols, which he lovingly crafted himself, are called “Lucille” and “Wynona” and they are fashioned as old six shooters, though built of more modern and reliable materials and techniques than what guns that old would normally be made of. He has a double barreled shotgun as well that he calls “Big Bertha,” which he has also made himself. He is a skilled gunsmith, and has crafted a number of various firearms, many of which he sells for income when times are lean.

Knowing Goblin lifespans are already short, Flard can be brave and sometimes a little reckless, figuring he hasn’t got long as it is. He took up smoking cigars in the army and the habit remained with him.