Ronoc

## Physical Appearance

Ronoc is a strong, humanlike Fetchling with dark gray skin. His eyes and veins are orange and continually glowing thereby lighting up Ronoc's surroundings. Ronoc has black hair and a full beard.

Ronoc is commonly seen wearing heavy armor, a warhammer in one hand and a shield in the other. The shield shows a white circle in the middle that represents the light and darkness at the edges to represent the shadow.

In contrast to most other Fetchlings, Ronoc does not have a shadow because his inner light is always shining.

## Background

Ronoc did not grow up with his family because he was special. While there have been some Fetchlings with the ability to shine light from their skin, Ronoc's light was stronger and never stopped shining. Ronoc's parents, living in the shadows, were disturbed by the light and sent him to some distant friends in the overworld where he would grow up.

Although in the overworld, Ronoc was surrounded by shady businesses that was the everyday life of his community. But his inner light was not just physical and Ronoc did not agree with his kind. So once he was old enough, he left and, after some fruitless travels, he found a dwarven community worshipping the light. Although the dwarves took a long time to recognize Ronoc as one of their own (and some still don't), he learned their ways. This is where he trained fighting with a Warhammer and Shield and learned some dwarven crafting techniques.

While the dwarven circle worships only the light, Ronoc holds on to his past. He believes that the Fetchlings are misunderstood because of their skin color. Looking to bring different cultures together, Ronoc wears the shadow as well, surrounding the light on his shield.

## Campaigns

### Stagnant Waters

#### The Bog Town Karana

After Ronoc had the dream of the Hungering Star, he seeks for answers at the highest point in his reach, in The First Mountains. As he is not the only traveller, he meets Doutek and continues travel with him through the swamp beneath the mountains until they reach Karana.

Going into Karana, a corpse, hanging on a rope, is lowered into the swamp. Vardane, the innkeeper, assures that everything is fine as long as the rope breaks and after it does, Ronoc and Doutek go into the the tavern, both confused as they have never seen anything like this before. Inside, they are warned about The Cazek Fratery that is roaming the area. Ronoc and Doutek meet up with Minnea who is also looking for answers regarding the dream. They find a guide in Gallinazo who has been working as a bounty hunter in the mountains.

The tavern gets really busy in the evening as more and more travellers are passing through and Vardane finally runs out of beverages. As the group is planning to get some rest, they hear noises from the outside. Someone is nailing something into the tavern's wall and a red liquid is running down on the inside. Ronoc gets up and opens the door to see who disturbs the night.

#### Nightly Encounter

The adventurers are faced with some undead creatures. Ronoc gets hit during the encounter by one of the undead and feels sickened for a moment but with some great hits from Gallinazo and Doutek, the night becomes quiet again soon after. Later, the group learns that these have been former travellers passing through the village. Vardane tells them that most go into the mountains but never come back.

The undead hammered nails into most buildings of the town. Gallinazo touches a spike and gets shocked and Minnea and Doutek determine that some necromantic aura is surrounding the nails. The group collects them all to prevent others from touching them.

In the next morning before leaving Karana, Gallinazo meets his contact for some information. Ronoc tries to warn the passing travellers about the dangers of their path in the meantime. Although this might have convinced some to stay behind, the majority is still moving on. So the group decides to venture forth into the mountains to prevent more undead from coming back. Not far into the mountains Gallinazo leads the adventurers onto a different path following a map he got from his contact.

#### Tybald of the Green Flame

The travels become uncomfortable very quickly as heavy rain begins to pour down on the adventurers. Looking for a place to rest, Ronoc notices a covered cave entrance. The group finds a circular room that is carved into the mountain with an old stone table. As the others scout ahead, Ronoc hears a sound from behind. He calls into the shadows but there is no response. Meanwhile, Doutek experiments with the nails on the table as they both show a necromantic rune originating from the continent Loch.

A green blast fills the room and takes over the color of the camp fire. The group hears a voice thanking them for freeing Tybald of the Green Flame who has been bound here for many years. Asking him of his plans, Tybald gives only vague answers and eventually leaves after promising the group a reward that lies deeper in the cave. Ronoc later learns from his companions that Tybald is a death knight, formerly known as Tybald of the Green Banner.

Following the path into the mountain, the party finds a chest full of old gold coins, a Longsword and a Full Plate.
Taking the findings outside, the party realizes that the rain has passed.

#### Disturbances along the way

Ronoc refuses to take his share of the reward as he feels an evil backstory to the coins. He agrees to carry the sword in his backpack however after he notices its fine craft.

Now, that the rain has passed, travellers can be seen on the main path below. Following the path to Karana, Ronoc notices buildings that haven't been there before. He also recognizes a green flash coming from the buildings for a moment that reminds him of the Green Flame.
To reach their initial goals, the group moves on and eventually gets stuck at a cut rope bridge. However, with the aid of his wings, Gallinazo breaches the gap and he and Ronoc use their ropes to restore the bridge.

As the day is coming to an end, the travellers reach a camp site with two old tents. Skeletal remains can be seen nearby and as Minnea investigates the shield of one former warrior, the skeletons come back to life and attack. The party is outclassed and Gallinazo takes some serious hits. Doutek offers some of the nails and the skeletons seem to be drawn towards them. Upon touching, the skeletons are freed and vanish with their equipment.

#### Night Watched?

After the skeletons are gone, the group finds some rest using the provided camp site. Seeing that the necromantic energy freed the skeletons in the end, Ronoc rethinks his view on Tybald's reward and starts to train with the Longsword. While he is doing so, he feels watched and calls into the night. But like in the cavern before there is no answer. In the next morning Gallinazo tells the party about a handprint burnt into a tree that he had found. He leads them there and it is the exact place where Ronoc trained with the sword before.

Being distracted by this, Ronoc stumbles upon an red clay brick path that is heavily overgrown. The adventurers follow it to a dwarven door that leads inside the mountain. Gallinazo pushes it open and they find a familiar stone table. To not unleash another death knight, they leave it be and follow a spiral staircase upside into the darkness of the mountain.

#### A webby tower

The staircase leads to many bridges. However, most are broken down. The group decides to push upwards until the passage gets tight and more and more cobwebs appear all over the place. Minnea decides to burn one down but the fire spreads and the whole upper part of the tower starts burning. The adventurers move back down into a side passage leading to a room with many black stones. As soon as they walk in, they get attacked by two hunting spiders and Gallinazo gets heavily poisoned. While he fights death and after the spiders are defeated, sounds from the neighbouring room can be heard. Ronoc shuts the door to a big spider that guards an altar in another circular room. While it is squeezing through the passage way, Minnea sets it to sleep and the party continues upwards now that the fire has cleared.
Not long and the clickering sound of approaching spiders follow the group that flees up the tower. At the top, a heavy dwarven door is held open by vines. Ronoc slashes it open and gets shut inside with the spiders. With the help of his friends he barely manages to escape while the spiders are blocked by the door.

#### A welcome shortcut

Passing the tower brings the party closer to the top of the mountain. As Ronoc feels his inner light growing stronger, he is able to strengthen his shield. With this new power he leads the way although he loses the desired path at some point. Minnea and Doutek realize the surroundings eminate magic all around and the party gets almost lost when Ronoc manages to detect a hardly visible shortcut. It leads over a steep, loose stone field where Doutek cuts his hand while grabbing onto the rope. Ronoc barely manages to cross before the grappling hook loses its hold and falls down the mountain side. The path leads to a cavern entrance that leads into a big dwarven looking fortress carved into the mountain. Gallinazo leads the group via the most travelled path to some dwarven chambers, each locked with a heavy dwarven door. The party decides to check out one of the chambers. Gallinazo tries to hold the door open and as he loses his strength and gets thrown onto the bed, Minnea finds something in the drawer.

#### Observing the sky

Minnea finds nine green gems that eminate some magic. Because the door slammed shut, an oscillating echo can be heared. Gallinazo checks out the further path down the chamber hallway and reaches a corridor with armor stands on both sides that show various old dwarven armor. Ronoc, looking for a way up not down the mountain, suggests taking another path because his experience living with dwarves lets him know that they are usually not longing for the sky. Following the least travelled way going forward, Gallinazo leads the adventurers to a staircase that the party follows up for quite a while. At the top, following the path, the group reaches a room with a big telescope. Minnea looks through it and sees the sky clearly. As her vision falls onto the Hungering Star, she gets drawn in. Ronoc notices this when he sees a line of green energy connecting Minnea's eyes to the sky. She manages to fight it off and as the evening draws closer, the party decides to take a rest. Ronoc tries to help Gallinazo to doff his armor but it's gripping into his body so he sleeps with it.

#### The End of the Journey

Minnea and Doutek search the room and discover new astronomical insights. Meanwhile Gallinazo and Ronoc are dreaming of the clear night sky, closer than ever. Ronoc dreams that he is standing on top of the mountain. Next to him stands a tall figure in heavy armor. It does neither move nor speak so Ronoc gets closer. He can now see the green color of the armor. The figure starts to reach out and as Ronoc draws his sword, green flames emerge from it. He drops it and moves back but the figure gets closer and closer. Eventually Ronoc reaches the edge of the mountain and the figure reaches him. On the touch, Ronoc feels a great pain and tries to fight it when he realizes that the figure is Tybald, The Green Flame. Tybald asks Ronoc who he serves and the paladin answers "The Light and the Shadow". This does not please Tybald and he forces Ronoc on his knees and asks again. Ronoc tries to fight Tybald and gets thrown down the mountain. Then he awakes and for a second his inner light shines green.

Minnea notices that the party rested longer than expected and after some discussion of the nightly dreams, Ronoc leads the way forward as he has seen it in his dream. Minnea uses the 9 stones to activate a magic contraption that elevates the floor upwards. The adventurers reach the peak of the mountain where they notice that they can see the night sky again. Everything seems all so familiar as Ronoc has seen it in his dream: The clear sky closer than ever, the Hungering Star taking over a blue star and a figure standing next to him. However, this time it is Gallinazo. As he is standing there, he finally falls victim of his doomed armor. He emerges in green flames and Tybald rises as a death knight within his armor in Gallinzo's place. Tybald reaches to the sky and draws the Hungering Star down which causes the mountain to begin braking down. As Ronoc struggles to keep his footing, Tybald offers "his champion" a hand. Ronoc refuses as he is eager to stop Tybald who raises a green maze. While the two fight, Minnea and Doutek jump off the mountain to escape the unfolding horror and reach Karana with the help of Minnea's magic softening the fall.

Ronoc is clearly outclassed by the death knight but he stands by his choice to fight for his light and the shadow and not the Green Flame. After taking some hefty hits, he channels his inner light one final time and smashes his weapon - his shield - into Tybald who answers with green flames. And at this time, at the peak of the First Mountains, for the first time in his life, Ronoc's inner light finally stops shining and the shadow remains over his body as Tybald turns away.