Harminil

Harminil, by Narf

> Corellon Allfather! To Everlasting Darkness doom us if our Deed faileth!
>
> Harminil's vow for vengeance on the King of Embers.

Harminil of the House of Finderwel, is an Elven prince of Evermeet, the eldest of the three Sons of Finderwel and head of the House of Finderwel.

# Early Years

## Childhood

Harminil was born in 1371 in Evermeet, the firstborn of Finderwel and Eleniel. He grew up as any child of noble birth was expected to. He demonstrated martial prowess early on, mastering the Lhang at a surprisingly young age. In his childhood, Harminil also discovered his talent for the arts, which he also used as an escape due to the trouble he would find himself into due to his brass nature.
After his 18th birthday, Eleniel gave birth to two twins, Tyavos and Vahayon. Harminil cherised them and bonded instantly with his two siblings. More time he spent with Tyavos, who looked up especially on his older brother, seeking to do everything Harminil did. While not as skilled with the blade, Tyavos still became a respectable swordsman, partly taught by his older brother. He also tried his hand on painting, seeing his older brother having a talent for the arts. Tyavos was however less talented and as is the case with a little brother trying to imitate his older sibling and failing to do so, Tyavos would shed tears out of disappointment, only for Harminil to take his hand and teach him.
Once coming of age, Harminil would participate in the annual councils of the noble Houses of Evermeet, together with his father, becoming aware of a faction called the Elf Unity Movement, that had many tensions with the Finderwelians, due to their pride of the Elven heritage, unwilling to open Evermeet to Faerun.

## The Demon attack

Eventually, the maturation of his two younger brothers had come. A large celebration was planned, however none could have predicted what would happen next. The celebration quickly turned to chaos and conflagration as a Demon Lord, the King of Embers, destroyed everything in its sight, at last approaching Finderwel. The prince frozen by shock could do nothing as the demon took the jeweled crown from him. Once realizing what was going on, Finderwel reached for his Lhang, but was unable to defend himself. The crown was stolen and the demon fled, leaving only Harminil, his two siblings and their mother alive. Eleniel died of sorrow and grief the following day. Full of hate and pride, the 3 brothers swore revenge, to reclaim the crown, or die trying...

## Exile to the Sword Coast

After swearing their oath and burying their family and paying whatever respects they could, the 3 brothers amassed whatever they could to prepare for their hunt of the Demon Lord and their self-imposed exile. Once they arrived at the Sword Coast, they burned their boat as a reminder to themselves that there is no return till the crown is reclaimed. The 3 brothers decided it would be best to temporarily separate, with Harminil making sure that Tyavos would go together with Vahayon, as the latter was the least ready for an exile. Harminil eventually made his way to the city of Waterdeep, where his brothers would visit him once or twice per year.

## Life in Waterdeep

Once settling in Waterdeep, Harminil decided to join the foreign contingents of the Waterdhevian Guard, in an attempt to further hone his skills in battle. His pride however would not allow him to stay in the foreign contingents for long, as he felt that he, among with his colleagues, were not used properly in any combat operations, instead being tasked with "lesser" operations, like clearing out small bandit camps, together with contract mercenaries. It was during some of these operations, that he first worked together with a Fey Elf by the name of Varragh il Sunayn. They didn't get along particularly well, with Harminil not being fond of Varragh's manipulative ways, while Varragh disliked his brass and prideful nature that would start unnecessary combat in her eyes, Harminil however recognized her masterful planning and Varragh on her turn recognized Harminil's martial prowess. After his brief service in the foreign contingents, Harminil also opened a small art atelier on his residence, selling his paintings, as well as taking any jobs he saw himself fit for that would help him in the long term achieve his ultimate goal.

## The encounter at the Silent Shield Inn

In 1492, the 3rd year of his exile, Harminil received a letter from a kinsman of his and a Sgt. in the Whaterdevian Guard, Evander, asking him to meet him in the inn for "important business" as the Sergeant put it. After meeting with Evander, the latter explained him that he needed assistance in the investigation of missing guards, as well as a missing lady that was of particular interest to a Half-Elf by the name of Varis Aloro, who was also invited to the Silent Shield Inn by Evander. Harminil accepted to assist Evander, as he knew that Evander had good connections that could potentially give him useful information in his quest to reclaim the crown back. Unbeknownst to him, Evander had employed the services of Varragh il Sunayn, who joined Varis Aloro and Harminil in this quest.

# Waterdeep Mystery

## Investigating the missing prisoners

The newly formed party started investigating the missing prisoners, finding out of certain irregularities happening in the Waterdhevian Guard, but not before Harminil defeated Edmund Exley in an art contest the latter did not realize he was partaking in. Eventually, they came across a former guard by the name of Sergei Illistrad who had a suspicious letter in his possession. With the help of Harminil's painting, Varragh and Harminil managed to steal the letter, only to realize that it had been magically removed of all its contents. After returning to Evander, Varragh and Harminil learn that a lieutenant by the name of Popovich had also recently left the guard and was also a client in the Silent Shield Inn. In order to seek him out, the party attempts to break down the door at his room, only for the innkeeper to try and stop them, before eventually giving in. The party finds Popovich dead in his room, with another suspicious letter, devoid of any content. Harminil at this point demanded a quick answer from the innkeeper, and after the latter failed to do so, his prideful and brass nature took the better of him and started attacking the innkeeper, eventually going for lethal violence. Harminil eventually is restrained by his companions, with Varis healing the innkeeper, and Varragh threatening blackmail over murders within his establishment.

## The letters

With the two letters being their only lead, the trio head to the Mayfleet Institute for the Ethical Use of Magic to restore the content of the letters. After bargaining with the head of the institute Rose Mayfleet, they get a price of 3000gp to get her to cast the necessary spells to restore the contents of the letter. In an attempt to make some quick cash, the group try to sell a painting made by Harminil, as he lacked a good enough name to sell it for a high enough price. The scam fails miserably, and a meagre 50gp is made from it. With a lack of funds, Varis remembers a conversation he overheard at the Silent Shield about a bank robbery. The group arrive at the Endshift tavern, where Varis has already made a good name for himself due to his high alcohol consumption. Harminil himself did not get to a good start with the unnamed bartender, as his brass attitude was not particularly welcome in his establishment. Varis spots a woman he had seen before and suspected was involved in the overheared heist plans. The woman, by the name of Daratha turns out to be a psycho, starting a fight way before Harminil could even consider that, by stabbing Harminil in the foot, she does however gets knocked out quickly. After the crowd clears out, the bartender surprisingly wants to assist the party and assures them he will cover for them while they get Daratha out. The trio brings the knocked out Daratha in Harminil's house and after interrogating her they find out the details related to the heist. Eventually the group escorts her blindfolded away from Harminil's house.

## The heist

Harminil, wanting to avoid any type of business with sketchy individuals, decides to try to use his artistic talent to forge a famous painting and try to sell it off as the original. The forgery fails miserably, resulting in a painting so blatantly fake that it more resembles a below average original work of the exact same subject, worth barely 12 gold.
With information received by his two companions, deciding that the information received by Pierre Kukassy, the Endshift owner is more trustworthy, they find an abandoned warehouse where a group called "the Amrik's Raiders" has their base, which is involved in the heist. Harminil considers that betraying the bandits once the heist is done is the best way to go for this, the trio however decide to go along with the heist normally, without considering how the heist will actually pan out.
Come nighttime the trio together with the Amrik's Raiders make their way at the Sword Coast Trader's bank, where the Raiders immediately start killing the guardsmen. As soon as they enter the basement of the bank, the trio had enough of the Amrik's Raiders and turn on the bandits, to the confusion of the guardsmen. Amrik eventually falls by Harminil's blade, lamenting on how he should have believed his accomplish Ziraj, who was also present at the heist, when the betrayal started. In the chaos, Varragh uses her magical abilities to light the bandits and the guardsmen on fire, which results to the trio fighting the guardsmen after they finished with the bandits, with the trio eventually besting them. What followed was the Bank Massacre, with the trio killing many guards while trying to find a way to open the vaults. The group eventually succeeds at finding the needed keys to open the vaults and steal the gold. Harminil's lack of thorough thinking would spell trouble for the group, as in one of the doors they opened, Harminil activated 6 metal golems guarding a tresure room that Harminil foolishly entered. In the fight Harminil was knocked unconscious, severely hindering the trio's ability to transport their loot. With dawn approaching, Varragh succeeded in opening another vault and on their way out, Varragh sets the bank on fire. On their way out, several guards appear and with Harminil knocked out, the trio is forced to re-enter the burning building. Running to the barred front door, the group comes face to face with a mysterious individual, Mr. Twardowski who offers the group assistance in exchange for a debt, to which Varragh and Varis immediately agree, with Harminil also being taken as an agreeing party.

## Reading the letters

Being teleported back to Harminil's house after the heist and realizing they were wanted in the entire city of Waterdeep, Harminil decided to forge fake wanted posters to hopefully throw the investigations at the wrong track, while Varis and Varragh would work on exchanging the stolen goods into liquid coin. Eventually, the group gathered enough coin to pay Rose Mayfleet for her services, and the contents of the letters were uncovered. The letter found on the corpse of Popovich read: “We have your wife and daughter. You know what you have to do to keep them safe”, while the letter that Harminil and Varragh stole from Sergei Illistrad read: “Your wife’s name is Fiona Illestrad and you have two twin boys. If you wish for us not to act on this information you will hold your tongue.” Following this discovery, Harminil and Varragh returned to Sergei, where Varragh engaged in increasingly terrifying threats, trying to force Sergei to talk. Varragh eventually found out after a second interrogation that the missing prisoners and other shady dealings within the ranks of the watch were the things in question.

# Search for Evander

## Spying at the Southern Ward Barracks

Following the restoration of the letters, the trio set after finding Evander, with Harminil being motivated that a kinsman should not be treated with such disrespect. Varis and Harminil started questioning guardsmen in various barracks around the city, with Varragh eventually putting the pieces together and finding out that Colt Magnus, who rebuked Varis in his questioning attempts was the man they had to look for. The trio followed him at the Endshift tavern, and with the help of the shopkeeper, Pierre Kukassy, Colt Magnus was heavily intoxicated, making him easy prey. He was interrogated, revealing that Evander was being held in the Southern Ward Barracks, as well as a Captain had the keys to the dungeon. He was eventually shot dead by Varragh, when he identified the trio as the ones responsible for the bank massacre.
In order to infiltrate the barracks, Varis would stir up some trouble to attract attention by the guards, while Harminil and Varragh would pretend that they are lawyer and associate of the client respectively to get entrance. Varis however was unable to extract useful information, with Harminil and Varragh eventually paying his bail to get him out.

## The Docks

In order to find the Captain they were looking for, Prodavac Devola, the trio bribed the innkeeper of the Grinning Lion Inn, Spoia Dyer, who revealed that the Southern Ward was involved in suspicious closings of the docks come nightfall. The trio stalked Devola and his men, seeing how the presumed missing prisoners were being loaded onto the docks. Varragh used her magical abilities to charm a lesser guardsman in order to obtain more information. This plan failed and Harminil and Varis joined Varragh in the fight that ensued. Harminil quickly dispatched many of the lesser guardsmen, and, ever prideful, quickly set after Devola. In his pride, Harminil overestimated his ability of being able to take down multiple opponents at once, including Devola, who proved to be a match for Harminil's martial abilities. Harminil was eventually knocked down and Devola decided to retreat. Varis however was quick to heal Harminil, who set after Devola, landing many accurate shots with his longbow on the fleeing Captain. Harminil followed Devola all the way to the Barracks, where he was eventually forced to give up the chase.

## Liberating the Slaves

While Harminil was chasing Prodavac Devola, Varis and Varragh freed the slaves and brought them to Harminil's house. While already housing thousands in stolen gold and a bounty for a few dozen murders, Harminil insisted that Varis remove the liberated slaves from his house. Varis eventually had the liberated slaves from Calemport, 14 in total, settled in Maude’s Boarding House, after spending one night at Harminil's house. Varis and Varragh armed all the slaves that wanted to fight, 8 out of the 14, the slaving guards, while Harminil trained them.

## First Assault at the Southern Ward Barracks

The trio eventually planned their assault, with a team of the liberated slaves to create a guerilla distraction around the ward to open the way for the main strike force, consisting of Harminil, Varis, Varragh, Asier and Andala. The group manages to fight their way through the gate, with Asier advised by the trio to retreat following himself sustaining numerous wounds. After their victory at the gate, the trio ran down to the lower levels of the barracks, defeating the deformed Jailor. After clearing the remaining guards, the trio and Andala liberate various other ,mostly innocent, prisoners. It was in that dungeon, where Varis found Lia in the oubliette, in a bad physical condition. After an unexpected arrival of the Thin Man, Varis agrees to sell his soul to him in exchange for Lia getting healed. The group then decides to escape with the liberated prisoners through the sewers. In the sewers they encounter a Rat-King, who is defeated, but not before he kills two of the liberated prisoners, Meloon Wardragon and Garth Erendeir. Here the trio also find the "Sword in the Shit", which would later be wielded by Varis. In the end, the group successfully escaped and accommodate their new allies in Maude's Boarding House. There they learn that the guerilla diversion team is most likely dead. Since they failed at finding Prodavac Devola, Harminil, Varis, Asier and Andala pushed for a second attack in the barracks.

## Second Assault at the Southern Ward Barracks

After recovering from the First Assault, the trio decided to stake out the barracks, before quickly realising that Devola would not get out. Varragh was sceptical regarding a second assault, but lust for vengeance from Harminil, Varis and the freed slaves and prisoners meant that the attack would go through. The strike team consisted of Harminil, Varis, Varragh, and some of their newfound allies, Bandagh, Asier, Andala, Feyn and Jerth. The team entered the barracks via the way they previously escaped, through the sewers. Their entrance was met with immediate resistance from guardsmen, as well as a mercenary, Laurentius Dumar. With Harminil leading the assault, the group quickly carved their way through the guardsmen. Laurentius Dumar was eventually knocked down by Harminil. After fighting their way through the courtyard and into the main hall. After encountering stiffer and stiffer resistance, the group found Devola in the main building, where Harminil was finally able to get his revenge for their fight at the docks. However, after a long and brutal battle, the group found themselves weary and inside a burning building, forcing them to retreat. The group managed to make their way back to the lower levels, however Varragh misjudged the situation and wanted to flee through the courtyard. In their hectic attempt at retreat, Jerth was mortally wounded by crossbow fire, with Varragh nearly meeting the same fate, being saved by Varis. Harminil was unaware of the carnage, as in the hectic situation, he headed straight for the sewers to escape.

## Flight from Waterdeep

Bandagh, Varragh and Varis eventually made their way to Harminil's residence, where they found a resting place. However early in the morning, Harminil was rattled by a visit by a Captain, Ulder Cole who attempted an arrest for their crimes committed as members of the Amrik's raiders. In order to buy time, Varis went to stall Ulder by playing his Baras Goldwater persona. Harminil then immediately went to gather all his family heirlooms, while Bandagh started collecting all the stolen gold. Eventually, Varragh, using her magical abilities and a stolen horn by Colt Magnus, managed to attract a lot of attention to her side, fleeing Westwards. Harminil and Bandagh fled eastwards. Varis fled north. Eventually, Bandagh and Harminil reached the cliffs of Waterdeep. Seemingly being out of options, the two started free climbing the cliffs. Harminil's dexterity and athleticism allowed him to make some decent progress, before Varragh found them, using her rope and pitons to join them. Varragh and Bandagh lost their footing multiple times, however Harminil was able to catch them every time, successfully completing the descent with no casualties. Varragh, Bandagh and Harminil started the journey to Daggerford. When they reached the Ardeep river, the group noticed the body of Varis flowing down the river, being shot with multiple crossbow bolts. Harminil decided to give him a tiny bit of his Evermeetian wine that he managed to save from his house before the escape, to revive him. Eventually, the trio and Bandagh managed to reach Daggerford.

# Adventures in Daggerford

## Reunion with Tyavos and Vahayon

After reaching Daggerford following a few days' worth of travel, Harminil and his companions made their way to the Lady Luck tavern to rest and discuss their next moves. It was there where Harminil spotted his two younger twin brothers having a meeting with (unknown to Harminil then), a dreadmisstress of Bane. Harminil's eagerness to catch up with his two brothers, he interrupted the discussion multiple times. Annoyed by this, the dreadmisstress left. Angered, Tyavos lashed at Harminil, before being restrained by his twin brother. They met again the following day, in a more calm atmosphere. Harminil apologized to his two brothers for him screwing over their meeting, which as it turned out, it was essential for his two brothers to find a demonologist to help in their quest. Harminil agreed to find that demonologist for them, and gave them all the family heirlooms he managed to save from Waterdeep, much to his brothers' appreciation.

# Character

Harminil has a fierce spirit and a brass and prideful nature, often choosing to not think things through, something that Tyavos noted in their awkward reunion in Daggerford;"You are a better warrior than you are a speaker". He is an exceptionally skilled fighter, especially with the Lhang, while also possessing a high amount of skill with the Longbow. He is also unwaveringly loyal, to both his Family, and everyone who had fought with him, evident during their Nightstone attack.

# Etymology

Harminil in Elvish means "Friend of the South".