Coriander Lovelle

## General

A former staff member of Watchguard's Archives and Research sectors, Coriander Lovelle operates currently as an agent of Angelica Fairchild's personal strike team: R-23. Since joining the organization in 493 H.F., Coriander's goals have been defined by a strict loyalty to Watchguard's mission, and a voracious fascination with arcane mysteries and secrets; through the freedom his job grants as a strike team agent, Coriander has been able to explore both priorities freely. And in doing so, he has dipped into magics either inaccessible to most modern wizards (i.e., the concept of arcane demesnes) or otherwise impossible for wizards to achieve (metamagic, akin to the birthright sorcerers wield; ancient, druidic magic).

Coriander aims to claim long-lost arcane knowledge, expand upon its limits, and then reintroduce it to the modern world, viewing the potential applications as a net-good for civilization; to meet this goal, he has taken up apprenticeship underneath Medicine, entered into a tenuous trade deal with the Six Hundredth And Twice-Fortieth (while also studying the aboleth's anatomy for its arcane prospects), communed and bonded with the ancient Cormanthan Martyr, Ioseph, and has begun in-earnest the impossible task of cataloguing the effects and aspects of arcanoforges.

During missions, Coriander acts as an arcane authority on matters R-23 may encounter; his primary repertoire deals in elvish history and arcane conventions, but as R-23's mission scopes expand so too does Coriander's knowledge base. As the resident loremonger, it is up to Coriander what is and isn't recorded and reported to Watchguard.

## Description

Coriander bears a strong resemblance to his mother, Padma Lovelle, though aspects of his father, Argyle Lovelle, shine through as in Coriander’s hair and eye colors. He is a taller figure with a thin build, overlarge hands and feet, and sharp features. His skin is saddle-brown, his hair is a neck-length mess of bluish black, his eyes are electric-green, and he always sports a thick mustache. Due to spending much of his life in Waterdeep, under the sickening polluted rain, Coriander speaks in a higher, rasping register.

He is hardly ever seen without his spellbook, his arcane focal ring, and his obsidian scimitar on-hand. Coriander most often dons a turtleneck of some sort: studded leather, heavy wool, or thin silk. Beyond this, he tends to wear longcoats, boots, and dresswear; as of late, he also dons a Cloak of Displacement and frequently sports a strange, arcane helm made of bone.

After being magically "overcharged" by Fairchild (and thus tainted with Abyssal influence), Coriander now sports a plume of wilder, longer hair which trails down to the small of his back. After his encounter with Ranolil, Coriander’s (formerly missing) left eye has been replaced with an ersatz, draconic eye.

## Biography

### Backstory

Coriander Lovelle was born in 473 H.F., in Waterdeep, to Argyle and Padma Lovelle. In his youth in the South Ward, he would befriend a small cadre of peers. In particular, he would forge a strong bond with Reeds – strengthening their friendship over the years through their competitions over who could eat more and hotter Grim Claws, through their heists sneaking into film theatres, and through their shared love and patronage of the shop, Orvin’s General.

Though his family bore a destitute lifestyle in the slums of the city, there were times where the Lovelle Family’s street-magic performing acts eked them some degree of success. Padma’s Zoroastra and Argyle’s Ptereo were a boon for the family, a modest success in the community for their exceptional sleight of hand and “psychic appeal”. Through these performances, and through the Lovelles’ propensity for conspiratory theories, Coriander would develop an appreciation for mysticism and a general distrust of authority systems, respectively. And frequent trips to Orvin’s General Store helped him develop a love for adventure through the shop owner’s Broadway personality and tales of fancy.

So when, in 493 H.F., an unusual number of disappearances began to plague Waterdeep, it was only natural that Coriander would investigate. He assumed the source was some serial killer at this bacchanal, and that the bounty he could rake in by catching the killer was second only to the satisfaction he’d gain from solving this mystery. Coriander suspected that the arrival of a strange festival at the Field of Victory was related to these "murders". The deeper he investigated into these disappearances, however, the more disturbing and inexplicable they became.

Eventually, Coriander could no longer reconcile the odd occurrences at the Field of Victory with his own understanding of the world. These disappearances were no pedestrian murder or gang activity: people were being taken “somewhere else; somewhere impossible and beautiful”. So began Coriander’s first experience with the Feywild. He didn’t understand it at the time, but he was in the process of becoming a victim to the Fey Intrusion, a cataclysmic event directed by the Autumnal Vikont Fairly Breathtaking, the Mourning Celebrant.

Coriander would find himself at the festival one night, where he suspected he would unearth the source of these disappearances. While he would indeed see firsthand a group of victims’ vanishing, he would also catch the attention of the Mourning Celebrant. Coriander would have become another, nameless loss at the festival – were it not for Watchguard intervention. The Bellars, accompanied by their own investigative team and the fey ambassador, Sonder, were already researching this Fey Intrusion and would arrive just in time to recover Coriander from the festival. But his exposure to the dark underbelly of existence (in particular, his glimpse into the fey realms) would fundamentally change him, drive him to know more. Coriander resolved to join Watchguard in order to better discover all the strange realities which now lay before him.

The time Coriander would spend at Watchguard, with the first year as an archivist and with the next two years as a research assistant, would be largely colored by his experiences during the Fey Intrusion. It began with in-depth research into the history Feywild-Prime relations, then evolved into a deep study of ancient elves, and then morphed finally into a ravenous hunt for ancient elven skills and magics.

### Arc 1

*See: ARC 1: Goodhaven*

After years of working in archives and research, Coriander Lovelle desired an opportunity to put his knowledge to the test (and to acquire otherwise inaccessible knowledge) through field work. And with the successful breach containment under Skralgt't's and Kroa'Goa's belts the duo were immediately given a new assignment as free agents. In the early spring of 496 H.F., Coriander was selected to act as a throughline for the two on this new assignment, connecting agents Kroa'Goa and Skralgt't to Watchguard Proper for their first mission; his mission statement, per Watchguard, was to keep his new teammates safe and successful. This would go on to be a defining mission for Coriander: the survival of his teammates at all costs.

Upon arriving to Goodhaven State Penitentiary, Coriander would be stripped of many of the mainstay tools he relied on: he would be deprived of his spellbook, his arcane focal ring, his sickle, and his whisper jar. During this mission, then, Coriander would improvise many alternatives to these tools. From using cobbled-together components to cast spells, to writing a new spellbook from memory using Skralgt't's blood for ink, Coriander was forced to scrape and think on his feet to survive the prison; most of note, however, Coriander was pushed to rely on his teammates to survive. Because of this crucible-esque environment, Coriander's devotion to protecting his teammates was tested and solidified.

During the mission, Coriander would develop a smoking habit/addiction from his dealings with "Big Eddie" at Goodhaven. By beating this dealer in a game of cards, Coriander won a sum of handmade cigarettes; upon returning to Watchguard Headquarters after this mission, and upon receiving a laboratory in which to base himself, he would also have a cigarette vending machine installed in the laboratory lobby. From then on, Coriander would always collect a handful of cigarettes from this dispenser to calm his nerves before every mission.

After the mission, Coriander would see the remarkable arcane applications of studying the aboleth samples. To him, this creature was a wellspring of potential: it was beyond concepts of gods and death, and the magic it wielded was far-and-away unlike any other Coriander had encountered in his studies. The "ontological stasis" of the aboleth, as Coriander called it, could prove a useful thing to reverse-engineer, and would allow objects, creatures, and even concepts to be less susceptible to change through outside means (be it time, divine intervention, or death).

### Arc 2

*See: ARC 2: Cormanthor*

In preparation for the Strike Team's maiden mission in Cormanthor, Coriander was interested in the prospect of discovering troves of ancient, elven magics and artifacts. And ultimately, he got everything he sought and more. He would face ancient elven riddles and find himself ill-equipped to understand elven cultures beyond a bookread level. It was during this mission that Coriander would meet Preceptor Ori and encounter the most powerful spell known to mortalkind: **Wish**, more myth than reality in the modern day. And he would observe arcane wonders such as the Demogorgon's Cage and an intact arcanoforge, with which he would create his Focus of Power. Ultimately, these encounters would instill in Coriander that despite the Strike Team's impressive accomplishments, there was still much left in the world for them to understand. The team had only begun to tap into their potential, and there was no upward limit to what magic could render them capable of.

Notably in this mission, Coriander was accepted by and bound with the spirit of the martyr, Ioseph - through whom Coriander gained a wealth of long-lost elven history, and with whom he would wield an even more ancient form of protective magic. Even though Coriander could access all the knowledge Ioseph bore, it was an active effort; long after his time in Myth Drannor, Coriander would regularly commune with the spirit of Ioseph in an attempt to unite the two's souls fully into one entity. In some instances, the two's union could be felt: reminders of Ioseph's past which invoked powerful feelings and memories in him were superimposed over Coriander's own feelings, as in the rage and shame felt when Ioseph/Coriander saw his name credited for contributions to the Demons' Grave. But as of current records, this union is not yet complete.

During the mission, Coriander would meet with the gnoll strong, Medicine. His inquiries into the nature of her demesne, and his desperate curiosity at the prospect of the Demogorgon's return, sparked in Medicine a mentor's interest for him. When he offered Medicine components from a creature native to the Shadowfell in his bid to be taken under her tutelage, Coriander had one goal in mind: the mastery of the long-forgotten art of creating a demesne. But through his working relationship with Medicine, Coriander has also grown to take pride in the skills he has cultivated over time and under his own effort - occasionally to his detriment. Coriander's loyalties lie with Watchguard Management and Solutions. But the respect he feels for his master is second to none. He has, to this day, maintained an active and transactive relationship with his master (offering diverse and alchemically potent objects collected on his missions, in exchange for Medicine's expansive knowledge). As of yet, Coriander has given Medicine the following:

* A severed piercing limb, collected from an instance of the Lonely;
* A vial of Blacktide, collected from an underground well of the substance outside Ordulin;
* A 1lb. chunk of obsidian, collected from magma near the Demogorgon's body;
* A 1lb. chunk of obsidian, collected from the Demogorgon's body.

It was also in Medicine's village that Coriander would be given "Originality", the obsidian scimitar, by Jubali. This weapon would supplant Coriander's sickle which he used previously.

When the party circled Ordulin early in their mission, and when they encountered what they suspected was an undead horde, Coriander slew a woman in his fear. Discovering later that his victim was merely poisoned rather than undead, and that in fact she was likely seeking help from the Strike Team before Coriander murdered her, Coriander's grief at the woman's death would stick with him long after the mission was completed.

And toward the end of the Strike Team's mission, Kroa'Goa would lose his life in the Demons' Grave. Coriander would be deeply affected by this loss, believing it to be his fault. Coriander had been entrusted with looking after his teammates no matter what: they were highly valuable agents of the company, after all. And so Coriander's inability to prevent Kroa'Goa's death was marked as a lasting and immense failure for Coriander. Even after Kroa'Goa's resurrection, Coriander would carry extreme levels of guilt. And Kroa'Goa's resignation from the Strike Team's active duty only cemented Coriander's shame. This, coupled with the resignation of Skralgt't at the end of the mission as well, would indicate to Coriander that though the team had succeeded in their mission, he had not succeeded in his own individual task.

### Arc 3

*See: ARC 3: Waterdeep*

The Strike Team's foray into the City of Waterdeep was a critical point for Coriander's life - where the consequences of his beliefs caught up with him at last. For years, he had kept his family at arms length with lies and misdirection, to protect them from Watchguard; this relationship would be tested, strained, and broken by the events of the Strike Team's mission where Coriander's lies began to fall apart. For years under their thumbs, he had come to believe that the gangs of Waterdeep were invincible, insurmountable powers, better to be avoided than confronted; because of this unwillingness to directly face the gangs, the Strike Team failed to stop the Dearth's plan to create a **Gate** to the Feywild - and so the party allowed the gods to mete out justice on the city. The growing distrust against his fellow arcanists (spurred by Coriander's experiences with Alter Ancel in Cormanthor) inclined Coriander to avoid interacting with Waterdeep's Blackstaff and the vast knowledge she wielded, for a time; it was only after the assassination attempt on Vjara's life and the Strike Team learning her story that Coriander began to see Ancel for the grim outlier he was.

Further, Coriander's experiences with the city's most powerful forces put into perspective the truth that he would never be able to compare to the world's greatest arcanists. He barely survived Ranolil's wrath, even when he wasn't her primary target; Vjara was a veritable demigod-in-the-making, where even Coriander's prodigious talents paled in comparison. The knowledge that there would always be more powerful arcanists out there was an obvious truth, but a difficult reality for Coriander to grapple with. For Coriander, his place in Watchguard had been shaken with his recent mission's failure, and his confidence in his abilities had been shaken by his recent encounters with Waterdeep's best. This was only made worse by the revelation that the **Simulacrum** he had created suffered the consequences of Coriander's own life with very few of the benefits, and that this simulacrum struggled now with their own autonomy/identity in a world that only knew the original Coriander; to Coriander, the magic he had used so freely now brought with it countless consequences to others.

The loss of Reeds during the seraphim's onslaught, the flight of Orvin amidst the city's crises, and the forced exodus of his family to Watchguard troubled Coriander greatly. In the span of a week, his entire pre-Watchguard life found itself uprooted. This was made only worse with the dire curse Beshaba (the Goddess of Misfortune) had laid on him - after which the Strike Team found its members either slain or maimed horribly. Suffice it to say, Coriander found himself in dire straits at the end of his time in Waterdeep.

Still, the city had as much good to offer than ill. Coriander befriended Vjara Saphir, with whom he related in her struggles over magic and responsibility. He communed with Corellon (the Patron God of Elves) and found in them a breath of fresh air amidst the city's growing chaos; the affection they offered Coriander in-kind was worth more than its weight in gold. The lives Coriander impacted for the better in the city would stick with him, from Fenkin at Club Sypher, to the fearful crowds of concerned citizens. And through his interactions with Naazhir, Coriander learned that it might be truly possible to recreate an arcanoforge in the modern day, though it would not be without its own hurdles. The time he spent in his home city reminded him of all the reasons to love Waterdeep.

## Powers/Abilities

Coriander is an accomplished arcanist and is often relied upon by the Strike Team as a magical authority, of sorts. He maintains a wide range of magical abilities, from teleportation and mind-reading to disintegration and conjuration. And he maintains an uncanny ability to reverse-engineer spells quickly and efficiently, as when he improved upon Alter Ancel's **Simulacrum** spell to create his own duplicate. Coriander tends to rely heavily on three spells in-particular:

1. **Detect Magic**: A powerful, investigative tool which aids Coriander in determining what (if any) arcane effects are in a given situation. Further, Coriander is known to use this spell when transcribing new abilities into his spellbook; it ensures a more accurate, streamlined result.
2. **Cloud of Daggers**: A dangerous trap which Coriander creates to control the flow of battle. He is known to center this field on enemies to ensure maximal harm, or to place it as a discouraging barrier between him and any opponent(s).
3. **Scorching Ray**: A scattershot burst of arcane-energy-made-flame, Coriander is known to use this to obliterate multiple foes at once, or concentrate these rays into one massive blast - centered on a single, unfortunate target.

To counteract his reliance on arcane arts, Coriander is also a practitioner of bladesinging's Mantid Style. This style of the martial art relies on maintaining a continuous, consecutive series of kata-like movements; at high speeds, this series is intended to provide a "bubble" of defense around the wielder which confuses and shields at once. It acts as an ideal defense against large crowds and more lumbering foes - a holdover from its use in Cormanthor against demonic forces. Coriander has made the style his own by using it in conjunction with the **False Life** and **Haste** spells: one to make him supernaturally durable against particularly dangerous situations, and the other to accelerate his body to inhuman speeds to keep up with and overwhelm foes in a melee.

Coriander can be quick-witted in a scrape, and his conspiracy theories may sometimes grasp at half-truths, but he believes his true strength lies in his near-encyclopedic knowledge of arcane conventions. He may not know every spell in existence (yet), but Coriander has made it a point to understand *how* the principles of arcane magic work: rituals, high-level arcana, alchemy and biology, and the effects/limits of residual magic. And where Coriander's knowledge falls short, his access to the loremongers' collective demiplane of knowledge/records fills in the gaps. This, coupled with his unshakable loyalty to Watchguard, cements Coriander's role as an effective tool for the organization.

As a student of Medicine, Coriander has gained access to a lesser demesne of his own design: his arcane potency and control has grown tremendously through the creation of this well of power. As a "reincarnation" of sorts for the Cormanthan Martyr, Ioseph, Coriander is able to share knowledge with this spirit, commune with it, and even summon it to defend Coriander from threats both physical and mental - so long as he continues to champion Ioseph's ideals. And through his dealings with the Six Hundredth and Twice Fortieth, Coriander has gained access to minor, druidic magics otherwise inaccessible to wizards.

## Relationships

### Orvin McDonnell

In Orvin McDonnell, Coriander received his first glimpse at the adventuring lifestyle. His curiosity and his hunger for knowledge was nurtured by Orvin's flair for the dramatic, and his strange wares and stranger tales. It may have been the Lovelles who encouraged Coriander to question the world around him, but it was Orvin who pushed him to actively hunt these answers for himself - and it was Orvin who gave him the tools to do so.

The two have grown a remarkably strong mentorship and friendship over the years. Strong enough, even, for Orvin to offer his store for "Coriander" to operate in his stead when the former departed Waterdeep.

### Angelica Fairchild

Coriander's relationship with Angelica Fairchild (and Watchguard as a whole) is one based in staunch and unrelenting loyalty. It was Watchguard, and Ms.Fairchild by extension, that saved Coriander's life during the Fey Intrusion - and it was Watchguard that opened his eyes to the secrets of the world. To honor the debt he feels he owes to the company and its owner, Coriander has become incredibly eager to please, in some cases even to his detriment: should Watchguard require it, Coriander has been shown to push himself ragged to the bone, and at great personal risk. Where other staff members may at times regret the choice to join Watchguard, Coriander has only grown more assured of his service to Ms.Fairchild and the greater good.

He has taken to viewing her as a kind of mentor figure, confidant, and friend. And her word is as good as law to Coriander.

### Elias and Sara Bellars

The Bellars took in Coriander after his experiences during the Fey Intrusion; in him, they saw both a person in need and the makings of a colleague in Watchguard. They served as Coriander's mentors in his early years with the organization, and later in the wake of his promotion to Angelica Fairchild's Strike Team they continued to aid in his personal research. In the Bellars, Coriander has found steadfast guides and friends alike. He regularly consults with them on matters professional and personal, and he takes their advice as seriously as he would Angelica Fairchild's.

In his free time outside of missions, Coriander is known regularly to attend the Bellars' dinners - open to all Research Staff, current or former.

### Sonder

The friendship between Coriander and Sonder is both fleeting and invaluable. In truth, they have only interacted rarely and in passing following Coriander's induction to Watchguard. But his first meeting with Sonder during the Fey Intrusion instilled in Coriander a fear and respect for the Feywild, and through his resulting research into the fey and eladrin and elves he developed his affinity for magic. As far as Coriander is concerned, Sonder helped make him the man he is - and so he treats her advice with a degree of reverence and utmost respect. And he recognizes that for all the research he has done into fey history, Sonder is by-far the master; when the Strike Team was given its mission into the Feywild, Coriander's first priority was to seek out Sonder's counsel.

To Coriander, Sonder is the ideal Watchguard agent. He continues to strive for the steadfastness, finesse and creativity, and sheer knowledge that he saw Sonder display during the Fey Intrusion.

### Kroa'Goa

Coriander was initially selected to oversee Kroa'Goa and Skralgt't on their first missions with Watchguard, to ensure their safety and to strengthen their attachment to the company. From this lens, he came to view Kroa'Goa and Skralgt't as dire priorities, for whom he would gladly sacrifice his life. This could be seen in his adamance to serve as a decoy against basilisks the party encountered in Cormanthor, rather than risk harm to his teammates. The loss of Kroa'Goa in the Demons' Grave (and his later retirement from active duty) would thus shake Coriander greatly, and he would carry the loss of his teammate with him long after the team's time together. He had failed Watchguard in his mission, and more importantly he had failed Kroa'Goa as his guardian.

As time went on, however, the two's relationship evolved. Kroa'Goa and Skralgt't became more comfortable with Watchguard at-large, and Coriander became less of an overseer and more of a peer with his teammates. And eventually, he came to see Kroa'Goa as something of a sibling-figure: Kroa'Goa's unflappable nature was a ground for Coriander to center himself "when the going became tough", so to speak, and he became a treasured comrade for Coriander.

### Skralgt't

Skralgt't and Coriander maintained, at all times, a deep-founded respect for each other - and at the same time, a great division. Coriander grew up destitute and forgettable in the city of Waterdeep; he had come to view magic and the world through a clinical lens of absolutes. Skralgt't spent his time before Watchguard as a renowned warrior and hunter in the Cormanthan jungles; few things were more assuring than his divine connection to Huananuchi. But where the two differed, they came to rely on each other greatly. Skralgt't's immense wisdom was a source of guidance for Coriander, and Coriander's encyclopedic knowledge on the nature of elves and magic was a useful tool for Skralgt't. Even further, though, Coriander grew much closer with Skralgt't by being there, every step of the way, during Skralgt't's journey to rekindle his relationship with his son Vanachi.

Theirs was a relationship hard-forged through the crucible of their missions together. Sturdy and sure, the two came to see each other as indispensable comrades.

### Dufresne

Dufresne is a mainstay in Coriander's life and career, and the two have fostered a close friendship in each other ever since their first meeting. Coriander was part of Angelica Fairchild's Strike Team when it requested to induct Dufresne from Goodhaven Penitentiary to Watchguard Management's ranks; during the team's time at this prison, it was Dufresne who guided them and aided their investigation greatly, and so the Strike Team saw fit to return that kindness. From that day, Coriander would see in Dufresne a kindred spirit: in his eyes, their first entanglements with Watchguard were not so different.

Over time, Coriander's relationship with Dufresne has grown immensely. Professionally, Dufresne has proved himself reliable, steadfast, and resourceful beyond measure; personally, he is viewed by Coriander as something of a brother-figure.

### Medicine

Coriander is of the opinion that one cannot serve two masters at once - but for Medicine, he is more than willing to prove that opinion wrong. Their first meeting might have discouraged another apprentice-to-be (it is no small thing, being faced with even an illusion of the Demogorgon's Sigil - especially by an arcanist as powerful as Medicine). But Coriander's unrelenting curiosity at Medicine and the magic she wielded, in its own way, earned him her curiosity in kind. The two share a layered relationship: at times scathing and almost competitive, but always founded on the dual pursuit of knowledge. For as much as Medicine guides her student, Coriander provides resources and knowledge from places otherwise inaccessible to his master.

The potency and rarity of Medicine's magic, and the freedom she gives Coriander to strike out on his own, has earned her Coriander's respect. And the trust she offers in kind by teaching him her secrets (secrets only meant for someone whom Medicine truly believes in as a potential successor) is not lost on him. He values her nearly as much as he does Watchguard.

## Quotes

"I'm sorry, Kroa'Goa: Watchguard asked me to keep you both safe. That's why I was chosen. I failed." - Coriander, drunken, when confessing his guilt to Kroa'Goa after their mission in Cormanthor.

"You're useful to Watchguard. Protecting you is a priority." - Coriander, when asked why he helped bring Slinthe back to life.

## Trivia

* Coriander’s middle name is “Scott”, a fact largely unknown by staff at Watchguard. On all official documents, his name is listed as “Coriander Lovelle”, or as “Coriander S. Lovelle”.
* After nearly falling to his death in Cormanthor, Coriander has developed a fear of heights.
* Coriander's Spellbook was purchased at the Watchguard Management Giftshop, shortly after his orientation day.