Engelbolt Deathskull

Engelbolt Mamadeus Deathskull is a dwarven aasimar bard with the Firebreathing Kittens. A hirsute haunted baritone, who's been drifting from town to town for decades, Engelbolt hails from the Icy Citadel on the arctic undead island of Psychronia. Frequently possessed by delirious spirits, curiously persuasive, and most at ease between zombies and skeletons, he's got a knack for chaos despite his listlessness.

## Characteristics

* ***Height.*** 5'
* ***Weight.*** 160 lbs.
* ***Voice.*** Whiskey-soaked

### Appearance

Engelbolt is a dour-looking, broad-shouldered young dwarf. He's got a wild mane of thick black hair poking out from under a wide-brimmed fedora. Unlike most dwarves, he styles his facial hair in a pointed goatee, and shaves the rest of his face every day. It usually takes less than an hour for a five o'clock shadow to appear.

Engelbolt wears a black hat, a long black coat over a frilly black shirt, worn black pants, and pointy black shoes. He's got a silvered belt buckle. His arms and torso are covered in coarse hair and tattoos.

The Firebreathing Kittens guild logo is located on the back of his left hand, in between a tattoo of a sexy snake and a magical one of a skull with a suggestive tongue.

### Personality

Engelbolt's typical slumped-over demeanor is occasionally interrupted by bouts of burning passion, during which he falls in and out of love haphazardly, and throws himself headfirst into anything that draws him in. As the scion of a notorious undead despot and the abandoned son of an angel, he doesn't place value in either political or divine authority. All this means he chases simple pleasures as a means of escape, goes by his guts, and follows his whims, even when it seems incoherent or dangerous to others. Engelbolt prefers to avoid violence, but is not above a good con.

### Magic

Though Engelbolt's magic originates from his velvety music and sordid charisma, he has been steeped in necromancy since he was a baby, and knows his portents and rituals. His divine lineage betrays itself in his magic, which manifests in ethereal light.

Engelbolt's arcane focus is a battered, old, severely haunted blues harp.

## Background

Engelbolt Deathskull was born from the holy union between the angel Dwariel and Saint Helena of Calzar, a famous, pious, and generous cleric of Moradin. Their love was pure as melting snow and as short-lived, as the dwarven citadel where Helena lived was attacked by Frost Orcs three months after Engelbolt's immaculate birth. To save the young dwarf, she gave in to dark forces, and surrendered her own life to transform into an undead lich hierophant. This bolstered her considerable divine power to the point where she was able to fend off the attack by herself, but it also warped her mind, and rather than sending the invaders away, she slaughtered them and her own people en masse, then raised them as an undead army. Rebranding herself the Lady Deathskull, she took control of the now undead citadel, with Engelbolt its only living inhabitant.

Growing up among spirits, zombies, and skeletons with an overbearing mother was hard on the poor dwarf, especially since his father had seemingly abandoned them after his mother's turn to unlife. Fortunately, he formed astute friendships with the ghosts of his fallen brethren, and even started a band with a bunch of jangly skeletons. Music quickly became his only means of escape -- aside from alcohol, and also literal escape. At the age of 17, Engelbolt walked out of his isolated home in the frigid North, and after months of subsisting on nothing but seal blubber and snow, managed to hitch a ride on a trade barge and made it to the civilized world.

In the 26 years since then, he's been wandering from town to town in a drunken haze, making ends meet by performing music, cons, and seances. The Lady Deathskull, meanwhile, has kept a firm grasp on her domain, and just a mention of his last name has been enough to draw the blood from most nobles' faces. It's no surprise he's been followed by disaster after disaster, and as a natural conduit for spirits, he uses his songs to lament his own lived experience and the stories of the ghosts that have attached their lives to his. He wound up in the Firebreathing Kittens guild hall after following the sound of the nearest party upon arrival in Niqamui, and woke up the next morning with a headache and a free tattoo.

## Dalliances and Drinking Buddies

Prior to his joining the Firebreathing Kittens, Engelbolt has spent many years meandering, carousing, and hooking up with whomever crossed his path that night. These prior acquaintances include, but are not limited to:

* Algenoth "Algie" Skaarzborroosh
* Bilbo Bananagans, Ph.D.
* Doobie Calamario
* Lorin Whipple
* Mallory the Victorious
* Ole Cap'n Crusty
* Piney Mayer
* Screaming Michela
* Spork Dayface
* Tim the Necromancer

## Adventures

* Engelbolt has not appeared in any adventures yet.