Elend von Leiden

Elend is a Fallen Aasimar Bard/Warlock from Barovia. He is an NPC and player character played by ChoroiBelmont. He is 24, his alignment is Chaotic Good and is currently level 15. He speaks Common, Celestial, Infernal and Primordial.

### Appearance

Elend is a deathly pale man with long wavy red hair and dark eyes. He wears dark clothes, reflecting his "fallen" status. When he uses his necrotic shroud, his eyes turn entirely black and black skeleton wings appear on his backside and he is surrounded by black necrotic energy.

Despite being Barovian, Elend does not have a Barovian accent. This is likely due to being raised solely by his mother, who is from Amn.

### Personality

Elend is flamboyant and obnoxious. He tries to dominate many conversations and insert himself in most situations.

His Character Sheet Personality is built as;

Personality Traits: "I have a joke for every situation, especially when humor is inappropriate"

Ideals: "I am a monster that will destroy monsters and all who oppose me"

Bonds: "There is great evil within me. It must not be set free"

Flaws: "I have trouble keeping quiet, my loud mouth always lands me in trouble,"

Often people dislike how he acts, but he seems not to care. When he notices someone insulting a friend, he often steps in the way to deflect hatred towards himself. He uses fear tactics and genuine evil to bully those who antagonize his allies.

### Background

Elend's official listed background is "Haunted One"

Elend was born deaf. He grew up with his mother Therese in a cabin in the forests of Barovia. He was unable to speak aloud so he and his mother developed a sign language that worked for them. He made friends with Ismark Kolyanovich and Ireena Kolyana, two children from Barovia. The three were very close and all learned the same sign language to communicate.

When Strahd's darkness came over the land, Elend's mother was blamed. Some villagers grouped in a mob to "burn the witch". Elend was bound to a pole, forced to watch his mother burn without knowing why, assuming he would be next.

As he watched, a voice entered his mind and offered Elend the power to save himself and his mother from this fate. Elend agreed and he was given the ability of hearing, the first sound entering his ears being his mother's screams and cries.

At this point, an aspect of Hadar controlled Elend's body. The flames burning Therese went dead and the villagers began to panic. The possessed Elend then slaughtered each of the villagers with strange demonic spells, cackling wildly as the blood spilled and fed the demon's hunger. His mother, now safe and freed, used her powers to restore his sanity. Elend spent the night crying in her arms, but they were both alive. The voice remained inside Elend's head, though, whispering of power he could achieve.

### Special Equipment

Elend currently mainly uses his Pact Weapon, the Kink Whip/Schlongsword. He acquired a Blood Spear +2 as a DM reward.He also carries a sickle for emergency close combat, relying more on his skills as a Warlock for offensive prowess and as Bard to support his allies.

### Adventuring

#### Barovia

Arou, Oleesa, and Lao encountered Elend in Vellaki as an NPC. They were introduced by Ismark. Elend feigned hurt feelings when he realized that Ismark hadn't mentioned him, calling himself Ismark's "ex-boyfriend". When asked why they broke up, he said he'd tell a lie and a truth, saying first that Ismark snored and then that they both weren't interested in an actual relationship. Lao was able to confirm that Ismark does not snore, indicating that the latter was the truth.

Elend went with Oleesa when she visited Stella, having heard of how her brothers had beaten Ismark in the bar a few nights before. He used first a Fear spell, then casting Arms of Hadar to restrain the brothers so they continued being frightened. Oleesa noticed this behavior and stopped him before he could kill the brothers.

Elend suggested pursing a strange rumor he had heard about a mad mage wandering around the countryside. Upon meeting with Ismark in the forest, Elend met Mikhael and immediately attempted to make the situation awkward, playing the jealous type. However, everyone realized that it was a joke, and it was only awkward. With help from Marzipan, he sent Ismark and Ireena to Krezk as they wished, although he had objections about their safety. From there, he "led" the group to the Mad Mage. (He actually got lost more often than not, so the group started taking his suggestions as the one way they shouldn't go. Based on this, they were able to successfully navigate)

They encountered the madman wandering the forests. He attacked them with nonsensical spells that didn't work and threw rocks at them. Elend was eventually able to cast a Remove Curse on him, ridding the wizard of his self-inflicted *feeblemind*. However, the mage would not allow Elend to enter his home, as "another looks through that boy's eyes and I don't want my secrets stolen."

Elend woke the party up with frantic knocks the next morning, insisting he could not get in touch with Ismark. The group hurried to Krezk to help. When they found Ismark under the Abbot's influence, Elend was most visibly shaken. Without warning, he kissed Ismark fully on the lips to be met with cold confusion. Elend claimed this action was a joke, not meant to actually work, but Oleesa noticed the effort had been sincere.

Upon entering the Church, Elend noticed that their magic did not work, but still was confused by the fact that he could hear, signifying his magic was still present. He acted violently and rudely towards the Abbot and was very upset at being ejected.

Elend reluctantly suggested they visit his mother Therese for help. Upon arriving, his mother made a big deal about Elend bringing a girl home to meet her. She was visibly disappointed upon realizing there was an entire group instead of her son announcing a relationship. Still, she offered her hospitality and gave the group a necklace that would nullify the Abbot's influence.

When Esmerelda made her way into the abbey, Elend seemed to find her incredibly entertaining. As she got more loud and obnoxious, he continued to add musical accompaniment in an attempt to annoy her. Oleesa made a comment that they'd be cute together. Esmeralda was offended by the idea and left as Elend pretended to be charming towards her.

After their companions were rescued, the Abbot asked for their help with a dress for Vasilka, Elend was more than pleased to go dress-shopping with Oleesa and Venora. Although he tried on a black leather ensemble, there was nothing that fit him and he seemed disappointed, though he secretly bought the leather piece for Oleesa to wear. The group then went to his mother's house to rest.

The next morning, Elend seemed impossible to wake up. Oleesa took the opportunity to brush his hair with her fingers. He later came downstairs in a nearly-asleep state, only waking up after consuming a plate of bacon.

After hearing about what happened at the Hospital to Lao and Arou, Elend got excited about possible demons and decided on a plan to involve himself, thinking the woman was summoning lower-level beings and would be overwhelmed by the sight of actual demons.

According to his plan, he gave the leather outfit to Oleesa, helping with makeup to make her look like a succubus. He asked Arou and Lao to dress in covering black robes to make themselves look like cultists and went to the hospital.

Upon arriving, it seemed that it was only Elend who could perceive the dark energies that were obvious before. However, Elend helped show everyone that there was an illusion blocking the darkness. He faced Anna Krezkov and used *detect thoughts* to read what she had done. However, his plan fell apart when he realized that she had made a pact with Hadar to resurrect her dead son. Elend then lost his temper and disgustedly walked off, consuming the power of Hadar as he wandered the hospital. He then uncovered a Summoning Circle, which the group asked the Abbot to seal off.

When the group was invited to visit Rictavio's tower, Elend was in an almost catatonic state due to consuming so much darkness. He napped on the back of Marzipan the entire trip and didn't get involved beyond being there staring at nothing. He snapped out of it only to notice the dance moves written on Rictavio's door before the group tried to force their way in and breaking the tower.

Elend was still present as they ventured into Argenvostholt, but did very little to influence events, staying remarkably out of drama's way. His only involvement was to cast Hunger of Hadar on two Phantom Warriors, then releasing it to switch to Arms of Hadar just to restrain the enemies and not inconvenience the party.

When encountering Esmeralda in the tower, he seemed more amused that she was screaming at the beacon and tried to annoy her further.

At the festival held in Vellaki by Stella Wachter, Elend acted noticeably aloof, not getting involved in the drinking contest. He told Oleesa he didn't trust himself to drink alcohol. He cast detect magic at one point and noted that Oleesa's major competition, Ad' Ajai, was glowing with intense magical power.

Once at the party, Elend and Oleesa noted that Ireena was by herself looking lonely. He then disguised himself as a stranger and asked her to dance. He acted very unlike himself.

#### Waterdeep

After traveling to Waterdeep in search of adventure, Elend felt a pull to the City of the Dead. While playing the lute in practice, he noticed a strange group of people and decided to investigate. He watched them from outside until their cleric noticed him and cast Hold Person on him, which he was able to shake off. He responded by saying "You should buy me dinner before restraining me, I'd be more in the mood for it," taking the group off guard. He learned that there was a necromancer in Waterdeep, which was likely what he had sensed. He continued to follow them around Waterdeep, referring to them as "buddies".

Upon entering the windmill, Elend demonstrated his rude sense of humor by casting Prestidigitation to make fart noises as a guard attempted to remove a bunch of squatters. He then was strangely kind and flavored the squatters' cooking to be more delicious but declined to share any.

Entering the tenant's bedroom, Elend was quick to jump on and lay down on the mattress. When DMF locked the door, Elend joked that now they were all stuck in a room with him so they should enjoy it. He didn't get off the bed even after people broke the door down and a fight ensued. He only got up to help tie up one of the assailants, suggesting they take his pants off as he tied the man to the bedposts. After interrogating the man, Elend blew him a kiss as he ran off.

He followed the others into the sewers, showing little hesitation to jump into the muck after the Druid Jayna asked rats to lead the way. His only hesitation to submerging into the muck was a dislike of his hair being wet.

After being attacked by a swarm of undead, Elend found he could do very little to help in combat. However, when Tromos displayed his Necrotic Shroud, Elend got excited and decided to do the same, the two boxing in enemies between them.

The group easily dispatched the forces and questioned the Necromancer on the Stone of Galor, with Elend casting Detect Thoughts to confirm the validity of. They managed to learn about the Kenku stealing the stone and that there were still more Kenku about. After finishing the interrogation, Elend joked that he would then probe deeper to discern the man's dirtiest secret. Upon doing so, he witnessed acts of necrophilia in the man's memory, which prompted him to slit the necromancer's throat while his party was looking away.

While chasing down a Kenku, Elend repeatedly called for Marzipan, even using Message. He got impatient, continuing the chase until he watched his ally kill the Kenku before he even arrived. He then pouted and waited for Marzipan, saying he needed to talk with the horse after this behavior. He audibly complained about how he had no way of summoning her and that he never remembered where she was parked. He ran into two new adventurers on the way, waiting for his horse.

Chasing the Kenku into a building, Elend and friends found several children playing at being adventurers, something Elend noted was adorable, feeling saddened while remembering growing up with Ismark and Ireena. The two children said that a bird person had kidnapped their friend, which made Elend angry and the group stormed up.

After dispatching the Kenku, one of the allies Elend had just met named Groot aquired the stone. Elend tried to detect magic on it and was confused by pulsing magics about it, revealing it to be unusual as well as neither good nor evil. It whispered in Groot's mind that the treasure was beneath the theater. After Groot told the group the stone was whispering into his mind, he suddenly heard Elend in his brain suggesting they get snacks, which Groot found funny.

### Relationships

Therese: Elend's relationship with his mother is still surprisingly close. She holds out hopes for him to settle down into a relationship even though he seems uninterested in the concept. She is willing to help him and any friends of his by supplying shelter, food and magical healing.

Hadar: As his patron, Hadar often whispers into Elend's mind. He often whispers for Elend to do things against his will. Elend struggles against him so far, having remembered how Hadar used his body to slaughter everyone. Still, he can't deny that he is grateful for the gift of hearing and the various powers he has gained through this pact.

Esmerelda d'Avenir: Elend seems to find the Vistani woman very entertaining, enjoying making music to accompany her ranting and angry yelling.

Ismark: Having grown up together, Ismark is the person Elend is closest to. When Ismark came out as gay to his father, Elend was happy to be his boyfriend for a time until they broke up. It is a running joke between them that Elend continues to flirt with him and pretend to be jealous. It is theorized by his mother that Elend still loves Ismark but doesn't continue the relationship because it could bring them both harm.

Ireena: As childhood friends, Elend is fond of Ireena. They seem to have less of a flirtatious relationship and take each other seriously.

Oleesa: Oleesa seems to enjoy the company of Elend and he finds her amusing. He has made no attempt to flirt with her, finding it more entertaining to flirt with Ismark. This has led Oleesa to ask his preference in gender, to which he replied he's only interested in individual personalities.

Arou: Arou doesn't seem to like Elend, often calling him douchy. The two don't usually conflict in personality, but they don't tend to interact well either.

Lao: Elend and Lao seem to generally ignore and tolerate each other. Occassionally Lao finds it fun to listen to Elend's lute playing as he often plays some of EyeAmTheDanger's favorite songs and songs by his favorite real-life artists.

Marzipan: Elend's undead steed. Elend often shows extreme compassion for his horse, despite her being beyond complaint for lack of comfort. He will not tolerate anyone insulting his horse but will sometimes insult her himself, namely at how she is annoying for being better at navigating than he is.

Tromos: Elend initially ignored Tromos, but was amazed at the sight of Tromos' necrotic shroud. He has since decided to try to get to know Tromos better, if only because Tromos is the only other Fallen Aasimar Elend has ever seen besides himself. It is unknown if he is genuinely interested in pursuing a romantic relarionshio with Tromos, as Elend behaves that way towards everyone.

### Trivia

He is based on 2 Sound Horizon characters, Marchen and Shaytan. His backstory is more based on Marchen but his design reflects more of Shaytan's appearance. However, despite these designs, Elend's personality is more reflective of Danny Sexbang from NinjaSexParty and Mollymauk Tealeaf from Critical Role.

Elend's sexual preference is "Whenever I can get it," however, his only confirmed partner has been Ismark, a man.

His first name "elend" translates to "misery" in German. His last name "leiden" means "to suffer". Together, his name roughly translates to "suffering from suffering".

Elend's miniature is Nolzur's Marvelous Unpainted Miniatures: Human Male Bard, which was modified by ChoroiBelmont to have the black wings and longer hair.

Elend often uses acoustic guitar covers of songs found on YouTube. He has a playlist on YouTube of the songs he "plays" which include covers of Skillet's Monster, Comatose, Hero, Linkin Park's Crawling, In The End, System of the Down's Chop Suey, Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun, Fell on Black Days, Final Fantasy songs including Suteki da Ne, To Zanarkand, One Winged Angel, Voltaire's Death Death Devil Devil Evil Evil Song, When You're Evil, Breaking Benjamin's So Cold, Diary of Jane, and Castlevania's Bloody Tears.

Elend is a level 7 Hellbringer Warlock in the online game Neverwinter. There are many differences between the online character and the tabletop one, such as the fact that he is an Aasimar in the tabletop game and a human in the online game as the race is not available in Neverwinter.