Shuushar the Awakened

**Shuushar the Awakened** was a kuo-toa hermit and mystic who once held the duties of a Kuo-toa Monitor under the rule of Archpriest Ploopploopeen. He abandoned the worship of Blibdoolpoolp and the warring ways of his people to adopt an ideology of pacifism, and was exiled from his home village of Sloobludop for abandoning the traditions and duties of Monitors. After many years seeking enlightenment in the Underdark's caverns, he was captured by drow slavers and taken to Velkynvelve, where he later participated in an escape plan. He later perished during *the Rise of the Deep Father*, after having taken his fellow ex-slaves to his home village.

Shuushar the Awakened was an NPC present in the ongoing *Out of the Abyss* adventure.

## Description

Shuushar was a short and pudgy kuo-toa, with purple-hued scales, light brown eyes, and a very calming presence. He stood tall at 5 feet (1.5 meters) and weighed around 175 pounds (79 kilograms). He preferred to wear simple brown robes, lacking in any jewelry or other signs of status. In a way he was given a similar enough outfit during his enslavement at Velkynvelve, as he and others were made to wear 'clothing' made out of burlap.

## Personality

Due to the racial madness of the kuo-toa, as well as how fervently Shuushar kept to his pacifism, a reasonable debate could be held on whether Shuushar the Awakened was truly sane unlike his people, or simply suffering from a more unique insanity than the rest of the kuo-toa. Regardless of whether he was enlightened or just like his kin, Shuushar was a pleasant and wise kuo-toa, offering calming words to all who could understand him. He was honest, accepting, and he viewed every terrible situation he was put into (including his time at Velkynvelve) as something to view with a strange optimism. Though he happily came along when his fellow slaves chose to escape, the kuo-toa monk would've happily lived a life of enslavement, believing things were as the were, and no one could foretell what good might come from their current situation.

When the party escaped, Shuushar cheerfully brought the ex-slaves to his home of Sloobludop, knowing how he was seen and how he might be treated upon his return. Unbeknownst to his new traveling companions he'd risked his life to bring them to some safety, and later when he was presented with a destructive force about to kill his new friends as well as destroy his home, he did the one thing he believed might calm the situation. Shuushar the Awakened died at the hands of Demogorgon, Prince of Demons, trying to urge the demon lord to parley and stop his needless violence.

## History

Shuushar was spawned and raised in Sloobludop, marked from an early age as a 'special'. He was raised to be a fervent follower of the Sea Mother Blibdoolpoolp, and later trained to be a Kuo-toa Monitor, a warrior-monk serving as an enforcer of the Archpriest. During his years as a Monitor he was as violent and cruel as the situation called for, serving the Cult of the Sea Mother in any brutal task that needed completion. When he reached his later years, he began to see the world around him differently, no longer believing his service as a Monitor was what the Kuo-toa of Sloobludop needed. He sought isolation to perhaps hear if the Sea Mother had a different calling, and instead he found that isolation and meditation could quell the urges to be cruel and domineering.

In 1473 DR, Shuushar abandoned the duties of being a Kuo-toa monitor, attempting to spread word to his people that they could all seek a more peaceful enlightenment. For his years of service, he was exiled from the village rather than slain for his heresy. Shuushar would go on to travel the Darklake and its environs, meditating and avoiding confrontation with all he came across, until one day he could no longer feel any of the cruelty that once marred his outlook on life and made him an effective Monitor. He felt truly enlightened, and he took the name Shuushar the Awakened to mark his change. He would go on to try and spread his ideology to Kuo-toa he met in his travels, though he never succeeded.

In 1487 DR, he was captured by the drow slavers at Velkynvelve. While in captivity he met fourteen others in a similar fate, and despite his calm urging that everyone should wait to see how the situation panned out, thirteen of them would go on to begin an escape attempt. Though he refused to harm or help in harming anyone, Shuushar did follow the escape attempt, later leading the group to his home at Sloobludop rather than letting them travel alone to a far off settlement. In Sloobludop he was faced with the fact that his people were in a religious conflict, and he even played his part, hoping that if his people had less violent leaders from the Sea Mother's cult, he could more easily change their violent ways as a whole.

When the deaths of the archpriests at the Shrine of the Deep Father caused the demon prince Demogorgon to rise from the Darklake, all of the kuo-toa present were negatively effected. While most were simply paralyzed with fear and respect, Shuushar's own belief that everything could be resolved peacefully was heightened. He approached the demon lord and called for peace, urging the lord of the depths to turn away from the path of violence. He was slain in the attempt, with only a handful of traveling companions still around to witness the event.