Quanta

—Quanta, speaking to an aspect of an unknown god.

Quanta is a quiet and strategic rogue. They are played by Jay.

#### Appearance

Quanta is a lithe young tabaxi with some more subtle cat-like features, and other more obvious features. They have light grey eyes that reflect light, and well cared for pink and purple hair. Their ears sit atop their head, are feline in shape and appearance, and are similarly coloured, with a pink and purple fur on the outside, and a lighter blue on the inside. After a life growing up on the streets in the Scalding Wilds, Quanta has a variety of nicks and scars from fights, scuffles, and heists gone wrong.

He wears tight-fitted leathers that allow for mobility and speed, with a long, light blue overcoat, and teal fingerless gloves. They also have an assortment of pouches and belts that hold their geology kit, assorted thieves' tools, and daggers.

#### Personality

Quanta is calm and level-headed, and has the quiet curiosity of an inquisitive feline. They are still settling into life as an adventurer, but have quickly made a place for themself in the party as the least combative in social situations. He is often the one that maintains their emotional composure the longest when everyone else has started to break theirs. Their life up until now spent as a thief has made them one of the more hesitant party members to trust new places and people.

However, when they're comfortable and in a safe space with other members of the party and other friends their fun-loving and goofy side comes out. Quanta is known to try and pull pranks on other party members and friends during their downtime.

### Biography

#### Background

Very little is known about Quanta's background as they don't remember very much from their early childhood. What they do remember was spent on the streets, surviving as an orphaned thief. Eventually Quanta met a group of other young thieves and together formed a crew. They were occasionally hired for jobs, but mostly made their living as a small group of specialised thieves and criminals.

Prior to meeting the party, Quanta received a contract from a High Magistrate in Eustac to recover a missing person and return them to Eustac. Setting out after their target, Quanta made their way to Bonnigal on the other side of the Scar Forest. Perhaps receiving a tip from the people of the nearby village of Ardanish, Quanta approached the home of BSDK11 on the road out of the village and asked the party if they had seen someone matching the description given by the High Magistrate. Despite not seeing anyone to match that description, the party were restless at the time and jumped at the opportunity to help Quanta.

#### TBC Academy

##### Chapter Four: Family Matters

Quanta meets the other party members for the first time when they arrive in Ardanish searching for Denny, a missing person that the High Magistrate in Eustac contracted them to look for. The party volunteered themselves to help Quanta locate Denny, and with their help, they all tracked Denny down to a small encampment not far from their home. When the party decides to help Denny live the life that he wants, instead of taking him back to the High Magistrate, Quanta is afraid of what could happen to them. The party reassures Quanta that whatever happens they'll help him. They spend the rest of their day acquainting themselves with each other and with Denny, discussing many of their mounting tasks with Quanta, their new party member.

Later that night, when Prinne receives word from Faire Don't that her parents could be in danger, Quanta leaves their home continent for the first time as the party travels to Northern Donimear to collect Prinne's parents. While there Quanta meets Iggy for the first time.

Before they can help Denny get the life that he wants, the party is invited to a meeting in Ardanish, where Quanta meets a group of students from TBC Academy. Khess is suspicious of Faire Don't but can't explain why, and with her father recently killed by Iggy and Kana, others are hesitant to think of his suspicion as anything serious. Stewing with his thoughts, the party continue on with their commitment to Denny's freedom, travelling with Shenhe to the Stormlands.

##### Chapter Five: It's the End of the World As We Know It

In the Stormlands, Quanta begins to learn the full extent of what they've gotten themselves into. When the party is thrown around and separated in the middle of the Stormlands in one of the most dangerous parts of the storm and seemingly kind but secretive strangers show them the way, the reality of the situation begins to unfold. Very quickly Quanta faces a whole host of new threats and new experiences, including his first jump into the Soulforge, which sends the group thousands of years back in time.

After losing Denny and the rain returning, the party returns to the Harmonic Lyceum and settle on a new party name, The Second Hand.

During the talent show, Quanta chooses to watch from the crowd, enjoying each of the performances as they happen. Some time after their return Quanta is enrolled at TBC Academy and becomes an official member of The Second Hand.

A few weeks pass as normal, until the last Stratosphere game of the year approaches, and with it the impending attack by Iggy and Kana. Quanta, while exploring the school between classes, finds a hidden cache of weapons and research tucked under the Stratosphere Volume. He informs the rest of the party and they try to figure out who has been using it, finding train schedules and port schedules but unable to definitively say who it is. They deliver the information found to Chancellor Tidewalker, but are unable to do much more with it after that.

Quanta joins the Black Star Stratosphere team, and is on the field during the final when Iggy's attack begins. They are beside Caela and Khess' side as they fight across the school to recover Prinne and Arms.

As they're fighting and the different points of the timeline are converging in this one moment Quanta is flung across the Dining Hall to another section of the converging timelines, where they meet Solum Averum for the first time. Solum reveals that he is Quanta's squire from the future, and behaves like an excited fanboy upon meeting the younger version of the Quanta that he knows in the future. Solum reveals that Quanta becomes known in the future as The Shadow of Shattered Space. Quanta is sent back to their section with everyone else, and when Folwin is killed in the fight, Quanta dives into the Soul Forge alongside everyone else, chasing after Iggy and Kana.

After being sent through the timeline, a young Tasha sends them to Estanza to borrow a sword that might give them a fighting chance against Iggy. Arriving in Estanza, in the Heverfore Mountains, The Second Hand offer their assistance to Gael del Pozo, the wielder of the sword they've been instructed to collect, in exchange for a chance to borrow the blade.

After they return to TBC Academy again, the party finds themselves merging with versions of themselves in the far future, but they still fail a second time to stop Iggy. During the battle, Quanta is killed and their soul is absorbed by Exkaibar, Caela's blade. Khess uses his new access to Revivify to bring back Quanta.

Meanwhile, in the limbo state following his death, Quanta finds himself standing in the middle of a desert in the open palm of a large unknown entity. The entity tells Quanta that they were never supposed to exist, indicating that they aren't a real person, and that they were born of gods and stars, not of people, and not of the mortal plane. The entity tells Quanta that they have died without accomplishing their goal, and will have to be remade as someone else to try again. But Quanta insists that he is a person, that he is Quanta, and that he wants to live.

"I'm Quanta. And I want to save my friends and the world."

Khess arrives to revive Quanta and identifies the entity as an aspect of a god, and he takes Quanta's hand, completing the revivification and retrieval of Quanta's soul.

After they fail in the battle, Iggy rises to power, and Tasha is situated at the beginning of time. The Second Hand is then rocketed forward into the future, forty years after their first year at TBC Academy, and are faced with the consequences of their failure. Quanta discovers what its like to be The Shadow of Shattered Space, and is overwhelmed by fans. Cornered in a hallway at TBC Academy, they spend some time writing out autographs for students before a member of the faculty escorts them to a secure staff room.

After the party uses Prinne's first Wish to rewrite their failure and ensure the safety of Ran, the embodiment of the Beginning of the Universe that Iggy had destroyed, Quanta is back at the Stratosphere Volume after winning the game and takes the opportunity to celebrate with their new friends.

Over the summer break, Quanta finally returns home to their cabin and their crew. He takes the time to catch up with them all, and lets them know that they will be returning to school again after the break. His friends are a mixture of happy to see them doing something that makes them happy, but are still sad to see him go. Quanta spends some more time with Zurik before they return to school, but the conversation with the entity they met during their death hangs over them everywhere they go.

When Quanta receives his letter welcoming him back to TBC Academy for another year, their decision to return is bittersweet, as they leave behind their friends and Zurik once again.

##### Chapter Six: The Haunting of The Second Hand

At the start of a new year, Quanta returns to TBC Academy, joining their party members once again. Together they move into their new home, on the outskirts of the village of Om, in the hot, dry desert of The Scalding Wilds. Quanta is pleased to be in The Scalding Wilds, somewhere familiar and relatively close to home. The warmth is comforting and welcome.

### Relationships

#### Party Members

##### Prinne Tricclen

Quanta met Prinne when they arrived at the party's house in Ardanish in the middle of a dry spell. Quanta's friendship with Prinne, like the rest of the party, has been gradual but steady as Quanta has grown more comfortable with the party and the adventuring life. They do not have a lot in common, but Prinne has offered to support Quanta with catching up in school work due to their late start at TBC Academy.

As students, Prinne and Quanta have studied together in the lead up to exams, and Prinne has been supportive of Quanta's attempts to catch up despite being almost an entire year behind. They are both clever students and echo each other in their creativity in the classroom.

As party members, Quanta and Prinne are not often positioned near each other in combat, however of the whole party they are the two smaller and quieter members, often working together in more stealth-oriented situations. They both have inquisitive minds and are good investigators.

##### Caela Vyara

Quanta met Caela when they arrived at the party's house in Ardanish in the middle of a dry spell, while looking for Denny. Caela was quickly friendly and welcoming to Quanta, and like Khess was eager to help Quanta fulfill their quest. Caela and Quanta are two of the more reserved members of the party, but equally enjoy more light-hearted and prank-filled times outside of their more quest-heavy times.

As students, Quanta and Caela have a similar approach to school, though Caela is probably more responsible at times. Quanta, like both Caela and Khess, enjoys the more hands-on classes, such as Vehicles and Defense.

As party members, Quanta and Caela have different approaches to social problems, but utilise the battlefield in similar ways. In combat, Quanta is often in the frontline with Caela and Khess, taking on a very offensive role like Caela.

As friends, Caela and Quanta have gotten along since Quanta arrived, and often have similar feelings about the situations they're going into. Though, Quanta remains one of the more sensible members with more control over their emotions than the others. However, they had a shared disdain for Tiny when they first met him on the train at the Harmonic Lyceum.

##### Khessar Varhil

Quanta met Khess when they arrived at the house in Ardanish. Khess was quick to offer his assistance to Quanta, and when they usurped Quanta's quest and committed themselves to helping Denny, rather than return him to the High Magistrate, Khess was concerned for the consequences Quanta might face.

As students, Quanta and Khess are similar in their dislike of structure, homework, and studying. They also both have shown a mild reliance for caffeine in their school lives.

As party members, Quanta and Khess tend to dance around each other in combat. However, on both occasions that Quanta has been killed, Khess has taken on the task of casting 'Revivify', and he is hyperaware of Quanta's location on the battlefield in case his divine powers are required on short notice. In social interactions, Quanta is often the more reasonable party member.

As friends, Quanta and Khess have expressed a shared attraction for particular students, and Khess was eager to encourage Quanta to explore their social relationships more readily.

##### Notpot

Quanta met Notpot when they first arrived at the house in Ardanish. Although they haven't had the opportunity to spend as much time with Notpot as the other members of the party, they got to know each other well, and Quanta considered Notpot an ally.

#### Other Notable Relationships

##### Crew

When Quanta was young they met a handful of other young thieves and they created an informal crew of friends, though Quanta always remained a little bit separate from the other three. Except for Zurik, who became and has remained Quanta's best friend and childhood crush. Rutler and Akira, the other two members of the crew, are happy for Quanta discovering a place to belong at the school but are sad to see them go.

##### Star Children

Through research and a second death, Quanta learns of Star Children. Children created with a purpose by the gods. They are used in very particular times, and are made under a false pretense. They are typically made in secret to do a god's bidding that gods don't want others to know about or tie them back to. Quanta, after dying during an escape of Adjinni Castle, meets two other Star Children: Digger and Meera. They are 2000 and 4000 years old respectively and have only ever had each other. They're both excited to meet another Star Child and tell Quanta to visit them when he has the chance. They are on an island in the Lavinian Ocean.

##### Solum Averum

Not much is known about Quanta's relationship with Solum. When they first met Solum he was an excitable fan of The Shadow of Shattered Space from the future, and had already been the squire for an older Quanta for several years. The second time they met, Solum was a young child with the knowledge that they would grow up one day to be the squire of The Shadow of Shattered Space, otherwise known as the Mageslayer. When Solum attempted to attack Prinne, a well known mage, Quanta stopped him and defended Prinne as a friend. Solum ended their attempts but remained suspicious of Prinne.

### Character Information

#### Proficiencies

**Skills:** Acrobatics (Expertise), Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation (Expertise), Perception (Expertise), Sleight of Hand, Stealth (Expertise)

**Tools:** Disguise Kit, Geologist Kit, Playing Card Set, Thieves' Tools

#### Notable Items

* Frizz's Leather Armour of F(L)ight
* Ring of Dispel Magic
* Shortsword of Sharpness
* Ring of Mage Hand

### Abilities

#### Origin Abilities

* Cat's Claws
* Cat's Talent
* Darkvision
* Feline Agility

#### Rogue Abilities

* Sneak Attack (5d6)
* Thieves' Cant
* Cunning Action
* Rogueish Archetype - Thief
* Fast Hands
* Second-Story Work
* Uncanny Dodge
* Evasion
* Supreme Sneak

#### Spells

##### Cantrips

* Mage Hand (at will, using Ring of Mage Hand)

### Trivia

* Quanta's favourite time of the year is the few weeks between Spring and Summer, when it's really clear but not hot.