Starheart "Star" of the Iron Horn

## Backstory

Starheart is an orphaned Southern Gnome Cleric. Her real name is Prehna Flintborne.

When she was a baby, her parents, Iris and Bak, were murdered by the cult of Kloht as they traveled north from Copperforge to find a rare gem. The Iron Horn attempted a robbery, but they were interrupted by another group, set on murdering the gnomes. Greyflower grabbed what he could and fled, the other Iron Horn following suit. When they were safely out of range from the murderers, he opened the pack to find a tiny gnome child. Feeling responsible, he forced the Iron Horn to accept her into their group. He raised her and hung about her neck a crude necklace made from one of the gems they made away with, a very rare gem known as the Starheart. He never learned her true name, so he named her after the gem itself. Learning all she could from the Iron Horn, she set off on her life’s mission to hunt down those that killed her family.

## Raufel

Starheart tries to pawn a rock at Pink's Pingus and Pawn but is unable to do. She needs money to hire a sellsword to help her find her parent's murderers. When Tenoch Coatl and Daemys Raethran arrive with Kord Elkas and Big Tom to find a green gem, Starheart tag along and tries to negotiate to hire Tenoch. She accompanies them as they flee the shop to the Tattered Sail.

Getting a good look at the green gem they stole, Starheart realizes that is has a carving of a Sahlite on it. She tags along with the gang the next day and pickpockets a wealthy Quai merchant. Bubo notices and, feeling sorry for her, gives her pointers. Starheart declares that they are friends. At the Hooks headquarters, Starheart tries to get the green gem, but it foiled by Daemys. As the fireball soars over the city, her necklace, along with all the green gems, begins to burn and glow brightly.

The party races against the approaching tsunami to find the final gem, which is located in the governor's mansion. Breaking in, Bubo and Starheart find it, but also the sickly Governor Urit Syle. Tenoch rescues him along with his assistant, Arden Barlow. After fleeing to high ground, the party makes its way to the temple of Sahlen, where the gems are given to the Black Cloaks, who destroy them. The party now turns its attention to the chaos in Raufel and help stop the gang violence, as Tenoch gores the leader of the Gulls, Skinny Jack, to death.

Four days later, Starheart wakes to find Bubo and Kord missing. At the memorial to the fallen, along with Tenoch, she meets Nitsuj Allsop, who delivers a message from Bubo: he will be back soon. Arden Barlow hires the three to help save Governor Urit Syle's lafe by finding the alchemist Jerrot Valmir. They are able to find him and agree to gather medicinal supplies from the crypt and ocean, as well as Jerrot's red crate, which was lost onboard the Eel's Jelly in the harbor. They are able to find the items after several run-ins with local wildlife (and an odd kiss from Nitsuj) and return to the governor's mansion to witness the healing of the governor.

## Copperforge

Starheart leaves the others to travel alone to Copperforge to do some soul searching. She discovers that her parents were miners named Flintborne.  Her mother’s name was Iris.  Her father’s name was Bak.  They were hired to mine the ore of the stearheart that fell 17 years before.  They were ambushed by the Ironhorn Bandits, who were in turn ambushed by the cult of Kloht.  Her family was killed by the cultists, but the bandits fled with Starheart.

She rejoins Ora and Nitsuj in the Tequila Mockingbird. After traveling to the assassin's guild and meeting Hush, they overhear the sounds of battle stemming from the revolt of the Forgotten. Starheart convinces Meno, their leader, to trust her and they get Fizz Binkle, master tinkerer, to remove the prisoner's bracers. After the battle is resolved peaceably, Starheart is horrified when the Queen orders Ora to execute Meno. She is stopped by the guards as she desperately tries to intervene.

In the aftermath of the uprising, Starheart witnesses Nitsuj communing with Kelrek for the first time. She suspects something evil is occurring. She also learns that she has relatives still living in Copperforge: the Flintbornes. With this knowledge in hand, she drinks herself into a stupor. Sobering up, she meets with Pyrus and Silversheen Flintborne who polish the Starheart gem and give her a bracer with her family's crest on it. Later she is mistaken for a prostitute, resulting in an epic battle.

As Wisp Walker's caravan departs Copperforge, it is almost immediately attacked by an orc raiding party. Starheart heals the party and summons her spiritual weapon, which is a tankard. As the party makes camp for the night, she catches Nitsuj murder a young boy and is deeply upset by his actions. She also befriends a cyclops named Kab, who she takes back to Copperforge.

In Copperforge, she join Ora in meeting with the Queen and gets pointers on being a rouge, though she is drunk throughout. She reluctantly help Nitsuj kill Carrib Black for the assassin's guild. Later she attends the war council, but leaves to talk to her family.

Starheart is reluctant for Nitsuj to complete his deal with Kelrek and gets advice from Elder Cabe Erta and Hush. Both tell her that the only ways to prevent Kelrek from rising again are to kill his host or find the god Hortiel who banished him before. Sh also speaks to the dead body of cultist Snips Cutlass who reveals that he had a scroll with the location of the severed arm of the Copperforge Sahlite.

Starheart and the others find Jerrot Valmir in Copperforge and agree to help him find silverblood ore to assist with his healing. Notified by Jerrot of the assassination of Governor Urit Syle, Starheart sneaks into the mercenary's guild to find proof of who paid for the job. When the city is rocked by several bombings, Starheart goes to find her family. They rally to the city's defense.

After the battle, the party rests at the Tequila Mockingbird. When Nitsuj returns and tells them what happened with Kelrek, Starheart is upset and leaves, but Bubo convinces her to stay. She then leaves the city with the others to retrieve the silverblood for Jerrot Valmir. They find a stone giant attacking the wagon, but Ora convinces it to stand down. When Paragon Tinytoes continues attacking, Starheart tackles him (with the giant's help) and then kisses him on the nose.

As they return to Copperforge, the orc army approaches. Ora rejects their demands for surrender and battle begins. Starheart joins the battle from the outcropping above the Main Gate. She sends the cyclops Kab to his death when she convinces him to try to convince the enemy giants to switch sides. When her cousin, Klack, is injured by a large boulder, she escorts him back inside the city and convinces the healers to evacuate the city with him.

Once back outside, Starheart continues to battle with the remaining orcs and other felbeasts. Feeling overwhelmed by the battle, Starheart retreats into the mountain and goes to the Flintborne home to save their belongings. Saddened that her family is gone, she is angry with Nitsuj when he comes to find her.

After a brief battle with Thaul Alhoon, Starheart and the party flee out the Peak Gate. Starheart wants to follow the light of the Starheart west. Arguing about which way to go, the group agrees to travel north to rest. Along the way they discover the bodies dead gnomes, drained of blood by the vampires. Starheart is worried about her cousin Klack and messages him, but gets no reply. In the night, Greyflower and Iron Horn bandits attempt to rob the party, but cease when they recognize Starheart. There is a happy reunion as both groups agree to travel north together.

## Traveling North

While the others investigate a cave, Starheart catches up with the Greyflower and the Iron Horne. The next day, the party returns to the tomb and witnesses Nitsuj reanimate one of the dead Quai, Ulnas, "The Willing." Ulnas explains that the Quai-Lem were banished from the Green Isles and are compelled to travel north to the Glasslands to their death, but he discovered a way for them to sacrifice another soul to gain extra life and resist the deadly cold. He will travel north once again to help his people and rally them against the recently freed Kelrek.

As the party travels north again, they are meet by Klaxxon Carbal and Fizz Binkle, who inform them of the fall of Copperforge. They travel to Thatchweed to attend a dwarven festival of the moon. Starheart buys a very expensive dress to wear during the festival. She and Nitsuj share a dance, but he clumsily rips her dress and they run away from each other, both crying.

The festival is interrupted by an attack by cultists and the theft of the town's central crystal that provides it with its power for the year. The cultists are quickly dealt with and the party learns that they have captured the Sahlite on their black ship and are sailing west with her. The party also recovers the mooncatch stone. It had been stolen by Jerrot Valmir to heal the injured gnomes. Starheart is able to recharge the gem. The festival resumes and Starheart shares dances with Nitsuj, Gilbur Mudminer, and Paragon Tinytoes.

After the festival, Starheart receives a tankard made of mooncatch ore and her enchanted tiara of intimidation. Along with the party, the Iron Horn, Klaxxon, Fizz Binkle, Klack Flintborne, the Tinytoes, three dwarves, and the injured gnomes, she travel north toward the Steamfang Mountains. Along the way, the party is attacked by two giant salamanders and survives an avalanche. Realizing Copperforge is lost, Ora finally decides to blow it up, but not before Kurluk and Thaul Alhoon merge into a singe demonic form. Starheart learns from Greyflower that he has meet the god Hortiel, who often goes by the name Orethil.

## The Steamfangs

After another day of travel, the party arrives at Gilborn, but are attacked by a massive dire troll. It is killed with considerable effort, but the party retreats inside the city as more trolls approach. Starheart, who has drunk her rage potion and turned into a werewolf, comforts Nitsuj who as lost his heartbeast temporarily. The party is able to destroy the trolls and Morthos, the bard who was controlling them. Now free to explore the city, they meet with Hortiel before staying the night at Phineas Quartz' inn.

The next morning, Bubo awakens to discover Dumeril is missing. The party quickly interrogates Phineas Quartz, who reveals he was hired by an unknown client to capture the bird and take him into the old mines. Traveling to the mines, along with Jeb the skeleton and his friend Dureck the Dragonheart, the party rescues Dumeril and many other trapped animals destined for luxury restaurants. On their way out, they are accused of being animal snatchers by Captain Stem Barrow.