Francis Crick

## Bio

Francis met a skilled apothecary named Apollo during his childhood which took him in after his mother died to an unknown illness. Unknown to Francis, Apollo was his father that he never met before. Apollo has an tarichas servant named Joel which the three of them lived in the kingdom of *Calnlian**,* but primarily away from city life. Apollo is known for his membership with the *Mages Guild* where he studies planar portals alongside his other work. After adolscence, Francis and Joel were tasked with gathering reagents from the forest as was a typical day. Upon their return, they found Apollo was missing and a mysterious portal which they stepped into. They found themselves in *Alora* with no trace of Apollo and the portal closed behind them. The two toiled in the town for a few months while settling in a small house where they can get by and try and track down Apollo.

## Adventures

After settling into Alora for some time, Joel got a job in the Emporium and Francis became acquainted with some business owners using his alchemy skills for money. One day, Francis was summoned by *Cabium Silvercoat* directly for an unknown reason. There he learned that the Khan was forming a special operations group for Alora. Francis, *Haladavara Arel Umezana* and *S.C.A.R.E.C.R.O.W* had been selected as initiating members of the group that would be known as the *Alora Operations Personnel (AOP)* which they named themselves. Their first task was to investigate a new threat in the north that was lurking Alora's borders.

The AOP trekked a perilous journey through rigid mountain ranges and chasms that exhibited Animar's natural hazards. Eventually the group discovered *Deadbreak Fortress* which proved to be a mysterious place as there were no signs of former occupants other than a battlefield of slaughter. They stumbled upon the *Clods* who began to follow them while exploring the fortress. An undead patrol entered the fortress which alerted the party to great danger. The AOP tried to take on the horde, but their numbers were great and proved a challenge that required utilizing the fortress. A few traps were laid which dealt with about half of the horde which resulting in the remainder of the conflict being spent on guerilla type tactics hiding throughout the fortress. One of the inner keep's towers notably fell to Francis' antics during the skirmish in order to fell the horde. The AOP found themselves in dire straights when the patrol's leader, a wraith, made an appearance but prevailed with the aid of the Clods. The group took some time to recover before pressing on their journey.

A few days of traveling further north revealed Mount Zaros and a massive army of undead within its domain. The AOP were detected and taken captive by some wraiths quickly upon entering the area. They were taken to the undead's leader: *Ekbroc* who held a small monologue with the AOP about Alora's recent activities and how his forces are behind the threat of their border. Ekbroc managed to teach Francis and Scarecrow the Sylvan language by consuming a decayed flower, but also cursed them with the Dullahan's touch. Ekbroc explained that he believes himself to be a guardian of Animar and views Alora as a threat to it. He immediately went to kill them with his spellcasting and summoning a portion of his army. Scarecrow was clever enough to jump into a nearby waterway after grabbing for his party members, but Haladavara remained behind for a moment. The group was whisked away by a divine force and imbued with newfound power that they've yet to discover. Upon leaving Mount Zaros, they stumbled upon *Aegulthor* who offered to teleport them home in exchange for meeting with their master in due time. The AOP accepted Aegulthor's offer thinking there was no other option.

Aegulthor took the party back to Alora where they immediately were escorted to Cabium for debriefing. Cabium formulated a plan with the lords and ministers while allowing the AOP to have a couple days of respite. During that time, Aegulthor summoned the AOP in order to meet with his master per their arrangement. The group obliged and was taken to *Nimbus* where they encountered *Braego* and Tinandras. The commune with Braego lead to a pact of sorts where the AOP and Braego would perform favors for favors in a seemingly mutual interest of taking on Ekbroc. She bestowed the group with a bit of power and explained that she wanted them to find out where *The Ancient Cartographer* was. the group with a bit of power and explained that she wanted them to find out where *The Ancient Cartographer* was. The group managed to buy a scroll from *Kazumi* and teleported to the cartographer. They exchanged a rare magical artifact given to them by Braego in exchange for a map of Animar which they later revealed they made the transaction with Braego. Braego then informed the group of the mysterious power beneath Alora that they might be able to harness with their newfound godling powers. That power turned out to be a mysterious shadow-wyrm that claimed to lay waste to Alora, sending Alora in a red alert but nothing happened. The AOP and Cabium investigated, but were tricked by a defecting wizard and were petrified. The later events turned into *Derthag's Coup* which the AOP had a heavy hand in the events included and eventually succeeded in overturning it. *Tharod* then revealed himself as *Barl* and offered to take the party back to the *Material Plane* and meet with *Halos Panascon* regarding the threat of Ekbroc.

## Player Written Backstory

Francis was 10 when he first meet Apollo. He was sent to his house after his mother died of an unknown illness. He doesn't know the reason why he was brought to him but the authorities did because they knew that Apollo was his father. So spending time with Apollo, Francis became the apprentice for the known alchemist Apollo Stello. Apollo, Francis, and Apollo's servant Joel live in the forest north of the dragon inquisition but south of Huartsin. Apollo Stello is known within the Calnlian mages guild. The mages guild funds Apollo because he is doing research on planar portals. The mages guild and Apollo and Joel are the only ones that know Apollo had a son. Joel is a servant that has served Apollo since he was with the mages guild. Joel is a Tarichas which is similar to a newt person. Joel has an incredible regeneration ability which makes him great to experiment potions with. Joel is helping Apollo because he himself came from a different plane. Joel has a dull personality but is still very impressed by what humans can create. Joel is a researcher who sits well with Francis and Apollo . Francis was learning a lot from Apollo with his time there from herbology to science. When Francis was 28, Apollo sent Francis and Joel to get items from the forest to experiment with. By the time they came back there was a portal and no Apollo. They quickly jumped into the portal to hopefully find Apollo or in Joel's case home and see what happened. They have been here for 6 months wondering what happened to Apollo while also investigating the new land. They have a small house where they can do their research. Joel works for Tiken Darku in the morning obviously for money but more important is info about the plant life here.