Saisen

> *“You know how the saying goes, ‘Sticks and stones will break bones, so it’s better that everyone hits me instead of someone else.”* *-* Saisen.
>
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## Appearances

### Appears in

Toivoan Trainwreck

Saisen is a male Eladrin Player Character who sails on the *Changemaker* in the *Toivoan Trainwreck* campaign. He is a Paladin of Oizys, the god of enduring pain, longsuffering, and steadfastness.

## Appearance and Personality

Saisen is a fairly young Eladrin who is heavily scarred and nearly always seen in heavy armor wielding a large shield. If you do manage to catch a glimpse of him without his armor, Saisen will likely be wearing long, bulky clothing, due to being slightly self-conscious about his scars. Generally, he remains in his spring Eladrin form, sporting a pleasant green hair tone. However, significant changes to his emotional state, such as the death of an ally (especially if he failed to protect them), may cause him to shift into a different season. Saisen is a vegetarian which a special love for spicy food and strong alcohols.

As a Paladin of Oizys, Saisen is no stranger to harm. Saisen has made it his mission in life to lessen the suffering of all those that he can. He believes that its better for one individual suffer than many. The more suffering he can prevent, or take upon himself, the better the world will be. Although a technical Paladin of Oizys, Saisen rarely speaks of his god. He respects Oizys and what he stands for, but he remains somewhat distant from even his own god.

Saisen makes a conscious effort to come across as open and friendly to people he meets. He's always willing to lend a hand and to make life easier for those around him, and enjoys a good joke or prank. Although he often grumbles about the unnecessary risks his allies take, he means well. Saisen hypocritically ignores risky situations when it is just his own well-being which may be harmed. At his best, Saisen is a fiercely loyal friend who will always back up people around him. At his worst, Saisen is overbearing, overprotective, hypocritical, and patronizing. Although proud of his abilities, Saisen often feels like he is never good enough, especially when people around him end up getting hurt.

Saisen is not motivated by strict definitions of good or evil, but by the overall suffering he can prevent. As such, although he often comes across as a strict follower of the law, Saisen is more than willing to break laws if he believes he can prevent harm to others by doing so. Similarly, Saisen is shockingly willing to lie, motivated by the fact that lies are a powerful tool which may sometimes lessen suffering more than the truth.

## Background

### Childhood

Saisen was born in a small Eladrin village deep in the Fey wilderness by the name of Sylriar, named as such for the thick brambles which surrounded the town. His father, Naelren, was responsible for maintaining the flora in Sylriar. Naelren used his affinity for natural magic to ensure that Sylriar meshed into the natural flora of the Fey wild and the town lived in harmony with nature. His mother, Jun, was a member of Sylriar's ruling council, ensuring that all manners of disputes and town decisions were decided fairly. Saisen had two older twin sisters, Tessa and Asset, whom doted on him and spoiled him at every opportunity. Despite the remoteness of Sylriar, in many ways Saisen thinks of it as an idyllic upbringing, and often thinks back to those days.

### The Fall of Sylriar

When Saisen was a mere forty, Sylriar fell under attack by an enormous horde of crazed Blights. The defensive briar, which had once hid and protected the town from the greater dangers of the Fey wilds, now kept them trapped within the town. Despite the small size of their village, the combat-worthy Eladrin were far from helpless, and they put up a strong defense, repelling the waves of attacks for days and slaying scores of Blights. However, for every wave of attacks rebuffed and every Blight slain, more Eladrin would become injured. The small cuts, scrapes, and bruises slowly accumulated. The sheer number of small injuries and deep exhaustion eventually became lethal to the defenders. As their reactions slowed, the defenders began dropping one-by-one, overwhelmed by the horde. The survivors found themselves pushed further and further back into the town as the number of defenders dwindled.

Through all of this, Saisen remained locked in his family house, a great tree near the center of town. His sisters, working in conjunction, had cast a Gaes on Saisen when the attacks began in earnest, preventing him from leaving the house. They knew he would try to join the defenders if left alone, even if, as the youngest member of Sylriar, he had been forbidden from doing so. He spent the days watching from the windows as the number of injured grew higher, and as fewer and fewer defenders returned. Eventually he could even hear the sounds of the fighting as it pressed ever closer to the center of town. He knew when his sisters eventually fell. A cold numbness spread through his body, followed by a harsh, hot pain, and then a sense of hollow emptiness as the impulse from the Gaes faded. He was told later that they had been killed nearly simultaneously at opposite sides of the town, a surprise considering they rarely would be separated by choice. Their death resulted in violent, chaotic explosions as their connected magic surged wildly, destroying huge swathes of the town. In the ensuing chaos, Naelren stealthily led the few remaining Eladrin through a small tunnel he prised through the briars.

### A New Beginning

The remaining Eladrin traveled through the Fey wilderness for some time before eventually finding a portal to the material plane. Naelren and Jun settled with Saisen in the town of Riport, where Naelren and Jun started a small apothecary aptly named Sylriar. While some of the surviving Eladrin also stayed in Riport, others left the city, seeking to truly start anew somewhere else. Saisen was profoundly changed by the fall of Sylriar. Being trapped inside as he watched his home slowly destroyed and his sisters killed resulted in a deep sadness and anger. He became withdrawn from his family and never truly put roots down in Riport. Eventually, he found the temple of Oizys, where he learned some, not necessarily healthy, coping mechanism. Here was where he found his determination to take on the suffering of others. To this day he believes that if he had been allowed to help his sisters would still be alive. After watching the members of Sylriar fall to a thousand cuts, he does his absolute best to take on all injuries of his allies, no matter how small, since he knows sometimes its the smallest difference that can result in someone dying. Once he had trained sufficiently in the temple of Oizys, Saisen began joining adventuring parties to protect others while eliminating suffering. He often jumped from group to group, never staying in any one for too long since people found his total lack of self-preservation somewhat unnerving, his over-protectiveness stifling, and he was subconsciously scared to get close to people who could get hurt again. In between his adventures Saisen still returns home often, seeing his parents and making sure they're alright. Despite his somewhat distant relationship with them, he still cares for them immensely and always wants to be sure they are okay.

Saisen has never discovered why the Blight attacked Sylriar in such a frenzy. Although he has kept his eyes and ears open, always looking for clues, he is far from home and unlikely to discover anything. The only clue he ever received was that right before the Blight attacked multiple Hags had been sighted in the area, which was unlikely to be a coincidence. As such, Saisen has a strong dislike of Hags. If he ever finds a clue about why this happened, he is sure to pursue it to the ends of the world.

### The Start of an Adventure

During his adventures, Saisen heard rumors about a new drug on the street. A fine, purple powder which caused people to go berserk, attacking those around them. The unfortunate victims either died at the hands of someone they cared about, or in a horrific fashion as their eyes ruptured and they bled out through their face. After leaving his last adventuring party, Saisen began looking into this new drug alone. Eventually, a woman by the name of Alliee Guru told him about the crew of the *Changemaker*, who supposedly had run into an island lab where this purple powder was being produced. Alliee arranged a meeting with Saisen and the crew of the *Changemaker* inside of the hidden basement in The Four Stories tavern in Riport.

Saisen met with the crew of the *Changemaker*, Seatoad Coin, Ruzyd, Tahti Randaja, Bryn Gemflower, and Safira and after some small convincing and promises of a reward of "immeasurable worth", Saisen joined the crew of the *Changemaker* and the Toivoan Trainwreck campaign. On the way out of the tavern, the crew was jumped by not one, but two sets of assassins. One after Seatoad Coin, the other after Safira. Although the first set of assassins was driven off without too much trouble, the other lone assassin successfully slew Safira. In a rage, Saisen and the rest of the party slew the assassin. Using quick thinking, a clever limerick, and a magical hat, Bryn produced a scroll of *Revivify* which Saisen immediately cast on Safira. However, something (looking at you Mosaba) appeared to interfere with the spell, holding onto Safira's soul. After a few moments, when all seemed lost, Safira somehow fought her way back, and seemed entirely nonchalant about her brush with death. And so began Saisen's journey with the *Changemaker*, and his constant anxiety about Safira's wellbeing.

## Recent Events

### Adventures in Riport

#### Into the Scrapyard

With very few leads, the crew of the *Changemaker* decided to explore Riport for signs of the drug, which they discovered was called Purple Frenzy. Using the crew's past experience and connections, along with the *Locate Object* spell the crew was lead to Elzaec Mineview's shop. There, they discovered that figureheads of ships were being used to smuggle Purple Frenzy from city to city. As a matter of fact, most of the figureheads there were stuffed full of Purple Frenzy, enough to blow half the city of Riport off the map due to Purple Frenzy's explosive nature. Putting their heads together, the crew decided to have Bryn create a *Tiny Hut* in order to safely detonate the Purple Frenzy in a controlled manner. The crew successfully destroyed the Purple Frenzy, with Safira narrowly escaping the blast after getting a little too excited about watching the explosion.

Unfortunately, Elzaec Mineview had quietly snuck away from the unperceptive party while they were busy snooping through his junkyard and assumedly sailed away to hide in his barge. However, he left behind a small, frightened child who was running the shop. After some gentle interrogation of the terrified child, the crew came to discover that Elzaec had purchased the child, whose name was Jerome, from undisclosed sources,and he was clearly being mistreated. Lacking any long-term plan, but refusing to leave Jerome, Saisen spoke with the child and mostly soothed him. After some back and forth, Jerome agreed that he was being mistreated and wanted to leave, but he was too scared to do so since Elzaec always found and punished him when he tried. Determined to get Jerome to a safe place, Saisen used the *Sleep* spell on Jerome, and then brought him to his parent's. Despite their reluctance, his parents agreed to watch after Jerome temporarily while Saisen found a place for him to stay permanently.

#### The Garrison

With the major source of Purple Frenzy in Riport destroyed, and their main connection having sailed away, the crew continued their search for Purple Frenzy in Riport. A few casts of *Locate Object* later, the crew found Kelsey Cooper, a cooper who had some Purple Frenzy on her. She quickly explained that she was being threatened, and that she had orders to deliver the Purple Frenzy in one of her barrels to the local garrison. In order to track who was trying to obtain this Purple Frenzy, the crew volunteered to deliver the barrel for Kelsey. They delivered the barrel, and a few members snuck into the garrison to watch over the barrel. After a full day of observing, the crew pieced together the information that no one was coming to get this Purple Frenzy. Instead, the barrel was going to be used to serve wine to the entire garrison, poisoning and killing all the guards. After realizing this, the party decided to take a direct approach to solve the problem. They knocked on the garrison gates, and told them about the Purple Frenzy in the barrel, and asked to speak with the person in charge. After a moment of waiting, the crew was brought to Gerrarde, the warden of Riport and servant of the Wandering King. After listening to the crew's explanation, Gerrarde thanked them, and named them "Friend's of Riport" as well as supplying them with a pin. He told the crew what he knew about Purple Frenzy, pointing the party towards the land of Shau as the source.

#### Leaving Riport

The *Changemaker* prepared to leave Riport and head west towards the land of Shau. However, before they could do so, they went to visit Kelsey, and discovered her place has seemingly been broken into. After some sleuthing about, the crew realized they had been tricked by Kelsey, who had tried to trick them into poisoning the garrison. When searching Kelsey's shop, the crew discovered a Purple Frenzy barrel which had been rigged to explode as well as a woman named Artemis (as well as an intelligent mouse named Cheese) who had been knocked out and trapped in the shop. After discussing and sharing information on Purple Frenzy, Artemis left with the promise of paying for more information about Purple Frenzy if the crew ever wanted to share it. Before leaving, the crew split up to accomplish some final goals. After some discussion, Saisen and Tahti decided to bring Jerome to the temple of Imkael, provided he was willing, in order for him to start a new life as an initiate there. Upon their visit to Saisen's parent's shop, they were surprised to discover that Jerome was in fact a changeling. Jerome already seemed much happier with his new life, but he was willing to give life in the temple a try. Saisen and Tahti shopping for necessities for Jerome which included some gold, clothing, food, minor effects, an incredible shape-changing Ruzyd toy, and a pair of sending stones so that Saisen and Tahti could check in on them. After a harrowing trip up the steps of the temple of Imkael and a teary goodbye, Jerome was left at the temple to begin their new life. Meanwhile, Seatoad Coin filled the *Changemaker* with some wares to be shipped west, and Safira was jumped by sisters of Mosaba, who were trying to convert her into a true follower while destroying the ship. Eventually, however, the *Changemaker* set sail west for Nousha.

### Adventures in Nousha

After some poor attempts at steering the boat, a fairly uneventful trip, and many coin tricks by Seatoad Coin, the *Changemaker* arrived in Nousha. While traveling through the city to the Longstrider's Consortium, Ruzyd nearly caused a stampede due to refusing to leave his dragon form. However the party arrived without issue and spoke with Cas, the leader of the Consortium. Cas provided information connecting the dragon Sygaoes with Purple Frenzy, as well as notifying the party that the Mckain Brothers, who were currently in the city of Borbon, were hunting Safira for her huge bounty. Cas promsied to run interference with the Mckain Brothers, and offered to make the crew full members of the Consortium so as to deepen the goodwill between the groups. Some members chose to accept the offer, however, Saisen refused due to his unfamiliarity with the group and some concern about their motivations.

While in Nousha, the party decided to do a cursory search for Purple Frenzy. Saisen climbed onto Ruzyd's back as he flew about the city, and through *Locate Object* quickly found a source of Purple Frenzy. The two of them pursued the individual holding the Purple Frenzy, however she turned on them and charmed both Saisen and Ruzyd. The women who identified herself only as "T", and the sister of the archfey of time, Silas, claimed that she was given the Purple Frenzy from a ship, the Flitterbee, which had recently passed through town.

The crew eventually decided that there was not much to be gained from staying in Nousha, and that it was best to sail to Borbon. When they returned to the *Changemaker*, they discovered that it and the surrounding dock workers were being attacked by some sort of crazed, living construct completely made of Adamantine. After a harsh battle, the crew eventually slew the construct, and then nearly blew up the docks after attempting to dispel a trap left on its armor. The only things the crew knew was that it had some sort of connection to Servantis, Safira may have seen this thing before, and that it was purposefully trying to attack their ship. Not ones to be deterred, the crew nevertheless set sail.

### Adventures in Borbon

#### Battle on *The Rotten Beard*

While sailing to Borbon, the *Changemaker* encountered the *Rotten Beard*, a ghost ship captained by Sherman 'The Ghost' Bourne. The *Changemaker* decided to explore the ship, before getting chased off by the captain himself. After taking a moment to collect themselves, the crew decided to attempt to fully storm the ship, either for treasure or to destroy this evil. As soon as the crew of the *Changemaker* touched the deck of the *Rotten Beard*, innumerable undead of all shapes and forms appeared. What followed was a fight of epic proportions. Despite being tragically outmatched, the crew of the *Changemaker* fought valiantly. In a last ditch attempt, Bryn temporarily froze time and took the opportunity to reposition himself, Saisen, Tahti, and Ruzyd around captain Sherman Bourne. As Seatoad Coin ran across the ocean, distracting what undead he could, Safira kept guard on the boat, and the other crew members raced against time to pour damage onto the captain, hopeful that slaying him would dispel the other undead. Using nearly all their resources, the crew of the *Changemaker* managed to barely slay the captain before both the reach of a lethal aura from a greater banshee touched them or the undead hordes surrounded them. Unfortunately, they quickly discovered that they had only slain captain Sherman Bourne temporarily, as he was a lich with the ship itself as a his soul jar. Beating a hasty retreat, they grabbed what loot they could and safely returned to the *Changemaker*, sailing away from the *Rotten Beard*. Saisen promised to himself to someday return and eliminate this hive of suffering.

(in progress)

## Character Build

Saisen is a full Paladin. He is built entirely to take damage for his allies and to bring the focus of enemy attacks onto himself, as shown by his large amount of hit points. In combat, he generally holds his reaction to use *Aura of the Guardian* in order to take damage for his allies or *Counterspell* to prevent his enemies powerful spells. He tries to keep allies close to him so that they may take advantage of his auras, such as his *Aura of Protection*, granting +5 to everyone's saving throws, his *Aura of Courage*, preventing everyone from being frightened, his *Aura of the Guardian*, allowing him to take damage for his allies, and the aura from his *Holy Avenger of Open-Mindeness*, which gives everyone advantage on saving throws against magical effects. When Saisen's hit points fall below half, he will begin regenerating hit points if in combat due to his *Protective Spirit*. Saisen has a fairly high spell save DC, allowing him to protect his allies through well-placed spells such as *Sanctuary*, *Command, Compelled Duel, Dispel Magic,* and *Resilient Sphere*. Additionally, his combination of the feats *Resilient* and *Improved Concentration* allows him to maintain two concentration spells with little risk of dropping them. Saisen has some healing, mostly relying on his *Lay on Hands* pool, however when need arises he is sure to keep *Revivify* ready to go as well. Although he isn't generally focused on dealing damage, Saisen's *Holy Avenger of Open-Mindeness* and a few *Smites* can still do some real damage when needed.

### Character Stats

* STR 16 / DEX 14 / CON 20 / INT 13 / WIS 15 / CHA 20
* Class: Paladin 16 (Oath of Redemption)
* Feats: Tough, Resilient (Constitution), Improved Concentration
* Signature Actions: Sanctuary, Aura of the Guardian, Compelled Duel, Locate Object, Counterspell, Deathward

## Quotes

*"Please don't." "No." "STOP." "That seems... like a bad idea." "How are you all still alive?"*

*-Saisen, in a variety of situations to the crew of the Changemaker*