Shulssu D'Marothek

> *"I won't rest until that bastard is a cold, dead corpse that I can burn into ashes."* (Mariss D'Marothek, about Shulssu)
>
>

## History

### Titles and Aliases

"Dad"
"My bastard of a father" (by Mariss)
"That bastard" (by Mariss)
"That D'Marothek bastard"
Mr. D'Marothek
Lord D'Marothek
"My husband" (by Peia)

## Relationships

### Family

Najhia Haldeth D'Marothek (ex-wife, deceased)
Mariss D'Marothek (son)
Peia D'Marothek (wife)
Jasper D'Marothek (son)
Unnamed D'Marotheks (parents)
Timaeuss D'Marothek (distant ancestor)

## Characteristics

### Weight

168lbs (76.2kg)

**Shulssu D'Marothek** (pronounced /ʃʌl-sʊ d-mɛər-oʊ-θɛk/ *SHUHL-ssuu d-MAIR-oh-thek*) is a yuan-ti pureblood merchant, conman and serial adulterer. He is Mariss D'Marothek's father, who is currently attempting to find and kill him.

## **Description**

Shulssu D'Marothek is a yuan-ti pureblood that stands at 5 feet 11 inches (180 centimeteres) tall and weighs 168 pounds (76.2 kilograms). Like his son, he has sharp and cunning facial features, but unlike his son, he has a much lighter complexion. Shulssu would blend in quite easily with Sword Coast humans and at first glance, one would not assume he is from Chult. Shulssu, like all yuan-ti, has scales on his body; his are sand-colored, like a cape cobra. He has dusky blue-grey hair that is relatively unkempt, as well as stubble, and his reptilian eyes are a jade green. Shulssu is built and has a rather intimidating figure.

Shulssu usually wears more subdued clothing in order to help him blend in. Typically, he will cover his entire body in some sort of cloak, as so to not gather attention at first glance. He also usually wears greys or earth tones as so to not attract attention in the crowd. He will also wear fabric cut in the styles of his homeland, and cover up large parts of his body from the hot jungle sun.

## **Personality**

Mariss accredits his cunning and scheming to his father, who certainly shares those traits. Although he can appear aloof, and sometimes even fun, Shulssu D'Marothek is always scheming. Whether he's having a bite to eat, having a meeting with someone important, or even getting ready for bed, Shulssu is reviewing what he knows and planning far off into the future for the most successful path he can take. This planning allows Shulssu to vanish in a moment's notice if he's in trouble, leaving no trace of himself behind.

Shulssu, also like his son, is venomous in nature, and his charm does not belie that truth. He will charm and scheme his way into people's hearts only to unflinchingly turn their world upside down the moment that person dares step out of line. Shulssu's art of the silver tongue has made him many friends... and even more enemies.

However, unlike Mariss, who still is loyal to others, Shulssu only operates for himself, his desires and his needs. He will hurt and deceive others to get what he wants, and he puts himself over everyone to do so. Shulssu does not hold strong relationships, and he does not feel the need to. He can get all the power he needs alone, or at least he believes that to be the truth.

## **Abilities**

### Yuan-ti Lineage

As a yuan-ti pureblood, Shulssu D'Marothek has a few innate abilities that have been passed down from yuan-ti to yuan-ti for generations. Like other yuan-ti, Shulssu is able to adjust his eyesight to see in the dark, and he is immune to poison. He is also magically adept like some of his peers; he has a resistance to magic, and can innately cast spells such as *poison spray, animal friendship* and *suggestion.* However, this magic is limited.

### Gift of Speech

Like Mariss, Shulssu is incredibly gifted at speaking well and manipulating others with just his words. Shulssu has honed his speaking skills through a life of selling things to others and speaking his way out of situations. However, Shulssu is not nearly as likeable as Mariss, and his malevolent nature shines through every poisoned word he speaks.

### Limited Spellcasting

Shulssu has access to a limited spellcasting ability. He usually specializes in enchantments to bolster his already adept speaking. When push comes to shove, however, he can use limited conjuration to exit an area as quick as he appeared, disappearing without a trace.

## **Possessions**

Shulssu currently has a sum of money that belonged to the Haldeth clan, specifically his deceased wife Najhia, as well as Haldeth's Sleeping Death, a tube of poisoned lipstick that was passed through the clan for generations. He stole all of this when he fled Chult in 1488. He no longer has Haldeth's Sleeping Death, as his current wife Peia returned it to Mariss after meeting him through her son.

## **History**

Shulssu D'Marothek was born in 1444 somewhere in Faerun. He grew up in poverty, scraping together money by using his slick tongue to peddle wares on the street, ripping people off by upcharging things to an extreme and smuggling classified substances into the Amnian colony of Port Nyanzaru. He eventually moved into the city.

When he was 25, he began romancing the 19-year-old yuan-ti heiress, Najhia Haldeth, and they got married later that year in 1469. The following year afterwards, on March 14th, 1470, the worst storm Port Nyanzaru had ever seen swept through the harbor, and Shulssu's wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Mariss. Shulssu, now a noble, had a lot more access to trade routes, and slowly began extending his grasp on trade routes under his jurisdiction.

In 1481, Shulssu secured contacts in Waterdeep, and began making plans to leave Chult. He met Peia during this time, with which he had an affair, two-timing both Peia and Najhia without either woman knowing. He eventually married Peia illegally and had one son with her, Jasper, in 1483, securing his affairs when he would leave Najhia with nothing. The opportunity for him to leave Chult behind arose for him in 1488, when Najhia fell gravely ill. He took the Haldeth family's fortune and left Chult, leaving his first wife and son with nothing. He went north and was not heard from them again.

While in Waterdeep, Shulssu lied to Peia, hiding his vast fortune from her and playing the role of the misery sailor, leaving her and her son alone for weeks at a time while he conducted his clandestine business affairs. He eventually presented Peia with Haldeth's Sleeping Death, a beautiful and extremely dangerous poisonous lipstick he stole from Najhia, as a gift, lying about its danger and claiming he acquired it recently. This laid the groundwork for how he would acquire Peia's inheritance, which was due to her any day now.

## **Relationships**

### Timaeuss D'Marothek

The actions of Timaeuss during his active years caused the D'Marothek name to be stained with societal disdain. Although modern Chult does not remember Timaeuss's atrocities, they still distrust the name. This made Shulssu's childhood a very rough one.

### Najhia Haldeth D'Marothek

Although Najhia loved him dearly, Shulssu never felt any real romantic love towards Najhia. He was physically attracted to her, and it ended there. Shulssu still provided Najhia with the romantic courting she desired, and kept up the facade until he left. However, he left her with nothing, and did not care about her passing.

### Mariss D'Marothek

Shulssu never loved his son, but unlike Najhia, he never felt the need to pretend. Shulssu was distant from his son, and never made any attempts to connect with him. The young Mariss continually attempted to pester Shulssu into showing him affection, but Shulssu never did. He had no feelings of remorse for leaving Mariss with nothing, and did not feel any sort of fatherly responsibility towards the boy.

### Peia and Jasper D'Marothek

Like he was to his first wife and son before them, Shulssu is presumably just as distant and cold to Peia and Jasper. Unlike Najhia and Mariss, however, Shulssu does not even bother to provide for Peia and Jasper, who he allows to live in squalor while he travels in the lap of luxury with the money he gained unlawfully out of the pockets of Najhia and her family. Shulssu was already making plans to kill Peia when Mariss intercepted the family and took Haldeth's Sleeping Death before the human unknowingly killed herself with it.