Perulian

Perulian

Perulian is a tabaxi fighter raised in the Republic of Luxengrand. After his tabaxi caravan was decimated by a horde of giants, Perulian devoted his life to hunting down these creatures, protecting innocents from roving giantkin and aiming to wipe out their kind from the Republic. By combining arcane knowledge with martial discipline, he can fire magic-infused arrows that debilitate and damage foes in unpredictable ways, proving most effective against singular targets.

## History

### Childhood

Perulian's childhood is a mystery to others, as the warrior has little interest in sharing details about himself. Given his unusual fur coloration and physical form, his heritage can likely be traced to tabaxi in the continent of Eridur to the east of Rhealis. Tabaxi in Eridur tend towards more lion- or panther-like forms, and darker fur colorations can be found in tribes that live in jungles neighboring the Kormonga Jungles, better known as the Jungles of Madness. Forests in these regions are often shadowy and devoid of sunlight, offering creatures with dark hides better camouflage.

Whatever the case, Perulian keeps details about his past to himself. Whether it is because the opportunity hasn't presented itself, or because he prefers his privacy, is not clear.

### Caravan Guard

Perulian trained as an archer since adolescence, studying a type of war magic practiced and refined by generations of high elves in the continent of Rhealis. Using these talents, he hired himself out as a guard for a caravan of tabaxi travelers. These travelers would journey across Rhealis, venturing from town-to-town to trade valuables and offer their own mercenary services to those with the funds to afford their arms.

While traveling through the Braval Valley, the caravan took down a couple of aurochs grazing in a field by the hills, cooking the bovine beasts for a delicious meal. That night, while the caravan rested from their full supper, they were attacked by a group of ogres, members of a giant tribe that sought retribution for the caravan's perceived robbery of their cattle. Perulian joined the defense, but was knocked unconscious by a powerful swing from the attackers' leader, an unusually large hill giant with a crooked crown. When he next woke, the archer found only broken wagons and crushed bodies in the wake of the giants' rampage.

Swearing revenge against the giant tribe, Perulian hired himself out as a mercenary, eventually meeting a tiefling who shared an interest in culling Rhealis's giant population. The tabaxi studied under the tiefling, learning how to ambush larger foes and outmaneuver them, using his quarries' size against them. Perulian came to respect the tiefling as a close friend, but grew frightened at the prospect of developing ties with another loved one - especially one who might perish in a dangerous line of work. The tabaxi left the tiefling without bidding farewell, hunting down giants by himself for several months.

### Joining the Party

While looking into giant attacks around the town of Auberdeen, Perulian found himself being followed by a strange elf in the town square during the Hawperfest celebration. The tabaxi tackled this strange person, who turned out to be a druid curious at the sight of a tabaxi. A drow traveler approached the two, admonishing the tabaxi for suddenly attacking a seemingly-innocent person, while festivities continued around them. The travelers introduced themselves to each other, and the ragtag group of Perulian the archer, Sarphi the druid, and Elvira the rogue was formed.

## Description

### Appearance

Perulian is a well-built tabaxi with a blue, natural eye and a yellow Ersatz eye, which allows him to see normally. He resembles a lean-muscled panther with blue fur and black spots, and bears a scar over his left eye socket where a piece of shrapnel embedded itself into his face. Still wearing his old caravan clothes, he is equipped with studded leather armor to protect his vitals without compromising his stealthy approach. He wears a necklace of giant bones, trophies collected from each of his kills that intimidate his foes, earn the respect of fellow hunters, and remind him of his tireless mission.

### Equipment

Perulian travels only with essential equipment, having no use for accessories and trinkets beyond his bone necklace. As a nimble fighter, he wears studded leather to give him some measure of protection as he moves nimbly around; heavy armor protects no better against flying boulders and horse-sized clubs than light armor, after all.

Using a longbow crafted from yew wood, Perulian can fire at enemies from a distance, rarely resorting to melee weapons except in desperation. While his bow and arrows aren't enchanted themselves, he can infuse them with arcane power to suit his needs. The power of his giant foes makes this an ideal alternative to getting up-close to their massive weapons.

As a token of his friendship with his mentor, Perulian received the tiefling's *gloves of missile snaring*, which they had used to help with archery practice. The tabaxi has found some use for the gloves in those rare moments where he fights humanoid enemies, catching flying axes and crossbow bolts inches from embedding themselves into him.

### Abilities

Perulian combines his marksmanship with magical knowledge, infusing his shots with magical energy. He can fuse an arrow with illusory magics from the Shadowfell, obscuring a victim's vision beyond arm's length and giving himself and allies an advantage in firing at them. For more explosive results, he can lace an arrow with evocation magic, causing it to burst with magical force on impact and harm anything unfortunate enough to stand near the target.

### Personality

Perulian is an aloof but not unfriendly warrior. He has an almost single-minded focus on hunting giants which borders on the point of obsession, but his sense of duty towards helping others helps to curb that bloodlust. With a new group of allies to travel with, he may be able to continue balancing his life and sanity with his mission.

While he appreciates companionship, Perulian is afraid of forming bonds with new people. This likely resulted from his trauma after surviving the giants' attack on his caravan. A mixture of grief and survivor's guilt makes him reluctant to get close to others, fearing the pain that will come from such loss once more. If he feels that his bond with another person may become anything more than a professional relationship, he may choose to cut ties, as he finds it easier to lose a work associate than a close friend.

## Inter-party Relationships

### Elvira

Perulian was initially caught off-guard by Elvira's outgoing personality, but quickly grew accustomed to her bubbly attitude. While he doesn't share the drow's good humor, he nevertheless enjoys her company.

### Sarphi

After joining her in rescuing the halfling Josiah, Perulian has come to respect Sarphi as a kind and resourceful adventurer. He was put-off by her curious nature at first, then unsettled by her comments on humanoid remains, but now sees the druid as a reliable and amusing companion.

## Out-of-Party Relationships

Perulian respects his old tiefling partner, but is reluctant to meet up with them again. After briefly opening up to his partner and mentor, he worries that he may grow attached to his fellow hunter and suffer the same grief he felt upon losing his fellow caravaners.

## Goals

[To be filled out by the player as desired]

## Achievements

* Killed 40 ogres by himself in his career as a giant slayer.
* Joined in slaying the Beast of the Auberdeen Quarry, taking the creature's burnt skull as a trophy.
* Took 1st place at the Hawperfest Archery Competition, winning a set of stuffed cow toys for Sarphi and Elvira. The latter generously and insistently gave her cow to Sarphi.

## Trivia

* Perulian's appearance is based off the Night Hunter skin for the playable character Rengar, from the MOBA game League of Legends. The two share similar features: both of them are blue-furred humanoids resembling large cats (when Rengar uses the Night Hunter skin), both have heterochromatic eyes (either due to birth or prosthetics), and both share an interest in hunting large and dangerous creatures, taking their remains as trophies. While Perulian specializes in ranged combat, however, Rengar prefers melee combat, using a large knife and claws to fight.