Zyr'tec

> "I have returned with objects of pleasure. They shall heighten the mating experience."
>
> -Zyr'tec, arresting a drunk and horny Kelst for impersonating an Alliance leader

*For the full list of characters, see All Characters*

## Appearance

Zyr'tec is muscular for a githyanki. Like others of his kind, however, Zyr'tec appears lanky and gaunt, with yellow speckled skin and pointed ears that are slightly serrated along the back edge, and an almost-skeletal nose. He is first and foremost a warrior, and never goes anywhere without his armor and his ornate greatsword strapped to his back.

## Personality

Zyr'tec is always calm and collected, due to the extreme level of mental discipline required as a psi warrior. He could stare down a hellhound without flinching and strives for mental stillness even in the most heated battle. He is incredibly intelligent but often oblivious to the finer points of human social interactions; he is pretty much in a constant state of culture shock. He is unfailingly courteous, but often comes off as excessively formal. He is intellectually curious and is fascinated by human culture. Ironically for a member of the Lords' Alliance, he finds the concept of hereditary nobility utterly bewildering, as githyanki society is an absolute meritocracy based largely on an individual's skill in combat.

## History

Creche K'liir

Zyr'tec was hatched in a hollowed-out asteroid in the Tears of Selune, currently known as Creche K'liir. From an early age, Zyr’tec showed great promise. A githyanki childhood is difficult and often deadly, with training is designed to weed out the weak. But swordplay came as easily to Zyr’tec as breathing, and he was first among his crèche-mates to manifest psionic ability. It was Zyr’tec who struck the killing blow against the mind flayer in his crèche’s coming-of-age ritual, and he still carries around its mummified finger as a trophy.

Tu'narath: the City of Death

Tu’narath is capital city of the githyanki. Built upon the petrified corpse of a long-forgotten god floating in the Astral Sea, it is source of both comfort and pain to Zyr’tec as he begins his journey on the Material Plane. After coming of age, it was time for Zyr’tec to finally take his place among his people in Tu’narath. The city was everything he had hoped and more. On the ageless Astral Plane, Zyr’tec had more than enough time to master many crafts, from smithing and calligraphy to map-making and alchemy. He learned Primordial from Efreeti traders in the market district and practiced his Draconic with the red dragons that he hoped to someday ride into battle as a true githyanki knight. He sailed mighty astral skiffs into battle, raiding and pillaging the Material Plane. And yet, something felt…wrong.

While recovering from a training injury, Zyr’tec sought to alleviate the crushing boredom by asking one of the thralls who cleaned the citadel about his homeland. The thrall, an old gnome named Dondri Fizzletrick, spoke longingly of Faerûn, which he had not seen in many years. Dondri told Zyr’tec of his small village on the coast south of Waterdeep. Dondri told him of his family who had been slaughtered when the githyanki descended in their flying ships, of the farmhouse his grandparents built that was razed to the ground by knights on dragonback. These conversations continued and—despite his upbringing—Zyr’tec found that he liked the little gnome and considered him a friend.

One day, Zyr’tec returned to visit Dondri but found him gone. When he asked the citadel’s quartermaster, Zyr’tec was horrified to learn that Dondri had been injured. Unable to work—and therefore disposable—he was sent to the dragon caves as livestock. The casual ease with which the quartermaster had discarded his friend like a broken tool shocked Zyr’tec into reflecting upon githyanki society. He realized that the githyanki had become no better than the mind flayers who had enslaved them so long ago. Moreover, his people had lost sight of the Eternal Crusade. Instead of focusing on eradicating the mind flayers, the githyanki now wasted their time plundering the Material Plane and continuing a pointless war with their cousins, the githzerai. Unable to continue raiding and taking thralls in good conscience, Zyr’tec decided to leave Tu’narath and traveled to Faerûn, making his way to Waterdeep.

## Abilities and Equipment

Zyr'tec is incredibly strong and prefers a greatsword, which he wields with devastating effect. His skill with the blade is augmented by potent psionic abilities. He can imbue his sword with telekinetic energy or use that energy to absorb the kinetic impact of an opponent's attack. He can manipulate objects and effortlessly move them with his mind. He can propel himself with telekinetic force, able to jump atop the roof of a building in a single leap. And he can consciously will his cells to rapidly regenerate.

Abilities

* Telekinetic Strike
* Protective Field
* Telekinetic Movement
* Second Wind (flavored as psionic biofeedback)
* Mage Hand (invisible, requiring no components)
* Jump (requiring no components)

Weapons

* Greatsword

Equipment

* Plate Armor

Languages

* Common
* Gith
* Draconic
* Primordial
* Deep Speech

Tool Proficiencies

* Alchemist's Supplies
* Calligrapher's Supplies
* Cartographer's Tools
* Smith's Tools
* Vehicles (Water)

## Relationships

### NPCs and Groups

Githyanki: Although Zyr'tec left Tu'narath, he loves his people and seeks to serve Vlaakith in his own way. As a psi warrior, Zyr'tec is a member of the Gish caste. Additionally, he still holds the rank of Sarth in the githyanki military, an officer rank capable of commanding up to ten githwarriors. He hopes to one day convince his people of the great hypocrisy of placing the utmost value on personal freedom while simultaneously keeping thralls.

Githzerai: Zyr'tec shares his people's hatred of the githzerai to some extent. However, he believes that the constant war with them is a pointless waste of resources that should be devoted to eradicating the illithid menace. He would like to see a truce between the githyanki and githzerai and use their combined might on their shared enemy.

Other Races: Unlike most of his kind, Zyr'tec is willing to treat other races with the same respect and courtesy he would give another githyanki. However, he expects the same level of respect and courtesy in return.

### Other Characters

* **Sir Agar Wode:** Zyr'tec likes Agar, although he wishes Agar would be exhibit a greater degree of self control.
* **Hakkan:** Zyr'tec has great respect and admiration for Hakkan, seeing her as a kindred warrior spirit. He finds her descriptions of hobgoblin culture fascinating, as it shares many similarities with his own.
* **Margalyn:** As the first person Zyr'tec met in the Lords' Alliance, Zyr'tec has a special fondness for Margalyn. He enjoys her obvious intelligence and intellectual curiosity.
* **Eleanor:** Zyr'tec likes Eleanor for much the same reasons he likes Margalyn, seeing her as a fellow intellectual.
* **Olivia:** Although their initial meeting ended with Olivia putting Zyr'tec in the stocks, he bears her no ill will. Zyr'tec is impressed with Olivia's fighting spirit, after she completely surprised him by not only challenging him to a sparring match but nearly defeating him.
* **Drona Crus:** Drona is the first full cleric that Zyr'tec has ever fought beside. The githyanki have no clerics, but Zyr'tec was impressed with his performance in the battle against the hydra. Zyr'tec still distrusts the gods, but thanks to Drona, he can now at least appreciate them as somewhat useful.
* **Lost:** Zyr'tec finds Lost's lazy demeanor strange, but he can't deny his effectiveness in battle.
* **Adrienne:** Zyr'tec doesn't understand Adrienne's commitment to defending the weak, but he likes his courtesy.

## The Story so Far

At the start of Zyr'tec's time on the server, he had only been on Faerun for about ten days. Although Zyr'tec possess tremendous knowledge of other planes, he has spent very little time on this one.

## Trivia

* Zyr'tec is named after the allergy medicine Zyrtec because pharmaceuticals make great D&D names.
* Zyr'tec's personality and speech patterns are based heavily on the character Teal'c from SG-1.