Sarovar Arland

Sarovar Arland was a Player Character and a Half-elf Rogue Mastermind. As a spy in a foreign land, Sarovar was ruthless in his methods to ingratiate himself into the party. For all his gifts of persuasion, Sarovar's blatant cowardice landed the party in hot water more than once. Sarovar became close friends with the party and private detective Jaque Kane, but this ultimately did not sway his true mission for Tarrin dominance.

## Sarovar Arland

### Occupation

Spy; soldier (former); fisherman (former)

## Current Status

Currently deceased. Sarovar was killed by his own hand after realizing he would have to testify under a Zone of Truth about Shadh's assasination.

## General Characteristics

Aged 57 during the events of the campaign, *Barnabus was an eccentric elderly man with a penchant for fancy attire, rarely seen without a suit and tie or some other formalwear. Though his monastic teachings led him to place little value on opulence and monetary gain, he retained a fondness for certain luxuries, such as the aforementioned clothes as well as high-quality alcoholic beverages.*

*Barnabus' fighting style was adapted from the Symphasian teachings of the Way of the Drunken Master. Emphasizing deceptive posturing and flowing fluidly from feints into strikes, this martial art form allowed Barnabus to get opponents to underestimate his abilities by acting weaker, older, more frail, and/or more injured than he really was, even walking with an exaggerated limp during everyday life to "sell" the image. Using his hand-carved walking cane as a club to channel Ki through, Barnabus frequently aimed to get the upper hand by combining unexpected swiftness and precise strikes to disrupt opponents' focus and generally be unpredictable in the flow of combat.*

## Background

### Birth

Sarovar grew up in Mistport, Tarrin, as the son of a fisherman. His father, Arvind, was very caring and supportive, but he never met his mother and only knew that she was an elf from the North. His father remarried when he was young, but Sarovar's stepmother Aretha was caring and Sarovar considered her to be his mother for all intents and purposes. His family struggled occasionally after poor weather or bad fish sales. Sarovar had fond memories of helping with the work, such as taking the vessel out, cleaning the catch, and hawking it in the marketplace. As a child, Sarovar often got up to mischief and would take the boat out on joyrides, steal pies and clothes from windows sills and clothes lines, and cheat other children in games of chance. He often got caught when he first started, but an older boy, Hodgin, helped show him the ropes.

### The Great Protectorate War

The Orc aggression increased dramatically when Sarovar turned around 30. Sarovar's childhood best friend, Hodgin, left to help fight with his family in North Sirex and Sarovar's father encouraged him to join them. Sarovar did not until the next year, when the war officially broke out. Sarovar then traveled to the great city of Sirex and enlisted in the army in late 1701. Sarvoar was unable to find Hodgin and grew disillusioned from what he saw during the war. He witnessed atrocities being committed by both the Orcs and his fellow servicemen. As a half-elf, he felt somewhat isolated among his squadron. He bonded with one member of his squadron, an old monk named Seraphin. She was also from Tarrin and had spent time on a fishing vessel as a pirate, so they bonded over our time at sea. During a skirmish with the Orcs, Seraphin was badly wounded and was left unable to walk. Sarovar made a futile effort to save her, but the other members of my squadron insisted that he leave her behind in order to live. Sarovar refused and was knocked out and dragged away from the battle. This saved his life, but he viewed it as leaving his only friend for dead. After he finished his service, Sarovar left Sirex as quickly as possible.

### Return to Tarrin

Sarovar moved back to Mistport and met Hodgin again. He had been shot in the back of the head by a Sirexian on accident. Hodgin's squadmates had attempted to burn him to cover the evidence, but he lived, needless to say with extreme injuries. He introduced me to politics and Sarovar gradually became radicalized on the subject of Tarrin dominance. Sarovar joined a society that backed a Tarrin politician sympathetic to our causes. Throughout this time, Sarovar picked up on the intricacies of manipulation, influence, and the navigation of politics. The official story was that this Tarrin politician won on a campaign backed by populist concerns about future violence, magic experimentation, and distrust of the protectorate. Behind the scenes, Sarovar helped rumors about these concerns run wild and was able to successfully destroy the opposition’s public image. It was no different than the manipulations and deceptions he would puppeteer as a child, just on a larger scale. Once established in the Tarrin government, the politician contracted Sarovar to start spying on Sirex officials and Protectorate movements. They both know that an outright coup would be put down by the protectorate and would lead to an Orc invasion. They instead are searching for a moment of weakness to force the transfer the power of the protectorate to Tarrin. If this moment does not come, an outright succession may force this moment of weakness. Sarovar's mission is to keep his eyes and ears peeled for this moment, or create it if he must.

### Cover Story

Everything in Sarovar's cover story is the same up until his time after the war. He would reluctantly mention how Seraphin died in the war, but would not mention the political aspects nor how he met back up with Hodgin. In his cover story, Sarovar would say that he spent a couple of years in a veterans camp completely wrecked by guilt and PTSD. After, he stayed in the nation of Sirex for a few more years helping villages and towns on the border rebuild and slowly recover. After this, he would claim that he spent time in the city of Sirex getting involved in court affairs. He was attempting to find people who were using the chaos after the war to their advantage and bring them into the light. For example, he claimed that he was searching for those that were gouging prices on medical supplies, overcharging for rebuilding, embezzling from the treasury, etc. He heard from news in Sirex that there was at least one tip to the press about fake healing magic being presented as real to unsuspecting victims. Sarovar would take credit for this, claiming that he submitted an anonymous tip to the press.

## As an Adventurer

### Introduction to Party

Sarovar had been tracking Elizana Nimblefoot for a while before introducing himself to the party at a bar in Norbury. He knew that the Protectorate had some sort of weapon in development and wanted to know more. The missing Inazorwyn had more information and Eli was a strong potential link to Ina.

### Shadh Assassination Plot

As the party arrived to dopplegangers attacking a critically wounded Shadh, Sarovar saw the chance that he had been waiting for. While leading Shadh away from the violence, a lucky fireball downed the prime minister. Sarovar gave a look of regret to his faithful party, but ended up obeying his mission and driving a dagger into one of the chest wounds previously caused by the dopplegangers.

### Death

Following the death of Shadh, the party was held for trial and the inevitable interrogation under a Zone of Truth. After weighing his options for several days, Sarovar decided to stay loyal to Terran until the very end and bring his secrets to his grave. After writing a note detailing the mistreatment and anti-Tarrin prejudice as the reasons that pushed him over the edge, he committed suicide in his cell.