Jasper Embertide

*This page is about Ink and Quill's Eladrin traveler. For the zombie cat by Ginger, see Jasper.*

## Jasper Embertide

### Aliases

The Wanderer, Zhentorian Harbinger, Frostfell

### Affiliation

Blackbird Point, Embertide Ward, Zylrie Baliphe, Zhentor (formerly)

### Occupation

Traveler, mercenary, adventurer, mage, cleric, politician (formerly), thief (formerly)

## Biographical information

### Date of birth

Fivemoon, Eleventh House of Qaalnir, Epoch 423

## Appearance

Jasper, in his late 20s, is short for an Eladrin but thin and lanky, with deft hands and a slender, slightly hunched frame. He has mid-length, almost white, blonde hair and an old scar running across the bridge of his freckled nose. His skin is generally slightly tanned, and his eyes are an icy powder blue. He has long, pointed ears and usually wears a small jade earring on his left.

On the back of his right hand is a faded orange runic sigil, resembling a falchion and teardrop shape etched into his skin.

He’s typically considered averagely attractive by most, yet distinguished in his unique appearance. Though he typically wears a dusty brown leather tunic, a long, white linen hooded cloak, and a simple steel pauldron while on mercenary work, he has no fixed attire, though he typically prefers lighter colors and minimal metal armor.

During time off of traveling, however, he has a flair for elegance, preferring apparel similar to 1700s Earth attire - dark green waistcoats and dress suits in particular. Generally, he prefers to be meticulous when not actively working as a mercenary, a byproduct of both his insecurity and his eagerness to impress.

## Personality

At heart, Jasper’s just a socially anxious, friendly, eccentric, adventure-loving elf way too far in over his head.

Jasper is kind and caring, though insecure and prone to self-deprecation. He is very intelligent and shrewd, albeit rather abrasive when angered. He’s extremely empathic and emotionally sensitive, and very willing to please others. He loves having friends and thrives on their approval.

He’s a very excitable idealist as well, and often judges situations based on how they would work in his favorite stories, often causing him to miscalculate circumstances accordingly. He’s also a hopeless romantic, though he’d never admit it to anyone.

However, he can be quite incendiary and ruthless when he or his friends are provoked and lets his tendency to form grudges and seek revenge get the better of him.

He’s generally lonely and struggles with anxiety, and lacks general eloquence. However, when motivated, he has the drive and determination to accomplish great feats - however, unless his friends’ safety or his own is on the line, these times are few and far between.

He prefers glaives and sica blades to most weapons, often carrying them while on bounty hunts, however, he rarely uses them except as a last resort, owing to him being rather squeamish around blood. However, he’s generally competent in battle, and extremely dexterous as a result of his elven heritage.

## Lore

### Birth and origin

Believed to have been born into a wealthy family on Eladril, Jasper was born in the Eleventh House of Qaalnir, Epoch 423. A prospective mage with unusually erratic and dangerous abilities, fueled by his unusual intelligence and tendency for aggressive action, at six years old Jasper was sent by his family to study under Aetros Silver-Thorn, a renowned sorcerer in his home city of Black Spire.

Jasper studied under Aetros for nine years, living in imposed solitude in the sorcerer’s citadel. During this time, he was frequently subjected to intense training, tests, and mental manipulation to hone his abilities, causing him to rely more and more on his magical abilities to survive.

Despite this, Aetros became a surrogate father to Jasper, genuinely caring for him despite his intensity. The two studied the multiverse extensively, along with Eladrin mythology and lore, alongside a combination of magic and the arts. Jasper became increasingly shrewd and intelligent, yet disconnected from society, socially anxious, and isolated.

During his time under Aetros, the citadel was occasionally visited by Zylrie Baliphe, a high-elf paladin and knight working with an Eladrin religious collective. Jasper had infrequent meetings with her and the two became acquainted, but even though Jasper came to look forward to their meetings and rely on her, Zylrie disliked his eccentricity and preferred to remain disconnected from him. Despite this, Jasper came to view her as a close friend, despite their distance.

In the Fifth House of Akâmaí of that year, when Jasper was fifteen, Eladria reached the end of its multiversal life cycle, and the world began to collapse in on itself in a slow apocalypse. The wyverns buried within the planet’s inner rings began to awaken from their epochs-long dormancy, and they arose to wreak havoc on the world. The skies began rapidly warping and shifting, and a chain of horrific, eldritch events began to sweep across the planet as it slowly killed itself over months.

Jasper’s home city of Black Spire was hit by an unexplained frenzy plague, and rifts in the fabric of reality began to tear the realm apart slowly. Aetros sent him to tend to the wounded and count the dead, distributing supplies between remaining survivors and attempting to prolong the end. This caused Jasper to gain an innate compassion for others he had lacked, yet the severe trauma of dealing with the apocalyptic circumstances took a further toll on his mental well-being. He began to over-rely on his magic, draining his life force with spells to heal remaining survivors and help him cope.

Two months after Jasper began aiding Aetros with the apocalypse, the sorcerer sent the young mage to a rift in reality lying just outside the city borders to scout the multiverse for a safe haven. Jasper complied, only to meet Zylrie standing outside the rift, much to her chagrin and his relief. The two established an uneasy alliance at Jasper’s request, and the two entered the portal together.

Inside the rift, Jasper was torn from Zylrie and pulled through a disconnected planar link, sending him into the lair of an Aboleth chained away behind the fabric of reality. The Aboleth proceeded to imprison Jasper in its pocket dimension and threaten to keep him bound in indefinite stasis unless he complied with its unspecified request, which Jasper reluctantly agreed to.

Although the Aboleth was bound to forever be chained outside of reality, it made a coup for influence by implanting the unknowing Jasper with its larva. Due to Jasper’s innate yet erratic magical abilities, his metaphysical structure made an ideal incubator for the eldritch creature - and he was branded with a hemocraft sigil on the back of his right hand, powering the larva’s formation via the spells he cast.

Jasper was promptly sent in a planar shift via the Aboleth’s magic, and transported to an unfamiliar dimension. Due to the rapid reality shift, alongside the Aboleth’s malicious curse, Jasper suffered from severe amnesia upon arrival to the new realm, more commonly known as Midiri.

### Aeryn Raqi and Zhentorian Wanderer era

Upon arriving in a densely wooded forest, Jasper wandered for seven hours - his memory gone, and having no recollection of the event with the Aboleth besides the unfamiliar sigil on his hand - before encountering Zylrie outside a sealed rift, scavenging for resources. The two allied for the second time, and though Zylrie remembered him, Jasper’s amnesia prevented him from recognizing her. Despite this, the two were able to survive the night together, despite Jasper falling asleep on watch.

Jasper survived in the forest alongside Zylrie for fourteen days, and the two came to rely on each other. Zylrie’s knowledge of eldritch lore enabled her to correctly identify the sigil on Jasper’s hand as an Aboleth link and told him to avoid spellcasting due to the larva within him. Voices from the larva began to surface in his head, manipulating him and causing him to suffer further anxiety.

The two eventually reached a village - Blackbird Point - and began doing odd jobs for the citizens. Though Zylrie remained as apprehensive about Jasper as ever, merely tolerating him because her paladin oath required her to help, Jasper began to harbor romantic affection toward her. This remained unrequited as they continued working their way up, eventually branching off into mercenary work. He began working with the Zhentor Guild, and they began to accept him into their inner circle, calling him Wanderer due to his love of adventure and exploration - and due to his inability to stay in one place. He was eventually stationed at Túlkran City, the main Zhentorian epicenter of operations.

While on a contract to steal incriminating political documents in a stronghold in Ikénrune, during which Zylrie had returned to her paladin duties due to disagreement with Jasper’s morally dubious lifestyle, Jasper met Aeryn Raqi, a fellow Zhentor thief with whom he was assigned to work with. The two became friends, Jasper sympathizing with Aeryn’s outcast origins and Aeryn fascinated by his eldritch ones, and she became like a sister to him throughout their time working with the Zhentor. Jasper continued to use his life as a thief, along with the constant danger and adventure, as a way to cope with the Aboleth’s voices, which were becoming more and more infrequent due to his neglect of magic.

After two years of their alliance, during which Zylrie continued her paladin duties, Jasper and Aeryn returned to Ikénrune for another heist, this time of ancient vials of potion contained within an infamous mages’ collective, Snowloft Monastery. During the mission, Jasper was able to secure the vials, which contained a mysterious, undetermined blue liquid. However, due to Jasper’s overconfidence during their escape, Aeryn fell into a rune trap, bound by the magic chains. The guardian golems protecting the monastery were activated, and despite Aeryn breaking the runic hold, she was wounded and captured.

Jasper, in an act of cowardice, fled with the vials, returning them to the Zhentor, where they were swiftly taken away to Alíntorne. Jasper was compensated well for his efforts and rewarded with the title of Zhentorian Harbinger, with Aeryn’s loss being regarded as a necessary evil, yet he fell into chronic depression in the fallout of abandoning his surrogate sister, only magnified by the Aboleth’s voice in his head.

### Harbinger Era and the hunt for Aeryn

Jasper spent one more year as Zhentorian Harbinger, yet he rarely acted in his role - in stark contrast to his headstrong actions in his first three years of working with the Zhentor. At nineteen he returned to Blackbird Point, living a quiet life alongside Zylrie, aiding her with her paladin duties, and even taking a minor clerical oath. He founded a temple and infirmary there - Embertide Ward - using his role in the village society to cope with his regret, believing Aeryn had died.

However, after hearing a prospective lead on Aeryn from a guard stationed at Embertide Ward, a former jailor at Wrenscale Prison - Tólgir Renelí, who claimed that Aeryn had escaped and his sister Kalistria, another Zhentorian Harbinger, was on her trail - Jasper returned to Túlkran with newfound motivation, searching for leads on Kalistria’s whereabouts. Before he left, he confessed his feelings to Zylrie, who neglected to reciprocate them.

In Túlkran, at the Zhentorian Guildhall, Jasper returned to a warm welcome as Harbinger. He was informed that Kalistria was on unspecified business in Qitasír, but would return for the annual Zhentor Conclave in nine days. During that period, Jasper refused to undertake contracts at the Guildhall but proceeded with his Harbinger duties of political management and intrigue. During this time, he learned that Aeryn was indeed alive, and working as a freedom fighter against the Zhentor - and being hunted by one of its lords, Ahalin. He also received word of an incriminating assassination contract on Kalistria.

At the Conclave party, Jasper located Kalistria and conversed with her, before asking about Aeryn. Kalistria was evasive and indirect, preferring to divert Jasper’s attention elsewhere with small talk. Jasper then decided to attempt a different approach and began to attempt to charm her. While the two danced, Jasper pickpocketed the incriminating contract, then when they were alone, he revealed that he had stolen it, and threatened to use it to blackmail her. Kalistria proceeded to backstab him with a concealed dagger, puncturing his lung and causing him to pass out.

Against his oath, Jasper used his magic in a surge of adrenaline to heal him and kill Kalistria with a desperate maledict. The Aboleth larva gained strength from being powered by his spell, however, he was able to keep it contained via a desperate life force drain cast on himself. Due to his self-imposed weakness to hold off the creature inside him, he was quickly captured by the Conclave guard and taken to Wrenscale Prison.

### Incarceration and escape

During his interrogation and torture at the hands of the Wrenscale Justiciar, Jasper was manipulated into believing that Aeryn had been captured and killed shortly after the altercation, and he had murdered Kalistria for nothing. In a desperate act to avoid his seemingly-inevitable execution, he revealed that he was an Aboleth vessel (meaning he couldn’t be killed without releasing the larva), and further investigation proved his claims. Shortly after, he was sent to a solitary cell block, succumbing to depression regarding Aeryn’s alleged death.

After three weeks spent imprisoned, Jasper was caught in the middle of a military raid on Wrenscale Prison to rescue several prisoners of war. Escaping in the chaos but injured - yet refusing to use his magic again, lest the Aboleth awaken - Jasper wandered the frozen wastes for two days, wounded, before following tracks in the snow and coming upon a traveling nomadic caravan. He was able to persuade them to lead him back to his town of Blackbird Point, in exchange for large amounts of supplies and medicine from Embertide Ward and Zylrie’s paladin order.

Although Zylrie was apprehensive, she was genuinely glad to see Jasper had arrived, and her order tended to the nomads. Jasper’s injuries were quickly healed by her deic healing spells, and he returned to working at Embertide Ward to cope with Aeryn’s loss.

### Reunion, revolution and a mysterious lead

Eventually, Aeryn tracked Jasper down and met him at Blackbird Point, much to his relief. After the two reconciled Jasper’s abandonment, and Jasper paid her a share of the reward for the potion vials (which he had saved at Embertide Ward) the two planned a revenge coup against the Zhentor. Though Aeryn was very distrustful of him due to his past cowardice, they were able to work together and, alongside her and Zylrie, Jasper planned extensively and took advantage of his title of Harbinger, turning his influence against the Zhentor in a series of condemning political moves and calculated attacks.

One of the most influential was his secret assassination of Grand Harbinger Ahalin, working alongside his allies to sneak onboard the politician’s flagship - the Luminary - as it sailed across the ocean, destroying the ship in the middle of the sea before it could reach port. Jasper also turned the Zhentorian Council against each other through underhanded political dissidence and propaganda, causing unrest and collapse within the faction.

The uprising lasted three years and succeeded, and Túlkran was freed from the influence of the Zhentor. Jasper, Aeryn, and Zylrie profited immensely from the political coup, as did Blackbird Point and Embertide Ward. During the downtime, Jasper continued forays into politics, eventually becoming marshal of Blackbird Point alongside Zylrie. However, he never lost his love of adventure, continuing to undertake minor quests and pursue mercenary work to pass the time. During this period, his mental state stabilized, and the Aboleth was silenced for months.

Later, while Jasper was working under his clerical oath at Embertide Ward, he tended to a traveler - Ulrún Alimar - infected with a mysterious frozen plague causing his veins to turn blue and his blood temperature to rapidly decline, with no cure discovered either from Zylrie’s deic spells, mundane medicine, or Jasper’s hemocraft, which the latter reluctantly used a minor amount of as a last resort.

### Akaelinn and the frozen vials

Ulrún, an alchemist with alleged ties to the Zhentor before it collapsed, reported having come into possession of two blue vials four years prior and claimed that after unspecified use by the famed mage Akaelinn, their contents were leaked in a small northern city near Wrenscale - Ísekryn. Jasper wanted no part in the matter (despite his involvement in its origin) however, Zylrie and Aeryn persuaded him to join them on a mission to stop the maledict’s spread. They traveled to Ísekryn shortly after, Zylrie traveling on behalf of her paladin order.

While in Ísekryn, the three attended the funeral of Xenotar Quill, a prospective spellcaster who worked under Akaelinn. Jasper quickly gleaned information from his mourning wife, Alárin, who reported Xenotar’s alleged location at a nearby enclave, along with the Zhentorian origin of the vials, proving Jasper’s involvement.

The three investigated the mystery while contending with Akaelinn’s crime family, and discovered more infected citizens as the plague began to slowly spread. They quickly tracked Akaelinn’s enforcers to a nearby enclave, before reclaiming the vials. However, they also discovered a lead to the nearby city of Evintorne after aiding a merchant in the town, where they believed a cure could be found based on information they had gleaned from a captured mage working under Akaelinn.

The three booked passage on a ship to Evintorne and retraced Ulrún’s path to an ancient ruin, where they braved its defenses and found a counter-spell. Returning it to Isekryn, the mages’ collective there cured the infected and Akaelinn was executed by Zylrie shortly after.

After the three returned to Blackbird Point, Jasper continued forays into political endeavors there, even dethroning a corrupt neighboring earl, however, he rarely stayed in the city and preferred adventure to politics. Although his days are inevitably numbered due to the Aboleth larva, he continues adventuring to this day and is a common figure in Ink’s writing, occasionally briefly appearing across universes on different quests, albeit in minor roles.

## Additional information

-He has a slightly Irish accent, with faint British undertones and a hint of Norwegian.

-He has a tendency to converse with the Aboleth in his head, though he despises it. He’s received intentionally misleading dating advice from it more than once - much to his chagrin.

-Jasper undertakes extremely difficult and quite possibly unhinged quests for very petty reasons, most likely to impress people. It doesn’t help that the Aboleth encourages it.

-The Aboleth has a very wry and sardonic sense of humor, which Jasper finds endlessly aggravating.

-He will never end up in a canonical relationship. The reason for this is, who in their right mind would want to?

-Not only that, Jasper can’t. Despite the fact that he’s a hopeless romantic, the Aboleth does not shut up, which is unfortunate when he’s trying to come off as charismatic. He more just ends up flustered and confused, which is one of the many, many reasons Zylrie keeps rejecting him.

-Jasper is wary about sleeping. He’s a heavy sleepwalker and the Aboleth doesn’t help that in the slightest.

-He also can’t consume typical Midirian/Bisylean healing elixirs (due to their high level of placating painkillers) or alcohol, because doing so leaves him vulnerable to the Aboleth, similar to when he’s sleeping.

## Trivia

-Jasper was partially inspired by the song Viva la Vida by Coldplay, however, the final version of the character bears little resemblance to its lyrics.

-He was originally created for a D&D one-shot, with Ginger DMing. He was a chaotic-good blood hunter with a personality kind of like a used car salesman (in his fellow adventurers’ words) and the frozen vials subplot of his current lore was heavily inspired by events in that oneshot.

-Do not ship him and Aeryn. Seriously. In the original one-shot lore, they were siblings, and even though this was tweaked for a more cohesive backstory, they still have a very familial and platonic relationship, no more.

-Jasper is unrelated to Ginger’s character of the same name, and the two were created separately. Both characters existed simultaneously without knowledge of the other.

-A few of his traits are lifted directly from Ink, although he’s not a sona or self-insert.

-Other inspirations include Hamilton, The Stormlight Archive, and The Wingfeather Saga.

-Ink is open to anyone on apof putting him in their work if they want, and in fact, he encourages it.

-He is the main protagonist of Ascendancy.