Heroes of the Northern Strife, Part 2

Sections: Main | Campaigns | Characters | NPCs | Locales | Culture | History | Artifacts | Maps

Characters: Slaadi Invasion | Coipor Alliance | Northern Strife, Part 1 | Northern Strife, Part 2 | Haven Infiltration | Vale of Lost Memories | Swamp of Vutha Valignat | Orbs of the Archeron | Illithid Empire of Thithnihl | Hollows | Black As Pitch | Air Islands of Nack | BUFD Wars | Weapon of the Gods | Couatlán | Getting the Band Back Together

Other: Journals Heroes of the Northern Strife, Part 2 The mystic Red Wolf has instructed a band of adventurers to find the Shards of the Diamond Rose before corrupt organizations get them first.

Behati Huntington-Swanepoel
(Played by Danice V.)

Human Ranger/Bard

Biography: Born TH 10038, June 21. Behati was born and raised in the circus. From a young age, the burgeoning Behati was taught the tricks of the trade becoming a skilled acrobat and entertainer from his dedicated parents and jovial circus folk. With time, he soon found a new love, not just for tumbling and flying through the air; but with song and archery. He came to focus his prowess on improving his shot, aim, and composition. By the time he was in his teens he found himself performing music and dance to attract crowds to the circus, and pulling double duty amazing his captured audiences with his feats of eagle-eye precision hitting targets next to his friends’ precariously positioned appendages.

Upon his 18th birthday Behati’s parents died in a tragic trapeze accident that left his mother decapitated and his father bifurcated. It was an unforeseen event and completely without reason, just a pure freak accident involving faulty rope lines and misplaced swallowing swords. Devastated by his loss, Behati woefully fled his familiar circus life and pursued a life far too different in his upbringing. He wandered the cold world he was sheltered from in the warm circus tent and left his successful career behind. Another member of the travelling circus, Dill, joined him for his own reasons.

Now two years later he finds himself and Dill living in the wilderness, hunting and living off the land not knowing a path to follow. Aside from playing his music to the woodland creatures, he keeps his art and passion in his heart and rarely shares it with others. On a normal wintry day in the mountains, Behati finds himself tracking down dire voles for food. He and Dill come across a recent battle and looks upon a band of wearied and saddened adventurers, with a pair of unfortunate lost souls lying in the freshly fallen snow…

Notable Acts:
 * Disappeared TH 10058, July 27, when exploring the ruins of Thanau.

B.I.G. Unit
(Played by Gillfrost)

Warforged Swordmage (Formerly a Knight)

Biography: B.I.G. (Bulwark Infused Guerrilla) was commissioned by the Draernic Dwarves to serve in the battle against Sjobia. During a small scouting mission west of Sjobo, B.I.G. and his team were overcome by an avalanche. Buried in the snow, B.I.G. went into standby mode waiting for someone to find him. As it so happens a group of adventurers happened to stumble upon the Iron Giant. When they revived B.I.G. he had forgotten everything before he was frozen. With no other option he joined the band with a new directive, protect his saviors from harm. Who knows if he will ever remember his original directive for the Draernic Dwarves, to kill all humans.

Notable Acts:
 * Received a blessing from the Primal Spirit known as Lestothiel in TH 10058.
 * Reverted to being a swordmage after recalling part of his former life, TH 10058, July 26.
 * Died TH 10058, July 27, from being crushed to death by obsidian walls in the ruins of Thanau.

Bündchen Ambrosio


(Played by Danice V.)

Elf Shaman

Biography: Born TH 10036, June 20.

Notable Acts:
 * Bündchen's Diary
 * Received a blessing from the Primal Spirit know as Lestothiel in TH 10058.
 * Died at the hands of Slahan Beyetor and his wolf, Dirk.

Dill
(Played by Alex P.) Half-Orc Knight

Biography: Born TH 10013. The roving female orcish clan called the Jemoritial Plague (named after the group's founder, Jemorit, now worshiped as a goddess) was a loathsome, brutish group: raping and pillaging all across the frozen wastes. Needless to say, much of the raping resulted in children: females were trained as marauders and males were abandoned to perish in the cold.

Dill was, like many other unfortunate male births, left to the cold to die. But fortunately for him, there was a merry band of knights tracking the clan across the tundra that stumbled up on the newborn Dill and took him for their own. They raised him as a servant, to cook the meals, and clean the waste of their noble steeds. When Dill was coming of age, one knight by the name of Hiroshi Catan decided to take on Dill as a squire and to train in the arts of combat. Eventually Dill rose to the rank of knighthood, an expert in the art of sword-and-board combat.

On one fateful evening, a few of the band were on a mission at night, tracking down what they believed to be thralls to a powerful alhoon. They were ambushed by a group of evil cultists. One of the clerics of that cult cast a Cause Fear spell on Dill and he ran away from the scene. Disgraced at his cowardice, Dill joined a circus as a cook and stable-hand (not using his combat abilities). At this circus, he befriended Behati. When Behati fled the circus, Dill revealed that he was a capable fighter and fled with him. Over the past few years Dill was traveling with Behati through the wilderness and on to his next great adventure...

Notable Acts:
 * Became a Storm Initiate of the Order of Thunder in Drado'oner on TH 10058, July 7
 * Disappeared TH 10058, July 27, when exploring the ruins of Thanau.

Exsilliuslova
(Played by Shannon W.)

Thri-kreen Ranger

Biography: Born TH 10040. As a young bug I was always fascinated by the outside world. I grew up in a close nit society of thri-kreen (the Krichenflowa Tribe) and only saw outsiders when they were captured by our warriors. Due to my fascination with these other creatures, I sneaked into the POW section of our camp whenever I had the chance. I got away with doing this for years and became very good at maneuvering around without the notice of my fellow thri-kreen. I found ingenious ways to run, jump, flip, and bound my way into spying on these different creatures.

I would have never been caught except for my curiosity with a certain prisoner. He was a shifter that called himself Red Wolf. He was only in our camp for a week and randomly disappeared without a trace. He told me that there were other ways to live than what I've always known. This intrigued me and whenever I got a chance I would beg him to tell me more about these different ways of living.

I was already an outcast in my society. I could not relate to any of my people. No one understood my fascination with learning about different cultures, so when Red Wolf randomly disappeared I went out looking for him. I ended up in the woods; in the Barrage at a cabin. I noticed several different creatures inside and made myself noticed. It was a group of creatures around my age and they told me that Red Wolf had asked them to go on a “quest” of sorts for him. Intrigued and dying to know more about Red Wolf I decided to join them. Being a natural outcast I had no inclination to whether these other creatures were pleased or displeased with my company.

Notable Acts:
 * Exsilliuslova's Personal Account
 * Received a magical trident from Strumpat, a symbol of power within the Krichenflowa Tribe, TH 10058, June 2.
 * Possesses the 3rd Shard of the Diamond Rose, the Crescent of Animate Communication.

Fortuno Laiye
(Played by Gillfrost)

Shade Invoker/Shaman

Biography: Born TH 10039. Born in a band of wandering gypsies Fortuno was known as a miracle baby. Born a month premature, everyone assumed that he would be dead within the first week. His widowed mother named him, aptly, Fortuno and continually told him that he was a child of Lafoz, the God of Luck. One week before his 8th birthday Fortuno saw an eagle eating a crow while a mouse covered in ink escaped into the forest. He knew this was a bad omen and tried to convince his fellow gypsies of this fact. They disregarded his warnings as the imaginative pandering of an overly creative youth. On his birthday the gypsies encountered a roving band of shades, humans who have sold a piece of themselves to the Shadowfell in order to take on a number of dark qualities. He was fascinated with these strange people and the night of his birthday he snuck out of his camp to go perform the ritual to become a shade. At first the shades refused because of the intense dangers involved in the ritual, but at his persistence and after hearing about Fortuno’s obsession with omens and fate they relented.

The ritual took all night and in the wee hours of the morning Fortuno emerged a shade. He returned to his camp to await punishment from his mother for his rash actions. But when he reached the camp it was in shambles. The omen of the eagle, crow, and mouse had indeed become true. That night a roving band of slavers ransacked the camp killing most and kidnapping the rest.

Using his new-found art of the shadow, Fortuno followed the slavers around for 6 years waiting for the omens to give him a chance to rescue his mother. During the long years Fortuno developed his skills any way he could. Not far from the main camp that his mother was being held at as a slave Fortuno found a Shaman and Invoker, both masters of their art and married. They allowed Fortuno to stay with them and they even instructed him in their methods of battle. Over the 6 years Fortuno brought his mother food every day without her ever knowing whom it was bestowing this kindness.

Exactly six years from the day Fortuno saw the omen of the eagle, crow, and mouse he was making his way towards the slavers camp. Along the way he saw the corpse of an eagle on the ground being scavenged by a lone mouse. He knew that his time had come. Each day following he found something as he was bringing food to his mother: some silk rope, a climbers kit, a strange magical bottle, a magic rod, an odd magical necklace, and finally some magical armor. On the night of the 7th day, his 14th birthday, he sneaked into the slavers camp just as he had every day for years, but this time his intention was quite different. Using the tools which fate has proffered up to him he infiltrated the camp and rescued his mother.

Reunited with his mother, he disbanded his training in the magic arts. He decided to move to the major city of Sjobo in order to live a normal life with his mother. For years he lived in Sjobo with relative happiness. He cared for his mother and made a living doing anything that Lafoz and fate had in store for him, from fortune telling, to cleaning houses, to small local adventuring. Because he obviously wasn't human and since shades were very sparse in Sjobo, he wasn't readily accepted, but he made it by.

When he was 19 years old and unemployed, he was walking the streets of Sjobo looking for work. For no real reason he ventured into an alley which he had never been in before. The small alley was mostly empty except for a small cage in which he found a mouse covered in ink. He released the mouse from his cage. As the mouse scurried off he noticed that there was a note on the inside of the cage. It read simply, "Find your fate well at the lucky star." He saw this as an omen, he asked around and found that there was a bar called the "Lucky Star" on the other side of the city. He went there and stayed until nightfall. For three days he went to the Lucky Star from morning until night without any omens. But on the third day he got was he had waited for… He found the white minotaur, Valonia and immediately knew that she was destined for great things, among them having a part in ending the eternal winter that plagues the whole of Bottenhavet.

Notable Acts:
 * Possesses the 6th Shard of the Diamond Rose, the Tiller of the Obsidian Teleporter.

Kithri


(Played by Carrie G.)

Halfling Assassin

Biography: Born TH 10042.

Notable Acts:
 * Slain in a battle with orcs under the command of Gresh.

Kossiss
(Played by McStew)

Kobold Monk

Biography: Kossiss was hatched TH 10037 into a small clan of ice kobolds who reside not-too-far to the east of Sjobo. This clan, known as the Cult of Shirotatsu, are worshipers of the great white dragoness of the same name.

One day Kossiss decided to sneak into the chamber of elders in an attempt to steal an orb that they believe to be the Eye of Shirotatsu. This was an unsuccessful heist. Upon being caught, the cult elder Thizziht banished Kossiss to the harsh wastelands of the surface world.

Unable to survive on his own in the wintery wonderland, Kossiss was forced to join a group of adventurers travelling in the area. With their help, Kossiss hopes to one day master the form of the ancient dragon so that he can show Thizziht who's boss.

Notable Acts:
 * Exacted vengeance on Thizziht, Slik, and several of his former tribesmen in the Cult of Shirotatsu by successfully stealing the Eye of Shirotatsu.
 * Possesses the 1st shard of the Diamond Rose, the Diamond Pupil of the Dragoness.

Neveah
(Played by eRin)

Wilden Druid

Biography: Born TH 10034. Neveah, a descendant of the Feywild and a chaser of storms, left her people as a wildflower. The wilden look down on storm chasers as those who do not fully control their powers of the natural world. She is strongly pulled towards the dynamic and seeks to create equilibrium. Thus, she found herself among the adventurers before the Red Wolf to satisfy her desire for calming chaos.

Notable Acts:
 * Now known as Neveah, the "Fallen Leaf." Accepted into the druid grove by their leader, Havlihi.
 * Tamed a faerie dragon in the Feywild in TH 10058, May 27. However, she was unable to bring it back into the Primary World.
 * Neveah's Book of Recycled Ancestors
 * Slain TH 10058, July 27, in the ruins of Thanau by unknown attackers.

Rarity Twilight Dash


(Played by Danice V.)

Pixie Druid (Sentinel)

Biography: Born TH 10042.

Notable Acts: [blank]

Sariel
(Played by Carrie G.)

Eladrin Bard

Biography: I'm a travelling bard. I go around trying to help anyone who needs it, preferably (but not always) for good. You see, my family was not always on the... positive sides of certain situations, and we struggled a lot with just getting by. We could not get any help from others because of their actions and our family was forced to live a nomadic life. This was not difficult, considering my mother was a wizard and my father was a ranger, and myself taking the path of a bard. I always had a talent for musical instruments - some called me a virtuoso.

A few years ago, a few of the parties whom my parents had angered before we left found us. They didn't really fill me in on the situation, but they were taken and I assumed killed for a debt. From that moment, I vowed to try to help everyone that needs it and I believe that these deeds will come back to me in my favor. For my last duty, I was asked by some druids to come negotiate with the orcs regarding passage to the Feywild. Considering my eladrin background and connection to the Feywild myself, I thought this would be a great opportunity to hone my skills. Turns out one eladrin bard can't do anything against a whole hoard of orcs, as they don't seem to be quite as enchanted by my songs as everyone else. Thus, I was thrown into a cell and was unable to escape, until all of you came along.

I am already indebted to you for your actions, so I will do my best to help you and pay you back. And monk, I can already tell that you don't have good intentions, so I will be keeping a close eye on you. If you try to harm any of this group and I catch you, you will pay.

Notable Acts:
 * Sariel's Introductory Poem

Styrbjörn Starke
(Played by Gillfrost)

Human Highlander

Biography: Born TH 10041. Son of Askold and Dir Starke - direct decedents of Vartrynka the Barbarian King. The Starkes are one of the few families who still train in the ways of the Highlander.

Styrbjörn has shown himself to be especially gifted in the ways of the swinging blade. At the age of 16 he is officially coming of age and is ready to embark on his passage to become one of the Highlander Elite. His first task is to climb the the nearby Hardrada Mountain to pick a Thorfinn Flower which only grows at its peak.

Growing up he and his family enjoyed political seclusion while still maintaining their high social status. They live about 15 miles from the Sjobo. Shortly after Vartrynka the Barbarian King unified the tribes of Bottenhavet, they migrated to what is present-day Sjobia. The Starke family remained next to Hardrada Mountain in order to protect the tradition of the Highlander. Now that war has broken out the Starke family is pushing for the reinstatement of the Highlanders as a military force, as over the years the martial practice has been pushed to the wayside.

Notable Acts:
 * Died at the hands of Slahan Beyetor and his wolf, Dirk.

Ulric Thorfinn
(Played by Chris D.)

Mul Avenger

Biography: Born TH 10038, August 13. He is the bastard child of Magnus Thorfinn the Bold (human) and slave Mala Kravenfoot (dwarf). He is mul. Half-human and half-dwarf and accepted by neither. At the earliest convenience, he was sold for a high price (as muls are valuable slaves). He passed hands between several slave traders until ending up in service to the garrison of Brakk Castle, in the farthest province of the Kingdom of Sjobia at the age of five.

His duties for the garrison included maintaining the facilities (shoveling shit out of the stables), repairing equipment (sharpening hundreds of spears, swords, and axes) and assisting with training (having the piss beaten out of him on a regular basis). He did this for over twelve years.

His only source of solace came from Yarrak the Biter, priest for the Order of Thunder (worships Kord) and retired berserker (called the Biter because he would gnaw on his wooden shield before battle). Yarrak saw a great potential warrior in Ulric and tutored him thoroughly. He taught him tactics, weapon-lore, and martial prowess. He also, surprisingly, taught him how to read and write.

From Yarrak, Ulric developed into a tough, resilient, and intelligent man with a degree of wisdom that far exceeded his age. He took to the teachings of Kord with all his soul, striving to live life through strength and power. Those who were weak were to be guided and protected. Those who were cowards were to be scorned and despised. Enemies were to be defeated, both on the field of battle and through other means. He began to see much cowardice in the soldiers that tormented him.

At the age of seventeen, he killed one of the garrison's soldiers. Garr Sobo was one of those cowards who continued to torment Ulric for years after other soldiers had accepted and even embraced Ulric's growing martial skill. He could not accept that a slave could be anything but subject to his will. Yarrak, under cover of darkness, helped Ulric escape Brakk Castle to avoid being killed. Yarrak, almost seventy at the time, fought off twenty garrison guards to allow Ulric his freedom. He had a glorious death.

Ulric swore that he would live by Yarrak's teachings and the battle philosophy of Kord from then on. With newly found freedom, it is only a matter of time until Ulric Thorfinn develops into the warrior that the old berserker saw in him.

Notable Acts:
 * Became a Storm Initiate of the Order of Thunder in Drado'oner on TH 10058, July 7.
 * Received a divine boon from Kord on TH 10058, July 7.

Valonia


(Played by eRin)

Minotaur Barbarian

Biography: Born TH 10035, Valonia, a white minotaur, was prophesied at birth by her tribe to be the one key element in ending the Winter. She grew up excelling in all manners of battle and was more courageous and cunning than her fellow male counterparts but always had an air of divinity in her mannerisms. On the dawn of the Winter Solstice at the age of 23, she was struck with the urge to pursue a path that tugged at her heart. Valonia did not quite know what it was for but the colors of the wind seemed to show her the way. So she packed up her essential belongings, bade farewell to her family and headed in the direction of the wastelands of Buriqara.

Notable Acts:
 * Possesses the 5th Shard of the Diamond Rose, the Leaf of Beastly Dominion

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Characters: Slaadi Invasion | Coipor Alliance | Northern Strife, Part 1 | Northern Strife, Part 2 | Haven Infiltration | Vale of Lost Memories | Swamp of Vutha Valignat | Orbs of the Archeron | Illithid Empire of Thithnihl | Hollows | Black As Pitch | Air Islands of Nack | BUFD Wars | Weapon of the Gods | Couatlán | Getting the Band Back Together

Other: Journals