Characters
Traspiés
Class:
Bard
Race:
Halfling
Status:
Player character
Given my arrival to the city of Starfall, and in anticipation of the tournament that will take place in the next few days, I find it necessary to write an essay about my life for when I inevitably rise to stardom. For no one but me, Traspiés Rocafuerte, will emerge victorious, and when I do, I don't want a mediocre historian to sully my life and image for their own benefit. (GM "mediocre historian" note: I am sorry Traspiés, I am doing my very best, you are approximately 60 characters in total 😭).
I was born, 22 years ago, in Rockhenge , a boring little village in the kingdom of Talespire, which almost no one has heard of. It would not have, at the time, more than thirty inhabitants, all halflings, with the same personality repeated over and over again: friendly, kind, conformist and comfortable in a monotonous life dedicated to liking others (I know, it's such boredom). If you're a tourist, you can skip this place, you'll thank me.
Luckily, I didn't spend much time there during my childhood. My parents, Tropezón and Zancadilla Rocafuerte, were dedicated historians (you may have come across some of their works) and, although they stopped their work for a while when I was born, returning to their hometown, as soon as I was able to keep up with them, they resumed their travels and took me with them.
Thus, at 10 years of age, I had already seen most of Talespire and I, conformist, good-natured and well-to-do as I was at that time (thanks to the wonderful childhood I had received in my village), thought that I had managed to see the whole world. But no.
This is the story of a hero. And we all know, after many novels, short stories, and songs, that there is a great impediment to becoming a hero: parents. Don't get me wrong. I didn't hate my parents or anything like that. They were funny, loving, and taught me a lot about my kingdom. But I needed his death for my own development (although it's clear that I didn't know it at the time).
And so it was when one hot summer day, when not even the shade was enough to combat the scorching heat of the sun, my life changed completely - advice, if you are a halfling, I strongly recommend you to avoid taking shelter under trees and bushes if you are wearing dark clothes. What was a quiet morning, with my mother humming to me over and over again an old story of the origin of the world in an attempt to distract me from my sore feet, turned into tragedy when a giant walking near us tripped over a rock and crushed my parents.
Suddenly, I was orphaned. I had to be thankful that the giant's fool hadn't finished me off too, because his toe was barely a toe from my face (a halfling's toe, of course), and its disgusting smell still makes me gag when I remember it to this day. I won't go into the details of how my poor parents, the people who had brought me into the world, ended up. The only thing that survived was my father's pocket watch, which I still have to this day.
The giant realized the heinous crime he had committed and offered me to stay with his party, who joined him a little later. But it was clear that I wasn't going to move in with those horrible giants! So I refused. But after much insistence, I agreed to be taken to Archovea, the capital, where I could try to find a new life for myself. It was clear that, at this point, I wasn't going to go back to the dammned Rockhenge and become the victim in the eyes of the people.
So, I spent the next three days riding in the palm of a giant. I won't lie, they are a very comfortable method of transportation. In fact, it's the only thing I appreciate about giants. They are huge people, and big people (including humans and larger beings here) are so useless that I often wonder why they haven't already become extinct. The only thing they think about is themselves, they have no awareness of their surroundings or of others and they dedicate themselves to going from war to war and from fight to fight, while looking down on you because you do not fit into the giant world that they have designed to the detriment of others.
A very clear example of that world: the city of Archovea, capital of Talespire. Surrounded by high walls that not even the giants could breach. I don't remember how long we spent in line, waiting to be let through the huge solid wood gates that gave access to the metropolis, but as soon as I crossed them I was alone. And, being nothing more than a poor child, I was forced to struggle to survive in this world.
The first few weeks were tough. As an innocent child, it's easy for the city's beggars to seek to take advantage of you at the slightest opportunity. To this day, I am grateful for everything I experienced, because it is what has endowed me with my character and my toughness, but I knocked on death's door on more than one occasion.
However, I was saved by a filthy minstrel, Alarum, a man who would make you want to run away just by looking at him. Half-man, half-gremlin, every feature of his face seemed to be placed in the wrong places. And his smile would cause panic in even the bravest of warriors. He played with a huge gold mask, his trademark, which he always wore included in his wardrobe to avoid frightening those around him.
But I didn't run away. When he approached me one night in an attempt to wrest my last possessions, I succeeded in tearing off his mask, and found myself hurling a taunt at him which I regretted almost instantly. However, the man was amused and, since I was small and secretive, he decided that I should join him to help him with his not-so-legal business.
Despite his ugliness, Alarum had a great gift with music. His voice was one of the most beautiful I have ever heard, and he sang the songs in such a way that the stories he told seemed to come to life before the eyes of his viewers. With the audience distracted, absorbed in the show, I dedicated myself to a task that I perfected more and more: stealing.
Yes, yes, right now you may be thinking, should I read the story of a dirty thief rat who has managed to make a place for herself in society? Well, yes, my dear reader, especially considering that Rolon Hold, one of your favourite characters, is a dwarf who stole from the rich to give money to the poor. I, too, was a dwarf (or at least of short stature) who stole from the nobles at the shows that Alarum gave in stately homes. And the money was also given to the poor, that is, to me. It turns out that the fee I had to pay Alarum to let me live with him is quite high.
And that sums up the next few years of my life, about which I plan to tell stories in the distant future. I travelled from one city to another, from one country to another. I learned Gremlin, so I could communicate with Alarum without others noticing. I even almost married an aristocrat once , as in the stories of Rolon Hold. Yes, those were, by all accounts, the best years of my life. Alarum had me make colourful dresses to match his minstrel's cloak and introduced me to the others as his daughter. He taught me how to play the bagpipes and the lute, and trained me to be able to perform his performances in case he became unwell. Although he always considered that a female minstrel was not a common thing.
Therefore, by the age of fifteen, I knew multitudes of songs and stories, and I was already able to recite them all from memory without needing help. I began to join the shows of Alarum, who began to consider that our robberies were not enough, focusing on major crimes, such as swindling nobles and people in high places. He started talking to them after their performances, staying at parties and banquets, pulling strings. I don't know how many political intrigues he was responsible for, but he made huge amounts of money thanks to his people skills and his ability to always pronounce the right words (a skill that, I must say, I admire greatly. Without being flattering, he managed to get people to do what they wanted almost without batting an eye.)
I suppose that game, like the steals, ended up tiring him as soon as he realized that he could win without putting in much effort. Or perhaps he discovered something that affected him greatly, as over the years he became more and more sullen. As our wealth increased, down went his spirit. I would have given anything to go back to poverty just to be able to witness again what I admired so much about him, which had gradually been erased.
And then, one night, I discovered what had been dragging him into madness: books of dark magic. He had been reading them secretly for years, and when he lost his sight due to his age, he forced me to read them aloud, so that he could continue his twisted studies. It was the first time I was afraid, the first time I considered escaping. But my loyalty was beyond me, and I felt that I should stay by his side until his last days, in gratitude for having acted like my father during all those years.
That's how I learned infernal. And so I doomed my life. One cold night a year ago, Alarum and I were in his office when he removed his mask (something he never did) and told me, in the most serious tone possible, that the time had come.
Without my being able to react and realize the insane direction his actions were taking, he forced me to draw a circle on the floor of the room and, before I could stop him, summoned nothing but a demon in the center of the room. “I want to be your vessel and serve you”, he kept saying.
It's so obvious that you shouldn't make deals with demons that I shouldn't even remind you, dear reader. No matter how much it catches your eye, no matter how much you want to, don't do it. Or you'll end up like Alarum, dead as soon as that horrible creature, who would later discover that he called himself Eustaquio (son of Satan in hell), decided that for some reason he preferred me as a vessel and finished off my master. The state of his body and the screams I heard that night are something I have always wanted to forget.
Luckily, I'm not possessed, not yet, although Eustaquio has become a tiresome thing that follows me wherever I go, a kind of toothache that doesn't subside or, as the less educated would say, a pimple on my ass. He claims to be tied to me for some reason, and reminds me of this by changing the time on my father's clock every night. I've been performing exorcisms for a year to try to get rid of it, I've left all the fortune that Alarum and I gathered in the process, but it doesn't work.
That's why, as soon as I heard about the Starfall tournament, I knew I had to participate. I will conquer all my opponents and I will rise victorious to ask the kings to deliver me from my heavy burden. Either they do, or I think I'll inevitably be driven to madness.
Sabrina
Class:
Ranger
Race:
Human
Status:
Non-Player Character
An apprentice in Archovea's police force.
Always with a veil of secrecy around her, with no distinguishible friends or relations. She just appeared one day in Archovea, alone, and decided to stay. Nobody knows her past, her parents or even her motivations. She's known for being apathic and just obeying orders blindly.
Akio and Yumi
Class:
Fighters
Race:
Human
Status:
Non-Player Character
Known as "The guardian twins", they are the co-captains of the police force in Archovea.
Despite their seriousness in their image, they are characterized by being always happy and being social-butterflies, that is until fight starts, when both become serious and determined.
Children of a professor at Archovea's university, the life of an academic didn't appeal to them while growing up. They prefered to spend their days running and training than reading a book. They decided to join the police together, as the police offered them the training and physical activity that they preferd in their life.
In the police, they didn't inmediately stood out, they were from the average pack, but they did have something that the others did not, each other. While in the individual exercises, they did good, in the group exercises, they excelled. Despite this, they still wanted to become excellent warriors just by themsleves, so they trained and trained until becoming two of the best fighters in the city.
People who have seen them fighting together describe their style as two hurricanes of blows dancing together, without need of communicating anything, already kowing what the other will do.
They also like to compete against each otehr to see who is the better fighter, so they are used to duel each other, an event that has become the entertainment of not only the police, but the people of Archovea, as their battles are known for their intensity and incredibility. Last duel, Akio won, getting the count of victories 79 to Akio and 79 to Yumi.
Aynrand
Class:
Wizard
Race:
Human
Status:
Non-Player Character
A hermit who lives inside a mountain near Archovea. She is considered one of the most powerful witches of all time.
In her youth, her eagerness to learn magic allowed her to be the apprentice of Ithar, the head of the wizard guild in the country of the god of earth at that moment. She not only had a gift for learning magic, but was also dedicated and enthusiastic. She wasn't the msot outgoing, but managed to have some friends between the apprentices of the other wizards.
After a war, everythign changed for her. Durign the war, she was forced to use her magic against others, but most important, against people she loved. Betrayed, blamed and used; her body survived the war, but her mind was shattered.
Now she lives alone, away from society and expectations, and a myth has surrounded her as a vengeful witch who kills anyone that gets near her home, but if you go with an offering that she likes, she will grant you a wish.
Dernog
Class:
Unknown
Race:
Demon
Status:
Non-Player Character
Also known as the demon of optimism, Dernog is one of the ten strongest demons in hell, the Virtuous Despoilers, characterized by representing feaatures that are normally positively regared.
With his powers, Dernog can make people focus on the good outcomes of their decisions, without paying attention to the possible challenges, problems or consequences of their actions.
If given enough time, his victims even start losing perception of what is good and what is bad, as, if no repecussion or negative effect is in sight, good can not be compared to anything and be determined.
Diana
Class:
Monk / warlock
Race:
Human
Status:
Non-Player Character
A mysterious woman acknowledged as the best exorcist at the moment.
Evasive and elusive, she can normally only be found by her sister in the church of the Arcane in Archovea.
Her reasons for dedicating to this job are only known by her sister. Thanks to her work, many people have been saved from being devoured, possessed by or selling their soul to demons.
Her current statistics are 143 succesful exorcisms, with 5 failed attempts, all of the same demon: Durathrax, the demon of resilience, one of the Virtuous Despoilers.
Diana sold her soul to Durathrax for her desired body, as her previous one made her feel deeply misearable. But after sealing the deal, she realized of the error she had commited, and promised to hunt all demons she could, to avoid others making the same mistake as her.
Eustaquio
Class:
Unknown
Race:
Demon
Status:
Non-Player Character
Also known as the demon of diligence, Eustaquio is one of the ten strongest demons in hell, the Virtuous Despoilers, characterized by representing feaatures that are normally positively regared.
With his powers, Dernog can help mortals achieve their dreams, soon ot realize that they can no longer feel happy for achieving them, but a hole inside them, needing for another dream to conquer, and then another, and another, never actually feeling satisfied by their accomplishments.
If given enough time, his victims may enter into depressive states and even suicidal, as nothing is fullfilling for them anymore, losing any will to live, as nothing will give them any sense of accomplishment.
He has been missing from hell for years, as he has been preparing a body of a mortal to be his future host. And that mortal is a halfling called Traspiés (PC).
Nevnas
Class:
Sorcerer/paladin
Race:
God
Status:
Non-Player Character
Nevnas is considered an academic god. He is more worried on preserving the sotry of the world, so that no culture, no tradition, is lost again. His motivation comes from the complete lose of knowledge of what happened before the Great Cataclysm.
Although he is head of his country, he is trateg more like a teacher or professor figure than that of a god. What's more, he is an actual teacher in archovea's university, specialized in history. He believes that, without understanding the past, future will not come, as people will repeat the same mistakes once and again, without learning, stucked in a loop.
He has an affable and tranquil personality. He is also known to be a good judge of character.
Orion
Class:
Gnome
Race:
Artificer
Status:
Non-player character
Orion comes from a family of inventors established in Archovea. The mission of his family has always been, on one hand, to create instruments that help academics understand other cultures, and on the other hand, create magnificent attractions for the cultural festivals of Talespire.
However, his parents were scammed by a goblin and his halfling apprentice, and lost all their money. Now, Orion is trying to do all he can to avoid her family and business falling in bankrupcy.
Me!
Class:
Game Master
Race:
Unknown
Status:
Omnipotent
I am so glad of finally presenting the Virtuous Despoilers, I think it's a really interesting idea having demons representing good features of people, in order to twist them. The sad part is that they aren't the big bad, just more like a middle boss, but maybe, in the future, I can expand their lore.
In addition, here is where all will be revealed to my players, and I am beaming with excitement for this moment to arrive, although I am sure there is still a long time for it to happen.