Pellen Overvale

"For most of his life, he did not know of us, and we did not know of him. But he spent his final months tirelessly saving lives from the encroaching dark. He is known now, and neither he nor his deeds shall be forgotten."

King Talesan Fairfell

Pellen Overvale was a Jeltiri ranger known for his membership in the Light Brigade. His fighting style was characterized by stealth and shadow magic, and he wielded a special crossbow created by the artificer Fimper Wimbleplock.

Early Life

A ghostwise halfling born in a small nameless village in Siltgreaves Forest, Pellen was brought to the Upperdark as an infant when the frequent monster attacks his village underwent became too much for his family to withstand. He spent the first 20 years of his life there, living with svirfneblin, before some of those who had retreated to the Underdark ventured back to the surface to scout out the situation. Though some villagers still survived, they were overcome by fear, under the iron grip of a manticore. This was the instigating incident for Pellen's life as a ranger, and he, together with the others who had emerged from the Underdark, slew the manticore.
Pellen became the second-in-command of a highly skilled team of monster fighters in his clan, soon ascending to leadership after his superior, Ullix Thornwind, disappeared in the midst of combat. He learned the ins and outs of battling monstrosities and fiends in particular during this time. He left after his town was destroyed in the Eventide collapses, and made his way towards Adaru, defeating a leucrotta and pack of gnolls that had menaced the main road near the city. He was thereafter summoned to Hemejdd by King Talesan Fairfell, who wished to thank him for this deed and enlist him to defeat a gorgon that had been menacing a nearby village. After Pellen did so, the king continued to hire him to assist with a variety of other monsters across the kingdom over the following months. The king has commented that Pellen took a great weight off his shoulders by being available to skillfully mitigate the increasing number of monster attacks during the many trials of the Eventide.

The Eventide

Given Pellen's proficiency with navigating, tracking, and handling monsters, he was recommended to join the Light Brigade shortly before they journeyed to the Tors to seek the Tether of Kaeli. However, even before doing this, he assisted in lifting the Curse of Ragnvild from Wivvyrholdalphiax Adrex. Immediately afterwards, the party journeyed to the Tors, where Pellen, in addition to acquiring a lizard companion whom he called Pascal, drew maps and took notes on the terrain and creatures the party encountered as they traveled. These works were posthumously compiled into a compendium called the Overvale Atlas of the Tors. Pellen contributed to the party's success in the recovery of the Tether and fought many fiends alongside Darekrun Bonecleaver, Nemmonnis Inuthra, and Delmirev Rhogar to defend the lair of the ki-rin Amin-El and the bodies of Adrex and Caledaya Alvishar as they journeyed to the Space Between to recover the soul of Æshir Þorlássón.
After the party brought back the Tether, they traveled to Larnwick to address the monster attacks originating from Delamett Forest, a phenomenon which Pellen was uniquely qualified to investigate. The party's visit was a turning point in the Fracturing of Larnwick, and they uncovered a great conspiracy of drow and fiends hidden among the ranks of the city's authorities. After this, they traveled to Siltgreaves to seek the Morningstar of Linnaveria to trade it for the fork attuned to the material plane owned by Baroness Luella di Arabia of Findrick so that they could return from the elemental plane of water, whereto they planned to travel to retrieve the Eternal Flame of Kishike. It was here that they discovered that the morningstar had long been claimed by an ancient black dragon called Tovirikatch, who had also historically been the reason that the ghostwise halflings of the jungle were so scattered and divided. Though Pellen was passionately devoted to slaying the monster that had slaughtered many of his people, the party was unable to defeat Tovirikatch and were forced to retreat.
In September of 1000, Pellen left Hemejdd for a few hours with another halfling acquaintance and was captured by nightbringers sent by Mavislak the Blood-eyed. His final messages, sent to First of the Storm Clan and Riswynn Tedrektid via sending, were, in order, "Uhhhhhh. Somewhere in the Underdark… Ambushed by drow… In a prison… Tried to escape… Failed… Don't know where exactly… Attacked on road south of Hemejdd," "Yes. Killed lots of drow, then got captured. Don't know where exactly I am. Being tortured and interrogated by Mavislak. Knows about water plane," and "Giant drow city. So many spiders. Orister will be free. Find him. He might know more than me." It was strongly assumed by all who were privy to this information at the time that he had been slain. A few months later, the Light Brigade confirmed Pellen's death when they encountered a jengu in the water plane, who facilitated one last conversation with him from the Space Between. It was from this conversation that the party became aware of the release of Orister Longleaf, one of the other rangers of Pellen's clan, who was released as part of a deal that Mavislak had made with Pellen shortly before his death. Also during this encounter, the party received a physical description of Mavislak for the first time.
Pellen is remembered as an accomplished marksman and monster hunter, in his clan and in the whole of Jeltir. A memorial to him stands prominently in Gloaming Square in Hemejdd. Following his involvement with the Light Brigade, more of his clansmen ventured out of the jungle and established contact with outside settlements of Jeltir, though for the most part the halflings of Siltgreaves remain withdrawn.

Species

Ghostwise halfling

Date of Birth

29 May 965

Date of Death

8 September 1000

Life

965 EL 1000 EL 35 years old

Circumstances of Birth

Born to unknown parents in the jungle

Circumstances of Death

Executed by giant spiders in gladiator pit

Birthplace

Siltgreaves Forest

Place of Death

Turaz-Gul

Aligned Organization

The Light Brigade

Family

Unnamed mother †

Unnamed father †

PC Information

Level 17 ranger

—Gloomstalker

^{The Last Stand of Pellen Overvale (1003, Montgomery Aquila)}