Hala
Ombudsman (a.k.a. Hala)
Caring and compassionate, Hala qucikly becomes the heart of any group shes in. She uses magic and experience to keep things running smoothly in Bell-Mere
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Strong and lean. Hala isn't much of a physical fighter but her size and race give her a stamina most people can't compete with.
Body Features
Her limbs go from the trees signature splayed branches and roots in her stationary form to woven limbs and long braided hair when she's walking around.
Facial Features
Hala has a face carved like a wooden mask, a simple flat curve defines the jaw, cheeks and forehead while depressions make the mouth and eyes. She has no nose or ears but does have depressions to indicate nostrils and ear canals. Its a grayish green like the rest of her body, but the grain of the wood runs vertically along her face, unlike the smooth bark along her body.
Identifying Characteristics
Big fuckin tree.
Physical quirks
Tends to have a second or two of additional movement and sway from the leaves after she moves her upper body.
Special abilities
Abilities
- Song of Rest
- Bardic Inspiration
- Magical Secrets
- Counter Charm
- Peerless Skill
- Cutting Words
- Powerful Form / Tree Whisperer / False Appearance / Treeish
- Tenser's Floating Disk - To cary heavy loads the community
- Flock of Familiars - casts every few hours to keep watch with a mile radius around the town.
- Teleportation Circle - Casting once a day to setup a permenant circle in the Council Tower
- Commune - For dramatic effect
- Druid Grove - Cast once a day to set up permenant defenses around the grove by the main gates.
- Guards and Wards - Gusts of wind around the gate ramps and fog throughout the city.
- Forbiddance - Cast once a day to slowly provide protection over the entire mesa surface. Against elementals, fiends and undead and anyone else trying to teleport in other than the dedicated circle.
- Clone - Extremely expensive and time intensive. Reserved for older members of the community to transition back to younger bodies.
- Control Weather - Make sure theres enough rain and not too much sun.
Apparel & Accessories
Has some simple cloth bags and a simple knee length robe.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
During the early years of Melren, before he would become an arch wizard, Hala was simply a Hala tree. She was rooted at the centeral meeting space of a small village, on one of the islands of The Whales Flukes off the coast of Chult. Across multiple generations she was the center point of discourse and community events.
As a consequence Melrens reckless pursuit of knowledge, hala was brought to sentience. He convinced the prople of the small village that it was to create a neutral mediator in a conflict that was going on but in reality he just wanted first hand exposure to magic outside of his area (nature magic vs. arcane magic). So a priestess of Eldath performed a ritual and Hala was born. But she was born to serve a specific purpose, and as she lived, and outlived her people she began to ask the bigger questions, who was SHE and what did SHE want.
A tragic attack from a dragon turtle gave her the opportunity to explore that question. Her home village destroyed and the people whom she had tended killed, she set out on a ship and landed along the rocky coasts of chult. She did not do well in the dangerous jungle and if not for the intervention of a group of adventurers she would have died under the dark canopy. She traveled with them back to Port Nyanzaru and spent the better part of two centuries making her way along villages and islands of the sword coast.
During this time she would stay with multiple communities, speak with great scholars, healers, adventureres and tend to the needs of the common people, but each time the commnities would eventually fall to attacks, migrate away, or turn against her forcing her to flee. She wanted something that would last, a mortal garden she could tend.
She got her opportunity when June and Conrad found her after the Melren's. They were created in experiments to replicate what he had seen all those years ago and after his death there was no one stopping them from following the pull they felt towards their older sister. They invited her to return to The Weeping Peak with them and when Silja returned after a particularly brutal mission with a group of refugees Hala saw her opportunity to found something of her own. So the town of bell-mere was founded and she set to work weaving protections and cultivating a community.
Sexuality
Biromantic Asexual
Education
She has spent many years listening and collecting knowledge both practical and theoretical of the people she's lived with. She's trained with doctors, historians, wizards, craftsmen, politicians and the simple working people of the villages she tends.
Employment
She is currently setup in the Belle-mere center grove acting as a combination of ombudsman, treasurer, counselor and druid. She is in the process of warding the village against teleportation, setting up a designated teleportation circles, managing the weather and attending to illnesses and funeral rights. These tasks are repetitive and time consuming, so while she casts and walks she has time to talk with the towns people about issues they need to talk through, or grievences that need to be resolved.
Accomplishments & Achievements
There is pride taken in every life she makes better through her guidance. Though honestly many of the people she's tended to over the years couldn't find their ass with both hands and a map. Stopping them from murdering each other over cabbage theft and relationship squables is a win in her book. Getting any of them across the finishline at all takes a good deal of her time and energy.
Intellectual Characteristics
Intelligent, wise and charismatic, she enjoys hearing the stories and struggles of peoples day to day lives even if she can't often relate. Her outside perspective often brings the solution to their problem into focus. Especially since her long lifespan makes it easy to spot the paterns in simple mortal problems. She gets a simple satisfaction from seeing problems of relationships, finance, and general anxieties resolved with simple words of advice and a nudge.
Morality & Philosophy
Largely benevolent, she prefers to sort out disputes and personal problems with advice and candid discussion as a sort of preventative care for the community. However she is not above laying down harsh truths, calling in family or community leadership and even using violence to resolve problems in behavior that aren't course correcting. Any outside threats to the community (orcs, dragons, human bandits, etc) are dealt with immediately.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
She was brought to sentience to tend Eldath's 'mortal garden' she is driven to do exactly that.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Savvies
- History +17
- Insight +17
- Medicine +17
- Nature +17
- Slight of Hand +15
- Acrobatics +6
- Athletics +2
- Stealth +6
Likes & Dislikes
Likes
- Wind and rain reminds her of her home island
- Seeing people succeed
- Stories
- Seeing her ships finally get together (¬‿¬)
- People not being good to each other, i mean seriously its not that complicated
- Snow and Ice
- Flying
Virtues & Personality perks
Genuinely cares about her people and tends to them like you would a garden. Is capable and competent, and careful enough with how she does out guidance and advice that it gently guides people to the conclusions that will be best for them instead of just giving them the answer.
Vices & Personality flaws
She struggles to keep herself from snapping at people who dance around problems that to repeat across generations. (just be upfront and honest about your feelings. if you feel bad about it you probably did something wrong, go apologize. etc) The solutions are obvious to her, and it tests her paitence when they don't go follow her solution after she gives it to them.
She also has seen people get hurt and killed in the past because she was not proactive in looking for signs of domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and corruption. As such she has trouble controling herself when it comes with these issues an can come off as overly harsh if she has to deal with them directly. To cope with this she has switched to more of an ombudsman role where she will notify the civil authority to address the matter and only get involved if they fail to act appropriately.
Personality Quirks
She is constantly busy with something and only stays still when she's in her rooted state for long rests. Whenever people come talk to her they're coming along on whatever task she's currently handling.
Current Location
Species
Age
298
Date of Birth
9 Tarsahk, 1197
Family
Children
Current Residence
Center Grove
Pronouns
She/Her
Gender
Female
Eyes
Glowing Blue
Hair
Leaves and branches woven into a long braid.
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Smooth Green-Grey bark
Height
6'5"
Weight
345 lb
Belief/Deity
Eldath
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Comments