Dreeva Vaeless

5th lvl rogue swashbuckler and magic initiate

Dreeva Vaeless ("Dree" for short) is the captain of the Doubtful, a modified carrack that operates out of Angleport. He is a bit of a rogue, but treats his customers with respect if respect is given in turn. There may be more to him, however, than meets the eye.
Dreeva was born in Bramble to a human mother (1/3rd Kelti) named Lelenia Cithereth and the "famous" Solti bard, Sarel Vaelest. Shortly after his birth, Dreeva's father went "on the road" and never returned. After sticking around, waiting for Sarel for several years, Lelenia took her son and fled Bramble, feeling like a fool. She resettled in Sacrament, where Dreeva grew up. Lelenia was fascinated by the sea, and fancied herself a minor seaman. She took her son as often as possible to the bay and managed to gain passage for the two of them in exchange for work. On these various ships, Dreeva first learned the ways of the ocean. For many years, he and his mother led a somewhat nomadic life, traveling across the world by sea, but always ending up back in Sacrament. Despite having an exciting childhood, something didn't sit perfectly with the young Dreeva. It was his father.
Upon his 17th birthday, fascinated by stories of his father's exploits (heard not from his mother, but random stories he picked up in taverns), Dreeva decided to follow in his footsteps.
Thus the young half-elf began his career in a much different way than it would turn out. He entered the Bardic colleges of The Throat, with the intent of studying to be a traveling performer, like Sarel ("Vaelest the bard" was a rather well known entertainer).
His father did his specialty training in the College of Glamour, Pellora. However, when it came time to choose his concentration, he felt a pull from Kothe, the College of Whispers. There his aspirations slowly changed as he fell in with his peers. Among them, a talented tiefling sword-spinning performer named Sweet. The two were an item from the very start.
Sweet was soon offered the opportunity to to perform in Sage for the high council (at a dinner in honor of the College of Whispers' Dean of Students... an alleged Boorka agent). This was the unspoken prelude to an offer of recruitment from the Boorka. Sweet wanted to perform a musical duet and asked Dreeva to accompany her. He accepted, knowing he could always turn the Boorka down, assuming he’d receive the same offer. But nobody turns the Boorka down.
At the performance, Dreeva caught Boorka eyes watching as if they recognized him. In truth, the Boorka in question saw Vaeless in his face, and Kelike (better known as Krimko) within the young man's bizarre eyes. Dreeva looks remarkably like a younger version of Vaeless, who the Boorka were aware of, but the fact that he shared the toymaker's eyes (who Dreeva served as a Trinket in his early youth, and who rumor says may or may not be his biological father) was what really drew them to him.
The offer from the Boorka never came for Dreeva, possibly due to his resemblance to an exiled member of their own ranks. Perhaps because they could see the good within him, a good that would preclude his ability to perform such “necessary duties” intrinsic to the Boorka line of work. When he pleaded with Sweet to turn down her own offer, which she received that very same night, so the two could run away together (he was deeply in love, as was she… just not to the same degree), she flatly turned him down. Their relationship never truly recovered.
Within her first year in Sage, she was sent to Lentokk for a “quick meeting,” but never returned. Dreeva abused every underground contact he made during his college years (making tuition the not-so-legal way) but all he ever came up with was reports of a dead female tiefling, placing the victim in the right spot and time to be Sweet. They'd made a promise to find a way to communicate if either was ever in trouble, and Sweet failed to do so. It really left but one conclusion. Sweet, his first love, was no longer.
His sense of loss monumental, Dreeva fell into a dark spiral. He began gambling in earnest (something he wasn't near as good at as he fancied himself to be), and pursued a pipe dream to open a gambling hall of his own in Varuum, or perhaps Progress.
His growing debts soon found him running afoul of Varuum's criminal underground, in particular the drug running assassin's guild, The Chuul. Partially due to his other passion for the sea, but more for his expendability, Pasha Siquillis, the dark elf head of The Chuul, offered him a chance to clear his debt by taking on a sea heist.
All he need do was captain the getaway vessel, "The Chop" (a converted naval caravel badly in need of a refit), while his “crew” performed the actual theft. He had no clue it was all a setup to eliminate a rival organization, "Mawkish Tongue," a thieves guild operated entirely by Kenku.
The Chop was manned by the strangest crew imaginable. Three minotaurs that resembled no minotaur Dreeva had ever seen before. Tall and lean, with an almost “civilized” look to them. Their "leader," Altious Khaza Eeris ("The Green Bull"), was actually a Fortreal shaped to look like a minotaur! And then there was the “muscle,” Bloregothe, a great beast with a striking resemblance to the Umber Hulks Krimko had told his trinkets stories about.
Previous to this mission, Bloregothe was a former slave to a Neogi "Mindspider." In their travels, the Neogi assembled a slave crew, including the aforementioned minotaur seamen. They loved taking exotic slaves from many worlds. Among them, the Vess'ka named Kreet Viquik, and a young Giff prisoner named Rolen.
There was a mutiny which crashed the Mindspider near The Blight, killing the Neogi, along with their Umber Hulks, save the wounded Bloregothe, whom Altious and his minotaurs took mercy upon and rescued. The escapees were rounded out by Kreet, who accompanied them, wordlessly. Without a ship or a port to call home, they made their way to Angleport, drawn by the sea, and began volunteering for any “no questions asked” sort of jobs.
Dreeva met his crew (Altious and his strange team) and they set sail, not knowing theirs was a suicide mission. The Chuul had decided to kill two birds with one stone, eliminating both Dreeva (who's debts they already purchased) and Mawkish Tongue (who recently imposed themselves in Chuul’s business).
Dreeva and Altious, both having a bad feeling about the job, end up breaking their oath not to disturb the hold. There they found explosives and an arcane glyph (which Dreeva interpreted) set to blow the explosives when any Kenku entered the hold.
Fearing an explosion if it was disarmed/moved it, the minotaurs/Bloregothe ripped the lower aft wall from the rear castle and jettisoned the floorboards and cargo resting on it, by yanking the nails and sliding the flooring through the hole and into the sea.
With a new lease on life (and a working ship), the crew renamed the ship, "The Doubtful," (sometimes called "The Canon Fodder"), in honor of their new captain, and became privateers, much to The Chuul's anger (and eventual vengeance).
Also amongst Dreeva's dedicated crew are the halfling cook, Adi Longhollow; the half-orc (Urtlan) gunner, Kellis Ranlin; and the (often drunk) gnome surgeon, Ellia "Two Fist" Magranesse.
Strange rumors still persist about the young captain (now in his 60's... still quite young for a half-elf). They say he's immune to fire and that his eyes hide an infernal legacy possibly tied to his missing father. For his part, Dreeva does little to dispel the rumors as they seem to keep his enemies at bay. He has also acquired several decent scars across the side of his face. He jokes that he loves them because they make him look tougher than he really is.
Today, the Doubtful and her crew can be found skimming the waters between Angleport and Varuumae Corona, taking on cargo and passengers to make a modest living. At least until their past catches up with them...

Alignment

Neutral Good

Current Location

Angleport

Species

Half Elves

Ethnicity

Blighted

Year of Birth

1374 A.W. 68 Years old

Birthplace

Bramble

Current Residence

Angleport

Gender

Male

Eyes

Blue-grey that almost supernaturally turn gold and silver depending upon his mood.

Hair

Brown with silver streaks

Height

5'11"

Weight

175lbs

Aligned Organization

The Club Masters

Other Affiliations

• The Augurs of Will