Fineahir Shinebright

Fineahir Shii'nebriyot (a.k.a. Master Shinebright, Fine Hair Sheep)

Fineahir Shinebright was a reclusive master transmuter who made his home at Arbor Grange in the Salinmoor of Keoland. Fineahir's proper elven surname is actually Shii'nebriyot, but upon arriving in the region several decades ago, he found the locals constantly mispronouncing it. He decided it wasn't worth his time to properly educate folk on the correct pronunciation and somewhat ungracefully adopted the bastardized version. Over time, he grew to appreciate the positive character traits implied by the name Shinebright and decided it would be an appropriate honorific.
Those who knew him described him as a bit arrogant and self-centered with an air of fussy, bookish intellectualism. Despite his rather large ego, Fineahir was good-natured at heart and a generally positive influence on the area. Many Gravesford locals recall a time when the name of Fineahir Shinebright was spoken of with respect, awe and grudging admiration. A master of transmutation, he would regularly be called upon to carry out grand tasks such as magically repairing broken wagons or clearing blocked roads by turning massive boulders into rabbits. On more than one occassion, the townsfolk hired the wizard to send bands of local bandits scurrying on their way.
During his time in the Salinmoor, Fineahir took only one apprentice, a human by the name of Ahmed Noke. Noke was an impatient student and chaffed at the menial tasks his master assigned to him. He believed, not incorrectly, that his master had designed a course of study suited to a long-lived elf rather than the lifespan of a human. Noke, therefore, would never be taught the secrets of the more powerful magic that Fineahir commanded.
Noke took matters into his own hands and stole his master's Wand of True Polymorph, using it to permanently transform Fineahir into a sheep that he then caged and taunted. Noke even went so far as to make a collar with the name "Fine Hair Sheep", a mocking jumble of Fineahir's name. The wizard became a virtual prisoner in his own garden. He was forced to graze on nothing but grass and buttercups while hungry wolves and other beasts - actually polymorphed guards - looked on.
Years passed and Noke squandered all of his former master's wealth in an effort to advance his own studies more quickly and to purchase magic items meant to maintain the illusion of his magical mastery. When funds began to run low, Noke traded information and services in exchange for payment or consumable magic items. These deals were made with ruthless and shadowy organizations such as The Culling who were only too happy to use the desperate Noke as a pawn.
With the arrival of the lycanthropes in the Salinmoor, Noke began sending out his polymorphed mercenaries to raid farms in an effort to rebuild his wealth. One night Noke left his Arbor Grange without locking the gate to the garden platform. Fineahir took this opportunity to make good his escape and fled to the nearby settlement of Overwatch, searching desperately for an aura of magic that might indicate someone able to help him in his polymorphed state.
The group known as the Red Badges, originally investigating what they believed was a wizard controlling the lycanthropes, soon learned what had been done to the wizard Fineahir by his apprentice Noke. In the ensuing battle, Noke and most of his guards were slain. Noke's longterm abuse of the Wand of True Polymorph had badly damaged it to the point that it had become wildly unreliable, a fact Noke himself learned shortly before his death as it misfired and turned him into a Gibbering Mouther.
Following the battle, the Red Badges found a Scroll of Speak with Animals in Fineahir's study, and were finally able to converse with the beleaguered wizard. Fineahir begged them to use the wand to transform him back into his originaly elven form. The party were reluctant but Fineahir was insisent and willing to accept the risk. He had no wish to spend even one more day in such an undignified form. The transmutation was attempted but the chaotic magical energies prooved too wild to control and Fineahir became a shapeless, mindless mass of mouths and teeth. The Red Badges were forced to put an end to the creature that had once been Fineahir Shinebright. His remains lie buried in the garden he loved as master of the Arbor Grange and was held captive in as a sheep. Thus ended the story of one of the most powerful mages the Salinmoor had seen in many decades.

Current Location

Arbor Grange

Age

Indeterminate

Circumstances of Death

Slain as an act of mercy by the Red Badges of Overwatch after being tragically and irrevocably polymorphed into a Gibbering Mouther.

Gender

Male

Eyes

Amber

Hair

Straw-colored

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Fair-skinned

Height

5'8"

Weight

123 lbs.