Gladiolus

Gladiolus (a.k.a. Nathinyr)

A suspiciously well-connected adventurer with former ties to the cursed sword Clarent

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Short and thin, their body belies the strength of a fighter. Slim hands, calloused with years of martial training. Lean musculature that can't be seen through the leather armor.

Body Features

Three scars from the party's first encounter with the cult of three crowns, two large sword gashes that gnarl across their right chest and diaphragm. The third is an arrow wound in the left shoulder. Both sword wounds have matching scars on the back, though the one in the middle is much larger. All three healed poorly as a result of the necrotic magic used.

These are partially hidden by the bandage Gladiolus uses to keep their breasts secured.

Facial Features

They have the slim, angular face common to elves, with a predisposition to look stoic or condescending while lost in thought. This illusion is broken as soon as spoken to, with an awkward smile that pulls up reflexively. Their large eyes are often half-lidded between thinking and squinting in the daytime. Their eyebrows tend to be furrowed at any given time.

Identifying Characteristics

Lilac eyes that betray wisdom beyond their years; four braids weaved from the scalp, tied back together in two buns

Physical quirks

Left-handed, absentmindly has a hand on the belt or sword hilt when thinking, has a tendency to pace

Special abilities

As someone blessed by Eilistraee, Gladiolus has the power to call forth manifestations of themselves from different timelines. These have several forms they take, all echos of their long lifetime: The form of Nocturne, the form of Nathinyr, the form of Ermos and of their current visage of Gladiolus.

Apparel & Accessories

Gladiolus wears a mismatched breastplate over some dark elvish leather armor. From their waist hangs two longswords, one a simple elvish blade and the other a gift from Ulfgar, both strapped to the right flank. Hanging from the bag on the back is a handaxe and a whip, with a shield and bow hanging above that. Their leather gloves are missing two fingers on the left side for shooting. A pair of round sunglasses rides atop of their head when indoors, opaque stone for all who don't possess darkvision.

Gladiolus isn't big on adornment aside from basic combat necessities, but is wearing an earring on the left side as well as a silver wedding band.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

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Born to a single mother in the Underdark before the Rebellions against Lolth, Nocturne had a difficult childhood. Aside from his standardized military education, he spent a good amount of time trying to hide his purple eyes and curly hair which marked him a mix-blood and thus a target for the more heretical sect of Drow.

He opted to become a scout in his teens, figuring that the isolation would be more welcome than the derision of the cult of Lolth. He resented his absentee father for many years, deeming their home too dangerous for his mother, a devout follower of Eilistraee and firm believer that her lover would return to them. This continued even after the inital Rebellion occured in (x), the ripples of which spread to other cities in the Underdark.

Their home, seemingly having routed the cultists, started an uneasy era of peace, with Harper Mizda Dalarn moving in to make arrangements to move those willing to the surface. Nocturne got involved in their sect, his scouting knowledge of the surrounding area invaluable for the mission. Tragedy struck one mission, and he returned to find his mother kidnapped by a rogue group of Lolthian worshippers.

This caused a deep wound in his psyche, abandoning his post to attempt to hunt them down and recover the body but was ultimately unsuccessful. Mizda, worried about him destroying himself in grief, assigned more work and a watchful eye to him; this made him an instrumental tool to the migration of the Drow. He thrived under the heavy workload, a welcome distraction from the grief and anger over the unceremonial disappearance of his mother, his own inability to protect her and his wrongful grudge against his father for not protecting them as well.

His contributions eventually netted him the title of Harper as well, though his official duties were put on hold as he was assigned to the party of Misfit children.

Gender Identity

Male/Non-binary; current body is AFAB

Sexuality

Demiromantic Demisexual

Education

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He recieved the standard education of Drow under the Matriarchs of Lolth, but combat was always where he thrived. He learned early on that he needed the strength to protect himself and his mom due to their different beliefs and his own physical appearance. The many years of living in danger attributed to a strange quirk of always wearing a helm with his armor, to better hide his obvious differences.

The majority of his prowess came from experience, as practical application was commonplace among the monstrosities of the Underdark. He also learned much of faith and got his interest in history from his mother, while books were hard to come by in his hometown, she told him many stories heard from Nibi.

He spent his downtime after his childhood reading, disliking having too much time to just think. He consumed every book he came across, but preferred history texts and legends of heroes. The knowledge aided him as an agent of the Harpers, dealing with many things lost to time or omitted from the public consciousness.

His second reincarnation as Ermos also recieved a military education, but as a soldier of Baldur's Gate. While not particularly good at studies, his enthusiasm and dedication got him to the trials selection of the Hellriders. Due to timing either lucky or misfortunate, fragments of Nocturne returned to him during his final test, helping to protect himself and his instructor from bandits. Shortly thereafter, Ulfgar put in an official 'requisition' for a position change, removing the confused Tiefling from Baldur's Gate and putting him back into the care of Mizda to recover the lost memories.

Gladiolus had an intensive private education from Silverymoon, having set the parameters with Juniper should they meet their untimely demise out on the road. The program for the Consecuted was formed to make transitioning back into their memories as smooth and gapless as possible.

Employment

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He has worked for several organizations throughout his life, the two most notable being the Harpers and (x).

The majority of his life since his youth has been working as a freelance adventurer, doing odd jobs and bounties during peace time.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Though they would never speak of it unless asked, Nocturne has a respectable amount of accomplishments. Among them are helping the Drow people migrate to the surface and later to the Silver Marshes,

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he helped locate a Luxon for his people and helped teach them the method of consecution, he helped to protect the planar gate that keeps the Material plane safe from the gods,

and was part of the party that slew Yeenoghu at Duralla.

Failures & Embarrassments

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Despite being a competent warrior, Nocturne's clumsy personality and obligations to duty frequently cause trouble for him. He struggles to connect to the people around him due to his solitary childhood and the casual desensitived attitude towards atrocities fostered by the violence of the Underdark. His intellect also tends to backfire as he gets overwhelmed from overthinking when he's forced to make decisions quickly and tends to gravitate towards the unwise decision. He also has a bad tendency to try and tackle problems by himself or by trying to minimize damage to others by putting himself in additional danger.

These qualities coalesced in the worst way in his original timeline,

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due to the effects of a charm spell and some spell misfire side-effects, where the now-evil Adrulk decided to attempt to achieve divinity. In a panic, Nocturne called out to the gods to help him return them to normal, though unfortunately only contacting Cyric.

Cyric

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put Adrulk in a 'stasis' and

promised to fufill his wish if Nocturne took the evil sword Clarent and slew King

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Roderick of Neverwinter. He agreed, initally planning to contact Mizda and Ulfgar to help without going through on the deal, but was met with despair when neither seemed to have any options.

Running out of time, he went to the castle and slew

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Roderick in his sleep,

awakening Clarent. This altered his personality, the sword destroying the good parts of his ego, and making him a pawn to violence.

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Upon returning to Adrulk, the promise was half-fufilled, with the evil personality of the Emperor active during the day and the normal one at night. The latter schemed to fix the newly dubbed 'Nathinyr' as the sword dulled all emotions unnecessary for combat. Nathinyr, on orders of the Emperor, set off to conquer the Graypeaks and the tower of a Chosen of Oghma; failing spectacularly at the second, managing to get Clarent banished to another plane.

The disconnect between his current power and the level he usually operates at also causes him to be somewhat reckless, tending to confuse him when a non-issue for his original form is much more dangerous than he initally thinks.

Mental Trauma

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Nocturne developed a complex of being unable to protect those closest to him in childhood after the loss of his mother, his only big ally. This results in him being unusually willing to take damage or suffering on in the place of someone he cares about, valuing those with "pure" traits more than pain it would cause him. This directly caused the tragedy of Clarent in the original timeline, as Adrulk's perceived 'goodness' was worth throwing everything away for despite knowing the truth about the sword and Cyric.

His upbringing in the Underdark also led to a complicated relationship with women, feeling both fear and awe towards them. The majority of the female figures in his life were voices of authority and thus he had a bad habit of deference to them. The tragedy of his mother also subconsciously made him reluctant to spend time with anyone else, but especially female peers. His bad habit of projection due to his loneliness made it especially hard to socialize and form a meaningful relationship. While much better over time, he still struggles some, opting to present male even in his current form.

The horrors of what he did as Nathinyr and with Clarent haunt him even to this day, only choosing to tell the party due to circumstance. The guilt, remorse and shame of having been so weak as to accept a deal with Cyric to save Juniper weighs heavily on him. Even being Wished to another timeline where it didn't occur brings him little peace, knowing that it was a decision that would hound him forever. He feels additional guilt over the few that know of his mistake having forgiven him for being pushed into a losing deal, though he feels like he still could have come up with a better solution.

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His inability to move on from it stems from the knowledge that he would do the same thing again if it meant saving his loved ones, the darkness in his heart hadn't spawned from Clarent. It was a dark whisper that always lived within: the part of him that was jaded and cynical, the part of him that spurned the cruelty of the world, the part of him that hated his own weakness and his foolish nature to put everyone before himself. The twisted magic of Clarent that subsumed his weak heart to bring joy from destruction and disregard for others was strangely liberating. The happiness of apathy eats away at him, even through Juniper's assertion that the sword caused the positive feelings towards evil, not Nocturne's true self. His unease at whether he's truly as good as his husband and friends think color his approach to the Cult of Three Crowns, unfairly sentencing himself to destruction if he can't summon the strength to resist Clarent.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Current motivation is to find his sword Dawnbringer and keep the cult of Cyric at bay.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Savvies

Combat, Memorization, Attentive to surroundings

Ineptitudes

Socially clumsy, Overly humble, struggles to use magic

Likes & Dislikes

Likes

Reading, sweets, exercise, cats, flowers, rainy days

Dislikes

Excessive downtime, crowds, milk, spiders, being teleported,

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planar travel

Virtues & Personality perks

well-connected, dutiful, loyal, protective, respectful

Vices & Personality flaws

Overly polite, has violent tendencies (fight first, ask questions later), pushes self too hard, too hard on oneself, self-sacrifical tendencies

Personality Quirks

Ticks

Thumbing at their belt, constantly sucking on hard candy, smiling at difficult questions/hard truths, talks with hands when not busy

Quirks

Adding too much honey to their tea, frequently tending to weapons, using 'uhm' as a filler to buy time to figure out how to word something

Hygiene

Well-kept, despite the long days on the road. Their tendency to end up covered in blood and filth lends them to being meticulous about cleaning up whenever possible. This is also why their hair is braided so tightly to their head, having opted to not chop it short like in the past.

Social

Contacts & Relations

He still keeps in contact with Edward, Bellenis and Aria of the Misfit Children. He also tries to keep in touch with Ulfgar Brightblade, Mizda Dalarn and Dax.

Family Ties

His family currently consists of his husband Juniper and their son Findri.

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He still keeps in contact with his father Nibi and his remaining half-siblings: Hekmi, Biz'rin, Harkial, Foostus, Lucia, Schnick-tick, Varija, Nala, Shivet and Wu Zhen.

Religious Views

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While never a devout practicioner, Nocturne was raised within the beliefs of the Dark Maiden. Perhaps because his life has some parallels to her own struggles, she showed favor to him, making him her champion. This led to much struggling on his behalf, as he felt as if he were the wrong person for the job due to his frequent failures, but he persisted to the best of his ability.

He has a deep respect born of fear and awe for all of the gods, even the evil ones, knowing of their power.

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Perhaps this is why he could so consistently draw upon their power when he prayed. He understands why so many devote themselves to gods in such a cruel world, but would rather tend to his own life, feeling like involvement with them, with the exception of a few, has mostly been a negative experience for him.

Social Aptitude

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Nocturne didn't learn proper socialization in his youth, and as a result, is rather clumsy with social interactions. Though he can read people rather well,

he articulates his own thoughts poorly and can come off as rather blithe, especially when talking about dark topics.

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Despite spending a lot of time in military circles, he lacks the air of command that his rank would suggest. He seems rather shy, but is just more of a listener in a conversation, especially when it's not mission-related. His time as Ermos and Gladiolus has helped to lessen the extremity of these traits, but the awkwardness remains.

Mannerisms

He moves rather fluidly when working/fighting, but tends to stiffen up during conversations, especially when it's a topic he'd rather not speak of. His high anxiety doesn't show on his face, but through his hands, often seen rubbing a chunk of his belt on the right flank near his sword. They seem to be gravitating towards an item that is no longer there. He also tends to be the first to look away during prolonged eye contact, either from awkwardness or conditioning to be on guard at all times.

Hobbies & Pets

He has one pet, a tiger named Butterscotch. It is a golden tiger with white stripes, and a perpetual blep on the face. He is often seen leaning against him to trance or read, or play-wrestling.

His hobbies include reading, light excercise, trying local sweets, braiding hair, singing/humming and on the rare occasion, dance.

Speech

A soft-spoken and husky voice, they tend to speak in short bursts unless chatting about the past or a story they like. They stammer when stressed out, often getting so bad as to completely quiet them. This may be why they choose to lie by omission.

Wealth & Financial state

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Though not affluent in his upbringing, Nocturne and Juniper have amassed a decent amount of wealth over time from adventuring and working at a local magic college. They own a small estate filled with a select few employees loyal to them.

Adventuring alias of the consecuted fighter Nocturne Thilil

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Alignment

Neutral Good, Lawful leaning

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Chosen of Eilistraee, Champion of Silverymoon, Blade of the Dark Sun,

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Harper

Age

Roughly ~150ish years, appears 17

Date of Birth

24th of Flamerule

Birthplace

(x), The Underdark

Current Residence

House Thilil in the Silver Marshes near Silverymoon

Gender

Female

Eyes

Lilac

Hair

White

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Slate Gray

Height

5'2"

Weight

83 lbs

Known Languages

Common, Deep Speech, Elvish, Infernal, Drow Sign Language