Characteristics
Mental traits
Etha is a jovial and young half-elf, who has a fascination for teeth and collects them. Growing up on the streets of Nicodranas, she's resourceful but lacks the customs of normal society.
Abilities
Etha is an inquisitive rogue.
History
Backstory
Etha, an orphan from Nicodranas, is a resourceful half-elf who learned to survive on the streets of the bustling seafront city. Her adept skills at stealth, coupled with her seemingly innocent demeanor, made her a valuable asset to various shady figures in Nicodranas. Despite her involvement in less-than-legal activities, she managed to steer clear of the city guard.
Etha's life took a positive turn when she found refuge with a man she affectionately calls "father," Brach. Brach, a robust and kind-hearted human, provided her with care and support, offering a stark contrast to the challenges of her earlier street life.
Campaign
A group of people looking from a job offered by Husk gathered in an old warehouse, Etha, also seeking a job, is part o this group composed of Aelsthim, Mrshal and Tanuki. Unfortunately for them, dozens of guards entered the old building, and a chained Husk showed himself, sorry that he had to sell them to save his butt.
Captured and locked with dimeritium cuffs, the group was thrown into jail. In there, they tried to escape, but only Aelsthim and Tanuki managed to run away through a magically borrowed tunnel as Marshal and Etha were recaptured.
Marshal, revealing his shapeshifting abilities as a changeling, created a diversion, posing as a commander of this garrison who's escorting an important noble girl thrown here by accident. Thanks to this they managed to escape before their due death by hanging. Meanwhile, Aelsthim and Tanuki steal weapons from a shop, ready to free their comrades.
The group now free, they look through their belongings for something that could help them, and Melina (previously Marshal) realizes she forgot to give one of the accounting books to Husk.
This "accounting" book looks more like study notes, referencing the Book of Vile Darkness, a few places like the Ice-peak Concord, and the Brownoak family. Among the notes, the group finds a page from the Book of Vile Darkness, and upon touching it, they have visions of the Nine Hells, a horned figure turning toward them with a vicious smile.
The influence of a single page can be felt, as they all desire to gather more of those pages. They start to investigate the book, hoping to find more information, and go to visit Anyath of Nicodranas, a renowned wizard in Nicodranas living in a high wizard tower named Tidepeak.
Anyath is surprised to see a group of adventurers coming before him with one of the pages of this book, and tells them how evil this artifact is, and that they should avoid it. Of course, the adventurers do not listen, and manage to learn about Liliana, a scholar in the abjuration school of Ionguale, who, despite her specialization in chronomancy, has a lot of knowledge in necromancy and may be able to help them.
The group pays a merchant, who brings them to Ionguale. However, they have to fight a group of giant lizards in the desert during their travel.
Once in Ionguale, the group manages to get an audience with Liliana. She is pleased to see a group of adventurers coming before her with one of the pages, however, their ability to stay discreet is subpar, and this stresses Liliana, who offers them to meet later that day, after classes.
The adventurers accept, going back to town to drink and buy a few things before walking back to the abjuration school. On the way, they're jumped by a group of mercenaries who sought to kill them. They defeat them with difficulty, and learn they were paid by Liliana to get rid of them. They rush to the school, only to find Liliana's office empty.
They realize Liliana is already on the run and covering her tracks as she was paid by the Brownoak family to study this book. They want to get back to Anyath, who told them about Liliana before she does, and discuss with the school's dean to access the teleportation circle of the school to teleport to Anyath's teleportation circle.
The dean agrees, but for a price, and the group pays. However, while teleporting, Melina tries to steal one of the gems used in the spell, creating an explosion as they arrive in Tidepeak.
Sorry for the damage, they warn Anyath of the danger, and look in town for Liliana. They don't find her or anything about her; however, thanks to Etha's connections within the city, they learn some people from the Cult of the Damned were looking for the adventurers, and followed their tracks leading them to Ionguale.
Coming back to Tide's Peak, the group is surprised with Liliana and a group of undead attacking the tower as a wounded Anyath tries to defend himself. The group jumps into the conflict, but realizes Liliana is a strong adversary. They manage to slaughter her undead before they try to stop her. But the fight ends as she kills Anyath.
Melina, now taking the shape of Anyath, and Aelsthim with his illusions, let Liliana believe Anyath isn't dead yet, and the woman flees, knowing it is dangerous to keep fighting, warning the adventurers that the Cult of the Damned will be on their backs with all the noise they created around the Book of Vile Darkness.
The adventurers conceal Anyath's body, and the changeling pretends to be him with the guards as they loot his tower. The day after, the group sleeps at Etha's adopting father's place before they leave on a ship to Boatwright in the Hobgoblin Empire.
On the sea, they encounter another boat that was attacked by a sea monster, and help them, but Melina is caught trying to steal from the other boat captain's chest and accuses another sailor of her wrongdoing. This leads to the group of sailors coming to beat up Melina and her friends during the night, but failing to do so as they fight in the ship's lower deck.
The boat finally arrives in the Hobgoblin Empire, and the group has to go through border control like everyone else. Melina takes on the form of a hobgoblin captain he knew of, and tries to help the group get through border control without identification. He succeeds until he starts talking with the officer about some kind of family meeting, almost getting caught as the rest of the group drags him away.
The group now look for information about the cult of the damned and go in a tavern. In here Melina refuses to oblige to local customs and gets kicked out. Finally, they decide to learn more about this Cult of the Damned in the city's archive, and sneak inside the library by night to access the secret archive. They manage to do so but end up drawing the attention of the guards, fleeing with all the books they could find on the Cult of the Damned.
With this information, they get out of town as fast as they can, Aelsthim's spell turning them invisible and creating diversions as they escape the city and walk through a place they suspect serves as the Cult of the Damned headquarters, withing the Whispering Wood.
It takes a few days to get to this place in the woods, and the group realizes they're being followed. Leaving a note to those following them, they meet up.
The scouts present themselves as members of the Cult of the Damned and propose to escort the party to their headquarters, where they'll be able to discuss with Darkmaster Gandling. They also whisper to Melina's ear her real name: Tox, letting her know they know of her past and could easily tell the hymn about her.
The group accepts but hides the page of the Book of Vile Darkness they possess with Aelsthim's familiar.
Reaching Scholomance, the Cult of the Damned headquarters in the region, they are greeted by a masked man presenting himself as Darkmaster Gandling, who welcomes them. He invites them to join the cult, and Tox refuses impolitely.
Gangling is quite annoyed by Tox's refusal and explains he is generous enough to welcome them as guests, not as prisoners, and that they should accept his invitation with respect, or be forced to do so.
Tox still refuses to show respect, and is offered a deal. Tox, who seems to think of himself as so mighty, is to face a monster under Gandling's order; defeating it will prove his might, but otherwise, he'll pay the consequences of his actions.
Tox accepts, and is thrown into a room with large iron bars locking him in, as a horrible stench fills the room and rotting body parts are laying on the floor. Under Gandling's command, a zombie ogre rises from the corpses and fights Tox. Tox tries to seduce the zombie, turning himself into a female zombie, only to be defeated.
On the brink of death, Gandling proposes to stop the massacre only if the party not only joins the cult but gives him the page they're hiding. Aelsthim agrees and brings his familiar in with the page, saving Tox who is unconscious and on the brink of death.
Family tree
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