Preston

In the shadowed, often murky corridors of Nulb's commerce, few figures are as pivotal yet enigmatic as Preston, the local teamster and proprietor of the town's primary teamster and wainwright workshop. Preston's operations play a crucial role in the town's logistical network, connecting Nulb to broader trade routes that snake towards the bustling markets of Dyvers and beyond. Yet, beneath his business acumen lies a complex personal history intertwined with magic, tragedy, and an ongoing struggle with inner demons.

Profile of Preston

Physical Description

Preston is a striking figure, a young man in his mid-twenties with medium-length dirty blonde hair that frames a face marked by sharp intelligence and a hint of perpetual distraction.

• Attire: Typically seen in practical teamster attire suited to his profession, but maintains an air of unkempt elegance.
• Background
• Family Legacy: Born into a family known both for their deep connection to the arcane and their darker alliances, particularly with the sinister forces within the Temple of Elemental Evil.
• Inheritance: Took over the family business following the death of his father, Jesrik, whose shadow looms large in both magical and mundane aspects of his life.

Motivation

• Professional Aspirations: Seeks to expand his logistical empire by potentially merging with the Borter & Doe Trading Company to dominate the regional trade.
• Personal Struggles: Battles with the psychological aftermath of his upbringing and his father's dark influence, striving to find a balance between his potential for great magical power and a desire for a normal life.

Personality

• Intellect and Isolation: Highly intelligent, Preston is often perceived as distant and distracted, reflective of his internal focus and perhaps the mental toll of his hidden battles.
• Leadership Style: Despite personal struggles, he is a capable leader, respected by his employees for his fairness though often criticized for his emotional detachment.
• Business Operations: Preston's Teamster & Wainwright Workshop

Services Offered

• Transportation: Manages the logistics of transporting goods across the region, employing a variety of carts and wagons.
• Wainwright Services: Provides maintenance and construction of wagons and carts, critical to sustaining the trade infrastructure.
• Security Detail: Offers guards for hire to accompany deliveries, ensuring safe passage through bandit-threatened roads.

Facility Description

• Location: Situated at a strategic crossroad, the workshop is crucial for Nulb's trade.
• Capacity: Houses several wagons, carts, and horses, along with a staff comprised of drivers, guards, a wainwright, his apprentice, and other support staff.

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Intrigue and Secret Dealings

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Connections with Criminal Elements

Bandit and Pirate Ties: Preston's strategic position in transportation makes him a valuable ally for local bandits and pirates, facilitating under-the-table deals for safe passage and discreet deliveries.

Agents from the Temple of Elemental Evil

Covert Negotiations: Preston has been approached by agents of the Temple, who wish to use his logistical network for their operations, offering him power and protection in return.

Merger Plans with Borter & Doe

• Strategic Expansion: Preston's push to merge with Borter & Doe, inspired by Jesrik's influence from beyond the grave, aims to solidify his business's prominence in Nulb and beyond.
• Clanstien meeting: Preston meeds with the two merchants at 3. Waterside Hostel of Nulb to discuss the deal.

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Undercurrents of Intrigue

Relationships with Bandit and Pirate Crews

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Preston’s strategic location and control over transportation make him a valuable ally or a potential target for the bandit and pirate factions in Nulb.

• Interaction: Though publicly neutral, Preston has backchannel communications with several bandit leaders, negotiating safe passage for goods in exchange for bribes or information.
• Influence Leverage: Uses his knowledge of transport routes to manipulate bandit activity to his advantage, ensuring his shipments are seldom targeted.

Temple of Elemental Evil Connections

Unknown to most, Preston has been contacted by agents from the Temple of Elemental Evil, who are interested in using his transport services for their secretive endeavors.

• Covert Dealings: Engages cautiously with the Temple agents, providing logistics support for their operations in exchange for protection and monetary rewards.
• Future Plans: Preston is wary of the Temple's increasing power and is planning to leverage his role to either increase his influence or secure an exit strategy should the Temple’s actions threaten his business.

Background of Dark Arts and Ancestral Ties

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Preston hails from a lineage steeped in the dark magical arts, with ancestral ties to demonic entities and practices. The teamster does come from a long line of ambitious and dark magicians. But he has tried to forget everything he has learned of magic, and he has no interest in carrying on the family tradition. In truth, but for the sins of his father, Preston is a good man. It is unfortunate that he is also a haunted one.

• Family History: Preston's lineage includes powerful magicians who practiced dark arts and were sworn to demonic entities associated with the Temple of Elemental Evil.
• Father's Influence: His father, Jesrik, was a renowned dark sorcerer devoted to Zuggtmoy. Jesrik's influence in the Temple rivaled that of Senshock, the Lord Wizard of the Greater Temple.
• Childhood Exposure: Preston grew up immersed in dark rituals and demonic bindings, which deeply affected his psyche and shaped his aversion to magic.
• Aversion to Magic: Preston witnessed many terrible ceremonies over the years and participated in rituals that bound demons in service after wracking them with torment until they howled with pain. Preston has felt true power, and he never wants to feel it again.

The Haunting of Preston

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Following Jesrik's death, Preston hoped to distance himself from the dark arts and lead a normal life. However, his father's return as a wraith trapped him in a continuing nightmare.

• Father’s Death and Return: Jesrik's death brought temporary relief to Preston, but the emergence of Jesrik's wraith shattered any hope of normalcy.
• Supernatural Haunting: Jesrik's wraith haunts their family home, particularly the attic, pushing Preston towards dark deeds to alleviate his torment.
• Evolving Demands: Initially demanding small creatures to sustain his existence, Jesrik's wraith is escalating his demands, pushing Preston towards morally reprehensible acts.

No more than a week after the funeral Preston awakened in a jolt. His body felt cold. The hairs on his arms rose and tingled. He heard a stir in the attic over his bedchamber. At first, he couldn’t move; the coldness was unbearable. But then he found his courage. He lit a candle and pulled down the attic stairs from the ceiling overhead. Each step creaked upon the ladder, and he felt the cold gripping and burning inside his lungs as he climbed higher. Even the candle flame seemed to retreat as the darkness thickened like a broth left out overnight. And then the eyes. He was in the attic now, and he was staring into the red eyes. A figure of darkness and shadow coalesced, man-shaped it was, and it moved toward him. Preston’s mind raced through the few spells he still had memorized, searching for one, searching for anything, and then the voice. The haunting, sickening, cold voice. His father’s voice.
“Even death cannot ruin us,” it said. “Fear not, boy. I am home.”

Personal Struggles and Internal Conflict

Preston's internal battle with his legacy and the ghost of his father places him at a moral crossroads.

• Resistance to Dark Arts: Despite his deep knowledge, Preston resists using magic, understanding its destructive potential from firsthand experience.
• Inevitable Choices: The increasing demands of his father's wraith are driving Preston to a breaking point, where he must choose between succumbing to darkness or finding a way to end his father's haunting forever.

Preston's father Jesrik by 3orcs

Shift in Jesrik’s Demands and Influence

• End of Magical Training: Jesrik, upon realizing he could no longer cast spells in his wraith form, abandoned his efforts to train Preston in magic.
• Reaction to Loss of Powers: Jesrik responded to his impotence by scattering his spell books and exhibiting bouts of pain and frustration.
• Avoidance of Magical Reminders: Now detests any reminders of his spellcasting abilities and avoids discussing or encountering magical elements.

New Focus on Business Advice

Jesrik has shifted his guidance towards advising Preston on managing and expanding the family business.

• Strategic Business Counseling: Offers insights and strategies to better secure and grow the family’s logistical and teamster operations.
• Darker Demands for Sustenance: As the wraith, Jesrik requires life energy to sustain his existence and lessen his torment.
• Initial Requests: Started by demanding small creatures like rodents and cats to feed on their life force.
• Escalating Needs: Jesrik’s demands are increasing in severity, hinting at a future need for human life to satisfy his growing hunger.
• Implications for Preston: These demands are pushing Preston toward a critical moral decision, testing his ethics and forcing him towards choices that could have irreversible consequences.

Relationship Dynamics

Preston's relationship with his maid, Nydia, introduces significant emotional layers to his life story, weaving a tale of childhood bonds, love rekindled, and painful distancing. Their history is complex, filled with moments of closeness and periods of estrangement, which add a rich texture to their interactions and the overall narrative of the household.

Deep Roots and Childhood Bonds

• Early Connection: Nydia and Preston shared a close childhood, growing up together in the same household. Their early years were marked by a strong bond and companionship.
• Family Ties: Nydia’s mother was the family maid before her, which meant Nydia was always close to the family, further deepening her connection with Preston.

Change with Time and Circumstance

• Growing Apart: As they matured, Preston's focus shifted towards his studies and the dark arts under his father's guidance, causing him to become distant from Nydia.
• Role Transition: After the death of her mother, Nydia stepped into her role as the family maid, altering the dynamic between her and Preston. Despite this professional boundary, their past connection lingered in the background.

Brief Rekindling and Subsequent Estrangement

• Renewed Closeness: Following the death of Preston's father, the two found comfort in each other's company, leading to a brief period of revived intimacy which brought temporary joy and normalcy to the household.
• Sudden Withdrawal: The renewal of their relationship was short-lived; Preston abruptly ended their renewed closeness, insisting they return to a strictly professional relationship. This left Nydia hurt and confused, exacerbating her emotional turmoil.

Current Emotional Landscape

• Nydia’s Struggle: Continues to grapple with her feelings for Preston, feeling both rejected and concerned for him as he becomes more engulfed in his haunted reality.
• Professional Facade: Despite her emotional pain, Nydia maintains her duties with strength and professionalism, embodying the resilience often required of those in service positions.

Impact on Household Dynamics

• Tension and Distance: The unresolved feelings and awkwardness between Preston and Nydia add a layer of tension within the household, affecting their interactions and the overall atmosphere.
• Preston’s Isolation: Preston's decision to distance himself from Nydia contributes to his overall isolation, complicating his ability to fully break from his dark legacy as he lacks the emotional support that might come from a closer relationship with her.

Preston: Owner and Operator

Prstone is a tall, lean man with sharp features softened by a constant, distant gaze. His hair is dark and usually unkempt, and his clothing, while of good quality, is often dusty from his work. 

• Armor Class 12 (15 with Mage Armor)
• Hit Points 9 (2d8) Speed 30 ft.
• STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
• 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 13 (+1)
• Languages: Common, Elvish Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

Spells: Preston no longer studies his spell books, though he still has in his mind four cantrips which he has yet to cast (Sprout, Palm, Firefinger, & Spider).
Items: Preston has access to magic items, but he chooses not to carry any. He carries a pouch containing 35 gp, 20 sp, and 50 cp

Ruled Locations

• 16. Preston's Cottage
• 17. Teamster & Wainwright Shop

Opinons of Preston

• Local Merchant: "Preston knows the roads like no other. If you need something delivered discreetly, he’s your man. Just don't expect any chit-chat."
• A Member of The Hangmen: "That teamster? Slippery as an eel. You never know if he's really with you or setting you up. But his routes are gold."