Shattered Dreams: NPCS for the Adventure

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Charles Phipps's picture
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Shattered Dreams: NPCS for the Adventure

Basically, this thread is for posting your NPCs for the adventure and also allowing you to contribute any other plot-thread characters you want to contribute.

Please use this format.

Name:
Race:
Age:
Position:
Alignment:
Political Affiliation:
Class: 7th Level Ranger
Plane of Origin:

Description:

Personality:

History:

***

Name: Trent Castellan
Race: Human
Age: 54
Position: Factor
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Political Affiliation: Athar (Militant Faction)
Class: Priest of Aten 13/Wizard 13
Plane of Origin: Prime Material

Description: Trent Castellan is a white haired, gray eyed, and distinguished looking man whom wears attire that is decidedly-off by most Sigil Fashions but recognizable by cultures familiar with a dinner jacket. He wears a pair of bifocals and is never seen without his silver tipped ivory cane that is also a Rod of Rulership.

Trent often tends to have the smell of the Foundry about him and is constantly pouring over books when he's not engaged in spirited debate.

Personality: Trent is far and removed from the typical raving fanatic image that most Militant Faction members of the Athar have. He's an educated and erudite man who can talk about Karsus on Toril, The Scepter of the Sorcerer Kings, and how a pair of brothers kept Ares prisoner for over a year. As a scholar, priest, and wizard, he's probably more familiar with the metaphysics of the divine than anyone whose not a power himself.

Trent is, perversely enough, motivated by religious idealism. A firm believer in a distant Creator figure, he believes that the petty dominance games of most gods is blasphemous. He also believes that human potential is being unrealized so long as gods keep people embroiled in irrelevant feuds. He has little problem with gods that promote self-actualization amongst their followers but is deeply irritated by those who insist upon reverence just because they're stronger.

In something of a scandalous note, he's currently conducting an affair with his assistant and is known to be rather easily distracted by attractive humanoid females.

History: On a Prime Material World that almost no one has heard of, the God Aten was briefly instituted by Pharoah over the entirety of the world. Trent Castellan was one of the many converts from his home city of Londinium as he joined in reverence of the monotheistic deity that embodied the principles of everything. Unfortunately, the faith was soon outlawed and he was forced from his world to flee through a magical portal that he hastily constructed.

In his wanderings in the planes, Trent repeatedly encountered the injustices of the gods on various peoples. Eventually, he came to the city of Sigil and became affiliated with the Athar. He was continually frustrated with the fact that the organization seemed more interested in simply bad mouthing the gods than actually doing anything about the evils that they presented. His faith in Aten unshaken, something most Athar considered a contradiction to his role as an Athar Factor, Trent desired to actively attempt to oppose the gods.

Unlike the stereotype that some had, Trent was hardly a fool. Despite legends to the contrary, the gods rarely showed up to smite individuals with curses few and far between amongst divinities. Furthermore, he was a well educated individual that well knew that some mortals had actually managed to oppose or subvert the gods on many worlds. With so many legendary artifacts and gods of varying power, it was surely possible for the Athar to make some concrete progress against their enemies.

Factol Terrance always humored Trent in his views but was disturbed by the man's intensity. Terrance did, however, allow Trent to serve as a spokesman for those Athar that wanted to make war on the Power's minions on many planes. When Factol Terrance exiled the Godkillers from the Faction, Trent managed to maintain touch with them and covertly feed them information amongst other supplies.

Factor Castellan has secretly reunited the Athar with the Godkillers and is the party responsible for the creation of the titular weapon that sports their name. He's well aware that the object doesn't actually possess the power to destroy a god nor prevent allies of the gods from coming after them should they be so inclined. The Castellan, however, does believe it will make a serious point the divine. He also believes the Powers are fundamentally selfish enough that they won't descend en masse once they determine that the weapon was just a one-shot device against a god that no one cares about.

The Castelan believes that, once they've tried and executed Grinforr, the Athar will gain a badly needed boost and he'll be able to force himself into the position of Factol by the act's infamy. Ironically, Trent will then focus his efforts on making the Athar more friendly to the religious (especially fellow monotheists and priests of philosophies). Then Trent will make the Militant Faction only target those deities that he disapproves of and won't endanger the group. The Athar is many thousands of years from casting down all the gods but every journey starts with a fist step.

Factol Jaya Forlorn is quite aware that Factor Castellan is angling for her job. Unfortunately, he's also one of the chief supporters of her taking up residence down in the Spire's base and is responsible for much of the resulting fortification. Without his support, she'd swiftly lose control of the Militants.

Charles Phipps's picture
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Shattered Dreams: NPCS for the Adventure

Name: Grinforr
Race: Gnoll Quasi-Deity
Age: ???
Position: Ex-Power
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Political Affiliation: None
Class: Berserker 15/Rogue 3/Assassin 2
Plane of Origin: Acheron

Description: Grinforr is a ridiculously large Gnoll, standing close to twelve feet in height and covered in elaborate tribal tattoos. An absolute monster of a figure, his skin is blazing red and his eyes still manage to glow like a Fiends at times. Grinforr is a mountain of muscle with his very presence reducing most of those he encounters to terrified whimpering.

The deity only wears a loin-cloth over his massive and muscular frame. Even this is something of an affection and has no objections to moving around in the nude. Grinforr disdains armor as his skin is tougher than enchanted plate mail, anyway.

Personality: Grinforr, despite his drastically reduced state, is still a Quasi-Deity and refuses to treat anyone less than a proxy as anything but food or a servant. Grinfor is more intelligent than most archmages and wiser than most clerics with knowledge dating back to the early days of the universe. Sadly, he can't remember most of what he once knew and doesn't let these qualities get in the way of a blinding arrogance that considers his current state of imprisonment to be temporary at best.

Grinforr's savage cunning has allowed him to play on the fears of the Moderate Faction of the Athar while manipulating the ambitions of others. Many Athar are awed by the fact that they have a god's full attention and Grinforr has bluffed many with promises of unending riches or the transformation to gods themselves. He has no intention of fulfilling any of these bargains but the hypocrisy of some Athar is just another tool he intends to use against them.

Those who expect Grinforr to be a caricature, helpless, or frightened are almost certain to be manipulated by the evil deity.

History: History has not been kind to Grinforr, The Gnollish God of Revenge and Feasting on Sapient Flesh. Grinforr has numerous epic stories about himself. That he's the Son of Gorellik and the Princess of a Gnoll Tribe being persecuted by humans, that he's actually the First Gnoll ever born, and that he's originally from a vast Gnoll Pantheon that Gorellik once ruled over with him as second in command. Because Ancient Gnoll Mythology is not something that most Sages specialize in, most of Grinforr's claims are unsubstantiated. In truth, his sudden transformation from a Power to a Quasi-Deity has seriously rattled the Gnoll's memories and he no longer is entirely certain what his origin was himself.

What Grinforr does remember is that he was once a widely respected and worshiped god of the Gnolls. His heyday was during the early days of the species' creation. He distinctly remembers being able to oppose gods like Clanggedin Silverbeard and Solonor Thelandira in single combat without being overwhelmed. The Gnolls would offer him female sacrifices and portions of their enemy kills while he gave them the secrets to revenging themselves on their enemies.

Grinforr's decline is partially his own fault as he pretty much embodied the archetype of the capricious god. Grinforr punished any Gnoll that displeased him on a whim and insisted on the same number of sacrifices even in times of famine. When Yeenoghu began to steal worshipers from Grinforr's pantheon, he ignored the threat or simply allowed himself to be distracted by a threat that he believed beneath him.

If Gorellik continues to barely hold his own against Yeenoghu, then Grinffor woke up one day to find himself almost completely forgotten. He only barely managed to maintain his divine essence thanks to a few hundred frightened worshipers that lived in isolation. Indeed, much of his remaining power came from the fact that his name was occasionally invoked during cannibalistic rites by Gnolls who'd long forgotten who or what Grinforr was but knew it as part of their prayers.

Very recently, Grinforr found that even this power was denied him. He was suddenly stripped from his last remaining connection to his divine power and found himself tumbling to the surface of Acheron. Grinforr, thanks to the some cross-trading with The Friendly Fiend in Sigil, managed to discover the Athar were manufacturing something that could strip the divinity from a god. As luck would have it, this turned out to actually be responsible for what had cost Grinforr so much. Unfortunately, he overestimated his power and was swiftly captured when he single-handedly attacked their headquarters to force them to give back his power.

Grinforr is now the prisoner of the Athar and will soon be placed on trial for his many abuses. The quasi-deity isn't really taking this threat as serious as he should, refusing to believe mortals could seriously harm him, but he's interested in the power of Godkiller. The former Gnoll Deity believes that it could not only be used to cut divine power from others but transfer it. Grinforr, perhaps erroneously, thinks that things might well be looking up for him very soon.

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Shattered Dreams: NPCS for the Adventure

Name: Caylean
Race: Tiefling
Age: 36
Position: Factor
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Political Affiliation: Athar (Moderate Faction)
Class: 7th Level Urban Ranger
Plane of Origin: Sigil

Description: Caylean is a adult male Tiefling in the Prime of his life with demonic attributes that vaguely resemble those of a Satyr. He is handsome and tends to disdain clothes when he can get away with it. His most frequent attire is a set of Factol Terrance's old robes or the studded leather armor of a Ranger.

Caylean always seems to have a grin on his face and has been growing a lengthy black beard to match his dark fur.

Personality: Caylean is a tremendously gregarious and fun-loving individual that contrasts to the dour attitude of most Defiers. He is prone to drinking and food binges that can easily rival those of a Sensate.

Unlike some Defiers, Caylean is a hardcore Atheist that insists that the gods are nothing more than extremely powerful Outsiders that have just managed to set themselves up above other beings. Some of his tales are a bit outrageous ("They eat petitioners!") but he seems to be willing to let bygones be bygones even with the deeply religious.

Caylean has a hushed reverence for Factol Terrance that sometimes borders on idolatry but finds the notion of The Greater Unknown to be silly.

History: Caylean was cursed from birth. The unwanted child of a Tiefling Prostitute in Sigil's Hive. Worse, he was born with almost completely non-functioning withered legs that ended in badly bent hooves. Abandoned almost immediately after birth, Caylean was taken in by a rookery that kept him fed only long enough that he could beg loose change from Clueless Primes.

Eventually, Caylean was badly beaten by a set of Hive toughs who abandoned him in the shadow of the Shattered Temple. Caylean, already sick and tired of life, proceeded to abandon the gods with a melodramatic scream of loathing towards them. Miraculously, Caylean then found all of his wounds healed and proceeded to get up on a pair of legs that worked perfectly. Some nearby Athar came to investigate this and became fascinated with the anti-miracle that restored him to full health.

Most suspect that Caylean was probably just blessed with a bit of mercy from a passing cleric, possibly Factol Terrance himself, that the Tiefling failed to notice in his delirium. Caylean, however, believes that he was rewarded for renouncing the un-truth of the gods. No matter how nonsensical this may sound to others, the Tiefling believes it with all of his heart and cannot be convinced otherwise.

Caylean swiftly lent his ability to navigate the abandoned and rougher portions of Sigil to the Athar. His newfound mobility added tremendously to his usefulness and he studied with weapons masters from not only the Athar but also the Transcendent Order and Godsmen. During the Faction War, Caylean truly came into his own as he managed to rally many of the Athar when they were utterly lost upon the disappearance of Factol Terrance. Caylean is well remembered for defending the Shattered Temple against dozens of Harmonium religious fanatics that wanted to slay those within for their 'blasphemies.'

Despite his relative youth, Caylean has since become the highest ranking Factor of the Athar after Trent Castellan. Caylean actually wields more influence since he represents the Moderate portion of the Athar that compromise the majority of the Faction. Unfortunately, he lacks the devotion that Trent has due to the fact that he's primarily making decisions in Factol Terrance's name. Quite a few Moderate Athar would like to see the Ranger removed from his position and he lacks the charisma that his rival possesses in abundance.

Caylean loathes the headquarters at the bottom of the Spire and his chief motion is for the Athar to start moving operations back into Sigil. While this might be seen as tempting the wrath of the Lady of Pain, Caylean also believes that they're doing no good staying away from the very people they should be promoting their agenda amongst. The Tiefling's arrogance is playing a minor role in this decision as he refuses to believe that his faction could be lumped with the idiots from the Harmonium or Doomguard.

In truth, Caylean really doesn't want to lead the Athar and supports Hobard as Factol to prevent Trent from achieving it. He doesn't believe Factol Forlorn has the strength to hold her position. While he loathes the gods, he thinks that Factor Castellan's plans will bring down the wrath of the gods upon them all and that Factol Forlorn's policies will keep them trapped at the base of the Spire forever.

He's quick to point out that Factor Terrance was also one who respected the right of other beings to worship as they saw fit, only that they should promote the Athar's view as an alternative. Despite the insanity of it, Caylean has speculated about sending expeditions to retrieve Factol Terrance from the Mazes. Caylean believes this will allow the Athar to recover their former glory.

Ironically, his enemies in the Militant Faction would probably view this as a suicidal act against the Lady's Will.

Charles Phipps's picture
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Shattered Dreams: NPCS for the Adventure

My ideas for these NPCs is to basically detail leading members of the Two factions in the Athar Faction and offer up a write-up for the player characters to draw from when they detail elements of the Plot to bring a god to Trial. I figure that once everyone is given some ground to work from (i.e. the motivations and personalities of the players involved), it'll become easier to write.

My rationalization for the above is this...

1. Trent Castellan

Trent Castellan is meant to be a likeable and reasonable character as a contrast to his extremist views. I want players to have someone they feel can actually pull off leading the Faction even if he wants to wage war against the gods as best as their small group can. I also figure that he's the sort of guy who could definitely figure turning the bottom of the Spire into a Fortress is a good idea because he intends to actually use it as a base of operations.

This is also to put him in opposition against Caylean who wants a more sociable Athar.

2. Grinforr

I decided to go with a unnamed new Gnoll deity instead of Gorellik because I feel that it's better to establish that this dude is even more at the bottom of the barrel amongst the gods than Yeenoghu's rival. Also, we might have Gorellik send an avatar to meet with the PCs at some point to have them inquire on his former compatriot's status or being CE, it might be a nice inversion that Grinforr believes Gorellik will rescue him only to find out that his former master intends to gobble up Grinforr's few remaining worshipers for himself.

I decided to treat Grinforr as EXTREMELY powerful and smart despite being a weak deity before he was stripped of his power. I figure that it helps reinforce that the gods are no trifling matter. However, I wanted to restrict him to battle classes so he is primarily a martial threat. Plus, if Grinforr gets loose then he's essentially a 20th level War Machine in a place with no magic.

I figure we could do some wonderful scenes where Grinfor is corrupting his guards and some Athar that aren't so much hateful at the deities as they want the god's attention. The god, during his "trial", becoming something of a Gnollish Hannibal Lector in his cell.

Plus, it removes some of the sympathy that the PCs might have to an imprisoned deity that's stripped of his power since he's everything that the Athar despise.

3. Caylean

Caylean is one of the Athar detailed in Factol's Manifesto, updated for a few levels with an expansion on their history. I figured this would be better than using an entirely new character. I like the idea that while the Moderates are larger than the militants, they're also less united with Caylean possessed of some flaws as well as the Militant Leader.

Thus, there's a real choice when the PCs choose to back Trent or Caylean for Factol with appropriate consequences for both.

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