Dramatis Personae = PCs This is you guys
Sascha Dziemianovich "The Ashen Knight" - Lostboy
Sascha is tall and solid, a gift of his northern roots, yet the years have not been kind to him, still strong but his shoulders are a little stooped. His face is heavily lined and care-worn, beneath his long straggling beard, which like his long hair is shot through with grey. His eyes still shine, blue as ice within his face, only his mouth with it's slightly cruel lines mar his visage. In his late forties now, he appears far older than his years, a palpable weight of the world hangs on his shoulders, yet his eyes shine with the fire of the faithful.
He dresses in dented, but polished chainmail, covered by the tabard and cloak of his order, murky white with a dull grey cross. He carries a wicked black metal greatsword with a ruby hilt that seems out of place with his pious nature, and a small battered leather pack that carries the few possession he needs.
Lia Mournswaith – Rock
(Pronounced: Lie-ah Mournswaith)
A graduate student of the faculty of Archeology at the University of Dementlieu, Lia is perhaps known best by her nickname, 'the Veiled Sorceress'. Most of the students and teachers only know that Lia comes from a wealthy Mordentish family, is majoring in archeology and history, while pursuing a bachelor's degree in herbalism and the arcane sciences - and that no one has yet seen her face. When Lia appears in public, she always wears lacy gloves, a mask and a veil, under a hooded cloak. She is generally distant, quiet, soft-spoken and seems easily intimidated. There are rumors she is disfigured due to a childhood exposure to the pox or a similarly virulent disease. It came as something of a surprise to those who know her that she was so very eager to join the expedition, but she has pursued a position as an aide to professor Carter with unusual aggression.
Andre Theroux– YalenusVeler
Standing 5'10", and weighing in at around 180 pounds, Dr.Theroux at 27 is one of the youngest members of the faculty of the University of Dementlieu.
A professor in the department of theology, despite being a professed agnostic, Dr.Theroux is considered both a curse and a blessing.
Undeniably intelligent, he unfortunately hasn't quite gotten the grasp of little things like politeness or pleasantries, thus making classes with him an exercise in condescension and insight. Those who've made an attempt to get to know him however, say that he wasn't ALWAYS this way, and that his Grey eyes used to be brighter, but tragedy brought him low.
Andre is with the expedition due to being competent in Ancient Akiri, as well as its modern derivative, as well as Pharazian. His knowledge of the faiths of Har'Akir is also expected to come in quite handy.
Allikhain Gellantra: Female Human Monk – Tarlyn
, Allikhain is originally from the obscure island Domain of Isla De Muerta.She has only been in the core for a little over a year, along with her cohort Ulsaon(See below). Allikhain is a very quiet person, rarely speaking. She’s saved those occasions for when she’s terrorized the Thieves Guild she's encountered in her travels with Ulsaon.
She wears a black cloak, pants, tunic and gloves. At one hip are Nunchaka’s and the other is a scabbard. She is never without her Quarterstaff. She stands at a little over five feet eight and is appears very muscular and athletic. Her hair is long and black and she keeps it free so as to hide her face. She appears to be in her early twenties. Both she and Ulsaon were hired as bodyguards for the expedition.
Ulsaon Lowbane: Female Half-Elf Rogue/Wizard Cohort – Tarlyn
Ulsaon is also from the obscure Domain Isla De Muerta. As soon as she was old enough she traveled to the core. Here she became skilled at fencing items for the Merchants and Thieves Guilds. She met Allikhain and she warned her that the Thieves Guild wanted Allikhain’s head. They left the city and ended up traveling the core extensively until arriving in Dementlieu and being hired for the expedition.
Ulsaon wears a well-worn traveling cloak. Under it is a strange armor. She sports a scabbard at her hip and not much else. She stands a little over five feet five and appears to be in shape. She has long brown hair and blue eyes, which seem to be filled with mischief. She is very outgoing and it is usually she who does the talking for both of them. She seems to be in her mid fifties.
" The Dragoman" Khalil al-Atim – Lostboy
An enigmatic and exotic figure, the Dragoman is known across the southern core for his expertise in travel. Rumors say he was born in the burning wastes of Har'Akir and that he fled as child and settled in Hazlan. Further rumor says that no caravan or expedition under his guidance has ever gone astray or come to harm. Perhaps it is useful then that this man has been engaged as guide and "fixer" for the expedition.
A thin man of medium height, Khalil is the epitome of an exotic nomad. Swathed in dark blue robes with loose trousers and the finest black studded leather, his hands are never far from the twin scimitars he carries at his waist. His dark features and lustrous black hair are unmistakable, although his stoic face is marred by scars on both cheeks. He gives little away, although he is often seen praying silently to himself whilst softly stroking an obsidian amulet at his throat.
Charles Martel – Nathan of the FoS
Charles Martel is a cheerful, good-natured man in his middle twenties; a mathematician by training, he is studying cryptography at the Ecole de Etudes Superiores, an advanced institute associated with the University of Dementlieu. He is accompanying the expedition to expand his knowledge of Har'Akiri encryption techniques in their hieroglyphic and hieratic scripts--at least, as he says, "That's what I told my research advisors. Mostly I just wanted a bit of adventure...comes of reading too many Dead Travel Fast novels, I suppose...Behind the Black Veil, In the Devil's Seraglio, Enslaved As a Harem Girl...y'know, books like that."
Otto Schultheiss – The Whistler
Otto Schultheiss is taller than average and a bit pudgy, with shortish, straight blond hair and muttonchops; his eyes are ice blue, and he wears pince-nez glasses to correct for near-sightedness. In dress, he tends toward monochromes, simple, well-made clothes, and boots; while in the field, he wears his favorite pistol, Donnenschlag, in an old leather shoulder holster.
Perpetually amiable, jovially enthusiastic when faced with a challenge, and a bit sheepish about his abilities as a marksman, Otto tends to remind people of an overgrown teddy bear. If he weren't an undergrad at age 33, obviously middle-class and provincial (with a self-admitted background as a gunsmith in a tiny hamlet west of the Sleeping Beasts) and the only Lamordian at the university majoring in arcane science, you probably wouldn't give him a second thought.
...He
is, though, and though he's taken a bit of flak for it, he seems generally all right with his unconventional situation. He's only been enrolled for six months--so even though he's technically been invited onto the expedition as an interested student, it's pretty obvious that the administration just wants him along for his marksmanship.
Tomas Eisenwald – DocBeard
Tomas Eisenwald is another one of those endless Lamordian students, stealing the jobs of good, hardworking Dementlieuse and seducing the women with his mysterious foreign charms. Or at least, if all the social graces of a young man raised by dwarves and enough naiveté to still blush regularly after four years at the University count as 'charms'. His strange, pale-blue eyes and short, frizzy brown-blond hair are the source of a rumor that Tomas survived a bolt of lightning as a child, owing his cheerful, distracted demeanor to the scars of that incident; Tomas has never bothered to confirm or deny the rumor, perhaps preferring to pretend it doesn't exist. Originally an engineering student, Tomas works for Professor Devereux as an assistant, graduate student, and general dogs-body, cheerfully enduring the Professor's eccentricity with the optimistic outlook of the perpetually dim.
Kuzan – Kaitou Kage
A young priest of a small temple in Sri Raji, Kuzan is bright-eyed and outgoing. His hair is a shade or two lighter brown than the average Sri Rajian, his eyes are a peculiar gold, and his skin is deep olive, all signs that mark him as something other than a full-blood from Sri Raji. He carries himself with a steady gait and an easy demeanor. Though he is on the caravan as a scholar, he has the sturdy figure of a sailor and the easy demeanor and simple clothing of a commoner. He’s eager and willing to lend a helping hand where it’s needed, even offering to aid the labor and guard forces of the caravan.
Kuzan is a priest of Ajad, a lesser deity of wind, sailing, and exploration. Part of his business on the caravan is as an associate scholar. The other part is a holy pilgrimage of his faith that requires him to travel across the world and see distant sights. Having never been much further than Sri Raji in his life, he’s excited at the prospect of seeing new, foreign sights.
Dramatis Personae = NPCs These will the NPCs accompanying you on the Menetnashte Expedition.
Professor Jean-Jacques Pelletier, Ph.D.ArcSci, Ph.D.Hist is the assistant chair of the University of Dementlieu’s Department of History and the leading specialist in Akiri culture and lore at the University, best known for his epochal work,
The History of Ancient Har’Akir. A charming, white-haired gentleman in his late fifties with a grandfatherly smile, Prof. Pelletier is the expedition leader for the Menetnashte Expedition.
Professor Sebastian Marchand-Renier, Ph.D.Ling is the Guignol Chair for Linguistics and one of the more skilled academics at the University. A Richumelese transplant and a distant cousin of the Reniers, Prof. Marchand is polyglot, perfectly fluent in eleven languages, including Akiri, Pharazian, and can read Ancient Akiri with ease. Prof. Marchand is pale, wiry man with straight brown hair in his mid-forties. Possessed of a brusque and arrogant manner, he is the chief linguist and translator of the expedition.
Professor Thomas Carter, Ph.D.Arch, is an associate member of the University of Dementlieu, though Prof. Carter is more often found in Sri Raji or Pharazia than in Dementlieu. A tanned, athletic Mordentishman in his late thirties, famous for uncovering the ruins of Illarik in southern Hazlan, Prof. Carter is providing his professional expertise in applied archeology to the expedition.
Professor Charles Devereux, Ph.D.Hist, is one of the more popular professors in the University of Dementlieu. Prof. Devereux is known for his idiosyncratic approach to cultural history, as his most famous books,
The Many Legends of Barovia and
The Haunted History of Mordentshire demonstrate. Prof. Devereux is accompanying the expedition as research for his new book,
The Terrible Tombs of Har’Akir. Prof. Devereux is a slightly nervous looking Dementlieuse man in his early thirties, with brown hair and a perpetual nervous tic in his left brow.
Lily D’Envers is a novelist and sometime writer for
L’Interrogateur, a gossip rag based in Port-a-Lucine. Miss D’Envers will be acting as the official recorder of the expedition. Miss D’Envers is a lovely woman born in Port D’Elhour, a small slip of a thing with luscious golden hair to the waist, milky pale skin, and curious blue eyes, with a very forward and inquisitive manner. For the last three years, Miss D’Envers has been reporting in Nova Vaasa, she has only returned to Dementlieu three weeks ago.
Remy Lessard is a linguistics graduate student at the University of Dementlieu, and the assistant of Prof. Marchand. A general go-fer on the expedition, Lessard is a pleasant looking young man with a fresh-scrubbed look and a harried manner about him. Despite his perpetually harassed demeanor, Lessard is Marchand’s star pupil, speaking six languages fluently.
Fassahd al Muharin is a native of Har’Akir (his name means literally, ‘of Muhar’), and the man who brought the first news of the Tomb of Menetnashte to Dementlieu. A wiry, dusky-skinned man with only meager languages skills outside of Akiri and Pharazian, Fassahd is the guide for the expedition, the only man with a precise knowledge of the tomb’s location.
Art drawn by our very own Kaitou Kage
Samael Maleagant is a ‘facilitator’, an expert hired by the university to handle the day-to-day operations of the Menetnashte expedition. A keen organizer and an alumnus of the University of the Dementlieu (Baccalaureate in history), Maleagant is raven-haired, sharp-featured Borcan in his mid thirties with an acid and sarcastic wit. He may not be the most pleasant person, but Maleagant has an undeniable talent for keeping things going according to plan.
Edmund Harris is the guard captain, an older Mordentishman who has served as a mercenary in several conflicts. Hired by the University for his professional expertise, the heavily-built Harris is to ensure that anyone who attacks the Menetnashte Expedition has all the trouble they can dream of. A somewhat bulky man from Mordentshire in his late forties, Harris has a bluff, hearty manner and the perpetual look that he’d be more comfortable with an ale mug in his hand. He fights with a musket and greatsword.
Michel de Angelis is one of the guards, a charming, lithe man from Chateaufaux. In his early thirties, the well-mannered de Angelis is the son of a Dementlieuse diplomat to Pharazia, and is fluent in the language of that land and knows its customs well. He is also a musician of no mean skill, and can often be found fiddling away on his violin among the guards. Despite his pleasant exterior, de Angelis is a skilled duelist with rapier and pistol, and wields an insidious weapon, a Parthian Rapier, a rapier with a simple pistol built into the hilt.
‘Jervis’ is another of the guards, a taciturn, ill-tempered mercenary who keeps quiet about his origins. Surly and sneering, the short, swarthy-featured man seems to be a Borcan or an Invidian, with a professional bearing for all his personal unpleasantness. Maleagant vouches for his loyalty, and Jervis is a daub hand with a number of weapons, including crossbow, daggers, and rapier, making him a useful addition to the Menetnashte Expedition.
Dieter Haulfstead is a young Lamordian mercenary, a former farm land off to see adventure. A nice, if somewhat innocent young man in his early twenties, Dieter is nevertheless quite good with a longsword and musket, sufficiently that Harris allowed him to be taken on the expedition. Somewhat shy, he ends up associating with Jervis most often, the pairs’ mutual love of quiet seeming to agree with them despite the obvious difference in experience and worldview.
Sarari is the lone non-human guard on the expedition, a young elven woman from Sithicus. Marginally more pleasant and talkative then Jervis, but only marginally, Sarari is a mercenary of long experience, utilizing a rapier and the national Sithican weapon of the longbow. Quite attractive, in an elven way, with delicate features and waist-length brown hair, Sarari exudes a quiet wariness that keeps most people at arms reach.
Guy Benoit is the other native son in the Expedition’s guard crew. A tall, rugged man in his early forties, Benoit is a former militia sergeant and a veteran of several fights with Falkovnian troops. In addition to skills with battleaxe, shield and musket, Benoit is also a good hunter and in charge of the expedition’s animals. He’s usually seen with his wolfhound ‘Loup’.