Damien Bloch

Spells:
0: (4): Arcane Mark, Dancing Lights*, Detect Magic, Daze*, Detect Poison, Ghost Sound, Flare, Light, Mage Hand, Mending, Open/Close, Ray of Frost, Prestidigation*, Resistance, Read Magic
1st: (3): Burning Hands, Comprehend Languages, Hold Portal, Magic Missile*, Shocking Grasp*, Unseen Servant*
2nd: (3): Alter Self*, Detect Thoughts*, Fog Cloud, Invisibility*, Knock, Locate Objects, Strahds Baneful Attractor
3rd: (2): Dispel Magic, Explosive Runes, Feign Death, Ground Fog*, Lightening Bolt*, Nondetection, Stinking Cloud, Tongues, Vampiric Touch
Spells indicated with a * are normally memorized.

Skills:Appraise +5, Bluff +6, Concentration +2, Disguise +6, Gather Information +11, Knowledge(geography) +7, Knowledge (Arcane) +5, Profession (Merchant) +6, Sense Motive +4, Scry +5, Spellcraft +7

Feats:Alertness, Silent Spell, Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus(Gather Information)

Items:Ring of Tongues

Languages: Balok, Mordentish, Falkovnian, Darkonese

Damien is a tall slender man with black hair and hazel eyes. He looks to be partly Barovian and is in his mid thirties. When traveling, Damien wears utilitarian clothing; leather pants and a plain shirt. When dealing with merchants his dress improves to similar to the local merchants.

"Good day, sirs! From your looks, I'd say that you're seasoned travelers.

Perhaps I could buy you dinner and a drink, in exchange for a bit of your knowledge. My name is Damien Bloch. I'm a merchant of sorts. I dont sell any products myself, instead I find new markets for goods and arrange trade caravans and make my living from a small commission to the producer and the local retailer. As travelers, you can help guide me in my trades. Your stories of where youve been, who youve met, and where youre going can tell me where I might find new products or markets.

Oh, dont worry that you havent expressly paid attention to such things, most people notice more than they realize and from the stories of your adventures, I can pick out the things that I need. Of course I talk to the nobles in an area, they often are the ones that have goods to sell and the money to buy the most new goods, but I also talk to the peasants who are the work force that make the goods and are by far the largest market even they can only buy very little each, and I also talk to travelers such as yourselves who know the roads and foreign lands.

Well, shall we get down to dinner and business?"

Damien is a servant of Strahd. None but a select few of Strahds other servants know this, and Damien goes to great lengths to keep this secret.

In the political games that Strahd plays with neighboring lords, and his eternal war against Azalin information is power. Strahd cultivated a group of extremely loyal followers and sent them out to collect information. Damien was one of these. To reduce the risk of discovery and prolong his usefulness, Damiens only job is to recover information on neighboring domains and people that may be useful to Strahd later on. All the plots and direct contact with possible allies are handled by other minions of Strahd.

To help him in his task, Strahd gave Damien a magical ring that allows him to understand and speak any language of the core. The task of a traveling merchant was devised as a cover to allow Damien access to many areas of the core without arousing suspicion. Just as the maps of the Mordent Cartographic Society were useful with the merchant trade, so were they useful in marking information for Strahd. Damien researched the history of the Society, and upon finding its origins in Il Aluke, decided that it may be a good source of information on the workings of Darkon. An offer like this was too good to pass up, so Damien joined the society.

Damien found the maps of the Mordent Cartographic Society to be very useful in planning trade routs, finding new population centers and marking the products and needs of areas. Such a valuable resource couldnt be overlooked, so he made a point of meeting the members, and even became a member himself. Just as their maps were valuable to him, so was his knowledge of different areas and constant travels valuable to them.

Damien is a friendly person that can talk to anyone he meets, weather low born or noble, bully or sage. He always has a big smile and a keen interest in what people have to say.

Damien has traveled over most of the core and to several islands in pursuit of his trade which is the creation of trade networks. When Damien comes to an area, he talks to all of the people. He finds what goods are produced and what products are needed. Often he can find things that the locals think worthless but a village far off would see as priceless, or guess at what sort of novelty would spark the interest of the local people. He arranges trade between a producer, a local merchant to market the items, and a trade caravan to move the items, taking a cut of the profit from each or a commission. A lucrative business to be sure. The key to it is to know the people, and find from them what would be of profit.

Damien avoids combat when possible. He will be quick to apologize for any perceived sleights and will try to talk his way out of any bad situations. If this fails, Damien will use his quarterstaff, which he caries with him as he travels as a walking stick, or a dagger.

His magic is a last resort. If possible, Damien will move to an area where he cant be seen by onlookers before casting a spell. While he knows that magic is useful, and has saved his life many times, he also knows that it marks him as a target or an outcast in many areas.

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