Hello! Evil characters are always a challenge to write without going over the top to show they're evil. A truly well developed evil character grows into who they are and why they are - and hopefully I capture that in the below!Originally Posted by Wacky89
Some fun notes -
* Cathair nan Nathraichean – Means “City of Snakes” in Scottish Gaelic (roughly)
* The name of the Adventurers who attack are based off the old D&D Comic Book Ads (if you are not familiar you can see reference to them on my site: http://neverendingnights.com/archives/4431 and http://neverendingnights.com/archives/4447 ).
* For Zalvex, I wasn’t sure what deity to associate to him, so I just used the generic term of “Serpent God.”
* The wizard from the Shadowthieves named Sathar – the name is based off the “serpent like” enemies in Star Frontiers
Anyway - as always, I'd love to hear feedback in the thread as it helps me (and also keeps the thread bumped and alive for others to see, and hopefully submit their own requests!)
As always, enjoy!
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Ankhwood, which long ago had once been a part of the Winterwood, was a region that rarely got any form of visitors. Insects, animals, and plants, all mutated due to the odd pockets of wild magic that ran rampant throughout the woods, turning normal insects into giant sized versions of themselves; or mutating them so they had multiple eyes or heads; even going so far as changing their basic behavior, where a simply fly would suddenly become a mutated, carnivorous beast.
This sat well with the Yaun-Ti of Cathair nan Nathraichean.*
None knew where this wild and dead magic that existed within the veins of the land in Ankhwood – but the Yaun-Ti drew power from it. One such pupil was the young Yaun-Ti, Oszi Extaminos, who enjoyed his time, as an aspiring wizard, studying with House Extaminos. House Extaminos mages were trained to draw their mystical abilities from the balance and opposing energies of life and death – and channel the wild and dead magic that existed in Ankhwood to increase their own magical abilities.
Oszi Extaminos had befriended others, like himself, who were studying the ways of magic; but none were ever as close to him as his two brothers, Severes – who like him, was interested in the arcane, and also perhaps the wisest of the brothers and there was Zalvex, who was more religious and followed the serpent god.
Together, the three brothers were inseparable, and the nativity of youth blinded them to the danger that was coming.
As it would turn out, the Elves had employed a band of adventurers to venture inside of the Ankhwood and recorded, uncover, and potentially destroy anything that could be causing the wild and dead magic that was prominent throughout Ankhwood.
A human ranger, by the name of Roray Gallan had led a group of adventurers, which included: Valerius, a human fighter with a magical sword, Grimslade a human wizard, Indel the Elf who had employed the adventurers, Saren a human cleric, Auric a human fighter, Tierra a human cleric, Khellek a human wizard, and Shadrak a gnome rogue.
It was a large group – and as they stumbled into Cathair nan Nathraichean, they were shocked to see temples and pyramids erected in the midst of these woods, yet magically hidden from any who might gaze from above. Their moment of shock was quickly shoved aside as the Yuan-Ti guards also reacted to the threat of adventurers in their city.
Oszi Extaminos had just stepped out of House Extaminos, when the attack began. Oszi Extaminos stood memorized as these adventurers began cleaving through the guards – most notably the human, who had what appeared to be a magical weapon – specifically made to slain the Yaun-Ti, with the way he was cutting through Oszi Extaminos’ people.
Severes grabbed Oszi’s arm and shouted, “Where is Zalvex?”
Severes shook Oszi violently. “I said where is Zalvex?”
Oszi looked at his brother, as if for the first time, “The temple. The Serpent God temple.”
“Go to the Rotwood and wait for me there,” Severes barked. “I will go find Zalvex.”
Oszi was still in shock – and almost as if his brother had magically commanded him – Oszi ran towards Rotwood – an area of the woods that was changed by the very magic that made Ankhwood unique, and there he hid until what felt like an eternity, he heard something pounding through the brush and water, and Severes and Zalvex arrived – but Zalvex was furious.
“How could you drag me away from the fight?” he snapped at Severes.
“Did you see them?” Severes growled back. “They were well trained.”
“Better to die defending my home than running away,” Zalvex sneered.
“No,” Severes said, quietly. “If we all die, no one will know of the atrocity.”
The three waited for several hours, until the sounds of battle in the distance waned. They had hoped that the Yuan-Ti had prevailed; but the power the mages wielded and the human with the magical weapon, it seemed somehow unlikely.
When they returned to Cathair nan Nathraichean, most of it had been burning. There were a few scant survivors, but among the dead were none of the adventurers. They had somehow completely avoided death, or their companions had dragged their bodies away.
Returning home, they’d found their parents, both slain outside of their home, by the looks of it, defending it. Oszi kneeled down and touched his mother’s hair, “I can’t help but wonder if their final thoughts were wondering if we were alive or dead.”
“They are with the gods now,” Severes replied softly, placing his hand on Oszi’s shoulder.
“Damn the gods,” Zalvex shouted, ripping the Serpent God pendant from his neck. “Damn the Serpent God. Where was he when our people needed him? Why did he let this slaughter happen? How can I faithfully serve some god who would allow such a thing to his people?”
The trio soon found that the few scant survivors, who had returned as they did, only came to bury their dead, gather a few belongings and leave, because the memory of what had happened here had weighed too heavy on their hearts. The trio soon found the same burden hanging over them; their home, which they had been living in for several weeks, now seemed empty and cold without the presence of their parents, who had been buried on the property by their three sons.
“We need to leave,” Oszi finally said one morning. “There are only about ten of us left in Cathair nan Nathraichean. And who is to say more adventurers won’t come back to clean up any survivors who returned.”
“Where would we go?” Severes, who normally had all the answers, asked.
“Ankahpur,” Oszi answered matter-of-factly. “It’s not too far. It’s a large city. We all resemble humans enough that we can pass as such.”
“You want to live among those who killed our kind?” Zalvex asked, pounding his mug on the table.
“Wait,” Severes said. “I think Oszi might be onto something. We could pass as humans. When we get to Ankahpur, we will need to live off the streets and steal… but an idea has just come to me. What if, after we get enough, that we put ourselves up for hire as adventurers.”
“What?” Zalvex looked at his – normally! – wise brother in disbelief. “And become like the murderers? Have both of you lost your mind?”
“No,” Severes said, placing his hands on the table firmly. “As a matter of fact, this may be the first time I’ve ever been so clear thinking since the massacre. Listen, we hire ourselves out as adventurers, so we begin to get familiar with them – and perhaps, in time, even find the ones who did this to Cathair nan Nathraichean. In the meantime, we befriend other adventurers, and arrange accidents for them… adventurers, like the ones who did this. After all, many snakes use some form of camouflage to conceal themselves; let us do the same.”
The trio traveled along the road and quickly gained the sympathy of a traveling family that was headed to Ankahpur. The trio introduced themselves with false names, as Oszi said his name was Belan Pekan. The family asked the trio what had happened and why three young boys would be traveling on the road; they lied and explained that brigands had attacked their wagon and killed their parents. The trio escaped when the brigands had gotten drunk at night, but they were going to be sold to some slavers. The family took the trio in and upon arriving at the gates of Ankahpur claimed that the trio had been cousins of a family, who recently suffered a tragic loss and that they would be on their way to Waterdeep soon to book passage to be reunited with their family.
The trio had been shocked to discover two humans who had such kindness in their hearts; but as soon as they thanked the family and departed once inside Ankahpur, Zalvex snarled, “They would not have been so kind if they knew we were truly Yuan-Ti.” Though he said it aloud, it wasn’t clear if he was telling his brothers or convincing himself.
The trio made a living on the streets by stealing, and killing from time to time; but they tried to keep the killing to a minimum as it drew the attention of the authorities. During one of their attempts at theft, they had unknowingly tried to rob someone of the Shadowthieves guild in Ankahpur who took a great interest in their ruthlessness.
He brought all three down into the sewers where he introduced Oszi to a Lizard-Man named Sathar who, like Oszi was interested in the dark arts and introduced Oszi to the Archfey, the Queen of Air and Darkness, from which Oszi would draw his power from.
During one of their robbery attempts, Oszi became careless with power and drew the attention of the local authorities, just as they killed a man that the Shadowthieves had employeed them to steal. The Shadowthieves, taking care of their own, boarded the trio on a ship to the distant land of Waterdeep, where they could begin their lives anew, away from the law in Ankahpur.
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2023-02-26, 11:44 PM (ISO 8601)Bugbear in the Playground
- Join Date
- Mar 2004
Re: Need a character background written up?
Need a character origin written? Enjoyed what I wrote? How can you help me? Not required, but appreciated! <3
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