Character Backgrounds

Now that we have a nice little message board, I'd like to get you guys to use it. As such, bonus XP to anyone that posts a character background/bio. You can include a picture, found or commissioned, just site your source. I'll assign XP based off of useful plot hooks and characteristics that explain/come out in your role-playing at the table. There's no minimum (somehow that doesn't seem to be the problem with this group) but I'm not "grade" on quantity either. Have at.

Note: justify your Traits here. Make these tid-bits work with your backstory.

Oleg Valdovan was born 23 years ago during the harsh winter months in Luskin. Son to Ilyan and Vanka Valdovan, he was raised by a moderately successful mercantile family. It was here that his foundations of perseverance and determination were rooted. The family business wasn't the most successful or profitable of enterprises, but it allowed him a higher quality of living than most other inhabitants of Luskin. Many nights Oleg would be found in the family library, learning of places far away and ancient civilizations long cast in twilight.

A large youth, he was further hardened by the necessities of northern living. Accompanying family caravans forced him to train in martial pursuits, of which Oleg fully embraced. It was during one such expedition in his 14th year when the caravan was ambushed by orcs. Leaping from the wagon, he plunged headfirst into the marauders, hoping to stem the tide. It was during this clash when his arcane potential began to manifest itself in a manner highly uncommon in humans. He was able to channel arcane might into his weapon, causing horrific damage to the orcs.

Unbeknownst to Oleg, Vysis Calero, a member of the Arcane Brotherhood had accompanied the caravan. Noticing the potential in young Oleg, upon return to Luskin, Vysis petitioned for Oleg's immediate admittance. Once a member of the Brotherhood, Oleg instantly immersed himself in arcane studies with the same focus he applied to his swordplay. Over time, his knowledge of ancient civilizations and a desire to delve them for lost secrets allowed him to convince the Brotherhood his skills would best be served seeking artifacts and knowledge in these ruins.

It was during one of these expeditions deep in the High Forest, accompanied by a dwarf named "Torc," that Oleg made the one discovery that would change the course of his life forever. Hearing an ancient voice in his head, he followed its direction which brought him to an ancient black blade. Upon lifting the blade, he instantly felt a connection to it which seemed to further empower his arcane abilities. Identifying itself as Khaz're'dan, the blade began to speak to Oleg of realizing his true potential.

Upon return to the Host Tower, Oleg began to notice more the petty infighting and subterfuge which prevented the Arcane Brotherhood from reaching its own true potential. Khaz're'dan would reinforce these sentiments, sharing conversations with Oleg that no other soul could hear. Khaz're'dan also spoke of the great mysteries of the ancient Undermountain, which piqued Oleg's natural curiosity. Again charged with plumbing its secrets, he set off secretly for the Arcane Brotherhood for Waterdeep.

However, the seeds of doubt have been planted. Time will tell if Oleg Valdovan will rise above the petty limitations of the Arcane Brotherhood and truly seek to leave his own mark upon history.

*I might add some more here and there if some good ideas come to me.*

Hope this is "sufficient."

NOTE: My avatar is currently a "rough" idea of how Oleg Valdovan would look about mid-level. It is Koldun Kapitan Valachev from Privateer Press. I am still planning on sketching out a low-level and high-level image of Valdovan.

Thank you again, Dave. First to give a damn, I like that.

For your background, a solid 250 xp. Good stuff for both you and I to work with here.

And this goes for everyone, you can keep adding to your background if you like, I will give you more xp if you flesh out your character. I like having three dimensional characters in my games but that lies mostly with you as the player so, please, keep adding.

Rough ideas in holding, will edit in to complete idea.

Half Orc
Real-age 44
Apparent age unless you catch him early, 25ish
height 6'8"
160 lbs

Dur Meithrin was born of a orc mother and human father, they lived a challenging life as acceptance was not common.

Dur's father was a wise man who worked hard to teach Dur to fight his combative impulses, and to learn to think his way out of problems rather than bash. This was good since Dur took after his father much more than mother and lacks much of the physical presence that his kind usually have.



Dur Meithrin means Steel Forged. He sees himself as Steal, a metal forged from very different parts and made stronger for the journey.

He is reaching the end of his life and this is not something he has come to accept. Thinking around the problem he has turned to alchemy to find the answers. He has taken to learning everything he can about the physical form and what makes it tick. Dur is in undermountain looking for the answers to his dilemma.

Good outline, Kevin. Even though you've said most of this around the table, it helps me to see it in writing (point of reference and all).

100 xp for now, more to come when you finish the write up.

Hey Mandigo,
Here is a rough sketch of persona and history behind Torak. Feel free to fill in the blanks and develop. One of my beginning traits is exile. I plan to level up as rogue but switch over to gunslinger at 5th. It would be fun to play a bravado controller and this dwarf has a huge chip on his shoulder, probably going pistallero arch-type with it. He definitely will be putting a few ranks into drive (seems to have a strange fascination with airships and the thought of flying is near obsession for him)

Nothing about Torak "Goldfinger" would be considered traditional by Dwarven standards. From his unusual fashion to his outlandish facial hair, Torak rails against tradition, and yet yearns for a sense of place. His unusual size comes from human ancestory on his fathers side and being malnourished most of his infancy through adolescence. His size is a source of spite to throw in the face of proper dwarven society and yet is a reminder of lost privilege and opportunities due to circumstances beyond his control.

Torak's mother died in child birth his father and brother soon after causing a rift among his small clan. When the clan split, Torak ended up with his maternal uncle (who was casted out thus causing the split). Although favored by his uncle, Torak was bullied and exploited by the other clanless who followed his uncle into exile.

Torak left his uncles camp of squatter and laborers, outside of a Luskin town, at a young age with a gullet full of self-loathing and determination to prove the world wrong. And to ultimately try to find peace within, by finding acceptance of himself as much as among others.

While caught in a "sticky" situation in Luskin, he befriended a human named Oleg and through a strange twist of events involving misplaced property and an enraged Burger, Torak owes Oleg a life debt and looks to the human not only as a benefactor but friend. For the last 3 years he has traveled with the human and has even returned to Waterdeep, a city where he learned to ply his roguish talents after leaving his uncles hearth as a lad.

Gallarien's background-

Gallarien was born 52 years ago in the city of Waterdeep to the half-elves Illmaeran and Galtara Malthraitor, former adventurers (a cleric and wizard, respectively) in the service of Azuth. Having made their fortunes in their younger years the Malthraitors settled in Waterdeep to promote the spread of magic and train young Azuthites in applied magic. Gallarien and his siblings could hardly be more different. His older brother Taeral has little aptitude for magic and Morlina, his (slightly) younger twin sister, has charmed everyone around her from the moment she was born. In contrast Gallarien has always preferred reading books on magical theory and dreaming up new ways of using magic to carving wood or telling stories as Taeral and Morlina are wont to do.
Although Waterdeep is a large and extremely cosmopolitan city, Gallarien knows little of the world outside the walls of the temple he's grown up in. His early years were spent learning the basics of magic and Azuthite faith from his parents and extended temple family. The daily routine of church services, chores, and lessons was a comforting for the boy, yet his elven heart was always dreaming and quietly rebelling against the structure. Some of his favorite memories of that time are of he and Morlina running around the temple grounds playing magical games and pranks on each other. In the hands of precocious twins prestidigitation can be the bane of parents and caretakers! At the age of twenty the two were accepted into the temple's academy. From that moment on lived in a world of blissful contemplation, magical exploration, and research. For the first few years he and Morlina progressed quickly through their classes together until their separate talents took them in diverging directions. Her cheerful and outgoing personality and intuitive grasp of magic made her a perfect fit for bardic training; while his introspective and analytical mind made him a natural for formal wizard's studies. While it saddened him to be apart from the sister he'd spent so many years with, the limitless possibilities of magic ignited his spirit just like the stories of adventure his parents told him at bedtime. The following years swept by in a tide of lessons in the mysteries of magic and faith tempered by the daily routine of temple life. While some wizards focus on crafting items of might, potions, or other tangible things, Gallarien quickly fell in love with spells and learning how to use them in new and different ways. His favorite classes were those which foused on designing new spells and application of existing ones.
All good things must eventually come to an end, and so too did his time in the academy. Years earlier Taeral had left the temple for Evereska to spend time in the militia under his paternal grandfather. After graduation, Morlina left with a group from the temple to search the North for hidden magical history and lore. With his siblings gone Gallarien spent his time teaching lessons at the temple, participating in church services, and doing occasional work with the Watchful Order. His evenings were spent at the Yawning Portal listening to tales of adventure in Undermountain and dreaming of being part of a group like those from the stories his parents told him as a child. One day his daydreams came true when he met a group looking for a wizard to join their next delve into the famed dungeon...

Aldhelm Meckerhaus was born in 1317 DR within the walls of Citadel Adbar. Many things were expected of Aldhelm being the first born son of Thotlin, Warbeard of Mithral Company, and Hollythyra Battlebeard, a clan known for producing some of the most furious fighters in the collective Adbar military. Even with the proverbial bar being set so high he still managed to impress the clan with his early understanding of combat tactics.

As the years passed Aldhelm continued to excel through his early schooling within the clan. Close to his twentieth year he was visiting the halls of Battlebeard with his mother on a random errand. There he found his uncle, Ianhand, training in the circle with a unique weapon for an Iron Guard. He stood there watching his uncle hold off three other Battlebeard dwarves with his mighty poleaxe. Noticing his nephews entrancement with his fighting style he called him into the circle. The spar went as expected, Aldhelm was defeated by the experianced fighter; but his uncle was very impressed with his skills and petitioned Thotlin to aid in his training. His training Aldhelm continued even during the pressure filled years at the military academy, which gave aldhelm an edge when combat finally knocked at the steel gates of the citadel.

In the year 1357 DR, as many know, Bruenor Battlehammer marched down from icewind dale to reclaim his birth rite as king of Mithral Hall. Before he mounted this expedition he came to Adbar to petition King Harbromm for additional forces to reclaim the hall. In the end Harbromm buckled and sent some of his newly graduated forces to help in the reclamation.

The stench of blood was everywhere; Dwarves, shield and duergar both, lie dead in the main halls of the Undercity. Aldhelm with the rest of his squad hold the line as another assualt comes charging through the littered halls. His Battlehand dead and only four other squad mates still standing the decision to hold the line didn’t come easy. As the horde of duergar came into sight the squad got ready for the clash readying their shields, But in honor to his fallen squad mates Aldhelm instead dropped his and grabbed a banner of Adbar from next to him. He Thrusted it straight forward planting it firmly within the chest of a charging duergar who then fell backwards holding the banner high. To this day Aldhelm isn’t completely sure what happened that day, but after that moment the soldiers seemed to instantly recover and begin to beat back the horde into the Underdark.

The battle won and Bruenor sitting back on the throne of Mithral Hall the adbar soldiers return home. For his bravery in the heat of battle aldhelm was promoted to the rank of Haurhammer. The battle showed him a relativly untapped resource of dwarven military tactics, Morale. That is when he began to honor a mainly human code of the cavalier and its inspiring ways.

Ten years later nobody really remembers Aldhelms contributions to the reclamation. At this point they see him as a kind of joke. Then came the news of King Emerus’ attempt to retake Citadel Felbar from the orc chieftain Obould. Aldhelm and a large party of Adbar military march towards felbar to join the reinforcements for Emerus.

The finely crafted blade of the bardiche struck the orc in the top of the skull as his body went lifeless. It had been nearly two tendays since the reinforcements reached the citadel. Since then Aldhelm and his brothers in arms had marched across and reclaimed The Hammer. Now the gates of The Anvil only stood in their way. With the tattered banner of Adbar bloodied on his back and the strength of forty shield dwarfs at his side they broke through the orc line. Slamming the gates of The Anvil with all their strength; they were finally able to break through. The gate flew open unleashing the horde of orcs all around them.

Encircled by dwarves Aldhelm fought fiercly through, what seemed like, the never ending flood of orcs. Fatigue had started to settle in and the blade seemed so much heavier when from the distance he heard the sound of an echoing horn. It was coming from within the Runegate, Felbar had been retaken and the orcs quickly fled. Again the Adbar soldiers began the march home; Aldhelm going back to the butt of jokes around the fire. Upon reaching Adbar he was greeted by his uncle Ianhand with news that he had been waiting to hear for the last ten years. That day Aldhelm was brought before King Harbromm and was inducted into the Iron Guard of Adbar.

Another four years pass when the Iron Guards hear of Shallows falling to the orc Chief Obould. Determined to stop this invasion from progressing any farther into the marches a quarter of the Iron Guard was sent to Settlestone to help hold back the hordes. The battle of Settlestone was relatively uneventful, with only a chunk of Oboulds forces actually using the roads through Settlestone itself trying to reach Mithral Hall.

The quick responds and holding of Settlestone granted Aldhelm the rank of Axe and life goes back to normal. Years pass and aldhelm without war has begun training others. He marries to Araatra Glorygem and has twin sons, Seatlin and Ianven. Every thing is going well until Aldhelm is summond before harbromm.

On the first of Marpenoth, 1386 DR Aldhelm was given orders directly from King Harbromm to investigate newly gathered information. Intel showed a growing in numbers in the Mailed Fist orcs of Undermountain. Fearing another invasion into the marches the mission was to investigate any chance of attacks from this clan. Secondary missions also included assaulting the main hold of these orcs, slaying as many as possible, and also to run recon on the possibilities of shield dwarf structures in Undermountain itself. Being a recon mission he was directed to go alone and that all details remain undisclosed. Making haste Aldhelm made his twenty plus day trek to Waterdeep. Upon arrival and in desperate need of a real meal he enters a tavern named the empty keg.