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Dharwyn Starsgard is a human Paladin and Faerûnian adventurer.

Backstory[]

Dharwyn lived in the Changeling hamlet of Elmdown for the first eight years of his life, son of Estelle and Siggard. Six years after he was born, his mother gave birth to a daughter who was born with a pair of small knobby horns and a stump of a tail; Dharwyn's father departed from Letham two days later and returned alone after three weeks. His parents never spoke of the child, and acted as though Dharwyn were telling a fictional tale on the few occasions her mentioned her, leading him over time to believe that he had imagined the entire incident.

During his eighth winter, he witnessed a star falling from the skies into the Nether Mountains to the west of his home from his bedroom window; shortly after, he set out on a mission to find the star and bring a piece of it home, but what he found instead, after several days venturing up the mountain, was a jagged grey stone that hummed with energy. He hurried back to his hamlet to share his discovery, but made another far more devastating discovery instead. In his absence, the town had been obliterated by a company of blood trolls judging by the few scattered corpses he could see through the fire and the flames. Nothing, and no one, had survived.

His world burning around him, Dharwyn fled back up the Mountain; in his terror and his rage, he became lost in the unpredictable terrain that tangled in on itself like a malicious knot. He struggled madly to survive alone in the wilderness for the weeks that followed, and as his desperation and his delirium grew, he began to see a strange symbol in his increasingly feverish dreams: an arc of seven stars within a circle made of jagged grey stone. And just as he reached the edge of death, he quite literally stumbled across a temple tucked into the heights of the mountains, and promptly fell unconscious on its stone steps.

Waking after what might have been only a few minutes or a few months, Dharwyn found himself in a bed in a room, half-blind with exhaustion, and when his vision cleared, the first image he saw was a crest above the door: an arc of seven stars within a circle of jagged grey stone. He had been carried inside by the stewards of the temple, and over time they healed his injuries and restored his health, but he had been so inconsolably enraged at the murder of his family and the destruction of his home that the Celestians decided that their only course of action was to remove the memory entirely, allowing Dharwyn to believe instead that he had lived his entire life at the temple.

After spending years learning the fighting style of the Blessed Warrior as a Paladin of the Asterion Order, Dharwyn eventually took the Oath of Redemption and committed himself to the ideal that every creature can be turned from the path of evil with sufficient dedication. He continued training, and at the age of 27, he ventured out into the world with his fellow Asterions to spread the light of absolution, or to defeat those who refused to give up their pursuit of destruction. His values were severely tested, however, when he and his fellow Paladins confronted the necromantic sorcerer Urian, who refused to be dissuaded, and during the battle that ensured, Dharwyn’s ally Terevor had his soul torn from his body and dispelled across the elemental planes of existence.

Dharwyn's remaining ally Benedict was then struck by a spell that compelled him to attack his fellow Paladin, who subsequently succeeded in landing the first damaging blow to the sorcerer; Urian then abruptly came to his senses and revealed that he had been under the mental control of an Aboleth and made to steal the souls of living creatures for its own master. Reeling from loss of Terevor’s soul and the compulsion to attack his ally, however, Benedict ragefully slaughtered the sorcerer without affording him an opportunity to repent or right the actions he'd been forced to commit, engulfing his body in infernal flames.

In the aftermath, Benedict frantically explained that he could feel the fracture of his Oath within his own soul, growing increasingly incoherent as he insisted that their lives and their memories were lies. Dharwyn failed to calm his ally's emotions, and Benedict responded by casting a spell that put Dharwyn to sleep; sixty-one seconds later, Dharwyn woke to find that Benedict had fled and that he could no longer remember the location of the temple of Asterion. Rather than attempting to return, Dharwyn made his way across the continent of Faerûn, eventually encountering the drow half-elf rogue Falidus, the satyr bard Lucine, and the high-elf cleric Armamore.

Working together, the team completed a successful adventure in and around the city of Nashkel in the country of Amn, and shortly after, they traveled north along the Coast Way, detouring down the Way of the Lion to visit Candlekeep on the shore of the Sea of Swords. There, they investigated the book Mazfroth's Mighty Digressions, which turned out to be a gingwatzim masquerading as a book, and they headed to Baldur's Gate to confront the Amberdune Pack, who had donated the fraudulent volume to the library. The party managed to negotiate with the jackalweres of Blackgate and collect a real copy of Mighty Digressions – as well as Fallen Tethyamar, The Dark Hunger, Castanamir's Guide to Gingwatzims, Wanderings of a Humble Aasimar, and Daughters of Fraz'zt – that they delivered back to Candlekeep.

From there, the party responded to a call for help from Ten Towns above the Spine of the World, and journeyed further north along the Trade Way until they reached Waterdeep, then followed the coast past Thornhold and Neverwinter to the town of Luskan. From there, they followed Ten Trail and traversed the Spine of the World to reach Ten towns, arriving after nearly a month of travel at the capital city of Bryn Shander.

Dice Rolls[]

Session ½[]

  • Survival check 19 (15+4) through the blizzard on the road from Bryn Shander to Targos
  • Perception check 5 (3+2) to notice stray dog on the way to the Three Flags Sailing
  • Insight check 11 (7+4) to determine that Keegan was telling the truth about Garrett
  • Investigation check 2 (3-1) to determine if a small handheld mirror was made of silver
  • 1d6 roll of 1 to determine who got to choose the last room at The Luskan Arms in Targos

Session 1[]

  • Nature check 16 (17-1) along the road to Termelaine
  • Survival check 17 (13+4) along the trail to Kelvin's Cairn
  • Javelin attack 9 (7+2) during the Dwarven Valley Skirmish
  • 1d12 roll for 12 necrotic damage against Kobold #1
  • Investigation check 19 (20-1) at Garrett's base camp
  • Perception check 5 (3+2) while keeping watch during fourth shift

Session 2[]

  • Survival check 18 (14+4) while ascending Kelvin's Cairn
  • Athletics check 14 (12+2) while ascending Kelvin's Cairn
  • Athletics check 11 (9+2) while ascending Kelvin's Cairn
  • Athletics check 19 (17+2) while ascending Kelvin's Cairn
  • Survival check 23 (19+4) to avoid avalanche
  • Athletics check 9 (7+2) while ascending Kelvin's Cairn
  • Athletics check 17 (15+2) while ascending Kelvin's Cairn
  • Athletics check 15 (13+2) while ascending Kelvin's Cairn
  • Perception check 22 (20+2) after reaching stone outcropping
  • Initiative 7 (7+0) prior to South Face Skirmish
  • Greatsword attack 12 (8+4) against Crag Cat #2
  • Stealth check 17 (17+0) while approaching Yeti Cavern
  • Stealth check 14 (14+0) while approaching Yeti Cavern
  • Stealth check 3 (3+0) while entering Yeti Cavern
  • Stealth check 1 (1+0) while entering Yeti Cavern
  • Initiative 16 (16+0) prior to Yeti Cavern Skirmish
  • Greatsword attack 19 (14+2+3) against Yeti #1
  • 2d6 for 12 slashing damage (5+5+2) against Yeti #1
  • 1d12 roll for 12 necrotic damage against Yeti #2
  • Strength check 5 (3+2) to remove Yeti horns
  • Constitution check 5 (3+2) to remove Yeti horns
  • Athletics check 22 (20+2) while descending Kelvin's Cairn
  • Athletics check 11 (9+2) while descending Kelvin's Cairn

Spells Cast[]

Session ½[]

  • Detect Poison and Disease to determine if Keegan's tea was poisoned

Session 1[]

  • Sacred Flame during the Dwarven Valley Skirmish (unsuccessful)
  • Toll the Dead during the Dwarven Valley Skirmish (successful)
  • Divine Sense to determine if there were any fiendish creatures near Garret's base camp

Session 2[]

  • Shield of Faith on Lucine during the South Face Skirmish
  • Hellish Rebuke on Crag Cat #2 during the South Face Skirmish
  • Bless on Lucine, Armamore, and himself before the Yeti Cavern Skirmish
  • Toll the Dead during the Yeti Cavern Skirmish (successful)

Kills[]

Session 1[]

  • Kobold #1 (12 points of necrotic damage from Toll the Dead)
  • Crag Cat #2 (14 points of fire damage from Hellish Rebuke)

References[]

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