Niri Whitethorne

❦ IC Information
Character name: Niri Whitethorne
Canon name: D&D Forgotten Realms
Canon point: after arriving in the Anauroch Desert

Age: 28
Species: Human


History: Born in the ramshackle town of Daggerford, Niri's almost uncontrollable curiosity earned her the reputation of being a troublemaker from childhood. An insatiable appetite to learn often drives her to hound people with never ending streams of questions, to sit in on stories with childish enthusiasm, and, at least once as she entered her teen years, to borrow books of arcane lore from the local wizard that decided a quiet town was a better place to conduct his studies than the bustling city of Waterdeep. Without asking. But with every intention of returning them when she was done.

Sadly, intentions don't much matter when your actions otherwise look like common theft, but luckily for her the wizard was a kind man despite gruff appearances. As punishment, Niri was to serve him from then on, and he took her in as his apprentice, to teach her of magic and of the lore surrounding Toril and the planes beyond. And, much to her parent's relief, to keep her out of trouble. And for several years after, life was wonderful. She had an education, learned discipline, and in general had the makings of a future better than that of a simple farmer's child. But that insatiable curiosity always brought with it an awful impatience.

Though she owed her mentor much, Niri always felt that he held back in his teachings. He was a powerful man and knew so much, and yet in her mind seemed to teach her so little. She had everything she could have wanted out of life yet she craved even more, in knowledge and in power, and it was the source of increasing arguments in the later years of her apprenticeship. At nineteen, this came to a head when she took several of his books with the intention of traveling out to find one who would teach her what she wanted. Man or creature, whoever or whatever was willing.

Fortunately, she did come across such a creature, willing to provide her with knowledge she could only dream of. Unfortunately? That creature was an archfey, and the price of such knowledge was being forced into its service before she could even reconsider her life choices up until that point.

Though he was furious with her, Niri's mentor was quick to help her try to break the bond between her and her new patron, but he was just as quickly killed for his interference, a devastation that she still hasn't entirely recovered from even a decade later. She left home very soon after his death, rather than remaining and having to explain what she had done, and now travels the realm at her patron's bidding, attempting to do as much good as she can along the way, as her late mentor would have wanted her to. And eventually, maybe, even find a way to break away from her service to the fey.

At least, that was originally the plan. Though the more power she's granted, the more power that she can use to help others, the more she starts to have second thoughts.

- Eventually, her travels take her to Neverwinter, where she meets with a young tiefling with an interesting little job offer; a wizard lost his walking tower, and there's a nice reward for its finding and return. Taking this job is what leads her to meet her current party and surprising new friends: Have-Mercy, tiefling rogue, Ylva, "wolf" druid, and Halie, halfling ranger.

- Several shenanigan filled days later, the party finds the trail of the current owners of the stolen tower's key, held by a wealthy Calishite family living in Red Larch. Ylva and Halie take jobs with the family, while Have-Mercy and Niri take to the streets to learn more about them and the structure of their mansion, and slowly, a plan is formed to stage a heist. Break in, find the key, and get away. Simple, right?

Well, they find it. They also find a strange, fey-like warrior from the far north trapped in the basement by the family's wizard, and unable to leave him, Niri dispells the magic binding him and they all flee together. It was almost bloodless.

- The tower's owner, Bowen, is no help at all in trying to locate it, but a friend of his by the name of Malchor is. After some more extended traveling, they finally find the tower stuck in the Evermoors, surrounded by trolls, and, rather more unfortunately, by the very angry, very magically inclined daughter of the Calishites they had robbed. Together with a gnoll "merchant" and a young bard named Touta they sort of picked up in the swamps, they manage to chase her away. Yay! And then spend at least several hours trying to figure out how to get inside of a magical walking tower. Less yay.

Thankfully, Niri is an accomplished enough "wizard" that she's able to puzzle out the mechanics of getting inside with some help. And after another few days of heavy studying and much trial and error, the group even figures out how to get the tower moving. In the process, they even get a new message from Bowen: the job to find the tower? Originally had been staged, and figuring out how to find it and get it working meant they were the sort of people he needed for another job. While given the option to take the gold they were initially promised and go, the party (and one gnoll, and at one point an added baby steel dragon) decides to travel out to the Anauroch Desert, to seek out a man named Amon. It wouldn't hurt to at least hear the man out.


Personality: At first glance, Niri seems an amiable sort of person. She's perfectly friendly, if a little jaded, and quick to step in and help anyone that looks like they need a hand, especially if that help means standing up for the less fortunate, and as such there's little that holds more value to her than a person's freedom. But she purposefully keeps herself fairly closed off to others. Traveling at the whims of an archfey means she rarely stays in one place for very long, and making friends is difficult when you may have to leave them behind at a moment's notice. While she's quick to grow to care for others, she's slow to open up to them.

Working for fey for nearly a decade has taken it's toll in other ways, as well. While she still strives to do good where and how she can, it's hard to miss the almost casual disregard for people's safety when it becomes an inconvenience for her, or how cruelly brutal she can be in defense of herself and others, even when it may be unnecessary. It's also turned her already insatiable thirst for knowledge into something of an obsession - when the key to being freed from her archfey patron might be hidden in that next tome, that next scroll, that next spell...it's easy to justify almost any means required to obtain it.

Of course, whether her freedom from her patron is truly her reason for her obsessive bid for greater power and ability, or merely an excuse for it, is something that even Niri can't answer honestly, even to herself. Because taking that line of thought too far means looking at parts of herself that she refuses to, and admitting that the insatiable thirst for more may have always been there. Good people don't strive for power at the risk of harming those around them. And she wishes, more than anything, to be the good that her late master wanted her to be.

But how can she be without more knowledge and more magic?


Sex: Niri is straight in as much as that's all the thought she's ever given to that sort of thing. Despite having power over a fey-like charm, she rarely uses it, and in fact in her time serving Verenestra has rarely slept with anyone at all. Whether out of disinterest or out of concern of being accused of using someone is hard to say, but when she's comfortable with a partner she's actually quite aggressive and easily takes charge of the proceedings.


Inventory:
- Book of Shadows: Spellbook, and symbol of her pact with Verenestra. If lost, it can be replaced through an hour long ceremony, and it turns to ash if she dies. She's never without it.
- fancy boots: These boots are royal blue in color with ornate yellow stitching. They grant the wearer an enhancement to their performances and they will always be clean and dry. The boots tend to often be the subject of conversation in taverns – “Hey, those are some fancy boots!”
- ioun stone (reserve): This vibrant purple prism stores spells cast into it, holding them until you use them. The stone can store up to 3 levels worth of Spells at a time. CONTAINING: False Life, Feather Fall, Expeditious Retreat
- arcane focus
- leather armor

Backpack containing:
- book of various lore
- two bottles of ink
- quill
- parchment
- one extra set of clothes
- one dragon tooth
- one stolen spellbook, Jowzef's Miraculous Marvels of Magic
- one self-written instruction pamphlet on the operation of a magical walking tower

Powers:
- Spell List.

- Actor: Can mimic the speech of other people, or the sounds of other creatures, provided she's heard the person speaking or the creature make the noise for at least one minute. Used in conjunction with the spell Disguise Self, it's possible for her to pass herself off as almost anyone that she wants.

- Tavern Brawler: Accustomed to rough-and-tumble fighting using whatever weapons, improvised and otherwise, happen to be at hand.

- Devils's Sight: Can see normally in magical and nonmagical darkness up to 120 feet.

- Fey Presence: The ability to project the beguiling or fearsome presence of the fey. Weak willed people and creatures within 10 feet are either charmed or frightened by her choice for a short period of time.

- Misty Escape: The ability to vanish in a puff of mist in response to harm. After taking damage, she can immediately become invisible and teleport to any space she can see within 60 feet, and remain that way for a short period of time unless she takes any sort of action.


Sample:
She had never been one for worship, really. Festivals in the name of Chauntea was of course just a part of life when growing up in a small farming community, and while she never prayed to them directly, both Azuth and Mystra were ever present in her studies under master Landon, among so many of their brethren. The gods were a part of life, certainly, but she never gave herself over to any one of them in particular. Nor had she ever would have wanted to.

And yet, here she is now, expected to do just that.

She's still not entirely sure she likes the idea. After all, she's "pledged" herself to a being once already; Verenestra wasn't like to share her, Niri thought, if the archfey ever somehow got wind of her precious little warlock throwing herself to another deity like some sort of harlot, though she had to admit that there was something entertaining in the mental image of her patron's delicate features twisting in offense and fury. Preferably aimed at one of this realm's so-called gods. Preferably aimed far, far away from her.

Of course, there was also the constant, niggling thought that maybe, just maybe, one of these gods would be able to take her entirely, break the bond between her and the fey and maybe... That's why, despite everything, Niri still finds herself spending long hours in the library, devouring all the information she can of the beings of this place. There's a risk, she knows. Trading one gilded cage for another isn't at all an appealing solution, and there's always a risk of exactly that when playing games like these with powers far beyond her control. But just maybe, there's a chance...

And with her new found family so far away, what else does she have left to lose?