The Fearless Giant Killers

It is my pleasure to introduce you to my party for Storm King's Thunder. They don't have a name yet, but I'm sure they'll come up with a grand one.

Varkus the Charmer (CG Dhampir Rogue): Varkus the Charmer was born a poor beggar's son in the far lands of Thay where the winds blew with a darkness and fiends roamed in full view. His parents aware of the fate that would await them, escaped the place putting their lives on the line to let the boy live a better life. Alas tragedy struck and Varkus' parents lost their lives in their escape. They luckily entrusted the young boy to travelling bards, who took him in as an apprentice. Taught the trade, he now travels the realms looking to make fame and fortune and woo the hearts of many a young lass.... at least that's the story you hear from the man's mouth.

Varkus was actually born Luciat Emancio Mordecai. An intentional birthing between a powerful vampire in the city of Westgate. Born to eventually excel as the hand of his “father” Orbakh, he was groomed with their teachings and skills from birth. His bloodline strong, keeping him in check and his ability to appear as a normal person made him the perfect weapon to send into the world. His thirst being his biggest weakness, Varkus was efficient at his job, killing many unaware nobles even before his teens. However as with most like him, he fell victim to love. He met a young girl during one of his missions. Playing the part of a wounded homeless boy he was taken in by the church of Selune. His target was the high priest, an elderly but gentle man. While being cared for and seeking his opportunity he made friends with a girl named Merrissa. An aspiring nun who tended him, his friendship was more to him than he understood. His feelings caused him to drag his mission out far too long as he looked for reason after reason to stay and speak to the young girl. Eventually suffering from a crisis of conscious he fled, only to be found by his handler a man named Harkin Gallor. A cruel jailer of sorts he whipped Varkus until he confessed his reasons for failure. In a rage Orbakh ordered the church slaughtered and the girl turned. Varkus watched as it happened tears of rage flowing down his face. He decided then that he would be with the masks no more. That day he used his skills to escape his pin. He then stalked into the master chamber and ripped open the shutters. He then opened the coffin to kill his cruel father. He discovered only too late the one on the coffin was not him, but rather the young Merrissa. As she burnt away, Varkus died even a little more inside. Bludgeoning Harkin and shackling him to the wall, Varkus burnt the safe house to the ground and walked away, throwing his old name and life away and becoming Varkus the Charmer forevermore. Now he travels to enjoy life and find the good he hopes hasn't fully forsaken him. (background written by player)

Valkur is played by +Stew Perkins 

Dor (NG Half-Orc Druid): The gentle Dor never fit in with the orc tribe he was born into. He wandered away at the young age of six (taking a holy symbol from the tribes shaman with him). Running from his tribe, he fell into a ravine. A kind druid found the broken boy, bound his wounds, and raised him as his apprentice, teaching him the ways of druidcraft.

Dor travels Faerun to learn more about the world he's sworn to protect and help preserve the balance between civilization and nature.

Dor is played by Rich.

Ella Henwen (NG Human Wild Magic Sorcerer): Ella was born the fifth child (of seven) to pig farmers. Generation after generation of her ancestors were only concerned with bacon, county fairs, curly tails, and occasionally truffles (the particular ambitious ones).  Ella seemed to be set to follow this tradition.  She was born utterly unremarkable.  Mousy brown hair, mousy brain eyes; she was neither intelligent or dumb; beautiful nor plain.  She was destined to be the kind of villager whose only role in adventure is pointing the real adventurers toward the inn.

However, one day Ella got caught in a sudden snow storm while chasing a lost piglet through the forest.  She became hopelessly lost in the storm until finally collapsing from the cold. Ella’s memories after that are fuzzy.  She vaguely remembers being lifted from the snow and led by the hand through the storm by a beautiful woman whose eyes were like diamonds who walked barefoot through the snow.

She awoke in the snow behind her family’s home without any injuries…  Strangely, her hair had turned ice blue. Her family was shocked to find her alive but even more shocked when, two days later, she accidentally made an entire pen of pigs invisible and turned herself into a potted plant. Her life continued in this fashion for the next 16 years with various magical mishaps after another. Her family tried their best, but were quite bewildered as to what to do with her. They loved her nonetheless (even if she had to sit in the back during funerals after the incident where Grandma’s coffin kept floating away).

At 16 she decided to go out into the world.  Her father gave her his favorite walking stick (with a boar head on the end) as a farewell present.  Unlike most adventures her childhood was fairly happy despite all of the magical mishaps that seemed to follow her.  Her parents, 7 siblings (could be 8 by now who knows?), 20 nieces and nephews, 6 aunts and uncles, 30 cousins, 2 grandparents, are all perfectly alive and not evil. Even weird uncle Larry who once ate a mushroom that tried to fight back and was never the same again is alive and kicking.

After leaving home, she spent two years travelling Faerun and managed to learn to read and gathered a small bit of arcane knowledge.  She is painfully aware of her lack of education and does her best to fill in the gaps. She shores up her lack of knowledge with a thirst for learning.  Ella is excited and wants to experience everything.  She is also curious to a fault.  When in doubt, poke it with a stick.  Or drink it. That’s her motto.  She really wishes she could learn cure poison… (background written by player)

Ella is played by Kasey.

Nathaniel Graves (CN Human Fighter): The Iron Eagles mercenary company were an up and coming merc group on the Sword Coast. That was until they took a job to wipe out a group of bandits. The soldiers were surprised to find the large group of bandits they were expecting to face were actually two highly trained warriors with strange smoke powder weapons. The bandits, the Crowley Brothers, managed to kill the entire group, except Nathaniel, although Clarion Crowley lost his life as well.  Nathaniel took his tools and equipment and set out on his own.

Nathaniel takes jobs for the Lord's Alliance, though his true loyalty is to his company and coin. Recently he has adopted a motley of young adventurers as his new team. When he's not fighting, he's drinking or tinkering with the strange weapons he recovered from Crowley.

Nathaniel is played by Justin.