test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
The backstory oh Phaun Varkthos
orangefiree
Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,148 Arc User
Ok. So I decided to write the backstory for my main character. Somewhat related to my foundry campaign, but it makes sense on its own too.
Warning: I didn't really do any proofreading, as the thread TITLE having a typo in it may suggest.
Enjoy.
Phaun Varkthos spent most of his childhood trying to survive in the streets of Neverwinter. He had learned to use daggers by the age of five. As he grew older, he began to learn the art of thievery. Soon, he began to take pleasure in it, not in the money, but in the excitement of the battle. He began to choose bigger targets, often times entire villages. This lasted for several years, until that fateful day at the age of 33. He had just wiped out another village, and as he sat there cleaning his daggers, eight Neverwinter elite guardsmen approached him.
The mage leading them shouted to him "Surrender Phaun Varkthos, you are surrounded!"
"Heh" Phaun replied "I always love the excitement of combat, but peasants have grown a bit boring.". The battle lasted for an hour. Phaun leaped across walls, the guards tried to intercept him. At last, the mage leader blasted him to the ground. The remaining guard quickly had him disarmed and in chains.
As they escorted him to Wheloon, the only prison they believed could hold someone so skilled, they came across a village. The village however, was under attack by strange floating eye balls and other creatures that were not plaguechanged, although they looked the part. Upon seeing this, Zyraen turned to Phaun.
"We don't have enough manpower" he said "you will be left unguarded, but don't try anything for I am watching you!"
"Ah" Phaun replied "but you don't seem to realize something. With nine of your best men, you and one other remained against me. Like it or not, you need my help.".
"Fine" Zyraen relented "Go see what you can do. It's not like you can escape now, and frankly it doesn't matter at this point".
And so fate gave Phaun Varkthos a second chance, and he fought through the eye creatures almost effortlessly. That is, until he found a distraught looking woman in the village, standing near a passage in the ground. He learned that her three-year-old daughter, Vlathis was hiding in a passage deep into that hole by her orders, and she no longer believed her daughter to be safe there. Phaun offered to help, though little did he know how much he would change not only his life, but the fate of Faerun itself. He jumped down, easily surviving the fall, and started his journey through the twisting dungeon underneath the village.
After quite a bit of walking, or rather running, he found Vlathis huddled against the wall. He had planned he search for a way out before, but now he saw such intelligence in her eyes, such potential, yet such sadness and confusion. He never knew exactly what he saw there, but he felt as if he saw his past reflected at him in the eyes of that child. He ran up to her, but before he reached her, she screamed. And with that, Vlathis vanished before his eyes.
At this moment, a drow man dressed in white, red, and black robes appeared. Power eminated from his body, and it was clear to Phaun that this was a member of the Arcane Council, the group believed to be behind the village attack.
"What have you done?" Phaun asked angrily "where have you taken Vlathis?".
"To the void of space and time, where she will never interfere with our plans" he replied "but there is one last issue to clean up it seems. You!". With that, Phaun suddenly found himself battling his memories, his past turned against him, and he lost. When he was slain in his mind, he returned to his body, gasping for breath. "Enjoy the curse" the drow said calmly "for if you expect you survive you will need the lifeforces of others you kill, and I doubt you'll be able to keep up."
Most might have been confused by his words, but Phaun understood them perfectly clear. His body would wither away, but could be replenished by killing another. This might have been perfect for him before, but something still troubled him. He knew it was silly for someone of his skill, but there was something he had seen in the eyes of Vlathis, and he could never return to his old life.
As he pondered, the remaining guard sent to capture him walked in, but Zyraen was nowhere to be seen.
"Phaun" the guard said "I'm surprised to got yourself cornered like this. I thought recapturing you would be a big ordeal".
"Relax" Phaun replied in a strangely calm voice "I won't fight you. I want to help Neverwinter in their war against the Arcane Council. And I am cursed, so if I do not fight I shall die, but I will not let it take me, at least not until the Arcane Council is destroyed".
"This is surprising" the guard replied, clearly astonished "but Zyraen has revealed himself as a member of the Arcane Council, and you are very powerful. If you want to assist Neverwinter then you may go free".
And so Phaun was freed, and redeemed. He did destroy the Arcane Council, and he survived the curse. Continually holding it back while defending Neverwinter. But for fifty years he remained troubled by those eyes, such intelligence, such potential.
But this was all fifty years ago, and Phaun still lives today. He has not aged, because the curse prevents it. But is the Arcane Council really destroyed? And did Vlathis really die in that abandoned underground dungeon?
These were all believed true, for fifty years.
Warning: I didn't really do any proofreading, as the thread TITLE having a typo in it may suggest.
Enjoy.
Phaun Varkthos spent most of his childhood trying to survive in the streets of Neverwinter. He had learned to use daggers by the age of five. As he grew older, he began to learn the art of thievery. Soon, he began to take pleasure in it, not in the money, but in the excitement of the battle. He began to choose bigger targets, often times entire villages. This lasted for several years, until that fateful day at the age of 33. He had just wiped out another village, and as he sat there cleaning his daggers, eight Neverwinter elite guardsmen approached him.
The mage leading them shouted to him "Surrender Phaun Varkthos, you are surrounded!"
"Heh" Phaun replied "I always love the excitement of combat, but peasants have grown a bit boring.". The battle lasted for an hour. Phaun leaped across walls, the guards tried to intercept him. At last, the mage leader blasted him to the ground. The remaining guard quickly had him disarmed and in chains.
As they escorted him to Wheloon, the only prison they believed could hold someone so skilled, they came across a village. The village however, was under attack by strange floating eye balls and other creatures that were not plaguechanged, although they looked the part. Upon seeing this, Zyraen turned to Phaun.
"We don't have enough manpower" he said "you will be left unguarded, but don't try anything for I am watching you!"
"Ah" Phaun replied "but you don't seem to realize something. With nine of your best men, you and one other remained against me. Like it or not, you need my help.".
"Fine" Zyraen relented "Go see what you can do. It's not like you can escape now, and frankly it doesn't matter at this point".
And so fate gave Phaun Varkthos a second chance, and he fought through the eye creatures almost effortlessly. That is, until he found a distraught looking woman in the village, standing near a passage in the ground. He learned that her three-year-old daughter, Vlathis was hiding in a passage deep into that hole by her orders, and she no longer believed her daughter to be safe there. Phaun offered to help, though little did he know how much he would change not only his life, but the fate of Faerun itself. He jumped down, easily surviving the fall, and started his journey through the twisting dungeon underneath the village.
After quite a bit of walking, or rather running, he found Vlathis huddled against the wall. He had planned he search for a way out before, but now he saw such intelligence in her eyes, such potential, yet such sadness and confusion. He never knew exactly what he saw there, but he felt as if he saw his past reflected at him in the eyes of that child. He ran up to her, but before he reached her, she screamed. And with that, Vlathis vanished before his eyes.
At this moment, a drow man dressed in white, red, and black robes appeared. Power eminated from his body, and it was clear to Phaun that this was a member of the Arcane Council, the group believed to be behind the village attack.
"What have you done?" Phaun asked angrily "where have you taken Vlathis?".
"To the void of space and time, where she will never interfere with our plans" he replied "but there is one last issue to clean up it seems. You!". With that, Phaun suddenly found himself battling his memories, his past turned against him, and he lost. When he was slain in his mind, he returned to his body, gasping for breath. "Enjoy the curse" the drow said calmly "for if you expect you survive you will need the lifeforces of others you kill, and I doubt you'll be able to keep up."
Most might have been confused by his words, but Phaun understood them perfectly clear. His body would wither away, but could be replenished by killing another. This might have been perfect for him before, but something still troubled him. He knew it was silly for someone of his skill, but there was something he had seen in the eyes of Vlathis, and he could never return to his old life.
As he pondered, the remaining guard sent to capture him walked in, but Zyraen was nowhere to be seen.
"Phaun" the guard said "I'm surprised to got yourself cornered like this. I thought recapturing you would be a big ordeal".
"Relax" Phaun replied in a strangely calm voice "I won't fight you. I want to help Neverwinter in their war against the Arcane Council. And I am cursed, so if I do not fight I shall die, but I will not let it take me, at least not until the Arcane Council is destroyed".
"This is surprising" the guard replied, clearly astonished "but Zyraen has revealed himself as a member of the Arcane Council, and you are very powerful. If you want to assist Neverwinter then you may go free".
And so Phaun was freed, and redeemed. He did destroy the Arcane Council, and he survived the curse. Continually holding it back while defending Neverwinter. But for fifty years he remained troubled by those eyes, such intelligence, such potential.
But this was all fifty years ago, and Phaun still lives today. He has not aged, because the curse prevents it. But is the Arcane Council really destroyed? And did Vlathis really die in that abandoned underground dungeon?
These were all believed true, for fifty years.
Neverwinter players are stubborn things....until you strip them down to bone. (Cursed players, my flowers, MINE!) Oh how I plotted their demise.
0