Hello all! This story was inspired by the prompt for FFF89. Unfortunately it went over the 1000 word limit, and I don’t really have parts I want to cut from it. I still wanted to share and post it however.
This story was written from the perspect of one of my DnD Characters, Lemma Grignard, a human blood hunter from the Dwindalian Empire. She’s currently galavanting across Ravenloft in a COS campaign so this excerpt is a slice of her life before she got involved in all that Strahd buisness.
Word count:1600
Warnings:Excessive cursing and depictions of blood. Talk of violent intent.
@flashfictionfridayofficial
Painting your Arcane Trickster Rogue for your Icewind Dale campaign is in fact, self care because I think she’s neat
Anfari are a species of sentient lemur like creatures that evolved from a very strange land.
Anfari are about 4 to feet tall at most but many never stand that tall as they have a slight hunch, or squat low. They have an appearance of a Ringtail Lemurs, though they are not specifically beholden to that coloration, and can have fur swatches of many varied colors. They are ambidextrous with both their hands and feet, and are incredible tree climbers. They are Vegetarians and get much of their sustenance from fruits and berries found on the harsh ground.
They hail from a land that as an enviroment is very odd, and just as harsh. It can only be described as “polar savanna with occasional molten rock flows”. It is a place where the trees are scant and the nights can get cold, and winters have heavy blizzards that sweep unfettered across the Northern savanna plains. In the long grass predators lurk, stalking the herding mammals that travel across the land. The land itself is Jagged and pointed rocks jut awkwardly from the earth. Lastly, the land is inherently volcanic, and while many mountains separate savannahs from one another, many of the mountain ranges house at least one volcano. Otherwise ponds and small pits of lava are common, and sometimes magma will flow from the mountains, burning a path through the snow and reaching the savanna, causing grass fires.
Though the Anfari live in a truly inhospitable place, it was key to their evolution. While the occasional Grove of acacia tree, the focal point of Anfari success comes from the Mōk Du trees, a giant species of baobob tree also native to the land. Some reaching up to the clouds they can be seen from miles away. With fire resistant bark, they are a safe haven for the Anfari, and the only place they call home. They learned the secrets of fire from the pits of lava and discovered Agricultural ideas from the jackalberry trees and fruits grown from the Mōk Du trees. The trees grow unfathomably slow, and therefore aren’t grown for food, but sprouting trees do exist. Otherwise entire villages are housed on the branches, sides and tops of the Mōk Du trees, with newer trees growing as a sign of the predecessors leaving behind a legacy for the next generations.
Anfari Society is simple, though they learned the secrets of smithing from dwarfs and the common language from humans, they taught themselves magic, and only tend to stick towards one type of magic, Necromancy. To them, necromancy isn’t about raising the dead. To them, it is a way of giving last goodbyes and helping in times of need. The Anfari believe the soul of one can re enter their body if a skilled mage can lead them back into their body for a time. Necromancers are seen more as shepherd than mage, and make sure that once their called task is completed they are laid to rest peacefully, while some even ask to not be resurrected before leaving.
In battle they are very nimble, and tend to avoid direct conflict, aiming for either ranged combat or to fight on their terms. They use Sickles primarily as melee weapons, and sometimes are seen wearing metal breastplates but generally favor light armor.
Stats
+2 Dex, +1 wisdom or intelligence
Medium
30 land, 30 climb
Advantage on all Acrobatics checks
Anfari have a prehensile tail that can hold any small object, and may wield small weapons. This does not add any extra attacks beyond the normal amount of attacks a creature would have from wielding two weapons. The tail can be used to hang from surfaces, aid in climbing, and any other action that requires 1 arm.
Commission of a merman out of water
Tell me about the silliest, most obvious mistake you’ve made while playing DnD, because as we know, mistakes are part of the fun of the game!
Once, while playing my level one wizard, I thought it would be a brilliant plan to set a bar that had been invaded by some mercenaries on fire, while we were working for the city guard. The mercenaries had knocked his twin sister unconscious twice already, and there were still several of them around. The idea was, if there’s fire, the bad guys will run away, and we’ll be safe!
In actuality? The bar was on fire and everyone got mad, and my poor wizard got knocked unconscious before he could even try to fix the damage. It was…. Glorious, in its own way.
(he/they) Orpheus is a bastard. In the past two years, he has been working with the Boramar Clawfoots, violent enforcers. He enjoys going to the gym and various clubs in his free time.
moodboard by @simothys , art by @mloking
Orpheus is played by @mloking
Craw! My rogue trader from my homebrew dnd sesh “Ashes of Sycamore” which is connected to a comic I will be posting hopefully soon!
He’s a big sweet thing who loves humans and offers objects the party asks for in exchange for favours later. He’s been very helpful so far and an absolute favourite at the table.
Second up is Sheoldred, the Whispering One herself! She was a really fun necromancy/enchantment bard build. I wish I could have captured her mounted combat prowess better, but overall I’m happy with her abilities and spell repertoire. A lot of the options were just too perfect.
Stats: STR 8, DEX 16, CON 10, INT 15, WIS 10, CHA 20
I was forced to dump Str to make her Dex and Int higher, but it was a hard decision. Sheoldred seems really well-rounded. We know she has very high Int and Cha, and she also excels at stealth and mounted combat using Str and Dex. With power like that, her actual Con and Wis can’t be bad, either.
Race: Yuan-ti Pureblood
It’s snakey, it’s Charisma-based, it has innate poison and enchantment. It works out perfectly. I would normally change around racial ASIs (as per TCE) like I did with Jin, but +2 Cha and +1 Int literally could not be more fitting. That’s exactly what she is. A cunning, charismatic, poisonous little naga-thing. The fact that the magic resistance is widely considered too strong honestly contributes to the vibe.
Background: Spy
Proficiencies (Jack of All Trades, expertise in all skills with prof.): Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Persuasion, Stealth, thieves’ tools, poisoner’s kit, disguise kit, forgery kit, flute, lute, voice, Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Infernal, Phyrexian, Thieves’ cant
Our girl is really out here with expertise in all her skills… it really drives home the point that Sheoldred’s brain is massive. She is, canonically, one of the most intelligent Phyrexians on the entire plane (even if I unfortunately couldn’t get her Int score to reflect that well enough). Dare I say she might even be smarter than Jin?
Class: College of Whispers Bard 17, Mastermind Rogue 3
Sheoldred is a bard through and through, sowing discord and mistrust through the power of words. The College of Whispers was practically made for her:
“At 3rd level, you learn to infuse innocent-seeming words with an insidious magic that can inspire terror.”
“At 14th level, you gain the ability to weave dark magic into your words and tap into a creature’s deepest fears… The target interprets the whispers as a description of its most mortifying secret. You gain no knowledge of this secret, but the target is convinced you know it.”
She has some roguish abilities, too, with her affinity for the shadows and cleverness in dealing with people. Giving her even more expertises, forgery and disguise proficiency, and Sneak Attack just feels right.
Spells Known: Major Necromancy/Enchantment focus. I love the fact that Magical Secrets gives access to spells of any class, because it means I could give her some nasty necromancy spells. I love Soul Cage and Finger of Death for her, especially.
Feats: Mounted Combatant, Telepathic
Like with Jin, the mind-fuckery inherent in telepathy powers is perfect for her. And Sheoldred is, of course, a mounted unit, fighting astride a spider horror or the equivalent. It makes her feel better about being so tiny compared to the other praetors