Human • Warrior • Problem Solver
Shawn Kabroon is called Scar by almost everyone who has survived knowing him long enough.
He is large, heavily armed, exceptionally difficult to kill, and possesses a remarkably straightforward philosophy toward most problems:
If hitting it does not solve the problem, hit it harder. Repeat when necessary.
This description annoys him because Scar is considerably more thoughtful than Kain likes to admit.
A disciplined warrior with terrifying strength and an instinctive need to protect the people around him, Scar frequently finds himself standing between his friends and whatever terrible decision brought them into danger this time.
Usually Kain.
Especially Kain.
Scar does not seek authority, glory, or attention. People simply have an unfortunate habit of looking toward him when things go wrong—and Scar has an equally unfortunate habit of refusing to let them down.
He carries old scars, old grief, and more responsibility than he will ever willingly discuss.
He also possesses the patience necessary to travel with Kain Quickbow.
This may be his greatest achievement.
“I don’t fight because I enjoy it. Sometimes somebody just has to stand in the way.”
Elf • Ranger • Bard • Professional Bad Influence
Kain Quickbow would like it known that he is the hero of this story.
The others have disputed this claim.
Frequently.
An elven ranger with a bard’s tongue, a swordsman’s confidence, and an almost supernatural ability to make a bad situation considerably more complicated, Kain approaches adventuring with equal parts skill, recklessness, charm, and complete faith that everything will probably work out.
It usually does.
Eventually.
Behind the jokes is a remarkably capable scout, archer, swordsman, and fiercely loyal friend. Kain may complain, flirt, improvise songs at inappropriate moments, and insist that every successful plan was obviously his idea, but when the people he loves are in danger, the jokes tend to stop.
Those moments are usually when everyone else starts worrying.
Kain travels with an unreasonable amount of confidence, and Sabrewolf—the only creature in the group whose decision-making abilities may actually be worse than his own.
According to Kain, this website is about him.
According to Scar, it isn't.
“Scar may be the muscle... but I have the website.”
Human • Cleric of the Morninglord • Friend
Phillip Ardenholt has known Shawn Kabroon for most of his life.
This means he remembers a time before anyone called him Scar.
Phil is a young cleric of the Morninglord: educated, dependable, compassionate, and considerably more sensible than several of the people fate has decided to place around him.
Especially Shawn.
And then Kain arrived.
Phil approaches adventuring much as he approaches his faith—with preparation, discipline, and the belief that helping people matters even when doing so is difficult. He heals the wounded, watches over his companions, and frequently finds himself providing the voice of reason when swords, monsters, alcohol, or questionable plans become involved.
He isn't the strongest member of the group.
He isn't the loudest.
And he certainly isn't interested in becoming the center of attention.
Phil simply wants to be useful—to his friends, to his faith, and to the people they meet along the road.
For Shawn, though, Phil is something much simpler.
He is one of his oldest friends.
The person who knew Shawn long before the world learned to call him Scar.
This may be his greatest achievement.
Phillip Ardenholt
Healer & Long-Suffering Friend
“Aww, how sweet, Shawn. Your mommy packed your bags.”
Olaf Bloodaxe has been fighting for longer than some adventurers have been alive.
He would prefer not to discuss how much longer.
A hardened dwarven veteran, Olaf has survived battles, bad commanders, worse tunnels, and enough injuries to make every staircase feel personally insulting.
Olaf stands between danger and his friends.
That is simply what he does.
Gruff, stubborn, and armed with an apparently endless collection of old war stories—some of which may even be accurate—Olaf handles hardship with the particular humor of someone who has already seen things go much worse.
He complains about his knees.
He complains about caves.
He complains about everyone younger than him.
Then the fighting starts, and the complaining stops.
For all his rough edges, Olaf is fiercely loyal, deeply protective, and considerably more compassionate than he would ever willingly admit.
If Olaf plants his feet beside you and raises his shield there are very few places in Faerûn that feel safer.
He will, of course, complain about having to do it.
Veteran Warrior & The Grumpy Shield
Logan D'loune believes justice should protect people.
This sounds obvious.
Experience has taught him that it apparently is not.
A paladin of Tyr, Logan is disciplined, thoughtful, and guided by a sense of honor that has considerably more room for compassion than punishment. He does not believe being righteous requires being cruel, nor does he mistake obedience for justice.
This occasionally places him in disagreement with people who prefer simpler answers.
Logan is rarely the loudest person in a room.
He does not need to be.
When others panic, Logan becomes calmer. When arguments become heated, he listens. And when someone weaker is threatened, there is usually a moment when he quietly steps between them and the danger.
That is normally when negotiations become much shorter.
Logan's greatest strength has never been the weapon in his hands. It is the stubborn conviction that people should be judged by what they choose to become—not merely by the worst thing they have ever done.
Kain considers Logan frustratingly reasonable.
Scar considers this useful.
Logan considers both of them exhausting.
Logan D'Loune
Cleric of the Morninglord & Walking Sunshine Warm, cheerful, compassionate, and somehow genuinely happy to see people at hours when most reasonable adventurers are still negotiating with consciousness, Erica has a way of bringing a little bit of sunlight with her wherever she goes.
And considering the places this group tends to go, they need it.
Erica has spent much of her life believing that light matters most when everything around you is dark.
Adventuring has given her considerably more opportunities to test that philosophy than she would have preferred.
A devoted cleric of the Morninglord, Erica serves as healer, counselor, occasional disciplinarian, and one of the few members of the group capable of looking at an obviously terrible plan and asking whether everyone has collectively lost their minds.
The answer is frequently yes.
Erica is compassionate without being naïve, gentle without being weak, and possesses a stubborn streak that becomes particularly noticeable whenever someone she cares about decides they are beyond saving.
She has stood beside wounded friends, frightened strangers, and people who had nearly given up on themselves—and refuses to confuse mercy with helplessness.
When peaceful solutions fail, Erica is also perfectly capable of reminding everyone that clerics wear armor for a reason.
Her faith is deeply personal. She does not demand that others believe as she does.
She simply tries to make certain there is still a dawn waiting for them when the night finally ends.
Cleric & Personification of “Good Morning!”
Erica Moonsong
“Functioning.”
“Justice should protect people.”
“Good morning!”
Bimblewick Bramblefoot has spent enough years on the road to know that heroic adventurers are rarely killed by dragons.
It is usually bad weather, an unsafe bridge, an empty waterskin, infected feet, or somebody deciding they did not need to pack another pair of socks.
Bimblewick packs the socks.
An elderly halfling with white curls, crooked spectacles, an unreasonable number of pockets, and more practical knowledge than anyone initially gives him credit for, Bimblewick knows roads, inns, shrines, wells, shortcuts, bad shortcuts, and exactly which bridges should never be trusted after heavy rain.
He is not a great warrior.
He has absolutely no desire to become one.
What Bimblewick possesses instead is experience, kindness, surprising courage, and the remarkable ability to keep considerably younger people alive despite their determined efforts to make that difficult.
He travels with a battered walking stick, a small satchel, enough supplies to survive several completely different emergencies, and an optimism that borders on suspicious.
Ask Bimblewick whether something is necessary and the answer will probably be:
“Hopefully not.”
He packed it anyway.
Halfling • Road Guide • Professional Overpacker
Dougnar believes every problem has a solution.
Sometimes the solution is magic.
Sometimes it is alchemy.
Sometimes it is a glass vial containing something that probably should not be glowing.
A brilliant and deeply unconventional gnome wizard, Dougnar specializes in necromancy, alchemy, and the sort of experimental magic that causes everyone nearby to instinctively take several steps backward whenever he says, “I have an idea.”
He is endlessly curious, cheerfully reckless, and far more comfortable around corpses than most of his companions would prefer.
Especially Phil.
Despite his unsettling interests, Dougnar is not cruel. He approaches death with the detached fascination of a physician and researcher, viewing necromancy as another tool for understanding how bodies, magic, and mortality actually work.
This explanation has reassured almost no one.
On the road, Dougnar carries enough vials, beakers, powders, tools, and questionable substances to make searching his pack an act of courage.
His experiments occasionally produce useful discoveries.
They also occasionally produce pink smoke.
Either outcome seems to delight him equally.
Dougnar may be small, strange, and an ongoing threat to basic laboratory safety, but when things go wrong, his peculiar collection of knowledge frequently becomes exactly what the group needs.
Which is unfortunate.
Because it encourages him.
Dougnar Vellwick
Gnome • Wizard • Necromancer • Alchemical Menace
Human • Wizard • Arcane Scholar • Professional Skeptic Cyrus Calenforth likes plans.
Good plans.
Thought-out plans.
Plans that do not begin with Kain saying, “Hear me out.”
A gifted wizard and relentless student of the arcane, Cyrus approaches danger the same way he approaches magic: understand it first, identify the weakness, then apply exactly as much force as necessary.
Ideally.
His companions have occasionally made the “exactly as much” portion difficult.
Cyrus is observant, methodical, and possessed of the unfortunate habit of thinking several steps ahead. This makes him invaluable when the group encounters ancient wards, magical traps, cursed objects, hostile spellcasters, or anything else everyone has already started touching before he told them not to.
He can be cautious to the point of frustration, but that caution comes from experience rather than fear. Cyrus knows magic is powerful precisely because he knows how badly it can go wrong.
He also knows that sometimes the safest solution to a problem is an extremely large amount of fire.
He simply prefers to calculate the appropriate amount first.
Usually.
Behind the dry humor and scholarly patience is a man fiercely committed to keeping his companions alive—even when they insist on making that an unnecessarily difficult academic exercise.
Arcane Expert & Voice of “Don’t Touch That”
Wolf • Loyal Companion • Vacant Lot
Sabrewolf is Kain’s loyal wolf companion.
He is brave, powerful, fiercely protective, and completely devoted to his pack.
He is also, by every available measurement, not especially bright.
Sabrewolf approaches life with the boundless enthusiasm of a creature who has never once been burdened by overthinking anything. Food is good. Bones are excellent. Kain is his person. Friends should be protected. Enemies should probably be bitten.
Complex problems rarely survive this philosophy.
Most of the time, Sabrewolf wanders through life looking blissfully unaware that anything complicated is happening around him. His tongue hangs out, his attention goes wherever it pleases, and there are legitimate questions about whether both of his eyes are currently considering the same subject.
Then someone threatens his family.
And suddenly the goofy wolf disappears.
When it matters, Sabrewolf’s instincts become frighteningly sharp. He notices danger others miss, protects his companions without hesitation, and can transform from lovable idiot into a terrifying mass of fur, teeth, and loyalty in seconds.
Then the danger passes.
And whatever briefly switched on behind his eyes apparently switches back off.
The prevailing assessment remains:
The lights are on. Nobody is home.
But he is a very good boy.
Wolf Companion • Tactical Catastrophe • Good Boy
“There is no such thing as too prepared.”
I don’t know. That’s why we’re testing it.”
“Please stop touching things until I determine whether they can kill us.”
BARK...?
