First Name: Bael’nimothi
Last Name: Dwinanea
Appearance:
Race: Wild Elf
Age: 236
Height 5’6
Weight: 143 lbs.
Eyes: Light grey with gold specks
Hair: Dark grey
Facial Hair Style: None
Personality Profile:
General Health: Both physically and mentally healthy, although he rather lithe
Deity: Shevarash
Initial Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Profession: Tactician, Scout, Ambusher
Base Class & Proposed Development: Rogue/Favored Soul/Shadowdancer
Habits/Hobbies: Scouting out deep caverns, gaining leads on Drow movements on the surface
Languages: Common, Cant, Elven, Sylvan, a handful of Drow words
Weapon of Choice: Longbow
Background:
Bael’nimothi originally was born to a tribe of semi-nomadic Wild Elves in the High Forest. His birth name was Ariokash, son to the tribe leader of Gyss’elrvis, or Clan of the Leaves. The tribe was made up of hunters and barbarians with the tribe leader being a Dhaeraowathila (elven for Drowbane) of Shevarash, who met with a series of other tribe leaders/clerics of Shevarash every few months to discuss Drow movement and tactics within the High Forest. Ariokash grew up learning the basics of the forest, and given that his tribe was allied with small group of Nymphs he was blessed by them when he was young. Because of the blessing he quickly learned Sylvan and grew into a handsome young man.
When he was in his thirties he became distracted during a hunt, losing himself within the forest as if by some strange, fey magic. He wandered, trying to find his tribe when he came across a group of adventurers. Luckily one of them, Lui’harwyn, was a Moon Elf and was able to speak with him, albeit in simple words since their versions of Elven slightly differed. Ariokash decided it would be safest to go with them, since the forest would be unforgiving to someone of his stature and inexperience. He hoped that they would run into another tribe of Wild Elves allied with his own and they would be able to care for him until he found his own tribe. This was never the case, and within a month they had reached the edge of the High Forest, a sight Ariokash had never seen before. Either from being swayed by some fey magic or purely his own curiosity, he turned his back to the forest, heading with the group of adventurers to Waterdeep.
The group had pity on the wild elf, and even though he was as old as some of them, his mind was still young, childish and carefree. So they took him in and taught him the ways of city life. Ariokash was bright and eager to learn about life outside the forest, even though deep down he yearned to return. He quickly picked up the Common language spoken among the citizens of Waterdeep. He took an interest in mechanics, and found himself to be quite a skilled tinkerer, able to pick locks and disable simple mechanisms. Sixty years or so passed by since his arrival in Waterdeep, the only ones left of the original adventuring group himself and the Moon Elf, Lui’harwyn. Lui’harwyn, being a rogue, mentored Ariokash during this time so that he might further advance his skills with tinkering as well as moving around unseen or unheard. Bael’nimothi felt it was time to leave when he was in his nineties, deciding that he should look for his tribe. Saying goodbye, he departed for the High Forest.
It took Ariokash some three years after leaving Waterdeep to eventually locate his tribe. Through gathering information from several groups within the High Forest, he located one of the tribes allied with his tribe, Gyss’elrvis. He learned from them that as his tribe was moving to a new location across the Unicorn Run by the Star Mountains they were ambushed by a large war party of Drow, who murdered the entire tribe. Devastated by the loss and regretting his decision to have left the tribe in the first place, Ariokash stayed as a refugee among the tribe, Dwinanea. Years went by, and even though the tribe brought them into their fold, announcing him a member of the clan of Dwinanea, he felt little joy, consumed by the hatred of his choice of leaving as well as the hatred of the Drow.
Time passed and when Ariokash was in his 100’s he decided it was time join the clergy of Shevarash as a crusader, raging war on all Drow throughout existence. Such a time presented itself within a few months, for the leaders among the ring of wild elf tribes were to meet on Midwinter Night in remembrance of the Dark Court Slaughter. Ariokash, along with a few other wild elves devastated by the Drow, made vows of unceasing vengeance against the Drow, as well as the promise to never smile or laugh until all followers of the Dark Seldarine were hunted and destroyed. Ariokash was given a new name and title that night. He was now to be known as Bael’nimothi, meaning Guardian of the Deep Gate. He took this name to heart, rejoining his new clan with a dark zeal, plotting the demise of the Drow.
Over eighty years went by as Bael’nimothi waged war against the Drow that resided within the High Forest. His group of warriors fought the Drow with such ferocity and zeal that they became feared; calling them Venorik Veldrin, or Silent Shadows. They specialized in tactics involved with stealth and quick, decisive victory. For once in the past century or so Bael’nimothi felt gratitude for his old mentor Lui’harwyn who taught him the advantages of reaming unseen and unheard. The group took upon themselves the name Venorik Veldrin after having learned of the nickname they’d earned among the now fearful Drow.
While leading a raid into cavern system believed to house the Drow, they were ambushed. Out of position and in a foreign environment, the group began to lose the battle. Starting to become overwhelmed, Bael’nimothi ordered a retreat, deciding to stay and hold off the Drow while his companions escape. After taking down several Drow with his longbow and explosives he was shot by a crossbow just above his heart. He fell onto the cavern floor, slipping into unconsciousness from the loss of blood. As the Drow walked up to him to end his existence, a thick darkness emerged within the cave. Black arrows flew from this new darkness, slaying the remaining Drow in quick order.
When Bael’nimothi came too, the crossbow bolt that had struck him was missing, the only thing remaining to prove he’d been shot being a small, black scar. Something else stirred within Bael’nimothi, some unknown power that he had never felt before. When he arrived back at the tribe both his fellow tribesmen as well as Venorik Veldrin were amazed, thinking he was lost. They returned the next evening after resting to get a clearer picture of what had happened. They collected the bodies of their own that had fallen and found arrow holes within the cavity of the chests of about a dozen or so Drow, but no arrows were found that fit the wound marks left. Chalking up the victory as a boon from Shevarash himself, they looted what valuables they could find from the Drow, burned the bodies and left.
For the next few decades Bael’nimothi found out the something had certainly happened in that cavern. His powers slowly manifested, himself being able to only cast simple cantrips at first, but these divine powers began to grow and flourish into much more powerful spells; ones that helped him focus on a target, or give him bolstered strength to shoot farther and faster. Bael’nimothi began yearning for the city life as he had experienced when he was young. Handing over the leadership of Venorik Veldrin to his second-in-command, Bael’nimothi left with this developing power and wandered, eventually finding himself at Baldur’s Gate.
Goals:
- To remove Drow from existence and finally find solace and peace within himself.
- Contact any followers of Shevarash that live within the region.
- Develop a network of informants so that he might know of the whereabouts of any Drow in the region.
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts:
- He seems to have developed an overconfidence in his abilities, and as such when he goes against Drow he’ll go into a battle with them that is clearly not in his favor.
- An expedition into the Underdark could go horribly wrong and he ends up getting captured.
- He finds a group of Drow on the surface, all of them claiming to be followers of Eilistraee.
- A messenger from his old tribe Dwinanea or Venorik Veldrin could have important news for him.
- A dark entity promises him powers capable of defeating the Drow, potentially driving him towards evil.