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Originally posted by AJA

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Originally posted by sleyvas

Morn days and firstmorn days... ok, that's another alternative. Might be harder to sing to.

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"Merry Firstmorn to you
Merry Firstmorn to you
You look like an otyugh
And you smell like one too"

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Originally posted by AJA

Meritid Archneie (LE HM P16 of Umberlee)
The Undulations From the Vaster Deep, Tyrant of Tides, The Wave That Whelms, The Conquering Current, Lord of the Glittering Floes, The Thunderous Roar of the Trackless Sea, The Giant of Wind and Wave, The Turmoil Titanic. Dread High Trident of Umberlee. An ambitious up-and-coming young priest. Descended from the legendary Umberlant priest, Jorist Archneie of Tharsult. An underling of the Kraken Society (he has petitioned the Kraken to establish a society cell within Waterdeep – under his leadership, of course). In 1369DR he discovered a magic abalone shell floating in the harbor which he believed to be the legendary Orglara, a sacred text of the Bitch Queen. Following this discovery, he successfully petitioned the Lords to use half the annual Umberlee's Cache tithe to construct a temple to the Bitch Queen atop a large outcropping of rock near the city's South Gate.

Since his ascension, he has embarked on vendettas and blood feuds against those who have wronged him or stood in his way; these include the entire merfolk community of the Harbor bottom (who refuse to bow to his will and challenge his secretive underwater comings and goings), upon whom he unleashed a virulent underwater plague in 1371 DR; a sizeable contingent of Tymorites (most notably the priests Jorynn Halstaff and Tazendra Twice-Blessed, and the Hin adventurer Dimvel Stoutkeg); and the former guardian of Umberlee's Cache, the merfolk priestess Thur Aquarvol (who now lies chained deep in the submerged depths of the Underspires). [ Source: City of Splendors: Waterdeep, p.50. Name/Occupation given. Additional detail by me. ]

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Originally posted by AJA



Laeral is also often said to be fond of the merfolk of the Harbor, she might be another contact or ally for these intrepid adventurers.


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Lalor Luskalan (N HaM T)
A street-runner for the Headsmen, bellower (advertiser) for a number of Dock Ward festhalls and and beckoner (same) for a trio of coin-lass dens. Pallid, worn face. Hollow-rimmed blue eyes, thick sandy locks bound back in a loose waist-length braid. Only has three fingers on his right hand. Addicted to a number of Calishite numbing salves. Sells the mild halfling numbing poison commonly known as fumbleslip; also merry widow poison (quite deadly, but also causes long-lasting, empurpled erections in males as it takes effect; dwarves are immune to the deadly toxin, but still enjoy the side-effects), but that only to discreet (and deep-pocketed) buyers. Has a twin sister, Lalora.

Lalora Luskalan (NE HaF T/P of Mask)
The self-described "effossion of coins and purveyor of the sweeter artistries." Thief-priestess of Mask. Member of Marigo's Bloody Band and lover of Marigo. Fair-haired, wide blue eyes. Affects a sweet, calm demeanor. Barbarous, black-hearted. Has a twin brother, Lalor. Treasures her smoky-grey cloak of thylacine fur (similar in properties to a cloak of elvenkind).

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Originally posted by sleyvas

On Lalor, it seems he disappeared several days ago. He was last seen speaking to a follower of Deep Duerra who was asking about the making of Merry Widow

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Originally posted by AJA

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Originally posted by sleyvas

On Lalor, it seems he disappeared several days ago. He was last seen speaking to a follower of Deep Duerra who was asking about the making of Merry Widow

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And just what would a priest of Duerra want with that information? All I can imagine is a holy sect of dwarf berserkers who ritually ingest the poison, strip down and perform some obscene version of a haka dance before they ahem, thrust themselves, ahem again, headlong and naked, into battle.

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Originally posted by AJA



Tessabra Dlarst
The Appreciative Eye of Faerie. An up-and-coming glim-spinner (hirespells who use illusions to provide animated "you are there" scenes of important battles and events to audiences at feasts and formal gatherings – with forewarning, to avoid upset or violence – or the illusions of spell effects at dramatic moments in a play). Trained in her youth as an initiate of the Oak-Father Silvanus, and delights in portraying somber forests, rushing cascades, trees bent by the wind, gathering storm-clouds, and all the dark mysteries of the woodlands. Not only the forest, but all aspects of nature; her phantasmal seascape during a 1370DR Hawkwinter ball performance of The Valiant Sails of Varrenstor – stormy, raging, and the sky full of heavy, angry clouds – sent those in attendance fleeing for the street, certain that they had been transported through a malevolent portal to the midst of the Sea of Swords!


Thaeglarra of the Lash
Pale skin, fine, almost-balding auburn hair and heavy auburn eyebrows. Harsh, raspy voice. Long, thin fingers. Fitted with a wooden prosthetic below her left knee, capped by a cloven ivory goats hoof. Carried a whip-thin metal walking cane of surprising elasticity and tensile stength, which could be used to both support her weight and to lash those who displeased her. Author of the exceedingly risque play, The Whip Is The Way. The daring subject matter and heavy audience participation drew rave reviews and larger and larger crowds before the final performance in the Golden Horn festhall was abruptly revealed to be a Loviatan Grand Resurrection ceremony aimed at reviving the recently passed high priestess, The Most Unsubtle Thorn Aldruenna Thargsaer. The malevolent ritual used the vitality and the sanity of those in attendance to fuel its' dark energies. Most died, a handful were left as babbling, self-mutilating husks, and (it is rumored) at least two found themselves driven to the calling of the Mistress of Pain on the spot. Thaeglarra and The Most Unsubtle Thargsaer eluded the grasp of the Watch, and are believed to have escaped into the dark depths of the Undermountain, where their fate remains unknown.

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Originally posted by AJA


Baglaurbaun
The Wizard Who Went West. As excerpted from Norshaelra's Things Of Light and Shadow; "Both Tethyrian and Illuskan folklore of old have a variety of characters who 'went west,' including perhaps the best known, Balduran, 'The Warrior Who Went West.'

"Baglaurbaun 'The Wizard Who Went West' is said to have come to the Evermeet of the Elves on the back of a giant eagle he carved from obsidian and enchanted himself. When the secretive elves sent killing winds against him, his eagle transformed into a giant manta ray, and they swam underwater. When the wrathful elves froze the waves and boiled the depths with steam and lava, the ray transformed into a giant bulette, and they dove under the seabed, and tunnelled through the earth until they had reached dry land. And when the sanguinary elven knights and bowmen came a-searching, the bulette transformed into a mighty oak, in whose trunk Baglaurbaun stayed hidden until the faerie host had passed by. And so came Baglaurbaun to be the first human to stride upon the sparkling sward of the legendary Elf-Land uninvited.

"Baglaurbaun soon seduced and secretly married an inquisitive elf maid who saw through his glamors, a daughter of a king of that realm, and only her fair hand upon their discovery stayed the wrath of her father and spared the life of her new husband. Instead, they were both sentenced to exile, and together went even further west, where it is said their halfbreed children grew to populate those mysterious far isles now know as Anchoromé. And Baglaurbaun's magical construct, that which the elves called Hathorlûne, was a thing of wondrous intent to them, and was granted sentience and freedom by their fey enchantments. It mated with the silver dragons of the elven realm, and from that fateful union came forth the draconic breed that men now know as steel dragons, who have taken the curiosity of the lesser races from their silvered forebears, and their innate shapechanging abilities from their dark-flanked sire."

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Originally posted by sleyvas

Probably a dozen ways to spin it.

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Originally posted by AJA



The Five Nonsense Rhymes You Will Never Ever Use In Your DnD Game
"You speak an infinite deal of nothing" (Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice)


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"Mother Faerûn has nothing to bestow
On those fools that raid or roam.
From our own selves our joys must flow
Safely gathered 'round our Hearth, our Home"
  The Hearthkeeper's Promise
  Religious Ode to Cyrrollalee
  (Commonly shortened to the oath, "Our Hearth, Our Home!")


* *
When Goblins Are A-Hunt (popular Waterdhavian children's rhyme)
Someone told me long ago
That when the night went wailing so
The goblins were a-hunt
(The goblins are a-hunt!)

Over the land and to the 'Deep
When goodly folk were all a-sleep
The naughty children were their prey

Inside they crept
While we all slept
A-hoo, a-hey they cried

What do they want, creeping 'round
Whatever is it, to be found
And they answer, clear as day
The naughty children are our prey
(The naughty children are our prey!)


* *
I wish I were in faerie-land, where the Fair Folk go
a-dancin' with those elvish lasses, oh so long ago

Once a-time those elvish lasses, oh they were so sweet
I'd show them how to hop and skip, and dance on hobbit feet!
(excerpted from the tome Halfling Nonsense: Their Songs, Folk-Lore, and Other Divers Merriments)


* *
Elaunder Eleghast (Mighty Ells)
High among the mountains cold
Where giants and wyrms all keep their gold

Up with his sword, mighty Ells strode

To take their lives and slaughter untold
Forevermore a hero bold

Down with his plunder, mighty Ells rode


* *
Auril's Delight (from the play, The Sun-Shafts of Semmeroon)
"Wherever I go
I bring such snow
And cold, icéd and dire

Blow blow blow
My mighty woe
A pox on all your fires!"


* *
A Very Black Staff (commoner's limerick)
Author unknown, commonly attributed to any of Ammathan Var, Talashamber of the Flame Tabard, Jhelan Sarsorel, or Danilo Thann. Believed to date to around 1369DR.
A Merry Black Staff
Is a Very Black Staff
And His Love Runs Silver Indeed
And As His Staff Wiggles
So His Lady Giggles
A Very Black Staff Has He!
(A Very Black Staff Has He!)

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Originally posted by sleyvas

I blame Danilo Thann.

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Originally posted by AJA

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Originally posted by sleyvas

I blame Danilo Thann.

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I'm pretty sure Khelben does, too.


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Gilded Garshnee
Famous "hearthmaster" (hire-chef), known for his pastries and sugary confections ("toothsome morsels for the delectation of discriminating palates, and other comforts of the stomach"). Braids gold leaf into the ends of his hair and travels on a palanquin carried by four massive gold-painted servants. Undeniably talented, but high-strung, overbearing, and difficult to work with. His demands and tantrums are legendary in highcoin circles, which only seem to make his services even more desirable. The mentor (and now bitter rival) of the hire-chef Throckley Bittersbane.

Gildewhorlers
Master growers who cultivate gildewhorls (star-petals, farflowers), the delicate, vibrant, multi-petalled flowers adapted from blooms brought back from the Far Lands of Maztica (currently a huge hit amongst the wealthy and fashionable of the city). Their efforts and offices are congregated thus far along the Street of Silver. The close-knit community of growers is currently engaged in fierce competition (amongst themselves and with a similar fellowship based in Neverwinter) to see who can create the most unique and colorful varieties. House Thongolir has already laid claim to the blue triumphant varietal, a deep blue gildewhorl with silver highlights that mimic the family crest. Notable gildewhorl artisans include Mlurth Mlurloun (Mi-LURTH Lur-LOON, of Merry Mirtul Bloomings), Klesk Maenmaster (Maenmaster's Flowerings), and Djerald and Aralkanter Lanternglimmer (of Lanternglimmer's Gildings, trade factors for the Goldenfields).

Gildriglainn
Glainn of the Fine Boastings (or, rather, The Five Fine Boastings, all related to his supposed mastery of "the five superior harping styles of the master schools of Far Alaron and Snowdown"). A rather obnoxious and overambitious bardling of New Olamn. Hails from the Moonshaes, claims to be both prince and heralded skald and warrior-poet. No one believes him.

The Gimkracken
Hooded, many-tentacled gremlin-type figure of myth and superstition and no little dread among the Gondan community of the North. Nighttime maraudings turn artifice to dross and twist thoughts of invention into maddened moon-howlings. Some consider the Gimkracken to be an agent of the Maid of Misfortune, others believe it a punishment sent forth from the gods of the arcane, seeking to maintain their supremacy over the mundane world. Has its origins in sea-girt Lantan, where it is a far less threatening figure, and subject of an autumnal equinox festival of stress-relief, role-reversals (master and apprentice) and merrymaking.

Givryn (LN GM Exp5/P6 of Oghma) and Amdaluré (LG GF Exp12)
"The Binder's Bookends." Twin gnomish adepts of the god Oghma and fixtures at both the newly-established Great Library and the bard's college of New Olamn. Givryn sports a large beaked nose over very thin tight lips, and black hair, moustache, and long, pointed beard. Amdaluré has stooping shoulders, bushy black eyebrows and two piercing black eyes.

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Originally posted by AJA



Tolandor the Twice-Buried King
A mighty Illuskan warlord (not to be confused with the Netherese arch-lich Tolaundras the Twice-Buried, nor with Taldnir, the Talfir Buried King Who Walks). Slew fifty frost giants in a single day. His weapon, Uthlaur (The Red Sword, a broadsword +4, defender) is now is the possession of Rulathon, Captain of the City Watch.

Tolumar Sharp-Winds
Legendary Ruathymaar sea-captain and adventurer. As excerpted from The Seventh and Final Sea-Faring of Tolumar Sharp-Winds (compiled and written sometime in the 9th Century DR, from far older folklore and legend);

  "And then Tolumar came to where the Great Tongues of the Tide
  Did not meekly lap
  But formed towering wall upon wall
  And marched like mighty legions of old
  Defending on the other side a vast sea-bed laid bare
  A treasure-house heaped with pearl and red coral, emerald and garnet
  And the Bridal Bed of the Sun, molten and lambent
  Enchanted with the mysteries of all the Gods of Benevolence"

Legend states that Tolumar never made it past the Great Tongues. There are many versions of his end:
  * Some claim all died in the trying except his first mate Urlast the Brave who was succored by the sea-nymphs who bore him back to Faerûn floating atop Tolumar's great-shield, and that he then married Tolumar's daughter and birthed a great Illuskan dynasty and ordered the carving of the great sea-worn female figures that still look out westward from the rocky shore of Ruathym;
  * Others claim the nymphs bore Tolumar's great giant-slaying sword back to his daughter instead, who then used it to slaughter and tame the giant-folk of Ruathym until their descendants grew smaller and feebler in turn, until they were indistinguishable from the dwarves of the mainland;
  * Some say his ship rose higher and higher atop the final and impossibly tall wave until it breached the Starry Firmament and left Toril entirely;
  * But most claim that his boon companion, the warrior Yengurl, forebear of the famed Ruathym thane Orbraul, swam through while all others were lost and gained the other side, and that he lay in the Bed of the Sun and had many other adventures afterwards.

    Yengurl himself is a curious case; in the annals of Tolumar, each warrior is invariably accompanied by an epithet (Tolgur Sharp-Winds, Wolost Sea-Eye, Bolgur The Strong, Margun Ten-Bold). Only Yengurl is alone in not having one. A growing subset of tales claims that this is because the name "Yengurl" is in fact an epithet in itself; that it is actually an intentional mis-translation or obfuscation of the name "Young-Girl," a female Tolumar was fond of and brought aboard in the days when such things were not only unheard of, but anathema; these stories further claim that she not only lay in the Bed of the Sun, but that she lay with Lathander himself at the end of his day's work; and that of their union was born the deva known as Bregarlath ("The Herald Who Prepares The Dawn," in Lathanderite literature). Evidence for this theory is most strong in the following passage (the description of being "twice in form," as in pregnant);

  "And the burning orb of the sun enveloped him even as he embraced it
  And his skin became as light itself and was burned away all that was there of Yengurl before
  But even as the last fancied flame of its immeasurable brilliance faded there lay the warrior
  Stripped bare and curled as a babe, yet twice in form what was before"

    There is also the great possibility that this is all naught but ancient folk-lore and nonsense, but only the gods would know for sure. And while they do indeed know of Tolumar, they do not seem amenable to discussion of much else.

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Originally posted by ericlboyd

AJA, these are fantastic. Keep them coming! (I'm hoping you put a PDF together with the final roster when you're done.)

--Eric

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Originally posted by ericlboyd

AJA, these are fantastic. Keep them coming! (I'm hoping you put a PDF together with the final roster when you're done.)

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Originally posted by Thauramarth

I’m already working on that, in a way - I am updating the list of NPCs that AJA used to have on his website (some of which are making reappreances here), in which I also incorporated the NPCs from the list in Volo’s Guide to Waterdeep.

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Originally posted by sleyvas

On Tolandor, I'd make Uthlaur (The Red Sword have some ties to the red knight as a defender. Personally, I'd also decrease the bonus to +2 and make it a weapon that's flaming and bane (giants). the bane ability would make it +4 against giants for the defender aspect. It could also be interesting if it were an intelligent weapon with a hatred of giants.

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Originally posted by sleyvas

Yengurl the man may have returned home bearing the child born of Yengurl the woman, who was impregnated by the power of the sun.

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Originally posted by sleyvas

It would be interesting if there were a way to make all of the above variations true somehow (i.e. the first mate returned home... maybe Yengurl the woman marries him... maybe the ship flew up a celestial stairway to the heavens, etc...). For instance, maybe Urlast the brave is the male half of Yengurl and he returned home to marry Tolumbar's daughter and produced the line that eventually produces the Ruathym thane Orbraul. Maybe the female half of Yengurl became either became the deva or birthed the deva. Meanwhile, maybe Tolumar's sword was in fact the flaming sword of the sun god, who had possessed the form of Urlast the brave to come and claim Tolumbar's daughter (envisioning Frey here). Or maybe even Tolumar's sword is Uthlaur above.

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