Tower Frontiers
Characters
Tower Frontiers
Dungeons & Dragons 5e
Gold:
0
Species:
Sahuagin
Class:
Artificer
Sub-Class:
Alchemist
Passive Perception:
14
Armour Class:
17
HP:
39
Completed:
6
Most recent:
6 hours ago
Pronouns: Any.
Appearance:
One can't say for certain what Rhotae truly looks like, after all he takes on many forms with many names. Rhotae being one of them.
As Rhotae, she stands at 5'6" tall with polished slate-grey skin, sprinkled with faint phosphorescent freckles that appear to shine like a rainbow in the light. Their hair is a silvery-white, cut short. Their eyes are a brilliant lavender that glow with an almost ethereal quality, one might even mistake them for the very Amethysts that grow upon the cavernous walls of the Underdark itself.
Story:
Everybody has a story, some extraordinary with multiple events shaping who they are, guiding their actions and providing them a reason to go on their journey; others however are far more mundane, but no less important. Rhotae's story sat somewhere in-between.
Born of the union between a Drow Fighter mother and Deep Gnome Warlock father, Rhotae grew up in a loving household. He spent his days learning how to read and write from his father Forim, as well as the different schools of magic, or at least he tried to. Unfortunately, Rhotae struggled with the spells, but not in the way most would think; she understood the necessity of the components, the movements, and the words that were needed to make the magic happen. How each part worked together like a finely oiled machine, each cog, every mechanism, moving in perfect harmony to create a glorious wonder from one's fingertips. The problem was, nothing ever happened when she tried. Sure, they didn't have a Patron like their father, and their mother, Catella, focused purely on physical skills, but they really thought.. no, hoped they might have been able to achieve some kind of magic; after all, he didn't have the physical prowess to follow in his mother's footsteps. Still, this didn't stop him from studying hard every single day and learning the deepest fundamentals and sciences behind the magic.
Apart from her lacking magic, Rhotae's life was pretty uneventful for the most part; that was until she fell seriously ill. She had started to notice that the verbal components for spells were becoming more difficult, often finding herself having to take short pauses between sentences to catch her breath before continuing. At first they thought this might be the result of getting closer to finally succeeding, the strain meaning they were right there on the cusp of a magnificent display of magical wonders, but alas that was not the case, and soon Rhotae was struggling to breathe without so much as even moving.
Both Catella and Forim tried everything they could to ease his symptoms, but nothing seemed to work. They tried to find him a Cleric, a Druid, hell even a Bard amongst all those living within the Underdark, anyone that could use their magic and skills to make him better, but to no avail. Desperate, Catella made her way to the surface in search of help. She went to the nearest town and went about asking the citizens for help, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Feeling as though all hope was lost, she began to leave but was stopped by a small hooded figure who handed her a glass bottle before quickly disappearing; the only detail she could ascertain from the mysterious stranger were the delicate wings folded close to their back. She took a moment, trying to figure out what had just happened, but decided now was not the time. She glanced at the bottle, it had a rather worn looking label on it with the words 'Elixir of Health'. Catella smiled to herself and swiftly made her way home, heading immediately to Rhotae's room. She uncorked the bottle and proceeded to give it to him, making sure he drank the whole thing. Now all she, her husband, and her child could do was wait and see if it worked.
Days passed, and Rhotae's condition seemed to worsen. His skin covered in sweat as his temperature soared, and he writhed about in pain. All the while, his parents watched on helplessly. That's when his mother noticed some changes. Freckles, faint at first, but becoming more noticeable as he moved around; rainbow-like with a soft light to them that contrasted with his skin. Then his face. Where features were once sharp and defined, the shape of his nose, the sharp lines of his lips, they had become faded and hard to discern any kind of specific detail. These changes, these inconsistencies, were brief. There and gone within a blink of an eye. Then, nothing.
Rhotae awoke one morning to find she was no longer suffering. She sat up and took a long, deep breath. No pain! Her body felt renewed, no more fever, no sweating, no lethargy. She was full of energy and couldn't wait to see her parents and let them know she was okay! As she went to climb out of bed, she suddenly fell to the floor. Confused, she slowly stood up and brushed herself off, thinking it was still a side effect of the illness.
Excited to see their parents, Rhotae quickly made their way to the living area. Expecting a happy reception from their parents at seeing them up and about, they rushed over to them without a second thought. At first everything seemed okay, but the moment they went to give their child a hug, both Catella and Forim froze. The couple stood there staring for several moments, unsure about what they were seeing. Confused, Rhotae asked what was wrong and it was at that moment he too noticed something strange. His voice.. what was wrong with his voice? That's when his father spoke up, asking this person who they were and what they were doing in their house.
Rhotae couldn't understand the questions. She was their child, how could they not recognise their own flesh and blood. Did the illness have that deep an effect on her? Her parents asked once again who she was, and she quickly began to explain. At first they seemed skeptical about what she was saying, but after some information given by Rhotae that only she could possibly know, they realised she was telling the truth.
How did this happen? How could they have changed so much? It made absolutely no sense. After all, they just had an illness, and illnesses don't change people so drastically. No longer 5'6" with slate-grey skin, they now stood at only 3'1" and their skin was obsidian in colour, their newly developed rainbow freckles contrasting beautifully against it. This wasn't right. Not that they were unhappy with their new look, but it wasn't who they were meant to be, not the child their parents' expected to see. If only they could go back to how they were, if only they co--
Catella let out a gasp as she watched her child. He was beginning to change again, but this time she and her husband Forim could see it happening right before their very eyes. Once the transformation was complete, Rhotae looked just like he did before. Silence filled the air for a few moments as the family tried to take in all of this new information and these changes before his mother spoke up. She had a look of excitement on her face whilst talking, amazed by this newfound skill that her child had as well as a sudden realisation. She explained how their ancient ancestors used to have the ability to change their shape at will, originally granted by the god Corellon until they were eventually cursed by the very same one.
As Catella recounted the story, Rhotae tried to figure out what could possibly have caused her to have gained, or rather unlock, this latent ability. After a bit of back and forth between her parents and herself, she realised the potion that her mother had been given by the winged stranger wasn't just a simple Elixir of Health like the label suggested. Knowing this, Rhotae knew what she wanted to do. What she had to do! She didn't have the physical skill of her mother, or the inherent magical ability of her father, but she did have a thirst for knowledge and the innate understanding of the fundamental and essential elements that created such things. With this goal in mind, her parents' blessings, the ability to change her name and persona at will with the understanding that she was now no longer a Drow, but a Changeling, she left her home on a journey to try and find the formula that would allow Elves' to once again shapeshift that lay dormant within them for several thousand millennia.
