The Wildlings are a party intended for my next run after the Hero and the Kat wrap up their run through the main Solasta campaign. The Wildings also hail from Solasta, but have a rather different origin and will be tackling the Lost Valley campagin.
William “Will” the Wisp (Leader)
To Friends: “Will the Wisp”
To Enemies: “Will the Wasp”
Given Name: “The Sting in the Twilight”
Race: Shadow Gnome
Class: Ranger/Gloomstalker
“jeff easley fantasy painting;halfling boy,scottish,age 18,wide fey face,smooth skin,wild hair,grey skin,black hair,black eyes,dark ragged leather armor,two daggers,crouching on wall at dusk,cocked head,sly smile,watching the viewer“
Will the Wisp is a bit of an odd duck – even among the flotsam and jetsam that occasionally washes in from the Badlands. He is clearly a Shadow Gnome – as the secretive race of Gnomes living in the Badlands have come to be known. But he has a very strong streak of the Fey about him. He can see supernaturally well in the darkness – better even than any elf. His ability to disappear into shadows is uncanny. He seems able to get into or out of just about anywhere. And he has a capacity for minor illusions and conjurations with which he can be surprisingly inventive. A particular favorite is distracting his targets with an illusory stinging insect shortly before striking – hence some of his monikers. His mindset can also be difficult to grasp. His is extremely intelligent and thoughtful, but his thought processes are sometimes rather alien. The best description would be a Fey attempting to be a “hero”… but with much of the Fey sense of right, wrong, and propriety. This boils down to a few basic tenets:
- Will’s sense of “property rights” is entirely a function of need rather than ownership and possession. Taking things from people who need it more than you is bad. Taking things from people who need it less than you is perfectly reasonable. The mugger who robs a poor waitress making her way home from the tavern = BAD. The poor orphan pick-pocketing the well-off in the marketplace = GOOD. The ultra-wealthy living in plenty while poor live in squalor nearby – EVIL.
- Will very much shares the Fey concept of debts owed and debts paid. He will always insist upon payment for his services. Its only polite – as that way he doesn’t leave people indebted to him. His charge, however, is measured in what things are worth to the *giver*, not to *him*. He might charge a poor boy a piece of cookie, a pretty young girl a kiss, and a rich merchant 100 gp for exactly the same service. This extends to his concept of generosity. An evil man keeps things to himself when others are in need. A selfish man gives things to others when they need them – meeting their needs but leaving them indebted. A truly generous man “accidentally” leaves his door unlocked and goes out for a stroll so that the needy can take for themselves.
Will wandered in to Caer Cyflen as a young teen, looking to explore the “civilized” world. He initially fell in with the thieve’s guild due to his embrace of larceny. But it did not take long before his sense of “fair play” and theirs came to odds, resulting in him declaring a vendetta and waging a one-gnome guerilla war against them. This could have gone very badly in a number of ways, but the Captain of the Guard in the district was a rather creative man and came up with an unconventional means of controlling the situation. He arranged a meeting… and deputized Will. He recognized that he couldn’t contain the young man, and so figured his best bet was to attempt to point him in a semi-constructive direction. Will took to the idea with gusto, quickly becoming a valued informant and agent. And before long, he began recruiting other misfits from the streets. And the Wildlings were born.
Blaze & Glory
Blaze and Glory are twins who wandered in from the Badlands not long after Will. Born to an outlying farming community, they never quite fit in due to their obvious mutations. Their mother died in childbirth. Their father was unknown. They were not abused or run-out-of-town, exactly. They were fed and cared for despite their odd appearance. But also mostly ignored and misunderstood. Eventually they ran off to seek their fortunes elsewhere.
The first thing one notices upon seeing them is the obvious horns and pointy ears. But the second is their tattoos. Both are covered in bright, colorful tattoos over much of their bodies. Tattoos that often glow. Tattoos that seem to change color, morph, and move with a life of their own. Their emotional states clearly influence their tattoos, but even when they are calm and restful their tattoos seem to swim un-nervingly before your eyes. They are both infused with Wild Magic, with each harnessing it in their own manner.
Bartholomew “Blaze” Bartelby
Race: Tiefling/Wildling
Class: Barbarian/Wild Magic
“jeff easley painting;samoan tiefling boy,age 18,strong,red mohawk,brown skin,rams horns,swirling colorful glowing tattoos,soul patch,worn leather vest,leather pants,holding rusty axe on shoulder,cocky smirk;in medieval slum”
Blaze is brash, headstrong, cocky, and full of teenage bravado. He’s also fiercely loyal, brave to the point of foolhardy, and loves nothing better than taking down a bully. He’ll charge into almost anything without thinking through the consequences, and absolutely loves a good brawl. When he really cuts loose in battle, however, transitioning into all-out battle-frenzy, his overloaded emotions essentially cause a localized Wild Magic surge. Rather than having a consistent magical talent, he gains a different ability every time he Rages. One day he might fain a fiery aura. Another he might sprout a force field. And yet another he might begin randomly blasting from his weapon. He just looks at it as part of the fun, and adapts his combat style to whatever presents itself.
Gloria “Glory” Bartleby
Race: Tiefling/Mephistopheles
Class: Sorcerer/Wild Magic
“jeff easley painting;samoan girl,tiefling,age 18,blue pixie hair,brown skin,rams horns,cyan tattoos,worn leather vest,leather mini-skirt,blazing red eyes,magic fire in hands,lopsided smirk;in medieval slum”
In many ways Gloria is much like her brother, but channels her wild magic into pure arcane firepower. She is untutored and untrained, getting by on sheer natural talent and inventiveness – with a pronounced preference for pyromancy. She is capable of drawing on her wild magic to “pull the strings of chance” and subtly push events in her favor, but is careful about using this capability as it has a pronounced tendency to produce completely uncontrolled wild magic surges. Even without tempting fate in that manner her magic has a tendency to take on a chaotic life of its own at times. She is almost as headstrong and cocky as her brother, but somewhat more tactical in her approach.
“Dawn”
Race: Aasimar
Class: Celestial Warlock
“jeff easley fantasy painting;norwegian girl,age 18,athletic,fair skin,shiny golden hair,glowing cyan eyes,faint white aura,worn leather,white skirt,leather boots,white cloak,wooden staff;in medieval slum”
Dawn is another oddity among the Wildlings. She wandered into town with a group on a pilgrimage to visit the holy temple of Maraike the Healer. But none of them remembered quite where they picked her up. And she herself remembers little before her time with the pilgrims either. Dawn looks “mostly” normal, but always seems to be slightly illuminated – as if she had her very own spotlight which travelled with her. Her eyes are just a little too brighy blue. Her hair is just a little too golden. And she claims to hear Maraike talking to her. Directly. She is not particularly well schooled in church doctrine, and seems to believe things about Maraike and the other gods that the church would find downright heretical. That does not stop her from being a skilled healer with obvious access to divine magic… of a sort.
Dawn is usually quiet and introspective. She is a very good listener, and very good judge of people. And can be extremely persuasive when she wishes. She is the first to attempt gentler solutions to problems, when Will wants to scheme his way around them and Blaze and Glory want to dive in and club them over the head. But when angered, when she senses true injustice, she is perfectly capable of wielding her staff with divine righteousness or outright blasting away with pure radiant energy.
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