My Character

Image Credit Dungeons and Drawings
http://dungeonsanddrawings.blogspot.com

Ivan Blackblade is a noble, grandson of Duke George Blackblade, famous dragonslayer. I try to emphasize three things when running this character.  

1. His devotion to the codes of law and a pre-chivalric noble code of conduct, in spite of his inherent wildness. Some men rest easy under laws; duty and obedience are their nature.  Ivan is a wild storm, controlled and tempered only through extreme acts of will.

2. His friendship and devotion to Trellin, tiefling bard and family friend. It's fun to have a strong connection to another PC.  Ivan and Trellin are childhood friends, and Ivan trusts Trellin implicitly and completely.  Ivan would sacrifice anything to keep Trellin safe.

3. His painting (this one is new).   My dnd group has a lot of artists in it, including me.  He carries a travel easel and ground oil paints, as well as a sketchbook and watercolors.  He especially like to paint natural scenes and sketches new plants or animals when he gets the chance.  Depending on how much leeway my group gives me for downtime, he might get into lepidoteria.

A quick story of how he got his druidic powers.

One day, while on a fox hunt, the fox he had cornered flickered into the shape of a woman, and in a burst of black feathers there was an ancient raven flying away.  Ivan followed all day, crashing through the underbrush and wearing down the creature as it shifted between various forms. Several times the role of hunter and hunted switched, with Ivan barely escaping a wolf's snapping jaws or a bear's wild fury.  It was exhilarating, the best hunt Ivan had taken part of in years.  At the end, he cornered the woman, now in human shape, at the edge of a rocky shore near a lake.  She was a thin, grey woman half lost in the gathering night.  She offered him gold, wealth beyond measure if he would release her.  Ivan refused, and stepped closer.  She offered him a crown, power over men and a kingship for his family.  He refused again.  He stepped closer, and she asked him what he wanted.  

"I don't want the hunt to ever end" he said.  

She smiled, sat down cross legged, and began to teach him Druidic. 

When Ivan staggered out of the woods two weeks later, his mind was filled with visions, and the whole thing seemed like a dream. The wolf shapes and deep caves, the circle of women and a great she-bear wearing antlers all blurred together in his mind.   Had he truly turned into a wolf, and howled with the woman at the full moon?  He wasn't able to shapeshift when he tried now.  The only thing he had was a harsh new language full of consonants and howls, and a clear memory of the woman's smiling parting threat. 

"Get strong now, young warg.  Take your easy prey where you can, and gather a pack.  I will find you again, and soon.  Next time, I will be the hunter, and you the prey."  

When he came back to his estate, news was waiting for him that his childhood friend, Trellin, had gone missing. His head still full of visions, he packed up and set out on the road to continue the hunt.