Thuroban
From 4th Edition
| Thuroban |
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| Status: Hanging Out in a Basket |
Thuroban is an Eladrin wizard. While he's fairly knowledgeable, he possesses almost no skill in practical magic. He holds a bitter grudge against all adventurers who he sees as brutes and thugs. He has many justifications for this hatred, though it really boils down to his jealousy over adventurers' powers and abilities.
Thuroban Introduces Himself in the Shadow Mansion
DM's note: Thuroban's introduction is probably my favorite speech in the whole campaign.
My name is Thuroban. I am a wizard and an accountant. That I should find myself here, doomed to spend the rest of my life in this nightmare townhouse, separated from the violent energies of the nether planes only by the good will of a band of murderous, thugish, do-gooders is certainly the greatest irony of my of soon to be abbreviated life.
And why am I here, do you ask? Is it because I embezzled millions of gold pieces from the shipping agency for whom I used to work and then poisoned my boss and framed his brother to get away with it? Oh no, that would be too simple. Too straight forward. No, I'm here because of my stupid little club and it's stupid gullible members, who will say anything to anyone if that person promises them money. Actually, I guess I should be speaking in the past tense because they're all dead now.
You see, I'm not much of a wizard. I had a great deal of talent for the theory, but much less success in practice. My dagger, I received from my father, along with all sorts of stories and rituals and other rubbish. It was fantastically old, and severely drained, but I made do. My followers were the real key. I had four of them, you see, also passed on from my father, and in their presence, my own dagger became strong enough to perform the basic magical experiments that I had envied since university.
Oh, I followed the rituals and said the chants and prayers well enough. My acolytes were middle-aged salary men with zero talent, desperate for whatever slice of arcane power they could squeeze with their chubby fingers. They craved the legend and the mystery of the Order of Whatever, and I did what was needed to oblige.
And then the adventurers came. An unscrupulous bunch; I never found out who they were. With my luck they're one of the three groups camped downstairs. They came offering gold and trinkets, or whatever middle-aged salary men want. Probably women, actually. And my followers obliged them by revealing every detail about our little club. I learned this all afterward, of course. After they came at night and robbed and killed. I escaped their fury, but not the hand that guided them. The Thief, or Henderson, or whatever they call him downstairs, summoned his headless minions and chased me half-way down the continent, all for such a silly useless dagger.
When I woke up, I found myself here, imprisoned by his messengers. Their necrotic essence permeates every inch of this place, though the incense you're currently letting billow out the door keeps out their stench and keeps me sane. If you don't mind, I do wish you'd close the door and let me rot in peace.
History
Thuroban was born and raised in Waterdeep to a middle-class father whose only real distinction was his status as the last surviving member of an ancient order of mages, who were able to channel and amplify their magical power through special daggers. Thuroban received from his father a comfortable upbringing, a quality education, and after his death, a magical dagger.
Despite his youthful dreams and ambitions of becoming a powerful sorcerer, Thuroban lacked the Charisma to harness the wild arcane energies his peers were able to so easily influence. Despite his considerable intelligence Thuroban was never taken seriously by the arcane community because of his inability to cast even the most basic ritual. Discouraged and embittered, Thuroban resigned himself to a station in life similar to his father's, and settled into a dead-end job as an accountant.
Thuroban Assumes the Role of Charlie
After being stranded on Chult, Thuroban did his best to survive among the beggar population outside of Port Nyranzaru. Being a practiced alchemist, he took advantage of the island's exotic plant life to sustain himself through selling potions.
After some months, he heard rumors of a rare herb growing deep in the nearby jungles. Against his better judgment, Thuroban resolved to investigate the rumors and soon found himself venturing deep into hostile and uncivilized regions. After reaching the lake mentioned in the rumor, he discovered a strange bi-pedal bird creature drinking from the water. Not recognizing the species, Thuroban hid himself and prepared to capture the beast for the sake of selling the strange creature back in town.
The bird man caught sight of him before he was able to pounce, and quickly fled into the underbrush. Giving chase, Thuroban managed to keep up with the awkward beast for quite a ways, where finally it's pleading cries were answered. Descending from the air above, Large White Sphere appeared above him, lowering down a beam of light that swept up both the bird creature and Thuroban into its inner dimension.
Rather than send him off on a suicide mission, Large White Sphere chose to make Thuroban it's speaker in the hopes that a native would have better luck at convincing adventuring teams to help out so that they could avoid having to implant white spheres in all of their agents. While publicly resenting this duty, Thuroban is secretly flattered to be chosen by these extraterrestrial policemen and does a fair job of furthering their agenda.
