Application - Karteria

[whisperedone]

OOC INFORMATION

Name: Lysoke
Are you over 18?: Yes
Contact: DM, Lysoke on Discord or Lysoke
Other characters: N/A
Permissions & opt-out: Permissions, Opt-out

IC INFORMATION

Name: Garner Cinderbrooke
Canon: OC (Of the D&D Variety, Exandria setting)
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Appearance: He’s tall at 6’3” but muscular, he has shoulder-length dark brown hair and a dark tan/olive complexion. His eyes are both damaged, resulting in permanent blindness; one was damaged through ritual acid exposure, and the other was cut by a dagger during a fight.
Canon point: Near the end of his campaign, right before he reveals to his friends that he’s the Open Vein and wants them to kill him.

History: (World Info)
Garner was born in The Grey Valley in the Cliffkeep Mountains of Tal’dorei to a cult cell called The Remnants, devout worshipers of the lich Vecna. Garner’s parentage is a mystery to him, and he was raised communally by the other members of the Grey Valley sect. The Remnants value information and knowledge and covet secrets over all else, resulting in Garner’s education being very basic to start, but when he showed aptitude and ambition, that education expanded.

Every action and goal of the Remnant cult is to aid Vecna in his goal of godhood and rulership over creation, as in their minds, if everyone serves Vecna, there is no need for war or strife. This impression meant individuality and self-examination were not highly prioritized, so a lot of Garner’s time was spent studying or praying or helping in the Valley’s main export of goods for their resources: the shadegrass that grows only in the Umbra Hills, gathering pieces of the petrified wood from the valley itself, or hunting rare wildlife in the mountains.

When Garner was just entering his teenage years, his prayers finally paid off, and he became one of the few Remnants that actually heard the Whispered One’s voice in his mind, a chosen of Vecna. From then on, his studies became more intense, as his leaders turned to focus him on gathering power and knowledge as a tool for Vecna’s use. Never once did Garner doubt or think anything else could be made of his life. He wasn’t passionate for his cause so much as it was simply the way of his life.

Even the ceremony to permanently damage his left eye at eighteen (a ceremony meant to bring the Remnants closer to Vecna and honor him) didn’t sway his course. What finally caused a stir in him was his final test in his early twenties, a requirement of all Chosen to prove their unwavering devotion to Vecna. This test called for gathering a piece of lost power or knowledge, even at the cost of (or sometimes encouraged to include) an act of great violence or destruction. To prove he was at the top of his ability, Garner went to a nearby village in the Cliffkep mountains where the group had learned a Ring of Wishes had been found. Garner walked into town and razed the entire thing, including most of a population of almost three hundred, to the ground without hesitation.

Only in the aftermath, when he found the ring, saw what remained of his actions, and heard the dying cries of his victims, did a spark of empathy and doubt rear up. To that point, he’d never been forced to face the reality of his intended existence and the pain it might cause. The revelation was too much to handle all at once, however, and he largely buried it in his mind, the only evidence of his turn lay in his decision to hide the ring and claim it hadn’t been in the village after all. Instead, he went back with what resources he could salvage, an offering the leadership took as a general success.

Garner’s perceived viciousness earned him the title of ‘The Open Vein’ which followed him as he was tasked with more horrific and brutal crimes in the name of Vecna, actions that whittled at him slowly over the course of the years.

Outside of the Valley, political strife and battle raged in Tal’dorei, but none of it caught Garner’s attention until another sect of the Remnants succeeded in helping Vecna reach his ascension. For a time, the Chosen of the Grey Valley heard, saw, and knew nothing else but the overwhelming presence of their god fully realized and on the Material Plain with them. It was through these borrowed senses that Garner witnessed Vecna’s battle with the land of Tal’dorei’s heroes as they eventually defeated and sealed Vecna behind the Divine Gate with the rest of the world’s gods.

In the aftermath, many of the Remnants were angry at the development and redoubled their efforts and dedication, but Garner was left with the memory of what true heroism looked like, and the idea that the people his cult were so set on dismantling might just be worth protecting after all. His guilt and doubt came flooding back tenfold and woke him from his intended path.

A couple months later, Garner enacted his plan to escape the Grey Valley with the intention of grabbing the Ring of Wishes so he might gather enough power to come back and destroy the cult. However, he was caught by one of the other members he’d grown up with, Gate, who fought with him. The resulting fight ended with Gate cutting Garner’s other eye and permanently blinding him. Considering him as good as dead, Gate dumped Garner’s body into a nearby river, which took him over the falls and out of the land.

He likely would have died were it not for the intervention of a tiefling in the area named Cazriel Cinderbrooke, a bloodhunter on the trail of a dangerous monster nearby. She saved Garner and nursed him back to health. Over the course of the next year, Cazriel taught Garner how to cope with his new blindness, how to fight, and how to utilize his own blood as power in the way of a bloodhunter. Garner never once told her what he’d done or who he was to the Remnants, only that he’d fled them and that he wanted to tear down the Grey Valley cult, as well as any other Remnants along the way. She tempered his anger into something cool and functional and taught him the patience of a true hunter, as well as helped show him the value of the life of the world around him. “Nature is chaos, as are the people that come from it. Both are beautiful and unpredictable for it, and both are worth protecting” were the words he built his new idea of himself on.

When he was finally ready, Garner set out on the only lead he had: a possible Remnant force in the town of Stilben and a quiet secondary goal of maybe finding a group of people who would help him in his goal. After all, the Grey Valley cult was powerful, and in the end, the power of the Open Vein and the whispers of Vecna’s voice still in his mind would need to be eliminated as well.

Through a series of misadventures, Garner met a human noble named Raleigh, a moon elf noble named Rory, and a halfling monk named Fig, who joined with him for their own protection in their mutual travels. The group grew very slowly closer, their goals bleeding into each other to the point that his companions agreed they would help Garner in his aim to rid the continent of the Remnants they could find and help the people hurt by them while he helped them with their own demons from the past.


Personality answers:
1. Explain which event in canon is most pivotal to your character's development, and who they are today.

The only reason Garner is who he is today is because he witnessed and felt Vecna’s defeat while connected to him during his ascension. Within a short span of time, he witnessed the very event he’d been raised to support, expect, and want: his god’s ascension, then saw the people of the land come together, support each other, and fight with their lives to stop him. He witnessed selfless bravery and it made him want to try and do the same with his life.

2. Your character must live with only one sense for a year. They are allowed to choose. What do they pick? Why? How do they cope?

If he was allowed to choose what one sense to keep, he’d keep hearing since it’s the one sense he feels he has to be connected to those around him and it’s his main way of navigating through the world. He’d be okay with that for a couple weeks, but the loss of touch would hit him sooner or later, since touch is his other main way to navigate and experience the world. He’d miss smell and taste, but the Grey Valley was already bland in both categories, he could weather those. Loss of touch, though, would slowly make him feel more and more like he’s not connected to the world around him. Even with hearing still, it would slowly start to feel a bit like a long, elaborate, hallucination. Unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t do much better if he had touch and not hearing either.


3. What would it take to truly upset your character, enough that they would act upon their feelings? Are they the sort to forgive?

This has come up twice in his campaign, both times in dealing with cultists from his own sect. He almost murdered a teenager who was trying to become a chosen because he didn’t immediately turn away from being a cultist when Garner offered him the chance. It was the rest of the party that talked Garner down and talked the kid around to trying to be better and do something else with his life while he could. It happened again when Garner encountered Gate again for the first time since their fight. He tried to offer Gate a way out and to turn their back on their goals that would ultimately lead to mass destruction of civilization, he even pushed harder than he did with the teenager since he and Gate had once been very close, but Gate turned him down and offered for Garner to join them instead. Their unrepentant anger and rancor was what made Garner turn on them with the spell Power Word Kill. What he can’t stand is people who remind him of himself as the Open Vein, unrepentant evil with no sign of ever showing remorse for their deeds. The argument for the fact Garner himself eventually showed remorse and changed even after being the Open Vein could be made, but forgiving those people might mean forgiving himself and that’s not something he’s capable of doing right now.

4. What is your character's biggest ambition at their current canon point? To what lengths would they go to see it to fruition?

At his current canonpoint, all of his friends have solved their personal goals and he’s traded a massively powerful artifact to Vecna for additional power in the hopes he can take out the entire Grey Valley on his own rather than involve his friends as he originally planned. He’s just killed Gate when they wouldn’t turn their backs on their goals, so he’s fairly set on seeing his own through and ending the whole campaign by dying in the process. At the end of the day, what he really wants is justice for the 250+ people he murdered two years ago and, in his mind, that means his death. He wouldn’t take just any way to see that through, but he would definitely be willing to take a ‘worthy’ death if it fell into his lap…alternatively, gathering enough power in Karteria to potentially take back with him to aid him in his goals would also be something he would pursue to just about any (not too evil) ends.

Inventory:
-Glaive (In this style)(Non-magical)
-Ring of protection (Magical, it mostly helps to make hitting him a little harder even without armor)
-Symbol of Pelor (Non-magical)
-Arcane Focus in the form of the Remnant Symbol (Helps with casting magic; what magic it held independently will be gone)

Powers/Abilities: In the non-magical variety, Garner is very strong and very intelligent. What he lacks in just about every other category is made up for in literal brain and brawn. He has proficiency with staff-like weapons like his glaive, rapiers, and nearly any other simple weapon he can get his hands on. He was also a proficient alchemist back when he had sight, though he hasn’t figured out a way to counteract his lack of sight with needing to measure his supplies or check for color.

Bloodhunter Abilities
Blood Maladict - Garner can cut himself and use the magic of his blood to inflict curses on his targets through their blood. (As a curse specialist, the curses would normally work even if the target doesn’t have blood.) At his level, Garner has three curses: Bloated Agony (Target swells and causes damage to itself if it moves too much), Curse of Binding (Prevents target from moving at all for a few seconds), and Curse of the Marked (he can mark a target with his blood and do a little extra damage to them per hit.) He can amplify these curses by doing more damage to himself and cause the curses to hold for a full minute rather than a few seconds. He can inflict these curses three times per short rest (a rest of an hour or more.)

Crimson Rite- He can run his blood across the edge of his weapon to increase damage he deals and include an elemental effect. He only has ice, fire, and radiant damage available to him.

Brand of Castigation- Whenever he damages a target with his Crimson Rite, he can brand the target with a hemocraft glyph so he always knows the direction of the target. If the target does damage to him or someone he can see close by, the target is dealt psychic damage. He can do this once per short rest.

Chosen of Vecna abilities (Granted on the character sheet through Sorcerer Initiative Feat), these spells are what remain from being in Vecna’s cult.

Chill Touch- He makes a ghostly hand reach out and touch someone to do some damage.

Prestidigitation- A minor utility spell that allows things like cleaning or sensory effects.

Earth Tremor- He can cause a small earthquake that can cause light damage to people if they can’t keep their feet.


Samples: Here & Here

Player Goals: On a larger scale, I want to get Garner involved with things outside of the city as I can, whether that be exploration or resources or hunting, he’s not going to feel comfortable in the cities due to his limited mobility (unless or until he gets CR that can help him,) plus he’s naturally curious and smart, he’ll want to learn as much as he can. On a more personal level, developing empathy was the dividing line that made Garner break from his identity as the Open Vein in his cult, so slowly losing that and whether/when he notices he’s losing that will be a fun development in either trying to get it back or accepting that the kinder part of his life is over now. :)

Soul Choice: Cephlapoda