Enrik

Enrik of the Hill

Player Name	Thomas
Relatives	Lorik of Fire (Husband, unknown) Grilma of the Hill (Daughter, deceased) Yaris of the Hill (Mother, unknown) Orfig of the Hill (Father, unknown) Ozroh of Stone (Master Blacksmith, deceased) Bimpnottin (Friend, unknown)
Languages	Common Giant Gnomish Thri-Kreen
Affiliations	Balabag Balabag Villa Un-Ravel Bastion (former)
Aliases	Aukseyks of the Hill (former Pterisian Tribal Name)
Place of Birth	Fiddlehead Mountains, Pteris
Species	Goliath
Gender	Transgender Male
Height	6'8"
Weight	275 pounds (armor/weapons doffed) 340 pounds (armor/weapons donned)
Eye Color	Grey

Enrik of the Hill is a Hill Goliath Artificer Champion/Expert, originating from a nomadic tribe of Goliath in the Fiddlehead Mountains of Pteris. He is currently part of the ongoing events in the Fantasial Freeze

Regrets and Desires

Enrik wishes to return to his tribe in the Fiddlehead mountains of Pteris with knowledge of his possibly divine fiery powers.

He also wants to reunite with his husband Lorik.

He also wishes to find the remains of his fallen daughter Grilma and best friend Bimpnottin.

He also wants to possibly get revenge for the ravaged Ellwick that took him in during the Freeze, which was attacked by something mystical and powerful.

He mostly wants to know how he was branded with fire powers in the aftermath of Ellwick's attack, and the true nature of these powers.

Physical Appearance

Enrik is small for a Goliath, "only" being 6'8" tall, and weighs approximately 275 pounds, almost entirely muscle, and 340 pounds in his full set of Grand Plate. Despite living through the entirety of the first four months of the Fantasial Freeze, Enrik appears well fed and healthy, due to his ability to eat any plant matter for sustenance, and the literal fire branded on his soul which keeps him warm. He sports a long black braided mohawk, no facial hair, and black tribal tattoos that start at his cheekbones, rise up over his eyes, and make their way around the bald sides of his head and down his back, as well as similar artwork on his arms and chest. The tattoos are typical Goliath tattoos that many receive when they are young. He is heavily scarred all over his face and body due to many encounters with both monsters and blowt, though his chest is covered in a large, touch scar across his pectorals that appears to have been caused by mutilation rather than combat. It is likely recent as it interrupts the flow of his tattoos and has not had the missing ink replaced. He sports dark grey eyes with heavy eye bags that don't ever seem to leave, no matter how much sleep he gets.

Enrik also has the ability to glow like a torch at will, to various strengths. He can simply shine like a light, or he can fully ignite various parts of his body to increase his prowess in battle. At lower scales, his tattoos begin to glow a soft orange light, and take on the appearance of a calm bonfire, but when fully ignited, Enrik's hair bursts into flames, breaking out of its braid and fanning out into a large mohawk made of red fire. His hands and feet also light on fire with the same red flame, leaving burn marks wherever he steps, and spreading up the haft of his specially designed warhammer, lighting the weapon on fire as well, as well as engulfing the razor sharp outer ring of his shield. When fully ignited, Enrik's tattoos begin to glow bright red and take on the appearance of a raging fire, are white-hot to the touch, and look as if flames themselves are about to burst out of his skin.

In combat, Enrik can be seen wearing a very heavy and ornate set of Great Armor, hand forged and customized by Enrik himself. The armor is painted black, with accents featuring all the colors of flames on various parts of the armor. His greaves are accented with a bright blue, matching the flame in the lantern that he carries, his breastplate has white and yellow accents, and his helmet and gauntlets are accented in red, matching his soul-flame. The breastplate also features a crest of a flaming anvil. His helmet resembles a German Sallet, with a slit through the top from forehead to the back of the helm, allowing his hair to rise through when he ignites himself and fan out like a Grecian Plume. His armor is heavily inlaid with exhaust vents on the greaves, gauntlets, and breastplates following the path of his tattoos, in order to let excess heat out of the armor, so he does not cook himself alive, but due to the cold nature of the environment Enrik finds himself him, the vents are always venting large amounts of steam when Enrik is ignited.

Personality

Enrik is gruff and hot-headed, but inquisitive and intelligent of the way machines work and how things are built. However, magical creations are beyond his understanding, which regularly causes bouts of frustration because he just cannot figure out how magical items are made, spells are cast, and the supernatural at large exists. That being said, Enrik has yet to meet a monster or Blowt that can't be put down by beating it with a hammer.

Enrik previously served as a calming presence and peacekeeper in his tribe on Pteris, but has given up such calm ambitions after he failed to convince his village on Osugbo to evacuate to Balabag when the Fantasial Freeze hit. Lately, due to his long seclusion, he has resorted to hitting things first, and asking questions later, but interactions with Kara and Clementine in Tusgrer brought him back to reality.

He is distrustful of those who wish to study the Blowt, viewing it as a corruption to be burned away, not a science project, but recent interactions with Isabelle and Kara have begun to show him that the Blowt is not simply an all-devouring disease. That being said, Enrik's main goal is to protect those in his found family as best he can, and even though he does not understand the Blowt's true intentions, it has taken far too many close to him, and should still be treated with extreme caution.

Enrik has recently formed an ill-researched vengeance against the Kiyoni family, due to his belief that they slayed the Frost Giants millennia ago. Though his goal to eliminate the Kiyoni's is aligned with that of Isabelle and the Bhearra, Enrik is still majorly distrustful of the Blowt, and will not sacrifice any living being for their interests.

Enrik has begun reconsidering his faith, spirituality, and place within the freeze, after a heartfelt letter from Yuki asking him to calm his anger and vengeance, and a discovery of where his fire may come from by Gale. He has begun attempting to save/ascend the Blowt, and stop the spread of the Harr to end the cycle of violence, but has failed to instill leadership amongst fellow travelers outside Balabag to keep them from attacking, which unfortunately continues the spread of the Harr.

The Thri-Kreen

The Thri-Kreen were a regular thorn in the side of the tribes of Goliath around the lower caves of the Fiddlehead Mountains. As the Central Desert of Pteris was home to many of the most dangerous monsters on the continent, the Thri-Kreen sought safe places to create their nests. Normally, Thri-Kreen bury their nests in the ground, but due to the burrowing monsters at play in the desert, their nests would very often be destroyed, so, they took to the Fiddlehead Mountains to find safer places to lay their nests. The lower caves were naturally an easy pick, with the only issue being that those caves housed the nomadic tribes of Fire, Hill, and Stone Goliaths of the Fiddlehead Mountains, so the tribes of Thri-Kreen would regularly stage attacks on various caves to push out the Goliath and take them for themselves. Due to the sheer number of Thri-Kreen, being a fast-populating insectoid species, fighting back was usually not the safest option, so the Goliath, especially the weaker tribes, would often choose to just surrender or run away to a new cave in order to avoid casualties. More violent tribes would attempt to fight back, but would rarely succeed in any meaningful way. The conflict has thus turned into an endless blood feud between the two species, with Thri-Kreen regularly attacking caves for breeding grounds, and more militant groups of Goliath staging Guerrilla Tactic hit and runs on the Thri-Kreen as revenge for their own dead, which only worsens the Thri-Kreen's need to breed. However, the Goliath don't have anywhere else they can go. Only Storm, Frost, and Cloud Goliath are strong enough to survive the raging storms atop the Fiddlehead mountains, and the weaker tribes aren't strong enough to move into the desert, and are often shunned from civilization due to their nomadic ways.

History

Enrik, born Aukseyks, was born in 436 PR to Orfig and Yaris of the Hill, in the lower caves of the Fiddlehead Mountians on Pteris, adjacent to the central desert of Pteris where many of the monstrous creatures of the continent lived. Enrik's tribe of Hill Goliaths were simple farmers and artisans, living off the land and learning basic trades. At age 8, Enrik began his training as a blacksmith to take over for the tribes aging blacksmith, Orzoh. Due to Enrik's eye for detail and inquisitive nature, he picked up the trade much faster than anyone expected, and at age 11, began dabbling in all the other relevant trades of the tribe in his free time, learning to support his village in any and almost every way possible. At age 13, Enrik's tribe took in a band of fire goliath refugees, who were escaping a recent attack from the Thri-Kreen, where he met another teenage boy, Lorik of Fire. Lorik had a natural aptitude for summoning flames, even more so than his Fire Goliath comrades who could only do so in limited capacity, however Lorik could easily summon massive bonfires and heat metal with a touch, so he was very quickly placed in the care of Orzoh, which is where Enrik and him met. The two quickly formed a very close bond, that only grew stronger as they got older, leading to their eventual partnership and marriage.

Orzoh passed away when Enrik was 19, and after the funeral, Enrik moved into his home with Lorik, and the two took over Orzoh's forge, becoming the tribe's blacksmiths. The two began exporting their goods to Jewelspar to trade with many of the merchants there and bring back valuable resources for their tribe. At age 24, Enrik gave birth to Lorik and his' first child, Grilma. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, their tribe has a large number of mothers with children who did not survive attacks by the Thri-Kreen, who would regularly nanny the children of the tribe in their late children's stead, so Lorik and Enrik were still able to focus on their work during the day, and childcare at night. The surviving Fire Goliath's in Enrik's tribe regularly tried to convince both Enrik and Lorik to sponsor raids on opposing Thri-Kreen, since Enrik could forge them powerful weapons and armor, and Lorik, with his aptitude for destructive magic, could provide a much-needed upper hand in battle, but both of them refused, knowing attacking would draw unwanted attention to their tribe, and put Grilma's life in danger.

While pregnant with Grilma, Enrik realized something--most races reproduce and protect their unborn through some sort of incubation. Most humanoids are pregnant, birds sit on their eggs, etc. The reason the Thri-Kreen used the ground was because it kept their eggs warm and protected from the elements, but the biggest concern was other monsters destroying the nest and eating their eggs. An idea popped into his head. What if he could invent an incubation device to mass produce and provide the Thri-Kreen so they could safely raise their young, and not need to push the Goliath out of the caves. The Thri-Kreen didn't live in the caves anyway. They lived in the desert, and only stayed in the caves temporarily during breeding seasons. However, Enrik knew that he didn't have the knowledge to make something so complex, nor the resources, and would never be able to find either on Pteris due to Jewelspar being dominated by Elves and wary of nomads. Enrik then began researching the other continents of Quelmar at the Jewelspar library for where vast resources and knowledge could be found, and discovered that the continent of Osugbo was not only home to many non-human/elf species, but had multiple cities that featured large libraries and vast knowledge, as well plenty of skilled artisans in various trades. However, moving to Osugbo was only a pipe dream. Convincing Lorik to leave his tribe is unlikely, and their child would likely not survive the long journey via boat to Osugbo.

Shortly after Grilma's birth, Enrik realized that motherhood was not for him. He was thankful for the tribe for raising her like a village, and for Lorik for being a wonderful father, but Enrik didn't understand children. He understood machines, weapons, and tools, but he knew he couldn't abandon his daughter. He tried to confide in Lorik his fears, and that something felt off inside of him, but Lorik struggled to understand, and attempted to reassure Enrik that raising children was the best way to secure the future of the tribe. Though this didn't cause Enrik to lose love in Lorik, it did confuse him deeply. Lorik had long expressed wishes that he was born a Storm or Cloud Goliath so he would have easier access to books and academic knowledge atop the mountains, and be able to cast magic that was supportive and entertaining, not purely destructive, but he could not understand Enrik's wishes to be something other than a mother and weaponsmith. He wanted to be a father, an inventor, and a peacemaker. However, Lorik, like many others, dismissed Enrik's wishes and ideas to create peace with the Thri-Kreen.

Four years after Grilma was born, while Enrik and Lorik were off trading in Jewelspar, their tribe was attacked and suffered heavy losses since they were missing their strongest fighter, and destructive caster. Upon returning from Jewelspar, the two found their cave filled with Thri-Kreen, and spent weeks searching for survivors, and when they found them in a cave far to the north, they discovered that Grilma had been killed, and her body had not been recovered. While Lorik vowed for revenge, and joined in his tribes growing violent notions, Enrik knew that further hostilities would only lead to the tribes' demise. Enrik tried to convince his tribe to use their limited wealth they had received from recent trading to hop on a boat and move to Osugbo, but the tribe was unconvinced, so Enrik left on his own in order to protect himself. This was the last time he saw Lorik, and the last look he saw was one of anger and disapproval

Upon arriving in Osugbo, Enrik made his way to Ravel, but realized he did not fit in amongst the animal folk of the city, so he journeyed to Balabag to find out where other villages were. After a long geographical study in the Balabag library, Enrik discovered a village of Rock Gnomes at the bottom of the mountains of the island, named Ellwick, and made his way there in hopes to study and learn from them, as they were natural inclined towards artificing. To his joy, Enrik was happily welcomed into Ellwick. They rarely had outsiders visit, and were more than happy to teach Enrik everything they knew. In return, Enrik served as personal bodyguard and security from bandits who feared his large stature, and imposing warhammer. He moved in with one of the town's hunters, a "gnome" named Bimpnottin, and the two grew close. Enrik lived in Ellwick until the onset of the Fantasial Freeze, learning more efficient ways to enhance weaponry, how to work with new technology, and began creating a draft for his incubation device.

Bimpnottin was not as inclined in artificing as the rest of Ellwick (because he was secretly a Halfling playing disguise), and Enrik and him bonded over the two being technical outcasts of the village. Not outcasts in the sense that they were pariahs, but because they were both different compared to the rest of the village. Bimpnottin instead served as Ellwick's primary hunter-gatherer. He taught Enrik how to properly skin animals and look for safe to eat plants and berries. Of course Enrik could eat almost any plant matter or not spoiled animal carcass due to his resilient Goliath digestive system, but it was nice to know which plants would taste better than others. Enrik in turn, personally modified Bimpnottin's shortbow, and looked after his pet jackal, Leo. The two became fast, and dedicated friends to each other.

Before the Freeze set in, Nearlander, archenemy of Fahrlander, arrived in Ellwick with his children, having been exiled from his village atop the mountain. The village was suspicious of him as Rock Gnomes and Summit Gnomes famously did not have good relationships with each other, however the village took him in nonetheless. Nearlander explained he had been exiled due to a difference in opinion of how to use a valuable resource they had mined, but he would not disclose what the resource was. Enrik suspected he had stolen the resource from his own village, and was hiding it from the people of Ellwick. Nearlander was caught trying to steal extra food from the food storage for his children, and was caught by Bimpnottin, who was returning from a hunting mission. Nearlander attempted to kill Bimpnottin, but was stopped by Enrik who overheard the ruccus. Enrik was forced to exile Nearlander from the village, but offered to let him keep his children here for safety, but Nearlander refused, took his children, his chest of belongings, and left.

Before Enrik finished his project, the Freeze set in. Ellwick deverted all resources towards creating warmer housing, putting all experimental projects on hold. During their improvements of Ellwick's housing, Bimpnottin returned from a hunting party with a warning. A monstrously large bull colored a deep shade of blue with glowing blue eyes was spotted close by the village tearing down trees with ease. Enrik knew not what the monster was, but attempted to convince his new found family to take the risk and evacuate to Balabag for security, but once again, his village would not listen. They deemed it safer to stay here and hope the monster didn't attack than take the risk trudging through the Freeze. Unfortunately, what Enrik predicted came to pass. The monstrous bull, a staggering 15 feet tall, attacked the village, and ransacked it completely. Makeshift furnaces exploded, rooves tumbled, and food storages were ravaged. There was nothing that could be done. The town did not have the weaponry available to fight back as they had diverted all magical resources towards their collective warmth. By the time the bull had left, the village had been completely wiped off the map, and there were no known survivors, other than Enrik. How he survived? He does not know. What he remembers is grabbing Flyswatter and taking battle to the bull in an attempt to protect the children of the village, being gored by the bull, and passing out. When he awoke, his fists were on fire, the snow around him was melted, and the schoolhouse was burnt to a crisp rather than crumbled like the rest of the village. The only obvious sign the bull had ever been there, aside from the ransacked town, was a single fragment of one of its horns impaled through Enrik's shoulder. Enrik's Lantern of the Sun that he had received as a gift from Bimpnottin was also corrupted with Blowtessence, the flame now burning blue like blowt, and never fading. Enrik searched the bodies of the dead to find Bimpnottin and see if he had maybe survived, but many of the dead were ravaged beyond recognition, and of the ones he could recognize, none were Bimpnottin.

After the ransacking, Enrik began blindly wandering the Osugbo countryside, hunting any monsters and Blowt he found on his way. For four months, Enrik never saw another living person, until he encountered a rakish band of adventurers in Tusgrer while hunting down a Blowt known as Mr. Mosquito.

Enrik recently accepted a gift of power from the Bhearra, which she gave him the potential for after ascending two Frost Giants. He knows now that ascending a blowt requires harming the target of their revenge, but he was not aware of that when he ascended them. His hope is to use his new power and magical resilience to stop the Bhearra and the Blowt, but time has yet to tell what consequences will come from dealing with such a hag.....

Adventures in the Freeze

Session 23: Becoming

Enrik's first adventure in the Freeze took place in Tusgrer, where he had tracked a massive Blowt known as Mr. Mosquito. After arriving in town, he snuck onto the building in which Mr. Mosquito was posted not realizing he was not the only adventurer in town that day. Before attacking, he locked eyes with Clementine, who was on an adjacent rooftop, who sang for Enrik and told him to "Kill that fucking bug!" To which Enrik valiantly attempted. Using Flyswatter, he quickly unleased two ravaging, flame filled attacks on the Blowt, popping his sack of viscera, and causing it to fly out of his reach. Before Enrik could take chase to the Blowt, Kara, through her studies of the Blowtessence, sucked all the Blowt out of Mr. Mosquito and placed it into herself, turning herself into a Blowt. Enrik attempted to take battle to her, but was quickly swarmed by the mind controlled townspeople of Tusgrer, who were angry with Enrik for attacking Mr. Mosquito, and for interrupting their lesson on sorghum from Quimbleton and Lorena. The townspeople World War Z'd up the side of the building and began beating the life out of Enrik. Fortunately, Enrik was saved by Quimbleton who cast a well timed sleep spell, putting all his former sorghum proteges to sleep. Enrik was then attended to by Osric and Alcordyn, who struggled, but managed to bring him back from the brink of death. While on Death's Door, Enrik's soul travelled to the Subsoil Air, where he saw the mass of glowing yellow eyes all around him, but he also saw his tribe. He saw Lorik beckoning a hand to him, appearing to welcome him home, but before Enrik could be convinced to stay, he was brought back to consciousness. In the meantime, Clementine managed to give Kara, trapped in Blowt, enough courage to stop attacking, and allow Hollowfoot the time to cast Cure Disease to, for the first time, cure someone of Blowt. The party then trudged away from town and made camp, before parting ways. Kara invited Enrik to join her in her Bastion in Ravel, where he could serve as a craftsman and build them a functioning workshop, to which he accepted.

Session 28: Damning

Enrik's second adventure took place in Balabag. Enrik had chosen to take a day away from constructing the Un-Ravel's workshop to visit and restock the Balabag library, where he met Cecil, Yuki, Thimbol, Farmer Lyell, and Clementine doing the same. After pulling a misplaced "Weaponry of Pteris" off the historical shelf, courtesy of Cecil, a stream of Blowtessence shot out of the bookshelf and landed on the floor, which opened a sort of--blowt hole--in which the Gravedigger Isabella climbed out. Before having a chance to fight the Blowt'd gravedigger, two children being chased by Wendigo's ran into the library, to which our party jumped to their *technical* rescue. One of the children was turned into a Wendigo and trapped in mind control by Yuki, and the other child had been gravely injured but not killed. The survivor exclaimed that the sorghum cart had been infected and that "Ravel will pay for this!" But Enrik was able to convince him it wasn't Ravel, as he knew Quimbleton would never do such a heinous act. The party then discussed what Isabella was and why she was here, and then joined forces to remove the Blowtessence from the Cindernest. The party walked in to find a ransacked church of some unknown Sun-God frozen in dark black ice, and all the torches glowed a blue blowt flame, matching the color of the flame in Enrik's Lamp of the Sun. Cecil entered a storage room and found a shifting mass of black ice that shifted into a statue of someone from whoever entered's past. Enrik watched as Clementine appeared to be taken over mentally by her statue, to which Enrik acted quickly and ineptly and smashed the statues with Flyswatter. The statues shattered in liquid Blowtessence, dousing everyone in the room. Fortunately, Cecil and Enrik were unaffected, but Clementine was not, and Enrik watched in horror as his last surviving friend turned into a Blowt by his own hands. Yuki and Thimbol acted quickly to find different solutions to cure her, Thimbol looking for a cleric or healer in town and Yuki searching for the tool they had been sent to find, but both were unfortunately too late. After a deadly battle with Clementine, Yuki managed to find the tool, but her mind controlled Wendigo had been defeated, no longer able to restrain Clementine, so Cecil and Enrik took the battle to her, attempting to knock her unconscious. Unfortunately, after defeating her, Clementine's body burst into flames and burnt away, with no explanation in sight. Enrik then tomahawked Flyswatter through the mural of the Sun on the back of the Cindernest wall, and left the building. The party was rewarded with a manor in Balabag and 1250 gold each. Enrik, Cecil, Yuki, and Thimbol all then moved into the manor to create the Balabag Bastion, all for various reasons. For Enrik, he was too ashamed of himself after losing yet another friend to return to Ravel, so instead he chose to stay in Balabag, leaving his work on the workshop in the Un-Ravel bastion unfinished, and to serve as custodian to his new bastion.

Session 31: Sacking

Enrik's third adventure began at the Manquel Bastion. Enrik came to the bastion to meet with Four to initially discuss how to improve his own Bastion, but upon arriving, learned that the Mosquito had returned to Tusgrer. Enrik agreed to help Four travel to Tusgrer, and eliminate the threat, alongside Fahrlander, Cecilia, Viralyn Kiyoni, Jim Dentured, Dak, and Dak Jr. The party travelled to Tusgrer, and upon arriving, Fahrlander scouted the town. He reported of a mass of townspeople covered in blood surrounded by corpses of Samurai, as well as the Mosquito, who was hanging out on the east side of town. The party regrouped and formed a plan that Enrik and Viralyn would control the crowd, while the rest of the group took the Mosquito head on. Viralyn created a storm cloud to distract the townspeople, while Enrik attempted, and failed, to sneak up on them. He began combat by raising the Gohei as he had seen Farmer Lyell do in the Cindernest, but do to Enrik's lack of understanding of magical artefacts, nothing happened. Instead, he then chose to use the new footwork he had learned from Cecil to get away from the crowd, and test out his new masterworked shield, Ricochet. Unfortunately, things did not go to plan, and the shield did not bounce through the crowd as Enrik had intended. The other members of the party quickly vanquished the Mosquito, though it reappeared on the other side of the battlefield by warping out of the corpse of one of the fallen samurai. The battle continued over the next few rounds in a similar manner, Enrik failing to deal with the crowd via his shield, and the other members of the party taking out the mosquito until Enrik was bombarded by the townspeople, seeking their revenge for the last time he was here, and knocking him down. Luckily, Four came to his rescue. He unleased his Tendrils of Night to pull Enrik out of the crowd, and then spun like a beyblade, taking out the entire crowd at once, and then healed Enrik. When the Mosquito resurrected for the third time, it opened a space time distortion between all the bodies it had warped out of, which then formed into a massive Blowhole right underneath Enrik, though he did not fall in. Any townspeople who approached him fell into the hole, but Enrik felt like he was floating on air. He once again wielded the Gohei and attempted to purify the rising blowt, and though it disappeared for a moment, it seeped back through the dirt reforming the blowthole wherever it had been cleansed. Enrik then joined Four in taking out the fifth resurrected Mosquito, and upon approaching it with the Gohei, it poofed back into a normal sized Mosquito. He used this information to feint with Flyswatter, turning it back into a normal mosquito, and then using his shield to bat it out of the air while it was small. Upon doing so, he smacked the mosquito, and a dead Frost Giant came flying out of its space with all the kinetic energy of a tiny mosquito being hit by a Goliath, and flew across the town, landing just short of Cecilia. The party examined the Frost Giant, and determined it to be a true blowt. Not a blowted person, a blowt itself from beyond the blowhole. Viralyn insisted on pushing the blowt back into the blowhole, but Enrik objected. He then painted over the fallen giant with the Gohei, and watched is it disintegrated into a gold shimmer, and faded into the afterlife. This marks the first time a blowt has been saved, not simply returned to its own dimension. The party searched the fallen people of the town and their homes, finding some food and gold, as well as a second Gohei. Enrik and Four agreed to send the second Gohei to the Manquel Bastion, and forged an alliance between the two bastons in their efforts to push back this threat. Before leaving, Enrik searched the homes of the town to find a memento to bring Osric, as he remembered this town meant something to him. The only thing in good condition he could find was a plush of a dire wolf. It would have to do. He then returned to Balabag, with his stuffed wolf, the Gohei, and a new band of friends at his side, and began his search for Osric.

Session 38: Checking-In (HOTELS HAUNTED)

Enrik's fourth adventure took place at the not so luxurious Hotel Kiyoni. Enrik was invited, along with five other adventurers, Clover, Cecil, Oswald, Fahrlander, and Kara, to the Grand Opening of the Hotel Kiyoni, hosted by Lady Viralyn Kiyoni herself. Enrik arrived late to the party, as moments before entering, the courier from Skyrim approached him with a letter from Yuki, divulging the events of her recent expedition (see session 37 of the Fantasial Freeze) and warning Enrik of letting his rage and vengeance control him, as more death and more anger seems to continue in increasing the Blowt problem via the spread of "The Harr." Enrik then took some time to cool down, as he was in fact planning on entering the Hotel swinging for Lady Kiyoni. After composing himself, and adding a cute wittle bow-tie to his appearance, Enrik entered the party. He was immediately found by Viralyn, who didn't remember his name (calling him Elrik, then Erik, and Erin, and finally Enrik), who then went to enjoy some delightful deviled eggs. While enjoying the eggs, Enrik was approached by a frantic Fahrlander, running from the basement of the hotel warning of oncoming Blowt. Enrik perched Fahrlander on his shoulder, Rocket Raccoon style, and entered the hallway, with his Gohei out and approached the oncoming whale and bird blowt. The birds flew overtop and attacked those in the ballroom, but the two whales stopped in their tracks, knowing they couldn't progress. Enrik then approached the Blowt, removing their spirits from their possessed bodies, trapping them in this realm as their bodies were still in tact. Dead, but in tact. Enrik tried to convince the Blowt to let him approach by speaking to them in Giant, but they were distrustful. Enrik failed to convince to Blowt once again, but he soon realize they were looking to Kara and her blowt'd form, and said "If you trust him, you can trust me. We both want to save you." and the Blowt relented, Enrik approached one and painted over it, saving its soul like he had in Tusgrer, but before he could help the other, Viralyn slew its material body, and it returned to the Subsoil Air.

After gathering themselves, Enrik showed Kara the letter from Yuki, and then visited the spaw with Clover, and then went to bed. Enrik woke in his room, earlier than he should have, to find his armor missing, and his fire unable to be ignited. He opened the door to his room and found the long, wailing dunes of the desert he grew up in. He began to wander them aimlessly, confused to how he got their, and upon cresting a large dune, her the wailing cries of his dead young daughter, Grilma. How can he hear her? Why is she alive? Will he finally find her body? Will it be a monster? All thoughts that ran through Enrik's mind as he began running across the dunes. He ran for countless hours, never running out of energy, searching, crying, screaming for Grilma. But he never found her. As he ran, he heard the skittering of a Thri-Kreen running under the sand, and prepared his fist as he had done countless times in Pteris. As the instectoid approached, Enrik kicked up the sand it was under and tried to punch it as it soared through the air from the kick, but missed, and the creature coiled itself around his arm, and bit into him, draining his life force in the material realm. After ripping the Thri-Kreen off his arm, Enrik awoke to Oswald shoving a piece of hypnic jerky in his mouth. He immediately ignited in flame, which caused a snake trail of fire to trace its way up his body, into his mouth, and down into his stomach, as the Hotel had been growing a corruptive fungus into his body, causing him to...hallucinate? Dream? Astral project? Enrik was unsure, but the fungus was burned up now, and Enrik cough of the ashes, and began to weep, before grabbing Oswald's shoulders and looking deep into his eyes, before saying "Please. Don't make look for her again. I can't search for her anymore."

The party, too busy to process that trauma, told Enrik to put a pin it for now, and began exploring the Hotel for evidence of what is going on. Upon entering Viralyn's office, Kara led the search and found a chest full of powerful magic items, to which Enrik took possession of The Gauntlets of Poison. The party also found a slew of scatter papers and runes that suggested Viralyn was partaking in an abyssal summoning ritual. The party then, inadvertently, wasted a LOT of time discussing the history of the Kiyonis in Quelmar and Enrik and Oswald argued about the true nature of The Bhearra, but Fahrlander pulled the squabbling warriors back on track, and led them back to the basement where he found a stone door and blowt earlier in the night. The party arrived in the basement to find four dead Kiyonis in a summoning circle, and the door open to another plane. Upon entering the door, they found floating rocks amongst an endless swirling mass of spores, with a dead Viralyn Kiyoni inside the door. Before long, the true nature of Viralyn's experiments showed herself: Mother, the Demon Queen of Mushrooms and Fungus. Attempting to break into the material world from her lair of the Abyss. The party took battle to her, fighting valiantly, and becoming infected with her spores in the process. Kara cast a spell that prevented Mother from temporarily leaving the realm through the door, but before the party could beat her into deconstitution, she disappeared into her cloud of spores to regenerate. With no visible enemy to fight, and our adventurers getting sicker every moment, they left the realm, hoping to come up with a better plan to stop her.

But those fools never considered I could ride along in the spores in their lungs, did they? One day, I will arise, and corrupt every inch of this world.

Our adventurers, defeated, and almost dead, returned to their homes, unsure why Viralyn brought them to the hotel in the first place, and unsure if they actually stopped the threat they faced. But that's a problem for a later time in Quelmar. For now, they divert their focus back to the Blowt.

Session 40: Evacuating

Enrik ventured to Davenwood after hearing about a fire sale that was going to be taking place to help source funds to rebuild the city after it had been burnt down in Session 25. The entire party (Jollyfist, Cecilia, Waebreena, Mundy, and Alcordyn) found themselves in the weapon and enchantment shop of Vincent von Bara. Jollyfist purchased weapons and enchantments for much of the party, including Enrik, who he bought a Hammer of Devouring. Enrik inquired about changing the command word for his Gauntlets of Poison to "Baloni" from "Kiyoni" but it would cost 150GP, which was too expensive for our local broke craftsman. Vincent then informed the party of "The Hanging" that would be happening soon. Stepping outside into the gallows, the party saw Keg Burnale, a clansman of Jollyfist, was being hung for allegedly starting the fire that burnt down much of Davenwood. Jollyfist, Waebreena, and Mundy failed to convince the mob of surprisingly happy Choeru that Keg was innocent before Alcordyn shot and snapped the noose around his neck. The mob unfortunately took it as the first rock being thrown and began attacking Keg. This onset of violence released Jaxso'llan from Waebreena's spirit, who was seeking to feed, and immediately possessed Carlos the Choeru, and then attacked another, releasing Harr into the courtyard, and piercing the veil to Orbis. Mundy and Jollyfist attempted to evacuate Mayor Rous and Keg while Enrik knocked out a chunk of the Choeru mob with a successful Ricochet bounce before facing down Jaxso'llan with the Gohei to seperate her from the now Blowt'd body. Enrik managed to subdue Jaxso'llan with the Hammer of Devouring, and appeared to stop the onset of more Harr, but Keg threw Mayor Rous out a window of the town hall, killing him (temporarily) and releasing more Harr. Cecilia's puppet Lisenna dragged Mayor Rous to safety and Mundy healed him, once again--appearing to end the onset of Harr. However, Jollyfist, mid-rage, attacked the pierce in the veil that formed upon Rous' death with his Bell-Hammer, and the toll of the bell tore open the pierce, releasing Saurus, the Undead Frost Giant leader of the Blowt into the courtyard. The party now needed to act quickly, and find as many of the Choeru who hid from the terrifying Jaxso'llan before Saurus Blowt'd the entire town. Enrik, Mundy, and Jollyfist took battle to Saurus to distract him, Alcordyn disrupted his sorcery, and Cecilia and Waebreena began searching for survivors. When it was clear that attempting to hold back Saurus was not a feasible option, Enrik switched to rescue team, entering one of the buildings Saurus had blasted with Blowtessence, saving Lisenna from an attack from three Blowt'd Choeru, and guiding them to safety outside of the town. On his way out, Enrik came face to face with Saurus. Enrik immediately screened his pikmin party of Choeru, stared down Saurus, and said "You'll never take me," before withstanding one last hit, and evacuating his party. Enrik attempted to convince the Blowt spirits, trapped inside his bubble of purity from the Gohei, to let him save them, but they refused, unless Enrik helped them find "The Steelcheek." Thinking they sought to kill more people, Enrik said "no" and attacked them with the Hammer of Devouring, and solo'd three Frost Giants ghosts, and permanently killed them, thanks to the Hammer of Devouring eating their souls. Enrik then helped escort the 10 Choeru the party managed to save, including Mayor Rous, Wubly the chef, and the caked up Choeru priest, as well as Keg, to Ravel for safety. Enrik then brought Alcordyn back to the Balabag Villa, along with the weight on his soul knowing that he was unable/unwilling to save the Blowt he had trapped. Is it better for them to return to Orbis and potentially extend the cycle of violence, or to be permanently killed, but never reach ascension? Enrik knows not. And now Enrik is down an enchanter, having not managed to find and save Vincent von Bara. Perhaps he can still be saved, should Enrik, or someone else with a Gohei return to Davenwood, but for now, Enrik is stuck shouting "Kiyoni!" everytime he wishes to use his gauntlets.

However, Enrik did leave with much helpful knowledge: Saurus himself is unaffected by a Gohei, since the large skeleton is his actual physical form, though his magic can be subdued, whether by a Mageslayer ally or by a Gohei in the radius of his spells, and, that a blowt'd person can be save by using the Gohei to remove the Frost Giant spirit from their body, and then killing the Frost Giant or subduing them back to Orbis, which in turn saves the body of the possessee. The Gohei also traps those it has removed from a possession within its bubble of purity, and will forcefully drag them along should the wielder of the Gohei move. Also, Saurus appears to slowly heal all wounds done to him, except for those applied by the Hammer of Devouring......

Enrik is now preparing for his next encounter with Saurus. He has a weapon that prevents Saurus from healing, fire that burns his soul, acid that erodes his bones, armor that can withstand the heavy hits of Saurus' axe, and an artifact that prevents himself from being Blowt'd. All that he needs now is a sick taunt to show Saurus that Enrik is not afraid, and will not let him take any more of his comrades.

Powers and Abilities

Aside from being really good at hitting things with Flyswatter, Enrik has the ability to, at will, light himself, and whatever weapon he is wielding, on fire, thanks to the brand on his soul, as well as stave off the effects of natural extreme heat and cold, and shrug off the initial effects of magical flame. As a show of strength, Enrik stood in and walked through a large bonfire created by Kara, who had enlarged the flame to block Enrik's vision of her while sitting around said bonfire after a mission gone wrong.

Enrik and Gale were able to recently discover that Enrik's fire is likely divine in nature, and tied to a recent string of fiery cultist attacks in Ravel by a cult of a new formed God named Amaun. More research is needed to verify the timeline of the attacks and Enrik's awakening of his fire, as well as the existence of this new God, before confirming anything. Though evidence suggests that the attacks on Ravel tooks place mere days before Enrik's Gnomish village was attacked, and he awoke with his newfound power. The recent events in Davenwood suggest the Burnale clan may have some loose ties to Amaun as well.

Enrik also has an uncanny ability to always get back up no matter how hard he has been hit. Enrik has bridged the door to death many times, but as it stands, no natural cause has kept him down for longer than a few minutes.

Enrik is also a master crafter and artificer. With a days work, he can craft virtually anything that a standard trade would (i.e. blacksmithing, shoe cobbling, glassblowing) and with enough time and resources, he can also provide specific, unique upgrades to the weaponry and armor wielded by himself and his compatriots.

Enrik has discovered a way to consume his own fire to heal himself mid battle, akin to drinking the fire of the River Phlegethos.

Attacks and Weapons 

Enrik's main weapon is his warhammer, Flyswatter, that he has had with him since arriving on Osugbo. The hammer sports an unconventional appearance, having had the middle shaved down to create two sharp prongs on the outside of the warhammer to give the weapon the ability the lacerate organic matter, but still provide the heft and OOMPH of a warhammer. It almost looks as if someone mashed two axe heads together, but upon closer inspection, it is clear the hammer was delicately and precisely reforged and shaved in order to keep the integrity of the weapon in tact, though to an untrained artificer and warrior, the maintenance necessary for such an unconventional weapon would be too much. Flyswatter has also had its haft heavily customized to allow the weapon to be efficiently one-handed by Enrik himself, allowing ease of use in close quarters, contrary to his large stature. The haft is also wrapped in a thick wick to allow the flames from Enrik's hands to spread up the hammer and ignite the head, increasing its effectiveness in battle.

Enrik also wields a studded round shield, named Ricochet, painted black and red to match his armor, which features a razor sharp outer ring, and a similar wick system throughout to allow the shield to ignite like Flyswatter. Ricochet appears much more delicately and precisely made, as if this was Enrik's magnum opus up to this point. Inside the shield, invisible to an untrained eye, is a spring-loaded propulsion system that Enrik learned from his former Gnome village that allows the shield to store kinetic energy upon making impact with a target and then release it to bounce between a currently unknown number of targets and then return to Enrik. (Currently known Ricochet maximum bounces: 3)

Enrik also possesses a Blowtflame Lantern, known as The Lantern of the Sun, in which the flame never fades.

Enrik shares a Gohei with the rest of the Balabag Bastion, but when it is in his possession, he has customized Flyswatter to be able to accept the Gohei as a haft for the hammer, allowing him to wield his hammer, shield, and Gohei all at once. The Gohei is a red staff with two five-foot white ribbons flowing from one end.

Enrik obtained the Gauntlets of Poison while surviving the horror filled night at the Hotel Kiyoni. When the command word is spoken, the Gauntlets coat whatever weapons Enrik is weilding in a vile acid, adding more damage onto his attacks. The acid does not evaporate from Enrik's fire. However, the command word for the Gauntlets is "Kiyoni." Enrik is actively seeking a way to enchant a different command word onto the Gauntlets so he does not have to yell the name of the family that murdered(?) his Frost Giant kin many millenia ago.

Jollyfist Burnale purchased Enrik a Hammer of Devouring, a menacing, debatably sentient warhammer that has the biting maw of a dire wolf as its head, which dismembers both the body and the spirit of those it hits, preventing them from healing, removing their soul, and healing the wielder via the life essence of those slain. The hammer has the ability to kill Blowt outside of Orbis Alius provided the Blowt's Frost Giant Soul has been removed from it's host body via a Gohei or potentially other unfound magical means. When not wielding the hammer, Enrik keeps it locked in the chest it was sold to him in by Vincent von Bara (R.I.B.).

Inventions

Ricochet: A studded, sharpened roundshield, featuring an inlaid spring-loaded propulsion system which allows the shield to bounce between a currently unknown maximum number of targets. Wielded by Enrik alongside Flyswatter or his Hammer of Devouring.

Drakonmail: A meshed together set of Pieced Armor, consisting of iron gauntlets, a chainmail tunic, hardened leather shoulder pads, a scale mail breastplate, and iron shin and thigh armor, designed specifically for Gale to allow him to continue bonking with a Gohei at maximum capability while not restricting movement.

The Talons: A set of steel claw blades designed for Osric to allow him an effective weapon when in human form, which expand via a set of springs and cables, to still fit Osric's hands after he has shifted.

X Add worldbuilding credits now!

Relationships

Kara: Enrik formed a brief, friendly bond with Kara, after facing off with her blowt'd form in Tusgrer. After a back-and-forth volley of intimidation between the two around the campfire, they bonded over their shared flame, and unique outlooks on death. Kara invited Enrik back to her bastion in the Un-Ravel, to which Enrik briefly became their custodian and craftsman. Though, after Kara's disappearance, Enrik felt out of place amongst the other members of the bastion, and left in the dead of night, leaving his work there unfinished. Kara and Enrik reunited after months apart during the events at the Hotel Kiyoni. To Enrik's relief, Kara was not upset he had left her bastion in Ravel, but was skeptical of Enrik's plan save the seven Frost Giants trapped inside Kara's blowted form.

Quimbleton Fiddleford: Quimbleton and Enrik formed a mutual respect for one another after Quimbleton saved his life in Tusgrer. The two exchanged experiences with the Blowt around the campfire, and then went their separate ways upon arriving in Ravel, though Quimbleton's intelligence and experience left a profound impact on Enrik, who was saddened to learn he had disappeared into the Blowthole with Kara.

Clementine: Enrik and Clem appeared to form a mutual respect for each other after the events of Tusgrer, and during the events at the Cindernest, but after indirectly leading to Clementine's death within the Cindernest, Enrik abandoned his home in Ravel in an attempt to forget his now three fallen comrades.

Yuki: Enrik and Yuki formed a budding friendship within the Cindernest and after moving into the Balabag Villa Bastion, both sharing an ambition to protect the newly acquired Gohei from those interested in stealing it, as well as unraveling the mystery of Kiyoni family. Yuki and Enrik's friendship grew when Yuki wrote a letter to Enrik, asking him to consider the spiritual impact of fighting the Blowt in anger, and enacting his revenge against the Kiyonis for their transgressions(?) against the Frost Giants. This caused Enrik to truly consider his spirituality and faith for the first in a while. This, plus a new found discovery by Gale, has changed Enrik's view of his place in this mess.

Thimbol Goldbone: Enrik does not understand Thimbol's ambitions, but has agreed to help build Osseo Corp LLC to help invade the Kiyoni empire from underneath them, and build the necessary workshops and storehouses needed within the bastion. He was saddened to learn of his passing from Farmer Lyell, and helped raise a dinosaur skeleton in the Villa Courtyard, as well as engraving a memorial plate for Thimbol.

Cecil: Enrik and Cecil became friends via combat after the events of the Cindernest, and as a show of good faith, Enrik upgraded family Cecil's rapier in exchange for Cecil to teach Enrik some new fighting techniques to enhance his prowess in battle beyond taking blow after blow. Enrik does not appreciate Cecil's lethargy in helping improve the bastion, even if that harpsichord IS very beautiful. Though the two specialize in different weaponry, Cecil was able to teach Enrik new forms of fancy footwork to aid his defense and survivability in battle.

Osric: Osric aided in saving Enrik's life after the first events his first time in Tusgrer, though the two did not interact much aside from Enrik learning the town was of *some* importance to Osric. After Enrik's second visit to Tusgrer, in which the town was reduced to a population of zero, Enrik retrieved a memento, a plush dire wolf, to bring to Osric. After word spread through some unsavory groups that Enrik was looking for Osric, the two met at the Cindernest, and shared words in their disdain for the Gods of Quelmar, before Enrik informed Osric of the tragedy at Tusgrer. What appeared at first to be a growing standoff due to the tragedy, the two eventually shared words of kindness to ease the other's souls, and formed the beginning of a friendship, as well as an alliance between the two, in which Osric will aid Enrik and the Balabag Bastion in their efforts of subterfuge against the Kiyoni's, in return for Enrik's help in reforming the Unseen Eye into something more well-meaning than they currently are.

Seven Six Five Four Three: Though the two initially met with the intention of exchanging Bastion building advice, the two formed a makeshift leadership of the second group of adventurers to head to Tusgrer. Four saved Enrik's life multiple times throughout the battle, earning his respect, and after the town was "saved," the two agreed to send the newly found Gohei to the Manquel Bastion, as well as creating a favorable military alliance between the two factions, with Manquel serving as an armory and spearhead for future Balabagian operations, whereas Balabag would serve as a front and spybase for those invading the city from within. Around the campfire, Enrik attempted to discern why Four asked to be stabbed after the events at Tusgrer, unfortunately to no avail. The morning after, the human body Enrik had come to know had seen a change in personality and intonation in his voice, though Enrik was unable to discern what had happened.

Oswald: Despite their squabble over the true nature of the Bearah, the small Choeru and our large Goliath fought, and survived, a battle with an ancient eldritch horror, and are now Battle Bound. Also, they really like screening each other. No, I'll take the hit! No, I will! No, me!!!!

Gale: In return for crafting Gale the Drakonmail, Gale performed research on Enrik's fire, providing him with useful information about its origin.