Durzibethinus

Durian Grunwald

Player Name	Jeff
Languages	Common, Draconic, Elvish, Giant, Infernal, Telepathy
Affiliations	Band of the Iron Hawk
Date of Birth	806 PR
Place of Birth	Jadenhill, Isonhound
Species	Dragonborn
Gender	Male (he/him)
Height	6' 4"
Weight	260 lbs
Eye Color	Emerald

Durzibethinus Grunwald is an emerald gem Dragonborn Sorcerer residing on the continent of Isonhound during the year 825 PR. He is the son of the high sorcerer of the Court of Quartz at the Temple on Jadenhill. After a Dragon attack left his temple ransacked and robbed of gem artifacts such as the Selune Splinter, he left home to explore the greater continent with hopes of finding a way to protect his clan from new and ongoing threats.

History

Durian was born at the Temple on Jadenhill, a small community off the southern coast of Isonhound. Its population is primarily metallic Dragonborn and was settled by a clan of devout Bahamut worshippers who emigrated from Pteris in the early PR era to escape the chaos of the Cavalry Rush. The town of Jadenhill consists of little more than the temple, which is partially built into the ruins of an ancient abandoned mining project.

The temple practiced its worship in relative peace and seclusion for nearly three centuries, finding ways to honor Bahamut while they awaited his inevitable return, such as studying the Way of the Ascendant Dragon. However, they would fall victim to the Razing of Isonhound in 700 PR, flattening most parts of the temple that were not housed in the repurposed mining tunnels. Most lives were spared, but it was a devastating loss that would prove too difficult to build back from without outside help. They began tiptoeing back into the outside world to attempt trade and other forms of participating in greater society.

Blaming Tiamat's Dragons for this misfortune, they wrote letters declaring their loyalty to the church of Kragnux the Dragon Slayer, adding the god to their pantheon of deities. Around this same time, a few of the children in town had been born with brilliant, gemlike scales and proved to be gifted with psionic powers and sorcery. The origins of this gem ancestry was unknown, but the temple's priests interpreted it as a blessing from Bahamut as proof that they were on the most noble path.

This interpretation would prove regrettable as the growing church of Kragnux became radicalized against not just Dragons, but against all draconic races. The temple heard word of the Dragonborn being slaughtered in the Second Draconic Crusades and quietly dissolved their allegiances to the church, but it was too late to recluse their community again. They had rebuilt and thrived with the benefit of outside trading partners who knew of the temple and would soon be visiting in greater numbers.

The temple leaders devised a system for receiving guests, erecting a mage tower dubbed the Court of Quartz to serve as a visitors center as well as house many of the artifacts pulled from the former mining tunnels over the years, including a large amethyst gem shaped like a Dragon egg. They also appointed a high sorcerer, one of the gem-touched Dragonborn, to reside in the tower and perform an essential part of their plan using one of the few rocky relics in the collection brought over from the old continent.

Dubbed the Selune Splinter and described as a fragment from an ancient moon crystal imbued with peculiar paranormal properties, it is able to amplify illusionary magic to increase its effect and distance. Wielding this artifact, the high sorcerer could cast a spell over the entire temple to disguise its Dragonborn residents as Wood Elves, the primary inhabitants of the Woldlin region. This ruse was successfully kept up for the remainder of the century, and the monotonous high sorcerer position would be passed between gem-touched Dragonborn before reaching Durian's mother.

Ironically, the long-awaited return of Bahamut in 795 PR would also soon signal the end of this ruse. As Dragons were now free to wreak their will on the realm, the temple came under attack by an unidentified Dragon in 825 PR and the Court of Quartz was robbed of its collection, including the Selune Splinter which they had depended on for decades. Its residents were sitting ducks in a world finding itself at odds with the Dragons for the first time in over a century. How long would it be before the rest of the realm grew frustrated and turned its sights back on what was left of the draconic races?

Durian, son of the high sorcerer and presumed next in line for the position, stepped out of the temple with hopes of showing the realm that the Dragonborn are just as much victims of the Dragons' ransacking ways and are united in the fight against them.

Appearance

Durian is sturdily built like most Dragonborn, although he is not exceptionally strong. His scales are a shimmering emerald color with a fine, prickly texture and translucent at the surface. He has draconic emerald eyes and long head tendrils which hang down his back like a mop of hair. He also has a tail, uncommon but not unheard of amongst Dragonborn. His garbs forego the customary blue of most Bahamut worshippers, instead wearing assorted metallic hues to better resemble the metallic Dragonborn more often found in his clan. He outwardly proclaims his allegiance to Bahamut, however, by donning a conspicuous pendant with his religion’s traditional symbol and color.

Personality

Durian’s prior knowledge of what exists outside Jadenhill had all been secondhand, so he looks upon the world with wondrous eyes. He asks lots of questions, seeking knowledge and solutions to problems that may not have even occurred yet. He has a deep appreciation for his own mortality, but he’ll go all in for a cause he feels is just. He tries to fall back on the teachings of his temple when confronted with a new quandary, but privately struggles to fit all things into the good/evil paradigm that Bahamut espouses. He hoped that joining the fight against Dragons would help bring clarity to his religious anxieties. However, the realities of the conflict have only further muddied his outlook.

Abilities

Durian providing aerial support during the battle of the Shadow Forge.

Durian is naturally gifted with psionic abilities, but the way he wields these powers is still lacking in finesse. Aside from communicating via telepathy, he can also psychically lash out at enemies like a mind whip and exhale psychic energy as a breath weapon. When dealt damage at close range, he reflexively retaliates with a burst of telekinetic energy to push away the aggressor. He can also summon temporary spectral wings which allow him to fly.

He can create fire at will, drawing upon the gold Dragon part of his ancestry. He was also taught a number of illusionary spells meant to prepare him for being the high sorcerer of Jadenhill, such as disguisement and invisibility. Additionally, he is very multilingual as a result of his upbringing as a courtier.

He finds new ways to utilize his innate magic abilities in order to avoid repeating previous close brushes with death. He figured out how to feather fall after being thrown from a crumbling balcony during his first encounter with Sro. After being nearly digested by Bleucorundum's phase gelatinous cube, he learned to see invisibility.

Following his reacquisition of the Selune Splinter, Durian used it as an opportunity to practice some of the ranged illusionary magic that he was only just beginning to learn before the artifact was stolen.

After tracking down the lair of Smargarg the Emerald Dragon and requesting his help in locating Feredemius, the Emerald Thane of Sardior, the dragon taught Durian the Boon of Telepathy which strengthened his existing psionic abilities and empowered him to read the minds of other creatures.

Trivia

• Durian’s family is primarily of gold Dragon ancestry, hence why his simpler sorcery spells tend to be fire-based. Exhibiting gem features seems to be a recessive gene, as Durian’s immediate family are all gold sans for him, his mother, and grandmother.
• Despite knowing that he differs from his siblings in a major regard, Durian identified as a gold Dragonborn until his encounter with Bleucorundum. Now faced with the existence of gem Dragons, he is unsure what to make of himself.
• Durian was one of very few telepaths at home and took extra coaxing as a child to verbalize his words, so he is overly eager when meeting other telepaths on his journeys and tries using telepathy as the primary means of communication with them.
• Durian was not familiar with the fruit of his namesake before leaving Jadenhill. A single durian fruit once came through the town as a gift from an overseas diplomat, but it just ended up used as a kickball.
• Durian once questioned his mother about his name’s meaning and she replied that he is “spiky on the outside, with innards that need an enlightened palate to fully appreciate.” Durian did not understand this answer.
• In 820 PR, visiting representatives attempted to scout Durian for Katharda Academy, a proposal which his mother outright refused as he "has a purpose here" and stated that the school "cannot accommodate our unique situation." The representatives spoke of the escalating dragon war but, after implying that they could see through her Wood Elf disguise, she angrily dismissed them, exclaiming "this is your fight, we're just trying to survive through it."
• While visiting the lair of Smargarg, Durian came across the amethyst dragon egg which had been stolen from the Court of Quartz. He left it alone as he could not tell it apart from any other gem egg, but ship captain Harold managed to swipe the egg and fled before anyone could see as it almost immediately hatched into a newborn amethyst dragon.