Nockdus

Nockdus

Nockdus

Languages	Common, Elvish, Infernal, Thieves Cant
Marital Status	Unmarried
Place of Birth	birthplace
Date of Death	N/A
Place of Death	N/A
Species	Dhamphir
Gender	Male
Height	6'1"
Weight	205lbs.
Eye Color	Blue

Nockdus is a 5th level Dhampir Arcane Trickster Rogue. He believes that being an Dhampir means that he is technically an Undead creature and can sometimes behave like one due to this false belief. He is the second character created by Just Knight for the Into the Greedy Green campaign.

Physical Appearance

Nockdus has the features of a Moon Elf (the race he started as before becoming a Dhampir), but do to his current condition he more closely resembles a paler than usual Drow rather than his original race. Upon close inspection an observant person can clearly see his eyes are blue with flecks of gold typical of a Moon Elf rather than the pale blue common to the Drow.

Personality

Nockdus is cursed with the constant desire to consume raw meat and has been known to occasionally lose control and fling himself at the bodies of recently fallen foes to feast upon their fresh flesh. Upon exiting this feral state, Nockdus feels immense shame for what he is and can fall into bouts of depression. For his own safety as well as those around him, he tends to avoid crowded areas and will often sneak off to find a quiet corner or elevated position in the shadows.

History

Nockdus was a simple warehouse worker in the city of (somebody help me here) where he was born. His primary role was to maintain and use the warehouse's elaborate rigging systems to help lift heavy crates from ship to storage to wagons and back again. It was during one work day when a rope snapped, bringing a medium sized crate crashing to the floor. Unknown to anyone at the time the crate was housing a weakened vampire on the run. The vampire attacked Nockdus before fleeing in the daylight. As Nockdus lay dying in the sunlight, the foreman came over with a medicine kit and stabilized him. The combination of the vampire's bite along with the direct sunlight and the unique (and somewhat outdated) herbal medicines in the medicine kit transformed Nockdus into a Dhampir.

Not knowing what was happening to him, Nockdus returned to work after a few days to his normal life. It wasn't until he and his work friends went to the tavern after the last shift of the week that his new status became apparent to him. While drinking ale's was no issue, the smell of the cooked stew that the people were eating at the next table was making him nauseous. He went outside to get some air and walked past the nearby fishmonger. The "Hunger" came over him and paid for a freshly caught salmon which he then began to energetically consume on the spot, skin and all. The fishmonger reached out with concern toward Nockdus to see if he was OK, and that was when Nockdus in his feral state bit the man's fingers breaking them with a wet crunch. The fishmonger stabbed Nockdus with a fillet knife knocking him out of of his feral state, and Nockdus ran away into the night.

After that night Nockdus began to understand his condition more and started a life as a hermit. He lived on the streets, eating out of the fly infested garbage bins behind butcher shops that were filled with the fatty scraps of raw meat that were left after trimming. He began to explore his new abilities and utilize them to make a living. He joined the local thieves guild and took on jobs that others were either unable or afraid to do. He would hide in barrels, underwater, or in bags of holding for hours or days because he doesn't need to breathe. He would complete complex climbs to get the goods with ease because of his ability to crawl along surfaces and ceilings with minimal effort. He did however make sure to take on smaller jobs only because the larger ones could attract the type of attention that he did not want.

In his first adventure in The Greedy Green, Nocktus came in contact with a party of adventurers when he was investigating rumors of recent refugees. To him the presence of refugees means opportunities for work as either a finder of forgotten (or stolen) items, aiding in the location and extraction of missing people, or enacting revenge upon invaders. Like his fellow adventurers he was drawn to the local library but needed to stay outside of it. The presence of injured refugees could trigger his Hunger and he felt it was best to let others do the talking. It was while he was outside that Nockdus struck a fast friendship with Valdath the Goliath Barbarian who was also outside to make sure Nockdus didn't do anything untoward. When Valdath went inside to encourage the other adventurers to action, Nockdus scurried to the rooftop of the building across the street to maintain lookout and distance himself from others.

When the party of adventurers learned of a number of Drakkoths were responsible for attacking the village of Hallasan and the reward for removing the threatening creatures from it, they quickly embarked to it's location. They were led to the village by a guide who was secretly a polymorphed dragon in disguise, where upon they stealthily positioned themselves for a counter-attack. Spurred into action by Arlin's casting of Guiding Bolt, the party rushed into action. Nockdus followed closely to his new compatriot Valdath and worked with him to strategically take down the Drakkoths.

The head of the Drakkoth invaders however quickly positioned itself behind Nockdus and used his magical staff to attack Nockdus and sap both his current health and his maximum heath dealing a damning double blow on each hit. Since he believed he was unable to be healed by Arlin's spells, Nockdus forgo any healing as his life continued to dwindle away. Soon Valdath fell to the Drakkoth chieftain and it turned its attention to Nockdus to deal a final blow to him as well. At that moment Arlin healed the fallen barbarian, who then stood back up and thereby distracted the Drakkoth chieftan for a fatal moment. Nockdus utilized that distraction to run up the wall beside the Drakkoth, got to eye level with it, and plunged his rapier through the open mouth of the creature and out the back of it's head.

(Side note: After numerous low rolls I bought a new set of dice on the spot and ended up rolling a Critical as the final blow with them. The damage was crazy. Booming Blade with a Rapier and adding Sneak Attack became [1d8+1d8+3d6 Maxed to 34 for the Critical] + 1d8{Rapier}+1d8{Cantrip}+1d8{Piercer Feat}+3d6{Sneak Attack}+4 for a total of 61 points of damage from a single attack.)

Upon resolution of the combat, Nockdus entered into a frenzy and began tearing into the flesh of the fallen Drakkoths to heal himself. The party watched in morbid curiosity at the almost animalistic nature of their companion. When he was done, Nockdus stood up and Prestidigitated the bloodstains and bits of flesh from his clothes. While he looked normal again, some of the party members would not regard Nockdus as "normal" the next time they saw him.

As the villagers from Hallasan rested for a few weeks, Nockdus heard of some troubles that a group of merchant caravans had been having with bands of odd goblins raiding them. Heading to the Order of the Watchful Eye he met up with a number of adventurers seeking to find the alchemist Horatio Cheshire who seemed to be creating these manipulated minions and put an end to their machinations. Nockdus and Dancer scouted ahead, and after Dancer located the hideout of the hideous Horatio, they both went looking for a supposed secret escape route that Horatio may take to evade capture. As the rest of the party prepared to make entry into the hideout, Violet was suddenly spotted and a pair of alchemically enhanced orcs exited the building do defend their creator. Nockdus ran up onto the roof and began to take longbow shots at the defenders. Nockdus was able to land consistently solid hits with his bow thanks to the aid of his familiar. As the defenders fell and combat began moving into the building, Nockdus followed it. After entering the building and seeing no sign of Horatio, Nockdus opened a nearby door and came face to face with a pair of the monstrous versions of the enhanced orcs. Seeing the uncontrollable rage of the creatures in front of him, Nockdus dropped his longbow and took out his rapier. Standing his ground he struck at one and deftly dodged its massive attacks in retaliation. With the aid of his companions the creatures fell and the hideout became silent. Unfortunately, any sign of Horatio had yet to be seen. Horatio had used his secret escape route but was unable to get away. Thanks to Dancer finding the end of the tunnel and her fast thinking to create a snare to catch Horatio should he attempt to use it, the alchemist found himself stuck in a metal tube of his own creation at the bottom of a rocky seaside cliff.

With Horatio secured and turned over to the Order of the Watchful Eye, Nockdus went with Dancer back to the Hallasan refugees and met of with some adventurers ready to escort the them back to their village. After a quiet journey with the said refugees back to their homes the party became aware of a mystical sage staying at nearby encampment who's location was protected from attacks by dragons. The party traveled to this encampment and met with the sage. After a short conversation the party then participated in a mystical ceremony where each member had the privilege to ask one question to be answered by the Moon God. During this ceremony as the magical energies flowed through the space, Nockdus suddenly felt alive again. He inhaled deeply since it suddenly became necessary to breathe once again. He asked for a piece of chocolate from Buho, ate it, and was once again able to savor the flavors that can only come from a dedicated confectioner. After the ceremony concluded, Nockdus was moved to tears from getting to experience the feeling of being alive once again and the heartbreak of it's subsequent loss.

(Story Continues)

Languages

Common, Elvish, Infernal, Thieves Cant

Powers and Abilities

Renfield

Nockdus is a Dhampir, and as such has powers that are similar to a vampire. First, he can climb along walls and ceiling using only his feet at his normal walking speed. This makes him very mobile and gives him the ability to get to advantageous positions easily. Secondly, he does not need to breathe which can make for interesting ways that he can ambush others. He also has a Vampiric Bite which can help restore a small amount of hit points during or immediately after a combat. These benefits however to come at a cost. Since he considers himself an Undead creature he believes that spells like Cure Wounds that cannot effect Undead will not effect him either, so he tells healers in the party to avoid "wasting their magic" on him. Also, Nockdus believes he can be effected by a friendly cleric's Turn Undead ability and will react as such.

Nockdus is also an Arcane Trickster Rogue, so beside the standard Rogue abilities like Cunning Action and Sneak Attack, he also has some minor spell casting abilities. His cantrips are Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, and Booming Blade (which works well paired with Cunning Action). His 1st level spells are Find Familiar, Charm Person, Silent Image, and Sleep.

Nockdus travels with his Familiar, a skeletal owl named Renfield, who provides tactical support for Nockdus as well as a general scout for the party.

Attacks and Weapons 

In a combat Nockdus will first try to get to an elevated position and attack at range. In order to maximize his ability to do damage, Nockdus will have Renfield distract a target and give the help action to Nockdus. This allows Nockdus to use his Sneak Attack ability on the target.

Sometimes attacking at range is not the best option, so he will engage in melee combat. In that case Nockdus will move half his movement to a target, either have Renfield help him or he helps an ally in order to trigger Sneak Attack, cast Booming Blade and make a melee attack, then use Cunning Action to Disengage and move he rest of his movement away from the target.

Finally, if doing damage is not the best option, Nockdus can either cast Charm Person or Sleep to disable a target. He can also attempt to distract a target with Silent Image and Prestidigitation if that seems to be the best option.