Obsidian

Obsidian is an earth genasi warlock in the Within the Wicked Wilds campaign.

About

Obsidian

Player Name	Ari (he/him)
Relatives	William Blackstrand and Celia Blackstrand (adoptive parents)
Languages	Common, Primordial, and Elvish, though he can also read any written language due to his pact with the Raven Queen
Marital Status	Single
Date of Birth	Arduary 10 in the year 861
Place of Birth	Specifics unknown, but he was born on Amusa somewhere
Species	Earth Genasi
Gender	Male
Height	5'9" but appears to be 5'8" due to posture
Weight	Unknown, but heavier than he looks, he is rocks
Eye Color	Slate grey

Idi (born Theron) grew up in Galik. Since he was a child, he’s heard tales about a lost city located somewhere in Quelmar, and it’s been his dream to be able to find the city and learn its secrets. He’s not particularly interested in going down in history, but purely in learning everything he can about the ancient city and its people. His entire life, he has been working towards that goal.

Like many genasi, once he left home, he chose the name Obsidian to honor his connection to the earth. While studying archeology, several of his peers gave him the nickname Idi, and that is now what he typically prefers to be called, though Obsidian is also fine. Just please, don't call him Theron, that would be like full naming him.

History

Idi was born in the year 861 in an unknown town on the continent of Amusa. Two tendays later, a lone hooded figure walked into Galik in the middle of the night, carrying a basket, which she left on the first respectable looking door she found. Then she disappeared, and no one knows who she was, where she came from, or why she abandoned him there. The next morning, on the 10th day of Arduary, William and Celia Blackstrand, the older couple who lived there, found him on their doorstep and took him in as their son. They named him Theron, and his birthday is celebrated on Arduary 10 each year, the day he was adopted.

As a young child, he mostly played with the other children who lived nearby, and his adoptive parents taught them everything they could. Each night, they would tell him a bedtime story before he fell asleep, which is where he first heard the stories of the lost city and became entranced by them. Once he’d learned how to read on his own, he voraciously consumed any book that even had a mere mention of the city, looking for any extra scrap of knowledge he could find on the subject. As he got older, he started doing odd jobs for the merchants and shopkeepers in his neighborhood for a Horn here or there, or when he was really lucky, a Bard, and he saved every single coin he got, hoping to save enough to one day go to a well reputed college to study archeology and go on expeditions to try to find the city himself. As a young teenager, he even took on an apprenticeship with the local map maker, a half-elf woman named Emelie Talavir. It didn’t pay the best, but it was enough to save towards becoming an archeologist. She also taught him how to speak Elvish and how to make maps and read the land. After many years, he was able to save enough to go to a college on the other side of Amusa, and buy his first set of archeology equipment: a cheap shovel, a pickaxe, and various other supplies. He also splurged and bought himself the hat he later wore on his very first dig.

After several years, he graduated and joined the Secrets of Amusa Expeditionary Company, though he did not end up staying with them. Obsidian has been on a large number of archeological digs with various organizations since then.

Secrets of Amusa Expeditionary Company

Immediately after graduating, he worked with this company for about a year. Their main goal was to uncover any lost history of Amusa, but they weren’t able to maintain funding for the project and went under, which is one of Idi’s biggest regrets, as it held the most promise for finding clues to the lost city. He was only able to go on a handful of digs with this company before they lost funding, but at the first one, he found an old silver key. The company told him it wasn’t worth anything to them, and it didn’t hold any clues to any secret history or lost city, so he was allowed to keep the key, which he wears on a chain around his neck.

After the failure of the Secrets of Amusa Expeditionary Company, he tried to go on several solo digs, to little avail.

Historical Expedition Company

It took a while, but eventually Obsidian gave up on attempting to find anything on his own and joined the Historical Expedition Company, which had been recently founded by a halfling woman, Lorrie Haslo, where his map making skills came particularly in handy. He assisted Lorrie on a fairly large dig near the southern point of the Dolina peninsula. They spent many months searching the ruins, which they discovered to be a burial site from the Second Draconic Crusade, Lorrie’s topic of interest. Many great discoveries were made about the crusade, and even though they weren’t searching for the same things he was interested in looking for, he was happy with the Historical Expedition Company. However, on the first trip back to the closest town to pick up mail and resupply, Obsidian received a letter in his stack from the map maker, Emelie, letting him know she’d gotten word that his adoptive parents had been killed, dated a month prior. He was left so scrambled that he didn’t even explain to Lorrie why he was leaving, he just let her know he was going to have to leave, and left to get home as quickly as he could. He hoped that based on her personality, and the look on his face being one of pure grief, that she wouldn’t be hurt by it, but he didn’t stay to find out.

The Deal with the Raven Queen

Idi doesn’t remember much of the time immediately after hearing the news of his parents’ deaths, all he knew was grief. The journey back from the dig site with the Historical Expedition Company was a total blur, and he is just glad he made it home in one piece. Emelie took care of him for a little bit, and made sure he was fed during this time, but he couldn’t stand feeling so much grief anymore, so he went back to his family home and prayed for anyone to please, help his family. He’s not sure who he was trying to get an answer from, or even if he wanted his parents to be returned to life or to just have a happy and comfortable afterlife. But still, the Raven Queen answered his pleas and offered him a deal.

On his end of the deal, he became a Hexblade warlock and was filled with great power and an ability to more readily protect himself on his expeditions. Later, he made the pact of the blade with the Raven Queen, furthering that ability. In exchange, he developed more respect for the dead, though that is not the only agreement the Raven Queen got from him.

Relationship with the Raven Queen

Obsidian has somewhat complicated feelings about his deal with the Raven Queen. He feels like meeting her did save him from himself, and pulled himself out of the deep depression he was in after hearing the news of his adoptive parents’ deaths. On the other hand, he isn’t yet sure how he feels about being in her servitude, and the uncertainty he feels about the deal only increases the longer it goes without her communicating with him, as the Raven Queen has never spoken to Obsidian directly since making the deal, and rarely sends him signs. Obsidian often has doubts that these signs are even from the Raven Queen, and feels he misinterprets them often.

Idi often feels like his patron has abandoned him, though on occasion she does attempt to reassure him. The most significant of these occasions was when she appeared to him in a dream, and he made a pact with her. The next morning, he woke up holding a handaxe, and quickly discovered how to summon it, dismiss it, and change its shape, though he usually uses it as an axe, as that is the version he became most comfortable with. She has sent him other dreams, but usually she does not appear herself in those dreams, and instead they primarily feature flocks of ravens. Obsidian usually misinterprets these dreams as being from his own psyche, plaguing him with ravens due to his inner conflict around making the deal with the Raven Queen. Once, he also woke up with a raven feather slowly drifting down towards him, but he assumed this came from his open window rather than a magical sign from his patron.

While Obsidian doesn’t see their relationship as him worshiping the Raven Queen, he does still respect the Raven Queen and her ravens, and considers himself to be working for her and with her.

Expeditions After the Deal

Obsidian continued going on expeditions, partially continuing to pursue his dream of finding the lost city from the stories he heard as a child, and partially as part of his deal with the Raven Queen, though he wasn’t sure why it mattered to her.

The next expedition he joined was run by a human man, Alex Roxley, and was being funded from his own massive savings. However, Obsidian got into a disagreement with the man about the validity of the stories of a lost city, with Alex claiming they were nothing but children’s bedtime stories meant to inspire children like him to become archeologists, something he had obviously fallen for, and Idi had punched the man in response. The resulting brawl unsurprisingly led to him being kicked off of the dig site, something that did not sadden him.

From there, he worked with the Magnanimous Brothers Exemplary Archeological Expedition Company, a fairly prestigious company of archeological exploration. Idi stayed with them for a few years, going on many digs in that time. He never really felt like he fit with the company, though, so eventually he left to join Her Ladyship’s Stars, a company that had nothing to do with any sort of lady as far as anyone could tell, and no one really knows where exactly they got the name from. He was with Her Ladyship’s Stars for another three years, until receiving a letter from the Tempest Brothers Expeditionary Company, when he promptly packed up his bags and left for the meeting place.

Languages

Idi knows common, primordial, and elvish, but his patron has given him the ability to read any written language, an ability he finds very useful at digs; when he can find anything with words written on it, that is.

Appearance and Personality

Idi is an Earth genasi. He primarily looks human, but his skin looks closer to dried out clay in color and texture both, and if you were to touch him he also feels closer to sun warmed rock. He has sporadic freckles along his arms and back, which look more like dark grey rocks embedded in his skin. Idi is shorter at 5'9", and tends to stand slightly curled in on himself, so he appears even shorter than that, closer to 5'8" when standing next to someone. He has medium brown curly hair, which is usually pretty messy from running his hands through it or pushing it out of his face. Typically, he will let it grow out until it is past his shoulders, tying it up once it is long enough to do so, and then shave it short again when it gets too long for him, restarting the process.

Idi has pretty soft features, and he tends to act a bit shy or nervous when meeting new people, unless you can distract him with the prospect of a new expedition. His eyes are a soft grey, almost the color of shale. He wears large, round glasses, though they don't actually have lenses in them, he just thought they made him look more scholarly while studying in college, and never got out of the habit of wearing them. Now, it's more of a comfort thing than anything, and he doesn't truly feel comfortable meeting new people without them.

When on a dig, Idi is typically wearing a very old, somewhat dusty, hat. When not on his head, it's tucked safely away in his backpack. Other than that, he prefers comfortable clothes over style.

Idi is most comfortable on an archeological expedition looking for lost treasures, and people can make him kind of nervous. He tries to give everyone a chance, though, and once friends with you, you'll have a friend for life. He's slow to build up to true friendship, but can warm up to someone enough to have amiable conversation with them after not all that long.

Because of his pact with the Raven Queen, he tries to keep small bits of food, trinkets, or shiny things he thinks a raven might like on hand for whenever he sees one. You never know when they're going to take word back to the Raven Queen about you, so he tries to be polite to them and garner their favor just in case. On occasion, he will also give them small, unimportant messages for the Raven Queen, in case they're one of her messengers rather than a normal bird, just so they feel like important messengers, and he's grown a soft spot for the birds because of this. He also would never harm a raven, even if it were actively attacking him, though they have never attacked him since he never gives them reason to and is typically seen as a friend by them to do his habit of gifting them things. If one ever did attack him, he would not even defend himself though.

Wicked Wilds

Obsidian received a letter towards the beginning of the year in 893 inviting him to join the Tempest Brothers Expeditionary Company while in the employ of Her Ladyship's Stars. He immediately mailed a response with his immense enthusiasm to join their expedition, packed his bags, put in his notice with Her Ladyship's Stars, and set off for the proposed meeting place, almost arriving before his letter did in his excitement. There, while he mostly kept to himself at first, he did meet several interesting people, mostly speaking with Lambda, a warforged, as the two had a similar interest in archeology and a shared acquaintance of Lorrie Haslo, and Finnegan, whose name he did not actually get, as the aarakocra's master had also had an interest in the lost city that Idi is so passionate about. Finnegan even let him look through some of his master's unfinished musical pieces, and Lambda agreed to take his hello to Lorrie next time the warforged visited and even take him to meet her again at a later date. After the other two moved on, Idi continued watching from the edge of the room without interacting as much as others, though he did seem to start to relax a little the longer he was there.

Obsidian also met another warlock, Marion, and the two ended up in a discussion of their gods. Idi opened up about his parents’ deaths and subsequent meeting of the Raven Queen, though he remained secretive about some of the finer details of his relationship with the Raven Queen. He also let Marion know that he was working for Lorrie when he learned the news of his parents’ deaths, which Lambda may or may not have overheard, and his regret for leaving without telling her more. Marion also let Idi know that their god can be jealous of their relationships with others, and Idi reassured her that he would be their friend.

The next morning, Idi had breakfast with a few of the others, and accepted an invitation to spar with Jim Stacy. Before the spar, he snuck off to give a small prayer to the Raven Queen on a whim, something he had never done before, and give a few small offerings to a raven he saw watching over him nearby. Though he tried his best in the spar, he was defeated. The blows were so hard that Obsidian died. Through the black, he saw the Raven Queen, who told him this was not yet his time to die, and sent him back, where Marion helped heal him enough to not immediately pass out again. Afterwards, he disappeared from the tavern the Tempest Brothers Expeditionary Company has chosen to meet at, in order to wrap his head around having died and been revived by his patron he had thought had forgotten about him. When he returns, he is still somewhat confused and conflicted, but wishes to be around other people while he figures it out.

Obsidian has since had encounters with many of the others at the tavern, awaiting departure of the Tempest Brothers Expeditionary Company to travel into the wicked wilds.

Obsidian helped with the establishment of the base camp on the journey into the wilds. He was part of the party led by Lucinda, and the party was given a charm to guide them. This is the story of their experiences as he tells it:

"When we started off from the skiff, we were told there may be leftover guard towers in the forest from Perseus company, but we didn't expect to find the camps in the state we did. At the first tower, we found a massacre. Everyone was dead, there were heads on pikes, and a map showed every tower but the one we were at crossed out. In the basement, someone had been locked inside. It looked like they had been there for weeks, which would have been prior to the attack on the tower. The mouth, nose, and ears were stuffed full of black feathers, but it looked more like the feathers were coming from inside the body. They weren't from any bird I know of, either. On the wall, this was written: 'I am the flames that scorch the garden of rot, I am the wave that erodes the mountain of skulls, I am the quake that will shatter the labyrinth of lies, I am the storm that rends the palace of perfection, I am Malice.'

"That night at camp, the ones who took watch experienced very strange events. Amaris saw the trees move closer, Chrysaor looked up into sky where trees should have been and it gave him vertigo, and in the morning, the monkey we had befriended the day before was found skewered on a tree well above us where he had been watching for us. Amaris said it seemed like it might be what she called 'the game,' like a higher being is just toying with us.

"We continued onward to the main camp the next morning. The scene there was even worse. Again, everyone we saw was dead, many inside what appeared to be a medical tent. There was a body which was coated in maggots and worms in the same manner as the feathered body. And this is also where we found the new shopkeeper, Dulio, hiding under a tarp with his drake. How he survived the massacre without being found, I do not know, but the scene was gruesome. Dulio gave us each our choice of his wares in exchange for being directed here, to our base camp.

"One of the other buildings appeared to be an office. Papers were torn, some burned, others missing, but we gathered up what we could. It was there that we found the wanted poster for Reedy, as well as the rest of these pages." At this point in his tale, he hands over the pages they found while exploring the office. "We had not seen a well in the camp at all, but when we returned outside, one of our party, Deralict, started acting stranger than usual, almost as if he could see things the rest of us could not. I believe it may have been the well. We were attacked by a lone gnoll, but dispatched them relatively quickly and easily. However, when we entered the temple, it was a different story.

"As we entered, we watched as a green knight killed Captain Olstein. There were 3 captives still alive, but surrounded by gnolls, a giant hyena, and a deathpledge. The walls were covered in orange eyes, which commanded the gnolls to kill us. We were able to defeat the hyena, gnolls, and deathpledge, but the green knight seemed to be more interested in just leaving. We badly injured him, but he managed to escape. I fear we may have made a very powerful enemy. When we got outside, a hoard of gnolls was storming through the forest on the way to the camp. Lucinda just managed to get us all out of there on an air skiff, and from the sky, there was probably 200 of them. We never would have made it back without Lucinda."

Obsidian's notes on the company:

Marion: Tiefling. Probably a warlock. Uses both she and they. Worships Beshaba, goddess of luck? Her relationship with the god is different than my own. Marion seems to both respect and fear the god and her wrath. Beshaba makes them afraid to make friends. She's easy to talk to though. Maybe someday I'll tell her more about my past, but they already know more than most. Seems to have many admirers.

Lambda: Robot. Knows Lorrie, and will take me to visit someday. (How am I going to face her? Why did I even ask him to bring me along? What must she think of me??) Seems to be especially fond of Marion. Kind, as long as you don't get on his bad side. He seems to be a reliable fighter and friend, and will fiercely defend his companions. Note to self: No attacking anyone in company. Amendment to the previous statement: Jim Stacy seems to be fair game after attacking Wiggler. Will update once the situation is resolved, if it is resolved.

Jim Stacy: Human. Has robot arms. Does not care who he hurts, to the point of almost being rude, though seems to have a soft spot for Marion. Does not seem to care about anyone else. Seems very suspicious, would not be surprised to find a bounty for him. Plenty in our own company would likely be willing to collect the bounty. Sparring with him led to death? Raven Queen brought me back. Note to self: Think carefully before attempting to spar with Jim Stacy again. - Marion was very upset, said Jim Stacy had been taken somewhere by a Dr. Moss, practically inconsolable until he returned. Jim Stacy did return different though. New arms. Harsher personality. Take care in interacting. Attacked Wiggler post changes, claimed it was because he was hurting us. Unknown if this is true. Note to self: Mr. Stacy is no longer to be trusted. Keep an eye on him, and do not let him hurt any more friends.

Addendum: Jim Stacy picked a fight with the wrong person and is now deceased? Gone? I am not entirely sure what Bjor did to him, but he did use the words "if you can find all of his pieces" so I am sure it can't be good.

The Bird Finny: Penguin aarakokra. Musician, likely a bard. Master wrote music, some about the lost city. Note to self: Ask about the music again later. Finally found out his name is Finnegan Warbler. Seems nice. Shyer in groups? Would like to get to know better.

Wiggler: Awakened worm? Wears armor suit. Druid. Likes to be a cat. Would consider a friend. Came back from woods scared and changed. If he starts screaming, get him to focus on one person at a time until he calms down. Likes to give out goodberries in the shape of worms. Calls them gummy worms? Note to self: Ask what a gummy worm is.

Sneeze: Kobold. Abilities unknown. Small. Will put anything in his mouth. Note to self: May not be able to be trusted around horns or satyrs. Watch him around Amaris.

Kompi: Kobold. Abilities unknown. Small. Difficulty pronouncing words and sentences. Note to self: Protect this one.

Sabbatical: Tiefling. Lawyer. Uses magic, but sparingly. Very terse, not afraid to speak her mind. I owe her a favor for helping Wiggler. Very active. Note to self: Don't get on her bad side, I sense it would be very bad. Not mean, per se, but not friendly.

Paris: Airhead heiress. Seems nice enough. Cries when she isn't getting attention though. She did pay for a group of us to go to the spa, though, so probably nicer than she first appears. I hear she even beat Finny in a sparring match. Seems to like Marion a lot.

Yewvane: ??? I haven't interacted with him enough to know much about him yet. Some kind of fey. Unsure of fey politics, but seems messy.

Reedy: Tiefling. Bounty hunter. Primarily hunts with companion, Daq. Very young. Have not interacted with her much yet. Dating Sabbatical?

Amaris: Satyr. Fey, probably, everyone seems suspicious of her. Unsure what court but there is some tenseness between her and Yewvane. Has magical permanent paints and is willing to paint others. Note to self: Go back later for more paint.

Addendum: Was reliable on our mission, but the Deathpledge seemed to target her? Something to do with fae politics, or something else?

Lowkey?: Changeling. Name unknown, but gave Yewvane the name Lowkey at one point in time. Seems to switch between several forms, primarily a guy, a girl, and a thing. Was antagonistic towards Wiggler. Do not trust this one. Situation got out of hand and city guards called. Note to self: Keep a very careful eye on this one.

Nassir: Dragonborn. Very tall. Very strong. Noble. Seems friendly. Would like to get to know him better, I think he could be a good friend. He beat me in our fight, but seemed to have honor. Helped me up after and congratulated me.

Addendum: Apparently dating Marion now. I am happy they found each other finally, they have been making eyes at each other long enough.

Therrin Flare: Have not spoken to him enough to know much about him.

Paul: Runs the company? Has an archeologist friend he wants me to meet. Spoke to him for maybe 2 minutes before he was busy and had to leave.

Chrysaor: Yuan-Ti, likes fire. I'm sorry I couldn't help him more against the gnolls in the temple.

Deralict Dadwarf?: Not entirely sure how to spell that last name. Dwarf cleric. Prays to Bejasus? Not sure on spelling of that either. I have never heard of this god and know of no one else who worships him. Dwarf is a bit crazy. Found a "pet rock" and named is Sylvester. I believe he found the well mentioned in the papers we found, but he mentioned Sylvester again, even though the rock had previously been lost. Well lures you in with lost friends or family? Dwarf also locked us inside with the green knight. I regret supporting the decision, but we all managed to get out alive.

Lysvan: Fire genasi, wildfire druid. The only person who really saved us against the green knight, since it really doesn't like fire. Likes to burrow underground as a badger to hide when things get really tough.

Felix: Warforged bard, likes to tell stories. Uses the phrase "or whatever you like" a lot, including for his own name. Speaks of worlds among other stars, worlds that died. Seems somewhat sad when talking about the people who created him. Or supposedly created him? There are many conflicting rumors so I am unsure of what to believe in regards to Felix.

Groth: Minotaur. Was a friend of Jim Stacy's. Left very suddenly. Didn't know him well before he left.

Researcher Millar: Human? Researcher. Unsure of abilities. He is from the same group as Groth and Jim Stacy, so unsure if he can be trusted. Seems young though, and no one else trusts him, so figure I should give him a chance. Was very excited to hear about the aftermath reports Sabbatical is doing, and interrupted dinner together to obtain copies. Should have told him the stacks were duplicates of the same thing, but it was entertaining to see just how long it took him to discover on his own (overnight, at least).

Idi's Notes:

4/28/893

Today is the last day we will be spending in this tavern before embarking for the wicked wilds. Though I am nervous, I am also excited for what the future holds. What adventures will we go on? What ancient cities will we get to explore? I look forward to finding out, and making friends along the way. Hoping to find some clues to my lost city. Maybe that'll be enough to convince everyone who has doubted me up until this point. Well. Here's to the future.

5/4/893

It's been a couple days since we made it to the base camp. That was certainly something. I am starting to wonder how much I am cut out for this. It sure didn't feel like I was much help to my party, and we barely made it out alive. Amaris also believes I have depression, but this is just what everyone feels, right?

5/20/893

I have thrown myself into my work assisting the company with establishing the base camp, and so have unfortunately not had much time for social calls. From the stories others brought back, we will have a difficult time carving our place here, and may not be entirely welcome to do so.