Lao

[Blackbird]

First Name: Lao
Last Name: Xi

Appearance: The man before you is dressed in strange clothes and when he speaks, his accent is equally strange. Two small horns protrude from his head and his eyes are an unusual shade of yellow. A katana hangs at his side in an ornate sheath and a buckler with elaborate carvings is attached to his backpack among a number of odd scrolls and books strapped to it in equally odd places.

There is something slightly unsettling about him that goes beyond the obvious tiefling traits.

Race: Tiefling
Age: 23
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 136 lbs
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: Long, black
Facial Hair Style: An unruly beard

Personality Profile: See Habits/Hobbies.

General Health: Good physical health, not quite together mentally

Deity: Loose association with Shaundakul for "protection"

Initial Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Profession: Scholar, Outcast, Survivalist

Base Class & Proposed Development: Warlock, Fighter or possibly Bodyguard in reference to time served guarding caravans

Habits/Hobbies: Lao keeps to himself and is wary of all other beings he meets regardless of their intentions or appearance. Accidental "contact" with the Far Realm has left him believing that nothing is quite what it seems and tentacles may sprout from someone's eyeball at any moment. Otherwise, he spends his time seeking ways to undo the damage caused by his pact with an Uvuudaum.

Languages: Common (trade; what he picked up on the Golden Road), Kao Te Shung

Weapon of Choice: Spear or Katana

Background:

The Beginning

Hailing from the eastern lands of Kara-Tur, Lao was born in a small village in the Shou Lung region. The physical manifestations of his bloodline brought shame upon his mother who sought any opportunity to abandon him. At the age of six, he was told to wait outside a merchant’s shop while his mother browsed the wares, but she never returned for him. Lao remained outside the shop for a day and half before giving up and wandering outside the city. Despite such obvious dangers for a young child, Lao was totally oblivious to what might await him outside his village. Luck, however, was in his favor.

It just so happened that mere moments after Lao had left the confines of his village, a hermit who came to town only for essential supplies was on his way down the same road. The hermit’s name was Qiang Di, and the villagers had a deep distrust of him as he was often muttering bizarre nonsense to no one in particular. To Lao, however, he seemed nice enough. Nice enough to offer him shelter.

Lao’s upbringing was in no way average. Qiang was definitely a strange man who kept mostly to himself, but provided basic necessities for Lao and overlooked his fiendish characteristics. As a result, a sort of harmony developed between the two; Lao had no difficulties overlooking Qiang’s odd behavior in return. When the old man went out into the woods at night, Lao thought nothing of it. That is until he discovered Qiang’s secret.

Things Best Forgotten

On the night of Lao's seventeenth birthday, Qiang went out into the woods as he usually did. While he was away, Lao decided to take a peek inside Qiang’s private cabinet. It was here that he found numerous books and scrolls mostly decipherable, but with repetition of certain bizarre otherworldly names that Lao found difficult to pronounce. It was ultimately the vocalization that did him in. Upon reading one particular name, Lao began to feel nauseous; the room seemed to reel around him until he blacked out. While unconscious, he was visited by a strange dream in which the dimensions of the world no longer made sense. A terrible being appeared before him—something Qiang would later call an Uvuudaum—and offered him release from the visions along with the promise of something greater. Fearing that if he ever woke, he would lose his sanity, Lao accepted the offer. He woke to Qiang’s frantic shaking.

Final Years with Qiang and the Golden Way

After making the pact, Lao found himself able to control a bizarre form of magic he did not understand. Fortunately Lao had an able tutor in the form of the aging hermit. The great secret and the reason for more knowledgeable villagers' distrust of Qiang was made obvious. Qiang was a warlock who had also made a pact with an Uvuudaum, though he had been far more careful in his dealings with the Far Realm. However, they had obviously still left their mark on his mind.

For three years Qiang taught Lao everything he knew, though with each passing year it was less and less as Qiang's sanity continued to slip away. Why Qiang did this at all was never quite clear to Lao—perhaps he felt pity for Lao or perhaps he wanted someone to carry on living in the small house in the forest after he died. Qiang succumbed fully to the decay of his mental faculties in Lao's twentieth year and ran screaming into the woods one night. He did not return.

Lao lived in Qiang's house for another year before setting out on the Golden Way for Faerûn. By offering his services as a guard, he was able to hitch a ride with various traveling caravans, picking up Common along the way. He avoided using his magical abilities at all times so as not to draw more attention to someone who was already odd-looking by human standards. It was during these travels that he also learned of the western deities—Shaundakul, in particular—to which he began to offer prayers in hope of staving off a future that likely looked like Qiang's.

Goals: To understand more fully the nature of the Far Realm without further damaging his sanity and to seek out any possible way to restore his lost mental faculties and weaken the hold of his pact.

Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts:
1. The Fountain of Youth: Nonsense quests for equally nonsensical magical remedies for Lao's ailing mind.
2. Hallucinations! Lao will believe just about anything he sees; even if it's not real.
3. Qiang: He's still out there somewhere. Maybe.

I think I've done this all correctly. And hello server community!

[Lyrewyn]

Reviewed, xp rewarded.