Profile
Full name: Ryke Lighthouse
Aliases: Lighthouse, Lighthope (given by Piir), hope of humanity (given by Kamila), Colin (given by Solaris), failure (given by his father)
Age: 28
Race: Human
Place of birth: Baldur's Gate city
Alignment: CG
Patron deity: Valkur
Profession: Traveling priest, safeguard for adventurers, walking lighthouse, previously sailor
Classes: Rogue, Favored soul
Primary language: Chondathan
Secondary languages: Thief cant
Physical description: Ryke is an ordinary looking man. He has ginger ruffled hair and green eyes, no beard most of the time. He is of average height and overall looks unthreatening. Most of the time, Ryke is of various degrees of inebriation. He enjoys wearing his over sized coat above a scale brigantine.
Psychological description: These days, Ryke is a jovial, nonchalant man who enjoys traveling, seeing new things and helping others. He is easy going, and oftentime he underplays his real power, presenting himself as a drunk fool with a lantern. In truth, Ryke is wiser than he seems, and oftentime has situations under subtle control behind the mask of drunken chaos. Ryke doesn't enjoy conflict and claims it's a shame when fine folks fight each other. When traveling, Ryke doesn't use weapon unless absolutely necessary, staying behind others backs, knowing that in dire moment he'd be the one to save them.
Ryke hasn't always been like this, and his past self was an utterly irresponsible, snappy sarcastic man with a quicker temper. Some of this personality breaks lose when Ryke is too sober or when facing disrespectful people. He has a magical thinking, often prescribing mundane items properties they don't possess, such as claiming that rum wards your minds from illithid mind control, or claiming there's a pixie living in his lantern. Ryke is also rather impressionable, awing at wonders of the surrounding world.
Ryke enjoys:
-- jovial folks
-- strange people
-- drinking and adventuring
-- helping others
Ryke doesn't really enjoy:
-- dull, allergic to fun characters
-- disrespectful attitude
-- violence
-- Umberlee followers
Religious views: Ryke is a self-discovered priest of Valkur, and he brings Valkur's wisdom wherever he travels. Ryke considers the gods of fury petty and sore beings, but has the strongest opinion on Umberlee. Ryke strongly opposes Umberlee's teachings and would never, under no circumstances, travel in the same boat with an Umberlite.
Biography
Family:
Harold, father, 54 years old
Anna, mother, 52 years old
Annabel, sister, 35 years old
Jake, brother, 32 years old
James, brother, 30 years old
Helen, sister, 25 years old
Early years:
Ryke Lighthouse is a failure to his family. Born to a family of Baldur's Gate artisans, he kept getting into bad company from early years, though Ryke himself didn't see it that way. He was fascinated by seafaring and was dreaming to ride the seas. When he was 14, his dream came true when he abandoned his family house, stealing a solid sum of gold that was meant for the new family house his mother dreamt of. This and his friends' gold went into a small vessel he and his friends called Wings of Hope, captained by Ryke's older comrade, now captain Drake Eastlake. The newfound crew sailed the Sword Coast wide and broad, having amazing sea adventures and seeing many places.
As tradition goes, the crew was paying tributes to the Umberlee priests whenever they left a port. There was an especially greedy priest at Baldur's Gate at the time who was charging more and more every passing trip. It was until at the port of Waterdeep, when Ryke was 17, the crew met a wavetamer of Valkur. This priest shared his vision with the young men, showing them another way to sail the seas. The youngs were inspired, especially Ryke. The wavetamer blessed their journey, and this time the crew didn't pay tributes to Umberlee, but rather offered prayers to Valkur. This journey was smooth, and they successfully reached Nelanther islands, and then returned to Baldur's Gate.
At Baldur's Gate, they refused to pay the priest of Umberlee. Moreso, Ryke openly defied him speaking ill of Umberlee and saying that Valkur would protect them. Angered, the priest promised the crew bad omen. The crew disregarded the warning and set sail in a bad weather. It was then when the tide claimed them all.
All, but Ryke...
Revelation:
Ryke was washed ashore near Ulgoth's Beard. Before opening his eyes, he had a vision where in the end of a white tunnel Valkur smiled upon him. Ashamed, Ryke returned home where he faced scorn of his family for what he previously did. His alcoholism only became worse, he couldn't stop drinking since the accident, and he kept receiving new visions. Waking up after one of the visions, Ryke performed his first divine cantrip. This cantrip, as well as his continuing visions, convinced Ryke that there was a reason Valkur saved his life. Ryke was of firm belief that this reason was to prevent the tragedy that happened to his crew ever happening again to others.
He joined a new crew. And another. And another. During his new voyages, he met more wavetamers who shaped his vision of Valkur's path. Despite what he learned from them, Ryke has never become a real wavetamer himself. He was like a sorcerer, with Valkur's gifts flowing through his veins rather than through his mind. During that era of his life, Ryke was offering his newly acquired power to protect the crews he saield with, and all he took was a promise that the crew doesn't pay tributes to the Umberlee church.
Failure to the family:
To this day, Ryke's family doesn't know about his divine powers. To them, he remains an irresponsible drunk and thief who couldn't sober up for a family dinner. One of these dinners, when Ryke was 21, he accidently dropped a chandelier and caused a fire that burnt the family house down. That day, his family disowned him, and since then Ryke lives at the docks' homeless shelter when ever he comes back.
In Eleint, 1359, Ryke returned from yet another trip to see his family, and yet again he was denied. Drinking himself to black out, Ryke missed his ship and his crew sailed without him. Ryke remained on the Sword Coast, seeing it as an opportunity to bring Valkur's wisdom to adventurers. After all, adventuring crews aren't so different from sailing ones, for they too overcome many dangers in their journeys.
Future:
Ryke agrees with his father and considers himself and embarrassment and a failure. Having wasted all his youth on the seas, he now wants to do something worthy with his life, helping wherever he can.
Notable items:
-- Keychain-like amulet (a holy symbol of Valkur)
-- pixie lantern
-- mithral painted brigantine
-- cool coat (that used to belong to his aptain and dear friend, Drake Eastlake)
-- bottomless rum flask
Plot hooks:
-- Ryke is a vocal opponent of Umberlee's faith and would always speak up against her faithful, and some times against Umberlee herself
-- Ryke always encourages others to drink with him, he drinks only rum
-- Ryke has a well established family at Baldur's Gate
-- Recently, Ryke has discovered the plane of mirrors and became quite fascinated with it