Twilight

~ Character Sheet ~

Biography

Character Name: Twilight

Character Level: 3 (Using Echo's DM coupon!)

Race: Feral Tiefling

Gender: Trans Feminine

Alignment: Neutral Good

Deity: Shar

Size: Medium

Hair: Dark Purple

Eyes: White

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 162 lbs

Age: 28


Appearance: Twilight is quite average in height (both for her own race and compared to others), but she is somewhat on the thicker and curvier side. Her skin is a light purple while her long hair, kept in a simple three strand braid down the left with long side bangs, is a much darker purple. As a tiefling, Twilight has several notable “demonic” characteristics – she has a pair of short, gazelle-like horns, long pointed ears, a set of prominent canines with a snaggletooth on the upper right, and her long thick tail (like her tongue) is forked. Her eyes are also completely white. Other distinguishing features which the archaeologist has include a large tattoo of a raven on her upper back and a smaller tattoo of a black and purple rose along the corner of her left eye, while a partially scarred mark – roughly in the shape of a stylized “AW” – lies covered by bandage along her left forearm. Finally, Twilight has three silver piercings along her left eyebrow and a single dangling silver earring on her right ear in the shape of a skull. Her horns and tail also each have a pair of silver bands near their ends.

The archaeologist typically wears a white long-sleeved shirt, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, with thin black accents and a stylized crisscross pattern stitched in that are tucked into a pair of brownish gray pants. This lies underneath a dark burgundy collared vest reinforced with leather patches that trails just past her hips. A set of black leather holsters and a bandolier – strapped across her chest, waist, and thighs – holds it all and her gear together. Knee-high, worn but well-polished, black leather boots also adorn her feet while a single black leather glove adorns her right hand. Tied around her neck Twilight wears a plain blue bandana, over which often hangs a pair of brass and brown leather goggles when not in use. The tiefling also wears a wide-brimmed black hat over her head with a faded divination card, the image of a horned raven clutching at a bleeding gem on it, tucked within its strap. Finally, pinned to the left side of Twilight’s vest is a circular gold brooch. The brooch is emblazoned with the official symbol of the Avesian Archaeological Society – a gryphon wearing a short shoulder cape perched on an amphora.


History: Twilight, then Zulh Riverbottom, was born and raised in Daggerford the accidental child of Zara Riverbottom, a poor human who worked in one of the local tanneries, and a passing tiefling traveler. Her childhood was…troubling, to say the least. Little loved by a mother struggling before just to feed herself, Twilight was faced with years of neglect and threats of abandonment, while her tiefling traits, more and more pronounced as she grew older, earned her the quick distrust of her neighbors and the wider community. Resentful and given few opportunities, frequent run ins with the Daggerford militia soon followed. Thievery, vandalism, and public disturbances saw Twilight spend some fortnights more behind bars than in her own home – not that it was any less unwelcoming – and this only increasingly alienated her. The young tiefling did have an early and growing passion for mechanical tinkering and alchemy, something which she tried to practice at home and at one-point turn into an apprenticeship at one of the local smithies or apothecaries. However, her reputation in tatters before she could even learn to talk, Twilight only found closed doors, and this same passion only ended up adding arson to her list of charges.

Thrown out of her mother’s home as soon as she was able enough and vilified by the community, Twilight eventually left Daggerford to try and make something of a life in the wider world. Drifting from village to town, and nearly always chased out in the end by a fed-up local guard, Twilight would find herself aimlessly wandering farther and farther to the east. In this way the tiefling would travel to the heartland of Sembia and the port city of Saerloon. There, in The Black Viper tavern, a bitter and restless Twilight was approached by a human explorer and antiquities dealer named Alban von Wechsler with an offer – join his small company, Western Antiques, and make a bit of coin, or keep stewing over a mug of piss ale. Twilight accepted. For a few long years, the tiefling would thus crisscross the interior of Faerun as a member of von Wechsler’s band, finding, recovering, and selling all manner of ancient artifacts and magical heirlooms. Sometimes forcefully so. No stranger to crime, the man’s aggressive and unorthodox tactics hardly made Twilight bat an eye. Recognizing her mechanical talents, it was in Western Antiques when Twilight truly began to experiment with firearms and explosives as well, and for a fair time the tiefling felt appreciated and somewhat content. Maybe even a little happy.

Until someone died.

Though she had stolen, committed vandalism and arson, and been a general nuisance to the law for most of her life, Twilight had never once intentionally injured another. Let alone take a life. So, when her boss Alban von Wechsler, unceremoniously and without hesitation, executed a distraught man as he discovered them pilfering his family’s tomb, it was enough to shock Twilight into hesitation and make her think, for the first time, of what they were doing. Of what would bring someone to face death over a petty object like that. Now unsure of herself and with growing realization over how ruthless von Wechsler and Western Antiques truly was, the tiefling would slip out of their camp not even a fortnight later. Not before stealing the artifact they had taken from the man’s tomb, however. Or setting fire to a small case of gunpowder to cover her tracks. Driven by some unknown sense of guilt, Twilight would then return to the dead man’s home and, confronted by his family, hand back the artifact. No thanks was of course given – as a tiefling that was common enough, anyway – but even Twilight could see the relief and, apparently, importance the thing had to the family, even before a member of their own had died over it. To them, it was not just a way to earn a quick bit of coin. It was something much, much more.

That was a life altering moment for Twilight. Heading back west and even changing her name, the tiefling began to use the skills and experience she had gotten under von Wechsler to continue to seek out and recover the lost, forgotten, and abandoned things of the world, but no longer to profit off them. Instead, remembering the man whose death she had contributed to, Twilight instead sought to protect them from men like Alban von Wechsler. Men who would destroy histories and legacies and the meaning they held for others. Working freelance for wealthy lords or academic institutions, her growing action against tomb raiders and black-market dealers would garner the attention of the Avesian Archaeological Society. A highly renowned collection of scholars, archaeologists, and nobility interested in the past who shared similar goals, and once an enemy of Twilight while under Western Antiques, they would eventually send an invitation to the budding archaeologist to join their ranks. Twilight was hesitant at first. Genuine opportunities throughout her life in short supply and still reeling from von Wechsler’s manipulations, the tiefling nevertheless accepted in due time. The simple gold brooch she received in return meant more than she even expected. For perhaps the first time in her life, Twilight was given a real chance at something more than anything her mother, Daggerford, von Wechsler, and all Faerun thus far, had ever given her. That gold brooch was a new start.

Now a full member of the Society, Twilight was asked to travel northward, back to her homeland, and to the City of Splendors – Waterdeep. Avoiding her old home along the way, the archaeologist did just that. There, she began to work with a wealthy but eccentric halfling merchant named Merret Halfman – an associate of the Society – to realize his goal of opening a public museum in the city cataloguing and displaying the whole history of the Sword Coast. Or at least, what Twilight and her new assistant, a gnome named Braelyn Atwood, could recover. Now shortly after arriving and setting the groundwork for her new lot in life, Twilight looks to continue her work as an explorer and archaeologist and her budding passion for defending the ancient things of the world. Cutthroat merchants, greedy adventurers, vicious raiders, and – especially – Alban von Wechsler be damned.


Personality: In the years since leaving Western Antiques, Twilight has gone a long way from the aimless kid she used to be. Amiable and sultry, if not unabashedly forward with a hint of mischievous intent, self-confidence is certainly not something Twilight lacks for now. This very much comes across through as a sense of bravado. Whether delving headfirst into a cursed ruin, negotiating with a back alley dealer, or just playing a game of dice at the tavern, Twilight is daring, determined, and unafraid of the dark unknown – though some might argue overly confident and bullheadedly so. Still, Twilight is a passionate person. Be it her explosive hobbies or her archeology, there is not much that can sway the fiery tiefling once she latches her demonic fingers into it. An “act first, think later” mentality that has certainly surrounded a lot of her life.

However, this same passion can also quickly become a short-fused temper and pettiness that – though her days of crime are long gone – can easily lead to bitterness and longstanding vendettas…at least from her perspective. Twilight can be a bit of a narcissist, shortsighted, and, while far from the levels of viciousness shown by von Wechsler, legally unorthodox in her methods, even as she tries her best to learn and grow from the poor role models and experiences she had growing up. The tiefling also has a bit of a cold side to her. Though friendly enough to strangers, Twilight is mistrustful of anyone who looks like they’re trying to get too close – a reflex from her being a tiefling and all – and is quite cynical when it comes to ideas like “opportunity”, “mutual benefit”, and “partnership”. The more outlandish and convenient, the more the disbelief.

Finally, though relatively new to the field of archaeology, Twilight still has a budding interest in the old, forgotten, and decrepit of Faerun. Both out of a sense to protect and preserve, but also just…out of genuine interest. She likes dusty and dead things. Coupled with her bravado and a lack of squeamishness, this can make the tiefling sometimes come off as a bit macabre. After all, if everyone expects her to be evil and demonic anyway, might as well get a lovely dark aesthetic out of it, right?



Stats

Ability Scores:

Strength: 8 (-1)
Dexterity: 16 (+3)
Constitution: 12 (+1)
Intelligence: 14 (+2)
Wisdom: 15 (+2)
Charisma: 10 (0)

Class

Fighter 3 (Gunslinger)

Abilities:

Fighting Style - Archery

Trick Shots - Dazing Shot, Disarming Shot

Spells

N/A

Skills

Acrobatics, History, Perception, Survival

Proficiencies & Languages

Armor: All Armor, Shields

Weapons: Simple, Martial, Firearms

Tools: Cartographer's Tools, Tinker's Tools

Languages: Common, Giant, Infernal

Background

Archaeologist (Dust Digger: Whip)

Feats

N/A

Gear

Weapons: 2 Pistols, Whip, Falchion (Scimitar), Dagger

Armor: Studded Leather, Traveler's Clothes

Other: Old Divination Card, Tinker's Tools, Cartographer's Tools, Wooden Case w/ Map, Bullseye Lantern, Miner's Pick, Shovel, Grappling Hook, Climber's Kit, Two-Person Tent, Explorer's Pack

Money: 96 GP

Starting gp: 325

Starting kit: Whip, Longbow, 2 Hand Crossbows, Light Crossbow, Leather Armor, Traveler’s Clothes, Wooden Case w/ Map, Bullseye Lantern, Miner’s Pick, Shovel, Two-Person Tent, Trinket, Explorer’s Pack

Sold: Longbow (50 GP), 2 Hand Crossbows (150 GP), Light Crossbow (25 GP), Leather Armor (10 GP)

Bought: 2 Pistols (300 GP), Studded Leather Armor (45 GP), Scimitar (25 GP), Dagger (2 GP), Tinker’s Tools (50 GP), Cartographer’s Tools (15 GP), Grappling Hook (2 GP), Climber's Kit (25 GP)