So-Koth, Student and Surrogate of Avouz

Half-elf Warlock (Hexblade)

Player note: Some months ago, my computer died and with that, I lost access to my original cache of 5e characters. I had originally built So-Koth to be a proxy for Alandar, who I felt would be inappropriate to rebuild as a level 1 diviner (It didn’t make sense narratively to have a 200 year old wizard be a starting PC). With So-Koth gone forever (I presumed), I built a new proxy for Alandar with Professor Veldet.

Enter my brother-in-law and his technical wizardry, who recovered for me all my lost files from the dead computer. Now So-Koth was back, but I didn’t need a second proxy character for Alandar. However, I could use a “surrogate” for Avouz in the upcoming Season 7 of Adventurer League play, a season which threatens to be quite deadly with its infamous “Death Curse.” So, So-Koth was rebuilt and here is the newest incarnation.

But then they changed the rules for surrogates, so that you can't use your own PCs in that role. Oh, well...

Player note #2: As we've worked through Tomb of Annihilation, it's become clear that Athasen (Avouz) will level out of the adventure in a few sessions. I made the decision to replace him with So-Koth when that happens, figuring it would be easiest to replace a Bladesinger with a Bladesinger. Then I got to thinking. Why wait two seasons to give Hexblade a whirl with Nilsiar? Hexblades are very similar to Bladesingers and I've not played So-Koth at lvl 5 yet, so he's still eligible for his rebuild. So I recreated him as a Hexblade. Pretty much the same background and description, but different game stats. Should prove interesting.

So-Koth’s Background

During the nightmarish time when the Imaskari had returned to Mulhorand in force, enslaving its Mulan population, So-Koth was born. He was the child of a former Mulhorandi nobleman and a captured adventurer, a high elf wizard, both of whom found themselves enslaved to a vicious Imaskari warlord.

So-Koth’s parents did their best to have as normal a family life as possible under the lash of the Imaskari, raising him in a loving but often fearful home. As he reached puberty, it was clear this bright young man had great magical potential, something which gave his mother even more concern. She had managed to hide her own magical talents from her captors, because the Imaskari archmages that ruled their land brokered no competition. But would her son, with his immaturity, be able to do the same?

So-Koth’s parents resolved to flee Mulhorand or die trying. One night, they crept out of their master’s compound and made for the docks, where a smuggler awaited to take them to lands far to the west. By dawn, they were at sea, but they knew their master and his allies would soon be in pursuit.

Or they would have been, had not the awesome events of the Sundering begun that very day. The Mulhorandi gods returned and with their divine power they attacked the Imaskari. As this battle unfolded, the Imaskari found themselves hard pressed, and the fates of three runaway slaves mattered little.

The family settled in Suzail, in southern Cormyr, where So-Koth began his training as a wizard. Fascinated as a child by the tales of Elvish Bladesingers, he now sought to become one, but no such trainer was to be found. Thus, when he was of age, he set out to the West yet again, carrying in his pack his father’s khopesh sword, in hopes that he could find a bladesinger to train him.

His journeys eventually landed him at Alandar’s famous wizarding school outside Darkhold. The headmaster, Alandar the All-Knowing, learned of his newest student’s desire and arranged an introduction between So-Koth and the Zhentarim agent known as Athasen.

Unfortunately, around this time, it was discovered that despite his earnest desire to become a bladesinger, So-Koth really didn't have the gifts. However, one day while praying alongside his mentor (Athasen was likewise a worshiper of Istishia), So-Koth had a vision of the Raven Queen, who revealed to him another way to his goals: the path of the Hexblade warlock.

So-Koth embraced this new path with enthusiasm and soon began to excel. Although they don't fully understand the path of the warlock, Athasen and Alandar have continued to mentor the young half-elf. So-Koth serves in Alandar's wizard school, working as something of a courier from Alandar to Athasen, which has made the inquisitive young warlock curious as to the depth of their relationship.

Regardless, So-Koth is now eager to prove himself, and the crisis in Chult may prove to be just such an opportunity.

Description

Born a mix of noble Mulan blood and elven stock, So-Koth carries on both traditions of his family. He honors his father by dressing and grooming as a Mulhorandi noble, wearing the traditional clothing of Mulhorand and shaving his head. He honors his mother by pretending at bladesinging through his hexblade abilities.

So-Koth is a lean young man in his early 20s. His skin is of a tanned amber color, giving credence to his Mulan heritage. His hair is black when he allows it to grow out (which is rarely) and his eyes are hazel. Grateful for his escape from the Imaskari by sea, he has taken to worshiping Istishia, the goddess of Elemental Water, as the Mulhorandi pantheon lacks a sea deity. He does however honor the Mulhorandi gods, using an ankh (the symbol of Thoth, the Mulhorandi god of magic and knowledge) as a spell focus.

Character Sheet here

Saiah, bodyguard to Lortessa

Human (Calishite) Paladin of Sune
Street Urchin background

Background
An orphan on the streets of Calisham, Saiah lived a hard childhood. As a girl, she did everything she could to hide her gender and beauty from the rogues and brothels on the streets, dodging predators everywhere she went. One of the best strategies she employed was becoming quite the scrapper. By the time she was a teenager, she was a proficient hand-to-hand fighter.

One afternoon, she tried to pick the pocket of a foreign cleric, only to get caught by his young protege. That protege happened to be Lortessa, still a young acolyte training in the Church of Sune. She and her mentor immediately saw through the grime and the grit of the streets to see the beautiful young woman beneath, so they recruited her in their retinue pretty much on the spot.

From then on, Saiah was raised alongside Lortessa and became her closest friend and confidant. When the Harpers sent the newly minted Sunite priest Lortessa to Darkhold to keep tabs on the new Zhentarim, Saiah came along, signing up to be a part of the Darkhold Fortress Guard under the Pereghost. There, she was assigned to a detail drilling under Athasen, Lortessa's soon-to-be lover.

Description
Saiah is a tall black-haired beauty with strength and tenacity galore. She fights like a Calishite Dervish, wielding a falchion in each hand in much the same manner as Kishward. Despite her martial training as a paladin of Sune, she is clearly inferior to her commander, Athasen, and resents it. Saiah hates to lose and she loses to Athasen a LOT while sparring.

Despite being a follower of the goddess of love and beauty, Saiah is exceedingly cautious and shy when it comes to matters of love. She remembers all too well what fate awaited many of those on the streets who were deemed pretty or desirable.

Character Sheet here