Wehn
High General of the Elven Empire,
Master of the Four Stars, Ambassador to Milandar
13th Level Ranger, 12th Level Mage
Psychological Profile:
In many ways, Wehn is a model elf. He draws
his internal strength from the forest, distrusts the lesser races, and
holds elves to a higher standard. His primary interest always seems
to lie in the reforging of the ancient elven empire. Other things
that rank high on his list are the creation of a powerful school of Archery
magicks, turning Arrow Keep into a cultural mecca, and making sure Gerald
releases as few godlike beings as possible from imprisonment.
Xenos, Wehn’s archery instructor, taught Wehn the value of distrusting humans. As Xenos would say “Don’t hate them because they’re humans, hate them because their ignorance and shortsightedness will destroy the world.” Personifying this is Gerald, Wehn’s primary adventuring companion. With his every breath, Gerald seems to release a new blight against Wehn’s vision of a perfect world.
Personal History:
Born to House Tinok, the house of warriors, Wehn
began learning the arts of battle at an early age. He quickly sped
up the ladder of the elven military, quickly finding himself as part of
the Royal Guard, the most elite unit in the empire. When Gerald kidnapped
the king and threw the empire into chaos, Wehn stuck by them.
However, his life changed when Exaltier revealed to them that Malix, the new Councilate of War was using daemons to boost his own power and help fight the war still raging with Milandar. Wehn was present at the Highpoint Debacle, the first battle of the civil war, seizing control of a central keep in Ostolvi, the elven capital, to signal the beginning of the end.
In that battle, Wehn was one of the three survivors holding the fortress against the warrior mages of the Four Stars. Quaffing a potion of speed and wielding two quivers filled with poisoned arrows, Wehn rained death on them from the battlements, moving just quickly enough so that they wouldn’t be able to fix his location long enough for a fireball.
With Kord manning the boiling lead and hand-to-hand aspects, they were able to hold High Point long enough for Exaltier to gather new forces and grind the remaining Four Stars between hammer and anvil.
Wehn became the Resistance’s suicide agent. Not a week went by when he didn’t volunteer himself (or be volunteered for) a mission he’d have to be daft to take on. Traveling to the daemon planes to break portals from the other end, entering the best protected of the old elven ruins in an attempt to gain weapons helpful against Malix, or negotiated with a Drow Matron Mother for the House Sword of the Avanthrular.
Malix’s power, as always came from the daemons. In the early war, Malix channeled this power in through a series of gates, drawing energy from the daemon realm. Entering the Daemon Gates alone, Wehn made his way from the outer ring of the dark realm to its center, defeating the daemonic guardians through a combination of wits and headstrong rushes. There he found the keystone to Malix’s Gates and slamming his sword into it, he sprinting back towards the outer gates, jumping back into reality as the daemon realm imploded. This proved without a doubt his selfless devotion to the cause of the Rebellion. Further stretching his limits, Wehn insisted on using potions of speed and Quickling’s blood (an even more dangerous derivative) to increase his battle effectiveness, at the cost of years of his life.
Wehn decided, not too far after this that he needed mystical might to back up his arrows. In a somewhat peculiar decision, he apprenticed himself to Vile, master daemon summoner and instigator of the War of Reckoning. Under Vile’s tutelage, Wehn quickly learned the secrets of magick. Vile took it a step further, and sensing his own imminent demise, mystically burned a spellbook into Wehn’s mind.
The War grinded on as Wehn’s attention was diverted to matters further south. At the Battle of Isgor he distinguished himself, firing arrow after arrow in dracoman wingjoints. As the warriors on both sides began to vanish, Wehn leaped into the jaws of an opposing dragon, unleashing the full power of a wand in his possession. Frozen solid for almost a day, Wehn was thankfully thawed and brought back to health by the magick of Kord.
At this battle, Wehn had his first meeting with Chronos, but not his last. Chronos took a liking to ambushing Wehn whenever the opportunity presented itself. Chronos’s mastery of time magicks only aggravated Wehn’s already stressed body’s age. The hatred slowly grew until Wehn spent several months gathering components, including one of Chronos’s arms, to create a perfect arrow designed to slay the Field Commander.
To truly master the long bow, Wehn began training under Xenos, greatest of the elven bow masters. Xenos taught Wehn many techniques of the bow and his own version of history, the “How Humans Screwed Everything Up” school of historic thought. Xenos never much liked humans, and with their responsibility for the War of Reckoning and their destruction of the forest, it got worse. Enough of this rubbed off of Wehn to make relations with Gerald tenuous at times.
Wehn’s performance was only topped at the Battle of the Serpent Gate, where his arrows toppled all three of Oroth’s Field Commanders. Wehn’s “blue arrow” brought down Chronos, inverting his time magicks and draining away the years. Dracos and Vlad each fell under a hail of arrows, leaving their troops unguided, but still deadly.
At that battle, Oroth’s forces were decimated and the Serpent Gate was sealed, for the time being. In the rubble was Suvakahl, an ancient elven bastard sword created in the truest elven style; and now it was Wehn’s partner in the war against Malix. Wehn now could direct his full attention to his true quest, liberation of the elven people. Wehn, Gerald, Kord, and Xyphael began launching strikes at Malix’s plans. They slaughtered his troops, barred his adventurers from achieving their goals, and attacked his advisors.
Gerald’s accidental summoning of the Greater Fiend Nefros during this period marked the beginning of what Wehn sees as an ongoing trend. Even though the party was able to banish Nefros as he attempted to reach the red moon, Kord was grievously injured by Wehn’s own arrows and Gerald survived only through the intervention of an Ivory Cube given to them by the Guardian. After this Gerald swore off daemon summoning, and eventually bartered off his ability to do so in exchange for an item from the Vault of the Magi. Not rivaling Nefros, but still irritating in Wehn’s eyes, was Gerald’s retrieval during this period of “Xaod’s Staff,” from one of Malix’s servants.
In the final battle of the Elven Civil War; Wehn, Gerald, Kord, and Xyphael directly assaulted Malix and his councilors. When Malix dropped screaming from the sky, his soul being torn to shreds by the power of the Staff-Spear of Arcan, Wehn’s quest was complete. He waiting for some time, catching his breath and began a new quest, retrieval of the Crown of Urdek.
The Crown was once the regalia of the High Field General of the Elven Empire. Forged by a Titan from the bones of a powerful white dragon, the Crown went through many hands until a great general reclaimed it from an orcish warlord during the early Empire. Wehn searched far and wide, putting together the clues, assembling the keys and cracking the codes that held the lore regarding its defenses. Eventually, he claimed the Crown for his own and Exaltier gave him the position of High Field General of the Elven Empire, even though he commands no troops.
Now Wehn’s quest is the city of Arrow Keep. Although half owned by Gerald and nominally controlled by the Baroness, Wehn still attempts to make Arrow Keep into something he’d be proud of. However, with the Arrow Keep Mage Academy and Gerald’s machines, Wehn is having a harder and harder time keeping his influence over the Keep.
Important Items:
Crown of Urdek (+1 Strength, +15 Hit Points,
+1 damage per die ice spells, invoke ice armor (30 hp mage, 60 hp fighter,
120 hp ice golem), memorize 1 additional ice spell per level, Can supercharge
or create ice effects with a Wisdom check (daily limit, set by how connected
the wearer is with it), basic intelligence, communicates through empathy)
Suvakahl (+3/+3, pluses depend on users connections
to it, criticals have extra effects against specially hated enemies or
enemies of the elven race),
Pearl Bow (+4 to hit, can fire a 4d6+4 energy
bolt instead of an arrow (9 charges))
Light Mote Wand (fires 1d6 damage light motes,
can fire up to five motes at one charge per mote, ? charges)
Gemstone Amplifier (Magic Missiles cast by the
holder deal 1d8+3 damage each)
Contacts:
Gerald - Co-leader of Arrow Keep, Adventuring
companions, fought together extensively through the War of Shadows.
Shaky relationship. Wehn beleives Gerald is acting as a conduit for
Xaod, God of Madness, to re-enter the world.
Xyphael - Friend of the Elven Empire and Adventuring companion. A very steady working relationship. They both serve the goals of the Elven Empire, although their views on exactly where it should be heading may differ.
Kord - Adventuring Companion. Don't see much of each other any more, but would be more than willing to help the other in a time of need.
Barabus - Adventuring Companion. Although their political views are similar, Barabus's experiences in the Lake of Dreams have made Wehn wary.
Exaltier - Close Friend and Commander. Wehn would lay down his life at Exaltier's order. Even when not under direct orders, they never work at counter purposes.
Huroon - Friend and trusted advisor. Huroon and Wehn see eye to eye on most everything and work together when time allows (which it rarely does).
Xenos - Mentor. Wehn still occasional spends time with his teacher, but hasn't had time of late to practice his archery.
King Kor III - The King of Milandar. Kor and Wehn have a very amiable relationship. Although not always working for the same purposes, they respect each other and each other's means. Hoever, Kor is a hard barganer when Milandar's interests are at stake and this may drive something of a wedge between them.
BloodDeath - Associate. Wehn respects BloodDeath in a strange sort of way, but their interests rarely coincide.
Zeveron Garonok - Associate. Wehn seems to like Zeveron on some level, even though his mercenary tendacies are a drain on the pocketbook. Wehn is one of the few Zeveron has willingly given credit, in exchange for great investment advice.
High Inquisitor Saloss - Shaky relations. If Wehn needs heretics sniffed out, Saloss is an aid, but generally they are wary of each other.
Quilar Sunbane - Enemies. Quilar takes little interest in Wehn, but when they see each other it rarely fails to come to blows. As of yet, Quilar has avoided the Elven Empire and as long as it stays that way, things are safe.
Magis - Enemies. An occasional tit for tat describes their relationship. When Magis is found out in the open, Wehn, Gerald, and the rest come down like the Furies to take him out. Never quite succeed, but not the building blocks for friendship. Wehn considers Magis a traitor to the elven race for working with the orcs, and Magis just doesn't like being jumped all the time.