sirWarlock

The Backstory

Lavr's hometown is Luskan, a northern port city whose population is primarily engaged in trade and piracy. His parents, Shileor and Mirime Maeth'tar, run the shipyards, a business that builds and repairs ships in the city. Although Luskan is a predominantly human city, and racism is thriving there, the elf family has been able to live in relative peace thanks to the business that is so beneficial to the city.

Lavr was a long-awaited child, but his future was overshadowed by an event that happened before he was born. During one of his journeys between cities, already on the approach to Luskan, his family's carriage was attacked. Those who survived speak of a pack of animals, one of the servants was sure he heard hysterical female laughter. Both of Lavr's parents survived, and though Mirime was injured by a bite from one of the attackers, healers later saw nothing dangerous to mother or child.

On the day of the firstborn's birth, everything was fine, but as time went on, alarming changes began to appear. The child seemed to breathe less and less slowly, and instead of the usual teeth, sharp fangs began to grow. Visits to herbalists, those who would not spread the rumor about the strange child of elves, did not yield any results. Very soon it became clear that Lavr had a thirst that he was obliged to quench, and had to be provided with a source of animal blood. The boy was left on the estate, maintaining in public the reputation of a healthy family. Meanwhile, his parents began to distance themselves from him, considering the child a disgrace to the family.

As Lavr was getting older, he began to look for information about his curse on his own. There were few books about vampires, and he had to rely more on fairy tales and legends. Lavr assumed that by finding and killing that vampire, he would get rid of his thirst. The situation was complicated by the fact that there was the tower of the Arcane Brotherhood in the city, who had once cleansed the ruins of the old city of the undead, and now could be actively interested in the elf, who had a tendency of drinking blood. Later, when Lavr was already 25, his mother became pregnant again, the thought of a new, normal, child prompted an even more active search.

Signing the Pact

Sitting in a tavern one day, Lavr receives a note from a man who claims that his master is aware of the problem and can help. Making his way out of the city through the sewer pipes, the elf meets the messenger and is given a ring that he says would allow him to contact his master and discuss things directly.

After finding a safe place and putting on the ring, Lavr mentally finds himself in a dark misty space, where he is greeted by a voice that later introduces itself as Strad von Zarovich. The owner of this voice is ready to offer a contract - strength and assistance in finding and killing the vampire, in return for a favor later. For the first time getting some sort of chance at a solution to his problem, Lavr agrees, and his newfound patron guides him towards the Icewind Dale.

Lavr sneaks into the mansion, gathering some of his belongings, and leaves to find the vampire without even leaving a letter. (Later, he manages to write a letter to his family after all, but at this point in the game has yet to receive a reply.)

Journey to the Dale and the first party

The Icewind Dale is an area that has been tormented by eternal winter for the past two years. The Ten Towns of the dale are slowly dying. Food is scarce, fuel is hard to come by, and trade routes are becoming cut off. The locals believe that the eternal winter is sent by the goddess Auril, and so every month the towns make sacrifices to her, some with food, some with warmth, some by killing one of their citizens.

In a city called Easthaven, Lavr meets a group of other adventurers, each of whom also came to the Valley for their own personal reasons. Among them were Ikki the fae warlock, Leiv (who introduces himself as Varg) the elf warrior, and Misha the owlin ranger. They come together in a team in the face of a murder that took place in the city, in which they suspect the newcomers. Traveling through the towns in search of the actual killer, they also get acquainted with the locals, learning more about troubles of the north.

Despite traveling together, the group fails to bond, while Lavr contacts his patron more and more often with the help of the ring, informing him of the details of the journey or asking for advice.

During one of the battles, Lavr tastes humanoid blood for the first time (secretly from his group, who were unaware of his nature), not realizing what this action would entail.

The meeting with Strahd and Iago's appearance

One day, the group finally manages to find the killer they have been chasing since day one (he turns out to be the follower of Auril, who kills those who try to avoid death during the monthly sacrifices). At this point, the group is joined by the girl Fjor, a shifter and druid.

They corner the villain and a fight ensues, in which, despite being victorious, Lavr is seriously wounded. While unconscious, he once again unknowingly finds himself in the mental space he normally moves into with the help of the ring. Disappointed by the outcome of the battle, Lavr asks Strahd for more strength, for which he promises to give a familiar assistant to accompany Lavr on his journey and explains how to summon him.

During the conversation, the elf asks his patron to appear as more than just a voice out of nowhere, and Strahd fulfills the request. Upon seeing him in person, Lavr unmistakably realizes that he has been communicating with the vampire all along. Despite Lavr's initial fear and anger, Strahd does not strike him as a monster from folktales. After talking, Lavr decides to keep the contract for the time being, especially since giving it up would mean returning home with nothing.

The elf wakes up from unconsciousness at the inn where the group brought him. He immediately performs a ritual to summon a familiar, and it turns out to be an imp named Iago. A cunning little devil-like creature who can turn invisible, turn into a raven, a rat and a spider, and, as it turns out later, is extremely poisonous. Jago is rambunctious and, well, infuriating, likes to interpret requests in his own way, but will not disobey a direct order. He can be affectionate and generally behaves like a cat. He is not afraid of fire, which gives him the habit of sleeping in lit fireplaces. From this point on, he is almost always by Lavr's side.

Death.

While visiting the Church of Latander in Bryn Shander, one of the Valley's largest cities, the group agrees to fulfill the request of a local priest, Kopper, who asks to visit his friend in the woods outside one of the towns.

After leaving Leiv under Iago's watch in a nearby town, the group heads to the hut and discover Kopper's dead friend and a mysterious artifact that explodes at a certain point, taking the lives of Misha, Fjor, and Lavr with it. While the undead souls of the first two remain near their bodies in the cabin, Lavr's body disappears.

The elf wakes up in an unfamiliar place, similar to what he saw during his conversations with his patron, and sees an angry Strahd. He explains that he has resurrected Lavr and that the latter is now in his castle. After recovering from the shock, talking to Strahd and getting some rest, Lavr, who last drank blood four days ago, asks the patron if he can get animal blood for him. Strahd fulfills his request and, after tasting the deer's blood, Lavr learns one unpleasant fact: having tasted the blood of a humanoid before, the animal's blood is, to put it mildly, unappetizing. Strahd helps rethink the concept of drinking from humans and encourages Lavr to consider the need to hunt and quench his thirst more often.

Later, Strahd helps Lavr make his way back to the Valley. By then, the adventurers have managed to resurrect the dead, and Ikki and Fjor have left the group. A few days later, Leiv leaves the group as well.

An introduction of Frostbite and Birel.

As the party falls apart, Lavr grows closer to Strahd, talking to him almost every night and coming to the castle (and later receiving an amulet that allows him to teleport there).

One day, with only Lavr and Misha left from the original team, they go on a quest to the sea, stopping in Bremen on the way. There, the adventurers come across Frostbite, a red-haired Tiefling with blue skin and vitiligo like frost, who turns out to be a druid. Frostbite has come to the Dale to find out the cause of her visions and joins the group on their journey.

- Backstory of Frostbite and her personality (thanks to Marina for the text @marlyamz1 )

Frostbite (real name Rietta), was born into a family of adventurers in the Feywild, causing her life to be filled with magic, adventure, and various rather unusual things from childhood. As a child she ran with the vine for treasure, as a teenager she showed her rebellious spirit with satyrs, pixies and summer eladrins, and then calmed down and at a certain point she started having visions of the Dale and a strange druid living in it. Her parents decided it was a sign to her that it was time for her to begin her journey, and she set out on a path to find out the reason behind the visions.

Frostbite could well be described in one word: chill. Outside of critical situations, she is calm, steady and consistent. At times laughing and sarcastic, like many fairies, self-aware and very responsible (even too much at times). -

art by @marlyamz1

As the group continues their journey, they deal with the beast in the forest of the Lonlywood, subsequently meeting the very druid that Frostbite sees in her visions. She learns that she is the reincarnation of the druid's dead sister, but they cannot talk in detail because a fight breaks out and the druid, Ravisin, leaves.

After completing the mission and returning to the city, they meet a Tiefling bard named Birel. He looks quite striking, with a lot of jewelry contrasting with his lush black hair and dark skin. He asks to join the group on the premise that he wants to help the Dale with the curse of eternal winter.

- Background on Birel and his personality (thanks to Michele for the text @monstersovka )

Birel, or "Magpie" as he is known to those around him, grew up in the orphanage of two halflings, Nimsy and Milo Huddle. While living in the Lonelywood, the young tiefling dreamed of only one thing - to leave the cold lands as soon as possible and travel with his childhood friend. There, he thought, fame and mountains of gold awaited him. Unfortunately, instead, he ended up with a lot of bad stories to tell, and his friend left him before he could wake up. The tiefling found neither fame nor riches, and the chase across Faerûn forced him to return to his homeland, where he met the next adventurers who changed his life and outlook on familiar things.

Birel's personality is complex. He combines the incompatible: vigilance and recklessness, distrust and open heart, dark and sinister combined with softness and tenderness. Birel is bright and charming, but also dark and withdrawn, trying not to open the door to his past to anyone. Serpent, magpie, fox, scoundrel, traitor, lover, stranger, brat, murderer - the tiefling goes by many names, given to him from different corners of Faerûn. -

art by @monstersovka

For a while they travel as a group of four adventurers, but after a couple of days, Misha decides to leave and the three of them remain. This group remains to this day.

Because of Birel's character, he and Lavr have some minor conflicts. Tiefling often teases the elf and one of such moments leads to Lavr's breakdown, who, engulfed by thirst, attacks Birel trying to kill him, but Iago takes him to the castle in time. The elf spends nearly a day there talking to Strahd, worrying about returning and what will await him in the Dale after such a thing. At the same moment, the relationship between Lavr and Strahd peaks, becoming romantic.

Before they can get back to their journey, the group is suddenly haunted by Birel's past in the form of an air elemental sent by an angry king.

Unprepared for battle (and this situation will happen again in the future), they flee the city and, realizing that it will be impossible to break away, Lavr carries Birel along with him to Strahd's domain. The elf hopes that there they can just catch their breath and leave, but Strahd doesn't agree to let Birel go, forcing the tiefling to take a vow (which will prevent him from resisting if Lavr attacks and will ensure Lavr's future fulfillment of the contract) and erase both of their memories of it.

Upon his return Lavr manages to regain his memories (Birel only a couple of days later), after splitting up with Frostbite (who went to meet Ravisin), the guys go to Goodmead, where Birel confesses his feelings to Lavr (but it happens in the middle of an argument and a small brawl). Without discussing the situation, they split up, Lavr manages to talk about the situation with Strahd, and Birel has a dialog with Iago and later confronts Frostbite. Through a series of conversations, a romantic relationship also begins to strengthen between the elf and the tiefling. During the events after their return, the group also finds a winged snake named Pissy, who stays with Birel as a pet.

Later, the group will use the amulet to enter the Feywild (fleeing from the elemental again), where they will meet the family of Frostbite, and the nature of the place will bring Lavr and Birel closer together. From the Feywild, the boys will again temporarily move to Strahd's domain, where Birel will be forced to give up one of his eyes, replacing it with one through which the vampire can observe the events in the Dale, and Lavr thinks about what the future holds for him.

art by @monstersovka

About Lavr's personality

At the beginning of the journey, Lavr was rather withdrawn, finding it difficult to trust the people around him. With the Tieflings he bonded greatly, it became easier for him to open up to the group, especially since they are tolerant of his dhampir nature. In his own way, Lavr is extremely curious. He may give the impression of a serious young man (elf) at first glance, but that doesn't stop him from recklessly sticking his nose where it doesn't belong.