Halen Ripley

Halen was born in Vralbog, a mining and smithing village in Druj. An only child and apprentice to his blacksmith father from a young age, he smithed his hammer Sentinel himself in his father’s shop. Around age 17, he left home with his best friend, Gigur, half-orc bard, and Irma, a dwarven bard, to the disappointment of his parents to try and make it big together as musicians. Their band, Near Heroic, mostly did small time gigs, and slowly they began taking less and less musical gigs and more and more of the dangerous variety. With the Veil of Kindness taking a toll on their profits, they left Harmonia, where they encountered a tiny, remote, elven village being raided. The three did what they could, but they were still new to this, and weren’t successful in fighting off the invaders. However, the village elder’s grandchild, a shaman with expertise in divination and necromancy, Augriel (half elf, legally named and known by much of the village by their human name, August, before achieving their shaman status and taking up their elven name) joined them on their quest. The small party continued doing odd jobs outside Harmonia, and were joined by Paquinn, an elven bard. His joining the party reignited the boys’ interest in performing again, and it became something they relied upon more and more for money. The party was on the road for years, all of them performing gigs together in pubs and at festivals. August and Halen were married and they had their first baby, Ellis, about seven years pre-storyline. They raised him on the road, but life on the road was dangerous outside the Veil. The team was attacked by a group of bandits and Ellis was killed in the fight when he was about 10 months old because Halen was taken down when he was meant to be protecting him. He and his family kept moving as best they could. Things were especially hard on Halen and Augriel of course, and the group struggled to stay together. Shortly before their daughter Johanna was born, the couple moved to the tiny town of Breakcliff Bluff on the border of Druj and Osthedge in Harmonia to raise her under the Veil of Kindness. The rest of the party decided to keep moving forward. It was not a breakup on bad terms, just what was best for everyone involved, and they still exchange letters and occasional visits. Johanna was born soon after they settled in, and Halen set up shop as a blacksmith, like his father once taught him. Johanna is now about 9 months old, and they have five borzois— Willa, Zephyr, Basil, Thea, and Gus, and a horse named Buttercup. Zephyr and Basil were with them on the road, the others were adopted later. 

CURRENT GAME STORYLINE

When the letter to help out with the towers arrived addressed to Augriel, Halen never showed it to them. He felt personally responsible for Ellis’ death and felt that this was a way to get closure and redemption, although he’s heard so many times that no one blames him. He figured that should something go terribly wrong, Augriel was the more competent and able parent, and that they deserved to be the one raising their daughter, not him. Their small family is not well off at all, so all Augriel knows was that he was chosen to do a job for the government that’d help them get out of the debt they’re in as well as preserve the Veil, which is important to them after Ellis was killed outside of it. Halen’s main motivation is to make the world safe for his family and to prove to himself that he can protect them.

• He has several scars on his face and one across his chest from the day that their party was ambushed and his son died.
• He has two tattoos. His left arm has a half sleeve of lineart of desert flowers and succulents. He has the Elvish script for the letter E over the scar on his chest to represent his deceased son.
• He wears necklaces of crystals and stones given to him by his spouse. He doesn't necessarily understand the magic that they do, but they're important to Augriel so they're important to him.
• His teeth have a gap between the front two and his left canine is chipped from getting into a scrap at a bar.
• He plays the mandolin. He wanted to be a bard, but he has no aptitude for magic at all.

The Ripleys

I Won't Let You Fall