Profile
Character
Info
(previously Neutral Good)
(new) Celestial
Summary
Alexus Verderame was a Half Elf Fighter that was played through two campaigns of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition; he was originally created as a level 1 Fighter for a Tomb of Annihilation campaign that started in January of 2019, and made it approximately 3/4ths of the way through the campaign before being petrified; he was restored in July of 2020 at the end of that campaign and taken into a Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus campaign starting in August 2020 at level 10, which he survived in full. He was retired as an actively played character in July of 2021 at level 14.
Alexus was based off of Alex, an existing character from my old webcomic Bowspirit's Aim, but slowly grew into his own entity as the campaigns progressed. The resemblence is still strong, but AUs do tend to get their own lives, don't they?
Appearance
Alexus has straight shoulderblade-length black hair (often tied at the base of the neck) with a sort of "swoop" in his bangs that starts at the part (which side his hair is parted on is artist's choice/whatever looks better). His eyes are gold with slightly slit pupils, and has pointed ears (slightly longer than vulcans from Star Trek). He is lean but triangular, with more muscle definition in his arms and upper body than anywhere else, and his skin is a warm tan with sparse, light body hair. For the most part, he has an open and bright expression, and can be seen smiling or joking around with friends and strangers alike.
He prefers loose collared shirts in either off-whites or muted warm colours, fitted black pants, and cuffed leather boots that fall somewhere between below the knee and mid-calf. While adventuring Alexus supplements with a dark green hooded cloak, leather vest, and a bracer for his left arm. He wears a braided leather cord with a silver bead on each loose end on his right wrist and owns a fluorite pendant in the shape of a heart which has been decoratively wrapped in wire; he always keeps it with him, but doesn't always wear it.
His weapons are a pair of scimitars kept in a double sheathe at his left hip, and a plain but well-made wooden recurve. His arrows are fletched with medium green feathers, though the cock can be darker or lighter than the rest.
Post-Death
After his death and resurrection in the jungles of Chult, Alexus experienced a temporary period of loss of muscle tone (though he recovered after leaving Chult) and began to go grey, which is densest at his temples and in his bangs. He has two somewhat thick vertical scars, one on his right pec and the other on his back, lower down and slightly closer to his spine. He has a platinum ring with a leaf and thorn design circling it, which he wears on the middle or ring finger of his left hand (when he remembers to do so). His expression is more likely to be serious or closed than it was.
Post-Sword
Towards the end of the second campaign, Alexus acquired a powerful magic artifact that partially transformed him. His eyes are now a glowing silver and both iris and pupil are no longer visible. He has a large pair of feathery white wings, and his scars now have a faint warm glow, though the one on his back is hard to see because of the wings. He temporarily obtained an elaborately-decorated longsword that replaced his scimitars, but the sword didn't make it out of the Hells with him. After leaving Avernus, he strung Amara's ring onto the cord with Mephala's pendant, and now wears both all the time. The grey areas of his hair have grown out and are more prominent, and he is less likely to tie it back. His expression usually defaults to serene, and he tends towards quieter emotional displays (and more detached emotions in general).
Stats
(as of level 14)
- 9 STR (-1)
- 20 DEX (+5)
- 19 CON (+4)
- 16 INT (+3)
- 10 WIS (+0)
- 20 CHA (+5)
- 145 HP
- 18 AC
- +5 Initative
- Walking: 30ft
- Flying: 90ft
- Spell DC: 16
- Spell Atk: +8
Personality
Traits
- Whenever I come to a new place, I collect local rumours and spread gossip.
- I love a good insult, even one directed at me.
- (new) I enjoy sharing my philosophical worldview and experiences with others.
- I like seeing the smiles on people's faces when I perform. That's all that matters.
- (new) I always help those in
need.
- My necklace, my violin, (new) and my platinum ring are my most treasured possessions, and they remind me of people I love.
Bonds
and Flaws
- (new) When not directly
engaged in conversation, I am almost always
humming or singing under my breath.
- I have the attention span of a goldfish when not engaged with what I'm doing, but have trouble changing tracks when I've decided on a course of action.
- I'm incredibly bad at remembering the names of people and places, and it can get me into trouble.
- (new) I will make tough decisions and hard sacrifices for the greater good.
History
Alexus Verderame was born in the suburbs of a middling-sized town. His father, a well-renowned Human luthier and archetier, traveled frequently to repair instruments for wealthier clients in his youth but ultimately settled down with his mother and her Half-Elf family. He grew up playing with the instruments in his father's shop and learning to hunt from his mother, occasionally going on trips with his uncles and aunts as they traveled to nearby towns on their merchant routes to satiate his budding desire for travel.
When he came of age, he decided that he wanted to see more of the world than he had; he obtained his family's blessing and began a decade-long journey with no determined destination. He frequently sent letters back to his parents and relatives describing the places he'd visited, though his certainty that they'd ever received them (or that they were still in good health) was pure optimism and tactical blindness on his part—in the thirteen or so years between leaving home and the job that sent him to Chult, Alexus hadn't ever traveled back to his hometown.
Early into his travels he met a tiefling woman who was apprenticed to a jeweler; the two of them were never "official" but they nevertheless grew very close (the wire-wrapped stone pendant he carries was one of her early apprenticeship projects and she gave it to him as a gift—he often wore it when he felt the need for a bit of extra luck). She left her apprenticeship and the town rather suddenly; neither her master nor any of the townsfolk he'd asked knew where she'd gone. Eventually he gave up and left as well; though he still kept half an eye out for news, he never really expected much to come of it.
Prior to the events of his campaigns, Alexus supported himself primarily through offering his musical services at taverns and inns along his travels and supplemented his income and rations in between such places by hunting. He would occasionally accept a temporary place in a wealthy patron's household, but rarely stayed in one area for long—once a village, town, or city became well known to him, his wanderlust caused him to move on to the next place.
Campaign 1: Tomb of Annihilation
Recently, he and several others were recruited by a retired adventurer to venture to the land of Chult in search of a death curse that was preventing people from being brought back from the dead, and causing those who had previously been resurrected to slowly wither away in exhausting agony.
While searching for the cause, Alexus was himself killed and, though successfully brought back, began to wither under the curse's effects as well as becoming increasingly paranoid when it came to showing mercy to surrendered hostiles and the possibility of getting ambushed; this was also when his hair began to go grey (though it took a while to begin to show).
He was forced to sit out the remainder of their adventure when turned to stone by a beholder. His companions were successful in destroying the magical artifact causing the curse and broke the petrification on Alexus afterwards, and he overall feels much better now.
This section needs to be rewritten to be more detailed and rambly :P
Campaign Two: Descent Into Avernus
After journeying into hell, some stuff happened and now he's basically an angel which is weird! Also his friend Amara died :(
This section also needs... a lot, honestly.
Post-Campaign
After returning from Avernus, the party broke up and each went their separate ways; Thokk and Alexus both blamed him for Amara's death, and Alexus was both unsure how to properly grieve her and what could be done to atone. Amara's patron, the unicorn Arwen, quietly transferred the stewardship of her reforming familiar to Alexus' care; he also inherited both of her adopted pets, the almiraj Buttercup McBun-bun and the tressym Slobberchops. With the awkward menagerie in tow, Alexus began wandering Faerun again, though with less enthusiam than prior to the trips to Chult and the Hells, and with little need to exchange entertainment for food or lodging.
Part-celestials with glowing eyes and giant angel wings not being particularly common in most parts of the world, Alexus often drew a little more attention than he preferred at the time, and eventually got to the point where he kept a Disguise Self spell up at nearly all times while in public. His go-to appearance was of an Aarakocra with the colouring and plumage patterns of his old owl familiar, which only garnered him about half as many odd looks. Illusion magic also not being particularly common in "upright" sections of society, he was both rarely called on his deception and had very little experience noticing when someone else was attempting to disguise their own appearance—with his new Truesight, he saw people and objects as they were, not as they were appearing to be.
I also need to expand this part; are you sensing a theme here? :P
