reviewed Hethress Mystan - Dragonborn Battlemaster Fighter

[Sapphic Reiver]

Hethress Mystan

Hethress Mystan

Lady of the Hébert family

Serf to Squire; Child to Adult

Being a Dragonborn knight to the lineage of a human family Hethress is no stranger to the question of her title's legitimacy. Many a folk have posed to her questions of wild fantasy and theory of usurpation or drama of a squire besting their knight in a trial by combat amongst the ashes of a burning hamlet. The truth is disappointingly vague and significantly less fanciful. Hethress (like most other Dragonborn) was sired by parents belonging to a nomadic clan, somehow she and a slightly older child of the clan - a black scaled girl called Daar  - got separated from the main group and found themselves wandering around Hébert-owned land. The older Dragonborn child had somehow managed to persuade the noble family to allow them lodgings and food in return for labor. 

 

Hethress Mystan & Daar Baharoosh became serfs just like that. The two spent years tending to fields alongside other farmhands, though this environment proved to be problematic for Daar, who had more years of clan teachings ingrained into them, they were untrusting of non-Dragonborn but tolerated the other races' presence out of necessity. This all came to a culmination when Daar left the homestead without so much as a word to Hethress, who had just recently turned thirteen. The disappearance of Daar was a hit to Hethress' life with no clan member to teach her any more than she had already been taught, but what good is the clan always comes first, when she has no clan?

 

Fast forward two years and Hethress had begun to tire of the life of a fieldhand, day in, day out handling the wheat and various other crops. This boredom wasn't born out of some grand wanderlust or dreams of heroics and riches, just the monotony of it as is. This monotony, however, was shattered when Hethress found herself in the midst of a goblin raid. The Dragonborn had managed to convince one or two other farmhands to pick up pitchforks and make an attempt at defending their harvest. This attempt was something of a spectacular failure, at-least one field had been set ablaze and a portion of the harvest rendered inedible thanks to Hethress' poison breath. The results of the short battle were the death or maiming of Hethress' motley militia with Hethress herself suffering a number of wounds from arrows. This display of bravery had gotten the attention of the nobles and landholders which in eventuality meant they reached the ears of the Héberts themselves. A small tale told at a table as a minor entertainment. Without even knowing it was happening, Hethress had been singled out among a small group of other notable serfs. 

 

The shattering of the monotonous had happened, though to her complete surprise it was in the form of squiredom. Each day she woke up and had some different task or training to perform, though it didn't take a genius to see that the young Dragonborn squire was better suited to challenges of physical prowess than mental ingenuity. Hethress was by no means stupid, just... Brash. Her time serving under Sir Dumont was an eye-opening experience for the young Dragonborn and one that taught her to be clever without necessarily being smart. Sir Dumont was a firm but fair Knight to serve as a squire, often going as far as to educate Hethress on some basic common courtesies when approaching Nobility, such as the adoption of a human alias: Sybillia Aubert. Primarily this alias was established to avoid any unintentional insult toward nobles who couldn't (or wouldn't) pronounce her Dragonborn name.

 

Upon turning eighteen years of age, Hethress Mystan had achieved knighthood and was welcomed into the low-ranking nobility of the Héberts whom she continued to serve. The clan always comes first finally had some meaning for the young Dragonborn. Sir Dumont had even presented Hethress with a gift the day she was accepted into the fold: A greatsword with the phrase "Fortune favors the bold" inscribed in draconic into the blade; Though worship of Tymora seemed less prevalent as of recent years, her divine fortune was one Hethress found herself enamored with. 

 

Lady Sybilia Aubert | Lady Hethress Mystan

As the years progressed Hethress found herself using the name Sybilia Aubert more than she'd have liked, the moniker taking on a nigh-permanent mask of which to cover herself via letters and messages from any recipients who may have a distaste for the rarer races of the realm. The years progressed and thanks to her work for the family, she was granted two retainers. The first was Zagga a half-orc servant who Hethress had grown to like quite quickly, she was smart, quick-witted and as the two developed their camaraderie would eventually become Hethress' go-to for quandaries. The second retainer was Wendel, a portly halfling man who moved surprisingly quickly for his size and stature. Formally Wendel is a messenger but his expertise at making stew, soups, and even roasts has quickly made him a welcome addition to Hethress' little company. 

 

For the longest time the Dragonborn, Halfling and Half-Orc traveled the realm in the interests of the Hébert family, and while Hethress handled everything that could get even remotely violent Zagga and Wendell handled day-to-day maintenance, tasks, and handling the delivery and reception of messages. Now at the age of 31, Hethress had received a letter from none other than Felix Hébert and a request for her return.

 

Lady Sybillia Aubert,

It is at the request of our esteemed Baron Hébert that you return to the Hébert estate post-haste for matters of great importance to the good sir, although your efforts to advance the Hébert interests in the greater realm have been recognized and are as always appreciated this invitation is of particular importance; It is of Baron Hébert's wishes that you take a squire of the Baron's choice into your services.

 

And with that, Hethress returned to the estate with Zagga and Wendel in tow. The squire was - much to the entire coteries surprise -  Venetia Hébert, third-youngest daughter of Felix Hébert. The young noble had made a deal with an infernal patron who had taken residence within Venetia's family dagger. Felix held the belief that by becoming a squire beneath Hethress the girl would come to understand not only the ramifications of her actions but of the value the people around her held, human or not. Naturally, Hethress accepted this responsibility but very quickly came to realize that the succubus Venetia struck a deal with was proving to be quite the obstacle in teaching the young woman, after all, why go through years of arduous training when she was being given magical powers already? Not to mention every lesson Hethress tried to teach Venetia was contradicted by something the damnable Succubus had to say or show. 

 

Teaching a squire aside, Hethress was hearing rumours about a Draconic Cult raiding and pillaging villages like nothing before and with how close it was drawing to Greenest (a town which the Héberts had political interest in seeing protected), Hethress figured it would be a great way to demonstrate to her squire what it meant to be a knight, to be a protector of the people.

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The Quick Version:

• Hethress & a Black Dragonborn called Daar get separated & lost from their Clan, found by farmhands and brought into the fold as Serfs of the Hébert noble family.
• Daar struggles to cooperate with non-Dragonborn and leaves the Hébert estate after a few years, whereas Hethress continues to work as a farmhand.
• Hethress demonstrates exceptional bravery while defending the farm she works on from a goblin raid - though ultimately faces numerous wounds and ruins some of the crop yield with her poison breath weapon.
• Sir Dumont (a knight under the Hébert family) takes Hethress on as his squire and teaches her the responsibilities of being a knight.
• Hethress finishes her squiredom under Sir Dumont and becomes a knight for the Hébert family, officially operating under the alias of Lady Sybillia Aubert. Through her years of service Hethress is introduced to her two retainers: Zagga & Wendel.
• While overseeing operations for the Hébert family in the greater realm, Hethress is asked to return as soon as possible to the Estate and is asked to take on Venetia Hébert (one of the youngest daughters of the Hébert patriatch) as a squire. Hethress accepts this request and finds herself frequently at odds with Venetia's patron.
• Hethress decides to offer her services as an additional body to help protect Greenest due to the presence of Hébert interests in the nearby region & seeing it as an opportunity to show her Squire what it means to be a knight & a protector of those beneath oneself.

 

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Noble (Knight) - Female - Dragonborn - Character Sheet

Attribute	Value
Strength	17
Dexterity	10
Constitution	15
Intelligence	9
Wisdom	10
Charisma	13

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Background: Noble (Knight)

Personality Trait	My favor, once lost, is lost forever.
Ideal	It is my duty to protect and care for the people beneath me.
Bond	I swore an oath to train - and protect - my squire.   Unfortunately, my squire formed a pact with a Sentient Weapon, who I often find myself at odds with.
Flaw	I have an insatiable desire for carnal pleasures.

 

Feature: Retainers

 

Name	Race	Role	Descriptor
Venetia	Human	Squire	Venetia Hébert is the daughter of Felix Hébert - monarch of the Hébert family. The Hébert family is well known for employing many non-humans as retainers, servants, and guards. This unfortunately has led some of the Hébert heirs to see non-humans as servitors, rather than equals.   Venetia is one such heiress, young, fool-hardy, and filled with a vigor that only a teenager could consider reasonable. Unfortunately, it is this fool-hardiness that helped Venetia come to the idea of forming a pact with a patron. This particular patron was a Succubus who bound part of herself to Venetia's ornate family dagger, warping the colour and shape of the family blade.   Naturally, upon learning this her father was outraged and enlisted Hethress to take the young woman on as her squire. Felix has expressed hope that serving under Hethress will teach the young Hébert about honor and encourage her to see non-humans as more than just servitors.
Wendel	Halfling	Messenger	Wendel is many things, fit as a fiddle is not one of them. The man is short (even by halfling standards), exceptionally hairy (especially by halfling standards), and particularly portly.    Yet despite all these odds against him, the man is, simply put, unusually adept at delivering messages. Wendel always seems to know a rider, carriage driver, rat-trainer, or some kind of mounted delivery person who can get a message from one place to another.
Zagga	Half-Orc	Servant	Hethress is quite aware of the fact that despite her lineage, she is not as all-knowing as some nobles pretend to be. It is due to this acknowledgment of her own shortcomings that Hethress often refers to the smartest person she knows: Zagga the Half-Orc.   Zagga performs her duties as a servant exceptionally well, but Hethress treasures the woman for her intellect above all else, oftentimes confiding in her for solutions to quandaries she herself cannot solve.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by Sapphic Reiver (see edit history)

[Sapphic Reiver]

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