Serra Pebblehill, Last of her name

[TheRedGoat]

Name: Serra Pebblehill

Race: Strongheart Halfling (Stout, phb, +2 Dex, +1 Con)

Class(es): (in order) Swashbuckler Rogue 3, Gloom Stalker Ranger 3, War Wizard 2, Swords Bard 3

Strength 12, Serra maintains a decent level of physicality, but clearly would never compare to larger fighters.

Dexterity 14, Serra is nimble to be sure, but most of her agility lies in her reflexes as opposed to true acrobatic prowess.

Constitution 19 (10 naturally), Constant travel has never actually suited Serra. She relies heavily on a magical amulet to ward of exhaustion.

Intelligence 16, Serra's early mercenary career involved more book learning than she'll ever admit to taking part in.

Wisdom 16, Serra has a practically supernatural sense for danger that has served her well all her life.

Charisma 15, Serra may not be the most erudite person to talk to but she's always had a certain charm about her.

HP (all averages taken): 99 (55 without the Amulet of Health)

Background: (if allowed) Soldier with Outlander's "Wanderer" feature the free feat being Alert, Serra voluntarily joined a mercenary company at a young age. The company had themselves been conscripted in a war with a goblinoid legion, and served as forward scouts, spies, and similar battlefield roles. Serra, of course, was initially too weak to properly bear hefty armor and fight in large combat, but her keen senses quickly proved invaluable as the war dragged on. By the time the conflict drew to a close, she had become a battle-hardened adult, and too stubborn and confident of her own abilities to keep on under her captain. She struck out on her own to become a freelance scout for hire and never looked back since.

Alignment : Chaotic Good, Serra has traveled far and seen all manner of ways of living. The only thing she agrees on is when a person calls for help, then someone should answer.

 

Equipment:
Background - Sword belt clasp, broken assassin mask, playing cards, money pouch (10gp), and common clothes.
Class - Shortsword, short bow and 20 arrows, 2 daggers, burglar's pack (rope sold for 5sp), and thieves tools (armor sold for 5gp)
Free magic items (2 rare)- Amulet of Health (attuned), Folding Boat
Purchased equipment :
Non-magical - spyglass (1000gp), magnifying glass (100gp), healer's kit (10gp), spellbook (50gp), component pouch (25gp), mess kit and bedroll (1gp, 2sp), 394gp, 3sp
Common magic items - Shiftweave clothing (100gp), Thermal cube (50gp), Tankard of Sobriety (25gp), Identify pearl component (100gp)
Uncommon magic items - Mithral Breastplate (900gp), Bag of Holding (500gp), Boots of Striding and Springing (attuned)(300gp), Gloves of Thievery (1000gp), Sentinel Shield (300gp), Stone of Good Luck (attuned)(500gp), Cloak of the Manta ray (300gp), Rope of Climbing (350gp), House of Cards (300gp), Goggles of Night (400gp), +1 Silvered Shortsword (800gp)
 

Appearance: When met in full travel gear, Serra might seem well-traveled and worn, but rather unremarkable. Like most Hin she bears

Personality

Traits - Serra's a napper. Anywhere, anytime. That is her idea of a good rest. She's also prone to quoting stories from other adventuring parties like one would fables to children in order to inspire her allies into action.

Ideals - Independence - Serra grew up surrounded mercenaries not soldiers, so she learned early that rules were more like guidelines.

Bonds - Despite the nature of her departure, Serra would still lay down her life for the company she fought with. And since then she's made it her goal to ensure the defenseless always have a protector.

Flaws - Serra has literally boiled her own protective leathers and eaten them to show how far she'd go to prove herself right.

Character hook/adventure career (Sins of the Damned - Betrayal)(also I swear I tried to keep it briefer than this in my head)

An older, gruff veteran type that has traveled across much of Faerun and is nearing or just beyond the ripe age of 100 (Haflings, or Hin I believe in Faerun, are mentioned as living longer than even this). She's fought in campaigns agaisnt goblin legions. She's played music at weddings for giants. She's gone into the underdark to rescue slaves from drow, then drow from deugar, then even deugar from an illithid. She's even been thrown out of Candlekeep. Yet for all her travels Serra and her closest allies have never been tempted by Asmodeous, but, rather, the fickle nature of luck and fate has often brought Serra into the path of cultists or agents acting in his name. Effectively, Serra is an indirect thorn in the side of some manner of devil at each layer of the Nine Hells. It was only in her final mission though that Asmodeous truly had the last laugh. In her later years, Serra took a mission to guide other younger heroes and treasure hunters through the ruins of far off Chult. After a perilous and arduous trek through the jungles there was an incident where a younger wizard of the party attempted to read runes upon a tomb and inadvertently triggered a fatal trap. Serra found herself being the only thing between the young apprentice and an annihilation orb. While her reflexes and strength allowed her to push her ally to safety, she was such a small size that she was consumed by the orb.

This is not the end of Serra's story though.

Being close enough to Zythan Avoste to know of the oncoming plot of Asmodeous, another mage named Haldan Onakke orchestrated Serra's return to the living, even so far as to re-obtain most of her magical gear that she had on her when she died. He was the apprentice Serra had saved the life of, and had continued on until he acquired allies powerful enough to raise her from the dead despite lacking a form, and further believed her penchant for meddling in the affairs of fiendish plots would prove extremely useful. But, there was an unforeseen consequence to Serra's death. Though she had forgotten herself when she saved Haldan's life, Serra had done a similar maneuver many decades before to stop a ritual to bind a fiend to a mortal's body and release it into the material plane. Not having been prepared like the would-be sacrifice was at the time, the ritual backfired and placed a subtle curse on Serra, where it lay dormant, and went undetected. Thusly, upon Serra's demise the curse had found an opening and dragged her soul to the Hells. Haldan may have been a driven and charismatic man, but it still took him many decades before he could repay the debt to Serra. In that time, Serra's afterlife, as it stood, was a nightmare.

Initially imprisoned, her wardens in the Iron city of Dis were content to mock and laugh at her misfortune. No one of such long-standing opposition to Asmodeous could stand to go unnoticed for long though, and eventually a devil came to Serra that offered a contract. As "recompense for her crimes" against the Archdevil, she would fight within the Bloodwar against the demons, and she could therefore earn her freedom through service. Serra's will and mind had long been strained from torture and isolation leading up to this, and the audience of fiends practically cheered when she gave in and signed her soul away. Her time in the Hells since then was like a long-dream, only there was nothing pleasant about it. Each moment was filled with the adrenaline and stink of gory slaughter, or the long, exhaustive marching to the next battlefield. Serra faced most of it with a sense of numbness, acting as a machine of death under the command of her new devil captains. When she was finally raised from the dead though she knew immediately her time was limited. Her contract as it happened, had a clause in it for just such a thing. Rather than have any effect on her revival, the devil's side of the bargain concerning her freedom was considered complete, with her soul still bound to the devil that wrote it.

She went from numb to coldness as she took this in within her mind, and Haldan uselessly tried to grasp at the fiery visage of her fiend's contract as it appeared before her. Then her emotions came flooding back to her in a torrent of red, hateful fury, and next she saw Haldan was dead before her with the life choked out of him and her hands around his throat. By the grace of the clerics nearby whom had just revived her, this was not the end of Haldan's life, but both he and Serra had a long talk between them about the corruption of the evil, and in making deals with devils. Despite the strained nature of her revival, Haldan still pressed Serra for her aid in seeking out and thwarting the plans being hatched by Asmodeous. And as much as the anger and fear boiled beneath the surface, she agreed. Serra had lived a rich and full life. She had now literally gone to hell and back. But if she wanted to die happy, she had to do it again.

Edited November 29, 2023 by TheRedGoat
Added equipment and slightly adjusted her origin story (see edit history)