Malaxus

Malaxus is a Levistus-bloodline tiefling bard and sellsword, currently in the employ of Cedric Goodfellow.

Appearance
Malaxus is a tiefling with dark, purplish-grey skin and amber eyes. His hair is ashen white, slicked back against his head. In place of eyebrows he bears ridged purple horns that curl over his temples. His ears are pointed, although not as dramatically as an elf's. He generally wears a long teal and white coat with wide lapels, a buttoned waistcoat and woollen breeches tucked into fur-lined boots. His skin is perpetually cold, but he overheats easily due to his affinity with icy climates.

Personality
Malaxus is a shrewd entertainer with a scholarly streak. Suffering from a near-total amnesia, he is deeply motivated by a desire to uncover his past and make sense of the unfamiliar images in his head. His amnesia makes a number of his skills - musical talent, martial prowess and jack-of-all-trades arcane capability - inexplicable to him, as he lacks the memory of training to acquire those skills. In particular, his innate ability to manipulate chronomantic energies - an extremely niche and difficult branch of magic - confuses and fascinates him to a great degree. His wanderlust and freedom from familial tethers allow him to roam Ardor freely, exploring every nook and cranny in the hope of discovering more about himself and his abilities.

Disparate Memories
Malaxus' past is shrouded in mystery, even to himself. All he knows of his background are snatches of images seen in dreams or sudden, hazy epiphanies.


 * Prior to the campaign, his first flash of memory was kneeling on an ice sheet, looking up at a corpulent, winged devil garbed in fine robes, as if on trial.

Background
Malaxus' earliest memories are too recent for his liking, with his first solid recollection being awaking to the unfamiliar and unwelcome warmth of an abandoned cabin in the Dragonspine mountains, clutching a dragonhide-bound book to his chest. He was wearing a fine white and blue fur coat, a cobalt signet ring on his finger, and a curved, hollow black horn tied to his belt.

Tentatively, he ventured forth to civilisation, where he worked menial jobs until he had enough to purchase some basic supplies and set off to explore Alagost, alternating between odd jobs as a minstrel and a mercenary in the hope that his travels would unearth a clue to his past. Between missions he studied the mysterious tome, and as hazy flashes of memory swam sporadically to the surface, the ancient language of the text slowly started to become legible. He realised that the book, the Aeon Grimoire, was a text older than any he or any scholar had seen before, and contained a comprehensive explanation of the forgotten art of chronomancy - time magic. He saw a glimmer of hope - perhaps, he could use his burgeoning knowledge of these arcane secrets to unlock those lost memories and discover whom he really is.

His work took him down to the town of Stonecross, after working as a bounty hunter between there and Cliffkeep. In the Three Badgers Tavern, he met a young warrior named Cedric Goodfellow, who hired him and a group of other to take a journey into the Fenmarrow Forest. Little did Malaxus know that this simple quest would lead to things he could never have expected...

Session 1: Goblin Ambush (C1x1)
Malaxus was aboard Arvin's cart as it made its way through the Fenmarrow Forest. As the cart was besieged by arrows, killing the driver, Malaxus scored the first kill with a ray of frost through a goblin's head. After casting gift of alacrity on fellow sellsword Arashi Fulgar, he joined the party on their way into the Needlefang Cave, following a girl's screams. As John and Arashi dealt with the guards, Malaxus led the way into the cavern and dug through the rubble at the foot of the waterfall, finding a glowing Elven sword wrapped in a tattered cloak.

Session 2: The Cave and the Crocodile (C1x1)
Malaxus rushed to assist Cedric, whose head had been enveloped by a horrific tentacled creature. As a second creature attacked Arashi, Malaxus unsuccessfully attempted to peel it off. After Arashi fell unconscious and the injured monster fled, Malaxus tried and failed to strike it from the air with a ray of frost, but only lightly damaged it.

Malaxus led the way into the eating cave and attempted to strike the resident bugbear, Mongo, with his newly-acquired sword, but the blade's glow gave him away and Mongo lashed out with his morningstar. As Malaxus struggled to break free, John pummelled the bugbear to death, allowing Malaxus to rush over and engage the goblins making their way upstairs. With Cedric unconscious and bleeding out, Malaxus looted the dead bugbear to find a potion of healing on his belt, which he poured down Cedric's throat, reviving him. Before this, however, he swiped Cedric's Writ of Commission and, following Cedric's revival, read it aloud, informing the party of their mission: to assist Father Anselm with clerical duties in Correnwald.

In Chief Spittlebrick's cave, a second stealth attack failed when Malaxus' approach was clocked by Ragvort, Spittlebrick's shaman advisor. The shaman dragged Malaxus across the stone with a thorned whip, causing his ray of frost to miss. Malaxus continued to harry the shaman in the hope of killing him before he was momentarily staggered by a bomb thrown by the chief, which allowed the crocodile at Malaxus' feet to drag him into its jaws. John, the last man standing, saved Malaxus by crushing the crocodile's head, battering Spittlebrick into submission, looting his hoard for two more potions of healing and expending them (as well as his final serving of gobsgog) to heal his downed party members.

Kills

 * 1) Needlefang goblin - Ray of Frost

Tiefling Abilities

 * Darkvision (60 ft.)
 * Hellish Resistance (cold)
 * Legacy of Stygia
 * Ray of Frost cantrip

Bard Abilities

 * Bardic Inspiration (d6)
 * Jack of All Trades
 * Song of Rest (d6)

Bard Spells
As a Level 2 Bard, Malaxus knows 2 cantrips and 5 spells. As a student of the Aeon Grimoire, Malaxus knows one chronomancy spell innately in place of one of his regular bard spells.

(Chronomancy spells are indicated below with a "C")

Cantrips

 * Mending
 * Vicious Mockery

1st level

 * Gift of Alacrity (C)
 * Healing Word

Quests

 * Malaxus' underlying goal is to recover his memories from whence they were lost or stolen, either by finding clues to his origins across Ardor, or by utilising his unique knowledge of chronomancy to retrieve them personally.

Notable Items

 * Aeon Grimoire: a thick, heavy book bound in green dragonskin. Written in a long-forgotten language, it contains forgotten secrets of chronomancy. Malaxus does not remember acquiring it, only awaking with it, but as flashes of memory return to him, passages of the book become legible.
 * Horn: a devil's horn fashioned into an instrument.
 * Signet ring: a cobalt ring carved with a crest: two crossed spears over a spiralling snake. It is akin to the signets worn by members of noble houses in Atalantia, but is of a different make.
 * Cobal'ivae: a shortsword of Elven make that glows when within 100 feet of a goblinoid. It deals extra damage to goblins and their ilk, and strikes fear into their hearts when drawn.