Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- matilda [2026/08/10 20:32] – created dungeonmaster
+++ matilda [2026/09/10 14:00] (current) – [Alden & Hayte] dungeonmaster
@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
   * Human
-  * Rogue
+  * [[Rogue]] (3 Levels)/[[Warlock]] of [[Hayte]](1 Level)
     * Knows she might become something more if she can reach the [[Warlock Well]].
-  * Sailor
+  * [[Sailor]]
   * From the [[Island Nation of Berm]], see [[Backstories]].
   * Has a little sister named Elena back in Berm that she wants to keep safe.
+====Nature====
+  * Matilda //was// generally neutral good, but due to actions involving the [[Warlock Well]] she is now **neutral evil**. Has a flexible relationship with the law.
+      * She prefers saving someone to killing them when possible, but is willing to steal, deceive, smuggle, or otherwise break the law for money.
+      * She is most comfortable targeting people she considers corrupt or immoral and the extremely wealthy and powerful who are unlikely to be meaningfully harmed by the loss.
+      * She draws a much firmer line against exploiting the poor, weak, or powerless, although Matilda's own greed can occasionally influence her judgment about who actually "deserves" to be a target.
+====Motives====
+  * Wealth: Matilda wants to become rich, and she makes little effort to pretend otherwise. She enjoys fine clothes, good food, valuable possessions, and the comfort and status that come with having money. While she has several practical reasons for pursuing wealth, simple greed remains one of them.
+  * Freedom and Security: Growing up poor taught Matilda how few choices are available to those without money. To her, wealth means independence—the ability to choose where she goes, whom she serves, and when she can walk away. She never wants herself or Elena to be powerless because they cannot afford another option.
+  * Elena: Matilda's younger sister (8 years old) remains one of the most important people in her life. Although she left Elena behind in Berm, part of Matilda's drive to become successful comes from wanting to ensure her sister will always be safe and financially secure.
+  * Freeing Berm: Despite leaving the Royal Navy, Matilda deeply loves Berm and its people. She wants to eventually free her homeland from the corrupt nobles who have placed their own wealth and power above the interests of the country.
+====Alden & Hayte====
+  * One of Matilda's biggest moments in the campaign was tossing the infamous [[Shovel Of Alden]] into the [[Warlock Well]], which forced an alignment change to **neutral evil**, started the character's multiclass status as a rogue that is also a Warlock of Hayte, and imbued her with new abilities, perks, quests and issues.
+  * This was compounded by throwing in [[Kelthor's Book of Great Awareness]] at the same time, ultimately doubling down on her Warlock Well scenario.
+    * The [[Shovel Of Alden]] imbued her directly with power related to the shovel, and its natural ability to "corrupt" people got to firmly take hold of Matilda.
+    * Meanwhile [[Kelthor's Book of Great Awareness]] is what pushed her into a true multiclass [[Warlock]] status. An old god, by the name of [[Hayte]], not as powerful as they once were, and forgotten in most of the world, used this as a chance to reach out and empower Matilda. There is no valid reason why a [[gods|god]] can't have a warlock as opposed to a cleric. They are essentially the same thing, empowered by a powerful entity, just in different ways. Matilda's path is that of the warlock. Part of her pact is that she gets a lot of secrets whispered to her by her patron.
+  * Since Hayte is the god behind the scenes in all the [[Alden]] lore, Matilda finds herself very immersed in everything and anything associated now.
+  * Matilda was directed by Hayte to befriend at least 3 members of [[The Cult Of Alden]] immediately.
+    * She befriended [[Hutch]] who she met at the [[Fungi Circle]].
+    * She befriended 6 random members of [[The Cult Of Alden]] near the [[Shrine Of Hayte]].
+      * This group used magic to give her a shoulder tattoo of the **triangle** that the cult members use to identify themselves.
+  * Due to gaining some power from the [[Shovel Of Alden]] at the [[Warlock Well]], Matilda now gets half damage back (rounded down) as vampiric healing on any non magical melee attack she makes and hits an opponent with just like the original shovel.
+    * //If she takes a second level in warlock she may receive the ability to get temporary hit points like the shovel does as well. Provided she reminds the DM this note is here and we talk about it at that time.//
+    * Matilda has learned (via whisperings from her patron) that **she cannot die** if she is within 20 feet of the [[Shrine Of Hayte]].
+    * She is also pretty sure that the purpose of the Shovel Of Alden was to "corrupt" someone and turn them into some sort of Alden-Reborn, and that must be her fate eventually. However she learned that if she should so much as touch the Shrine Of Hayte, it may accelerate the process.
+    * As there is another Shovel Of Alden due to the [[Nephele Timeline Branch Event]], she is also pretty sure that it could problematically become another accelerating process if she threw it down the well or held onto it as well. //However, it could also represent competition if someone else becomes "corrupted" too...//
+    * While Matilda navigates how to handle all this, from powers to whispered secrets, the real test will be seeing if she can use it all to her advantage to accomplish her own personal motives and objectives as outlined elsewhere in her backstory.
+====Joining the party====
+  * Shortly after legally leaving the Royal Navy, Matilda sailed from Berm to Mythburg, leaving Elena behind while she attempted to establish herself.
+      * She first met the party in Mythburg after they saved her from being pickpocketed. For reasons still unknown to everyone involved, she somehow ended up being adopted into the group..
+      * Soon after arriving in Mythburg she encountered The Party, giving her a rather immediate opportunity to begin pursuing the money, reputation, connections, and influence she wants.
+====Backstory====
+Matilda Delmar was born in the island nation of Berm, a country she has always loved deeply despite the complicated relationship she would eventually develop with those who ruled it. Her early childhood was modest but happy, spent with her parents and her younger sister, Elena. That life ended when a plague swept through the region and claimed both of her parents while Matilda and Elena were still young. Suddenly orphaned and left with very little, Matilda was forced to grow up quickly. Elena was her little sister, and with their parents gone, Matilda developed a fierce sense of responsibility for her that never entirely faded.
+The years that followed were poor ones. Matilda learned early what it meant to count every coin and how quickly a minor expense could become a serious problem when there was nothing left to fall back on. More importantly, she learned how differently people were treated when they had no money. Berm's nobles and wealthy elite often looked past people like her entirely—or worse, looked down upon them. Poverty was treated as though it made someone less respectable, less capable, or simply less worthy of attention.
+Matilda never forgot it.
+Rather than making her despise wealth, however, the experience made her determined to acquire it. Money meant security. It meant choices. It meant never having to depend upon the generosity of someone who considered themselves better than her. Matilda promised herself that she would never remain powerless simply because she was poor, and she wanted the same security for Elena. Of course, as Matilda grew older, she discovered another reason to pursue wealth: she simply liked it. Fine clothes, expensive possessions, good food, and the ability to present herself exactly as she wished appealed greatly to someone who had spent much of her childhood going without.
+The Royal Navy eventually offered Matilda a path toward something greater. She loved Berm and saw military service as both an opportunity to improve her circumstances and a way to serve the country that remained her home. Intelligent, observant, and naturally inclined toward planning rather than brute force, Matilda found her place as a strategist. Through ability and persistence, she rose through the ranks and eventually became an officer.
+Earning rank, however, did not erase where she had come from.
+Some of Berm's nobles never allowed Matilda to forget that she was a poor orphan without an important family name behind her. She could earn the uniform, the position, and the responsibilities that came with them, yet there were still those who regarded her as socially beneath officers born into wealthy or noble families. Watching less capable people receive respect and opportunities because of their names only deepened a resentment that had begun during her childhood.
+At first, Matilda could tolerate it. She was proud of what she had accomplished, proud of the Royal Navy, and above all proud to serve Berm. But rising through the ranks also allowed her to see more of how the country and its military actually operated. The corruption she had once witnessed from the outside became increasingly difficult to ignore. Wealthy nobles exerted tremendous influence over the government and Royal Navy, and too many seemed more concerned with protecting their own fortunes, families, and positions than with the people they were supposed to serve.
+For Matilda, that was the worst part. She did not hate Berm. She loved Berm. She cared about its people and believed the Royal Navy should exist to protect them. Watching greedy nobles exploit something she genuinely cared about gradually became unbearable.
+Eventually, Matilda decided she could no longer serve beneath them.
+She resigned her commission legally and through the proper channels. She was no deserter, fugitive, or traitor, but that did not mean her departure was welcomed. Her commanders were unhappy to lose her, and several nobles took particular offense at her decision. A woman of Matilda's background had been allowed to rise within the Royal Navy, and in their eyes she should have been grateful for the opportunity. For her to then willingly walk away was regarded by some as an insult.
+Matilda left anyway.
+Doing so meant leaving Elena behind in Berm. It was perhaps the most difficult part of her decision, but Matilda had no intention of dragging her younger sister into an uncertain life while she had neither fortune nor established place outside the navy. Elena would be safer in Berm while Matilda found her footing, and Matilda intended to make enough money that her sister would eventually never have to worry about financial security again.
+Matilda's ambitions extended beyond Elena. Her years as a strategist had taught her one lesson particularly well: conflict requires money. Ships cost money. Weapons and supplies cost money. Information costs money. People need to be fed and paid, and allies are much easier to gather when someone has the resources and reputation to make following them worthwhile. If Matilda ever hoped to return and free Berm from the corrupt nobles controlling it, anger and good intentions would accomplish very little on their own.
+She needed wealth.
+Fortunately, Matilda was hardly opposed to acquiring it.
+She left Berm for Mythburg intending to build a fortune, establish connections, and create a reputation independent of the Royal Navy. Some of that wealth would protect Elena. Some might someday fund Matilda's attempt to change Berm. And some, Matilda readily admits, would be spent on herself. She has no intention of pretending that every gold piece she acquires serves some noble purpose. She likes riches, beautiful things, and the freedom of being able to afford them.
+Her willingness to acquire that wealth does not always remain comfortably within the law. Matilda is willing to steal, deceive, smuggle, or otherwise engage in questionable activities when an opportunity presents itself. She prefers targets she considers immoral, corrupt, or powerful enough that whatever she takes will hardly be noticed. A wealthy noble losing a purse causes her considerably less concern than a struggling family losing enough money to eat. Having spent part of her own life powerless and poor, Matilda refuses to deliberately prey upon those in the same position.
+Her morality is imperfect, however. Matilda is quite capable of deciding that someone deserves to lose something when the thing in question happens to be something she wants.
+Likewise, although she is willing to fight, Matilda generally prefers saving a life to taking one. If an enemy can be outmaneuvered, deceived, bribed, incapacitated, or otherwise defeated without killing them, she considers that preferable. She is not a pacifist and will kill when she believes it necessary, but death is rarely her first solution.
+Shortly after leaving Berm, Matilda sailed to Mythburg to begin her new life. She had no great fortune, army, fleet, or revolutionary following waiting for her there. For all her ambition, she was simply a former naval strategist trying to determine what came next.
+Then someone attempted to pickpocket her.
+The attempt itself was unsuccessful largely because a strange collection of adventurers intervened and saved Matilda from being robbed. What followed is somewhat harder to explain. For reasons still unknown to everyone involved, Matilda somehow found herself adopted into their group.
+And so, rather unexpectedly, Matilda Delmar's grand plan to amass wealth, build a reputation, gather allies, and perhaps one day return home powerful enough to free Berm began with getting nearly pickpocketed in Mythburg and falling in with a group of adventurers.
+It was not exactly the strategy she had planned.
+But Matilda has always been willing to adapt.