Dren of the North

One of my earliest characters in the third edition was Dren of the North, who was a living dichotomy in many ways. He was half-elf, half human. He was skilled in bardic lore, which favors people and cities, and he was a druid, which favored the natural world. He was great fun while it lasted, but when his death arrived, he accepted it as a natural end, and chose to let his music live on without him. He was succeeded in the campaign by Ra-Sharoth.

Dren of the North
Basic Information
Gender	Male
Race	Half-Elf
Occupation	Bard and Druid
Age	31
Patron deity	Ehlonna (eventually)
Known language(s)	Druidic, Elven, Common, Sylvan
Rules Information
3.5 Edition Statistics Alignment Neutral Good Class 5th Level Druid/6th Level Bard Strength 14 Dexterity 15 Constitution 16 Intelligence 10 Wisdom 14 Charisma 18 HP 85

Description

Dren is a blue eyed, blond haired young half-elf. His skin has tanned from being out in the sun for long periods, and his mouth seems to often take on a quirky smile. He carries a flute in his belt, and uses a quarterstaff as a walking stick. He wears no armor, only a traveler's tunic (and a pair of bracers).

Personality

For most of his life, Dren was uncertain of his own long term goals; he has the soul of a druid, but the heart of a bard. He wanted to be on the road when he was in the city, but in the wilderness he wanted nothing more than civilization again. He was wise enough to recognize the conflict, but not smart enough to know how to reconcile the two parts of his nature.

Recently, Dren has come to understand himself better; he's come to believe that the reason for his internal conflict was a stupid one-he is not of the wild or of civilization, but of both. Once he understood that, Dren entered the process of reconciling the two parts of himself, slowly becoming comfortable in both environments, a creature of the city and the woods. An experience in a grove consecrated to Ehlonna where his skill at bardic music allowed him to sing in tune with the birds there has only served to confirm this belief. That experience has also led him to reconsider his lack of devotion to a deity, as he was profoundly moved by the experience. In the end, he went to his final reward without regret, at peace with who and what he was.

Abilities

Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Brew Potion, Natural Spell

Notable Skills: Bluff 2, Concentration 3, Diplomacy 5, Disguise 1, Gather Information 2, Handle Animal 2, Knowledge: History 6, Knowledge: Nature 8, Perform: Sing 9, Perform: Wind Instruments 6, Spot 1, Survival 8, Use Magic Device 1

Possessions

Equipment: Backpack, holly and mistletoe, belt pouch, Talon (animal companion: hawk)

Magic Items: Quarterstaff of the North (gains flaming property 1/day, Unseen Servant 1/day at 1st level, and Light at will)

History

Dren basically started out learning the skills and powers of a druid; however, in time, he felt that the druidic path was too restrictive for him, and he disliked the rigid structure of their hierarchy. As a result, he took on a new path, one he felt better suited for: that of the bard.

In his travels, he met up with the PC party; at the time, he was seeking out Meshgar, the archdruid of Dragon Mountain, to tell him of a crazy man's visions of a blood moon; however, in the excitement of joining the party, he forgot to mention that. He has since seen Meshgar and told him of the crazy man; apparently, it may be taken by various monstrous races as a signal to go to war again. Dren remains with the party, mostly because he tends to hate to leave when the story is not yet finished.

Among other tales, Dren has been with the party in search of the daughter of Malik (a thief guildmaster) named Elspeth, who had been kidnapped; freed the spirits of souls haunting an old temple, and helped solve a mystery of the death of a little girl at that temple which had ultimately led to its desecration. Later, Dren had been involved with an attempt to drive goblinoids out of the lands of the barbarians.

On the other hand: Dren became aware of a few rumors, notably involving a missing dwarf smith who sought to create great weapons-and may be working for the goblinoids, possibly under coercion-and werewolves in Videnzi. He was also informed that an ancient evil seemed to be awakening, and a choice may have to be made with terrible consequence.

And there's Meshgar, the head druid of the home village; early in Dren's adventures here, he seemed unreasonably pleased that Dren was sticking around Zenta and the party. Dren began to suspect there was a link between Zenta and Meshgar; later observations seemed to point more and more to the fact that Meshgar was, contrary to popular belief, Zenta's father. Dren wasn't altogether happy with putting the pieces together, as he suspected that revelations of such secrets can only bring despair and destruction. The point became moot upon Meshgar's sacrifice in the stronghold of the orcs of the region, leading Dren to finally spill the beans to Zenta, giving her an amulet bequeathed to her by the High Druid.

At one point, Dren came into the possession of an Abyssal Core stone, a piece of the Abyss itself. It has been described as being emptiness, raw and all-consuming. While Dren briefly considered trying to find someone to meld its energies into a musical instrument, he has reconsidered-such horrifying remorse and despair that would emanate from such music would scar a soul for life, and he became uncertain as to what to do with this unbelievably rare and horrible object.

Dren was not alone in this, as the rest of the party had acquired a core-but one was needed to destroy a gate leading to the Abyss. The party succeeded in that, but discovered that there was a wizard behind that gate...and he had other plans of his own, yet to pass. The party found another gate in the south, and it was there that Dren met his end-killed by a trio of chain-lightning spells. However, his spirit rose as a ghost in the Imperial Royal Army (long since deceased) who had been guarding that gate since ancient times. As a spirit, he aided the party (most of whom had also died) in defeating a dragon attempting to open the gate. Feeling that his purpose in undeath had been fulfilled, he let himself go to his soul's destined journey. An avatar of Heironius asked him before he made his last journey if he would allow himself to be raised by his friends, but Dren refused-believing in the sanctity of the cycle of life, including its end. He merely asked that his friends know that he would be waiting "on the other side".

His body was taken back to the valley, with an honor guard of the southern kingdom, and buried underneath an ancient oak tree, facing the rising sun.