| 2nd Edition Statistics | |
| Alignment | Chaotic Neutral |
| Class | 7th Level Fighter/7th Level Wizard (Bladesinger Kit) |
| Strength | 13 |
| Dexterity | 17 |
| Constitution | 13 |
| Intelligence | 15 |
| Wisdom | 8 |
| Charisma | 15 |
| HP | 35 |
Anthrandos Ferric
- This page is about the Dark Elf Bladesinger for Dungeons and Dragons. For the Jedi Knight in Star Wars: The Old Republic, see Anthrandos.
One of the campaigns I was involved in went far and wide. It had started in Krynn, of Dragonlance fame; then it went on into the Ravenloft setting. Eventually, characters managed to make their escape into a new world where monstrous humanoids weren't universally evil-and were under siege. This character, Anthrandos Ferric replaced a former character who I felt didn't fit in anymore with the general personality of the group-and I went out of my way to make him as unlike another certain famous drow warrior known to fiction.
| Anthrandos Ferric | |
| Basic Information | |
| Nicknames | The Betrayer of Lolth |
| Former home(s) | Alichyte City |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Drow |
| Occupation | Bladesinger |
| Patron deity | None, formerly Lolth |
| Known language(s) | Drow Sign Cant, Drow Elvish, Common, Surface Elvish |
| Rules Information | |
Description
Anthrandos is a dark elf, with the typical black skin and white hair. There is a horrible scar that mars his face, along the left side. He wears a black glove on his right hand to hide the horrible scars there. He usually wears his cloak with the hood over his head, to help keep the sun out of his eyes. On his chest is an elaborate sword-spider tattoo: the symbol of drow bladesingers. His silver long sword is always at his side.
Personality
Anthrandos is a warrior, first and foremost. In his own warped way, he is a being with honor, but only in regard to his fellow drow elves. He is capable of deep passions, but they are dark passions. He has shown compassion, on rare occasions; those occasions always were towards children. More often, he has demonstrated a cruel streak, willing and able to use torture and pain to achieve his ends.
Anthrandos also feels the pressures of being a male-although an exceptional one-in a world ruled by females. He is respectful of women, regardless of race, due to the fact that his society has women as the powers. He seeks out risk, but chooses his moments to strike for maximum fear and lethality; for example, on his watch at night, he will often stay away from the sleeping party, preferring to patrol the area, in order to ambush those who would ambush the party (as an elf, surprise is almost always guaranteed!). More danger, more glory is his motto, and he is at his best when facing overwhelming odds.
In many ways, coming to the surface gave him his wish. Soon after encountering Drogdth, Reznor, and Lucius, he was forced to acknowledge the fact that he no longer had a divine patron. After he gained the sword Mindshield, he was even further shattered: he became the first drow upon his world to believe that Lolth did not care about the dark elves; indeed, he believed that she pit them against each other for her amusement, not so that the survivors would be stronger. After all, he reasoned, if Lolth knew about the Hive Brood, she had to know about the sword. After a visit from Fadrok, he realized that he was right.
After the fall of the Hive-Brood, Anthrandos began to change. Anthrandos seemed to extend his sense of honor to his companions; ironically, they were all surface elves. Self sacrifice began to enter into his actions, and the concept of mercy actually began to enter his consciousness. Of course, those acts of mercy and compassion were often balanced by cruelty and viciousness; but the fact that Anthrandos did feel those qualities was a mark of his continuing evolution.
The destruction of the illithid marked a powerful turning point in the life of Anthrandos. Lifted of the all-consuming burden of bearing the fate of the drow on his shoulders, he became the only drow elf on his world to completely eradicate his prejudices of the surface, and meet the elves there on their own terms. He began to make a list of the threats to the drow, and proceeded to plan on how to best deal with them. At this writing, the offspring of Lolth named Grathotolok-whom he calls "Hairylegs"-is on the top of that list.
Abilities
Weapon Proficiencies: Bladesinging, ambidexterity, 1 handed style specialization, long sword, mace(note: this weapon will still give a -1 to hit, due to the Bladesinging hindrances.)
Nonweapon Proficiencies: Dancing, blind fighting, singing(+2), sign language, drow Elvish, direction sense, surface elvish
Note: Due to injuries obtained during the Illithid War, Anthrandos suffers a -2 penalty with his right hand.
Possessions
Equipment: Elven chain, silver long sword
Magic Items: Cloak of Arachnidia; wand of fire extinguishing; Lysanthir, a figurine: eagle (material unknown), capable of transforming into a giant eagle (3/day, for 2 hours each, Move 3/ 48 (D), HD 4, hp: 32, 3 attacks-1d6/1d6/2d6, AC 0); Poison potion (save at -4 or die), philter of love
History
A history of Anthrandos Ferric, as told from various sources.
Excerpts of An Objective History of Alichyte City
The last bladesinger known to exist was Anthrandos Ferric, first of House Elerion of the Outcaste Houses, also known as the Betrayer and Traitor[1]. The Betrayer was born in the depths of Alichyte City; before he was born, his House was destroyed by the First House, House Alikathar. The survivors of that House joined other defeated Houses-collectively knows as the Outcaste Houses- to continue to be productive to the city. This Lolth permitted: all praise to the Spider Queen!
During this period, the city was involved in a war with the illithid pool from a nearby cavern. This was a war that Alichyte City was steadily losing. Any able-bodied males were called upon by the Matriarchs to serve Lolth and Her priestesses. The Traitor was one such male to heed the call. The Warrior Lords of the Outcaste Houses quickly discovered that the Betrayer was capable of exceeding even their awesome skills in both swordplay and in magic. As was proper, they humbly requested the priestesses of House Alikathar to continue his training, in order to serve the Spider Queen more effectively. They agreed to do so, and took the Betrayer under their wing[2].
Unfortunately, the House Matriarch was unable to cement the Traitor's loyalty to Lolth. Rather, he preferred to serve the cause of the dark elven people, and the city. Even more blasphemous, he openly admired the surface elves for their ability to survive in a hostile environment and thrive. He even went so far as to declare that our people and the surface elves were virtually the same in power and majesty! Needless to say, these comments were not looked upon with pleasure by the Matriarchs! His studies in this area also allowed him to discover the Bladesingers. If they existed upon the surface, the Betrayer reasoned, surely they would exist in a more fitting environment. He was right.
Gaarin'dith of House Or'nthin, one of the last Bladesingers, was found to be in the city, and was willing to train the Traitor. The Betrayer turned out to be a prodigy, for after only forty years, Gaarin'dith proclaimed the Betrayer a Bladesinger, and tattooed him with the totem of the sword spider, and made a gift of his silver sword which he would forever carry throughout his career. As with all Bladesingers, he swore to advance the cause of the drow race, and to defend them with his life.
The Betrayer was able to see that the illithid war was going to take to the city if something drastic was not done soon. He approached the Matriarchs, and requested that he lead a scouting party to the surface, and seek out weapons, magic, or information that would aid Alichyte City against them. The Matriarchs, in their infinite wisdom, understood that he would be away for such a long length of time that the usual fine drow materials would be useless from decay. They thus gave him a suit of ancient elven chain mail, and a magical sword that had spared only the Traitor's life upon touch, so that he would be able to perform above the surface as he did below. All praise to the Spider Queen[3]!
Upon reaching the surface, the Betrayer and his scout team were ambushed by ogres. Only the Betrayer survived the vicious attack, and he exacted an appropriate price from the beasts. The Traitor did not escape unscathed, however: he would for the rest of his days wear a terrible scar along the left side of his face[4].
The Betrayer spent over a month wandering the surface world, seeking a weapon or artifact that would turn the tide of the war in Alichyte City's favor. He had nearly given up, when strangers appeared magically through his cooking fire. Thus began the First Treachery: one of these strangers was the Enemy, a surface elf. Yet, he suffered him to live!
In the days that followed, he worked with these strangers to rid the region of the hive-brood which were dominating it. The Traitor did so on the suspicion that dark artifacts were in their possession, which he believed would be of use. Joining the strangers, however, set him in conflict with the Handmaidens of Lolth, who warned him not to continue to cross the goddess's purposes. All praise to the Spider Queen!
Thus began the Second Treachery: the Betrayer ignored the commands of the Handmaiden, and continued to aid the strangers on their quest. The Traitor aided those strangers by fighting the hive-brood hordes, and continuing to help the Enemy. The Spider Queen directed her Handmaiden to give the Betrayer a final chance.
Thus began the Third Treachery: instead of following the dictates of the Handmaiden, he intentionally perverted the spirit of her demands, and the Spider Queen punished him for his affront. Even then, the Betrayer could have turned away. Even at this point, he could redeem himself, and return to the fold of Lolth's favor. The Handmaiden resolved to finish the Enemy and the Betrayer's companions, and see if the Traitor would turn aside from his path.
And thus began the Final Treachery: not only did the Betrayer give up the magical sword he was given to the Enemy, he also dared personally attack the Handmaiden magically! For such an offense, there is no forgiveness. The Matriarchs declared him damned, and swore that he would be transformed to a drider at earliest opportunity, before suffering a slow and protracted death[5].
- ↑ Interestingly, this is the only record that exists of Ferric's name in Alichyte City, and the only time it is mentioned in this record. It is ancient drow tradition that the Matriarchs have the power to strike an elf's name from all histories. This was done to Ferric; however, it appears that Alichyte City itself was divided in its opinion of Ferric, and that this record was one of the last holdouts of Lolth. Perhaps it is a testimony of the renown that Ferric had gained in spite of his treachery.
- ↑ Such an event was unprecedented in Alichyte City. One can only assume that the goddess Lolth demanded for some reason that the Matriarchs continue Ferric's training.
- ↑ It should be noted that it is also likely that Ferric was given this armor because no other drow elf would willingly wear a surface elf's armor. In addition, the Matriarchs very likely expected the sword to kill Ferric as well. Possibly, this was the incident that catalyzed the drow to consider destroying him.
- ↑ There are conflicting accounts about this scar. While most confirm this story, some private accounts of the Matriarch Laereal of House Alikathar imply that one of the Matriarchs inflicted the scar with one of their whips during his training when he failed to be "properly subservient". This would explain why the scar was unable to be magically healed.
- ↑ There are several interesting points to be noted here. Firstly, some accounts say that the sword was stolen from Ferric by the flind he traveled with; others say that Ferric made a deal with an intelligence within the sword. The truth of this may never be known. More importantly, other sources indicate that Ferric did not view his betrayal of Lolth as a betrayal of his people. That may explain many of his subsequent actions. Finally, there is a discrepancy in timing: Lolth was said to have abandoned Alichyte City less than two weeks after Ferric left for the surface; yet the incidents portrayed took place well over a month later. It can be assumed that the Matriarchs wished to rationalize Lolth's disfavor and give the city someone to blame instead of themselves.
Excerpts of The Personal Journals of Lucius, Chamberlain of Azalin
Ferric struck me as being a potentially strong ally, but a little too cold-blooded for my tastes. Then again, I'd served under Azalin and Drogdth in Darkon, so perhaps I shouldn't say that. Whatever. He seemed a bit too dedicated to Lolth, as we discovered when we were first attacked by a yochol.
When we were traveling to the north towards where we hoped the Hive-Brood home Hive was, we were approached by orcs from a canyon we'd bypassed. They eventually convinced us to follow them, to explore an abandoned Hive. We located a dimensional gateway, and a portal to another hive. That's when we met Asswipe. Or whatever. I stayed behind when the others raided the hive, still recovering from being possessed by that yochol. When they returned, they had depopulated a significant portion of the hive (or so Drogtht claimed) and gotten a great deal of magical loot. Ferric mentioned that he'd found a weapon that could help his people with the mind-flayers. I didn't really believe they'd let him live long enough to use it...his people, not the mind-flayers.
Excerpt from Orcish Heroes, attributed to Thag, orc warrior
Now, me? I didn't like him. The drow always looked at us as if we were scum. Okay, so we were scum. So what? We were his bodyguards. If he didn't like it, that was just too bad.
But, he did save my life. All our lives, I guess. The black elf was poking around in that book of his when the alarm sounded, and he was off just like that! Some big caterpillar things were coming up from the caverns, and he said some mumbo jumbo, and he gassed them. He gassed some of our guys, too, but considering the damage that the one that got out started delivering, it was worth it.
Then Belch-he was the other bodyguard assigned to the elf-he turned out to be a Hive-Brood warrior-mage. Him and three others. The drow tried to cut off Belch's arm, but his sword just bounced off. The ugly one-the one with the dog head-froze in the middle of his fight, and the elf ranger got shot to pieces by magic darts. The drow took a pretty good hit too.
But then he started using his magic. First, he threw out a big sticky web on the Hive-Brood. Then, he got twins! Two twins! Or is that something else...? Anyway, his next spell slowed them down. It was like they were moving in molasses. By this time, the ranger had butchered one of the Brood. He'd even slaughtered the free caterpillar thing. The drow fired his own magic darts at one of the Brood, which killed it. A few arrows from the ranger killed the other.
After that, we all treated the drow with a little more respect; we let him have his privacy. Still, though, he looked like he'd rather have gotten rid of us all. I know better, though. He didn't have to stay and fight. He coulda run. But he stayed, and his magic saved all of us. Kinda makes you wonder if he's as evil as everyone says drow are, don't it?
Excerpt from The Hive-Brood Campaign, by Alghachar of Buzzbane
The time of our freedom will always stand out in my memories. The two elves, the half-breed, and the...thing. They were our saviors, who freed us from the imprisonment of the Hive-Brood. The flind, as the thing was identified to me, was talking about his staff, and something it had done to him. Aswipe was telling us of his god, Buzzbane; it was he who convinced me of the path I would follow for the rest of my life.
I had occasion to note a conversation between a dark elf prisoner and Anthrandos Ferric. Ferric gave the elf a sword, which he claimed would aid his people in some war. But while the drow took it, he kept cursing Ferric, calling him "Traitor" and "Betrayer". Ferric claimed to be unaffected by such insults, but I saw him flinch as each insult struck home[1].
Later, Reznor the ranger was speaking of leaving us, and concluding his quest (I know not what quest he spoke of), and Ferric offered to join him. I thought that was unusual, as surface and dark elves were racial enemies. Ferric spoke of trying to find a new god to accept his people, even though he claimed he would never be able to return to his home again. At that moment, I realized that this dark elf was no longer a true drow, but something new, and perhaps something wondrous.
- ↑ It is interesting to speculate whether or not the sword would even work for the primarily drow race, as the strong personality of the sword had definite opinions on its use.
Excerpts from letters sent by the mage Elthaaren Delasramuus sent to the Library of Zyx
Anthrandos Ferric is an extraordinary man, regardless of his racial stock. In my conversations with him, I've seen him defend the lawlessness and evil of his people, even as he failed to recognize that he himself was preparing to bring sweeping changes to them. It was obvious from the first, when he learned from the god Fadrok (we didn't know it at first) that a messenger carrying a magic sword to his city was killed. He and Reznor set out to request its return in the strongest possible terms.
They were very fortunate. One of group that had captured the sword turned out to be a mind-flayer, who had stunned the recovery group. Only Reznor's strength and determination allowed the sword's recovery. After they returned to the orc caverns, Anthrandos announced his intention to return to Alichyte City, and from there head towards the home of the illithid oppressing his city and remove that threat once and for all. However, I hesitated to join him: even though I found him fascinating, I had recently received a demonstration of how useless magic is against the Underdark, and I couldn't justify risking my life for a race of elves that would just as soon see me dead without a hint of remorse....
....Most shocking of all, however, was the actions of Anthrandos. While I can't deny that our guide almost blew apart our attempt to reason with the grimloks, there was no need for Anthrandos to sever off a finger, with the threat of following up with a hand for the next transgression. I was shocked by this action from a drow elf that I had come to believe to be civilized. I was not reassured when he said another drow elf would have simply killed him. That made it far more intriguing when Anthrandos let him go after we discovered the "computer"'s map. Given the animosity our guide showed, I was surprised at this uncharacteristic show of mercy from Anthrandos....
....The plan worked far better than any of us had dreamed. The gibberlings charged through the illithid city like a plague. Anthrandos left early-and invisibly-to destroy the brain pool. Unfortunately, Reznor was controlled by one of the mind flayers and sent after him. Apparently, Reznor's attempts failed, for the two returned after Anthrandos destroyed the brain pool; he paid the price by losing his Mindshield sword and most of the use of his right hand. After a couple of days, a small army of drow arrived, and informed us that Anthrandos's teacher, Gaarin'dith, now ruled Alichyte City, under the divine patronage of Fadrok. Anthrandos quickly and wisely agreed with my suggestion that Alichyte City open up trade with Zyx, and offered to serve as the ambassador of the drow....
Rumors and Legends
There are stories of the Betrayer having shown up on other worlds, and on the Outer Planes-an exceedingly dangerous proposition for Ferric, as he had gained the Spider Queen's attention. Rumor has it that he was able to kill a proxy of Lolth in single combat. Some say he was taken as a consort by Alystin, the new Matriarch of Alichyte City-tales vary on whether or not he was willing.
There are several worlds where drow have turned against the worship of Lolth, or are in the process of doing so-in part, due to Ferric's example. And, perhaps, due to his actions.
Nobody is sure if he still lives or not. No deity admits to having taken him-and even Lolth is silent.