Burning Ember Inn Character Sketch 1: Nocris Redmont
Not all who wander are lost... but this guy sure is.
In the side of a solitary mountain in the Republic of Serenvara is a nondescript cave that leads to the only passable way to the mountaintop, the domain of the Redmont clan. Long ago, this clan made a dark bargain with the Lord Magistrate of Serenvara: serve as Serenvara's elite spies and assassins, and the Lord Magistrate and his assistants on the council will perform the necromantic ritual transforming the most accomplished killer of the Redmont clan into a Deathless One, once a decade. While many of the Deathless clan leaders were lost over the centuries, felled by internal conflicts or powerful magics, the remaining Deathless Ones continue to guide the Redmont clan as loyal instruments of the Lord Magistrate and his eternal regime.
To this clan was born Nocris Redmont, trained from birth in the arts of stealth, perception, deception, and death. He never questioned his designated profession or choice of victims until he was sent to assassinate an aged minstrel who was singing the wrong sort of song in public. Watching him perform with breathtaking skill and virtuosity, it occurred to Nocris that this man's life had been dedicated to beauty and joy, while his own life had been dedicated to murder and oppression. Profoundly shaken, Nocris abandoned his mission, warned the minstrel that he had been marked for death, and fled to the wilderness and a new life as an adventurer.
He is laconic in manner, and was trained to be nondescript and bland in affect. He often finds himself unconsciously gravitating to authority figures that he can serve, reprising his early years; but woe betide the figure who abuses Nocris's loyalty! His break from the past did not bring with it a new moral philosophy to dedicate himself to; he is trying to figure that out. For now, he knows only that when he kills someone, there should be a reason he can agree with.
His spy training included rudimentary reading and writing, and now he has discovered a talent for sketchwork. He doesn't know why it attracts him, but he enjoys making small drawings and giving them to children.
When he gets a big score, he is at a loss; and will spend his gains on training, gaming and horseraces, artists and art, instruments he cannot yet play, female companionship he does not know how to keep, and weapons and his other tools. When he moves from place to place, much of this is left behind—he keeps only a few valuable art pieces, a few sets of clothing, a small carved flute, his horse, and his weapons.
Restless, profoundly marked by his upbringing even as he rebels against it, Nocris does not know what he wants from life, or what his life will bring him. He knows only that life is more precious and joyful than his immortal ancestors believe—or, better, that it can become so.