Swampy

The Dreadnaught… A behemoth even among lizardfolk with his physical size and connection to the gods. He worshiped the Green Faith and later extended his faith by being devoted to two additional gods, Gozreh and Gorum. Gorum fuels his blood lust for battle and served him well. A master of weapon and spell Swampy uses magic to boost his melee capability and keep enemies in check. Impressed by the power of Gozreh over nature and its fury worships his mastery of magic.

He once protected a marsh filled with his people when he solely worshiped the Green Faith. His size and combat prowess allowed him to hold the title of "The Dreadnought." He fought enemy tribes of other iruxi, grippli, and weaker goblinoids and became feared enough to never have to fight them more than a handful of times over territory or hunting grounds. Swampy was never articulate or particularly smart, but his size and strength spoke for itself. He hated speaking in general and mostly spoke Wildsong, however he knew a bit of common and most of his mother tongue. During his young years things were good, Swampy was growing and building a healthy bloodlust and respect of the denizens around. However natural disaster struck his people and wiped a majority of them out. Forcing his tribe to move on and adopt a nomadic stance, Swampy refused. His home was the marsh and he would not turn it away. Besides, he was just enlightened to the god of storms, wind, and waves. Impressed by this deity's power he devoted himself to Gozreh. Swampy swore to protect all he held dear with such overwhelming power and swift justice as his God did. The remaining years of his young youth went by and his desire for combat grew and grew. One day he encountered an ironclad woman, who picked a fight with Swampy in a bout. She was seeking to claim his title of strongest warrior of the marsh. She wielded a stone greatsword and channeled the power of Gorum to fuel her thirst for blood. She did not last long against a seasoned warrior in his home terrain. He took her weapon for himself and her faith. Swampy swore from this day to his last he would fight for nature, the art of combat, and preserving the balance from negative outside influence.

On his quest to fight enemies of nature his path crossed with Whudon Darkstone, a fellow druid and practitioner of The Green Faith. They decided they would fight together when rumors of the New World had many untold enemies of Nature. Together they would fight it and together they would prevail. Whudon interested in the teachings of Gozreh learns from Swampy's example and seeks to honor him.

When he first came to The New World he knew no one. He only came to this place after his new found friend, Whudon Darkston, mentioned its existence and untold secrets. Naturally the lizardfolk was curious as to if his gods existed or were worshiped in the New World. He decided it was worth a look after learning the world was dangerous and full of powerful foes, many of whom threatened the values he held so dear.When he arrived Swampy and Whudon quickly learned of a giant nest of invasive ants, spiders, and other insects. The two hardly realized their full extent and influence on the ecosystem. 

With barely any time to orient himself in the New World he embarked on this quest to handle the nest of giant invasive ants. A quick spark of rage and hatred sprouted within him. As he and his compatriots fought through the ants into their nest they were alerted to their sneaking about. In an attempt to blend in Swampy tried to eat the fluorescent goo that cover the nest to blend in and call them off. A voice spoke out to him, claiming to be Nature itself. It called for him to be one of its soldiers and awaken a primal pact of power within him. Conflict is rooted within him now.


He has sworn his dedication to The Green Faith by being sworn a follower of the gods Gozreh and Gorum. He honors both through combat using each Gods set of skills. However this voice resonated with him. Swampy has reflected back to this moment for a long time to determine what drew him in. He heard the entity had sweet and alluring words that preyed upon the worst parts of a person to draw them in. Swampy's introduction was different - his was willing - born not out of desperation, but inspiration. He was not coerced into the Family; he was welcomed. Once again, he had a community to fight for. 

Slowly things started changing for Swampy. His violent tendencies and his zealous nature only heightened by his fanatic devotion. With a new cause he would be persistent in his faith. The two conflicting realities between his Gods and this new entity formed inside. 

The mission resumed and was failed in killing the queen or destroying a sizable portion of the eggs. The group learned that to defeat the nest the queen and her eggs had to die together. 

He sought answers to his tribulations and eventually found a place called the "Verdant-Call" a grove built by a fellow druid of storms. After speaking with Zinlynndise she offered comfort with allowing him to join the Verdant Call and offering advice. She told him the nest seems to disturb the balance and since it does it should be stopped. At the time Swampy believed these to be wise words that he himself couldn't articulate. He decided to continue with his pact until the Hive was destroyed, intending to break his interest when the clear invasive species was gone.

Swampy quickly realized he hates the city buildings, the people, and just about everything about the guild. However he must learn to deal with it to be in the New World. He accepts their gold and uses their services, but could never call the city his home. He liked the Verdant Call however. He loved to sleep in the pond and bask in the Primal Infused waters. 

The day before he was set off to attack the nest in a large raiding group was when he received another vision. He had a new objective: to consume a more potent goop. Perhaps the entity was warping his mind. Perhaps Swampy has been crazy all along. However one thing is for certain; Swampy desired power above all else, and the entity was offering it in abundance. 

The raid had started and 12 people went into the nest. The raid began smoothly with the killing of ants and the descent into the queens chambers. During this time Swampy was unsure of what to do. He still had remnants of his old self dwelling within him but he could not rid the conversation with the entity from his mind. Whudon was his friend and mentor but the entity was a manifestation of his ideals beyond what any God could provide. 

When it came to fight the queen and seeing the power it was capable of he had decided. By the end of the fight the Queen was dead and Whudon nearly killed by her too, but all Swampy saw was the goop from the tree below. He consumed the goop and strengthened his pact. The Hive served it's purpose: to birth a new champion of the Family. The tree that supported the Hive had to go and so everything was destroyed. However this excursion also birthed a new member of the Family: Archiebald. He was not much younger than Swampy but his devotion was much weaker and hesitant. He was not and perhaps still isn't ready to be deemed a champion.

Shortly after, the party recalled.

Over the next few months Swampy changes drastically. He renounces his old Gods and the Family otherwise known as the Weaver is all he needs. As a result he has been withdrawing from his relationship with Whudon. His old life verses his new are incompatible. Swampy is relentless in his pursuit for power and his devotion to the Weaver has been growing day by day. Whudon on the other hand, is a kind soul who would never give up on Swampy. Determined to save the good in him or die trying he has been keeping Swampy from diving off into the deep end. 

Beyond this Swampy went on a couple of other missions. His connection with the Weaver gave birth to an animal companion named Swarmy. He hunted some trolls and ate their meat. He hunted some devils and laughed at their weakness. He grew his bond with the Weaver and made friends with Zinlynndise. He also was introduced to her mother, Aeonre. At first he did not like her. However after speaking to her he changed his mind. Similar to the Weaver, he heard many bad things about her, but he sees the good in her. He knows she loves her daughter and would do whatever it took to protect - even if it was in her own and unconventional way.

On another expedition to investigate more Goop trees tragedy struck. After looking into a tree covered in beetles and thick green goop the party was put on their hind legs. All but Whudon and Swampy were recalled after encountering a number of giant beetles who looked like Swarmy. However things took a turn for the worse. Swampy was knocked out and the beetles were closing in. Whudon used the last of his power to save Swampy and activate his recaller dooming himself to a fate worse than death. 

This development brought Swampy to tears however shortly after things changed. Swampy returned to find that Zinlynndise had also died moments before his return. His first order of business was to see Aeonre who was tending over her daughter. He did his best to comfort her and learned of her decision to attempt a resurrections spell. He did not object to this publicly because it was not his place to say. Still her devotion to her daughter proved his hunch. She truly loved her daughter. He found Aeonre's love for her daughter impressive. 

Days after he had slowly come to one realization: beside from Aeonre he disliked everyone here and besides from his God, he had no reason to stay.So he decided to devote himself solely to his cause. He is The Weaver's champion - the title he claimed from the Queen of the Hive. He serves to do the Weaver's bidding. In his death the Family will potentially gain a member stronger than him and he will return to the cycle. However this development is not a positive one for Swampy. The Weaver and it's influence was never good. His drive for combat was drained and the joy of a fight has been reduced to a primal satisfaction of bloodlust. The grace and honor within a fight has been stripped for Swampy. 

In the end The Weaver got what it wanted: a devoted servant willing to put his life on the line and do whatever it wants. What could it use such a malleable member of the guild for?

A new objective was bestowed upon Swampy. He was tasked with helping Archiebald with tracking down a defector from the Family. A giant scorpion living in the desert needed to either fall back in line or face the punishment of death. After a hard fought battle the beast decided death was a preferable option. Swampy was still torn and hurt at the loss of his friends and family. Even though Lynn was resurrected things were not the same. To Swampy, death should be the end and Zinlynndise betrayed the Natural Order. She was now considered weak to Swampy and he lost all respect for her. Over time he would loss his curtesy and be less and less respectful due to the power gap between the two closing in rapidly. 

Beyond all this Swampy sought a distraction from the pain of loss. He found the Serpentfolk faction to be suitable. He learned that a majority of the forces were weak and and relied on numbers. He also learned most of their leaders, the Zyss mind controlled their forces, which also screamed weakness to Swampy. The first time he encountered a prophet he learned that the top of their armies were also arrogant fools. Ashissa toyed with Moonflowers, forces beyond comprehension that seek nothing but death and destruction. He has been traveling with a group who have history with the Serpentfolk. Plume, Bhitzaoji, and Naomi all seek to destroy the serpentfolk and Anath seems to be along for the ride. He considers them all to be fools and weak to an extent. He found the death of Ashissa to bring a bit of joy back into the art of combat. She rejuvenated his passion by a bit, yet, he is still dulled to the fighting. He lost Swarmy during this time and would later replace the bug with Stormy, a giant scorpion in time. During the course of their missions he has come to dislike Bhitzaoji who fell under the whims of Ashissa during a dominate spell. He found Plume and Naomi's compassion for the enemy sickening. Still he persisted traveling with them. 

Eventually they sought to fight and hinder the efforts of a serpentfolk lich. All was going well at first. The group encountered a tribe of Serpentfolk who utilized insects in the desert including a Titan Centipede. Swampy seeks to accomplish a mission in the desert for the Weaver but needs to visit a Goop Tree to accomplish this goal. Still after finding the ruins of the Twilight Orchestra and destroying ghosts and entering the Shadow Plane things were still going to a reasonably well degree. Eventually the party fought three well trained and powerful serpentfolk trained in both blade and spell. They wielded lightning magic that was consistently stronger than Swampy's magic and fought better than Bhitzaoji in hand to hand combat. Still the group triumphed in battle over the three guards even if a sour taste was left in Swampy's mouth. The lich and another prophet were over seeing the Twilight Orchestra to revive and restore the lich to it's full power. Using worn out serpentfolk who have been chanting for who knows how long to do so the party decided to try and distrupt the ritual. After methodical planning and killing about 8 serpentfolk with a fireball things were foiled. At the end the lich proved too much by throwing a Chain Lightning spell that nearly killed the party in one hit. With too much to risk the rest of the party decided to recall, and Swampy had no choice but to follow suit. 

This pissed off Swampy, and he has vowed to kill every Serpentfolk he encounters if possible.