The Dragon’s Demand is an excellent adventure, which I highly recommend. I own it as well and have in fact run it in it’s entirety as a GM for a RL group some years ago.
And while the combination of time and my rather unreliable memory has blurred many of the details, I do remember many of the major spoilers and more will undoubtably come back to me during play.
As such, I’m compelled to vote for option one. Should the majority prefer one of the other options, I’m likely to withdraw my submission. Alternatively, I’d be willing to act as a guest NPC or co-GM in a limited capacity.
Balthazar stops in his tracks, leaning on his quaterstaff for stability.
”Please calm yourself, miss! I may be nearsighted, but despite my moniker, I’m not blind and perfectly capable of evading a cooking fire. This is all highly irregular, a significant degree of unrestrained roleplaying seems to have broken out before recruitment is even completed. How our unfortunate GM will ever control such a rowdy and reckless group is beyond my imagination. Surely, chaos and tomfoolery awaits us all!”
Obviously about to work himself up to a longer tirade, Balthazar is suddenly interrupted by his own rumbling intestines, reminding him that he has not eaten all day.
”Well…now that you mention it, a bit of soup does actually sound quite nice…” he says sheepishly.
”Who said that? It’s so darned bright in here, telling one from. the other is quite impossible. Regardless, as I have stated previously, I am quite resolved to undertake this quest.”
Further details about Balthazar. Stats added to profile.
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Prolog:
“Useless!!”
Balthazar flung the heavy leatherbound tome away with disgust, scattering a stack of cryptic notes and knocking over a plate of half-eaten food. Startled, Archimedes retreated to the highest bookshelf with an annoyed hoot.
“Apologies, Archimedes, but it appears we have come to an impasse. I have read every single damned book in this library thrice over and there is not a single shred of additional knowledge to be gleaned. None!” he sighed with exasperation and uttered a telekinetic cantrip to return the dropped book to it’s proper shelf.
Pulling back the heavy curtains, he flinched as bright sunlight flooded into the library. Grasping for his spectacles, he blinked and let his frail eyes adjust to the sudden increase in illumination. Across the park outside, he imagined that he could barely make out the mausoleum where his parents lay alongside countless generations of his extended family.
Of course, the image of the ancestral tomb was only a figment of his memories, as the building itself was much too distant to be anything but a dark grey splotch among the green. Still, the reminder of his heritage and legacy added to the weight of the decision he had to make.
”I have made up my mind. I’m leaving. There are countless ruins and forgotten strongholds along the Old Road, where I might discover lore that can increase my mastery of the arcane arts. One thing is for certain, if I remain here, I will die as a blind and bitter hedge wizard.”
Archimedes glided down to perch on his shoulder to nuzzle his greying hair, issuing another hoot, this time laced with questioning concern.
”Oh, I know. I’m may not be quite as useless as I let on, but I realize that such an excursion is beyond my own abilities. I’ll seek out capable companions that might be persuaded to accompany me despite my obvious drawbacks.”
Balthazar grabbed his spellbook, a couple of scrolls and a vial of alchemist fire and added them to the pile of supplies he had begun to gather in the worn backpack he had dug out of a cellar cubbard.
”Who knows… a bit of air and a change of scenery might actually do me some good.”
--
Physical description:
A lean Taldan male in his late forties, Balthazar has the look of a man of good breeding and a somewhat negligent attitude towards personal care. His greying dark hair is shoulder length and unruly, and his marked chin is often shaded by salt-and-pepper stubbles. Dark spectacles cover his steel blue eyes. He usually wears a sturdy deep green cloak over his travel robes, with multiple pouches, a scroll case and a dagger hanging from his broad leather belt.
All of his gear and clothes are of excellent quality, but worn and poorly maintained, as Balthazar mainly relies on a prestidigitation now and again to keep them clean. While travelling, he carries a quarterstaff, which he sometimes uses to orient himself when his ailing vision fails him.
His trusty familiar Archimedes, a large grey-brown Taldan Eagle-owl, is rarely far away, often riding on his shoulder or soaring above.
Personality:
Intellectually sharp, Balthazar is able to absorb knowledge at an impressive level. His upbringing and years of study has instilled him with focus and discipline, but he is temperamental and frequently suffers from mood swings, wild outbursts and fits of depression.
His poor eyesight plays a significant role in this, as Balthazar is keenly aware of the limitations his disability entail. He longs to once more be able to look out over the wide swept Taldan landscape as he did in his youth, taking in the marvels of the world all at once. Instead, a genetic defect coupled with long hours spent reading by candlelight in a dark library has left him nearsighted to the degree that everything beyond a few hundred feet blurs into a chaotic tapestry of hazy shapes and colors.
When his moods are in balance, he is civilized and polite, and fairly pleasant company. His interests are centered around his own person, and he rarely cares about topics like politics or culture.
Backstory:
Balthazar is the only son of a minor Taldan noble family, whose title has long since been rendered meaningless in the chaos of civil war.
Growing up, he was the pride of his parents and dreamt of becoming a knight and take his place in the Taldan chivalry. But as he grew into adolescence, his eyes rapidly began to fail him.
A genetic defect, uncurable by divine magic, left him little recourse in terms of any martial profession. Instead, he turned to study, learning magic through numerous books and tutelage provided by his parents. As a twisted sign of self-loathing, he adopted the moniker Balthazar the Blind, a cruel nickname given by childhood peers long forgotten.
For more than forty years, he has led a solitary life, especially after his parents passed away. Political conflict stripped his family holdings to barely anything, and he now resides alone in a neglected and run-down manor house, with only a couple of elderly servants tending the grounds and his basic needs. While his estate provides him with a modest income, he is close to penniless and unable to fund further studies.
Having exhausted all means of advancing his mastery of magic on his own, he is left with an unappealing choice – either leave his family home in search of greater knowledge and practical experience or remain to live out the rest of his natural life as a bitter and reclusive hermit.
Goals and potential plot hooks:
Balthazar is painfully aware of his physical limitations, but he is none the less determined to become an adventurer, destined to obtain greater power or die trying.
More than anything, Balthazar seeks to increase his mastery of magic, especially divination. He hopes to be able to compensate for his poor eyesight through arcane means.
