Information

Neeraug has a minion!

Clover the Baaaaaa

Neeraug
Legacy Name: Neeraug

The

Reborn Sheeta
Owner:

Possum

Age: 5 years, 8 months, 3 weeks

Born: August 1st, 2018

Adopted: 5 years, 8 months, 3 weeks ago

Adopted: August 1st, 2018

Statistics

Level: 1
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Speed: 10
Health: 10
HP: 10/10
Intelligence: 32
Books Read: 32
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Unemployed

CREDITS

story & character by

Possum.
profile template (c)

helix (get it)
background image by Content Pixie on Unsplash
art by

Moody_Bats
fonts by google fonts

Fire & Mysticism

She might have had a happy life, once. But that was taken from her at a young age. Now, she only truly remembered the screams of her older sister, and barely remembered the faces of her parents. Horxius and Desiree Beladre meant well for their two tiefling daughters. Desiree could barely control her own magic, and Horxius... well. The man was a brute. Barely literate. So it stands to reason that the conmen duped them. One a scarred gnome, the other a human man. When presented with the opportunity to send the girls to a proper magic school, well... why not?

Fast-forward. Neeraug was a slave to a ...mostly... kind, older half-elf. A former bard, he took notice of the little tiefling child's singing while she worked. He began to train her in music. First came the voice lessons, quickly followed by mandolin, violin, and flute. Eventually, he put her on display; had her perform like a bird in a gilded cage for all of the treasured guests. She was allowed to earn a paltry sum. Nothing special. She made her own outfits - inspired in part by fleeting memories of her mother's fiery red hair. Hair she inherited. Punishment was rare, but not unheard of - a missed note or other mistakes would result in physical reprimanding. She learned not to let these mistakes happen too often. The other slaves and servants taught the girl many things - their languages among them. Soon enough, Neeraug could speak - and sing - in several languages other than the Common tongue: Undercommon, Elvish, and, of course, her own native Infernal.

Fast-forward again. The Master, now on his deathbed, requested that his son free her and the others. The son made this promise, though once the old man passed, quickly reneged. Neeraug, as well as the other enslaved, were none the wiser. She continued to perform for the new master and his guests, and new punishments followed, regardless of her performance. She hated this new master, more than she secretly hated the old man. She'd had enough one night, and saw a way out in the form of a group of travelers.

Munqus Knimblegruff and his traveling band of entertainers were passing through the kingdom and offered up their entertainment in exchange for a place to stay for the evening. The Master initially rebuked them - Neeraug was his own entertainment; why did he need anyone else to amuse him? He came around eventually, however. Neeraug watched the group's performance from the shadows, and knew that this was her chance at escape. When the master and his guests turned in for the evening, she slipped into his quarters, kitchen knife in hand. The deed was finished quickly enough, but she was suddenly filled with an intense panic - she had murdered a noble; even in the best of circumstances, this would certainly mean her death once discovered. Neeraug secreted the blade away in her skirts and found the sleeping group of travelers.

"There had better be a good reason for... oh, hello. You're that tiefling servant that was singing earlier tonight, yes?" The gnome rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Is there something the matter?"

Neeraug hesitated for a moment, then showed him the bloodied knife. "I need you to take me with you. I don't care where we go, but it needs to be far, far from here." Munqus' eyes widened, and he nodded fervently.

Within the hour, Neeraug was on the road with Munqus and his troupe. The tiefling piled up her red hair, wrapping it ever so carefully over her black, ram-like horns. These she covered with a blood-red headscarf. A veil covering her mouth would disguise her sharp teeth and forked tongue. Her tail, thin and whiplike as it was, she could easily hide under her voluminous skirts. She looked herself over, using a hand-mirror borrowed from another member of the troupe. "I could pass for a drow, perhaps. I already speak the language."

Eventually, she discovered fortune-telling via tarot cards. And she was eerily good at it. So whenever the troupe stopped in a town, she charged a small fee for her readings whenever she wasn't simply performing for the adoring crowd. She was happy, for the first time in a long time. But in the back of her mind, she thirsted for revenge against the men that had stolen her happy childhood from under her feet. She would do anything to reunite with her family. It was at one such road stop at a festival that she met Francois Cyr, a tiefling man whose arrival would change her life forever.

"Discover the future the gods have planned for you, only 3 silver!" she called out to crowds of passersby. "Have questions that need answering? Let the cards be your guide!" A purple tiefling, his clothes resembling those of a lumberjack, approached 'Nira' - as she now called herself.

"Do these cards really tell the future? That's got to be something! Three silvers, you say?" he fished out a few coins and sat at her table. "I'm Francois, from Timber Town, by the way." Nira said nothing, merely selecting the deck of cards she would use for the reading.

Nira's hands shuffled the deck deftly. "Now, before we begin, the querent cuts the deck." She gestured, and Francois obliged. "Wonderful. Do you have a question in mind? Your future, your love life, perhaps?"

Francois laughed heartily. "Not a one. I'm just curious as to how this works, is all."

Nira clucked her tongue, mentally rolling her white eyes in the back of her head. A skeptic, or just polite? She laid three cards in front of her. The simplest spread, and the fastest for readings. She pointed to the one on the left.

"This one is your past, or, a prior situation that needs addressing." She pointed to the card placed in the middle.

"You, your present situation." She moved her hand over to the final card.

"Your future, or how to best resolve these issues, past, present, and future." Francois nodded, though it was clear to Nira that he had very little idea what she was talking about. No... not a skeptic. Maybe just a little light in the brains department. It can't be helped.

Nira moved her hand back to the first card, and turned it over. "The Tower. Interesting. A self-destructive friend, perhaps? Someone that put themselves in a dangerous situation, caused a rift between you?" A flash of recognition crossed Francois' eyes. A-ha. Someone he cared about. She turned the next card over.

"Judgement. So... you gave them an ultimatum. The outcome less than ideal." Another flash of understanding. The friend chose their destructive tendencies... interesting. Nira took a deep breath before turning over the final card.

"...The High Priestess." A fuse broke in Nira's mind. This... this is the card I chose to represent me. He... needs... me? She quickly gathered up her cards, shuffling them gently back into the deck. "I need to join you. Whatever it is you're going about, I need to join you."

-----
Neeraug "Nira" Beladre was the first character I created for Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition. Our group ran a 'test' campaign, with a party consisting of old characters reimagined (Munqus, Stumpy, and Dessie), and Nira, a tiefling posing as a drow (because in my mind, tieflings, being descendants of Fiends, were more hated than the drow). The test campaign went well, though Nira would not return for some time - We started a fresh campaign, which ended up being dropped not long after... it wasn't until after a few more campaigns that she would return: The Fire Watch arc wrapped up with my warforged character, Robo contracting lycanthropy, embracing the curse and leaving the party on a personal quest to become stronger, something that (in-character) upset the party paladin, Francois Cyr. On his own side-mission, Francois met Nira, who insisted on joining him and his group due to some sort of 'prophecy' she interpreted from her tarot deck.

Nira would refer to the other members of this party by a Major Arcana card she assigned them, based on their personality. In her own words:
Francois (tiefling paladin): "I’m still not 100% sure which card truly represents Francois. I once saw him as a beacon of 'Judgement', a holy sword (or axe, I suppose) of virtue. But he may be our 'Emperor.'"
Hunter (tiefling barbarian):“'Strength'. Hunter is this card not because of his physical strength, which is quite impressive… but his strength of character. Impulsive as he may be, I don’t question his loyalties."
Luneus (elf wizard): Ah, “The Fool”. A font of incredible potential. I’ll be honest, Luneus sometimes concerns me. I’m not always sure she’s 100% ‘there’, if you know what I mean. But she means well. I think."
Valean (half-elf sorcerer): “'The Magician'. Like Luneus, Valean is a font of magical potential, and power to back it up. Unfortunately, we seem to butt heads frequently. I get it, he’s not as in-tune with the arcane energies. I think he finds me weird. I just find him mildly rude." ("damn it, I'm not a magician, I'm a sorcerer!" "Yes. And you are The Magician. Trust me, it's a compliment.")
Shrike (halfling ranger): "I once saw Shrike as our 'Wheel of Fortune', but the more time he’s with us, I think he may be 'Justice'. His wolf, North, was 'The Devil, Reversed'. He’s… set North free, which really solidifies the beast’s identity. Shrike is a good leader, though I don’t think he considers himself such."

Starting as a Valor Bard in the test campaign, eventually, Nira would switch subclass over to Lore Bard and further multiclass into Fiend Warlock, to reflect on her willingness to stoop to any level to get her revenge - even by making a literal 'deal with the devil'. She was fiercely loyal to the group, although she placed her priorities in furthering her own agenda first - she eventually located and reunited with her older sister, Nevaaris, and never gave up on trying to locate their parents.