Who's Who: Baral Cloudfoot [NPC]

Baral Cloudfoot’s parents both died when he was still young, leaving Baral and his just-barely-older twin sister, Deand, in charge of their eight younger siblings. They didn’t know what they were doing and muddled through raising their siblings to young adulthood. Unfortunately, their inexperience and botched attempt at surrogate parenthood scarred both Baral and Deand, as well as their younger brothers and sisters. None of the family will speak to Baral or Deand as a result of past slights–both real and perceived.

The last time either Baral or Deand interacted with their siblings was thirty years ago when the family of youths was forced to flee their ancestral house in Bucktoast Dale. The Dale no longer exists, except in the memory of past residents; the entire valley was decimated during a skirmish near the end of the Mage Wraith Wars. The halfling family fled to the safety of Heldweave City. As refugees, they struggled to find a safe place to live; as refugees they were hated and feared by the residents of Heldweave. Even after they managed to find a home, Baral and Deand were viewed with contempt and suspicion by the Heldweavers, which attitudes were worsened by the youngest siblings who played upon the emotions and worries of the neighbors. Ultimately, the twins were forced to leave Heldweave, sneaking out of the city in the dead of night. They eventually made their way to Coldweave, where Deand now watches over her younger brother, whom she still considers to be foolish and immature.

Deand has a particular disdain for Baral’s love of puzzles; “Simply childish,” she says. He adores puzzles, enigmas, and riddles of all kinds. He is positively giddy when he comes across a new type of lock or trap mechanism. This curiosity motivates nearly everything in Baral’s life; those few things not powered by his curiosity are instead fueled by his anger, particularly when ignited by a desire for revenge against the strong. He is not overly quick to temper, but when it is loosed, Baral becomes deadly and almost cruel. He is careful not to lose control too often, however, as he does not believe in murder, although he is proficient at violence when necessary.

Baral is quite capable with his blades. He practices his sword work in his off-hours, then whittles and carves small tokens and statues from spare wood when he is exhausted from his sword practice. The edges of his blades are always keen, the metal always clean and untarnished.

One of his younger sisters, he has learned, became an assassin. While Baral is not above a little petty theft and larceny, especially when it will benefit someone less well-off than he is, outright murder is beyond his ken or tolerance. It is clear that this sister was not of the same character as either of the twins. Both Baral and Deand blame themselves for this family tragedy. Although their younger siblings have rejected them, the twins both still love their brothers and sisters very much, and would do nearly anything to help them.

Baral is not an attractive individual. His brown eyes are just a bit too far apart and his hair a dull black. He is also a bit too tall for a halfling. In order to blend in with his favorite targets – the rich and powerful – Baral puts most of his money and efforts into attaining an extensive wardrobe of very nice clothes. He is not great at what he does, but he is workman-like and gets the job done eventually.

Baral believes strongly in luck over ability. He is a worshiper of Inudor, the Goddess of Luck and Chance. In fact, he believes so strongly in Luck and Inudor’s intervention in mortals’ lives, he has inadvertently become one of Inudor’s clerics. Contrary to other deities, Inudor chooses her priests, rather than the other way around. Those who aspire to be Inudor’s clerics and high priest rarely become such. She favors those who truly believe in luck and chance, instead of those who seek out luck and hope that chance plays a part in their lives. Clerics of Inudor still have to prepare their daily spells, they do so by praying to Inudor, believing that she will grant them the necessary luck to make it through life “just one more day.” Inudor's clerics seldom, if ever, realize that they are actually clerics of their gods; even when they unknowingly cast spells, they believe that it is Luck magically intervening in their life.

Baral is no different: he carries a set of dice in his pocket and is always willing to trust to the flip of a coin when required. He does not realize that he is casting spells to aid him in his work: things simply “happen” for him. Afterward, he prays to Inudor to thank her for intervention.

He is annoyed by those who, finding themselves in distress, whine about their circumstances. Inudor helps those that she will; if you are out of luck, that’s just the way of the Goddess. No reason to complain about it. And if you do complain, you are spitting in the Goddess’ face and she will be even less likely to help you the next time. This does not apply, of course, if you are a true innocent. Baral is a sucker for innocents, true innocents, and will go out of his way to provide assistance.

Baral Cloudfoot CR 4

Male Halfling Cleric 3 / Rogue 2
Chaotic Neutral Small Humanoid
Init: +1
Senses: Low-light Vision
Languages: Common, Halfling
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AC 15 (Dex +1, Size +1, +1 Leather +3), touch 12, Flat-footed 14
hp 25 hp
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +6
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Speed: 20
Melee: +7 Sword, short (1d4+1 / 19-20) or +6 Dagger (1d3+1 / 19-20) or
Ranged: +5 Sling 1d3 (range 50)
Space/Reach: 5/5
Base Atk 3; Grp 0
Atk Options: Sneak Attack; Turn Undead
Combat Gear: Sword, short, Dagger, Sling, +1 Leather Armor
Spells Prepared: (CL 3)
2nd — (DC 15): Calm Emotions*, Find Traps, Silence
1st — (DC 14): Charm Person, Entropic Shield*, Magic Stone, Shield of Faith
0 — (DC 13): Detect Poison, Resistance, Virtue
*Domain Spell. Domains: Luck, Charm
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Abilities: Str 12, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 11
SQ: Fearless (+2 save vs. fear); Weapon Familiarity; Trapfinding
Feats: Combat Casting, Evasion, Heavy Armor Prof., Light Armor Prof., Shield Prof., Simple Weapon Prof., Weapon Focus (Sword, short)
Skills: Appraise 0, Climb 4, Concentration 7, Diplomacy 0, Disable Device 3, Gather Information 0, Heal 5, Hide 7, Jump 3, Know religion 1, Listen 5, Move Silently 5, Open Lock 3, Search 2, Sense Motive 5, Spot 5, Tumble 3, Use Rope 2
Possessions: Combat gear plus Explorer's Outfit; Belt pouch containing the following potions: Cure light wounds, Cure serious wounds. Also: acid flask, caltrops, flint and steel, Thieves' tools, Waterskin, Whetstone, 200 gp, 9 sp, 9 cp

**Many thanks to WotC's "PC Portraits" Archive for the image.