This beautiful piece is The Warrior’s Assault by Merilliza Chan. It was the inspiration for Lament, created by our GM, the absolute master of making memorable NPCs.
The Ferrets of Phandalin:
So, something a little different here. The group of intrepid adventurers that Elodie – wide-eyed, impressed, only, ahem, mildly envious – sees emerging from the dreaded Underdark are actually characters that we created for a one-off gaming session our GM ran for us when my sister came to visit. We were excited to introduce P to role-playing games (Harnessing imagination and creativity! Joyful time together! Much needed distraction from reality!). And we were all ready to change things up a bit. We very much enjoyed playing folks entirely unlike our long-term OC loves: Elodie, Elie, and Vai.
During her visit to the Yawning Portal, Elodie only actually speaks to Lament but I will introduce the rest of the party here also. Hoping for further cross-over adventures in the future!
Lament, NPC, Tiefling. Courageous, charismatic, successful survivor of the Underdark with many fascinating tales to tell. And she has wings! Elodie is most definitely looking forward to meeting Lament again…
Rondo Nimblefingers, PC (E plays Elie and Rondo), Halfling. Currently down one arm but his spirits are easily refreshed with…more spirits. As suggested by his Dwarven companion, he perhaps brings more panache and plotting to the party than actual concrete assistance…
Regna Brawnanvil, PC, (P plays Vai and Regna), Dwarf. Focused, fierce, clearly a stalwart fighter with bonds of (perhaps reluctant) loyalty for her friends.
Bertram Shepherd, PC, (I play Elodie and Bertram), Human. The one in the bag. Indeed. It appears that my character: hapless sorcerer, wielder of power that he never asked for and is not always sure what to do with, is the one Ferret who did not make it out of Underdark. Ah, well…He is a very pleasant, slightly bumbling young man. Who blushes every time Lament speaks to him. And trusts his good friend Rondo completely. I mean, they both come from the same small town. So that is all going to work out very well.
Side note: we all know my TTRPG experience has been a little sparse and Bertram is the first male character I have ever made. So naturally, my first official act as this character was to inform my GM that he was going outside to pee. Standing up! It was very satisfying.
Kintsugi, PC (P, my dear sister, created and played her to the hilt), Eladrin. She was not one of the party that ventured into Underdark. Not for lack of insane courage but probably because she was off on some crucial task of her own. She is currently frozen in her wintry aspect and unable to remember what terrible harm befell her and caused this condition. Her journey to discover her past and to thaw out her broken self is just beginning…
Any excuse to showcase Guttertongue’s gorgeous art. 🙂 Here is her stunning rendition of Kintsugi, complete with my sister’s farty, beloved doggo (we miss you and all your varied smells, Lewis).
Wishing the Ferrets a speedy recovery and great good luck in their future escapades.
And, with great excitement, introducing:
Garmund, NPC (in this campaign, at least), Dwarf and highly skilled bard. A slightly different version of Garmund was a character created by our dear GM for a long-running campaign that he played with his friends a while ago. He was a charmer and a menace and the song You’re Welcome (Garmund Edition) tells you all you need to know about him. He has graciously consented to a brief cameo in our campaign and we are honored to have him.
Here is Garmund courtesy our lovely GM.
And here are two Garmund portraits by Jill Richings aka @mothmanners.
Tears of the Seldarine 
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