Whoops, forgot I hadn't done this!
Name: Isul (Ee-'sool), Walker of the Sands
Race: Beguiler
Height: 2'1"
Weight: 23 lbs
size: Small
age: He moves like a young adult specimen of his race, though what little skin is visible shows signs of heavy wear from the elements
alignment: Detects as Neutral.
ecl/aura: 10
Str: ?
Dex: Quite nimble
Con: slight of build
Int and Wis: Appears to be sharp of mind, and aware of the goings-on around him
Cha: 12
Appearance: Standing around 2 feet tall when upright, this rodent-like creature is roughly the size of a small dog and possesses a prehensile tail at least as long as his body. The intelligence shining behind his eyes and mannerisms prevent anyone from mistaking him for a dumb animal, though he seems equally at home standing upright as he does on all fours. As if to accentuate that point, a sun-worn bandolier affixed with a small metal scarab crosses his body, and he wears a beaten leather headband across his forehead, tucked below his large ears. This minimalist approach to clothing seems intentional to keep as much of his fur visible, which seems to subtly shift to match the background, blending in much like a chameleon. On his ankles are several thin bracelets, easy to miss and only rarely visible when he moves. He appears to be very accustomed to desert living, appearing not to notice the abominably warm temperatures around him.
History:
Spoilered because it somehow became ZOMGWALLOFTEXT when I wasn't looking >.>[spoiler] Isul was born to a small clan of beguilers nestled in the plains of Durpar in the far south east of Faerun. As he grew, he made friends with a halfling druid named Garret, becoming his apprentice in the arts of the wilds. The two traveled among the villages along the Golden Waters, lending aid when they could, though Garret's vigilance was always turned toward the towering mountain range to the west known as the Dustwall range. Though usually not more frequent than every few years, grey orc raiding parties of large size would forage down from the peaks to lay waste to the villages scattered throughout the plains, carrying off whatever they found and leaving the village a burned out husk devoid of all life.
While not particularly strong, Garret was adept at fighting guerilla battles with the warbands, using the very plains themselves against the raiders to thin their numbers and weaken their morale while the quicker Isul would run ahead and warn the villagers. By the time the raiders got to their target, they were quite weakened, and the villagers would be able to fight off the attackers with the assistance of Isul and Garret with greatly reduced losses.
This duo, however, would eventually push the orc warlords too far. These angered tribal leaders readied a raiding party with the sole intent of killing the "witchling" and "his little rat-dog thing, too". Unaware of this plan, Garret was overwhelmed during one of his hit-and-run attacks against the warband. When Garret never showed up in the village, Isul tracked down the raiders to a camp in the foothills of the Dustwalls. Though having taken significant losses against Garret in the ambush that led to his capture, the orcs were still too numerous for Isul to take down on his own, and was forced to sit by helplessly as they tortured, and eventually killed Garret. Spurred by his loss and hate of the orcs for murdering his friend and mentor, Isul called down the fury of nature, assaulting them with terrible bolts of lightning from the sky with no regard for his personal safety. Isul was able to avoid detection where Garret had failed thanks to his natural camoflage, striking at the orcs from seemingly nowhere. Believing this to be retribution against them by the spirit of the halfling, the terrified orc band fled deeper into the mountains.
Once into the mountains themselves, with fewer opportunities for solid cover, Isul had to be more cautious in his attacks against the rapidly fleeing band. Not only did they know the territory much better than he, but if they suspected that it was he who was responsible for the attacks and not the spirit of his deceased friend, the orcs would likely set a trap for him from which he would meet a similar fate as Garret.
The orcs were too terrified during their escape to notice the beguiler shadowing and peppering them with lightning bolts from the sky, and escaped into the dusty Raurin desert on the west side of the Dustwall range, outpacing Isul due to their superior knowledge of the terrain. Their escape was short-lived, however, as Isul caught up to the band early in the morning in time to see the remaining members die. Elementals created from the water ripped from their own bodies, howling wind gusts that flayed the flesh to the bone with sand, others turned to statues of salt, and the very sand and dust of the desert itself attacked the warband in the form of a terrifyingly huge humanoid form rapidly tore apart the remaining orcs.
When the carnage ended, Isul was deeply surprised to learn it had been caused by a single person. Still grieving over the loss of his mentor and covetous of the power that could so easily handle what would have taken him several more days to accomplish, Isul cautiously approached the heavily cloaked and masked figure. Isul learned by speaking with the individual, once a Durpari woman known as Kara, that she was a member of the Dusty Conclave. Isul recalled hearing rumors about its members that had been whispered by his family growing up, known only as Walkers of the Wastes, being potent practitioners of the Art and utilizing the resources of the wastes around them in much the same way he did with his druidic magics.
Seeing in Isul the beginnings of a powerful addition to her organization if properly led and trained while still in the unstable state of his grief, Kara offered to teach him the Conclave's secrets if he would swear fealty to her. Still deeply in the throes of his anger and desire for vengeance, Isul agreed with hardly a thought, and was presented to the other members of the Conclave within a month's time. Intrigued at the possibilities such a recruit offered, the other members of the Conclave convened in private with Kara, eventually coming to agreement to indoctrinate Isul to the order.
Isul had before long before noticed a parallel in the Conclave's teachings and those of his former master, Garret. An eager student who rapidly adapted the Conclave's techniques to his own, Isul was initially reluctant to adopt some of the convictions and views of the Conclave even in the depths of his emotional turmoil, believing them to be a little heartless and uncaring. Kara eventually brought Isul to see a blending of the Conclave's beliefs with those taught him by Garret, and when Isul eventually closed the book on his life under Garret, he had fully adopted the tenets of his brethren.
To continue his opportunities to improve on his abilities the Conclave members sent him to Anauroch to assist two other members already there attempting to prevent the desert from being shrunk by outside magic, one a member of the Conclave's council and the other a practitioner like Isul. That was four years ago, and it is Isul's hope that through superior service to the Conclave here in Anauroch that he will eventually be granted the few higher level secrets of his order he does not yet possess: the spells needed to craft the Sand Golems, and the secrets to ascend to the highest echelons of power within the Conclave and become a Dry Lich.[/spoiler]
Notes for DM and NPC/PC interaction:
[spoiler]
-Immune to dehydration, sun glare, heat dangers, and sunburn.
-Isn't slowed by movement on sand
-Untrackable
-Darkvision 60
-Constant True Seeing effect to 120 ft (which largely negates the above darkvision, but hey)
-Invisible to Darkvision, normal vision sees just fine
-When hiding, creatures with blindsense, blindsight, scent, or tremorsense must make listen or spot checks to notice me, just as sighted creatures would to detect me. Mindsight and Lifesense see me perfectly fine.
-I speak and understand Common, Druidic, and Terran
-Under sustained detect magic, I have seven distinct magical auras on my person, one of which is extra-dimensional. If the extra-dimensional item were opened, an additional 9 magical auras would be detectable.[/spoiler]
