CoS 1/Goncai

Goncai

Goncai was not born into a lineage of wizards, nor did he possess a natural affinity for magic. Instead, his path to arcane mastery was one of sheer determination and unwavering curiosity. Raised in a small village on the outskirts of a bustling magical city, Goncai displayed an insatiable hunger for knowledge from a young age. His voracious appetite for books and scrolls led him to the city's grand library, where he pored over ancient tomes with a fervor unmatched by even the most seasoned scholars.

His dedication caught the attention of an archmage named Elarian, who recognized the potential within the young Goncai. Elarian took Goncai under his wing, becoming both mentor and father figure. Under Elarian's guidance, Goncai's latent magical talents began to blossom. He devoted years to mastering the fundamentals of spellcasting, honing his skills and broadening his understanding of the arcane. Gifted with an insatiable curiosity and an unyielding thirst for knowledge, he sought to uncover the deepest mysteries of the multiverse and bend its powers to his will.

Their tower stood at the crossroads of converging ley lines, where the boundaries between realms were thin. It was both a sanctuary for knowledge and a crucible for experiments that straddled the line between daring and reckless. The tower's library contained countless volumes detailing planar lore, and its laboratories were filled with curious devices that sought to unlock the secrets of reality manipulation. Goncai became known in the arcane community for his neversated lust for knowledge and understanding of the world. He is a stoic character who inspired his fellow wizards to push the boundaries of magical understanding. Goncai's pursuits were not solely for personal power; he dreamed of a world where magic and knowledge were not hoarded by the elite but shared freely to advance society as a whole.

As Goncai's magical prowess and knowledge expanded, he became increasingly aware of how noblemen often held significant power and wealth without necessarily earning them. This realization fostered his belief that true power should be acquired through effort, study, and understanding rather than inherited privilege. He saw many nobles squandering their potential to contribute positively to society while commoners with remarkable abilities had limited opportunities. Goncai grew up in a small village on the outskirts of a grand magical city. His family was not privileged, and he had to work hard to access education and resources. He understood the value of effort and perseverance, traits that became integral to his character. Witnessing the life of commoners struggling under the rule of nobility, Goncai developed a deep empathy for the challenges they faced, and a deep loathing for those born with gold in their hands. Goncai's desire to collect all arcane knowledge was driven by a deep-seated belief that understanding the world in its entirety was the key to true enlightenment. He sought to dissolve the barriers between different planes of existence, viewing the realms as threads of a tapestry woven together by the threads of magic. As the tower he originates from uses a blend of illusion and conjuration to bend will and matter to their liking his life motto became; if you can't find a solution, change your perspective.

Personality-wise, Goncai is a stoic and driven individual. His thirst for knowledge sometimes borders on obsession, Goncai's single-mindedness can cause him to lose track of time and neglect personal relationships. He can be distant and aloof, engrossed in his research, but those who earn his trust find him to be a loyal ally and mentor. Goncai's moral compass may sway when it comes to his pursuit of arcane power, as he believes the ends justify the means in unraveling the deepest mysteries of the cosmos. Goncai's journey is marked by personal growth, as he navigates the thin line between ambition and hubris. But he remains steadfast, unyielding in the quest to unlock the secrets of realm manipulation and harness the untapped potential of the multiverse.

How did he join the campaign?

He came into Barovia with an adventuring party consisting of:

Girinda - A Barbarian who had a pet falcon to get advantage and liked to bash people with her shield.

Daro - A noble warrior who fought with a two-handed sword and worshiped the sun as power, was very careful about his appearance.

Heylena - A witch who had a special bond with an enlarged lynx, she liked to control people and send her lynx Tijuana on others to be maimed.

Escher - A young and very handsome bard, classical with golden tongue and artistic skills.

A vistani namned Arrigal asked my party for help to save them from their "dread lord" offering a reward of a lot of treasure and we agreed, followed them into the Misty Forest and ended up in Barovia. We got into their carriages and what must have been the work of magic, fell asleep. When we woke up, Vistani was gone along with all our equipment. Without even shoes on our feet, through the cold and foggy forest, we followed the tracks to a road. It took us in through large self-opening gates with two guarding statues that were missing heads and further into the forest about half an hour after the gate came a black carriage and from it came a horror. A female vampire came out and asked us to “play” with her and with a hand gesture, out came ten vampire spawns that started to tear us apart. We all fled and tried to evade the attack by hiding, but only I succeeded by using my illusion magic. Goncai was pressed to the ground and listened to the feeding frenzy of the vampires, held by fear he couldn't move for a whole day. As he regained movement in his limbs he made it to a village where a family called Petrovich took care of him and took him in. Goncai hid there for several months as nightmares shook his very grasp of reality. A rumor of other “outsiders” shook him into action as he heard they were going to exterminate problems in the village. He thanked the Petrovich family once more before heading out and began his real adventure in the new realm, carefully describing it in his book (Goncai's Learning and Exploration Notes) …

People in the tower he comes from, happenings and special rooms

Elarian the Enigmatic: Elarian is an elderly archmage with a long history of arcane mastery. He was the one who recognized Goncai's potential and mentored him in the early stages of his magical journey. Elarian possesses a wealth of knowledge about the planes and their interplay. He's known for his cryptic insights and philosophical musings. Despite his age, he's still an active presence in the tower, often found meditating in the tower's highest spire, where he contemplates the tapestry of magic and reality.

Elysia: Elysia is a brilliant elven transmutation specialist who shares Goncai's vision of free knowledge dissemination. She is known for her work on transmuting natural elements and her deep connection to the elemental planes. Elysia is also a voice of reason, often challenging Goncai's intense idealism with practical considerations.

Thorn: A gruff but brilliant dwarf artificer, Thorn is responsible for many of the tower's intricate magical mechanisms. He has a knack for infusing everyday objects with magical properties.

Kaelin: A tempestuous sorcerer who discovered a latent connection to the Plane of Air. Kaelin's unpredictable outbursts of elemental magic have both amazed and worried his fellow wizards. He seeks to harness his abilities for the betterment of the realms, and his experiments often involve creating controlled storms to study their effects on magic and reality. Amaris: An enigmatic tiefling necromancer, Amaris is often misunderstood due to her choice of magic. She assists the group by exploring the connections between life and death, seeing them as integral parts of the arcane tapestry. Her presence in the tower sometimes stirs tension, but she and Goncai share a mutual respect for their pursuit of understanding.

Felix: A gnome illusionist known for his mischievous pranks and clever use of illusions. While his antics sometimes test the patience of the other wizards, Felix's insights into the nature of perception and the manipulation of reality have proven invaluable. He often challenges assumptions about what's real and what's illusory, opening up new avenues of thought.

Zephyr the Familiar: Zephyr is Felix's owl familiar. Unlike typical familiars, Zephyr possesses a unique ability to traverse the planes, often bringing back messages or small items from different realms. Zephyr's presence adds an element of charm and intrigue to the tower, as it sometimes appears in multiple places at once due to its planar travels.

Realmwalkers' Challenge: An annual competition within the tower that tests the wizards' ability to navigate and manipulate realms. Participants are presented with various challenges that require them to solve puzzles, traverse different planes, and overcome magical obstacles. The winner receives the honored title of "Realmwalker" and is tasked with guarding the tower's secrets.

The Whispering Gallery: A unique chamber within the tower that contains a collection of enchanted mirrors. When gazed upon, these mirrors reveal fleeting glimpses of distant realms, alternate dimensions, and historical events. The mirrors are a source of inspiration and information, often guiding the tower's research.

The Astral Observatory: This room is perched at the highest point of the tower, offering an unobstructed view of the night sky. The ceiling is enchanted to replicate the constellations from different planes, allowing the wizards to study the celestial bodies' effects on magic and realms. Powerful telescopes and scrying instruments line the walls, enabling precise observation of distant realms and planar shifts.

The Planar Library: A colossal chamber filled with shelves that seem to stretch into infinity, the Planar Library houses a vast collection of tomes, scrolls, and artifacts from across the planes. The shelves themselves are enchanted, allowing the books to organize themselves by planar origin. The air carries a faint whisper of the collective knowledge contained within, and those who enter often experience a sense of awe at the boundless information.

The Nexus Nexus: An experimental nexus that connects to various other planar nexuses. This room serves as a control center for understanding the flow of planar energies. The walls are adorned with intricate diagrams depicting nexuses from different dimensions. The wizards use this room to calibrate and stabilize planar connections, preventing disastrous rifts and ensuring safe travel.

The Echoing Conservatory: A lush and vibrant indoor garden filled with flora from various planes, the Echoing Conservatory is a place where nature and magic intertwine. Unique creatures that exist on the fringes of realms call this place home. The garden's resonance with different planes makes it an ideal setting for spellcasting experiments and discussions on the fusion of magic and life.

The Ethereal Archive: A room that exists partially within the Ethereal Plane, it contains floating shelves that store ghostly versions of books and scrolls. The wizards can access this archive through astral projection or by utilizing certain spells. The texts found here are often from realms inaccessible by conventional means, providing unique insights into the multiverse's hidden corners.

An adventure before CoS

Upon receiving cryptic whispers about a Nexus Shard hidden within the enigmatic Plane of Shadows, Goncai and his friends set out on a quest that would challenge their skills and resilience like never before. Guided by trust in one another and the strength of their camaraderie, they ventured into the plane's shadowy realms. The Plane of Shadows lived up to its reputation, testing the group's perceptions with illusions and shifting landscapes. As they navigated the treacherous terrain, their unique abilities proved invaluable. Girinda's sharp senses pierced through the illusions, Escher's charismatic charm unraveled deceitful mirages, Daro's unwavering faith dispelled shadows of doubt, and Heylena's rogue skills kept them one step ahead of hidden dangers.

Their journey led them to the heart of the plane, where they faced the ominous Shadowweaver—an ancient entity tasked with guarding the Nexus Shard. In a battle that wove magic and reality together, the adventurers combined their strengths, utilizing their intricate knowledge of the realms and their trust in one another.

Goncai's mastery over planar energies proved instrumental in countering the Shadowweaver's illusions, allowing the group to decipher the true from the false. Girinda's arrows found their mark, guided by her intuition; Escher's songs bolstered their spirits and broke through the shadows; Heylena's divine magic shielded them from the entity's attacks; and Daro's nimble movements kept the group agile and evasive. Through teamwork, perseverance, and unyielding determination, they managed to wrest the Nexus Shard from the Shadowweaver's grasp. As the shard's brilliance pierced through the shadows, the group's unity shattered the entity's hold on the plane. Together, they shattered the illusion that had imprisoned them.

Their victory marked not just the acquisition of a powerful artifact but the affirmation of their friendship's strength and their capacity to overcome even the most insurmountable challenges. The adventure deepened their connection, and the Nexus Shard became a symbol of their shared triumph. Goncai and his friends emerged from the Plane of Shadows as stronger individuals, their bonds solidified by their shared experience. The adventure taught them the importance of trust, the power of unity, and the limitless potential that lay within their combined talents. The Nexus Shard, now a source of shared memories, took its place among the tower's treasures.

Attunements

Tome of Strahd

The tome literally feels like it has a will of its own and though the casting of Identify told Goncai the specific costs and benefits of weilding the tome it took a little time to get used to the thought process behing the ciphers that Strahd himself had penned into this book. The result ended up with only revealing a few words such as "Vistani" and "Rahadin", but after an hour with a notebook full of scribbles, Goncai was at least convinced this was doable and that the book may hold many important clues on how to defeat this Dreaded Lord.

By the end of the hour, his brain had been quite strained and momentarily his concentration lapsed as he looked up, seeing himself having moved from the tower and was standing on a small hill overlooking a green valley with snow-covered large mountains on either side and looking up on a blue sky with scant a cloud. An unexplained sense of pride, such as "this is yours" surged in his mind and he looked around. Behind him stood a dozen weary soldiers, some with minor blood stains on their armours. Next to them he recognised Rahadin, who also seemed almost at peace and did a curteous nod towards Goncai.

Again beholding the green grass valley and the numerous small farmsteads with strips of smoke emerging from many of their chimneys he looked to the right, seeing a nearly constructed castle perched on a rocky hill among the other minor peaks. It was eerily recognisable yet not. The castle had light coloured stones and mortar with purple coping stones adoring the towers that were already completed. After a moment he realised this looks alomst entirely like Castle Ravenloft, albeit not like a towering nightmare he'd seen from the village of Barovia.

The voice of his local patron Tenebrous caught him. He couldn't quite make it out as it seemed to come from a long way away, from his back; the large moutnain peek behind him. Ignoring Rahadin, who seemed to want to talk as well as being observed by all the guards he focused on the voice and the wind carried it ever so slightly stronger. "The Tome will aid your quest...," was all he managed to hear before the vision faded and he found himself in his tower.

Goncai had attuned to many items in the past and they all differ slightly but now he felt that eerie connection to this old tome. He felt some long worn-in powers of its old leather seep into himself and he could FEEL the chapters holding secrets worth exploiting. There would be a few costs but he was aware of what they were and they seemed acceptable. He looked down upon his somehow even paler hand and told himself the same promise once more; it's worth it.