Darlingverse

The Darlingverse is a mini-campaign setting inside an established character (Darling) where due to the fragmented nature of his mind, many different voices have emerged to greater prominence than the regular background voice most people have.

General notes

Elara gifted the 2 wizard levels to Darling, she was that crippled voice.

Voices

Name: Kael

• Race: Human
• Family Profession: Dockworker (loading/unloading ships at the piers)
• Interest: Collecting discarded maritime curiosities (barnacle-covered rope, unusual shells, broken ship's instruments).

Name: Lyra

• Race: Half-Elf
• Family Profession: Scribe's Assistant (copying documents for the city's legal courts)
• Interest: Intricate knot-tying and deciphering ancient languages.

Name: Pip

• Race: Halfling
• Family Profession: Baker (known for their savory meat pies)
• Interest: Learning new, unusual recipes and secretly adding extra spices to his family's pies.

Name: Borin

• Race: Shield Dwarf
• Family Profession: Apprentice Mason (working on new city fortifications)
• Interest: Sketching architectural designs and trying to identify different types of stone.

Name: Zee

• Race: Tiefling
• Family Profession: Orphan/Street Urchin (scavenging for food and coin)
• Interest: Observing people from hidden spots and mimicking their mannerisms and accents.

Name: Flicker

• Race: Forest Gnome
• Family Profession: Toymaker (specializing in clockwork automatons)
• Interest: Tinkering with small gears and springs, trying to fix broken mechanisms.

Name: Roric

• Race: Dragonborn (Brass)
• Family Profession: Courier/Message Runner (delivering urgent messages across the city)
• Interest: Exploring hidden alleyways and rooftop paths, mapping the fastest routes.

Name: Elara

• Race: Wood Elf
• Family Profession: Herbalist (gathering ingredients from the nearby forests for remedies)
• Interest: Identifying wild plants and mushrooms, believing each has a hidden purpose.

Name: Lysander

• Race: Human
• Family Profession: Noble - House Margaster (a prominent shipping and trade family)
• Interest: Reading tales of grand adventures and historical battles, fantasizing about leading expeditions.

Name: Grut

• Race: Half-Orc
• Family Profession: Bouncer at a rough tavern (keeping the peace... or starting fights)
• Interest: Physical contests of strength and wrestling, wanting to prove himself the strongest.

Name: Skree

• Race: Kenku
• Family Profession: Bookbinder's Assistant (mimicking sounds of the bindery)
• Interest: Collecting shiny trinkets and attempting to replicate complex sounds and music.

Name: Jinx

• Race: Tabaxi
• Family Profession: Street Performer (acrobatics and illusionary tricks)
• Interest: Dazzling audiences with quick sleight of hand and practicing new acrobatic flips.

Darling's Inner Personalities

These are the twelve aspects of Darling's consciousness, each representing a coping mechanism or a core function of the personality:

• Kael: The Steadfast Protector
  • Role: Guardian of the watery realms, provider of stability and loyalty.
  • Home: The Estuary Shack.
  • Race/Class: Human Fighter/Tank.
• Lyra: The Calculating Analyst
  • Role: Seeks order, knowledge, and structure, protecting the logical boundaries of the mind.
  • Home: Kurator's Hall.
  • Race/Class: High Elf Wizard/Controller.
• Borin: The Rock of Resolve
  • Role: Embodies stubbornness and resilience, providing brute defensive strength.
  • Home: Stone of Unyielding Will.
  • Race/Class: Goliath Barbarian/Brute.
• Pip: The Curious Explorer
  • Role: Drives investigation and flexible thinking, always pushing boundaries to understand the unknown.
  • Home: Pip's Hideaway.
  • Race/Class: Halfling Rogue/Scout.
• Zee: The Silent Watcher
  • Role: Represents caution and anonymity, observing threats without being observed.
  • Home: Zee's Hideout.
  • Race/Class: Half-Elf Rogue/Infiltrator.
• Flicker: The Chaotic Creator
  • Role: Represents boundless energy and mechanical aptitude, constantly inventing and distracting.
  • Home: The Workshop.
  • Race/Class: Gnome Artificer/Utility.
• Roric: The Swift Observer
  • Role: Embodies solitude and rapid assessment, providing a high-level view and swift intervention.
  • Home: Roric's Spire Perch.
  • Race/Class: Aarakocra Monk/Striker.
• Elara: The Arcane Seeker
  • Role: Keeper of memory and intellectual control, seeking knowledge and stability through arcane means.
  • Home: Elara's Ethereal Study.
  • Race/Class: Tiefling Wizard/Scholar.
• Lysander: The Defiant Melancholy
  • Role: Embodies graceful endurance and lost dignity, protecting the memory of past opulence.
  • Home: Lysander's Phantom Ballroom.
  • Race/Class: Half-Elf Bard/Buffer.
• Grut: The Raw Force
  • Role: Represents primal anger and survival instinct, dealing with threats through brute strength and dominance.
  • Home: Grut's Pit Throneroom.
  • Race/Class: Half-Orc Barbarian/Warrior.
• Skree: The Cacophonous Voice
  • Role: Embodies loud self-expression and noise, filling the silence and ensuring communication.
  • Home: Skree's Echoing Aviary.
  • Race/Class: Kenku Sorcerer/Loudspeaker.
• Jinx: The Wild Card
  • Role: Drives misdirection, chaos, and performance, protecting the mind through calculated unpredictability.
  • Home: The Starry Stage.
  • Race/Class: Changeling Rogue/Performer.

Darling's Inner Personalities (Revised)

Kael

• Race: Human
• Family Profession: Dockworker (loading/unloading ships at the piers)
• Interest: Collecting discarded maritime curiosities (barnacle-covered rope, unusual shells, broken ship's instruments).
• Capture Story: Papa, disguised as a desperate merchant, lured Kael onto a "salvage mission" aboard a derelict ship docked at the docks. Kael's eagerness to find unique treasures led him willingly into Papa's trap.
• Internal Homestead: A perpetually dim, creaking wooden shack built on stilts over a calm, dark inner sea. It's filled with ghostly echoes of lapping water and contains shelves overflowing with strange, half-rotted relics from shipwrerecks. A single, perpetually burning lantern provides the only light.
• Personality Development: Kael's pragmatism and adaptability have sharpened. He's become the voice of caution and meticulous planning in "combat," always assessing risks and seeking the most strategically advantageous position. He often views Darling's external actions through the lens of "what's the safest port in a storm."
• Gained Levels: Fighter (Battle Master) 2 – Maneuvers: Lunging Attack, Precision Attack (for careful, effective strikes), Second Wind (for resilience).
• Harvested Part: Strong Legs (for traversing uneven cargo and slippery docks).

Lyra

• Race: Half-Elf
• Family Profession: Scribe's Assistant (aiding in transcribing books and official documents)
• Interest: Intricate knot-tying and deciphering ancient languages.
• Capture Story: Lyra was abducted while working late in a dusty archives building, alone save for the flickering candlelight. Papa, cloaked and silent, simply grabbed her as she reached for a scroll, her muffled cries unheard.
• Internal Homestead: A vast, silent library with endless shelves of unreadable, shimmering scrolls. The air smells of old parchment and dust. Lyra's "homestead" is a small, neat desk tucked away in a quiet corner, surrounded by meticulously organized, glowing quills and ethereal inkwells.
• Personality Development: Lyra has become the internal archivist, obsessed with cataloging Darling's memories and experiences. She meticulously tries to find patterns, understand the "language" of their shared existence, and cross-reference information. She is pedantic and highly logical, often the voice of reason concerning facts.
• Gained Levels: Wizard (School of Divination) 2 – Portent (foreseeing outcomes based on collected data), Proficiency in Investigation (for uncovering secrets and details).
• Harvested Part: Hippocampus and Fine Motor Cortex (for memory-making, organization, and delicate transcription work).

Pip

• Race: Halfling
• Family Profession: Baker (known for their savory meat pies)
• Interest: Learning new, unusual recipes and secretly adding extra spices to his family's pies.
• Capture Story: Papa infiltrated the bakery disguised as a new delivery boy, carrying a sack seemingly full of exotic spices. He offered Pip a taste of a "magical sugarplum," which was actually a powerful sedative.
• Internal Homestead: A cozy, perpetually warm kitchen with a giant, brick oven that emits a soft, comforting glow. The air is always filled with the phantom scent of baking bread and sweet pastries. There are overflowing baskets of impossible, glittering fruits and dough that kneads itself.
• Personality Development: Pip embodies Darling's more whimsical and chaotic impulses, always seeking new sensory experiences or injecting dark humor into grim situations. He's the one who often suggests impulsive, pleasure-seeking actions, sometimes with disastrous results. He's surprisingly resilient and often sees the morbid humor in dark situations.
• Gained Levels: Bard (College of Lore) 2 – Cutting Words (for sharp, witty, and often unsettling commentary), Proficiency in Persuasion (for charming others or for making a convincing, albeit odd, point).
• Harvested Part: Sweet Tooth/Taste Buds (for discerning subtle flavors and unique sensory input).

Borin

• Race: Shield Dwarf
• Family Profession: Apprentice Mason (working on new city fortifications)
• Interest: Sketching architectural designs and trying to identify different types of stone.
• Capture Story: While inspecting a crumbling section of city wall at dusk, Borin was struck from behind by a heavy, precise blow. Papa had observed his meticulous nature and needed a mind capable of structural integrity.
• Internal Homestead: A subterranean workshop carved directly into raw, shimmering rock. It's filled with spectral chisels that float, tapping out rhythmic patterns, and blueprints that glow on invisible drafting tables. There's a faint, metallic tang in the air.
• Personality Development: Borin is the voice of practicality, logic, and stubborn resolve. He grounds Darling, often arguing for methodical approaches, physical endurance, and structural soundness. He's highly critical of any "flimsy" plans or ideas.
• Gained Levels: Fighter (Battle Master) 2 – Maneuvers: Trip Attack, Disarming Attack (for precise, debilitating strikes), Second Wind (for resilience and holding strong).
• Harvested Part: Strong Skeleton/Bones (for structural support and endurance).

Zee

• Race: Tiefling
• Family Profession: Orphan/Street Urchin (scavenging for food and coin)
• Interest: Observing people from hidden spots and mimicking their mannerisms and accents.
• Capture Story: Papa, knowing Zee's haunts in the grimy alleyways, set a simple snare: a dropped purse overflowing with copper coins. As Zee reached for it, a magically silenced net dropped, trapping her instantly and silently.
• Internal Homestead: A labyrinthine network of shadowed alleyways and rooftops, constantly shifting and reconfiguring. It's filled with the distant sounds of Waterdeep's bustling streets, just out of reach. Zee's "homestead" is a cleverly hidden nest of tattered blankets and stolen trinkets within a forgotten chimney.
• Personality Development: Zee is the embodiment of Darling's cunning, stealth, and street smarts. She's suspicious of everyone, always looking for an angle, and prefers to work from the shadows. She's the voice that pushes for quick thinking, opportunistic maneuvers, and deception.
• Gained Levels: Rogue (Thief) 2 – Fast Hands (for quick item interaction and exploiting opportunities), Proficiency in Stealth (for remaining unseen and unheard).
• Harvested Part: Sharp Eyes (for observation and spotting weaknesses).

Flicker

• Race: Forest Gnome
• Family Profession: Toymaker
• Interest: Tinkering with small gears and springs, trying to fix broken mechanisms.
• Capture Story: Papa offered a bizarre, broken clockwork spider to Flicker, promising it could be fixed if he just came to his workshop. Flicker's insatiable curiosity for peculiar contraptions sealed his fate.
• Internal Homestead: A chaotic, whirring workshop filled with half-assembled clockwork beasts, gears spinning endlessly in mid-air, and a shower of perpetual, shimmering sparks. The air buzzes with unseen magical energies. Flicker's "homestead" is atop a pile of oversized, softly glowing cogs.
• Personality Development: Flicker represents Darling's inventive, often impulsive, and slightly mad genius. He's the primary problem-solver, but his solutions are often unconventional and unpredictable, driven by pure curiosity and a love for complex mechanics. He's the true "core" of Darling's artificer inclinations.
• Gained Levels: Artificer (Artillerist) 2 – Artificer Infusions (for minor magical tinkering and creating temporary effects), Proficiency in Tinkerer's Tools (for understanding and manipulating mechanisms).
• Harvested Part: Flicker's Brain (specifically the frontal lobe and associated neural pathways for complex reasoning, problem-solving, and spatial awareness), subtly enhanced by Papa's arcane infusions.

Roric

• Race: Dragonborn (Brass)
• Family Profession: Small Courier Business (he was one of their errand bots)
• Interest: Exploring hidden alleyways and rooftop paths, mapping the fastest routes.
• Capture Story: Roric was ambushed on a solitary delivery route in the Dock Ward. Papa, disguised as a desperate client with an urgent package, led Roric into a narrow, dead-end alley where he was quickly subdued.
• Internal Homestead: A dizzying, constantly shifting cityscape of rooftops, bridges, and interconnected high-up walkways. Wind whispers through unseen gaps, and the distant sounds of the city below are carried on ethereal gusts. Roric's "homestead" is a precarious perch atop the highest, most unstable looking spire.
• Personality Development: Roric embodies Darling's drive, speed, and restless energy. He's the one pushing for direct, often aggressive, action and physical prowess, often impatient with deliberation. He's highly competitive and values efficiency and getting to the point.
• Gained Levels: Monk (Way of the Open Hand) 2 – Ki (for bursts of speed and defensive maneuvers), Patient Defense (for quick reactions and evasion).
• Harvested Part: Strong Lungs (for sustained running and exertion).

Elara

• Race: High Elf
• Family Profession: Arcane Scholar (researching ancient magic in a private library)
• Interest: Unraveling complex magical theories and identifying rare arcane residues.
• Capture Story: Papa gained access to the restricted section of the library where Elara studied, posing as a visiting archivist. He slipped a magical paralysis potion into her tea while discussing a particularly obscure tome.
• Internal Homestead: An ethereal, silent study filled with glowing, floating books and shimmering, arcane symbols that write themselves on invisible walls. The air hums with latent magical energy. Elara's "homestead" is a single, comfortable armchair bathed in the soft glow of a perpetually open, unfathomable spellbook.
• Personality Development: Elara is the voice of intellectual curiosity and detached, magical analysis. She seeks to understand the why of everything, including Darling's existence and the nature of Barovia, through logic and arcane theory. She was the internal voice that helped Darling gain Wizard levels. Her memory of her own name and past became fragmented due to the trauma of being "brought to the surface" and interacting directly with Darling's consciousness, but she is slowly recalling more. She serves as the internal "tech expert" for magical matters.
• Gained Levels: Wizard (School of Abjuration) 2 – Arcane Ward (for defense and protection), Proficiency in Arcana (for deep magical knowledge and identification).
• Harvested Part: Prefrontal Cortex (for logic, planning, and abstract thought) and her Acute Hearing (for perceiving subtle magical vibrations and resonances).

Lysander

• Race: Human
• Family Profession: Noble - House Margaster
• Interest: Reading tales of grand adventures and historical battles, fantasizing about leading expeditions.
• Capture Story: Papa, using a subtle glamour, infiltrated a House Margaster garden party. He approached young Lysander, feigning interest in a rare, exotic bird, and then used a silent charm to lead the daydreaming boy away into a waiting carriage.
• Internal Homestead: A grand, but slightly dilapidated ballroom, always illuminated by the faint, shimmering light of unseen chandeliers. Imaginary guests waltz to unheard music, and grand but faded tapestries depict epic battles. Lysander's "homestead" is a raised, velvet-draped dais, like a throne, overlooking the phantom festivities.
• Personality Development: Lysander is the voice of aspiration, grandiosity, and a yearning for importance. He pushes Darling towards bold, dramatic actions, often disregarding practicality for theatricality. He has a strong sense of self-importance, a flair for the dramatic, and often interprets Darling's actions as part of a grander, heroic narrative.
• Gained Levels: Paladin (Oath of Devotion) 2 – Divine Sense (for detecting evil/celestials, possibly stemming from Papa's uncanny aura or the nature of his experiments), Lay on Hands (for self-preservation and the yearning to protect/heal).
• Harvested Part: Heart (the seat of his strong will, spirit, and grand aspirations).

Grut

• Race: Half-Orc
• Family Profession: Bouncer at a rough tavern (keeping the peace... or starting fights)
• Interest: Physical contests of strength and wrestling, wanting to prove himself the strongest.
• Capture Story: Papa, seeking raw, brute strength, challenged Grut to a rigged arm-wrestling match in the tavern. When Grut inevitably lost, Papa used a fast-acting tranquilizer hidden in the prize ale.
• Internal Homestead: A grimy, perpetually thrumming fighting pit, filled with phantom roars and the echoes of heavy blows. The air smells faintly of stale ale and sweat. Grut's "homestead" is a makeshift 'throne' made of splintered barrels and overturned tables at the edge of the pit.
• Personality Development: Grut is the primal, aggressive force within Darling. He advocates for direct confrontation, intimidation, and brute force to solve problems. He's impulsive and easily enraged, but fiercely loyal once his trust is earned. He often pushes Darling to physically assert himself.
• Gained Levels: Barbarian (Path of the Totem Warrior - Bear) 2 – Rage (for raw power and damage resistance), Reckless Attack (for overwhelming foes).
• Harvested Part: Powerful Muscles (for raw strength).

Skree

• Race: Kenku
• Family Profession: Bookbinder's Assistant (mimicking sounds of the bindery)
• Interest: Collecting shiny trinkets and attempting to replicate complex sounds and music.
• Capture Story: Skree was lured into an abandoned shop by the sound of a chiming music box – a sound Papa had meticulously replicated. Once inside, the door slammed shut, and Skree was swiftly taken.
• Internal Homestead: A vast, silent aviary where the only sounds are the echoes of Skree's own mimicked noises, which bounce eerily off the invisible walls. The floor is covered in a glittering carpet of useless, shiny objects. Skree's "homestead" is a precarious nest woven from strips of glowing, otherworldly paper.
• Personality Development: Skree is the voice of mimicry, observation, and strange, fragmented communication. He often speaks in repeated phrases or sounds, sometimes mimicking other personalities or things Darling has heard. He's curious about new sounds and can be highly manipulative in how he uses them, often revealing hidden information through mimicry.
• Gained Levels: Rogue (Mastermind) 2 – Master of Tactics (using allies effectively through advice and distraction), Proficiency in Insight (for understanding motives and intentions from fragmented cues).
• Harvested Part: Vocal Cords/Larynx (for replication and sound).

Jinx

• Race: Tabaxi
• Family Profession: Street Performer (acrobatics and illusionary tricks)
• Interest: Dazzling audiences with quick sleight of hand and practicing new acrobatic flips.
• Capture Story: Papa, impressed by Jinx's agility, approached them after a street show, offering a chance to perform in a "private, grand spectacle." Jinx, always seeking a new stage, followed willingly into a prepared trap.
• Internal Homestead: A perpetually illuminated, circular stage under a glittering, impossible starry sky. Invisible spotlights track unseen performers, and the air shimmers with the phantom applause of a massive audience. Jinx's "homestead" is a tangle of vibrant, glowing ribbons and hoops suspended above the stage.
• Personality Development: Jinx is the flamboyant, attention-seeking part of Darling. They thrive on performance, misdirection, and drawing focus. Jinx pushes Darling towards theatrical actions, wanting to be seen and admired, often with a mischievous streak. They believe every problem can be solved with a dazzling display.
• Gained Levels: Bard (College of Lore) 2 – Cutting Words (for sharp, distracting remarks or to throw off opponents), Proficiency in Acrobatics (for graceful movement and escaping binds).
• Harvested Part: Agile Joints (for flexible, quick movements).