Kastonoph Nesher

Kastonoph "Noph" Nesher was a noble teenage son of Laskar Nesher who was involved in various illicit activities in Waterdeep circa 1377 DR.

Description
Kastonoph didn't care for courts and boring social events of the big city but often dreamed of smiting dragons and rescuing beautiful ladies from evil warlocks.

Personality
Unlike his father, Noph was lawful, idealistic, and somewhat naive. He happily followed rules when attending the wedding of Piergeiron the Paladinson, such as giving up his dagger as well as volunteering to give up his father's, receiving approval from Khelben "Blackstaff" himself. However, Noph cared little for upper-class events finding them boring and cynical.

Possessions
Kastonoph carried a dagger at most times. He surrendered it willingly when he entered Piergeiron's Palace to attend the wedding.

Relationships
Noph felt dismissive and annoyed at his father Laskar for spending all of his time and attention on earning a fortune and building a dynasty for his son. When Noph discovered his father was attempting to blackmail Eidola of Neverwinter over her mysterious past, Noph's annoyance grew into disgust with his father.

Noph cared little about Stelar, his father's consort half the fat trader's age, and her eagerly wasting his father's money.

When traveling with the rescue team through Undermountain, Noph developed puppy-like worship and affection towards Aleena Paladinstar, the daughter of Piergeiron.

History
In 1377 DR, on the 17 and 18 of Eleint, Kastonoph "Noph" Nesher along with his father Laskar Nesher were in attendance for the wedding ceremony between the Open Lord of Waterdeep Piergeiron the Paladinson and Eidola of Neverwinter. Even though the jaded youth didn't want to be attending the boring event he soon was swept away into a whirlwind of sinister plots around the wedding. Soon after arriving at the wedding, Noph gained Khelben's favor by giving up his father's hidden dagger.

To Noph's astonishment, he witnessed a maidservant being followed by Eidola and Piergeiron away from the guests, saw the maid shapeshifting into a monster and being killed by the happy couple, and saw the two guards who were to secure the shapeshifter's body form their hands into claws and eat the body of a fellow doppelganger.

Young Nesher found the intrigue and danger exhilarating and decided to investigate. He came to the conclusion that the monsters were after Eidola. Noph wanted to stop the assassination plot. He eavesdropped on the wealthy wedding guests until he came across Master Mariners' Guild members discussing the assassination plot. Masked Terrance Decamber attempted to murder Noph but was slain himself by an intervening Piergeiron.

Piergeiron, Madeiron, Rulathorn, Khelben, and Noph were the only trustworthy people aware of the plot against the Open Lord and his wife-to-be and worked together to stop the conspirators. Noph discovered his father was attempting to blackmail Eidola, Khelben stopped a group of doppelgangers disguised as chambermaids, and Noph saw a glimmer in the wedding hall's ceiling—the stained-glass Eye of Ao—and realized it was an arrowhead. He rushed to the upper floors to stop the assassin. As Noph opened the trapdoor leading to the inner chamber of the Eye of Ao, he realized that the crossbow he saw was rigged to fire once someone opened the door. At the last second, the youth was able to change the arrow's trajectory saving the lives of either Piergeiron or Eidola.

As he did, someone yelled "Assassin!" from the crowd below and the last part of the crossbow trap was activated right under Noph's nose, as the evidence of the plot self-destructed. Noph found himself locked in a cell during the finale of the wedding, which resulted in a cloud of darkness and summoned basal golems wreaking havoc. With a few desperate kicks, young Nesher managed to break the rotten wooden door and rushed to the fray. In the chaos, he bravely delved into the darkness over and over again pulling the screaming and panicking bystanders away from being caught inside along with the golems, Paladinson, and Eidola. Inside the darkness, he heard the familiar Calishite accented voice that he'd heard before among the conspirators. He managed to drag her out of the darkness and apprehend the Master Mariners' Guild member.

At the end of the day, the heroes were unsuccessful, and the bride disappeared with the golems into the faraway Utter East. Noph was only one of the people Piergeiron could trust after the events of the wedding. Khelben and the Open Lord enlisted the help of the young noble in rescuing the abductee.

A rescue party was gathered, consisting of Noph, Aleena Paladinstar, Kern Desanea, Miltiades, Able, Jacob, Trandon, and Harloon. Noph brought many weapons that he was not proficient with; Harloon talked him into leaving them behind, going with only a dagger and a knife.

When Khelben unsuccessfully attempted to teleport the party to the Undermountain so that they could use a gate to Utter East, Noph was the one to suggest that they take a walk through Skullport.

In the sea cavern near Skullport, Noph disturbed a watcher skull, which led to Kern destroying it and other watchers sentencing the party to perform a service to zombies in the city. The party split and Noph went with Harloon to a tavern where they nearly got in trouble with duergar but Noph distracted them by dropping a purse of coins.

In the Undermountain, Noph insulted a group of ettins which provoked them to attack and ultimately caused Harloon’s death. Noph was devastated and it took Aleena arranging a fancy funeral for Harloon to get Noph to go on with the quest.

Nearing the gate, Able, Trandon and Noph went ahead to scout. Able was killed and Noph got captured by two fiends, Shaakat and Rejik. They held him hostage to destroy the rest of the party. However, he successfully distracted them so Aleena, Kern, Miltiades, Jacob and Trandon were able to penetrate the fiends’ circle of protection against law. The fiends fled, and Aleena sent off Noph and the others through the gate.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Abduction &bull; The Paladins &bull; Errand of Mercy &bull; Conspiracy