Nargin Olnblade

Nargin Olnblade, known commonly as Rings, was a dwarf pirate who was a loyal crewmember of the Kissing Shark helmed by Blackfingers Ralingor in the late 14 century DR.

Description
Nargin was a tanned bald dwarf with a bristly beard and nose and ears bedecked with rows of dangling earrings, hence his nickname.

Personality
Nargin was usually cheerful, always seeing the bright side of difficult situations. He hated people patting his bald head.

Relationship
Rings was the whimsical wit of the Sharkers group, often saying sarcastic comments about the others. In time, Nargin started to see Belmer as their new captain.

History
Sometime in the, the Kissing Shark was destroyed by a blast of smoke powder. Blackfingers Ralingor perished and only seven of the Sharkers survived; Nargin was one of them. Together the Sharkers saved one chest off the Kissing Shark. Later, the group found themselves in the tavern of Donder's Dancing Masques in Tharkar. There, a mysterious benefactor named Belmer Droon rescued them from one of the frequent bar fights, and helped the Sharkers avoid the brutal law enforcement of the Daggers of Tharkar.

Once the Sharkers and their savior reached the safety of the Ankle Bells tavern, Belmer revealed his agenda: for generous pay, he wanted to hire a group of mercenaries to perform a mission in the capital of Doegan. After the pirates agreed, Belmer had them sign writs and they embarked on a mission to find and assassinate a noblewoman, Eidola of Neverwinter.

Under the cover of night, in secrecy, the group boarded the ship Morning Bird. Soon after the ship left the port, it came under an attack from an unknown black ship that bombarded the Bird with fire pot missiles and terrifying bone balls that melted away in the flames, revealing dancing floating armed skeletons. The Sharkers and their benefactors managed to fight off the undead and evaded the black ship with the aid of Balmer's box of mists and a prayer-token of Umberlee. The box transported the ship into a different part of the sea away from the pursuit, but the prayer token of the fickle goddess summoned her servants on board a ghost ship. The ship spawned the dreaded sea zombies and the crew of Morning Bird had to appease Umberlee by tossing their valuables overboard.

During the short respite, the suspicious employer mixed an exotic drug called yulchass powder in with the crew's food. The powder had a side effect of making its imbibers truthful. The ship followed them, somehow tracking them. After a long search, the Sharkers and Belmer found a magical scrying device hidden on the bottom on the Sharkers' chest.

Soon after, the mysterious black ship, now identified as the Black Dragon, caught up with the Morning Bird. The pursuing captain was the infamous Orim Redbeard, the pirate responsible for the death of Blackfingers Ralingor. Orim Redbeard realized that he pursued the wrong ship, and left the Sharkers in peace.

Nargin survived the sinking of the Morning Bird alongside the Sharkers and a big group of Jander Turbalt's sailors. Surviving the dangers of the open waters, they soon encountered the creatures that made Doegan infamously deadly—the "fiends".

Later, one by one, all the sailors were killed by a stray bone devil and only the Sharkers remained. At last, when the survivors were near salvation, seeing the city walls of Eldrinpar, the bone devil attacked and blinded Ingrar Welven. Soon after, the devil used a wall of ice spell to separate Brindra Arrose, Sharessa Stagwood and Belmer from Nargin and the others. When the group reunited, Nargin was greatly saddened to hear about the death of Brindra.

After arriving in Eldrinpar in Doegan, Nargin and the surviving mercenaries led by Artemis Entreri were confronted by the paladins from Waterdeep led by Miltiades. One group was looking to rescue Eidola, the abducted bride of Piergeiron the Paladinson, and the other group to assassinate her. So they started to fight in front of Eldrinpar's Fountain of the Kraken and in battle the pirate Jolloth "Anvil" Burbuck was killed. After the fight ended, Kastonoph Nesher joined the mercenaries and, while relaxing in a tavern, Sharessa told Noph about Jolloth Burbuck, saying he had been a good friend to them while Rings explained the true identity of Captain Blackfingers.

Later, during the fiends' invasion of the city, Enteri ordered Nargin and Belgin Dree to search for the doppelganger Eidola while Enteri and Sharessa went to try to save Noph from the dungeon.

While battle against the Fallen Temple raged in Doegan, Belgin and Nargin, along with paladins Jacob and Miltiades pursued Eidola. The warriors pursued her to an ancient crypt deep under the palace of Emperor Aetheric III. In the heat of battle, ancient Netherese glyphs sprang to life and opened a gate through which Eidola escaped. The mercenaries and paladins had no other choice and followed.

The group found themselves in the dust-swept Netherese ruins of Ularith in the desert of Anauroch. Belgin's training in the arcane revealed the origins of the ancient temple—the center of death cult worship with numerous portals that led to hidden tombs across Faerûn, in the Utter East, Chessenta, and other lands. The warriors chased the cunning doppelganger across the temple complex, eventually being confronted by its lich-lord protector. Miltiades stood up to the undead sentry but was protected from its deathly magics via Miltiades's own, somewhat undead nature. The paladins were given time until the sunrise to find Eidola and leave.

Tracking the shapeshifter and surviving several encounters with undead guardians and Eidola's deceptions, the paladins and mercenaries discovered the gate she escaped through—into Undermountain. Miltiades and Belgin Dree followed. Jacob and Rings eventually reached the gate. Jacob revealed his own doppelganger nature, having been replaced when the paladins traveled through Skullport, as the "human" stabbed Rings and left him to die in the desert.

Later, the group was ambushed inside a seedy bar called the Broken Pike by a gang of doppelgangers wearing familiar faces and led by Jacob. In a bloody scuffle, the shapeshifter almost got the upper hand but they were saved by the timely return of Nargin. The dwarf was on the verge of dying but his ring of regeneration pierced on his face had saved his life and Rings came back for vengeance. With Jacob's death, his betrayal and replacement became known to all.

After the heroes reached the safehouse of the Unseen, they fought through its doppelganger defenders and faced Eidola once again. They chased the monster into a maze of ancient tunnels underneath and cornered her. Eidola revealed the reason for Piergeiron Paladinson's condition after the bride's abduction: a soul gem. She threatened to shatter it, destroying the Open Lord's soul unless the warriors left and allowed her to escape. Miltiades refused, and the doppelganger started chanting the spell to trap the paladin's soul in the gem; however, Belgin's throwing knife interfered. The spell failed, and Eidola's own soul was consumed by the magic gemstone.

Possessions
Nargin had a magical axe and one of his earrings was in truth a powerful ring of regeneration he had found inside a wizard's tower.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Mercenaries
 * An Opportunity for Profit
 * Conspiracy
 * Easy Betrayals