Pikel Bouldershoulder

Pikel Bouldershoulder is a dwarven druid of Mielikki and brother of Ivan Bouldershoulder.

Description
Pikel has a dyed green beard with a middle parting that is drawn back over his ears to join his long hair at his back in a braid. He wears sandals instead of the traditional boots most dwarves wear, and long green robes with large long sleeves.

Equipment
Pikel wears his cooking pot as a helm in times of combat.

His weapon of choice is a massive club he calls a sha-la-la or shillelagh. A specially enchanted wooden club used by druids. The club is referred to by his brother Ivan as "his tree".

Personality
Although Pikel has the ability to talk to animals, he has difficulty being understood by anyone of intelligent tongues and he tends to speak in a language of noises and exclamations rather than formulating complete sentences (e.g. "Oo Oi" followed by a fist punching in the air). Only his brother Ivan can really understand what he is trying to say. In fact, whenever Ivan refers to Pikel has "me brother", Pikel will put an arm around Ivan and echo "Me Brudder". In The Ghost King, children of Cadderly are seen to have some skill at understanding what he says. Despite his odd personaity, Pikel is a very powerful druid, and possibly also very intelligent and wise. He claims to understand the nature of the cosmos more accurately than many of the people who gathered at Spirit Soaring before its destruction by the Ghost King. When he met the avatar of Mielikki, he fearlessly and joyously ran right up to the unicorn and affectionately patted her on the head, which was well-received by the goddess. His friendship with the drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden, or "Drizzt Dudden" as he pronounces it, is partly due to their common faith.

Abilities
During his quest to help the priest Cadderly Bonaduce to defeat the Chaos Curse, Pikel gained some measure of druidic magic. He transformed his tree-club into a shillelagh. He blessed water in a ritual of strange song and dance thus turning it into holy water to defeat undead creatures. Once he even woke a tree as an ally against a pack of wolves.

As a druid, Pikel can converse with or befriend animals. He is able to predict the weather, and uses a special form of transportation in which he can open a portal between two trees in different locations, allowing uneven travel via the root network. Pikel being a druid can also turn stone to liquid and back again.

Background
Pikel has befriended a number of creatures including a great eagle, two bald-headed vultures, a family of weasels, three chickens, a black bear, a donkey named Bobo and a snake.

The two brothers were born and raised in Vaasa, at the rugged Galena Mountains. Ivan and Pikel fought alongside elves in Shilmista against the orcs and goblins controlled by members of the triumvirate of Castle Trinity. In 1370 DR they set out from Carradoon to attend the coronation of King Bruenor Battlehammer in Mithral Hall far from their place of residence in Spirit Soaring, the home of Cadderly Bonaduce the high priest of Deneir (the god of Knowledge and Invention) and his wife Danica and their three children. They were captured by the moon elves of the Moonwood (specifically Innovindil and Tarathiel) and held captive for a few days. On determining that they meant no harm to the elves or the forest, they were released and proceeded to Mithral Hall.

During the battle of Keeper's Dale Pikel lost an arm due to a stray piece of projectile slate thrown by the frost giants. Later in the battle, Pikel aided in the effort of the fight by helping Nanfoodle the gnome of Mirabar vent explosive gas up from under Keeper's Dale and using it to blow up the spine of the western ridge.