Artus Cimber

Artus Cimber is the keeper of the Ring of Winter, and was the youngest son of the highwayman known as Shadowhawk. As former Harper, he left the organization to protect himself, his wife Alisanda, and the Ring from falling into the wrong hands.

Description
As a young child, Artus was scrawny with dark brown eyes.

Due to the immortality granted by the Ring of Winter, Artus has kept his looks and charm throughout his life. Artus is a tall and strikingly handsome man of a lithe build. He often wears leathers, hoods, and cloaks to help him keep a low profile, as well as leather gloves to hide the Ring of Winter and the tattooed of the names of his dearly departed animal companions- a pair of talking wombats named Byrt and Lugg, which he has tattooed on his fingers above his knuckles

Personality
Unlike his brother Oric, Artus was intelligent and observant.

Artus is passionate towards the preservation of knowledge and history, especially if it pretains to Chult, where he spent most of his life with Alisanda. Since the disappearance of Mezro and his wife, Artus longs to be reuinited with her again. He seeks oracle of Orolunga, Saja N’baza, and scours through ruins trying to finally find the answer on how to bring about their return.

Throughout his years of being hunted for the Ring of Winter, Artus has learned to be slow to trust strangers- adventurers in particular He tends to keep quiet, and dislikes when his presence draws negative or unnecessary attention to him and his traveling companions.

Possessions
When Artus was a boy, he wore a threadbare tunic and breeches.

Artus is the keeper of the Ring of Winter, an ancient sentient artifact of Auril, the evil goddess of ice. The Ring craves destruction and tries to take control of anyone who wears it. The Ring grants its keeper immortality, protection from any kind of scrying or detection magic, cold immunity, and control over ice and snow, including dropping temperatures to around -30 degrees Fahrenheit, casting icy versions of powerful spells like a Bigby’s hand, wall of ice, spike growth, ice storm, sleet storm, flesh to ice (flesh to stone), cone of cold, Otiluke’s freezing sphere, and even creating weapons and living creatures made from ice. [1]

The Ring of Winter is highly sought after by many people and factions around Faerûn, including the Church of Auril, the Harpers, the Zhentarim, the Arcane Brotherhood, frost giants, and the Red Wizards of Thay.

Artus also wields his trusty +3 dagger Bookmark. Artus can use Bookmark like a torch (by shedding bright light from the sapphire set into it’s pommel) or a compass (by floating the dagger in his palm with the tip always pointing north). Bookmark can also be used to cast dimension door and a compulsion spell to control spiders. [1]

History
When Artus was five, his father Scoril Cimber the Shadowhawk tried to teach him the fine arts of banditry in 1333 DR. In Uktar, 1335 DR while training his son, Scoril and Artus saved Prince Azoun from Zhent assassins on the road south of Waymoot toward the hamlet of Irath.

Before the Spellplague, Artus discovered the Ring of Winter in ruins deep within the treacherous jungles of Chult, and used it’s powers to help Alisanda and the forces of Mezro repel the likes of the Eshowe, and later the undead hordes of Ras Nsi.

Sometime after the Spellplague and the disappearance of Mezro, Artus was made a Chosen by Auril.

Artus spent most of his life trying to keep the Ring of Winter out of evil hands, but his return to Chult was focused on reuniting with his beloved Alisanda who disappeared along the city of Mezro during the Spellplague. No longer content to wait for Alisanda and Mezro to return on their own, he sought out the means to bring them back. He believed that Saja N’baza, the ancient oracle of Orolunga, could help him. After meeting Dragonbait, a saurial warrior dedicated to good, in Port Nyanzaru the pair made it their quest to travel to the ruins of Orolunga in hope of finding a way to reunite Artus with Alisanda.

Artus sired a misbegotten son, Sirac, who later emigrated to Icewind Dale.

Appearances

 * Fiction:
 * Realms of Valor: "The Family Business"
 * The Ring of Winter


 * Video games:
 * Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation


 * Board games:
 * Tomb of Annihilation Board Game

Discrepancies
In 1993, The Code of the Harpers sourcebook stated Artus as being neutral good and possibly a bard. In the 1996 Heroes' Lorebook sourcebook, Artus was chaotic good and given the class of fighter. His 5th Edition statistics restore his Neutral Good alignment as well as his bard class (he lacks bard spells but his saving throw proficiencies are the same as a bard).