Keph Thingoleir

Keph Thingoleir was a young duelist in Yhaunn in the 14 century DR, who lived at Fourstaves House with the rest of the Thingoleir family. He became entangled with an adventure involving the priestesses Variance Amatick and Feena Archwood.

Description
He had brown hair and a goatee, and always wore his magic rapier Quick at his side.

Personality
As a young man, he covered up his insecurities with acts of bravado and rebellion, carousing and fighting in the Stiltways to prove his worth and drown his worries.

At the height of his fervor for Shar, he was recklessly overconfident and aggressive, filled with a sense of invincibility.

After rejecting the cult of Shar and surviving the challenges that came with it, Keph developed a sense of self-determination and empathy for others, ultimately becoming a better person.

Abilities
Unlike the rest of his family, Keph had no innate ability with arcane magic. Instead, was a good fighter and duelist, and was very skilled with his rapier Quick.

Being raised by wizards gave him a decent familiarity with magic, even if he could never use it. He had a deep well of willpower, and he had the potential to wield divine magic if trained properly.

He was able to intuitively channel the powers of The Leaves of One Night, an ability that both Selûne and Shar considered dangerous. After accidentally using The Leaves to defend himself, he had a silvery rune of abjuration from it branded on his left thumb which he could use to banish summoned creatures.

Relationships
Keph was the youngest child of Strasus Thingoleir and Dagnalla Irongard, two experienced archmages. He was the younger brother of the wizards Malia Thingoleir and Roderio Thingoleir, and the uncle of Malia's child Adrey Foxrun.

Growing up as the only non-wizard in his family, they had difficulty relating to each other and he developed a sense of inferiority and isolation. As an adult, he felt resentful and envious of their abilities, rebelling against his parents whenever possible. Although his father attempted to bond with him by gifting him Quick, he paid little heed to the effort. The only family member he wasn't antagonistic towards was his niece Adrey, to whom he was a beloved uncle.

His closest friendship was with Jarull Cartcoster, a fellow restless young man with whom he would often spend his nights carousing.

He had a fierce rivalry with Lyraene, another young duelist. He was bitterly envious of even her limited grasp of cantrips.

History
In early Eleasis of 1373 DR, he was arrested and questioned regarding the disappearance of his friend Jarull, who had been kidnapped by the shade priestess Variance Amatick.

At the Sky's Mantle tavern, he was goaded into a duel with Lyraene, who easily bested and humiliated him. He was rescued by Variance, who was impersonating Jarull's form with shapeshifting magic. As Jarull, she gave him a vial of magesbane dust, hoping to gauge the defenses of his family home. Keph was inspired to use it to get revenge on his brother, and sprinkled it in Roderio's alchemical ingredients and vessels, ensuring his next project would be sabotaged. Unfortunately, Keph had grossly miscalculated the effects of the dust, which destroyed the workshop and almost killed his brother. He managed to cover up the evidence of what he did and got away with it, with the incident blamed on Roderio making a mistake while working.

Later, Variance manipulated Keph into joining the temple of Shar. During his initiation, he was forced to drink the Elixir of the Void and had to ritually murder his niece Adrey, but deduced that it was an illusion and proceeded with the "sacrifice". Variance was impressed by his wits and willpower, and noted that he would be worth training as a priest of Shar. She further manipulated him by tricking him into thinking he could cast an orison, greatly boosting his self-esteem and tying his self-worth to his devotion to Shar.

After being initiated and filled with overwhelming confidence, he lured his rival Lyraene into another duel and theatrically defeated her. He then began torturing her with Quick, intending to cripple her arms and prevent her from ever casting spells again. Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the Selûnite priest Mifano, who drove him away and healed Lyraene.

A few nights later, he was drinking at Cutter's Dip when the Selûnite priestess Feena Archwood arrived incognito, attempting to investigate the cult of Shar. By chance, he took her side in a brawl against the thugs Stag and Drik, defeating them and earning her thanks.

After an affirming encounter with Adrey at home, he had a series of nightmares that forced him to confront his misdeeds and the future that awaited him. He immediately fled the city in an attempt to escape Variance and her church, meeting Feena again at the gates as she also fled Moonshadow Hall. As they fled Yhaunn together, he revealed his (former) allegiance to the church of Shar and begged her help, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Julith Harkspur, who warned them of the pursuit of Feena by Moonshadow Hall's clergy.

Keph helped distract them from Feena but was soon captured along with Julith, and his Sharran ties exposed. Before he could be transported back to Yhaunn, Variance arrived through the shadows and rescued/kidnapped him, planting a false memory of his escape in Julith's mind. At the temple of Shar, Keph was blackmailed into helping Variance with the reveal of Jarull's imprisonment, and he agreed to steal The Leaves of One Night in order to save his friend.

On the night of the new moon, while Variance, Bolan and the rest of the church attacked Moonshadow Hall as a distraction, Keph entered Fourstaves House. He stole The Leaves, destroying his father's copper hawk in the process and discovering an innate affinity for the magic of The Leaves, which attempted to influence him. Withstanding the artifact's mental intrusions, he went to return it to Variance only to be attacked by the shadow mastiffs she had summoned. While defending himself he accidentally channelled power from The Leaves and transferred a silvery rune from it to his left thumb which gave him the ability to banish summoned creatures.

While Variance and Feena fought, Keph forced Variance to give up her magical shapeshifting ring and terrified both priestesses with his potential to use The Leaves. Despite Keph and Feena's efforts, Variance managed to recover the artifact from him and escape to Thultanthar.

After surviving the night's events, Keph had a small reconciliation with his family and announced his desire to leave Yhaunn.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Mistress of the Night