Dauphal

Dauphal was a wandering loxo that roamed south and southeast Faerûn circa the 1370's DR.

Description
Dauphal was a fairly average loxo, being 7 ft 3in (221 centimeters) tall and weighing about 490 pounds (213 kilograms).

Personality
He was somewhat of a rebellious youth, ignoring his parents warnings about exploring places that loxo typically avoided. He was very intelligent and curious about many subjects but was not good at social interactions with other races. He would fabricate stories about his past to garner sympathy or make an impression, telling people that his herd was wiped out by wemics, for example. Dauphal was fairly neutral in his outlook, but there was a limit to how much evil he would tolerate before he left a situation that made him uncomfortable. After he learned to fight with human weapons, he was fearless in battle, but never eager to take risks before giving it serious thought. On rare occasions, especially if he witnessed a fellow clan member severely injured or killed, Dauphal would go berserk with rage, neglecting his own defense and attacking with an abandon that augmented his already considerable strength until he collapsed from fatigue.

Possessions
Being somewhat nomadic, Dauphal could carry most of his belongings wherever he went. He had a number of weapons he could wield with skill. The most striking was a +1 flaming glaive, a pole arm with a long reach. He also could wield two swords, and had a +1 short sword and a +1 longsword. For attacking at a distance, he used a +2 composite bow. He also had a small viper named Slithe for a companion.

Abilities
Raised in a herd, Dauphal had all the survival skills of his people and a good familiarity with nature in south Faerûn. His large ears gave him excellent hearing and he had acute eyesight, even in darkness. Surprisingly (to non-loxo), he could also move swiftly and could swim, climb, and jump quite well. His size and strength, compared to humans, was a distinct advantage, giving him a long reach and the ability to body-slam or trample his opponents at times. After he learned arcane magic, he preferred to increase his fighting prowess with magic over using it offensively, but prudence was his watchword.

He had an empathic link with his animal companion, Slithe. This increased Dauphal's perception and alertness and gave Slithe some spell-casting ability.

Dauphal could converse in loxo, common, dwarvish, and Shaaran.

Activities
Dauphal wandered about southern Faerûn taking odd jobs or the occasional apprenticeship wherever he was accepted, honing his skills and learning new ones with insatiable curiosity.

Relationships
He typically did not form close relationships with non-loxo because the possibility simply did not occur to him. He was glad to find someone that could overlook the racial differences and be willing to deal with him. He was fond of his magic tutor, Rhodea Firehair, and was saddened when she died in an unusual accident.

History
At the age of fourteen, Dauphal ran away from his herd and landed in the crossroads trading town of Delzimmer. He discovered he needed coins to buy food in town, so he was hired for his size and strength as a common thug and enjoyed learning how to use human weapons against humans. After some time, he decided to follow the Trader's Way westward and eventually came near the Wyrmbones mountain range where he was captured by a pack of gnolls led by a chieftain who called himself the Wyrm Master. Instead of killing and eating him, the Wyrm Master trained Dauphal as his personal bodyguard, and he spent a few years learning new fighting techniques, tracking skills, and survival skills in terrains other than the plains of his birth. He did not join the raiding parties that plagued caravans along the Trade Way, and had no desire to do so, but did help track down survivors and scout for good ambush locations.

The evil, parasitic nature of bandit life scraped away at his sensibilities until he finally had enough and he slipped away in the dark, heading south to Halruaa. In the city of Aluarim, he saw arcane magic in abundance for the first time and was awestruck. He plucked up his courage and asked the highly-regarded wizard Rhodea Firehair to teach him the Art, and she accepted. He worked as her apprentice right up until she was killed in an unfortunate accident at the city mint. When Rhodea's daughter was killed a short time later, Dauphal believed evil people were behind both deaths and he prudently left town for an unknown destination.