Arsène

Character overview

Arsène—a gnome, Fangwood Six scout and watchstander; a tactical combatant who uses flanking positions and psychological tactics in battle.
Well past the flush of youth, he is weathered and worn, with vivid amber-gold eyes beneath heavy, expressive brows and a full, well-maintained auburn-ginger beard. He wears a dark hood pulled low, and his compact stature makes him easy to overlook in a crowd.
Arsène participated in the Phaendar market festival, completing the “Smash the Legion/Foxclaws” game after getting stuck on protruding metal and earning ale and congratulations; at the archery range, he missed several shots. When Aubrin the Green was struck by a ballista bolt, he rushed to her aid and stabilized her with battlefield medicine. During the Ironfang Legion skirmish, he tried to push an enemy away, recalled knowledge about the Legion, moved strategically, helped lead a group that hid Main Camp trail signs, shouted at a female Fahrak to make her falter, and took part in efforts to protect townsfolk.
At Fender’s Bridge, Arsène listened from cover, crept into the construction shed, and killed sleeping Fahrak Mercenaries tied to Maltheum. He later stabbed a Fahrak Scout through the back, frightened and cut down the Hobgoblin’s wolf, directed a stealth team, and oversaw an assigned Camp team that foraged and added six provisions. He noted it was unusual to see Zulgats above ground and mentioned a nearby lair. After offering a badly injured wolf pup food, he carried it; he spotted a mitflit tormenting a wolf cub at a cave mouth and chose to help build shelters. He selected crafting or survival for his team and kept a surviving mitflit alive as the party took it prisoner to guide them to a marked Treasure House.
On the expedition, Arsène moved slowly along the path checking for traps. At Kellogg’s cabin, he found one set of human tracks with one leg dragging, knocked on the door, and stepped back. In the fight, he tried to recall knowledge about the shred-skin undead but was not trained in recognizing undead. He struck Pilla the leopard, was cut by Kellogg, stabbed Kellogg at close range, and later helped hack Kellogg apart. He returned to Camp but failed to cover its tracks. At Gristledown, he tried to identify the Floating Skin as an unnatural undead, then cut it apart with a decisive blow; he searched for livestock but found no sheep or goats.
Serving as a concealed scout for the party, Arsène surveyed Fort Trova-Lay’s walls, noting recent repairs and a northern tower four floors higher than the other buildings. He located the southern bridge and reported his findings. After the party crossed into the fort, he repeatedly struck a wounded eagle until it died, then advanced while tending his injuries and attacked another eagle. He readied his starknife but was shot by a retreating hobgoblin. In a nearby Stone Building, he examined bones and found a human corpse among the remains, with shiny objects beneath it. A specter rose from the corpse, struck him unconscious, and made him feel his soul being pulled. Bruneg restored him to consciousness, and Arsène struck the specter twice before it was destroyed. He later drank a healing potion while the party considered the hobgoblins’ ultimatum.
Arsène wielded a favored +1 Dog Slicer and possessed a Belt of Good Health. He scouted the southern Small Underground Chamber and warned Fangwood Six of ceiling ambushers. While standing second watch, he saw a xulgath peer into the firelight and flee. He spotted cave fishers above a pool and hurled darts, but a filament snared him and left him hanging over the water until one fisher’s death released him. He frightened a dark mantle, flanked and cut down another using Nova’s position, and demoralized a crystal-bodied chrysmal before striking it. In the xulgath Unused Empty Sarcophagus, he endured the stench, cowed a smaller caster, struck and finished a wounded xulgath, and later patched Bruneg’s wounds. He struck and carved at a nearly invisible Gelatinous Cube while flanking with Wren, though its amorphous body impeded his precision.
Arsène carried a +1 Returning Dagger fitted with a striking rune and a +1 Dog Slicer, as well as small stones for ammunition. He used unarmed strikes in combat. Against undead, he held his position, flanked an enemy, dropped a weapon to free a hand, and punched a skeleton. He closed in on a blighted foe and cut its throat. During a confrontation with a Lamplighter, he moved toward a sound but could not locate the creature in the darkness. At a Ruined Tower, he dropped into an ambush, terrified and wounded a Hobgoblin, repositioned to cover, killed a Goblin Dog that engaged him, and frightened another. He attempted to demoralize the Hobgoblin before repositioning again. At the tower he comforted a rescued Militia Veteran. In the Ruined Town, he forced through a melee to cut down undead, then chased and calmed the mule pulling the Hobgoblin Supply Wagon, preventing it from escaping with supplies.
As a party member and leader of a scouting team, Arsène suggested Keroin might oversee Camp security. He approached Cave Camp’s mouth to scout, brushed against a shrieker fungus, and set off its alarm. He observed a mounted Hobgoblin and troopers, initiated combat by slashing the Hobgoblin and withdrawing, then stabbed the officer again and used magic against a wolf and rider. He maneuvered around, battered an enemy’s shield nearly to ruin, slipped away from pressure, assisted Bruneg in finishing the officer, and attacked York from a distance during the centaur’s ambush.
Arsène received apprentice cheating gloves from a troll woman and wore Arboreal Boots. Searching a fort with Bruneg and Finnetharyn Fimbleshanks, he discovered a troll nest and opened the commander’s secret door with its concealed lever. In the hidden complex, he observed axe-sized wall slits and loose floor tiles, struck a wooden guardian, and sustained heavy injuries before Vendel Coldblade treated him. He later attacked a second guardian, warned it in Fey, and checked the corridor floor for traps. He helped Bruneg with the southern sarcophagus lid and found an adamantine starknife beneath a loose floor tile. In the wilderness, he tried to sneak into a fissure occupied by giant beetles, was severely injured by their trampling and mandibles, and repositioned to help surround one. He recovered Boots of Elvenkind from a dead beetle, and Gundugar Herdtender transferred the runes from his returning dagger onto the starknife.
At Fort Trevely, Arsène nearly died in a fight with a specter in the southern kennels; the party defeated it. During the confrontation with the hobgoblin leader, he shot her with silver ammunition, which caused no special reaction. He tried to frighten her, moved beside her, flanked her, and swung his weapon. He struck her again without bringing her down and missed another attack; Wren killed the leader. In the forge, Arsène flanked and struck a basilisk. Its gaze made his skin pumice-like and slowed him. He later resisted the effects of spores surrounding him when the party uncovered mold in the former armory. In the tower, a defender kicked him prone; he stood, struck the defender twice, and killed him. He frightened and struck another foe before Bruneg finished it, then attacked a further foe from his position.
Arsène engaged Jang and killed her. He then attempted to demoralize a dragon but missed with his attack. During the dragon’s counterattack, it targeted him with a vomit of bugs; Arsène hit it with two ranged attacks before a spell injured him and pushed him back. When Bruneg fell unconscious into a river, Arsène jumped in to rescue him, was injured in the fall, treated his wounds, restored him to consciousness, and helped him to shore before joining in looting.
At a feast in the forest, Arsène said the dancing woman was attractive but too tall and might squash him. When she offered to teach him to dance, he said he already had a woman elsewhere and valued loyalty, then suggested Finn entertain her instead. The woman’s dance drew him closer. Arsène moved toward her and later struck her with cold iron, killing her as she burned. Afterward, he asked a dwarf what treasure he had offered; the dwarf described inherited magical weapons or armor and suggested a magical bow for Wren. Arsène found gloss leaf while searching with the party.
When the party approached the deserter camp, Arsène hid behind a log and waited. A hobgoblin troop attacked him there. He later attacked the remaining hobgoblins; Vendel healed him, and Arsène thanked him. He put on a ranger poncho taken from the dead. During a later conversation, Arsène described the woman Arden recalled picking flowers for him weeks earlier as a big green girl.

• Arsène scouts, keeps watch, checks for traps, and has warned allies of threats. He has flanked and repositioned in fights, and has frightened or attempted to demoralize foes.
• He has used melee weapons, darts, small stones, unarmed strikes, and magic attacks; he has also used cold iron and silver ammunition.
• He has administered battlefield medicine, patched Bruneg’s wounds, and endured severe injuries, a fisher’s filament, poison from a xulgath, and the basilisk’s gaze.
• He has carried the +1 Dog Slicer, a +1 Returning Dagger, and an adamantine starknife; Gundugar transferred the dagger’s runes to the starknife.
• He helped protect townsfolk during the Ironfang attack and stabilized Aubrin the Green; he helped lead stealth and foraging teams and kept a mitflit prisoner alive to guide the party to the marked Treasure House.
• He scouted Fort Trova-Lay and warned Fangwood Six of ceiling ambushers in the southern Small Underground Chamber. He fought undead, hobgoblins, beasts, and other foes alongside the party, including during the Fort Trevely encounters.
• He traveled with the party to the forest feast and deserter camp; at the feast he spoke of loyalty, and at the camp Vendel healed him.