Tanis
Tanis, Oracle of Apsu is a gnomish child, played by QSDragonLord. The prophesied child oracle of Apsu, Tanis was brought to the temple in Corvosa when she was still a very small child. Because of this, the majority of her life has been in the temple, and she thinks of those pillared halls as her home.
Description
Appearance
Tanis is an adult by years lived, but never matured physically beyond that of a preteen gnomish girl. For this reason, she is only eighteen inches tall, and is often misjudged by those who don't know her. She has kept her head shaved as part of her order, and generally uses her sleeves of many garments to ensure that she is always properly dressed for the occasion.
Update: Since being trapped in the old city of Korvosa, and thus cut off from her temple home, Tanis has not shaved her head. ebony stubble has begun to grow, and her head is now covered in a thin vale of short hair.
Personality
While being viewed as a child has sometimes encouraged childishness on her part, Tanis has a very deep loyalty to her faith and her friends. She is concerned with the plight of her city, and this is revealed in the moments when she lowers her guard among friends, or with her 'baby sitter' Mukan.
Biography
Background
Tanis spent many years happily at the temple, basking in the glory of her unique position, and the reverence with which the common people treated her. She was the "child Oracle of Apsu", and that came with a long list of perks she enjoyed. Things changed with the sudden death of the king, and when she was asked to join the queen's service to help stabilize her city, Tanis never hesitated. She remained loyal to the queen, working to foil the plots of the chief inquisitor and his allies.
"Fortune Find You"
Tanis was first drawn from her easy life at the temple, when a strange voice disturbed her dreams, calling her to come out into the streets, and give aid to one who needs it most. She followed the directions given by the voice, and as she came to a small wooden door on a narrow side street, she was brought face to face with a towering half orc woman in heavy chain armor and armed with a sword. A brief introduction revealed the intimidating woman to be a kind hearted paladin of the Moon elf goddess, Arianrohd. They both had come for the same voice, and after meeting the fortune teller who had summoned them, they left to bring an end to the vile practices of Adriam Laam, and his child labor force. The work was done, and the fortune teller's son avenged, her soul was put at rest, and her image faded from view...
"The king is dead"
That was the first time that Tanis met and worked with Rrutha Droggada, the Half Orc paladin, but it would not be the last. The two stayed in touch, and one day as Rrutha stopped by the grand temple of Apsu to visit the child oracle, their otherwise enjoyable visit was cut short by the sound of alarm bells in the city, and rioting in the streets. The king had been sick for sometime, and as many blamed 'the curse of the crimson throne', his sudden death while not unexpected, sent many into a panic over what would come of the city and it's crown. With such fear rampant in the streets, the mobs soon turned their attention toward the temples, and even the marbled halls of Apsu were threatened with vandalism. Tanis volunteered with her friend Rrutha, to risk the streets, and ensure that the Queen was not hurt in this perilous time. On the way, they were joined by another character, one Sindar. An elven Magus, Sindar was caught in the open when the city erupted, and now seeing few safe options left, threw himself in with the two friends. The three of them made it to the steps of the palace, before a beast from the sewers burst up onto the street, and looked for an easy meal in the pandemonium. Tanis turned to join her friends in fighting the beast, when a frightened guard burst from cover to snatch her out of harms way. Angered at being treated like a child, and at not being able to aid her friends, Tanis turned her withering gaze on the hapless guard, and revealed a measure of her power as she commanded him to put her down. He was unable to resist, and soon she and her friends had secured the front gates once again. The queen heard of their heroism, and asked the trio to join a special task force to help bring peace and order to the city. This was the first time that Tanis had come face to face with her queen, and she determined there that she would loyally serve her queen, and protect her dignity and honor from all quarters. This was also where she first met the chief inquisitor, and determined from the first, that he was a power hungry man, with eyes on the throne. He was not to be trusted. The three were given lodging at the garrison, and put at the disposal of General Croft.
"The Meat Boys"
Tanis and her friends were asked to investigate a suspicious butcher's shop in the city. It was surprisingly well stocked with fresh meat, although several people in the area seemed to be getting sick with some food poisoning. They arrived, knowing to ask for "the special cuts". Tanis, playing the role of a child asked to do the shopping for mother, entered the shop under the watchful eye of the half orc paladin who took it upon herself to keep the child safe in the market. Tanis asked about the special cuts, and the merchant nodded before stepping away. After waiting for sometime, the trio decided to be less formal in their inquiry. They began to search the back rooms of the butchery, and found that while the owner was oblivious to any maleficence, his employees were selling as food, any meat that they could cut up. This included sourcing their meats from the local population of street folk and otherwise forgotten souls of the city. Battle was had, and after bringing swift justice to the scoundrels, Tanis and her friends returned to the garrison.
"A bird in hand"
The death of the king was found to be by poison, and thus an investigation into the identity of the assassin was set about. The chief inquisitor was all too quick to set his suspicions on a simple bard who had come to serve the royal family for a few days before the king's death. Trina Savore, the bard in question, was to be found and arrested, and then interrogated for the king's murder. None of this set well with tanis, and as she was inclined to believe that the inquisitor's hands were stained in this murder, she saw this as an attempt to get the girl behind the walls of the inquisition's fortress, and coerce a confession from her. Tanis was not alone in this belief, and General Croft was inclined to agree that this all seemed a little too easy. General Croft asked the friends to find Trina first, and spirit her back to the garrison for safe keeping until Croft could figure out what was going on. By the time the friends reached the area of the old city that Trina was supposed to be in, the Hell Knights had already cordoned off the area. After a brief argument, and denial of passage into the restricted area, Tanis and her friends stole into the area through a less obvious method. They climbed the wall. It took only a little while to find Trina, but the Bard was spooked, and when they tried to reason with her, she started to run. Tanis had purchased a potion of invisibility for the bard previously, and now offered it as a token of good will. The bard took it, before staggering them all with her bewitching voice, and vanishing from their sight. Disheartened, they began their walk back. Things got even worse though, when they saw Trina being walked out in chains by several hell knights. Tanis tried to interfere, and give Trina a chance to run, but it was no good. The Hell knights turned on the small oracle, and only by the power of Apsu did she resist their much stronger magic. Her resistance was complete however, and caused the hell knights to retreat with their prize, rather than attempt anymore efforts against the strange child upon whom their magics had no effect. This incident would not go unnoticed by the chief inquisitor.
"Spider's Web"
The trio had little else they could do to help Trina, but they were not about to give up. Still, there was another matter at hand. General Croft had asked the group to help remove a thorn from the queen's side. A local noble was making dangerous remarks about the queen, and needed to be...dissuaded from such activity. For this reason, they were encouraged to seek out the spider king in his dockside conglomeration of various permanently moored vessels. For this mission, they were introduced to bellinar, a bard who had prior adventuring experience, and could aid them in finding the Spider King's lair. They accepted the assignment, but first went to the Dark Citadel, home of the inquisition. Tanis again played the child, but this time bluffed her way past the guards with a story about a school project on the men and women who protect the city. This bought her a tour of the citadel, and allowed her to come face to face with Trina Savore. Unfortunately, this Chief Inquisitor was just returning for another session with Trina, and recognized the group from the stories his men had shared previously. He called Tanis and the others out for who they were, and when he saw the looks of recognition and fear in his own men, he took action to tarnish the reputation that Tanis and her friends had earned. "So, you're the one who they say cannot be touched by magic." The Chief Inquisitor rushed Tanis, gripping her as he bodily threw the small child gnome against the far wall. She slammed into it with a sickening thud, and bounced off before plummeting to the floor. Quick action from Rrutha kept Tanis from breaking anything more in the fall, and as Rrutha caught the falling child gnome, the inquisitor turned to walk away. "See them out. They are not worth my time." The Hell Knights watched their leader walk away in victory, and roughly pushed the friends outside, no longer fearful of the small child who still seemed to writhe in agony from her mistreatment. What they failed to see in their over confidence, was the small piece of wire in her fingers. Even as she felt the world spin around her from the abuse, Tanis had acted quickly to cast message on Trina. Now, on their way out, she held a brief but informative conversation with the bard. They hadn't broken her yet, but they would. Trina's only hope was that they would solve the murder before it was too late for her.
After some much needed healing from Rrutha, tanis and the others attended to their actual mission. They entered the Spider King's lair, and brokered for the information they would need to make this noble back off. The Spider King, also called Barvossi, offered to play a game of chance. Win, and the party would get their information. Lose, and Barvossi would get the gold. When the game didn't go in their favor, the group made a fateful decision. They attacked. The room was set on fire, and when Barvossi triggered a trap door system that opened the entire room to a pit of spider webs beneath, the party just managed to hold on. Tanis cast sleep on Barvossi, and he slumped over at his desk. Retrieving the information they needed, the party dropped into the lower chamber to make their escape. It was then that they realized the true threat of the spider king. The spider web was all dreamsilk, and as it burned, it filled the air with a sickly sweet odor that muddled their thoughts, and reduced the party to little more than addled buffoons with the collective intelligence of a small kindergarten. They managed to escape, although it was an experience that would echo throughout their adventures with unforeseen ramifications.
"The Dead Warrens"
Amid the chaos of the last several weeks in the city, a new problem has surfaced. The local tribes that share these lands have a new bone to pick with Korvosa, and are threatening war. Their prince was in the city during the unrest, and seems to have been slain. His body must be returned to the tribes, or they will bring sufffering on the farms and villages first, and the city ultimately. The friends are joined by a tribesman named Mane'ha. He is not of the local tribes directly, but seemed to have some distant relation to them. he would help in this endeavor, and seek to bring peace again between the peoples. They followed their leads to an area near the cemetery called the dead warrens. it was a place of honeycombed tunnels and natural hollows under the city that had served long ago as a place of burial, as well as secret rites and gatherings. Now, it was believed to be the hideaway of a necromancer named Rolthe, one who was believed to have taken the body of the prince. They destroyed the necromancer's lair, and retrieved the body parts of the prince. They were so disgusted by what they saw in the dead warrens, that the party decided to purge it with fire, and only remembered as an after thought, that one of the necromancer's minions was still inside. With little mercy for the plight of the creature, they left it to die. Tanis didn't realize it then, but this would be one strike too many, and Apsu would not turn a blind eye to his ill behaved oracle any longer.
To be continued...
