![[Na'thornep.jpg]](nathornep.jpg)
by Alex Matulich
March 2005
This is the first backstory I ever wrote. Na'thornep is the second character I created for playing Dungeons & Dragons. She is beautiful, sexy, headstrong, quick to anger, flirtatious, and a risk-taker — the opposite of her predecessor, mild-mannered and timid Pat. With stronger skills and abilities than Pat, she's an asset to her party but has difficulty getting along with them. This has been a difficult character for me to play. Although I know her intimitely, I don't play her as well as she deserves. Her lover Laqrom is more like me, I think.
Gnomes have many names, and names have great significance to gnomes.
Na'thornep, a Chaos Gnome, also has many names, one of which is her "true" name. These days she goes by Na'thornep because that's the name by which she gained her renown as a performer. Only an extensive study of Bardic Lore would reveal that it also happens to be the name of an obscure but heroic male Bard, far and deep in her ancestry, remembered now only through stories told at close family gatherings.
The memory of her namesake ancestor has persisted in her clan for so long because a Bard is an uncommon profession for Chaos Gnomes, who tend to favor careers in sorcery. But even other Bards would have considered this Na'thornep of ancient times to be uncommonly talented, had they heard the stories. Any Chaos Gnome knows that centuries of information entropy may cause any story to evolve into a "tall tale" but nobody is certain about the stories concerning Na'thornep.
During her childhood, after she performed a particularly virtuoso instrumental recital at a family gathering, she overheard a great-uncle comment to someone seated next to him:
"Even though I'm getting hard of hearing, my oh my, that seemed worthy of venerable Na'thornep, eh?"
Youthfully presumptive and cocky, she adopted the name as a stage name. The name stuck only because those few elders in her audience familiar with the ancient stories felt, after witnessing her talent, that she might actually become worthy of the name someday.
To her audience, Na'thornep is merely a stage name. To her, the name has great significance. All her life she has striven to honor her distant ancestor's name.
Na'thornep never had any talent for sorcery; a failing that caused her parents no end of consternation before they realized where her true skills lay. She developed an affinity for the stage instead, finding that she enjoyed the adoration of throngs who came to see her play and sing. Her charismatic ability to influence an audience was always a thrilling source of pleasure for her.
It helped to have a touch of Fey/Elvish blood from a dalliance between a great grandmother and a slightly-Fey Elvish nobleman a few centuries ago. The progeny of this tryst blessed her with a natural beauty and erotic charm attractive to races other than Gnomes.
Na'thornep's attractive qualities affect different races differently.
Human males are usually smitten. Those Human Monks or Clerics who have met her in person, never dare admit to being tormented by erotic dreams of Na'thornep, although secretly they hope to have future dreams. Members of half-humanoid/half-other races have reported, after imbibing sufficient ale, to feel a distinct twinge of longing after watching her perform. She has been known to stir the loins of exotic intelligent creatures such as Centaurs, causing them to gallop home to their mates to produce more offspring. Even some Undead have, just for a moment, caught themselves thinking wistfully about their pre-Undead past and wondering What Could Have Been.
Females of most races admire and adore her, with a touch of envy. Oddly, fellow Gnomes rave only about her musical talents; they would describe her beauty and charisma as merely "interesting." Nevertheless they feel that she is a worthy representative of Gnomes in general, and take pride in the fact that members of other races love her.
Na'thornep has always been interested in the ways of other races and cultures since her own background isn't pure-blooded. As a Gnome, diminutive in size, she came to admire the larger races, particularly Dragons. She could never be physically large, so she compensates with her personality. This urge to compensate is part of what drives her.
Naturally, Na'thornep also enjoys flirting with males of any race, finding that they respond favorably, more often than not. She also enjoys using her powers of persuasion as a means of getting others to fulfill her needs, whatever they may be. In particular, members of the nobility seek out private performances from her. She is happy to oblige — she never fails to seize opportunities to employ her persuasive talents to the fullest extent to gain favors from the nobility. A minstrel such as Na'thornep doesn't require wealth but she can provide for herself every comfort she would want.
Had she been a young human adult, with similar talent and charisma, she would have been called a young star, or a "starlet." By Gnome standards she qualifies as a young adult at 72 years old. Among Gnomes she is affectionately known as a "bardlet."
Power corrupts. Na'thornep possesses innate powers, and she isn't immune to their corrupting influence. Her audiences are generally unaware of her true personality, so they fail to notice changes within her.
All throughout her life, Na'thornep has been hot-blooded, as passionate people often are. A quick temper, obviously, combines badly with an ability to influence others. In Na'thornep's case, she became a prima donna, accustomed to people holding her in high esteem and complying with her requests.
To her credit, she is aware of this change within herself, and attempts to keep it under control. But her charms can transform into a weapon of domination in moments of weakness.
A successful minstrel becomes a successful bard through experience and adventure. Such was the case with Na'thornep, when she joined up with a small band of adventurers on a quest to free an heir to a small outlying kingdom from the clutches of a minor demon and its minions, who had kidnapped him and were systematically terrorizing the people of his realm.
The quest was successful. Na'thornep, with her natural charisma and occasional tendency to dominate, shared a leadership role with another member of her party. Along the way she gained experience, learned new songs and spells, and became a talented Bard who was a great asset to the group.
And during this adventure another key aspect of her personality came to light.
When Na'thornep casts her lot with a small group of people who share dangers and experiences, she becomes fiercely loyal to those individuals, taking risks for them, putting herself into harm's way if needed (up to a point — she knows that she is physically small and weak, and that sacrificing herself would serve little purpose and deprive the party of the benefits she offers). A party must earn her loyalty, however, through their words and deeds. Once Na'thornep is convinced that the cause is worthy, and her cohorts are worthy, she becomes an ally that anyone would want at their back, in spite of any undesirable tendencies she may have.
Back on her own, Na'thornep's travels brought her to the city of Ptolus. Although a bardlet isn't a "superstar," many people in Ptolus know of her talents and beauty, so word of her presence spread through the city. In the town square, a crowd of appreciative onlookers gathered as she played and sang, and they tossed silver and gold coins into an open bag.
Now, Na'thornep keeps all her adventuring gear (armor, weapons, other instruments, gold, etc.) in a Bag of Holding, much larger on the inside than the outside. She wears an attractively cut Cloak of Charisma and other items of Charisma when she performs. A bard dressed up in armor just doesn't look good, and any kind of useful armor wouldn't show off her erotic charms, anyway. She ties her Bag of Holding discreetly to her during her performances, while a small sack lies at her feet to collect the offerings from the audience. She has never been comfortable revealing the Bag of Holding for what it is to the public. To her public, she is a famous performer, not an adventurer.
Things were looking good. She had collected a decent amount of gold, and felt fairly certain that a member or two of the local noble families would learn of her presence and seek a private performance.
These were her thoughts as she left the town square to duck into an alley to hide her sack of money into her Bag of Holding. She also felt safe from the townsfolk, because the lingering effects of her performances, aided by a masterwork instrument, have always resulted in people cherishing her rather than threatening her.
At that moment, a pair of large ruffians rounded the a corner nearby. They were absent during her performance and didn't recognize her. They happened to see her duck into the alley unprotected and alone, holding a sack containing an obvious large quantity of gold. They rushed her and knocked her unconscious. What a treasure trove! Not only gold, but also some obviously magical items such as that magical bag full of treasures. They stripped Na'thornep down to her underclothes, and were just about to strip her further to violate her unconscious body when they heard a clattering of hooves and footsteps approaching. The ruffians fled, taking all her precious belongings with them.
The approaching noise turned out to be a band of adventurers involved in a quest in the Banewarrens. Ami the Necromancer, Xero the cleric, Tamahome the Undead Rogue Arcane Trickster, Saracen the Half-Dragon, and a Centaur calling himself "Zixor" that day because his original name sounded like an evil wizard's, carrying a dead Gnome on his back, passed by the alley where she lay unconscious.
Cities contain all manner of beggars, lowlifes, and passed-out drunks in alleys, so normally these adventurers would have ignored Na'thornep and went on about their business.
However, Xero recognized Na'thornep. He had seen her perform once in the past, and despite being a Cleric he occasionally endured suffering from impure thoughts ever since. Unable to contain himself, Xero explained who was lying in the alley and suggested rendering assistance. It turned out that Saracen and Zixor, who normally ignore the affairs of humanoids, had actually heard of her, but were unfamiliar other than knowing her name was associated with some sort of acclaim.
So they agreed to help out. She came to, looked in wonderment at the sight of a Half-Dragon and a Centaur both in one place with a collection of others, obviously part of an adventuring team such as she had been in. She explained her predicament. She had lost everything, but still had her talents. This band of Adventurers had recently lost their Bard, Pat, to a powerful wizard's finger of death spell, so it seemed that Luck had smiled upon Na'thornep, as Luck does for Chaos Gnomes more than other races. She offered to render her services as a Bard if she could keep Pat's equipment, which she keenly noted included a nearly priceless Masterwork Lute. The party accepted.
Almost immediately after this agreement was reached, members of the party began talking all at once. Much of the talk included ordering Na'thornep about, as well as disrespectful comments about disposing the dead body of a fellow Bard.
Still beaten, bruised, and humiliated, Na'thornep wasn't in her best frame of mind, and this talk upset her. She lost control of her dark side, which angrily burst forth. She unleashed the dominating power of her persuasive ability on the party, extracting an agreement from all into submitting to her leadership, except for Saracen — which was fine with her since she was a bit awestruck by the Half-Dragon.
This action, naturally, didn't sit well with the party. Despite their forced promise to follow her lead they nevertheless found it difficult to be "persuaded" to do something they had no compulsion to do in the first place. She was subjected to frequent derision as the day wore on, with most of the party members making jokes about her name, which has significant meaning to her.
Na'thornep resolved to maintain better control in the future, and hoped that aiding the party in their quest would cause the members to look upon her more favorably. After all, these people had helped her and accepted her, which earned them at least _some_ loyalty in her mind. Therefore, she resolved to find strength within herself to endure their taunts, but doesn't know if she can succeed — and at her next failure the party will experience her dark side again.
She made some half-hearted attempts at flirtation with Zixor to lighten the mood. While other Centaurs would have reacted favorably, Zixor was having none of it, although he and the others cooperated with her tactically during combat. She avoided Xero, recognizing That Look in his eyes, and knowing better than to torment him with her charms, especially in dangerous situations.
She believes the "wanted" posters in the city, showing her party's members accused of crimes against the nobility, presents an opportunity to help out. She is confident that she can use her talents to get the charges dropped or reduced once she gets back to town.
Na'thornep hopes for an opportunity to give her party a friendly private musical performance and tell her story, to gain back some of the respect and honors she enjoys from others. She wishes to hear everyone else's stories also.
Alex Matulich