Armen Upwari is an Iswari merchant from Moru Kel. He was born in Zinghiri in the Burkhdyn Gazar.
Armen stands 3'6" tall, fairly average for his folk. He dresses in clothes that were very costly, but are now faded and have been repaired many times. He has brown hair, brown eyes. He is quick with a compliment and a smile, but a discerning eye can see that to him, there are only three kinds of people in this world:
Armen got his first hit of success with SqueezeNokka, and has become addicted to gaining wealth, the trappings of it, and the ability to be generous to those he cares about. He has been chasing it ever since.
Depending on who you ask, Armen Upwari is a hardworking merchant, a swindler, the least fortunate Iswari in the world, a deadbeat, or an Iswari with dreams far bigger than his size would indicate.
Armen grew up working for his family’s trading company, alongside his older brother Jerigo and younger sister Rhanna. As the company grew, Armen and his brother branched out from the family company. Twenty years ago, Armen set up shop in Moru Kel, and Jerigo moved to Esmi.
Armen had long believed that the family should have been more daring in their ventures, and Moru Kel was his chance to move on that instinct.
He came up with a Moru Kel equivalent of pokemon (animals stuffed with Nokka fur.)
He came back home, married a wealthy merchant's daughter named Elnara, and went back to Moru Kel. By the time he got back, the craze had died down, and he ended up having to burn the remaining stuffed animals because he couldn’t afford to store them.
He had a number of unfortunate events, including:
This last failure estranged him from his family and his wife. His father and mother are forced to continue to work when most Iswari their age are retired. His brother refuses to speak to him anymore and supports their parents financially. His sister is a hunter and helps take care of her parents in Zinghiri. She lost some money invested with Armen, and it still causes friction between her and Armen.
His wife, unable to support herself or their son with his earnings, moved back with her parents. She is sick of his excuses. Any attempt on Armen’s part to reassure her that things will get better are responded to with some version of “cool. Let me know when it happens.”. They are technically still married, but this may not be for long.
0: Armen is born
20: Armen moves to Moru Kel and creates “SqueezeNokka” (Moru Kel pokemon)
21: SqueezeNokka craze dies down
22: Aidyn jr born
23: Armen/Jerigo ship is sunk
24: Fish incident
25: Family money lost on wagon seizure
31: Elnara moves back in with her family
35: Present day
About a week after the death of Fondalore Viggen, Armen began having disturbing dreams. In one, a large humanoid figure — a goliath, nearly 3 times his own height — was walking through the snow carrying a great oaken boar-spear. At his side was what appeared to be an adolescent male, a mere 6 1/2' tall with his own spear held in hand. The two appeared to be tracking prey — perhaps a nokka or great stag. As they walked, the shadows to the side of the trail began to shift, forming a penumbral bear-like form that crept closer until it lept upon them with black, scimitar-like fangs. The pair fought ferociously, but the beast shrugged off their blows and tore them to ribbons.
In another, he found himself in darkness. A long (by Armen’s scale), bronze-headed harpoon floated vertically in the air in front of him, illuminated by a soft golden spot of light. Its fiercely barbed head belied its otherwise utilitarian appearance.
When Armen awoke the next morning, prepared to depart Zinghiri for a journey back to Moru Kel, he discovered the harpoon laying across his bed. He found himself both drawn to and repulsed by it, and after carrying it halfway to the port of Khuldani Purda he discarded it, throwing it deep into the woods beside the trail. But upon reaching the port, he found a ship loading itself with all sorts of goods — including a cache of harpoons with shafts identical to the one he’d discarded. He booked passage on the Nocturne, a ship from New Typor, traveling under Captain Martille’s steady hand back to the port of call. While at sea, he had more visions of shadowy bears and hounds, as well as one of a tall citadel near New Typor.
Reaching the city, he made what he though were some discrete inquiries around town about the citadel, and was surprised to find himself called to meet with Baron Aitor in the morning.
Note: The spear is bonded with you as a pact weapon. You can summon it to hand as desired. It remains attuned to you as long as you have it bonded as a pact weapon (unless you choose to unattune it).
Shagri’s Bite
Spear, wondrous, requires attunement
Fox’s embrace. You have resistance to cold damage. You can tolerate temperatures as low as -50 degrees Fahrenheit without any additional protection. If you wear heavy clothes, you can tolerate temperatures as low as -100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fox’s cunning. You ignore difficult terrain created by ice or snow.
Fox’s fury. As a bonus action, each creature within 5' of you must make a Constitution saving throw vs. your spellcasting modifier. On a failure, they take 2d6 piercing damage. On a success, they take no damage. Once used, this ability cannot be used again until the next dawn.