Lafferty Jones

Origin: The Kingdom of Findara

High Elf

Artificer – 4th Level – Alchemist

Age: 242 – 5’ 9” – 140lbs – Hair: Brown – Eyes: Brown

Hired by Anton The Wine Master to help Douglan. If he brings Douglan back safely he will be considered for an apprenticeship to study under Anton and become a master. Never before has someone outside the family been given the honor of learning the mystical arts of the Tionchar Winery. As an Alchemist the reputation of Tionchar Winery is of the highest standard and candidates for years have tried to gain entry but with no success.

Lafferty was influenced by Gnomes who lived not far from his home. He was drawn to their ability to create things versus conjure them. Combining components to achieve wonders came naturally to him. The Gnomes saw his potential and helped train him in the science of the Artificers. His parents, High Born as they were, were disappointed with his career choice but the locals welcomed his handy devices and elixirs.

Standing 5’ 9” with unkempt brown hair and brown eyes. He is very slight of build with a posture that leans slightly forward, the result of so many years hunched in study. A small burn scar runs down the side of his face from just below his ear to his neck. The result of a miscalculation combining several volatile liquids. He also has a faint scent of sulfur about him most of the time. On the other side of his neck runs a dark tattoo that cascades down below the neck line with slowly swirling images of various animals. The ink used for this tattoo is from a strange liquid found in his inherited lab along with the formula on how to craft. The origins are a mystery to Lafferty other than the magical animals that come to his call from the tattoo.

He wears a charcoal grey cloak that has dozens of tiny slots on the inside that hold small glass vials. He also has a belt that has different size slots for various tools and decanters. His trousers have 4 pockets down each leg all filled with various components and materials. He carries a sling but it is fashioned on his wrist like a mini-catapult. The strap holding in place also has holster slots for small stones.

Character Flaws/Weaknesses:

Absent minded when not studying his craft. Aloof to most situations that do not involve the pursuit of knowledge
Unable to speak in a direct manner. Only through complicated analysis.
Although meticulous he has a habit of pushing the boundaries of Alchemy. This has resulted in many accidents.

One afternoon as Lafferty was studying, his Gnome mentor, Warver Fizzlecraft, told him that if he would clean out the Laboratory of the Great Enibis Whistlehold, that it was his to take over. Enibis had gone missing several months before and House Haddlemeddle felt it was time to move on. Lafferty set to work cleaning out the lab, his lab!

As he prepared to empty out one of the many cabinets, he came across Enibis’s research journal and a wooden box that contained five vials of a strange blackish fluid. Lafferty decided to take a look through the journal to see if there was any clue to what might have happened. He was immediately captivated by the Enibis’s research.

The journal detailed his efforts to reproduce the Etheralness Spell with a potion. Efforts that, according to the journal, appeared to have been successful. The five vials that Lafferty found contained the potion that Enibis created and successfully tested.

Lafferty decided that he had to try it. After drinking the potion, the world around him flickered for a moment and then drain of color into a world of gray. As he moved around the lab, he realized that he could pass through things at will and that no one could see him. Over the next few weeks Lafferty spent endless hours studying the journal to try and unlock more secrets.

Late one evening as he drank one of the last vials and shifted planes, he immediately became aware of something in the lab. At first it appeared to just be a shadow of some unseen humanoid shape but quickly Lafferty realized that the shadow moved on its own. It seemed to be watching him, and moved around as he did. Still in this gray dimension Lafferty heard a cry for help from the next room. The voice was Enibis! The shadow turned to look toward the voice and then back at Lafferty. It let out a shriek that chilled him to the bone and began to move toward him. As it did, Lafferty noticed in his belt pouch, something began to glow. He opened the pouch and pulled out a vial of the Ailm wine he had been studying earlier. The wine glowed brighter as the shadow approached. Lafferty shined the light toward the shadow and it shrieked and turned away as if repelled as he returned to the material plane. Was Enibis alive? What was that shadow? Why had the wine started to glow? All of these questions stayed with Lafferty and he realized he could not rest until he found the answers. A key ingredient in the formula was a fluid called Void Water and that Enibis had acquired it from the Shattered Lands but little other details were found.