Ghurrix

Ghurrix Overwhelming
Full Name:	Ghurrix Vergath
Party:	The Orb Walkers
Class and Subclass Info:	Bard, College of Lore, Level 11 Demon Mage of Immense Power
Gender:	Male
Status:	Dead, Killed by the Orb Walkers
Race:	Tabaxi Demon
Date of Birth (Age):	4-2484-6-12 (22)
Physical Description:	6ft 2", Thin black furred humanoid, yellow eyes with slit like pupils. Large bipedal creature with dark wings, somewhat similar to original form.

Ghurrix is a notoriously shady bard that has remained, for unknown reasons, with The Orb Walkers since their initial appearance in Mel Shenshir. He has remained with the party to the present day.

Early Life

Almost nothing is known by the party about Ghurrix's place of birth, age, family, friends, prior accomplishments, occupation, affiliations or intentions. The Orb Walkers are aware that Ghurrix, at the point when he joined the party, knew more about their exploits in Amalur than most.

Ghurrix Vergath was born on the island of Alabastra to his tabaxi parents Sigurd Vergath and Carlotta Vergath. Before Ghurrix was born, Carlotta and Sigurd were both working class citizens of Seheron working under the strict rules and regulations of the Qunari empire. Sigurd used to work as an obsidian miner in the Vraxis mine near the southernmost port of Seheron. His 23 years of work in the mine had brought him no closer to retiring with enough years left to enjoy peace. Carlotta worked within the southern port city and was responsible for meticulously screening any merchants and trade ships that made their way to and from Seheron. Her perspicacity in ensuring only the approved personnel got in and out of the docks allowed her to rise to the role of supervisor within one year of working and mainatain that position for another 17 years. Her abilities, unknown to the dockmaster and the Qunari officials within the city, were derived from innate magical powers that she had hid her entire life from everybody but her husband. Tough though their lives were, the Vergaths lived well with their combined incomes up until the day Carlotta discovered that she was with child.

Ghurrix's parents knew what would become of him if he ever began to display powers infront of prying eyes. The Qunari took no issues with keeping children as Saarebas, and having their child under the will of an Arvaraad sickened them. The Vergaths planned to leave Seheron three months after learning the news, specifically on Qin'Dular (The Day of Unification) where there would be the least attention on the docks from Qunari officials. Having withdrawn as much money as they could over the three months and using Carlotta's infallible knowledge of the ins and outs of the docks, the couple stowed themselves away on a merchant ship and paid the captain a heavy price to take them to Alabastra in the dead of night. The distraction of the Qin'Dular festivities and the large amount of gold given to the captain allowed the Vergaths to get away on the only major trade route between Alabastra and their former home. The couple quickly set upon purchasing and warding a new property in Tonhan. Sigurd quickly became a dock worker, putting in as much overtime as he could for the months leading up to Ghurrix's birth. Carlotta used her magical abilities more freely within her household to ward it against divination as best as she could. Predominantly staying at home, Carlotta became a highly skilled artisan producing animated textiles from the wide range of exotic materials that would come through the docks. Sigurd would purchase particularly interesting materials from some shipments for Carlotta to use in her finest products, an arrangement that allowed the family to live comfortably.

Once Ghurrix was born, Carlotta continued to weave her fabrics whilst tending to him and Sigurd pushed harder at work to generate the money that the family would need in the coming days. The first few years of Ghurrix's life were split between staying at home with his mother and running around his father down at the docks where some of the poorer children would end up playing. Ghurrix gained popularity amongst the other children once his innate abilities began to show at the age of six years old. Flashes of light and sparks of flame springing from his fingertips allowed Ghurrix and the other kids to perform mostly harmless pranks on each other and on some of the workers around the dock. His parents made no effort to stifle his use of magics, as their escape from Seheron and the life they were building in Tonhan were all dedicated to their belief that magical talent should be expressed freely. His mother guided him as best as she could in developing his powers and helping him to control them as the years went on until such a point she believed that she could no longer do so.

Six years after Ghurrix's first display of spellcasting, Carlotta felt that Ghurrix could not develop his abilities any further at home and began preparations to send him to The Bardic College of Lore in Tonhan. Ghurrix spent the next six years at the college honing his skills and developing his magical abilities further than he could have at home. He was taught, from the day that his mother allowed him to go to school, to practice his gift freely and learn as much as he could about the big world beyond their island. Ghurrix took it upon himself to champion this ideal, having seen the brands on his parents physically labelling them as Tel'Vashoth. He grew stronger and learned more so that he might one day save them from their fear of the Qunari assassins who would inevitably be coming after them. Ghurrix's parents found themselves branded once he was born, and Ghurrix would find himself branded as a second generation fugitive once they passed away. At the age of 21, Ghurrix made his intentions to travel to Amalur clear to his parents, believing that without the warding provided by Carlotta he would be able to attract any potential attention of the assassins tracking his parents. He was gifted an octagonal silver amulet set with a deep purple amethyst by his father to remind Ghurrix of him, and his mother crafted him a unique zither crafted from exotic wood and ethereal strings. Ghurrix set off from home and charted a small ship to the village of Sodden on the west side of Amalur.

Ghurrix stayed in the village of Sodden for a few days, making good friends with the villagers and the Alderman. By expediting some of their chores and ridding them of an issue regarding missing village funds, Ghurrix was regarded as a hero of the village, and ended up staying the rest of the week there. Ghurrix wandered south through the territory of The Summer Court for the next few months, passing through the villages of Etinmere, Gorhart and eventually down to Cael Nyralim. Being new to the continent and with no prior knowledge of the people there, Ghurrix treid to make at least a small impact on every settlement he came across so that he could learn more about where to head next and where he could find repositories of knowledge. He learned of the major cities of Rathir, Mel Shenshir and Tala Rane and made his way up from Cael Nyralim and past Glendara to The Federation of Rathir. Ghurrix learned in Rathir of a particularly effective group of mercanaries that had been dealing with a phenomenon known as a Well of Souls, and hoped to eventually meet and partner up with them. The extent of his research into the group and into a way to save his family was balked by his lack of access to more specialised texts, and so Ghurrix travelled across Driana's Vein to Mel Shenshir. He decided against going to Tala Rane as what he had heard about the Templars seemed very similar to what he already knew about the racist and oppressive Qunari.

Landing in Mel Shenshir, Ghurrix attempted to make friends as best he could and quickly found a tavern he believed was safe from the prying eyes of the Qunari. With access to public libraries in the city Ghurrix learned about the fractured guilds, the dark history of the Rakdos cult, whispers of an unseen guild and, most curiously, an ancient library beneath a ruin across the Fortenmar desert. Serindiptiously, Ghurrix learned more about The Heroes of the Well and their recent re-remergence at the same time he learned about an undergound trading of obsidian orbs. He believed that in order to garner more information on Qunari involvement with the obsidian trade he would need assistance from powerful and competent travellers. He also needed help to travel across the Fortenmar desert and find the library beneath the ruined city, and so he made his plans to meet The Heroes of the Well, as whispers had met him of their intentions to travel to Mel Shenshir. He kept an ear out for word of their arrival, planning to size them up himself and meet them in The Red Candle and would hope that his worldly knowledge would be enough to gain their favour.

Time with the party

Ghurrix met Fionn, Thoradin and Bob in Mel Shenshir after having watched Ukrom get cleaved in two in the arena. Having had prior knowledge of their trip to the Well of Souls in Etinmere and having overheard their conversations in the Red Candle, Ghurrix believed they would accept his help with few questions. He provides valuable information to the group regarding recent activity of House Dimir and the Cult of Rakdos within the city to propel their efforts in the correct direction.

Death

Ghurrix was killed by the Orb Walkers after revealing that he had betrayed them for a (currently) unknown reason. He was slain by Tilrinel, who drove his sword through the Demon's heart. Before attacking the party, he gave the following speech:

"You all certainly took your time. Even with my new found omniscience i cannot truly predict the extent of your inefficiency. You know, your failure here today will not be your greatest blunder. No, that was your steadfast belief in the significance of your circumstances and actions. The importance of a family lost, a patronage granted, or a minor blessing from an insignificant god. The relevance of a rebellion against authority, the value of innocent life, even the career progression through a morally bankrupt hierarchy. But in no case were you more wrong than that of the Wells - in Gorhart, in Etinmere and in the Underdark, and the gaping maw i used to guard back home. You writhed about like maggots in the darkness, blissfully unaware of the inevitably of that which you thought you prevented. But worry not - your choices will have one last consequence. I will do you the mercy of erasing your failures from the annals of history. Valmet, Tilrinel, this is only possible because of your actions, for which i will do you both the kindness of a chance to run. Choose to stay and you will end up like Thoradin by the end of this. Now, lets get started."