Dergoatean (prime)

Dergoatean (Dur-go-tee-un or Dur-goat-ee-un) is a Faendryl Dark Elf, nominally a Sorcerer but with a nearly equal dedication to physical combat. He encourages all he meets to call him by his chosen shortened name, Goat. He has a mostly-dormant psychic connection with and vulnerability to Grishom Stone, arising from scrying upon Stone in the aftermath of Cross Into Shadows. He served as a sometimes-advisor to Wehnimer's Landing Mayor Cruxophim on matters of Occult Languages and Translation, due to his partial decoding of Ithzir language, magically-aided fluency in Giantman language, and minimal familiarity with Tehir.

Dergoatean lost most of his memories of his life before adventuring, though he has regained some pieces over time. Because of this amnesia, his values and behaviors are only partially consistent with his fellow Faendryl elves.

Dergoatean does not worship any Arkati. He holds Lorminstra in high regard for tolerating his Raise Dead scroll invocations, and Ronan for his aid during the events of Cross Into Shadows.

Original Backstory/Published Bio

(As posted on the officials. Some of this is now outdated. For instance, it is now clear that Dergoatean is a Faendryl elf.)

Dergoatean. Well Goat, really. It's tough to say.

16 years ago, Goat woke up outside of Helga's with a bad headache, some nausea, light sensitivity, and no recollection of the events of the night before... or any of the nights before that. He was almost convinced that he had an especially bad night drinking, until he felt his neck and noticed a tiny prick with just a bit of dried blood below it. None of the bar staff nor any of the townsfolk said they ever saw him before. He had just some vague recollections - that his name is Goat, or maybe Dergoatean when fully spelled out, and that he had some sort of connection with sorcery. He decided to pursue that connection, not knowing anything else. He definitely has a knack for sorcery, but he has never had the single-minded focus of "true" sorcerers, learning from independent study (and maybe latent memories) rather than courses in any academy. He eventually turned his focus to swinging a pike as well, and is quite proud of his progress as a generalist - he can swing, bolt, and ward while maintaining spells from all spheres of magic via his scroll and magic item collection.

It's clear that he has some amount of either Faendryl or Dhe'nar blood, but he doesn't know which. He doesn't understand either language, but he does mostly understand common Elven and Dark Elven. He has trouble speaking either tongue but he can get his point across.

Goat has no strong leads on what caused him to forget his memories, but with that pinprick wound in his neck, he figures he was victim of some poison. He thinks maybe he was important enough to eliminate, perhaps even important enough that he couldn’t be outright killed. He felt a connection with the ruined Palestra on his first visit to Old Ta’Faendryl, but also when he found a Dhe’nar whip-blade in a box once. Either possibility suggests that he could have once been a warrior with exposure to sorcery, rather than an actual sorcerer, but it’s very much just conjecture.

Goat considers himself a reasonable fellow who is interested in fairness and fighting for good, though he’s also interested in practical matters like power and his own survival. He knows sorcery is a dark art, and there's a part of him that delights in destruction, but he sees it mostly as embracing his natural talents, without any evil necessarily attached. Likewise, he sees how his fellow Voln brethren could be uncomfortable with him animating the dead, but he sees replacing an animus to be quite distinct from enslaving a soul. Still, he has occasionally been rattled by the possible contradictions of his ideals and his career.

He mostly gets along with inclusive people/cultures, but is used to being an outcast. He feels maybe the most comfortable with half-elves and half-krol, who know how it feels to not belong. Without the “baggage” of belonging to one group, he is relatively flexible socially - he can be a little silly around Rozy but more severe and formal with Azimar (who is a bit curious about Goat but certainly doesn’t seem him as an equal). When pressed about being one of us, or one of them, or one of whoever, he would generally say “I’m one of me.” He has adjusted to life without a past, and hasn’t spent much effort recently in uncovering his lost history, perhaps because he has no leads to go on.

With Goat having no known lifelong allegiances or ideology, he often has a measured approach to current events and may only partially take a side. Goat often tries to appeal to reason with unreasonable people, and asks for level-headedness amongst the single-minded or hot-headed. In that way, he often ends up as a foil that allows others to display their defining characteristics or perhaps to evolve toward a new idea or attitude.

Cross Into Shadows

Dergoatean participated in most facets of the Cross Into Shadows story, but considers the following episodes particularly notable:

Many now remember Glethad for what he became - a devotee of Grishom Stone, then a puppet, then simply an extra point of physical presence for Stone's consciousness. But early in the war against the shadows, Glethad was simply a museum curator, doing what he did best in the service of the town - research. At that time, Dergoatean had offered a fragment of an immensely powerful Erithian scrying artifact to Glethad, to aid in investigating Stone's condition and whereabouts. As Stone was released from capture and torment by Elithain Cross and kept instead in the custody of the Landing, Glethad came to work with Stone directly. Glethad later provided the crystal to Stone, who gave it back - eventually. Upon its return, Dergoatean noticed a small chip in the crystal, which Stone insisted had been there all along.

When Aralyte led adventurer's to Teras Isle in search of a dead Ur-daemon Ith'can, Dergoatean split off from the rest of the group for independent investigation, while the remainder of the group stumbled into a Krolvin beachhead and sustained severe losses. He located the ur-daemon's corpse at the bottom of the Glaes Caverns, then successfully lead the group and Aralyte to it. Aralyte was able to recharge an Ithzir artifact capped with the ur-daemon's eye, which allowed her to later open a portal to the Shadow Realm, home of Althedeus.

Dergoatean lead the Shadow Realm excursion and attacks on Althedeus after Mayor Puptilian fell. He takes great pride in his part in the successful outcome. He never managed to land a direct hit on Althedeus, instead focusing on marshaling the group, and perhaps that was what spared him of the odd silver-metallic sweats that plagued other visitors for months after the trip. He was fascinated by the Ithzir's part in the final unraveling ceremony, including the language they spoke.

Aftermath

Stone escaped the confines of Brass Tower in the Landing with the assistance of Glethad. Dergoatean employed the same scrying crystal he had previously lent to Glethad, in order to determine Stone's whereabouts. His first attempt was successful in locating Stone in the Sea of Fire. His second attempt, with the aid of Pylasar and an assembly of adventurers, uncovered that Stone had connected with the Star of Khar'ta and was growing in power because of it. The additional mana, and Stone's increased power, opened up a broader mental channel, through which Stone reached into Dergoatean's mind.

Over the coming weeks, Stone occupied Dergoatean's body as a means to communicate with other adventurers. The connection with the Star made Dergoatean highly susceptible to its influence, for a time. He passed through euphoria and delusions of grandeur, followed by withdrawal. His withdrawal symptoms included poor coordination, insomnia, amnesia, depression, and color blindness. During his insomnia, he first found respite at the shrine of Ronan, where he managed to rest and dream. His symptoms cleared up over time, with the exception that green colors still appear muted to him, mostly gray. During the worst of his symptoms, Dergoatean began writing reminders for his future self.

Some months later, but well before the events of Eyes of the Dawn, the ghost of Davard appeared in the Landing. Dergoatean tried to encourage the ghost to seek redemption for his sins, even as Davard set him on fire and appropriated parts of Dergoatean's body, especially his face. Prelate Chaston Griffin arrived to cast out Davard, too late to save Dergoatean's life, but soon enough to prevent lasting damage. Davard has not been heard from since.

Return to Sunder

During the events of Return to Sunder, adventurers frequently climbed Melgorehn's Reach in order to observe its mana flows (and storms) from the summit. Those storms provided a means for Ithzir from Kol'Tarsken to communicate with, and later travel to, Elanthia. During one such trip, Dergoatean helped to partially decode a witnessed conversation between the Ithzir and Grishom Stone. Dergoatean then saw the value in understanding Ithzir and Tehir, and studied the speech of Kol'Granoth Ithzir (the occupants of Old Ta'Faendryl) to decode a small set of words with varying levels of certainty. He successfully introduced himself to Ran'lock, an Ithzir emissary, but accomplished little else in their native tongue before Ran'Lock established Tehir as a lingua franca.

During those meetings, the Ithzir touched the minds of those present to flood them with memories of the past. For Dergoatean, this unlocked previously sealed-away memories, providing a tenuous connection to his Faendryl past.

Updated Backstory

(As posted on the officials)

May 2016 update

This played out in the pavilion just now, with Lylia and Maylan and others. Please consider this an addition/update to the bio I previously submitted. I have set Goat's culture to Faendryl, and am RPing him as rapidly re-learning the Faendryl language.

(This was prompted by the recent "you recall old memories" messaging during interaction with the Ithzir.)

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "I did mean to tell you about these memories of mine, though."

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "I am, I was, a house servant."

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "To a cartographer."

Speaking to Maylan, you say, "He was doing active research, the decades I was there. Or longer... the memories are still incomplete."

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "He was kind to me."

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "He, and his hired Palestra."

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "With mere decades of service, he would sometimes offer me a place at the dinner table with him, after I set it."

Speaking to Maylan, you say, "I don't know what he was working on specifically."

Speaking to Maylan, you say, "But I'm pretty sure it was pushing the borders of his sanction."

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "And of course, his Palestra ought to have made sure he didn't cross the line."

You ask, "Now, guess who put the needle in my neck?"

You point at yourself.

You say, "I believe discovered the cartographer and palestra in a compromising position."

You say, "One that would've strained the Blade's credibility."

You say, "They had drawn suspicion already."

Lylia says, "It is not something forbidden, although it is unorthodox, to say the least."

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "To be sure. But if the pair were already suspect, it would be trouble."

You say, "Instead, we agreed on the plan."

You say, "They would take me far away, to nowhere."

You say, "Leave me outside a tavern."

You say, "And I'd administer the solution."

You say, "I don't know what they were studying but I expect it was important enough that I would agree to such drastic measures."

You say, "But it leads to an interesting bit of conjecture."

You ask, "What if the plane they were studying was populated by the Ithzir?"

You ask, "What if it were Kol Tar'sken?"

You ask, "Perhaps would've made it all the more likely that the memory would've surfaced recently?"

Speaking to you, Maylan says, "Well you did seem to grasp their language better than the rest of us."

Lylia says, "Which would make you the most suitable conduit, perhaps, for Ran'Lock as you had had some acquaintance with the Ithzir in books if not in person."

You say, "I know the cartographer and blade had taught me some things."

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "Could all be some kind of Ithzir trick, I suppose."

Speaking to Maylan, you say, "When I came to after the memory loss, I had a strong sense I'd make a decent sorcerer."

You say, "Wasn't until years later that I thought of taking up a pike."

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "I can no longer say I'm Faendryl, the way you can. Effortlessly and obviously. But I'm okay with that."

Speaking to Lylia, you say, "That I can say it with any confidence at all is worth something."

Keeping up with the Kestrels

Cyph, and Combined Implosions

When Cyph Kestrel had a fire elemental stuck inside him, and was running amok through the Landing and the surrounds, Dennet Kestrel, his father, asked the town for help in restraining Cyph inside a bane coffin. Dergoatean found a historic poem in the sorcerer's guild describing the Battle of Maelshyve. From the description of the implosion that leveled Despana's keep, he drew clues on how to create a larger void with the cooperation of multiple sorcerers. A number of sorcerers practiced on the black sands, and found some success, in particular by focusing on rotation to the void in order to increase its stability.

When the time came to trap Cyph, Alasatia managed to first attract him to the Alabaster Spire of the Faendryl Enclave, where Cyph at first regained some of his self-control and seemed in somewhat less pain. Then Dennet arrived with his golems and Cyph began to flare up again. Dennet's behavior stirred suspicion in the practiced sorcerers, but faced with the prospect of a rampaging fire elemental, they all decided to proceed in using the larger void to draw Cyph towards the bane coffin. The process was successful in that it drew Cyph close enough to the bane coffin for Dennet to complete the coffining (also with the aid of some wizards who carried out a separate procedure). It was a failure in that they lost control of the resulting void before it sealed. The void caused multiple deaths and substantial damage to the Enclave. The next day, Enclave Co-Founder Japhrimel presented both Dennet and Dergoatean with the following:

To Whom It May Concern; Enclosed within is an itemized list of damage, to be paid forthwith. Said payment may be in the form of general currency, items of comparable value, or merchant related services, and expected within two weeks of receiving this bill. Item the first, damage to a custom crafted crystal dome. Item the second, fire and implosion damage to an antique telescope, full set of chairs, and general structural issues to be named later. Item the third, the subsequent necessary cleaning bill. - J

Fortunately, Dennet agreed to pay for the damages, freeing Dergoatean of financial liability.

Let's do the Time Warp again

The same night Octaven attacked the Landing and the Hendoran Outpost nearby, Dennet attempted to transfer his wife Reannah's consciousness to Shinann's body. After Rodnay opened a way to Dennet's underground plinite-powered pylons, a group of adventurers raided them, hoping to destroy them and rob Dennet of his power source. The instability caused by the raid (and ostensibly the flows from Melgorehn's Reach) caused the group to shift through time and space, through such places as Toullaire (pre-Wizard Waste) and Maelshyve. Dergoatean was more than happy lead the group for a time, given the animosity he had accumulated towards Dennet, as well as the opportunity to poke around the location of one of sorcery's greatest triumphs (Maelshyve).

Affiliations

• Citizen of Icemule Trace, including ownership of The Goatique
• Occasional advisor to the Mayor of Wehnimer's Landing, on Occult Languages
• Owner of Coral Villa, off of Mist Harbor
• Master of the Order of Voln
• Member of Twilight Hall
• Member of Hand of the Arkati
• (Lapsed) member of the Sorcerer Guild

OOC

Hi. I'm Brian, Dergoatean's player. I live in California with my wife, who does not play Gemstone, but tolerates it very well. I am a software engineer. My real-life nickname is also Goat; that came about slightly before I created a character with the same nickname.

I started playing Gemstone 3 in 1996, I guess - several months after the end of the ICE age. I played from roughly 1996-2000, 2003-2005, and now 2012 to present (2019 at last check). I was a Hero's Journey GM who never really accomplished much.

Publications

• Goat's Mutant Sorcerer Guide, a companion to Whirlin's (now-withdrawn) sorcerer guide, for those who would like to attempt a "mutant" (weapon-using) build, relying heavily on a scroll collection
• Ithzir language (essay)
• A table of scroll invocation "costs", which can be used to determine a scroll's infusion lifetime based on its pawn appraisal or loresong value
• Research on Adventurer's Guild Badges
• Research on movement roundtime in The Elemental Confluence
• Some contributions to Spellburst research
• Elaboration of the nature of RotFlares
• Investigation on importance of Agility and Dexterity in open AMBUSHing
• Took 2000 implosions to the face, For Science
• Established some basic facts about which skills and stats matter most for defense against Earthen Fury (917)
• Research on skinning success factors

How a sorcerer sustains a polearm AS over 600

Combat logs

• Various RotFlares and Blink attacks
• 5 dead lurks in one MSTRIKE
• Sources of Goat's AS, with log showing AS as high as +920

Notable Gear

• A silvery blue mithril pike: +50, perfect, T5 ensorcell, RotFlares, Blink, +20 AS extaplanar bane, 50-service damage weighting, 50-service crit weighting, maxlight pike
• A dusk surita runestaff: lesser surita (d110 rolls), T4 nervestaff, rotflares, +26
• An enruned witchwood runetaff: +30, T5 ensorcell, RotFlares, disruption flares, +3 WIS bonus, +1 AUR bonus
• A rich golden topaz crown talisman: 3x/day BOOST SUPERCHARGE effect.
• A set of yellow glaes talons: 20x/day witchhunter talons - guaranteed lightning flare on next weapon strike, plus AS boost equal to 55% of target's magical DS boost.
• Some black and white enruned leathers: +45, 300 crit padding services (15 CER / exceptional), 3-slot fusion
• some enruned suede socks (AKA "The Socks of Phoen"): Enhancive spell knowledge of 606, worn under shoes.
• A tesselated black and white longcoat: +5 STR bonus, +8 polearm bonus, password-protected skull cloak, 6/200
• A chipped spherical crystal
• A total of 21 spells on self-charging magic items, including:
  • A demon visage-etched band, 1x/day Champion's Might
  • A frosted pale ora bastard sword with a galloping horse-carved mahogany hilt: +25, +10 defender, 3x/day Provoke-like effect