NPCs

Blanco Marsh — Halfling Warlock — Age 47 — Alignment: Neutral

Brown hair, blue eyes. Wears spectacles. Dresses nattily in the latest fashion of waistcoat, hat, breeches, etc., although these often display scorch and/or claw marks.

Blanco had always dreamt of becoming a wizard. Those dreams were dashed, however, when he failed the entrance exam to the Grand Arcanum three times in a row and was barred from applying a fourth time. Nevertheless, a connection to the world of magic he sought, and so was delighted when the Chief Librarian of the Arcanum took pity on him and offered him a job as an assistant clerk. Blanco put his nose to the grindstone and worked for decades to the best of his ability at this position, above which he never rose. Unfortunately, he also got married and, halfling fecundity being what it is, fathered six children. His meagre salary was stretched to the breaking point.

One day he discovered an ancient tome that had fallen behind a cabinet. It was written in the Infernal tongue, the language of the Nine Hells. Blanco was intrigued and set off to learn to read the book. It took him years, but he eventually succeeded; however, by mumbling some of the arcane formulae therein, he also succeeded in contacting a fiendish entity, the Archdevil Levistus. Levistus needed a powerful minion capable of freeing him from his icy tomb in the depths of Stygia. He therefore convinced Blanco that all wizards have a patron from whence their powers arise, and Blanco was only too happy to believe this lie. He signed a pact in blood, resigned from the library, and set off to earn a more lucrative life as an adventurer. He was soon sending vast sums home to his grateful family.

His powers grew. Time passed. Too much time, actually. A powerful lich whose ire they’d raised, flung Blanco and his companions a hundred years into the future. They eventually caught up to and eliminated this lich, but the damage was done. Blanco’s entire family was either long dead or had disappeared across the world in the chaotic intervening century. Now the last survivor of his band (due to a rather violent planar rift), this little man out of time desperately wants to find a way home.

Personality: 

Blanco can be encountered anywhere, on any plane of existence. He often appears distracted, as if his mind is elsewhere. Indeed, his nose can be found buried in a book most of the time. He can be impatient with people who are indecisive or dawdle. Blanco is apt to leap before he looks if he feels time is being wasted. He sometimes speaks condescendingly to adults as if they were children, over explaining any details he feels they are not comprehending. His sarcasm can be rather biting, as well. However, he has a soft spot for children, and will allow no harm to come to any within his eyesight.

Wants: 

1) Above all else, Blanco desires to travel back in time to when his family was still alive. To this end, he will employ the PCs to travel the world over, fetching him items he needs to conduct the ritual meant to accomplish just that. He’s not overly concerned if people or intelligent creatures get harmed in the process of bringing this about, apart from children and the truly innocent.

2) Freeing Levistus from his frozen prison is still a goal of Blanco’s, one he’s embarrassed to admit he hasn’t made much progress towards. But if he has the right help — and especially if he feels it might help him accomplish Want #1 — Blanco is just crazy enough to lead an expedition down to Stygia himself.