Barthos the Bleeding

The Past

Barthos Riseling was a gnome illusionist who started out running away from a abusive family to join a group of traveling entertainers where he met his mentor, an illusionist that specialized in the magic of the stage. The life with the caravan was short lived as his family tracked it down and sent an army of wood and ice golems to destroy it. Barthos, managed to slip away and started adventuring so that he could become powerful enough to fight his family and get revenge for those friends he lost.

His adventures started small, like many others from level one he fought and grew, coming close to deaths door many times. He developed many small fears over the time he spent with his party. Manly from being grapple, being sparked by a gargoyle grabbing him and dropping him from fifty feet in the air; and necromancers from a once friend lashing out with negative energy to kill him from the order of a skeletal champion who offered to join her. Barthos's most turning moment would be a small quest to clear an area of some bandits that were causing trouble. On the way there, the party of three passed a small town and decided to check the local history of it. All of us rolling a natural 1, thought the town was a safe area for demon/devil worshiping cults in the local area. So instead of clearing the bandits the group of three slaughtered the town raining illusions of celestial angels down on the innocent people and children. After that he was branded with a curse by the church of Sanenrae to complete a mission for each person killed in that "accident" or face eternal damnation to hell. He accepted.

The Death

     Barthos was in the final room of the temple of the Asura god, the Lord of Blades and All Things Sharp. We were fighting the blood of a god with teammates who he had been traveling with for a long time and an group of Zara's old friends. We charged the viles of blood and attacked, Barthos created illusions of soldiers readying to turn them into real soldiers and attack. The battle raged, we were taking blow for blow, hit for hit, when the god pulled out the card it had placed so many years ago. Zara's old allies became dominated by the old god and turned against us. Barthos quickly encased the fighter in ice hoping that their could be a way to stop the enchantments. The other wizard, Sar, was quickly walled off by Zara's old cleric friend and looked to do the same to Barthos. Walls arose of stone arouse around him when he noticed a chest by his side. He looked in and picked up a solid black blade. It tried to take over Barthos's will but his mind was too strong.

"I am Whar,"  the sword spoke to him as he flew out of the top of the not yet closed box, his blood boiled but his mind was still clear. He rushed in wielding a black blade, attacking the cleric that had tried to seal him in a moment ago. Barthos, was use to weapons lighter from being an arcane trickster and greatswords from training with Paladin Dan but the weird weight of the bastard sword made it hard to use leading so several misses and attacks not landing even close to their mark but Barthos was determined. Zara had helped him defeat his brothers who had held a grudge for so long. However out of the corner of his eye, Helveska, a powerful oracle of flames that he had been traveling with was loosing control of her mind. She was releasing firestorm after firestorm at the blood of that cursed god. The last one caught Barthos, who she thought was flying a little higher as he fell and burned. Zara dispelled the magical flames and the fighter tried to pat the flames out with his winter ware. However, Barthos's will to live wasn't strong enough as he bleed out, unable to stabilize himself on the verge of death despite all the help from his allies.

Our cleric ended up using her divine heritage and favor she had gathered to the gods to summon a Star Archon to assist us that tried to raise Barthos but, he simply said, "I think this is my time, after dying four times and pissing off a shinigami (deck of many things for the win) maybe its time to pass on." With that passed on one of the most iconic characters that graced our world, knowing powerful people all over the world and being the final of the original characters we created to pass on, one way or another.

RIP Barthos the Brave, Barthos the Wonderful, Barthos the Bleeding

From level 1 to 13