Reides Laverath

Reides Aurelian Yon-Zinthos Kien-Khavas Laverath, better known as Reides, is a triton wizard and member of The Pog Champions. Having spent most of his life under the sea, Reides is relatively new to the surface world and, as such, many of its customs are largely lost on him. Luckily, he isn't entirely clueless, as he is extremely book-smart and knowledgeable about its history. Eccentric yet empathetic, he always tries to offer a helping hand to those who need it.

A dedicated scholar, Reides believes that everything is important and worthy of both appreciation and study. He values freedom immensely and thinks that everyone - regardless of their past - deserves to choose their own path in life. His boundless curiosity can land him in troublesome situations, however. Furthermore, many seemingly mundane objects of the surface world fascinate him endlessly, and so he tends to hoard them.

Appearance
Reides has blue skin and long green hair that is always out loose and in an unkempt state. As he is a triton, he has prominent gills on either side of his neck and visible scales on his shoulders. He has finned ears and his hands and feet are webbed. His eyes are golden-green in colour and have black sclera. Standing at roughly 5ft, he is of average height for a triton and has a small build.

Reides enjoys collecting random trinkets and occasionally incorporates them into his ensemble (making accessories out of them and the like). Currently, he wears a shark tooth choker and two necklaces - one made out of shells and, the other, a gold chain. He also wears shell earrings on both of his ears and has a star navel piercing. Clothes-wise, Reides has a tendency to get hot very quickly, as his body is more accustomed to a cold undersea environment. To make up for this, he tends to wear loose clothes that allow him to stay cool while he travels around the surface world. While Reides wears a few pieces of shell armor, they're mostly for cosmetic reasons rather than serving any protective function. After all, that's what Mage Armor's for!

Personality

 * Strengths: Empathetic, passionate, intelligent
 * Weaknesses: Gullible, naïve, impulsive

Reides is eccentric and somewhat ditzy, with a love of pretty much everything the world has to offer. He's all about the pursuit of knowledge and records extensive notes about everything that strikes his interest... and most things do. He tends to be fairly open about his emotions and wears his heart on his sleeve, though he does have his fair share of secrets.

Despite his quirks, Reides is highly intelligent and tenacious. He can’t turn a blind eye on other people’s suffering – regardless of who they are or what they’ve done – and strongly believes that everyone should be free to choose their own path in life.

Background
As a triton, Reides can breathe underwater and has spent most of his life in the sea. He was born in Aquos, a city located in the undersea empire of Laverathia, on the 16th day of Firstlight in the year 569. Reides kept his past as a fiercely guarded secret for a time, but gradually formed a deep bond with the party and eventually trusted them enough to reveal his true identity. Namely, he confessed that his full name is Reides Aurelian Yon-Zinthos Kien-Khavas Laverath, that he is a prince of Laverathia, and that he is second in line to the throne. He also told them that he considers himself ill-suited to his status, viewing his relationship with his people as "not bad [...] but distant." His desire to escape from the crown and to be able to live as his own person resulted in a fixation on the surface world, which came to represent freedom to him.

In order to pursue knowledge about the surface world, Reides snuck out of his family's castle very often, disguising himself as a commoner and exploring any shipwrecks he could find. On one such adventure, he found a spellbook, which he avidly studied in order to teach himself magic.

Reides' unwillingness to conform to the highly isolationistic Laverathian lifestyle resulted in him gaining a negative repulation amongst its nobility. Many began referring to him as the Storm Prince. While this seemed like a reference to the circumstances of his birth - which coincided with a storm that threatened the empire - it was likely more of a reference to the symbolism behind storms for the triton people. Namely, the fact that storms bring turmoil and change, and that many believed Reides would do the same as someone in a position of power. Reides greatly disliked this title, though he has since been able to find a degree of comfort in it.

Reides has two brothers and one sister. Though the two seem to care about each other, he has a strained relationship with his older brother, Viglis. He has a distant relationship with his younger brother, Dhudus, and he is very close to his younger sister, Lotlyn.

Eventually, Reides asked his father, the current Emperor of Laverathia, for permission to act as an ambassador of sorts between the undersea and surface worlds. This would serve to increase the tritons' breadth of knowledge about the surface and possibly even reduce the isolationistic nature of the empire. Unfortunately for Reides, his father did not take kindly to this - accusing Reides of treason and locking him away in a room for weeks upon weeks.

Reides does not know any of the specifics surrounding his liberation. All he knows is that Lotlyn managed to open the locked doors one night and encouraged him to go to the surface world. During his time on the run, he was able to gain passage to Port Valor with the help of a kind stranger who was working on a ship. While he did not learn the name of this surfacer at the time, Reides considers him as his first friend.

Reides lived in Port Valor for around a year before meeting the party. A lot of the customs of the surface world still fly right over his head, but he's very enthusiastic about attaining more and more knowledge about it. His time away from Laverathia also gave him a new, less irresponsible perspective on his duties as a triton. Reides truly loves the world - both its surface and its seas - and wants to play a role in protecting it.

Goals
At the start of his adventure, Reides simply wished to learn all he possibly could about the surface world. He wanted to keep a low profile and be thought of as nothing more than a drifting scholarly wizard. This meant keeping his status as triton royalty completely secret, as well as keeping a wary eye out for anyone who would challenge his anonymity. Through his travels, however, Reides began to realize that he wasn't living as his genuine self by running from his past. This realization was compounded by his party's first encounter with The Burning Knight, as Reides learnt that Aquos may be in danger. He is currently devoted to ensuring his hometown's safety and has committed himself to the task of securing the remaining Abyssal Crests with his travelling companions. Regardless, Reides still maintains a boundless appetite for knowledge. He hopes to someday use all he learns about the world to reduce the isolationistic nature of Laverathia.

Triton Traits

 * Amphibious
 * Reides can breathe air and water.
 * Control Air and Water
 * [1st] Reides can cast fog cloud once per long rest.
 * [3rd] Reides can cast gust of wind once per long rest.
 * [5th] Reides can cast wall of water once per long rest.
 * Darkvision
 * Reides can see in darkness (shades of gray) up to 60 ft.
 * Emissary of the Sea
 * Reides can communicate simple ideas with beasts that can breathe water.
 * Guardians of the Depths
 * Reides has resistance to cold damage.

Wizard Features

 * Additional Wizard Spells
 * Reides has additional spells available to him, as designated in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.
 * Proficiencies
 * History
 * Medicine
 * Spellcasting
 * Reides can cast prepared wizard spells using his Intelligence as his spellcasting modifier, and wizard spells in his spellbook as rituals if they have the ritual tag. He uses a shell from Aquos as an arcane focus.
 * Arcane Recovery
 * Once per day when Reides finishes a short rest, he can choose expended spell slots to recover - up to a combined level of 3, and none of the slots can be 6th level or higher.
 * Arcane Tradition
 * School of Evocation
 * Evocation Savant
 * The gold and time that Reides must spend to copy an evocation spell into his spellbook is halved.
 * Sculpt Spells
 * Reides can control his evocation spells so as to not injure those in the spells' respective paths.
 * Cantrip Formulas
 * Reides has scribed a set of arcane formulas in his spellbook that he can use to formulate a cantrip in his mind. Whenever he finishes a long rest and consults those formulas in his spellbook, he can replace one wizard cantrip he knows with another cantrip from the wizard spell list.
 * Ability Score Improvement
 * Intelligence Score
 * Charisma Score


 * Potent Cantrip
 * When a creature succeeds on a saving throw against Reides' cantrip, the creature takes half the cantrip’s damage (if any) but suffers no additional effect from the cantrip.

Spells

 * Cantrips
 * Chill Touch
 * Mage Hand
 * Minor Illusion
 * Ray of Frost
 * 1st-Level
 * Find Familiar
 * Ice Knife
 * Identify
 * Mage Armor
 * Magic Missile
 * Shield
 * Sleep
 * Thunderwave
 * Feather Fall
 * Detect Magic
 * 2nd-Level
 * Acid Arrow
 * Arcane Lock
 * Invisibility
 * Misty Step
 * Shatter
 * Mind Whip
 * Locate Object
 * Mirror Image
 * Knock
 * 3rd-Level
 * Lightning Bolt
 * Sending
 * Counterspell
 * Tidal Wave
 * Water Breathing
 * Fly
 * Fireball
 * 4th-Level
 * Ice Storm
 * Phantasmal Killer
 * Dimension Door
 * 5th-Level
 * Dream
 * Bigby's Hand

Extras

 * Researcher Background: When Reides attempts to learn or recall a piece of lore, if he does not know that information, he often knows where and from whom he can obtain it.
 * Familiar: An owl named Pepega.
 * Weapon(s): A crossbow that he calls Harpoon, a quarterstaff and a dagger.

Reides and Kilwin
Reides met Kilwin one month prior to the party's first quest together. Reides formed a close bond with him very quickly, as he was soothed by Kilwin's kind heart and gentle nature. He admires all of the things that Kilwin knows about the surface world and is always grateful for Kilwin's help in explaining terms or customs that he doesn't quite grasp. Kilwin is definitely a very grounding influence on Reides, too, as he keeps many of Reides' whimsical tendencies relatively in-check (such as stopping Reides when he wanted to eat moss). Given their close friendship, Reides felt very guilty about hiding his past from Kilwin in particular and was relieved when the cleric responded in an understanding manner. He hopes that the two of them will continue to make good memories together as their adventure continues, despite how challenging the road ahead may be. Reides feels very safe when Kilwin is around, and that isn't a feeling that he will ever take for granted.

Reides and Jorah
Reides maintains a deep trust in Jorah and is very impressed by his extensive knowledge about the world. He enjoys prodding Jorah for stories about his previous travels and has learnt a great deal about the surface thanks to him. Reides especially admires his ability to take control in tense situations, even if he may not morally agree with some of the actions that the ranger wishes to take. Reides also views him as an excellent drinking partner, as Jorah is very funny whenever he gets drunk. Furthermore, Jorah's skills with his crossbow inspired Reides to try his hand at the weapon, and Reides has since somehow won two aiming contests held between the two. Overall, Reides is very grateful to be friends with Jorah, as he is a highly capable companion. He's thankful for the help that Jorah promised in aiding Aquos, too, and is very reassured knowing that the ranger will be around for the challenges that they will face.

Reides and Ashara
Reides thinks that Ashara is wonderful. Due to her situation, she occasionally reminds him of how he behaved when he first arrived on the surface. This has already put him immensely at ease around her, as he believes that they will be able to learn more about the world alongside each other. He knows how it feels to be regarded as a strange person in a strange land - how the experience is as exciting as it is incredibly lonely - and so he wants to be there for her as best as he can. He's also very excited to have a friend who is interested in research, as he is a dedicated scholar, himself. Furthermore, he deeply appreciates Ashara's interest in the tritons and, by extension, Laverathia. He hopes that they will be able to learn more about her people, as well.

Reides and Slumberjack
During their time together, Reides knew Slumberjack by their alias ("Rilineth"). Due to their mysterious mannerisms and brutal combat style, Reides thought they were rather peculiar and, at times, terrifying. However, over the course of their travels together, Reides became very interested in their unique view of the world and even came to enjoy their aggressive streak. They grew closer as time went on, with Reides agreeing to teach them how to swim someday. He knew that his friend maintained many secrets and, in that sense, empathized with them, deciding not to pry them for details that they were not comfortable with sharing. However, upon Slumberjack's departure alongside the Burning Knight, Reides began to wonder if maintaining those boundaries was a mistake. He cares for and respects Slumberjack immensely and is determined to meet them again someday.

Reides and Miré
[coming soon]

Reides and Briar
[coming soon]

Reides and Torble
Due to his eccentric mannerisms (including his ability to seemingly manifest bread from the depths of his beard) and impressive sense of style, Reides immediately liked Torble. He thinks that the gnome is extremely interesting and admires the sway that he maintains within Magmaslag Rock despite being a prisoner himself. However, he was also confused as to why someone as talented as Torble was content with staying locked away in that terrible place and thought he deserved to be free. During their time in the prison, Reides repeatedly attempted to cajole Torble into joining the Champions in the Underbelly Bout so as to assist him in gaining freedom. When Torble became receptive to this idea and decided to join them, Reides was extremely pleased. After the Champions emerged victorious from the Bout, Reides became very curious as to the gnome's past, as well as the path which Torble will now take.

Reides and Erak
Reides thought Erak was incredibly charming and considered him a great deal of fun to be around. Erak's frank, direct way of approaching challenges was always refreshing - and his skills in combat (as well as with meat preparation) were fascinating, too. During Erak's fight with Slumberjack, Reides learnt quite a lot about what his companion had been through over the course of his life. While he did not reveal too much about himself, Reides was also able to confide in Erak at a time when he didn't think he would ever confide in anyone else. While Reides knows that Erak is now on his own quest and wishes him all the best, he misses him quite a lot. Should his friend ever need his help, Reides would definitely be willing to go to his aid. Reides always thought of Erak as an excellent storyteller, and he hopes that, should they never cross paths again, he will at least hear a wonderful tale about what his friend has been up to.

Reides and Aske
Reides is immensely grateful to Aske, as the half-elf fisher aided him in his escape to the surface world. However, since Reides feared incriminating Aske, the two did not exchange names during the initial time that they spent together. They were still able to strike up a strong bond and Reides often refers to him as his very first friend. Upon the fall of Port Valor, Reides was able to ensure that Aske was safe by Sending a message to him. In this message, Reides also properly introduced himself. However, Aske did not know about Sending's word limit, and their correspondence was cut off before he could share his own name.

During the Pog Champions' time in the Exeter, Reides - while under the influence of deepcoral wine - begrudgingly revealed that he maintained a slight romantic inclination towards Aske. He didn't expect those feelings to lead to anything significant as he believed it was unlikely that they would ever meet again, though Kilwin encouraged him to seek out a reunion. Upon learning that Aske would be in Atemcester around the same time as the Pog Champions, the party continued to supported this reunion, and Reides began keeping in touch with Aske via more Sending messages. A storm in the Eadrenan Sea delayed Aske's fishing vessel, allowing Aske and Reides enough time to reunite after a year of being apart. It was during this reunion that Reides finally learnt his name. After spending some time with the Pog Champions, Aske offered to show Reides around Atemcester, and the two enjoyed their time together.

While spending time with Aske, Reides realized that his feelings for him were far stronger than he previously thought. Despite his anxieties regarding how Aske would react, the strength of these feelings motivated Reides, as he didn't want their time spent together to be a one-off fling. However, in order to commit to a long-term relationship, Reides knew that he needed to be less secretive about the more serious aspects of his life. This resulted in Reides revealing his status as a triton prince to Aske. He also told him that the quest that he is on with his companions is a highly important one which seeks to save the world as a whole. To Reides' relief, Aske responded favorably to these revelations, and also wished to enter a relationship with Reides. The two are presently lovers.

Shortly after Reides revealed his origins to Aske, Reides also brought up the Pog Champions' need to visit Aquos in order to prevent it from a fate akin to that of Port Valor. Aske aided him and his companions in finding a ship with a captain brave enough to face a storm - namely, the fishing vessel that he works on, the Desperado. Reides has mixed feelings regarding involving Aske in their quest, as he knows the route they tread is a perilous one, but still cannot help but feel appreciative and in awe of Aske's capabilities.

Reides is very fond of Aske and enjoys spending time with him. He appreciates the half-elf's sharp wit and thinks that it's fun to catch him unawares with teasing or so-called 'eccentric' behaviors. He's fascinated by how he can never quite tell what Aske is going to do next and feels like Aske can genuinely keep up with his impulsive approach to life.

Reides and Lotlyn
Reides' younger sister. The two are very close and Reides misses her terribly. She helped him escape from Laverathia.

Reides and Viglis
Reides' older brother and the current heir to the Laverathian throne. Reides has described him as "the ideal prince" and has frequently referred to him as "an asshole" to the party. However, when Reides learnt that Aquos was potentially in danger, Viglis was the first person he thought about and the reason why he wanted to learn the Sending spell. In their correspondence, Viglis demanded that Reides come home, confirming that Aquos was safer than the surface, but was cut off due to Sending's word limit.

Reides and Dhudus
Reides' younger brother. They aren't very close, as their personalities are very different. Reides has described him to the party as a bit of a meathead.

Reides and Wyrran
Reides met Wyrran during the Malino're Arc of the campaign. The two attended the Bloomshower Fest together. Reides was charmed by the elf's soft-spoken demeanor, and he enjoyed playfully teasing him as well as having heart-to-hearts with him. During their time together, Wyrran gave Reides a small glass bow, which he also had blessed at the festival. Additionally, upon leaving Malino're, Reides gave Wyrran a turquoise and made Wyrran promise to remember that he is cool and strong and needs to laugh more every time he sees it. He truly hopes that Wyrran will begin to have more faith in himself, as Reides has a whole lot of faith in him.

Reides and Needlepoint
Reides refers to Needlepoint as "Needle," as he was close to the dragonborn during his time in Port Valor. The two struck up a friendship based on how much they stood out amongst the general Port Valor populace. Reides' piercings are all Needle's handiwork, and he admired them immensely for their sense of style as well as the passion which they directed to their craft. Reides was very sad to find their body after the fall of Port Valor, but was also expecting it, as he knew Needle was not the type to abandon their shop. He hopes that the Champions can find a way to help them - along with the rest of the victims. However, if they are unable to bring Needlepoint back, Reides intends to look into dragonborn funeral rituals and send them off respectfully.

Quotes
Pepega: "Hoot hoot."
 * Reides: "This is Pepega."
 * (To Tyrian) "Fuck your kingdom."
 * "That doesn't sound right, but I don't know enough about tomatoes or bananas to dispute it."
 * "I've been through way too much to submit to anyone now!"
 * (To Blighthorn) "You can be as pretty as you want, but it won’t help if you have a bad personality."
 * (When questioned by a surfacer about how he's never seen a cow before) "Have you ever seen a hippocampus before?...That's how."
 * (To Torshul) "You shouldn't follow a leader who doesn't care about you... Who views your lives as something he can just throw away. Because, when it comes down to it, I may not know much about how your clan works, but I do know that life is something that should be cherished. Always. Above all, life should always be cherished."
 * (Repeatedly, upon consuming milk) "My stomach feels all fuzzy!"
 * "I love this world. With my whole heart, I love it - with its shitty, mean people and all. I cannot turn my back on it. I will not. And that means that I cannot turn my back on my past. I must accept that I have a duty. Not as a prince, not as a triton, but as… A person."
 * (To Aske, via Sending) "Hi. I’m the blue person you helped. In the net. Name is Reides. Sorry for telling you like this. Are you okay? World is scary."
 * "Sometimes you meet someone who's kind and funny and handsome and you never find out his name or see him again and that's perfectly normal! That's life!"
 * "They call me the Storm Prince. [...] While Viglis is this stabilizing force for the empire… I’m the one that sends everything into a big mess. Sometimes I really do wonder if it’s some kind of curse."
 * (To Aske) "Meeting you changed my life, and reuniting with you changed it all over again."
 * (To Aske) "By the way, what does it mean to be 'down bad'? Briar said that I’m 'down bad' for you!"

Trivia

 * Reides is lactose intolerant; however, he was once able to eat cheesecake made out of goat cheese without suffering any side effects. It is unknown if this was pure luck or if Reides' lactose intolerance is somehow only limited to cows' milk.
 * Reides frequently takes notes about various encounters in his journal.
 * Reides has very little experience with cooking on the surface and is therefore rather unskilled at it. However, he is adequate at underwater food preparation.
 * Reides is willing to eat many different things despite their presentation. This was shown when he attempted to eat moss, when he tasted the stew on an orc's axe, when he ate candy that was scattered on the ground, and when he investigated and consumed mysterious meat while in prison.
 * Reides doesn't know how to ride horses and was very bad at riding hippocampi during his time in Laverathia.
 * During his time at the Paragon's Rest in the Exeter, Reides mixed forge whiskey with coffee. As per the innkeep's request, he named the resulting concoction 'Pog Coffee,' as 'pog' was the only dwarvish word that he knew.
 * Reides worships the triton creator-god, Persana.