Nils Freeman

"'What are you talking about? She's dead. I know dead very well.'"Nils Freeman is the current Spymaster of Greybank and the founder of both The Tyrants and Cabinet of Faces. He is known to have ties to both Sentinel of the Warforged Lands and Emperor Flint of Whitesun, though his own public appearances are few and he is commonly thought to be deceased if thought of at all. His extreme distaste for magic and mages is well known, though he doesn't harbour these feelings for psionics (likely due to Rem's influence). He is still suffering the after-effects of being trapped in the Shadowfell for 40 years and spends much of his time wandering the city spires between consultations with underlings.

Personality
Supremely selfish, Nils feels that the world isn't targeting him for misery so much as that it is utterly disinterested in his fate. As such, he feels entitled to take/do whatever he can to carve out his own niche despite never holding onto any long term plans or aspirations due to his hand-to-mouth lifestyle as a youth and subsequent disease as teenager. His forceful and sarcastic nature is best served through Intimidation over Diplomacy, as empathy doesn't come easily to someone as self-obsessed as he is. He will do anything he feels will benefit him in the now without much foresight attached. Even though he is aware that he isn't a good person, he wants to change after the events of his campaigns in Balic and Whitesun, and particularly after seeing where the path he and Yuriel had been walking led to for the latter. He isn't especially good at maintaining a pattern of positive behaviour, however.

While capable of affection, it normally comes with strict conditions and rigid expectations that can lead to vicious or cold responses when not followed. Not even his children are exempt from this, leaving Rem as the only exception.

He has admitted in confidence that many of his actions are due to the feeling of "void" he has; a nothingness that he tries to fill with everything and anything, sacrificing good relationships and favourite things by overindulgence until they hold no further interest.

Religious/moral views
Nils only learned about the gods as a teenager and was introduced to the ideas of Olidammara through the Thieves Guild before any others. If pressed now he would still be unable to name more than a handful, thinking the gods to be just as self-interested as he is if “they can’t even be arsed to show up now and again” and so has completely discounted their teachings without much further thought. Rita schooled Nils on the elven gods while Cher instructed him on the Dark Six and the history of Changelings and Doppelgangers, so Nils will occasionally say a passing prayer to Corellon or The Traveler before embarking on a relevant task. In truth, he is being watched by a deity with questionable interests who finds his attempts to push from Chaotic Evil to Chaotic Neutral quite entertaining, though they have only interfered once and never made their presence or interest known to Nils himself.

Not one given to deep introspection, Nils’ moral code has evolved over the years. Some would argue that in many regards this is not an improvement.

If a problem doesn’t affect him directly he will rarely move to intervene although there are rare occasions where something stirs him to action; these situations are usually borne out of recognising a trait of a loved one in the victim, or of a painful memory being reenacted.

“Rita once told me I had a chameleon soul, no moral compass pointing due north, no fixed personality; just an inner indecisiveness that was as wide and as wavering as the ocean.”

Notable accomplishments

 * Helped quell the Virulent Uprising in Old Balic
 * Cut ties between the Thieves Guild and Runners
 * Assisted in the evacuation after the Purge of Nibenay
 * Granted protection for Greybank from Rajaat for 1000 years
 * Singlehandedly destroyed peaceful relations between Greybank and the Elven Lands (secret!)
 * Founded the Cabinet of Faces / Tyrants
 * Opened the entrances to Old Greybank
 * Removed seven threads from the Tapestry of Fate in Letherna
 * (This one is contentious and needs clarification)

Family life and companions
Nuol the Silent was the first member of Nils’ adopted family and has a special place in Nils’ heart because of that – when the boy asked to join the Vanth Academy to study magic, Nils agreed despite his misgivings and took extra jobs to help pay for the classes and components. Nuol also functioned as his introduction to the Vaults and their hidden price, deepening the bitterness he held towards mages. Nuol’s death occurred while Nils was lost in the Shadowfell, causing Nils to be unable to come to terms with the loss and constantly referring to him as “traveling”.

Dae grew up and moved away before meeting Nils, ergo there was/is no relationship to speak of.

Mint was introduced to Nils after his return from the Shadowell – Nils’ mental instability after the incident has made it hard to form a relationship with her, though the two are seen together fairly often in an attempt to make up for missed time and often chat about Nuol. They share a favourite place on the rooftops to watch the sunset in Midway.

Null always held a special place in Nils’ heart even after he moved out of the apartment and into his own home – the two visit when possible and have more of a big/little brother relationship than father/son. Nils likes to tease Null about his feelings for “big sister Rita”.

Rem is Nils’ partner in every sense of the word; there is nothing he would not trust to him, though he does resent the restrictions that would be placed on him if he sat still long enough to be caught. Rem seems to be the only person that Nils feels regret about hurting and as such takes great pains not to deepen the wounds his absences have left, though he secretly fears that the damage has been done already. He now keeps a notebook filled with little pieces of information about him, such as his favourite foods and clothing, his habits, quirks, and sayings. This habit started in the Underdark in an attempt to hold on to his memories. He is fiercely protective of Rem and would sacrifice anything to ensure his safety and happiness, including his own life.

Yuriel has always had a curious relationship with his father, starting with the choice of name. An emotional distance grew between the two as a result of Nils’ mostly-absent parenting and Yuriel’s burgeoning magical talents, and this only worsened after The Calling, after which Nils seemingly avoided Yuriel whenever he could until the day he vanished into the Shadowfell. While he would say he loved his son without hesitation if asked, he is not-so-secretly put off by the creature that has taken up residence in the shell of the boy he once rescued, feeling that whatever Yuriel had been before was now long gone.

Zen was and is the apple of her father’s eye; Nils proudly sees the worst of himself in her and carefully worked to accelerate and strengthen these traits while doting on his growing girl. He gave her his rifle on her thirteenth birthday and additionally personally oversaw her training in the art of assassination and thievery. Now that she is grown, he listens to her council and treats her as a worthy peer instead of as a daughter.

Nessaya is unknown to the family as a blood-relative, though he has seen her perform many times at the Silver Spire.

Companions
Nils counts few people among his true friends but will set aside his self-serving nature for those that make the cut. After Nils lost track of Yuriel Titus, he projected his indecipherable feelings onto Rem who represented (at least to Nils) his old friend’s fall from grace and reason, eventually coming to love and trust the hybrid elf above all others despite the strange circumstances. His other friends consist mostly of old traveling companions or partners in crime such as Flint, Sentinel, Markus, Zyx, Fellu, Cher, Alanna and Lucien. Lately he has been getting along quite well with Vin, one of the Faces, with whom he shares an insatiable inner void.

Habits, vices, and hobbies
Habits are varied to whatever luxuries he can feel he can afford; though substantially well off at this point in time, his familiarity with poverty means that routines haven’t changed very much. A cup of coffee or glass of wine every morning followed by a cigarette on the roof with breakfast is the most stable part of his pattern, followed by writing a few lines in his notebook. He always brings home fruit after going out (for Rem) and knocks five times on doors before entering. He carries blades on his person at all times.

His vices are topped by excessive drinking, though he gambles socially and picked up smoking after the incident in the Shadowfell.

Since he never had enough free time for hobbies growing up he tends to fill his spare time with socialising instead of relaxing or taking up a craft.

Affiliations and organisations
Thieves Guild - (Balic and Greybank Chapters) Overseer for Treasury Division, friend of Guildmaster Fellu and Treasurer Alanna

Cabinet of Faces - Founder, father of Cabinet member Yuriel Freeman, friend of Cabinet member Zyx Naught, ex-lover of the Face of Compassion, friend of the Face of Greed

The Tyrants - Founder, father of Tyrant Remiel, recruiter of Tyrants Medea and Fen

Silver Spire - Friend of owner Lucien Greaves, partner of Rem Freeman

Royal Council of Greybank - Employee (Spymaster)

The Benefactor/Runners - Antagonist, ex-Runner, friend of Runner Vex West (III)

Early Life
Born to unknown parents in Greybank, Nils was used as a Doll and given to a young human noble couple in Old Balic where he was raised as Ephraim Courtade for seven years. Given a classical education for this brief time, Nils learned basic sums and letters and had a rather carefree existence until he befriended Zyx Naught, a slightly older child that had been caught trying to steal from the home and been pressed into service as a house-slave. Zyx instantly recognised the signs of a fellow Changeling but said nothing to his captors.

On Nils' seventh birthday, a letter arrived at the home containing the seal of a rival house who claimed to have the real Ephraim, and demanded a ransom to reclaim him - after enacting a test described in the letter to prove that the child the family held was false, the family did not have the heart to kill the young boy they had raised but instead cast him out of the manor with Zyx, hoping to be rid of both Changelings at once.

Thieves Guild and Rita Roulette
Zyx shepherded the smaller boy to the next town and slowly helped him make use of his still-limited shifting abilities. They scraped out a living stealing from markets and locals before eventually being brought into a small gang of other street children who worked for a low-level member of the Thieves Guild by the name of Rita Roulette, an elvish woman with a sharp tongue and sharper arrows who gave the Changeling the name of "Nils" ("because you're nothing, kid, but you could be something someday."). Eventually the two honed their skills enough to become inducted into the Guild themselves, at which point Zyx decided that the survival skills he had put to use would be better served outside of petty theft and left with an adventuring band to attempt the retrieval of a mystic artifact. Nils stayed behind, now working alongside the lackadaisical Rita as a peer, and was soon assigned to go to Greybank for an entrance test into a higher ring of smugglers - the City of Change was often used as a stage for such events, and the two headed off across Balic to reach the coastline (of what is now known as Trennal) and sailed to the island nation.

Arrival and First Mission
After landing at the docks of Greybank, Nils and Rita were met by two people who introduced themselves as Fellu Sixcoin of the Greybank Thieves Guild, and Vex West of the Runners. Fellu brought the two back to the Guild where he explained that the Runners were an underground group whose leader took instruction from the Royal Council, but who closely worked with the Guild due to many mutual interests. It was the Runners who often found opportunities for the Guild members to be tested, and Vex was to escort Nils and Rita through their initiation. Vex had been given the goal of retrieving a certain person and Rita and Nils were to take personal effects that could be used to identify them as who they claimed to be, such as a signet or Heraldic Seal, though Rita expressed displeasure that Vex seemed to be the same age as Nils (thirteen at the time) and that she would be taking orders from a child.

When they arrived at the mansion in question in the dead of night they slipped past all rooms save the last, and climbed up the wall to enter into what appeared to be a nursery. Rita began searching the room while Nils watched Vex gently drape a small cloth over the sleeping child and retrieve it from the crib. After they left, Seal and signet in hand, Nils asked Vex why his target had been an infant. Vex explained that the Runners worked for a creature known as the Benefactor who trafficked children at the behest of the Royal Council; these children were then used as political tools or swapped into other families for ransom if they were Changelings. Nils pressed further, inquiring if there was a record of these exchanges and who did them, to which Vex let him know that the Runner and job were recorded but the client remained anonymous.

Rise and Revenge
After the celebration at the Thieves Guild, Nils and Rita were moved into a higher division and placed under the jurisdiction of Alanna Brightvale, the Treasurer based in Balic who oversaw the side of the Guild that was responsible for rescue and kidnapping requests. Nils continued to foster a relationship with Vex and spent most of his time with Rita and the young Runner between jobs, as their work was related in parallel and allowed them the luxury of each others company.

Nils showed an aptitude for his new line of work and adopted several personas to assist in it, with Vex making mention that even the Benefactor had noticed the boy's talent for "escort missions". With the subject broached, Nils inquired into his own abduction without explaining the circumstances were personal, and learned that most Dolls were disposed of by their original Handlers if the family in question didn't commit the deed themselves. With repeated prodding from Nils, Vex dug into the records and learned the name of the Runner who had switched a child into the Courtade family.

With the easy connection between the two organisations, it wasn't very difficult for someone trained in tracking and isolating people to locate the Runner.

The following night Nils was dragged kicking and screaming from his bed to the Hall of the Benefactor, where the head of the Handler he had killed was placed before him. It was decided that his talents were too important to waste but that a life must be paid for a life taken, and the young thief was cut with blades coated in infected blood to pay off the debt of death he had incurred - Nils was to work for the Benefactor when requested, and if he did not return in weekly intervals for medicine to stave off the infection he would succumb to the rot.

Safe haven and runaways
Fellu took pity on the young smuggler and set him up with an apartment in Midway. Never having known a home before, Nils was rarely there until he was returning from a mission on a rainy night and was bumped into by a small Changeling no older than four. Thinking he was being pick-pocketed, Nils grabbed the boy by the wrists but the small child simply went limp as the sound of running footsteps approached from the same alley. Dragging the boy around the corner and up onto a roof, Nils saw half a dozen soldiers in strange uniforms come into view that seemed to be searching for someone. Nils took pity on the strangely silent and bedraggled boy and took him back to the apartment to question him, only to find that the child wasn't capable of speech - a series of strange marks ringed the outside of his neck in a fusion of magic and surgery. He told the boy that he could stay but that he would have to learn to clean house and do chores for his keep, since people were looking for him in the streets, and named him "Nuol".

Cher and furthering education
While resenting and despising his new master, he lost himself in constant work and poisonous hatred. His skill was matched by his ruthlessness and he developed a reputation for coating his daggers in his own blood before entering combat, though he didn't make his condition public knowledge and so even those who survived would soon perish without knowing the reason why. Despite being unable to end his misery with his own hands, Nils threw himself into every dangerous situation he could find in the hopes that someone would complete the task for him. It was this way that he met the Doppelganger, Cher, at fifteen years of age.

Nils was leaving the hidden entrance of the Thieves Guild in the slums when he saw a young woman being accosted by unaffiliated thugs. After he stepped in to intervene the woman thanked him deeply and introduced herself as Cher, a local Madam who ran a brothel out of the Lamplight district in Midway. Intrigued, Nils escorted her to her destination, a small hovel that housed one of the newest members of her establishment. The two helped the woman move her few things out, and Nils decided to walk the two women to Midway where Cher insisted he come inside for food and drink.

Cher joined Rita and Vex in Nils' inner circle and helped educate the trio on the finer points of society and how to subtly pull information out of a mark. She began to provide them with leads and targets as well information on the inner workings of intrigue and politics in noble houses both locally and abroad, and in turn they acted as enforcers and guards for her girls when necessary. Cher and Nils started their relationship when he was sixteen years old.

Rita's death
Nils never lost his mutual animosity with the Benefactor. After a spate of missions where Nils stepped as close to the line as possible without crossing it, retribution finally came from his employer's hand two years after his forced initiation into the Runners. During a mission where Nils, Rita, and Vex were tasked with retrieving a set of twin Dolls, they were surrounded and attacked by a mercenary company that the intelligence on their report had not placed under the target family's employ. Rita and Vex both fell in the ensuing battle and attempted escape, leaving Nils to return to the Benefactor's Hall with the Dolls in tow, alone.

Enraged beyond reason and in mourning, Nils retreated to Cher's home and started wearing Rita's form as a matter of habit. Cher encouraged this behaviour, claiming that Nils may be one of the Twin Souls. Thinking that Cher was taking the deaths too casually, Nils eventually stormed out and boarded a ship out of Greybank, leaving Nuol in Cher's care, determined not to let his final weeks of life be in service to the Benefactor.

Virulent Uprising
Wearing the guise of Rita, Nils joined a caravan of fellow adventurers who were tasked with investigating a Water Temple that had gone silent several weeks prior and found that the cultists who had overtaken the area were attempting to bring about the resurrection of Storm Lord Saevio with a local human child. After the cultists were dealt with and the boy was returned (with complications) to the town, Nils and the other members of the caravan decided to continue on to the capital of Balic together as they all had individual business there (Nils' involving petitioning the leaders of the Thieves Guild to break official ties with the Benefactor's Runners). A series of events led them to discover that a scientist and powerful magus named Brutus Kain had taken up residence in the crumbling ruins under the city, and was creating a race of creatures infected with a parasitic plant simply called "The Virulent". These creatures intended to come up from the undercity and either infect or murder the populace while overthrowing the king and establishing a new order - Kain claimed that he had seen a vision where a terrible fire would consume the world, and only his fully realised Virulent Kingdom would be able to stand against the storm. Nils felt it was all the same sort of malicious narcissism he was overly familiar with and decided to get further involved.

Yuriel Titus and the Dreaming Blade
While Nils was used to working with varied personality types and bore no particular grudge against any one teammate, he found himself drawn to the Void Genasi swordmage who called himself Yuriel. The two formed a quick alliance and enabled the more poisonous parts of their personalities in each other, eventually slaying over half a dozen companions between them over the course of their journey. When Yuriel came into possession of the Dream Sword after claiming it from an Assassin's Guild member, Nils was originally happy for his friend but after seeing the change brought about in Yuriel's personality after prolonged exposure he began to worry. This culminated in the death of Ethan, a party member who acted against Yuriel at the behest of celestials they encountered in the undercity of Balic - the holy angels claimed that the sword needed to be destroyed at any cost, and contained a monster capable of unspeakable horrors. While sleeping, Yuriel used the spirit of the sword to draw Ethan, Nils, and himself into the psychic world the blade had created. This is where Nils saw Dream for the first time. Ethan was then hunted down and slain, causing Nils to reconsider their actions up until this point and to keep a more careful eye on Yuriel.

Null and the Missing Children
While fighting through Kain's undercity the party stumbled across a lab where Kain was experimenting with various strains of the Virulent plant on other races. It was here that they found documents detailing a contract with the owner of a brickyard wherein he would provide orphaned children to Kain in exchange for coin. They came across what appeared to be a troll in one of the tanks used for storing specimens, though it turned out that it was one of the human children who had been hybridised with both troll and virulent tissue in an attempt to find out the viability of combining the regenerative powers of both races. Although appearing to be a fully grown troll, after introducing himself as Null, he confessed to being only twelve years old. Nils felt a curious sympathy and affection for the boy and decided to "adopt" him, offering him food and comfort. After a later ambush and attack led by Kain's lieutenant Lethis and daughter Thistle, Null was temporarily recaptured by Kain and Markus was felled in combat. They also found a new companion in the labs, the Elven Wizard Eldriar, to whom the Faerie Drake Pervalash took a liking to and weaselled his way in as the mage's familiar.

Thieves Guild and Lethis' Death
After fleeing to the surface to find it swarmed with Virulent mobs and riots, they retreated at Nils' behest to the fortress-like base of operations of the Thieves Guild only to have Lethis and Kain follow them to this location and begin a siege. The heads of the Guild suggested that they escape through the winding tunnels below the building, but that the tunnels were used as a testing arena and had been trapped and blockaded by their best and most talented, therefore requiring a scouting party go ahead and find the safest route. While the party fought through the maze, they were confronted at the end by a wave of Virulent who had broken through a tunnel wall led by Lethis and Markus, now resurrected as a Wendigo. Markus was soon back to fight for the party, and after Nils' brought forward the inconsistencies between Lethis' morals and that of Kain's goals, Lethis too agreed to lay down arms and tell them everything he knew. Sadly as he stepped forward to join the party, the warrior Kongol swung his soul-devouring axe and cleaved off the better part of Lethis' head, taking any hope of getting a step ahead of the Virulent leader with it. Enraged, Nils leapt onto Kongol and pressed his blades against the throat of the warrior, pinning him to the ground as the party shouted and bickered around him - some calling for Nils to stop, and others demanded retribution for the act that may have doomed their fight. Waiting until they were all sufficiently distracted, Nils slit the throat of his companion and let him bleed out on the frost covered stones.

Sentinel 34 and Artisan 19
Making their way through the tunnels beneath the Thieves Guild, the party ended up in another section of the undercity where they came across a small room. Curious if it belonged to a Guild member, the party looked inside and found it decorated with the peeled faces of humanoids - soon after, a creature now known as a Warforged rounded the corner, wearing one of the stripped faces as a mask. Clearly unstable, Nils despised the crazed creature immediately but it offered to show them to where the person who created him resided and they needed a way out of the sewers, so carefully, very carefully, they followed the Warforged who declared himself to be Artisan Model #19.

Here they met the thief who had stolen the designs for the Warforged (and the Philosopher's Stone that powered their creation) as well as Sentinel Model #34, who helped the party rebel against his creator and escape the network of tunnels. Sentinel decided to continue on with the party from this point, having nowhere to return to.

Kain's fall and reunion with Null
During their assault on the palace after escaping the tunnels, Orpheus' Wild Magic lost control and immolated Eldriar after accidentally swapping the genders of everyone in the room (Nils simply changed back and pretended nothing happened), leaving Pervalash to join Orpheus as his familiar instead. As they continued on they encountered what appeared to be a hypnotised Null who viciously attacked the party; Nils insisted that they only knock the boy unconscious and the group continued into the throne room where Kain waited with his guards. Orpheus used his magic to burn through Kain's arcane shields, but again, his magic went out of control and summoned Slaadi, making the already difficult battle even more complicated. Eventually cornering Kain in an adjacent hallway, they finally ended the uprising and made their way back out into the smoking city with Null in tow.

Retirement
Pleased with the work that the party had done, the king (made aware by the party of a plot against him by a relative) awarded each member with a piece of a small town (Riverwood) a few hours from the capital, allotting them just over a thousand gold a month in taxation. Markus vanished shortly after the ceremony and Nils revealed his Changeling form to Yuriel before they parted ways, with Nineteen and Sentinel staying behind and Orpheus deciding to personally oversee the progress of their shared town. Nils placed a contract with the Assassin's Guild to be rid of Nineteen before leaving the city, although they were ultimately unsuccessful, and arranged for most of his stipend to be sent to the Thieves Guild for rebuilding - this granted him a place in their inner circle before he took Null back to Greybank.

Investigation and Infiltration
After reuniting with his old friends and moving Null in with Nuol, Nils dodged contact with the Benefactor's men for two years before rumours of a tyrant named Rajaat in Whitesun reached his ears. The concerning part was that Yuriel had also been sighted in the area. Worried for his friend, Nils began to reach out to local Kalashtar to find out what they knew about Dream and the Quori in general, and started arrangements with a local monastery and the Royal Council of Greybank (via connections provided by Cher) for a contingent to march north and handle Dream while she was still relatively weak. He got in contact with Zyx and requested that his old companion look after his other friends (Markus, Sentinel, Orpheus) while he went to Whitesun to retrieve Yuriel and free him from Dream's influences. Before he left he was approached by a gnomish man who informed him that a Champion of Rajaat by the name of Nibenay had turned the gnomish capital to slag and was currently rounding up any survivors; the man said he had learned of Nils' reputation as a humanoid trafficker and wanted to pay to put these services to good use bringing any living gnomes to the safety of his estate in Greybank. Nils agreed to the terms/payment and set out to visit the city before heading on to Whitesun to continue his own goals, learning what he could before he left about the resistance and who to find as contacts in the area. He was told that one of their sympathisers currently held a spot in Nibenay's harem, easily identified by her snow-white hair, a particularly favourite feature of the Champion.

The Gnomish Survivors
After approaching the city, Nils found sentries on post and massive pits and roadways brimming with tiny bones stripped of flesh and clothing. He slowly picked his way across the scene, avoiding or removing anyone in his way. He managed to get to the target location and find the survivors, reassuring them that he would be back after he found a stable route out for all of them, and left a series of traps behind as he made his way further into the city where he knew Nibenay currently resided. The carnage in the city left a profound impact on Nils and haunted his dreams for many years after as his personal vision of hell.

Nibenay's Harem
Nils snuck into the spire where Nibenay kept his harem and quickly stripped out of his armour and weapons, hiding them in an urn before taking on one of his other female personas, wandering into the harem room where he was slightly horrified to find several girls matching the description of the informant he had been given. After watching their mannerisms for a while he selected the one he thought matched most closely and joined her on her divan before dancing around the topic. She warned him that there were a set of twins who were fiercely dedicated to Nibenay and jealously held his favour; avoiding them was preferred, since Nibenay's attentions granted more than simple luxury. He could see Nibenay lounging high on a balcony as other harem girls fed him grapes and thought of the family hiding in the basement in the town outside.

Selection and Escape
A feast was called, as his informant had told him it was every night, and he dined with Nibenay and the other women, being as carefully charming and demure as Cher had taught him to be - apparently enough so that he was chosen by the Champion to join him in his chambers. He could feel the eyes of the twins burning holes in his back as he was led away. Nibenay complimented him after and expressed approval of how "[she] didn't even cry" during the act. As the Champion slept he hurried to where he now knew a hidden switch was located that led to a passage into the aqueduct and out of the palace, unfortunately he saw the twins heading towards him and ducked behind the urn where his gear was stored, overhearing them talk about how they would "make the new girl less pretty". Changing back into his clothes and usual form, Nils flipped the lever and fought several guards on the way out, eventually limping into the aqueduct where a scaly head reared out of the water and "stared him down" with crossed eyes. The starving water wyvern lashed with its poison stinger and teeth but Nils stubbornly held his footing, shaking, and eventually with a last burst of desperation borne from looking over the imminent threshold of death managed to scare the wyvern into submission.

Nada and the Gnomes
Guiding the wyvern back to the cellar, Nils ushered the family onto the creature's back while carefully swatting away the stinging tail whenever it threatened the treats lining up on the hungry beast's body. Eventually he managed to walk it out of the square where the remains of the house above had been, and ducked everyone through a drainage pipe before taking off back to Greybank on a complaining and squawking mount. After they returned to the island safely (with better flying after the creature had been fed multiple times) and the gnomes were reunited, Nils called Null and Nuol down to see the wyvern. Null took a liking to the thing and decided to keep it as a pet (one of the few creatures he could treat as such due to their sizes) and gave it the name Nada to fit in with the rest of them. Nils took the money he had been given for his work to buy the two apartments above him in the tower where they lived and turned the top story into a balcony where Nada could stay chained up until it was time for "walkies".

Whitesun and the Underdark
After receiving a letter from Zyx that said the party had decided to head to Whitesun, Nils took Null and Nada and headed north to intercept his friend on the way to search for Yuriel and direct the Kalashtar force. He met up with Zyx in a town occupied by The Silver Flame where they discussed the current goings-on and why none of the people Nils had sent him to watch were still with the group he was following. He learned that Orpheus had perished, Sentinel had stayed with the Warforged in Restov, and Markus had simply disappeared (as he was often wont to do), but that Zyx had seen Yuriel in Whitesun capital city before they left. Thanking his friend profusely, Nils agreed to let Null explore with Nada before he headed out into the desert on his own, soon running into Dream in her Quori form as they both took shelter from a sandstorm. Even though Dream was injured Nils knew that he couldn't afford to fight her here, and they spent the night together in poisonous silence punctuated by mockery. Knowing that her physical presence meant something had happened to Yuriel, Nils renewed his determination the next morning and set out across the sand.

The State of Yuriel Titus
Upon arriving in Whitesun, Nils went to the Palace of the Sun where Rajaat held court and managed to swindle his way into an audience - he was told that Yuriel had committed treason and had been sealed away in the Dream Sword, consequently freeing Dream herself. He had been experimenting on imbuing ancient Quori shards into humanoid bodies with varying success when he had attempted to hide his research from Rajaat, who had been funding it, and flee. Rajaat agreed to give the sword to Nils if he brought back an artifact called the Philosopher's Stone and Nils agreed, remembering that he had seen something like it before in the undercity of Balic. The Emperor of Whitesun went on to inform him that there was a closer location; the home of a man named Victor Lark, but that there was a group of people already on their way to take the stone so he had best hurry. Nils instantly recognised one of the travellers as Zyx when shown an image of them and told the Emperor that everything would be well in hand.

Betrayal and Markus' appearance
Null and Nada arrived in Whitesun as Nils prepared to leave, giving Yuriel's old lodgings to Null and borrowing Nada for the journey. He set up a small camp outside the locked entrance to the Lark Estate and waited. He spent his time listening to the horrifying noises coming from inside and handling the monsters that emerged from the cornfield at night before the doors finally swung open to reveal three bloodied elves, including Zyx's identity as Selena, who promptly turned on his companions and knocked them down to retrieve the stone. Zyx and Nils jumped onto Nada's back and returned to Whitesun in good time after gloating and splitting up the things Zyx had taken, and ran into Markus who had been entering into fighting pit competitions. He agreed to join his friends in their next foray.

Healing old wounds
Nils returned to the palace with the Philosopher's Stone to let Rajaat know the mission had been a success and credited Zyx (who waited outside with Markus) with the legwork required. During their conversation, the Emperor handed Nils a glass of water to drink, and informed him afterwards that it had cured the disease that had been eating away at him while he was away from Null as a reward for his service. Rajaat then requested that they take the Stone and charge it using one of the many magical fonts present in the Underdark, a task made slightly less unpleasant by multiple easily accessible entrances nearby, and that during this journey Nils would be allowed to take Yuriel with him. Upon their return Rajaat would restore Yuriel to a physical body and each person in the group would be granted one request. Nils was then introduced to the scroll mummy wizard, Flint, who would serve as a guide, living map, and backup on this mission.

Meeting Rem
While gathering supplies for the journey into the Underdark, Yuriel psychically pointed out a young desert elf wearing a fierce mask who seemed to be loitering in the shade of a gazebo, and told Nils that this elf, Rem, was the first successful experiment involved with the implantation of Quori shards. Morbidly curious if all Quori were the same as Dream and feeling sorry for the host, Nils and Zyx approached the young man and introduced themselves. After some awkward conversation, Rem removed his mask and Nils felt his heart stop for a brief moment. Suddenly and utterly infatuated, he learned that Rem was now rootless and had neither a place to stay or a future here as he retained all the memories of his past except how to return to his clan. Nils offered that Rem accompany them for something to do, adamant that it would be an easy trip with the party they had gathered. After some consideration, Rem agreed and Nils walked away quietly ecstatic before Zyx dragged him to an importer of rare and magical goods to purchase new weaponry.

Expedition and Explosion
The next morning, Nils (with Yuriel), Zyx, Flint, Markus, and Rem headed into the Underdark. They stopped to rest at a crossroads and were ambushed by Drow in the night, though they were easily dispatched. Nils took this opportunity to show off to Rem and demonstrated his interrogation techniques. While stopping over in a Drow city Zyx and Nils both purchased firearms - two pistols for Zyx and a rifle for Nils - as well as handfuls of ammunition each for the journey ahead. Making their way past many enemies, and Rem wandering off somewhere along the way (much to Nils' distress), they eventually found the magical font they required across a stretch of untouchable water and guarded by a monstrosity that held the power to fuse beings together with a touch. Fascinated by the alien beauty of the creature, Nils almost caused a fatal misstep while they hurriedly charged the Stone and fled back across the water on their borrowed boat. After desperately fighting their bloodied way back to the surface, they were greeted by Nineteen and some of his lackies who had rigged the cave with explosives. Nils convinced Nineteen, who had been injured down his left side during the Assassin's Guild attempt on his life, that he was not responsible for the contract back in Balic during Nineteen's maddened rants. As things turned south, the party rushed past Nineteen save for Flint, and Zyx triggered the explosives with a well-placed shot that brought down the tunnel on top of both the Warforged and the scroll mummy.

Granted Wishes
Reporting to Rajaat what had happened at the cave entrance, Nils requested that a crew be sent to remove Flint from the wreckage as he had grown rather fond of the wizard's presence (despite his views on magic). Rajaat agreed - and later reported that Nineteen had been missing when they pulled Flint from the rubble - asking the party, true to his word, what wishes they would ask him to grant in exchange for the success with the Philosopher's Stone. Thinking back to Null, Nuol, and Cher, Nils requested that Greybank be spared from Rajaat's purges for 1000 years as Yuriel's restoration was already in the works. He then asked if it would be possible to locate and retrieve Rem as he didn't believe that someone like him would have perished down there only to hear that Rem had returned on his own, quite well and wholly intact. Rajaat then requested one final task of the group - retrieve a mage named Erica from another timeline that had appeared in the desert. Once her body, living or dead, was given to Rajaat, everyone was free to go about their business or join him as they saw fit.

White lies and promised purges
As Nils, Zyx and Markus went back to their assigned home near the palace to wait for Yuriel's appearance, Nils found Pervalash sleeping on top of a bookcase just before Flint arrived. He told the others that the guards had let him know that someone had given the order to rescue him from the rocks, but all he knew was that it hadn't been Rajaat. Nils brushed it off and deflected until Pervalash started purring over the new mage, wanting to be made into a familiar again. Nils pointed out that he was personally aware of two mages who had died while partnered with the living bad luck charm, but Flint didn't seem to mind and made a deal with the catlike creature. When Yuriel arrived, Nils jumped on him with a hug and could barely be pried off during proper introductions to the others.

Before leaving Whitesun to hunt down the timeline-warping mage, Yuriel and Nils went to speak with Rajaat one final time - Rajaat declared that Yuriel could be forgiven of his crimes if he agreed to become one of his Champions. When asked which race he would take up the mantle of Purging, Nils whispered to pick the Warforged, memories of Nineteen still burning in the back of his mind. Yuriel agreed, as they were the least numerous race.

Confrontation
With information from Rajaat's spies on where to find the party, Zyx and Nils were amused to find out that not only were they the ones they had stolen the Philosopher's Stone from prior, but that it was their negligence that lead to Flint taking the form of a scroll mummy. They parked their airship near the ruins of the town that their targets were hiding in and slowly approached from the north before entering into full-fledged battle that worsened with the appearance of Viktor Lark and his creations on an airship of their own. Zyx fell during the battle as Nils sniped at "the witch" from a guard wall, climbing down and joining the fray properly once he realised what happened. Mikhail and Nils struck up a temporary alliance during the battle, long enough to pull his group out while Markus carried the unconscious witch (and Nils carried Zyx) back to their airship.

Airship problems
As they reboarded the airship, they were met by Nineteen who threatened them yet again as they lifted off into the air. Nils distracted Nineteen long enough for Markus and Flint to enter combat before protecting Zyx's body and using what strength he had left - Nineteen, seeing the odds against him, ran into the interior of the ship where they discovered a bomb had been planted. Nils spent tense moments defusing the bomb while the others hurled fire and cannonballs through the anchor-drop of the ship where Nineteen escaped into the desert below.

Return to Greybank
While waiting for Markus' airship to be repaired in Whitesun, Yuriel bid goodbye to the rest of the party to continue his separate adventures, and Flint announced that he would be staying in town to further his study of magic. Zyx was still "dead" for all intents and purposes so Nils decided to bring him back to Greybank with him when the time came to do so, thanks to Markus who agreed to fly them back top the island nation. The day before they left, Nils was buying fruit and other provisions for the long journey home when he saw Rem sitting under the gazebo again and approached him angrily, chiding him for vanishing into the Underdark without a word and how he had made them worry. Rem dimly registered surprise and apologised, to which Nils told him that he could make it up to him by joining him on the trip out of "this forsaken hellhole". Rem agreed much to Nils' shock, stating he had nothing better to do, and no plans for his future.

A new beginning
Nils carried Zyx and escorted Rem back to his home in Midway, introducing Rem to Null and Nuol as he explained that the elf would be staying with them while he got his footing in the city. When Zyx regained consciousness he stayed for a while to regain his strength before striking out into the city on his own, and Nils went to present a report to the Royal Council on what had transpired with Rajaat. The more time Rem spent with Nils, Nuol, Null and Cher, the more expressive he became and the more his personality emerged; Cher arranged for Rem to gain employment at the Silver Spire to continue building his social abilities and expression, and Nils began to be frequently called to the Royal Council for asides on the future of relations with other nations. It eventually came to light that Rajaat had been slain, but what good did it do, the Councillors asked, when the nations were unable to unite against this sudden threat? Such a thing must never come to pass again. It was then that they told Nils that he was to head the creation of a task force to eliminate this possibility in the future, with the full force of the spy network they had fostered over the years at his disposal - he had three years to prepare before his departure, but the exact date would not be known to him to prevent the information from getting out.

Relationships and research
In the following three years, Nuol enrolled at the Vanth Academy under Nils' coin and Null cemented his reputation as a formidable mercenary leader. Rem and Nils began spending more time together and eventually began a relationship that they completely failed to hide from the "children". Nils spent what free time he had studying the politics and ebb and flow of other nations, making contacts, and leveraging the influence given to him by the Royal Council to craft elaborate identities and backstories to use when he was eventually forced to be out expanding the network manually. Rem was introduced to the Benefactor when word got out Nils had returned and he personally came to collect the wayward Runner, ensuing in a psionic battle between the two that ended in an agreement from Rem to guard the city from Quori interference in exchange for leaving Nils and the boys alone, as Nuol had confessed to both Rem and Nils his status as a Key by this point. Nils procured Heraldic Seals for Rem, Nuol, Null, and himself at this time using a writ from the Royal Council.

Royal Recruitment and children
Nils vanished in the dead of night during his 24th year and began his royally mandated trip across the nations. He first visited Sentinel in Restov and offered assistance via an assigned diplomat for the Warforged people, to which Sentinel agreed, and continued on to inspect a tower he had heard to contain a horrifying Kenku revenant he had reason to believe was Orpheus. What they failed the mention were the Slaadi that swarmed the area, and he was quickly forced to turn back.

The Elven Lands
The first step to begin his project in earnest, Nils devoted three years to connecting with other contacts and laying the groundwork for long-lasting infiltration in the lands of the long-lived elven people. He used an alias similar in appearance to his own by the name of Faedryn Eventide and played at being a minor lord with an interest in politics and art. In the course of his work he met a distant cousin to the Archfey of Winter and had a whirlwind romance with the young elf before he began to realise feelings for her, and requested to cut his work short - this request was summarily granted and he left for his next target before he became compromised (or so he believed).

The Last of Old Balic
Large as it was, Nils was happy to be back in the human lands of Balic and have access to the vast network of sleeping-grass spies available to him. The next seven years were spent fortifying the connections between groups and bringing new Greybank loyalists into the fold. Most of his time was physically spent in the mostly-rebuilt Thieves Guild with a visiting Fellu, where they gambled and fought and drank between heated planning sessions. One day he received a message that twin Changeling children had been discovered, supposedly been placed in the Elven Lands in an attempt to take the throne, and their execution would be made public as an open warning to Greybank against interfering with their politics. When the name of the mother was revealed, Fellu turned to Nils and simply said "congratulations" before the latter jumped out of his chair and raced for the door.

Royal Twins
Using every skill in his playbook, Nils managed to get onto the stage and take the children in an event now referred to by the Elves as Shil'everae (Shadow of The People), spiriting them away to Balic where he took pains to hide and prepare them for their new lives away from the elven people. He started by renaming the boy Yuriel, after the one who had changed his life so much, and Zen, whose name held the opposite meaning of his own - "everything". While Nils finished up his work in Balic, Fellu agreed to begin escorting the children back to Greybank with Alanna and meet up with Nils at their usual dock by the coastline. The two Guild leaders took the children back to their local headquarters after their arrival on the island while Nils attempted to patch things up with Rem and prepare him for the debut of the twins.

Retirement from Active Duty
Now 35, Nils delivered his last report in person to the Royal Council of Greybank to neatly wrap up his ten years in the field, or that was what he believed he was doing. He found out soon after that while he had been distracted they had sent guards to take the twins into custody. Fortunately, Rem had been with the children at the time and managed to fend the guards off until Nils arrived to see one of them grab Yuriel by the arm, causing Zen to draw the guard's dirk and leap on their back, stabbing and slashing them to death as the others rushed in. Rem and Nils easily dispatched the remaining soldiers as Cher went to (successfully) petition on their behalf not to hand the children over to the Elven Lands, as no one outside the Council and a select number of others were aware of the identity of the children or their kidnapper. Nils thought this would be the last of his troubles.

Zyx and the Cabinet of Faces
Zyx, whose temporary death had not tempered his habit of popping in and out of Nils’ life, chose this moment to reappear in the city and during a discussion over many glasses of wine the two friends caught up on the time they had missed. Nils made mention of the fact that he still needed to appoint overseers for the groups he had set up and hinted that while he wasn’t exactly sure what Zyx wanted to do with his newfound immortality, watching over a long-term project like this would be a way to occupy himself without pinning him down to one place. Over the next few days the two Changelings hashed out the structure and ideology for two groups – one that would be dedicated to furthering the network of informants Nils had activated, and another that would be formed of elite specialists dedicated to preserving the future of Greybank by any means necessary. Zyx agreed to help with the management of the first group as it would require less of an active hand, while Nils would head the direction of the second.

Downtime and excavation
While Zyx went to look through dossiers and talk to other members of the network, Nils had a new goal in mind; locating Nuol's Vault, buried deep under the mountain in Old Greybank. He was aware of a maintenance entrance that led under the mountain and so chose this as a starting point, having the Royal Council finance his pet project (under the assumption that they were looking into the city's past collapse, and the condition that any artifacts or intact texts they find be donated to the Academy for study) and keep it hushed. After seven months they managed to uncover the Heaven's Gate, gaining access to several hallways that were only partially collapsed. Zyx rejoined Nils at this time, having past experience delving ruins for magical trinkets, and the two of them carefully picked their way through the old city as they searched for items of interest and points of deeper ingress.

The Shattered Shelf
After six years of careful excavation and study (under the project code-named "Grand Audit") Nils finally reached the Shattered Shelf and brought Nuol down to see the graveyard of Vaults - after some searching the two located the one in question and opened it to find gold, clothes, artwork and artifacts that had been perfectly preserved from the time shortly after the city was rebuilt. Professing that he had no need for anything in the Vault other than a few items of magical curiosity, Nuol gifted the contents of the Vault to Nils to distribute through the family, though they both decided to remove their winnings in small portions to avoid suspicion. Nils also began storing items in the Vault when he would venture back down together with the Silent Mage.

Creation of the Cabinet
Nils and Zyx could not decide on who to assign to what role when it came to the spy network so they decided to break it into pieces, similar to group of specialists they now called The Tyrants, but with an additional level of enforced hierarchy under the Cabinet Rulers termed "Visages". Zyx selected his Visages from the list and the two agreed he should go to work immediately - Nils would clear up the rest of the selection and send a missive when it was complete. He arranged four other Cabinet Rulers and their Visages before assuming the last leadership role and keeping the spots beneath it blank for future use. He invited Cher to take up the role of a Visage as he believed that only Changelings and Doppelgangers would be suited for the work that this organisation would inevitably be assigned, a philosophy that went on to shape both upper echelons of the group. Cher agreed, and began casting her nets to search for suitable people to work under Nils' direction while he dedicated himself to spending more time with family.

Raising children
Not a particularly caring or attentive father, Nils found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that these children were indeed his flesh and blood. Rem and Nils argued often about how the children should be raised, with Rem pointing out that Nils seemed much harsher on his own children than he had ever been with Nuol or Null, and Nils arguing that they would have people out to kill them for their entire lives and needed to know how to reliably defend themselves. Yuriel, quiet and contemplative, was drawn to Rem's kindness and otherworldly feel and fostered a much closer relationship than that with his father. Nils spent most of his time with Zen, who was better able to handle his harshness and criticisms, and told her that it would be her job to protect her brother one day and to that end she would need to be strong enough for them both. He taught her sharpshooting and as many of his martial talents as he could, telling her stories of his adventures and companions over the years - he spoke of her origins, and how she and her brother should have been king and queen of the Elven Lands and lived relatively peaceful lives. To cheer her up after, he said jokingly, "you may have lost one throne, but I'll do you one better - you'll sit the throne of the whole world someday". She took this more literally than he meant it, as was later learned.

Gifts and Curses
Nils brought the twins together on their thirteenth birthdays to celebrate their coming-of-age by the Changeling calendar. He presented them with gifts he had found in Old Greybank including a harp and necklace for Yuriel, and a belt and cape for Zen, and further gave them each an item from his personal collection to use as they saw fit. During the party Nils called Yuriel aside and had a heart-to-heart with the boy, apologising for favouring his sister and vowing to spend more time with his son, telling him that he understood what it was like to have your old life stripped from you without being properly supported after, and that he would endeavour to be a more worthy father no matter what Yuriel wanted to become.

The Scent of Starlight
Now referred to as The Calling, the Freeman family and Cher went to the Silver Spire to meet Rem after work and go swimming in the nearby lake. As Nils helped arrange the food and drinks on a nearby blanket with Nuol and his wife, he happened to look up to see Rem staring out at the water with a concerned expression. Asking what was wrong, he learned that the sand-elf sensed an odd presence coming from the lake but that it was too muted to tell what it was. Moments later Zen started yelling for Yuriel and the two looked up to see the boy roughly dragged under the water. Nils, Rem and Null started for the water as Cher called out not to go - the sharp scent of ozone cut through the air as the three dove in past a stunned Zen, but to no avail; the boy had simply vanished. After a fruitless search that lasted into the dim hours of the morning, a heartbroken family returned to the apartment as Cher took Rem aside to talk. Nils carried his sleeping daughter to bed and tucked her in, quietly slipping past the two up to the roof with the intent to be alone since Nada was out with Null. What he found was a faintly glowing, soaking wet Yuriel, and the harsh scent of ozone.

Managing the Magister
After ensuring that the creature sharing Yuriel's skin was not a Quori, Rem and Cher explained to Nils that the boy had accepted a pact with an Outsider named Mesarthim that had been known to the mages of Old Greybank; in fact, according to Yuriel, it was the pendant that Nils had given him for his birthday that had attracted its attention in the first place. Nils was consumed by guilt over being unable to save his son from this fate and buried himself back in his work with the Royal Council, enrolling the twins in the Vanth Academy so that they would be educated and trained under watch while neither Rem not himself were around.

Installing a Tyrant and Closing the Cabinet
Nils watched his children grow with a strange amusement and decided to see if the lessons he had taught them bore fruit; Yuriel was appointed in his place as the last Cabinet Ruler due to his skill with shapeshifting and his magical ability to sway the hearts of listeners with a few scant words, and Zen was to lead the Greybank chapter of The Tyrants with her trap-like memory and martial prowess. Nils gave Yuriel his suggestions for Visages and helped him choose those best suited to work under him, and announced that they would be leaving on a quick tour of the most prominent places on Heagan along with Rem and Zen. Secretly pleased that he would have an opportunity to travel with his family for once, he openly stated that if his children were going to be giving orders in foreign lands they needed to see what it was like first-hand.

Family vacation
Dragging his family throughout Heagan, Nils stopped everywhere he felt the whim to do so while knowing that this would likely be the last time he would leave Greybank (as he intended to settle down with Rem properly after returning). During a stopover in Thay he soon encountered a young witch named Medea who claimed to have seen both Nils and Rem in a vision. She said that there was a mage slayer who had been running about the town, targeting and killing various nobles and keeping their fingers as trophies; the more security and prestige one had the more dangerous it was to exist, as this person seemed to enjoy the challenge of high priority targets. Despite agreeing with the morals and motivation behind the killings, Nils agreed to try to find the mystery killer after Medea explained her situation. She offered her services to Nils' cause if he removed the threat from her political allies in Thay, so he had Yuriel pull threads on connections until they had rumours on when and where this murderer would strike next. This culminated in his first encounter with the Blackleaf Brotherhood, with whom both parties quickly agreed upon shared interests and started to grow a long and generational relationship (with a young Zen being particularly fascinated with the guerrilla anti-mages). After a quick correspondence, Medea was sent to Whitesun to assist Flint with public relations; the new ruler of the desert nation was utterly absorbed in studying the magical materials he now had access to and did not want to be bothered by the trite details of management.

Disappearance
After returning to Greybank Nils handed more final control of the Cabinet and Tyrants over to Zyx and the twins, and prepared to enjoy his well-earned rest with Rem. However, as he looked at his reflection in the mirror he wondered what had happened to the person he remembered - while Rem's elven blood assured that he remained essentially unchanged over the years, he could see the clear signs of age in himself. It echoed in the aches he felt in his wrists and shoulders, the lines appearing by his eyes, and the regrets piling up in his memory. Death was a thought that loomed over him; that of his own demise, and what would happen to Rem when he eventually passed on as well. Whatever was going to happen, he knew they wouldn't end up in the same place and that the time he had now was all there was left.

Markus in Old Greybank
It was almost the eleventh anniversary of his return from Balic when Fellu mentioned that a very confused-looking Githzerai was seen wandering the ruins below the city, vanishing whenever someone attempted to interact with him but inevitably appearing again later. The odd thing, Fellu said, was that the Githzerai seemed to change clothes and age between appearances but that it was clearly the same person over and over again; his men had declared the halls haunted by this creature and refused to go near it until dealt with. Thinking that the description matched Markus, Nils headed into Old Greybank in the guise of Rita to search for the "apparition" and quickly ran into a confused and irritated friend who questioned him on everything from the year to past events before seemingly deciding he was in the right place at the right time. Nils offered to show Markus out of the tunnels but was declined, the latter saying that they were here to find something but couldn't quite remember what, just that it was further down. He then offered to show Markus to the deepest part they had uncovered so far, to which he agreed right before he disappeared. Cursing, Nils scrawled a hurried letter and stuck it into the cobblestones with a dagger, including instructions on how to get to the Keycutter Pit before he headed off to meet him at the chasm.

Lost in the Dark
Making his way to the edge of the pit, Nils listened to the faint sound of rushing water from across the way; the city had it set up that wastewater was poured down through a main runoff tunnel that led into the chasm below, which theoretically in turn lead to the Underdark. People didn't often venture beyond the depths of the Shattered Shelf as it meant rappelling down the slippery and unstable cliff face; magic was possible but functioned abnormally the further down you went, so it had been the death of many a curious apprentice before the city locked the gates with Heraldic Seals - something Nils had often warned Nuol against after he had been given his. Savouring this rare moment of solitude and silence, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath only to feel a gentle push at the small of his back, sending him plunging into the Keycutter Pit below. Twisting around to see who had pushed him revealed a quick flash of a hooded figure with a faceless mask who waggled its fingers in a friendly wave as Nils rushed down to meet a jutting ledge some hundred feet beneath him. Bracing for impact and squeezing his eyes shut, he felt the sensation of tearing through a thin, cold cloth before he hit the ground and was knocked unconscious.

The Start of an Unexpected Journey
As he slowly came to, Nils was surprised to find that none of his bones seemed to be broken; bruised ribs and a slight concussion seemed to be the worst of his troubles as he sat up in the darkness and checked himself over. As his eyes adjusted, he realised that he wasn't on the ledge he had seen, or indeed even in the Keycutter Pit at all - dark and misty fields stretched before him, dotted with twisted and sparse trees that stretched up to a dull and clouded sun. A surge of panic gripped him as he considered that this may be his afterlife, but he allowed the pain he felt to quash that idea as he stood up and looked around, searching for signs of civilisation. To the west he could make out what looked like a procession of lights being marched down a winding dirt path, so he gathered up what had spilled from his bags and headed off towards the trail, carrying an odd sense of foreboding.

The Fox’s Wedding
Sneaking up to the procession revealed a group of thirty young men and women dressed in elaborate Eastern Kingdoms robes; the illumination came from paper lanterns held aloft on poles as they walked along the path, laughing and talking. A sharp tap on the shoulder turned Nils around to face a stern white robed woman and a retinue of six guards in masks decorated to look like the face of a fox. The woman chastised Nils for watching the procession with the face of another, and declared that her daughter's wedding ceremony had been sullied by having a mortal present. Protesting that he was simply lost, Nils eyed the guards and offered to make it up to the woman, who then presented him with one of the same fox-faced masks as the soldiers. She told him that if he would wear it until the wedding was over, they would have no need to kill him and he hurriedly accepted with thoughts of returning home burning in his mind. As the mask touched his skin, however, it vanished - as did the entire procession and their lanterns.

Corpse and Compass
Confused and stumbling through the twilight, Nils soon found himself in the crumbling ruins of a small village. Taking care to hide from the orcs he saw not-so-subtly concealing themselves in the dusty buildings (he later found that they camped here to prey on the unwary newcomers), he meandered his way to the centre and found a five-way crossroads marked with a desiccated, crucified corpse. The sound of creaking leather echoed in the silent village as the corpse's head lifted and twisted to the left as if looking at something - Nils heard a nearby orc inhale sharply and go silent again in anticipation. As he watched, a tear in the shadows deposited two well armed knights at the feet of the macabre signpost, both of whom began to whip about in confusion and fear, calling out before running to each other in a panic. Nils watched as the orcs left their hiding places and attacked the knights, using the opportunity to come up behind them and slay several while the new arrivals found their footing (at least long enough to engage the raiders). When it looked as if the orc tribe had decided to find an easier mark, Nils slipped away into the darkness before the knights could stop him - he already had what he needed, now knowing that he was not the only one in such a predicament and that these two would be unable to answer any other questions.

House of Black Lanterns
Nils stopped along the path he had chosen to catch his breath when the mists ahead began to part, revealing a towering building bedecked with glowing black lanterns where previously he was sure there had been nothing. He approached the courtyard to find several people lounging around, with a young girl in a uniform drawing water from the central well. Despite thinking he was hidden, the girl saw and waved him over. After hesitantly approaching the young woman she told him that he had found the House of Black Lanterns, "a travelling inn for travelling people" and that the owner would be happy to answer any questions he might have about his predicament or where he was. Reserving judgement for now, Nils went inside and spoke to Yarol in what proved to be a very enlightening conversation.

Reflection of Nibenay
After leaving the House of Black Lanterns, Nils ventured for what felt like days across the Shadowfell, eventually coming down a sunken path into the valley below. As he rounded a bend he found a small and brightly lit village populated mostly by gnomes and halflings. Thinking that the people here seemed much like the people back home, Nils decided to rest in town despite Yarol's warnings and was greeted by a smattering of familiar faces when he walked in the door of the pub; Rem, Zen and Nuol were at a table near the bar. Leaping to their feet to greet him, Nils was shocked but happy to see his companions and they had a reunion replete with drinks and warm food, culminating with Nils and Rem sharing a room later - as was their custom - during which he discovered where the fox-faced mask had truly gone. The next morning he woke to find Rem missing, and when he put his feet down on the floor there was a dry crunch.

As he looked over the edge of the bed, the illusion dissolved and he found himself sitting on the rotting frame of a bed inside a crumbling and mist-wrapped building, the floor of which was littered with countless small bones. Panicked, Nils grabbed his things and ran out towards the common room where he saw a twisted version of a familiar sight: the shattered city of Nibenay, now devoured by the half-light of the Shadowfell. What remained of the walls shone with the ashy grease left behind by the creatures the bones beneath his feet once had been, and despite the time that had passed the stench of death and fire hadn't abated; screaming into the darkness that the joke needed to end here, he was greeted by an undead-looking version of Zen sitting at the rotted bar counter who complimented his optimism. "Thinking that this is the joke and that last night was the reality really says a lot about you, dad." Nils' blades bit air as the illusion vanished again, and he ran from the ruins as fast as his legs could carry him.

Notes and memories
As time passed in the Shadowfell, Nils found that his memories were fading at an alarming pace. Since he had not thought to bring all of his usual things with him when he went to meet up with Markus, he had precious few items to remind him of home and those left behind. When it took him ten minutes to remember the names of his children, he decided to start writing down the most important things he could recall in a notebook he had previously used for reports on artifacts brought up from Old Greybank. He made a habit of doing this every "evening", as the memory loss seemed especially potent after he woke up, and reading it while preparing rations for the morning became a part of his daily ritual. The worst memories stood out starkly, unchanging, while the most pleasant faded the fastest - and in his hurry to write down details about those he cared for most, he began to lose important information about his own life. The lack of the ability to see his own face proved detrimental in this regard, and seven nights after the events at Nibenay he had forgotten his true appearance.

Stalking Gloomwrought
After arriving in Gloomwrought, Nils sought out as much information as he could about the city and made his home in the Drowned Quarter next to the Cracked Keel Alehouse. As time slipped away, he was quickly inducted into the Veiled League via his visits to the House of Sterling (and into a peculiar unit of shapeshifters branded with the same mask he wore) and spent most of his time running the second story of the Avenue of Chains between performing assassinations and bodyguard jobs for his employers. Seeing the grey, drained citizens of the city made him even more determined to stay alive although he felt the madness and melancholy fraying the edges of his sanity a little more every "dawn".

Lapse
After a particularly bloody assassination mission wherein he discovered the target had been a Changeling, Nils' sanity snapped. Thinking he had murdered himself and desperately needing proof that he was the "real" one, he began to try and tear the mask off, at one point going so far as to attempt cutting it off with one of his blades. The resulting injuries further antagonised him, and in a final attempt to prove that he wasn't just a confused spirit, he ran himself through. He simply lay on the floor, bleeding and uncomprehending, until a memory of Rem chastising and making him promise never to leave him again surfaced in his mind. Dragging himself through the shadows of the Avenue of Chains, he eventually found temporary safety in one of the Veiled League's establishments where he was given enough treatment to survive the injuries, albeit not unmarked by them.

Chasing Light and Shadow
Nils was spending more and more time in the Fettered Quarter in an attempt to chase away the despair that consumed him, when he overheard other patrons speaking of the House of Black Lanterns. After checking his book, he remembered that Yarol had mentioned that those inside the walls of the inn were temporarily immune to the effects of the Shadowfell and immediately left Gloomwrought to search it out. After another timeless eternity spent on the road, he came to Dead Man's Cross and stalked around until the building materialised out of the mists. He spent the next three sleeps at the inn, presenting a plan he had formulated in the city to Yarol - he would attempt the trek to Fate's Palace, where rumours placed a stable gate to the Prime Plane if one could obtain a talisman from Zvomarana. Yarol cautioned him that the journey across Bleak Fallow was certain death, but Nils argued that staying here was killing him slowly anyway, and he may as well go with the best lead he had. The innkeeper agreed to move the House of Black Lanterns to the mountains near Zvomarana (for a fee), but that the Raven Queen's power made further entry to the area by any magical means impossible.

Zvomarana, Temple of the Raven Queen
After crossing the last portion of the frozen mountains, Nils arrived at Zvomarana and was surprised that the amount of living creatures here seemed to outnumber even Gloomwrought, as it contained a great number of Shadar-Kai who worshipped the Raven Queen. Here he learned that the gate he was seeking was indeed in Fate's Palace, but that the talisman was only given to those who underwent the Dark Lady's trials in Bleak Fallow in an attempt to become Sorrowsworn. Many talismans were dropped, however, by those that were slain in the valley, so Nils decided to complete his journey one way or another. After replenishing his supplies and halfheartedly proofing his gear against the biting cold, he continued on and left with a band of Shadar-Kai whose destination matched his own.

Lost Souls of Bleak Fallow
Nils saw the sweep of souls across the sky and the falling-star-like decent of those who lost the path and "crashed" into Bleak Fallow, watched as Devils and dark Angels alike snatched up the fleeing spirits, and fought alongside his temporary companions as they fell, eventually taking a talisman for himself from their number. He pressed forward, trying not to pay attention to the pleading souls he encountered hiding the in the darkness of the ice spires. Stopping several times in the shelter of the cliffs to warm himself from the pervasive wind, his camps also doubled as a way to hide from the creatures outside collecting souls. The surreal environment and situation gave way to hallucinations, and eventually, the black and icy environment settled into a quiet coldness in his soul during the time he spent wandering the wastes.

Vex and the Devils
As he was preparing to venture into the wastes for what felt like the hundredth time, a familiar face came darting into the cave; Vex made uneasy eye contact with Nils for a moment before suddenly comprehending whose face he was looking at (as Nils continued to take Rita's guise). Nils explained between outbursts who he actually was while looking through his book to remember why this spirit felt so important, and Vex patiently filled him in on some of the blanks. He told Nils that a particularly persistent devil had been tracking him ever since he arrived and had already captured at least a dozen other souls. Determined to help his old friend, Nils offered to walk Vex to Fate’s Palace to be judged and to help slay the devil who had captured other lost souls – it did not take long to track the creature down (as it was tracking them in turn), but the much longer battle after ended with a broken arm, three ribs, and half of a mountainside collapsing due to Vex’s attempts to help. Feeling his blood freeze against his skin, Nils dragged himself through the frozen wastes as he continued to be forced to fight to protect the horde of newly liberated spirits, slowly continuing towards the towering black spire in the middle of the valley.

Delitoth, Judgement, a Promise
Sorrowsworn eventually found the ragged band and escorted them the last portion of the journey to the steps, where the gatekeeper Delitoth ruled that Nils' service in bringing the lost souls to be judged deemed him worthy of entering despite his utter lack of affiliation with the Raven Queen. Vex and Nils parted ways for the last time with a promise to never forget what had happened as attendants came to bandage the still-living smuggler. Nils never found out what the Dark Lady decided for his friend, and it continues to be a topic of speculation to the current day. After receiving some basic treatment, Nils began wandering the palace to search for the gate out, desperate to leave the epicentre of the morbid despair that blanketed the Shadowfell and threatened to swallow him whole.

The Tapestry of Fate
Cautiously sneaking past Sorrowsworn guards, as while their mistress may have omniscience in her realm her servitors certainly did not, Nils eventually came upon a room with a vast golden tapestry that spanned the entire wall of what appeared to be a massive cathedral. As he approached he noticed countless barely visible threads being constantly woven by unseen hands into the bottom of the tapestry, slowly yet surely lengthening it while the bulk of the piece avoided getting closer to the floor through whatever magic was powering the creation. Fascinated, Nils reached out to brush a hand against the artifact and felt a brief shock go through him just before he made contact. Shrugging it off as a twinge from his many injuries, he lowered his hand and looked at the flowing images the threads wove for a moment before walking a ways down the length of the piece, his eye suddenly drawn to a particular design. As if in a trance he reached out again, this time gently touching the fabric with the tip of his finger; as it lifted off the design a single, almost impossibly thin thread came with it. He repeated this process six more times until he had seven small threads in his hand. He studied them for a moment, as they were exceedingly beautiful, and they slowly began to move and weave together to form a very thin gold ring. He slipped it over the little finger on his left hand in an effort to keep it safe, unsure where else to put something this obviously magical, before slipping away and out of the room, hoping no one would be the wiser.

Crossroads of Madness
After leaving the room containing the tapestry, Nils found the interior of the castle to be suddenly and deeply covered in swirling white mist. He continued his search for a gateway unperturbed as he had seen odd apparitions like this in the past, but eventually the fog thickened to the point where he could no longer see in front of him and had to grope along the walls with his one good arm before the stone abruptly ended in a broken protrusion. As he paused to decided what to do, the fog parted and he found that he was standing on a packed dirt road next to a crumbled outpost. Assuming his situation was the result of a curse for having stolen from the Raven Queen, Nils resigned himself and decided to keep walking through the blurry landscape until he arrived at a crossroads of eight paths. Staked in the centre was a massive signpost with countless markers nailed to the weathered wood that indicated every possible direction, though each sign's lettering was faded or peeled far too badly to be able to decipher. Circling the post that easily cleared the height of a fully grown Blackwood tree, Nils noted that despite the fog there was clearly an abundance of colour in the ground, grass, and even the weathered wood that simply wasn't possible in the Shadowfell - he had escaped somehow. It was then that he noticed a single sign that stood out from the rest by virtue of the legible writing (though it was high up enough to be easily missed) in a careful hand that declared the destination to be Greybank.

Reemergence
The path led to a tunnel through a truly massive mountain. As he followed it inside, the path slowly narrowed and grew pitch black until he was sliding sideways along the damp stone walls, eventually coming to a sudden end. After several minutes of despairing that he had been tricked a final time, he changed back into his true form in the dark and paused as he felt a breeze ruffle his hair and touch his cheek, causing him to howl with relief and joy that the mask had vanished, burying his face in his hands and sobbing as he collapsed against the rocks. Time passed, and he recovered enough to reach up to find the source of the breeze. Feeling around he quickly discovered that the path led up through a narrow crack above him and began to scramble through the rocks, only stopping when the tunnel seemed to bend back into a horizontal crevasse. He squirmed up onto the ledge, realising that there was open air above his head and slowly getting to his feet. He raised his gaze to find himself face to face with his son, now grown and staring at him in disbelief from across the expanse of the Shattered Shelf.

Filling in the blanks
After Yuriel escorted Nils out of Old Greybank and back to the apartment, he was reunited with Rem and his family over the next few days, eventually coming to learn of Nuol's death and young granddaughter. The adjustment is ongoing and difficult for Nils who now suffers PTSD from the events in the Shadowfell, and is slowly working on regaining control over the emotions he forced into overdrive to compensate for the draining effect of the other plane. He continues his habit of writing in his notebook every evening but has transitioned it to a proper journal, and is seeing gradual recovery spending downtime with his friends and family. The skills he learned in the Veiled League have gone to good use in his position as Spymaster (a position the Royal Council kept open in his honour, and happily allowed him to retake) and he demanded a debriefing from The Tyrants and the Cabinet of Faces, spending a solid month with each to hear the salient points of their work during the time he was away. His relationship with Rem remained strained for a while, though Rem has been laudably supportive throughout mood swings, night terrors, and destructive outbursts.

The Lucky Seven
The ring formed from the golden threads of the Tapestry of Fate were able to be separated by a simple spoken desire from Nils, and instinctively he knew which strand belonged to which person. When Rem asked why he had chosen the owner of the seventh, Nils looked confused for a moment before eventually answering that he had just known it to be what he needed to do (as humanoid memory will tend to fill in the blank spots left behind, rationalised his "decision" as follows), that "[he]'s had a rough run. Nobody's really ever been in his corner, they all just wanted something and planned to abandon him when it was convenient. He's strong now, yeah, and weird... ok, yeah, maybe very weird. But maybe now [he] can actually walk outside of Rajaat's shadow and not have to worry about what happens after".

Misc.

 * Alignment progression from Neutral Evil > Chaotic Evil > Chaotic Neutral. Swaps between the last two.
 * Has an absolutely terrible singing voice and can't carry a tune to save his life.