Chrip

Chrip
Emperor of Winter
Race	Kercpa (Archfey)
Gender	Male
Character Class	Sorcerer
Status	Alive
Alignment	Chaotic Neutral

Chrip is a kercpa sorcerer with a mastery over cold and storms. Chrip loves harmless pranks and stealing things just for the challenge. That is what landed him in the company of the Challengers of the Unspeakable (he still doesn't understand this name as they seem to do quite a bit of speaking). His sense of humor got him into a bit of trouble with a certain humorless Prince. Before he knew it, he was caught and kicked through a portal to the wasteland where he met the adventurers while he was trying to get past some boring, old man with a funny stick.

Chrip carries a staff, though it is far shorter than it was originally, and a spellbook that he snatched from an old wizard (that wizard is now running around using some minor lord's accounting book as his spellbook and not understanding why his magic has failed him). Chrip didn't know a thing about magic when he stole it, but through trial and error has figured out how to cast spells.

History

Early life

Chrip grew up in the Winter Wood of the Feywild. A prankster and trickster, Chrip enjoyed playing tricks and practical jokes on the other creatures of the Winter Court. He made liberal use of his natural talent for ice magic, which he improved after stealing a spellbook from an eladrin wizard (and replacing it with a log of financial transactions from the goblin market). Chrip was particularly fond of defacing statues of self-important individuals, to make them take themselves less seriously.

Over the years Chrip got bolder with the targets of his jokes, especially favoring the sorts of wicked and evil creatures he considered to have "no sense of humor." Eventually he ventured into the Vale of the Long Night to play pranks on the biggest target he knew of, the cruel Prince of Frost: a powerful archfey that ruled the entire Winter Court. Chrip snuck into the Fortress of Frozen Tears on a number of occasions to play his tricks, until finally he was caught by the guards. The Prince of Frost, having no patience for the kercpa's jokes, promptly sent him into exile through a portal to the Abyss.

Exile in the Abyss

Chrip arrived in the realm of Deadhold, an endless expanse of wasteland. Chrip saw only a single figure, a hunched servant of Orcus known as the Keeper, and promptly started peppering him with questions. Soon after a band of adventurers known as the Challengers of the Unspeakable also arrived in Deadhold, seeking the vampire lord Zirithian. After bargaining for directions, the Keeper agreed not to warn Zirithian of their coming as long as they took Chrip with them. Chrip got to know his new companions on their journey through Deadhold: the half-orc ranger Harthur, the dragonborn battlemind Elytra, and the half-elf bard Kayleth. Chrip got along especially well, though, with the thri-kreen monk Kalth.

As they journeyed, Chrip showed off his mastery of ice magic to defeat the enemies they encountered as his skill with words to talk past many of the guards. As they passed into Zirithian's fortress, though, Chrip beheld a vision of Orcus. The demon lord promised Chrip that if he bowed to Orcus, slew Zirithian in the demon lord's name, and then delivered Zirithian's sword, Orcus would name Chrip his exarch and make Chrip the new Prince of Frost. Chrip contemplated the offer, and after Zirithina's death took up his sword, but after bargaining with Orcus for safe passage out of the Abyss decided not to give either the sword or his allegiance to Orcus.

The Challengers of the Unspeakable

Chrip gave the sword to Harthur, and as he could not return to the Feywild he continued to journey with the Challengers of the Unspeakable as they fought against invaders from the Far Realm led by the mad wizard Tephra. After rescuing the Challengers' ally, Myra Brigg, from a band of fire giants, Chrip went with them to hidden vault beneath the city of Silverstone. Within the vault they found an artifact that had once belonged to the Prince of Frost: a crystalline acorn known as the Seed of Winter, which held a tiny portion of the archfey's power. Remembering Orcus's tempting promise to name him the new Prince of Frost, Chrip decided that he would make it happen himself and claimed the Seed of Winter for himself. Soon after, he used it to convince the white dragon Chillreaver and a band of fugitives from the Winter Court to support him when the day came to overthrow the Prince of Frost.

The Challengers of the Unspeakable traveled to the ancient ruins of Estorium in their continuing campaign against Tephra's aberrations, exploring the Ziggurat. Chrip helped his companions as they battled the dracolich Rukaleth and the larva mage Kask, and in reclaiming the powerful Estorian Hourglass. They soon found themselves within a demiplane controlled by the corrupted dragon Orantis, which started collapsing after they killed Orantis; Chrip's magic was instrumental in stabilizing the demiplane before it completely imploded. Elsewhere in Estorium, they aided their allies in establishing a stronghold against Tephra in the ruins of Terastra, which soon came under attack from the forces of Orcus, now allied with Tephra himself. Among his forces was an eladrin lich named Ghovran Akti; Chrip recognized him as a powerful servant of the Prince of Frost, and after defeating him suggested taking his lich back to the Feywild to destroy it.

The group used a Fey Crossing to reach the city of Mithrendain, where they quickly became embroiled in a plot against Councilor Saffrenia. It ultimately turned out to be a former enemy of the Challengers of the Unspeakable, having been corrupted by Tephra, and after destroying him once more they gave the phylactery to Saffrenia to destroy and returned to Tephra to find it under attack by drow. The drow were targeting the wizard Jorlin, who carried the soul gems of Acererak needed to close Tephra's portal to the Far Realm. After the drow were defeated, Jorlin asked the Challengers to take him to a some magically protected ruins to the north. The ruins turned out to now be the lair of the orium dragon Zanathakla, who agreed to let Jorlin stay on the condition that the Challengers bring him some relics from the nearby ruined temple of Wee Jas.

While exploring the temple they found a sarcophagus heavily warded against aberrations. Inside they were shocked to discover the paladin Gryff, an old member of the Challengers who had been lost in the Far Realm. Though Gryff had no memory of how he had come to be in the sarcophagus, he was eager to rejoin his companions. The group was suspicious of him, even though he was able to answer every question they had correctly. Finally, Chrip came up with an idea. He told Gryff that they would open a portal to return him to Silverstone, but that in order to safely go through Gryff would need to drink a vial of "portal lube." Gryff agreed and drank the proffered vial, which was in truth a powerful sleeping potion. Once rendered unconscious, Gryff was revealed to be a horrible aberration that had been reading their minds. They continued on after destroying it, discovering an oni that threw Harthur into a portal to the Abyss. The group dove through the portal to chase after him, but he was gone. They took a portal back to Jorlin and asked the wizard to scry on Harthur; Jorlin's vision suggested that Harthur was dead.

The Challengers continued on to the ruins of Rathna to establish a second outpost against Tephra, joined by the elven rogue Grayson. Tephra soon marched on their outpost with a massive army of undead, aberration, and demons led by the real Gryff, now a corrupted undead horror. As they struck down their former friend, a brilliant light shone down as Gryff's goddess claimed his soul, vaporizing Tephra's army.

Soon after the sorceress Vyrellis arrived at Rathna, and told them that the evil wizard Theriana, who commanded the drow, had captured Jorlin and taken the soul gems. In order to get them back, they would need to surrender to Theriana so that she would imprison them within the Pyramid of Shadows. Once inside, Vyrellis would be able to help them escape with the soul gems as well as rescuing some of their companions who had also been imprisoned within. They begrudgingly agreed, and once inside Grayson left to scout ahead. Guided by Vyrellis's spirit, Chrip and the others rescued the Challengers' old companions Priam, Gurrard, and Ro, as well as the imprisoned hengeyokai ranger Kitsu. After Grayson returned, Vyrellis told them that to escape they would need to defeat the wizard Karavakos. During the fight Grayson betrayed them, but teleported away. After defeating Karavakos, Vyrellis helped them escape with the soul gems. As Grayson had betrayed them, Kitsu offered to join them.

Chrip's Ascension

Before the final assault on Tephra's portal, they decided they needed allies. First they headed to the Iron Crags, where they recruited Elytra's sister, Alea, and her Iron Skull Tribe of barbarians. To secure their allegiance, they needed to defeat the nearby Iceblood Clan of frost giants. While invading the frost giants' fortress, they discovered the Prince of Frost had sent emissaries to ally himself with the frost giants. Chrip managed to convince them to instead support him in his attempt to overthrow the Prince of Frost, and after defeating the frost giants decided that the time had finally come to do so. The Challengers returned to the Feywild where Chrip asked the Summer Queen to support his rebellion.

The Summer Queen told them that centuries ago, the Winter Court was led by the Queen of Winter, and the Prince of Frost was her consort. Though the Winter and Summer Courts were not friendly then, nor were they enemies, content largely to let each other alone. When an unseelie army attacked from the Feydark the two armies joined forces to fight them off. Though there was hope that the alliance might last beyond the war, those hopes were dashed when the fomorian king attacked the Winter Court's capital. The Summer Queen sent an army to aid them, but she arrived just in time to find the Prince of Frost holding the dead Queen of Winter in his arms. The Prince blamed the Summer Queen for her death, believing she had intentionally held back her armies to let her rival die. The Prince of Frost forever banished all members of the Summer Court from his lands on penalty of death. It was said that when the Queen of Winter died, his heart froze in his chest. Knowing the danger he now posed, the Summer Queen sorrowfully agreed to aid in his downfall.

While the armies of Summer attacked the Fortress of Frozen Tears, Chrip and his companions snuck through a hidden passage into the caverns beneath the fortress. The caverns were guarded by a pair of blizzard dragons, and soon after destroying them they came upon the Prince of Frost's wicked daughter, Koliada the Winter Witch. After a long battle Kayleth disarmed Koliada before plunging Koliada's own sword through her chest. Elsewhere in the caverns they discovered the body of the Queen of Winter, magically preserved within a glass coffin. Magically disguising himself as Koliada, Chrip was able to convince many of the guards they encountered to turn against the Prince of Frost, and even to release his prisoners to join the rebellion.

They continued to ascend up through the fortress, turning the Prince of Frost's minions where they could and dispatching those they could not, until they at last confronted him in his throne room. In his disguise as Koliada, Chrip told the Prince of Frost that he was no longer fit to rule, and demanded he step down and give her the throne. The Prince of Frost refused, denouncing her as an ungrateful child, a misbegotten bastard, and a traitor, and attacked them. As an archfey, the Prince of Frost wielded great power and presented formidable defenses, but Chrip was able to penetrate them with the Seed of Winter. After a long combat, the Prince of Frost was disarmed and driven to his knees, at which point Chrip gave him the opportunity to end his reign with dignity, offering him eternal slumber beside his beloved Queen of Winter. The Prince of Frost sneered back, saying "Dignity? What dignity is there in being betrayed by one's own blood? I raised you, sheltered you, trained you, and this is how you repay me? I should have killed you just as I did your whore of a mother, you bitch!" Without another word, Chrip hurled a shard of ice straight through the Prince of Frost's heart.

Dropping his disguise, Chrip took his place upon the Prince of Frost's throne. As he did so, the Seed of Winter fulfilled its true purpose, channeling the Prince of Frost's power into Chrip and turning him into an archfey as the new ruler of the Winter Court. Stepping out onto the balcony, Chrip called out to the armies clashing below to cease their fighting: the Prince of Frost was dead, and Chrip now named himself as Emperor of Winter in his place. Chrip knew he could not spend much time reveling in his new power, though, as he still had to help his companions defeat Tephra. After appointing an aide to see to the important tasks of the transition in his absence, Chrip departed the Feywild with an army of Winter and Summer Court eladrin at his back.

The Final Battle

After returning to Rathna, an meteor crashed through the planar barriers and slammed into the ground, where it began corrupting the land around it. While Kitsu, Kalth, and Elytra battled the demons and aberrations that emerged in the meteor's wake, Chrip and Kayleth used their magic to help seal the planar rift left by the meteor's arrival. With the rift sealed, in order to completely stop the meteor's corruption they were forced to do battle with Tephra's other demonic ally, the demon queen Oublivae. Though they succeeded in defeating her, Kayleth was lost in the Abyss. Soon after, their forces were bolstered by the arrival of Vyrellis with an army of Estorian mages and gem dragons, as well as the angel Zohar who had been sent by the gods to ensure their success.

The ritual needed to close Tephra's portal required a number of artifacts, the final one being the divine scythe Lifecutter held by Tephra's minions. After reclaiming the scythe, however, they were confronted by Orcus himself. Tephra had promised Lifecutter to the demon lord in exchange for his aid, and now he had come to collect. When Orcus opened a portal to summon his minions, however, Harthur emerged. The ranger had survived his time in the Abyss, and was pledged to Orcus's demise. After a long battle Harthur plunged Zirithian's sword into Orcus, at which point the entity bound within the sword destroyed Orcus and used his flesh to craft a new body for itself. This new demon lord, Nightbringer, named Harthur first among his exarchs and promised a boon to the Challengers for their help in securing its freedom; they asked it to locate Kayleth, which it agreed to before departing with Harthur.

With their armies at their backs, and the ritual artifacts in their hands, the Challengers led their assault on Tephra's portal. They destroyed all of Tephra's most powerful aberrant minions and creations, finally confronting Tephra herself. As they struck her down, however, she succeeded in summoning a godlike entity from the Far Realm known as Allabar, which began forcing its massive bulk through the portal. Chrip and his companions desperately attacked it until it pulled away from the portal, at which point Elytra, knowing it would soon redouble its efforts, dove through the portal herself and plunged the artifacts into Allabar's flesh, completing the ritual and sealing the portal forever.

The Emperor of Winter

Chrip returned to the Feywild, with Kitsu coming along as his advisor. As he had offered, he lay the Prince of Frost's body beside the Queen of Winter. However, after a rebel attempted to steal the bodies, Chrip had them cremated and their ashes scattered across his domain. As he did not care for the dreary and imposing Fortress of Frozen Tears, he instead oversaw the construction of a new palace within the Winter Wood. One of his first actions was to resume relations with the Summer Court, promising that under his rule the Winter Court would come to be known as a place of fun and frivolity rather than the realm of despair and bitterness that it had been under the Prince of Frost. While he was largely successful in this endeavor, not all of the Winter Court were happy with this new direction. Three years later, eladrin loyal to the Prince of Frost took over the Vale of the Long Night and reclaimed the Fortress of Frozen Tears. Led by an enigmatic figure known as the Pale King, they called themselves the Night Court and swore to oppose Chrip's rule.

Thus far Chrip has succeeded in defending his lands from the Night Court, but he wonders how long before they launch a serious invasion. Fortunately, Chrip knows he can count on the Summer Queen to come to his aid.

Excerpt from Chrip's Journal (or How to Make Friends and Influence Demons)

Hanging out with adventurers is hazardous to one's health! Not more than a day with these strangers and I nearly died!! At first I thought this would be a lark. There was a funny bug thing called Kalth who seemed to delight in my tales of thievery and pranks and we were going on an adventure to raid some guy named Orcus' temple. Little did I know I'd be dragged across a desert (I hate sand!) and come a little too close to my own demise against some wizard with a serious grudge against people on her bridge. Thankfully, it seems these adventurers are also willing to bring me back from death, should I fall into a bad situation. Note to self: Stand behind the bug thing...way behind.

We're doing well! Since I have been staying behind Kalth I haven't died! I hate to jinx my squirrely nature, but I haven't been hit nearly as much since I let the bigger, metal-y guys stand in front. I even got to put my charismatic nature to the test! I successfully negotiated the exchange of some very magic stones for a nice lady who seems to be a friend of the party. I do wonder if I shouldn't have stolen the stones back after we traded, because the mean lady vanished soon after and left the poor captive stuck in a big, red crystal. Oooo! If only I could have fit THAT in my bag of holding. Such a treasure....a treasure fit for a prince! Near the end of our battle with the giant nasties, they stuck me in the crystal. Well, that would have been nice except that it was really hot! This squirrel is NOT a desert squirrel. No, I longed for my wintery feywilds while stuck in that accursed thing. That thought alone (well, that and a bit of squirrel magic) is what gave me the strength to break free of the crystal before the rest of the group knew what I was doing! No magic prison can hold me!!! Hmm..I wonder if that's why the Prince of Frost kicked me here instead of putting me in his dungeon. So we saved this lady, Myra, I think she is called, and were on our way to her home via a portal when something went wrong. I had to have them explain this whole portal thing to me a few times (must remember to steal a "linked portal" spell as soon as possible) but the young man who came through after we sent Myra back told us there was trouble and the mean lady we just finished dealing with was now laying waste to Myra's magic school. I guess that's where we're off to next. Ooh! Maybe they'll have spells they can teach me...or I can steal.