Hank
Hank
Ceremorph, Ulithiard. Alhoon (Illithilich) DOB: outside of time and space (it/it’s) Loyalty 20 (Dedicated) The being known to the Lightwood Company as Hank has been one of their chief allies since joining them in Chult. Originally a timeless quasi-physical being of the mindscape, Hank possessed it’s current body roughly one hundred years ago, when the spheres were shattered in the new paradigm. Travelling to Faerun on the ship that would eventually become the Lightwood Company’s flagship, Hank struggled at first to contain the biological urges of its Ulithiard body. Along with its two siblings it guided the vessel towards Chult, feeling the thanergic interference of Acererak’s emergence. During the way it attempted to free the illithid’s thrall cohort from their psionic enslavement, but had not yet mastered its powers and merely caused the thralls to rise up in anger. The vessel crashed on Chult with Frank aboard, who would later meet the Lightwood Company, while the other siblings drifted in space above the planet. Hank was forced to feed on several of the drifting thralls corpses to survive, while its Ulithiard constitution kept it from asphyxiation, and after several weeks drifting in space gained enough control of its bodies magical abilities to ride the magical weave of the planet down to its surface. Hank landed on almost the opposite side of the planet from Chult, and it took nearly eighty years before it could sense its planetbound sibling, and almost another twenty before it found itself on the shores of Chult, rather worse for the wear. Reaching the island by way of the underdark, it was captured by the red dragon Tinder, and gifted as a play-thing to the fire newts of Hrakhamar. Weakened and starving, Hank languished starving in the dwarven vault for weeks before Frank and the Lightwood Company entered the fallen dwarven city, and cried out in the mindscape the moment it felt Frank get close. Its own power stronger than it could control in such a state, it weakened Frank’s control of their own illithid body, and their sibling fell into the lava while trying to get to them. Thankfully for Hank (and indeed, for the Lightwood Company both at the time, and in the time since) the monk Caitlin had managed to snag the bag of preserved brains that Frank had prepared for their sibling, and it scoffed the brains bag and all, bringing it back to health quickly. It probed the groups minds and found their companionship endearing, instantly resolving to assist them in their shared mission to prevent Acereraks emergence. Hank provided advice, supported the group in combat, and fortified their physical bodies when Acererak appeared outside Omu to steal their souls. As a quasi-physical being of the mindscape, it was invisible to Acererak, but was unable to enter the Tomb of the Nine Gods until the Soulmonger had been deactivated and the battle against Acererak had entered its final moments. Teleporting itself into the fray, it drew power away from the Atropal and Acererak’s would be dracolich body, feeding upon it and using the power of the book of bones to absorb the power and turn itself into an Alhoon, or Illithilich. This weakened Acererak’s new form sufficiently that, once guided into space aborne the vessel Frank had mostly repaired during it’s time on Chult, the Lightwood Company was able to defeat Acererak and save Faerun from total destruction. The price to Hank was high however, as the only suitable object to bind itself to as a phylactery was psionic protomatter that became the ships helm. This process not only bound Hanks quasi-physical self to the undead state, it left it unable to stand close proximity to the helm for more than a few moments nor move more than a hundred or so feet away from it, confining it to the bounds of the vessel. Hank remains the Lightwood Company’s strongest and most powerful ally, although it cannot join them on missions nor pilot their vessel. It provides advice and support, and continues to use its alchemical, magical, and psionic abilities for their benefit. Only the core leadership group of the Lightwood Company are aware of its true nature as an Illithilich, as its connection with them has allowed them to see through the perception filter it deployed as it travelled Faerun. To the rest of the crew and any interlopers it continued to appear as a seven foot tall human with brown skin. Aboard the ship, Hank can usually be found in the laboratory, the library, the infirmary, or simply floating through the halls as a silent protector.
Alignment
Lawful Good
Currently Boarded Vehicle
Species
Year of Death
2961 SYoF
Circumstances of Death
Died siphoning thanergic energy from Acererak's Soul Monger
Place of Death
Tomb of the Nine Gods, Omu, Chult, Toril
Children
Pronouns
it/its
Sex
None
Gender
None
Presentation
Alhoon or Androgynous Human Male (dark skin)
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Related Plots
Comments