Emi Novak
Emi Novak (a.k.a. Novak)
A man who just wants to settle down with his family
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Fast and enduring
Body Features
Slender almost seemingly thin.
Facial Features
Scar over his left eye. Round jaws. Beard.
Identifying Characteristics
Missing two fingers on his left hand
Apparel & Accessories
Wears clothes that has been fine once, but is now older and more ragged.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
I grew up in the Southern Ward in Waterdeep. My family was never the richest of families, obviously, and we lived in an apartment in the dusty streets just south of Caravan Court. I was an only child, my parents couldn’t afford more, and made the somewhat smart choice of not toying with fate. My father, Jaro was a quiet man, rarely said more than a few grumbles and snorts. People laughed behind his back, whispering that he was the long lost son of a brainless half-orc. But Jaro wasn’t stupid, he was one of the wisest men I have ever come across, he just didn’t share his knowledge with everyone. He preferred staying silent, rather having people gossip than know. From what I know he was not an only child, he was one of many, somewhere above the middle, but still not old enough to being heard. Resulting in him only talking when it was needed. He was a dockworker, like many of our neighbors in the Southern Ward. He got up early in the morning, and came back late. Still, he was a good father.
My mother, Imani was more present, like mothers usually were. But more present didn’t mean less busy, just more skilled to the task of being a parent. I wish I had her abilities. Imani worked in one of the local taverns in the Southern Ward, no, not as a bar maiden. Not as a cook either. No, Imani was a performer, an artist. I only wish she could get back something equal to what she gave. She was perfect, and skilled. But she refused to work at any of the «better» inns, she didn’t want to leave our ward, our city. So she received a lott less coin than what her art was worth. It was frustrating to witness. Me myself, I used to sit by her side when she performed, I grew up on the stage, my legs dangling from the edge, watching my mother as she made everyone fall in love with her. Sadly, when I grew older I also grew tired of sitting and watching, my legs reached all the way to the floor. My mind faltered elsewhere. So when I turned twelve I left my mothers side and found other activities to occupy my time. Oh, how I regret that decision. I met other bored souls, some older and some younger. And togheter we chased away the boredom with everything we could think of, where we eventually found what would become my way, my birthright, just as my mother har her art, and my father had his silence.
I discovered the cards, the cards that had me winning again and again. Cards who fed my hunger and filled my pockets to the brim. Every night I came home with more coins, more gold. Every morning I left with a bigger hunger. And then one day, I lost. I lost my stakes, and wagered more. I lost again, and again. Quickly every coin, everything down to the small copper coins were gone. My parents didn’t say anything, they never expected me to pay for anything, so nothing changed but my obsession. I wanted to win again, I NEEDED to win again! I went out again, sometimes I borrowed money from my parents without them knowing, sometimes I borrowed from my friends, other times I stole it from obliviant passerbyers. Sometimes I won, sometimes I didn’t. Often I came home late, more than often I barely came home at all, spending all my waking hours in the gambling dens.
Then, lightning struck my life. Jaro died. My dearest reserved and quiet father passed away. Nothing spectacular happened, there was no accidents, no foul play, nothing to worry about, no-one to blame. He was old, and he died. My mother disappeared shortly after. She didn’t disappear in a physical way, she was still present, still at home. But her mind was not, she turned blank, her smiles were short and never reached her eyes. Her dimples faded away, never to be seen again. I didn’t know what to do, my father was gone, my mother was vacant in her own mind. And I was a mess. I had no skills to help with our expenses, I had no way in my life. I had simply done what I found fun for seventeen years. I needed direction, and I needed discipline.
I sought someone who could give me this direction, and not long into my search I found The House of Two Hands in the Castle Ward. The monastery was dedicated to Tyr, a god of law and justice. Was this what my life needed? Law and justice? Seemingly so. I joined the monastery, and with the help of their leaders I found a way. I learned to understand myself, to understand life. I spent some years learning the ways, and after that I discovered my true way; helping the poor and hurt. I wanted to aid those who did not have the means to do so themselves. I wanted to give back to the world I grew up in; the community in the Southern Ward had given me everything I could ask for. And now I wanted to give something back. The monastery taught me that mercy was just as much death as life, and finally I understood that the faith my father had gotten was not a punishment for any crime, it was the mercy of the world. Sometimes death could come with opportunities.
After ten years in the monastery I was asked to leave; not as a punishment, but as experience. As an opportunity. I wanted to meet the world, I wanted to understand. So I left to seek out the true meaning of my life. Before leaving I was asked to choose a form to keep as I help those who needed it, a mask to protect both myself and others as I worked with what I could. I chose a completely white mask; a blank slate for everyone who met me. And then I set out on my journey.
My first destination was obvious; I visited my mother. Even though I had seen her several times throughout the years, it was not the same. She had always come to visit me, she had been my guest in my home. Now I ached to be in her home again. It was warm, wonderful, and utterly heartbreaking. I had done everything I could to keep her happy, every month I sent her my money. Every Day of Wonders I joined her in the city, celebrating. We had always been a family, but she had also been alone. After staying with her for some months, I left the city for the first time in my life.
I traveled outside the gates of Waterdeep to see the world as it was. Only accompanied by my backpack filled with a few treasured items, and a dagger my mother had given me, engraved with my parents names. I spent nine years outside the walls of my wonderful city. During this time I did what I could to help those who needed it. I healed those who could be healed, helped the ones who couldn’t to a better place, and fought what was needed to fight to keep some level of peace. One of these adventures was not as successful as I had hoped; let’s face it, a few of these adventures was not as successful as I had hoped. But one was worse than the rest, and during a fight with a quite unfriendly dire wolf I lost two of the fingers on my left hand, but who said we need five anyway? During these years I met someone who changed my life into something I had never imagined a life could become.
I met Vix someone who claimed they were half elf, half human, but which I were positive they were completely fey. Because they were the most beautiful person I had ever met, and a few years after we met, we got married. My life was everything I could ever wish for, but still, after coming out from the monastery something had started tickling furthest back in my brain. An itch I couldn’t scratch, a want I couldn’t understand. Not until one day someone at a bar made a bet with me, I can’t remember what it was, nothing of importance, nothing big. But after the coins had changed hands something hit me, it was like electricity, like a shock. The itch calmed, my heart raced; this, this was what I had missed. The thrill of the bet. I started gambling again, first in small amounts, a few bets here and there, some silver coins, a beer, a favor. Then it turned bigger, cards at a table, dice, pouches with gold, hours turned into days.
During this time I also found another love; our daughter, Dawn . Her name came from the first time Vix and I had met, we were quite romantic. We lived in a small village south of Beregost, moving there had been a attempt to keep my problems to a minimum. But it was hard keeping away from what I truly wanted. And one day I was alone visiting Beregost- on a supply-run as Vix always called it, I met some of my old friends from my younger years in the Southern Ward. They told me they needed help with a job, it would not take long. So I chose to help; which was one of my bigger mistakes in this life. They needed help with finding someone who owed someone else money, and after we found them, we moved them out of town, without their permission. Someone would call it kidnapping, I would most definitely call it kidnapping. It was a human cleric who had lost some coin, and we needed to collect. Which we did. But when we came back to town, someone had seen us, and before I kew it I was in a courtroom. To my luck I was not convicted. To my luck right there and then, I was not convicted, but only a few days later my luck ran out. The Cleric, who had nod actually been a cleric, but a cult member of some cult believing in a prince, The Cult of the prince of the Apocalypse was now the kidnapper and not the kiddnapp-ed. And before I knew what was happening I was lying on an altar, drugged down and ready to be sacrificed to some prince. Thankfully, I have both a quite impressive partner and friends, and they managed to get the guards to stop the cult meeting, stopping them just before piercing chest with a dagger. But alas the guards aren’t always so capable, and the cultist ran away. Which only led me and Vix to agree that we could not live there in the south anymore, so we packed up our house, and brought our family to the Crown of the North.
There, we settled down in my favorite part of the city; the Southern Ward, only a few streets down from my childhood home. Moving in, we had no idea that the house had another occupant; a ghost named Pho It was quite a scare waking up one morning and having a head peaking up through my coffee-cup. But Pho is a quite friendly ghost, so now we are currently four residents in our apartment. But being back in Waterdeep was both perfect, but also hard. It was hard not falling back into what had been my life when I lived in the Southern Ward, and occasionally I visited the gambling dens. Occasionally I spent a few nights there, and occasionally I lost a lot.. a lot of money. And occasionally, or actually, only once, I lost more money than I had, a lot more than I could ever have. But they cut me a deal, instead of having me and my family thrown out of my house, and out of the city, I am to go down into the Yawning Portal, to retrieve one of their former lieutenants; Harlod. And if I manage to find them, my debt will be erased. But who is crazy enough to go down into the portal, because surly I can't do this alone. Well, rumour has it that a company, called KC is planning on diving down real soon...
My mother, Imani was more present, like mothers usually were. But more present didn’t mean less busy, just more skilled to the task of being a parent. I wish I had her abilities. Imani worked in one of the local taverns in the Southern Ward, no, not as a bar maiden. Not as a cook either. No, Imani was a performer, an artist. I only wish she could get back something equal to what she gave. She was perfect, and skilled. But she refused to work at any of the «better» inns, she didn’t want to leave our ward, our city. So she received a lott less coin than what her art was worth. It was frustrating to witness. Me myself, I used to sit by her side when she performed, I grew up on the stage, my legs dangling from the edge, watching my mother as she made everyone fall in love with her. Sadly, when I grew older I also grew tired of sitting and watching, my legs reached all the way to the floor. My mind faltered elsewhere. So when I turned twelve I left my mothers side and found other activities to occupy my time. Oh, how I regret that decision. I met other bored souls, some older and some younger. And togheter we chased away the boredom with everything we could think of, where we eventually found what would become my way, my birthright, just as my mother har her art, and my father had his silence.
I discovered the cards, the cards that had me winning again and again. Cards who fed my hunger and filled my pockets to the brim. Every night I came home with more coins, more gold. Every morning I left with a bigger hunger. And then one day, I lost. I lost my stakes, and wagered more. I lost again, and again. Quickly every coin, everything down to the small copper coins were gone. My parents didn’t say anything, they never expected me to pay for anything, so nothing changed but my obsession. I wanted to win again, I NEEDED to win again! I went out again, sometimes I borrowed money from my parents without them knowing, sometimes I borrowed from my friends, other times I stole it from obliviant passerbyers. Sometimes I won, sometimes I didn’t. Often I came home late, more than often I barely came home at all, spending all my waking hours in the gambling dens.
Then, lightning struck my life. Jaro died. My dearest reserved and quiet father passed away. Nothing spectacular happened, there was no accidents, no foul play, nothing to worry about, no-one to blame. He was old, and he died. My mother disappeared shortly after. She didn’t disappear in a physical way, she was still present, still at home. But her mind was not, she turned blank, her smiles were short and never reached her eyes. Her dimples faded away, never to be seen again. I didn’t know what to do, my father was gone, my mother was vacant in her own mind. And I was a mess. I had no skills to help with our expenses, I had no way in my life. I had simply done what I found fun for seventeen years. I needed direction, and I needed discipline.
I sought someone who could give me this direction, and not long into my search I found The House of Two Hands in the Castle Ward. The monastery was dedicated to Tyr, a god of law and justice. Was this what my life needed? Law and justice? Seemingly so. I joined the monastery, and with the help of their leaders I found a way. I learned to understand myself, to understand life. I spent some years learning the ways, and after that I discovered my true way; helping the poor and hurt. I wanted to aid those who did not have the means to do so themselves. I wanted to give back to the world I grew up in; the community in the Southern Ward had given me everything I could ask for. And now I wanted to give something back. The monastery taught me that mercy was just as much death as life, and finally I understood that the faith my father had gotten was not a punishment for any crime, it was the mercy of the world. Sometimes death could come with opportunities.
After ten years in the monastery I was asked to leave; not as a punishment, but as experience. As an opportunity. I wanted to meet the world, I wanted to understand. So I left to seek out the true meaning of my life. Before leaving I was asked to choose a form to keep as I help those who needed it, a mask to protect both myself and others as I worked with what I could. I chose a completely white mask; a blank slate for everyone who met me. And then I set out on my journey.
My first destination was obvious; I visited my mother. Even though I had seen her several times throughout the years, it was not the same. She had always come to visit me, she had been my guest in my home. Now I ached to be in her home again. It was warm, wonderful, and utterly heartbreaking. I had done everything I could to keep her happy, every month I sent her my money. Every Day of Wonders I joined her in the city, celebrating. We had always been a family, but she had also been alone. After staying with her for some months, I left the city for the first time in my life.
I traveled outside the gates of Waterdeep to see the world as it was. Only accompanied by my backpack filled with a few treasured items, and a dagger my mother had given me, engraved with my parents names. I spent nine years outside the walls of my wonderful city. During this time I did what I could to help those who needed it. I healed those who could be healed, helped the ones who couldn’t to a better place, and fought what was needed to fight to keep some level of peace. One of these adventures was not as successful as I had hoped; let’s face it, a few of these adventures was not as successful as I had hoped. But one was worse than the rest, and during a fight with a quite unfriendly dire wolf I lost two of the fingers on my left hand, but who said we need five anyway? During these years I met someone who changed my life into something I had never imagined a life could become.
I met Vix someone who claimed they were half elf, half human, but which I were positive they were completely fey. Because they were the most beautiful person I had ever met, and a few years after we met, we got married. My life was everything I could ever wish for, but still, after coming out from the monastery something had started tickling furthest back in my brain. An itch I couldn’t scratch, a want I couldn’t understand. Not until one day someone at a bar made a bet with me, I can’t remember what it was, nothing of importance, nothing big. But after the coins had changed hands something hit me, it was like electricity, like a shock. The itch calmed, my heart raced; this, this was what I had missed. The thrill of the bet. I started gambling again, first in small amounts, a few bets here and there, some silver coins, a beer, a favor. Then it turned bigger, cards at a table, dice, pouches with gold, hours turned into days.
During this time I also found another love; our daughter, Dawn . Her name came from the first time Vix and I had met, we were quite romantic. We lived in a small village south of Beregost, moving there had been a attempt to keep my problems to a minimum. But it was hard keeping away from what I truly wanted. And one day I was alone visiting Beregost- on a supply-run as Vix always called it, I met some of my old friends from my younger years in the Southern Ward. They told me they needed help with a job, it would not take long. So I chose to help; which was one of my bigger mistakes in this life. They needed help with finding someone who owed someone else money, and after we found them, we moved them out of town, without their permission. Someone would call it kidnapping, I would most definitely call it kidnapping. It was a human cleric who had lost some coin, and we needed to collect. Which we did. But when we came back to town, someone had seen us, and before I kew it I was in a courtroom. To my luck I was not convicted. To my luck right there and then, I was not convicted, but only a few days later my luck ran out. The Cleric, who had nod actually been a cleric, but a cult member of some cult believing in a prince, The Cult of the prince of the Apocalypse was now the kidnapper and not the kiddnapp-ed. And before I knew what was happening I was lying on an altar, drugged down and ready to be sacrificed to some prince. Thankfully, I have both a quite impressive partner and friends, and they managed to get the guards to stop the cult meeting, stopping them just before piercing chest with a dagger. But alas the guards aren’t always so capable, and the cultist ran away. Which only led me and Vix to agree that we could not live there in the south anymore, so we packed up our house, and brought our family to the Crown of the North.
There, we settled down in my favorite part of the city; the Southern Ward, only a few streets down from my childhood home. Moving in, we had no idea that the house had another occupant; a ghost named Pho It was quite a scare waking up one morning and having a head peaking up through my coffee-cup. But Pho is a quite friendly ghost, so now we are currently four residents in our apartment. But being back in Waterdeep was both perfect, but also hard. It was hard not falling back into what had been my life when I lived in the Southern Ward, and occasionally I visited the gambling dens. Occasionally I spent a few nights there, and occasionally I lost a lot.. a lot of money. And occasionally, or actually, only once, I lost more money than I had, a lot more than I could ever have. But they cut me a deal, instead of having me and my family thrown out of my house, and out of the city, I am to go down into the Yawning Portal, to retrieve one of their former lieutenants; Harlod. And if I manage to find them, my debt will be erased. But who is crazy enough to go down into the portal, because surly I can't do this alone. Well, rumour has it that a company, called KC is planning on diving down real soon...
Gender Identity
Sexuality
Education
The House of Two Hands
Employment
In debt to the Cassalanters.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Failures & Embarrassments
Mental Trauma
Intellectual Characteristics
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Virtues & Personality perks
Virtues:
Good
Helpful
Vices & Personality flaws
Vice:
Gambling
Social
Contacts & Relations
Family Ties
Religious Views
Wealth & Financial state
A man with debt far over his liking and no way out of it.
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