Meet the crew! Whether it was divine providence, fate, or just sheer happenstance, the companions now travel as one.
Arnie Lambert
Class: Cleric - Domain of Light (17)
Race: Human
Background: Folk Hero
Alignment: Lawful Good
Played by: Jason
Arnie's friendly nature made his former handyman business very successful... except it bled money. Charging people for his help was just so stressful! A relaxing vacation to Chult is just what he needs.
Likes: Tropical resorts and fruit drinks.
Dislikes: Stress.
Fun Fact: He once volunteered to build his ex a house when she left him.
Growing up in a wealthy Baldur's Gate family shaped Arnie to want little to do with money. His business 'Mr. Handy Hands' rarely accepted payment and expectedly failed, and the Chultan "vacation" that followed somewhat cracked his thin veneer of sanity. The handyman's grasp on reality is questionable at times, but nevertheless, he's always willing to go above and beyond to help others! Arnie is the bestest friend you'll ever have. Unless you're a cannibal. Then he's got his eye on you.
Though often naïve and unrealistic, Arnie's intense desire to do right has become a guiding force for the crew. He's even at times viewed as a leader, with the group honoring his solid moral compass by dubbing themselves 'The Handy Hands'. His divine connection to Lathander is an oddity for a handyman, but perhaps some gods just want a person to lead by example.
Over time Arnie has found many a new and interesting way to make his abilities illuminate or burninate. Losing two pet dogs, meeting locals with dietary tastes for other humanoids, and losing friends has threatened his mental state, but so far he's come out on top. Mostly. His need to please others has led to an intense interest in theater, becoming a playwright and stage director. Sure, his productions tend to put viewers in mortal peril but hey, no one has died. Yet.
Not one to let a Death Curse get him down the handyman continues to make the most of it, finding simple pleasures and even getting into drug experimentation with his best friend (and bad influence) Peach. He's even become a business owner once again, and the Handy Hands Entertainment Experience is beginning to thrive in this post-pandemic new world!
Bertram Frode
Class: Warlock - Hexblade (14), Rogue - Thief (3)
Race: Aasimar
Background: Archaeologist
Alignment: Neutral Good
Played by: Erik
With a knack for remaining calm and collected in terrible situations, Bertram is a cultured and determined historian. Young but resourceful, he seeks knowledge both historic and arcane.
Likes: Avoiding terrible situations.
Dislikes: Terrible situations.
Fun Fact: He once read a 1,999 page book in under an hour.
Bertram serves as the academic core of the group in making scientific and arcane conclusions. Though he hides it well, his true story is that he is from a small mining town in the north, middle child of a poor family, and a fugitive after killing his own brother in self defense. His sister has since forgiven him, and Bertram always takes care to send gold home for his mother. Between a mysterious pact with a sentient weapon, a traumatic self-explosion of energy that turned his eyes gold and revealed his Aasimar heritage, and meeting his cantankerous celestial grandfather, Bertram has found his path also leads inward.
His pact with the Raven Queen is one of knowledge and discovery, with literally more to the story. The tales of mortal lives are the essence of his patron, so when the Death Curse prevented souls from leaving this world Bertram searched the jungles for answers. Stress from his past and pact built to the point of nightmares literally manifesting, so when a chance encounter with a hag presented opportunity to forget his worries... he did. Without memory of his past or even his family, a revitalized Bertram marched on.
In less weighty notes, an albino dwarf relic has netted him a glorious grey beard and a tiger companion named Samryn. Voyage at sea has led to finding great enjoyment in sailing and fishing. A sense of gallows humor has emerged, revealing a hidden ability in deadpan comedy.
Since ending the Death Curse and living there for the better part of a year, Bertram lives a happy life with his friends and working at the Chultan Museum of Natural History to preserve the region's history in a proactive and ethical way. He's even re-established contact with his family! For once in a very long time, Bertram Frode is doing pretty well for a change.
Pe'charillimeas
Class: Bard - College of Glamour (17)
Race: Eladrin Elf
Background: Entertainer
Alignment: Neutral Good
Played by: Jacob
"Peach" to her friends, this Feywild native is an irrepressible optimist and believer that good lies within all. There's a lot of good to do in the world, but what's a little chaos in the mix?
Likes: Sharing everything with her friends.
Dislikes: People who have yet to realize she is their friend.
Fun Fact: She's still working on this whole "money" concept.
First encountered mutually pursuing a job, this kind and generous bard tagged along to help in any way possible. 'Peach' to those not fluent in Sylvan, she was seeking new allies with intent to venture outward in to the jungles once again... the "once again" part a touch disturbing, as by her own admission Peach was a member of multiple failed adventuring parties before the Handy Hands. Ever the optimist, she has been invaluable at pushing them through rough situations.
Peach's fey nature is a flighty one, her personality and even physical appearance routinely 'molting' with the ups and downs of jungle life, victory, and loss. Throughout all however is determination - whether it's a murder investigation, catfishing a frog king, getting a makeover, or even solving this "gosh darn Death Curse thing". Her discovery of New Age hippy culture in Kir Sabal is just a phase. So the others hope.
Eventually Peach pieced together that the Death Curse and the illness her community's elders sent her to investigate were one and the same. Confronted with mortality again and again has caused her to become alternatingly both more cautious and reckless. Once Krenko (her not-so-secret crush) died she gifted sentience to a kidnapped-and-Stockholm-Syndrome'd juvenile T-rex named Cobbler... a questionable decision, though now she has a loving 'son' of her own.
Mission accomplished, Peach returned to Port Nyanzaru with the others. After tearfully voicing her love to a recently-resurrected Krenko and emotionally coming to terms with herself, the eladrin took off to tour the Feywild with her dinosaur son. Between pirate shenanigans and relationship turmoil with Krenko it has been a trying time for Peach, but the loyal bard never strays far from her friends.
Nakam
Class: Paladin - Oath of Vengeance (15), Sorcerer - Shadow Magic (2)
Race: Changeling
Background: Outlander
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Played by: Abe
This charismatic shapeshifter fell into an odd imposter situation long ago, eventually ending up trapped in a deadly dungeon. Old allies gone, he strives to adapt to new companions.
Likes: Trade skills, taking a break from this whole 'vengeance' thing.
Dislikes: Being awkwardly stuck in the role of 'Himbo' for well over a year.
Fun Fact: Their parents both worked part-time as the same person.
Changeling identities are clothing, and like clothing an identity may be as forgettable as old socks or as revered as a sacred garment. After a traumatic event rocked their community, the changeling born as Pox inherited the vengeful identity of 'Nakam'. It was one that would come to consume their self-image.
It was a while back when Nakam/Pox happened across the adventurers known as The Company of the Yellow Banner. Through a comedy of errors in witnessing the crew's oaf of a fighter, Biff Longsteel, die a foolish death away from his allies, Nakam found themselves masquerading as Biff and awkwardly unable to pull out from the situation. After a few days, though, it was actually kind of relaxing. For years they were revenge personified. Now they simply had to look pretty, smile dumbly, and swing a sword. Without anyone the wiser, the new "Biff Longsteel" took a break from their brooding identity to wander the world.
It was the journey deep into Chult that proved the Banner's last. Stripped of gear and left for dead inside the Tomb of the Nine Gods, most died grisly deaths. But not "Biff". In a twist of irony the imposter lived while his trusting companions did not, albeit trapped in a mirror until freed by the Handy Hands. Ending the awkward ruse in attempt to gain new allies, the mask of Biff was dropped for the persona of Nakam, with perhaps with renewed hope that their fate may not end in a tomb of death.
Since making it out alive and with nowhere in particular to be, Nakam has been enjoying a modest life in Port Nyanzaru helping Arnie's business and taking on jobs utilizing the trade skills learned in his youth. He's still rarely speaks of his past, but that's well and fine for them included. Often living in the present is something that many forget to do.
Fist "Fish" Wyrmheart
Class: Monk - Way of the Ascendant Dragon (17)
Race: Human (Kobold by proxy)
Background: Sailor
Alignment: Neutral
Played by: Dex
Long ago a shipwreck started Fish's new life as chief enforcer to an apex predator. Memories slightly returning, she is born again into yet another new life.
Likes: Shiny rocks and punching things really hard.
Dislikes: Fire newts. Gross!
Fun Fact: Fish has absolutely no idea when they last bathed.
Even 15 or so years ago she wouldn’t have been able to recall much before the shipwreck and head injury. ‘Fist’. That’s what the sailors called her. Something about her fighting ability. She knew the ship was a loaner. That was about it though. She lived, but if she ever got out of this, she owed someone big.
Learning of a dragon and hoard, Fist made fast plans: steal a debtor’s sum, then find a way off this rock! It went as well as one would expect from one with recent brain damage. Several failed attempts in a new scheme emerged: disguise herself as a dragon, then trick the kobold minions to reach the hoard!
Her first costume of scrap wood and berry dye was bought by the kobolds… but as a peer, not a master. Believed to be a giant kobold Fist was treated as kin. Life has a funny way. Over days of earning trust to explore deeper into the dragon's lair, Fish experienced kindness and acceptance for the first time since even before the shipwreck. The little reptiles who treated her as family were the first that she could ever recall doing so.
Day by day, plans of theft were slowly forgotten. The days became years. ‘Fist’ faded, and ‘Fish’ (as the kobolds pronounced it) prevailed. Fragments of an unlucky seafarer are all that remain within one weird-looking 'kobold'. Fish! Strongest of the mountain kobolds! Fish, lover of shiny rocks, shiny flowers, and punching things really really hard! Fish, champion of her dragon queen, Tzindelor the Crimson Dread!
Yet deep recurring thoughts stir. ‘See the world’. ‘Get rich’. ‘Pay a debt’. Odd recurring thoughts for a dragon's minion. Huh. Maybe it’s just because she’s so big. Maybe it’s nothing. Either way, her dragon queen Tzindelor approved time abroad, and that's enough for her!
Handy Hands Alumni.
Some retired. Some perished. Some may return. Once a Handy Hand, always a Handy Hand!
Krenko "Tok-Tok" Kikijiki
STATUS: ALIVE. Retired adventuring to run the Handy Hands' theater ventures.
Class: Barbarian - Totem (9), Bard - College of Swords (4), Artificer - Artillerist (3)
Race: Lizardfolk (formerly Goblin)
Background: Gladiator
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Played by: Jon
A former minion in a dungeon, Krenko eventually decided that that life was for the birds. Why should adventurers have all the fun, anyway?
Likes: Meat. Raw, cooked, whatever.
Dislikes: Assholes.
Fun Fact: He once swallowed a goose whole... intentionally.
Need a friend? Need to start a party? Need someone stabbed? Krenko's your goblin! Equally quick to make allies and launch into violence, Krenko sees no disconnect in tenderly befriending an old dinosaur or ripping the heart out of a prisoner. He's pure id, acting on whims and rarely stopping to think about it.
When first met Krenko had been making a living as a gladiator since his own arrival. Seeing a chance to start reaching for dreams he posed as a tour guide... until it became clear that he had no idea what he was doing. Krenko tagged along and proved himself, eventually being officially accepted into the Handy Hands. Though his expertise is often in doubt, Krenko's dedicated enthusiasm is always appreciated.
Once a lowly dungeon minion himself and one step above a slave led to both a failed revolt and a start to a new life. It also informs the method under the apparent randomness, hence his tendencies to both help those in powerless positions and to utterly destroy bullies. Defense of his friends led to the loss of his right hand, but 'Captain Grapplefist' then took to the seas until he found himself overwhelmed by nearly a whole ship's worth of pirates. Krenko died as he lived: an intensely fierce goblin of pure raw emotion.
Months later, soul freed by the end of the Death Curse, Arnie gave Krenko a second chance at life. After helping Kek build a village he returned to the Handy Hands with a new lease on life (and bardic skills!), once again living life to its fullest. A curse turning him into a crocodile-man that also gifted great intellect transformed his simple goblin life, but he didn't mind too much. There's so many books to read now!
It was the 'God Meat' that did it. For so long Krenko had one desire - to bite a dragon like the one that he was a minion for for so long. The malformed reconstitution of Ubtao was defeated, but the mouthfuls of the defeated entity washed over him in bliss. Peace was found, and more. With his taste for adventure literally sated, the charismatic and intelligent Krenko now runs the Handy Hands' theatrical operations.
Kurururu (Kek)
STATUS: ALIVE. Retired adventuring to form their own tribe.
Class: Monk - The Way of Mercy (13)
Race: Grung
Background: Outlander
Alignment: Neutral
Played by: Jon
An obsession with the very nature of life and death led this grung priest to abandon their tribe. Will answers be found outside of their hierarchal community, or only more questions?
Likes: The obvious superiority of grungs.
Dislikes: Having to deal with non-grungs.
Fun Fact: Kurururu does not do "fun".
Something haunted the Handy Hands' ship, and it wasn't the ghost of Krenko. Eerie as they were with a skull mask and clothing of bones and leaves, Kurururu was a living grung shaman. Death, though, was something of a fascination. This 'Death Curse' had been disturbing the spirits, and after witnessing the battle of Jahaka Anchorage he stalked the Handy Hands believing that their ability for destruction meant they were responsible for the curse. Upon discovery and clearing misconceptions, Kurururu found these tall ones were on a path not too different from his own.
The oddly solitary grung didn't say much at first. His red skin marked him as a priest among his people yet this one travels alone. His only companion was a fey-touched frog that follows him around staring. Always staring. Eventually it came out that Kurururu is a shaman of the Trickster Gods, on a quest for greater meaning after the frustration of grung society's eternal infighting. Sage-like in some ways yet utterly ignorant of life outside of the jungle, he travels with the Handy Hands, growing more disturbed by the answers received to his spiritual questions.
Red skin fading over time - likely a byproduct of abandoning his priestly grung duties - Kurururu found himself eventually entirely monochrome... and no ability to speak his native tongue. Abandoning his grung name in favor of "Kek", the shaman considers himself freed, and investigated the relationship of the Trickster Gods and the Death Curse without bounds.
Senses of self and identity reaching epiphanies inside the Tomb of the Nine Gods (in which they became both female and a gnome for a while), upon exit Kek found themselves freed and ready for the next phase of life: A tribe for all. A tribe without hierarchies, without dogmas, and accepting to all no matter their species. Through the abandoning of everything they found what was worth holding on to.
Colubrin "Col" Eryx
STATUS: DEAD. Slain by giant gargoyles in the Tomb of the Nine Gods.
Class: Druid - Circle of the Moon (12)
Race: Human
Background: Hermit
Alignment: Neutral
Played by: Abe
A nomad from the Anauroch Desert with curious skin, Col is on a journey of self-discovery after his mimicry of reptile survival strategies led to the emergence of druidic gifts.
Likes: Raw meat.
Dislikes: Rocky surfaces in sunlight.
Fun Fact: He can play the kalimantan. Sort of.
Clearly a survivalist, at a deeper level Col was a searcher of truth and wonder within the natural world. Exile from his tribe due to mistrust of his unique skin pigmentation led him south with the teachings of his homeland. Patience paired with instinct, keen observation, insight, clever deductions, and timely feral reaction have been traits that have saved his new companions in this strange jungle land many times over.
Unlike friends haunted by their pasts, Col's upbringing shaped a worldview ever-focused on the present. The past and future are shifting sands. What matters is now. A fascination with snakes - particularly the desert sand boa that his own skin patterns resembled and whose behavior he mimicked to keep him alive in exile - inspired common serpentine wildshapes. Surety in civilization is another matter. While societal constructs are understood just as well as relationships in nature, the pressure of social norms and small talk were a bit much.
After getting to know a local druid named Qawasha, Col was inspired to find purpose in investigating breaches to the natural order in Chult. Encounters with undead and yuan-ti shaped a strong view... yet as the unearthly wonders of Chult were explored, often times the line between the normal and abhorrent were a blurry one at best. It didn't help that he found himself with a talent in lucid dreaming - not only in his own, but with strange overlap in dreamspace with his fellow Handy Hands. Something in Chult pulled at Col, but what was it?
Unfortunately we may never know. Late in exploring the Tomb of the Nine Gods and nearing the source of the Death Curse, a sudden and brutal ambush left Col broken and unbreathing. The draw of the exotic lands of Chult - and the supernatural dangers within - finally ended the life of the one member of the Handy Hands thought most likely to survive.
Winchton Carmichael
STATUS: ALIVE. Retired to be a family man.
Class: Ranger - Beast Master (6), Rogue - Swashbuckler (4)
Race: Half-Orc
Background: Noble
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Played by: Logan
New challenges in a strange land are exactly what this outgoing and affable trophy hunter from a well-to-do family has come seeking . Surely this legendary rainforest holds at least a bit of challenge... right?
Likes: Large beasts!
Dislikes: Large beasts that eat him!
Fun Fact: He once swallowed a goose egg whole... accidentally.
A gentleman trophy hunter from the city of Raven's Bluff in The Vast, Winchton brought age and skill to the party, however his calculated calm alternated with a wild reckless abandon and a hubris the size of Waterdeep. He's often more than willing to make brash life choices, which end up sketched in his personal journal. Conversely, his social tact could always be counted on to moderate the awkwardness of some of his colleagues. Exposure to Chult's vibrancy led Winchton to reconcile with his Big Game Hunter past, shifting views to one of conservation and gaining him an orangutan companion named Lovely.
Since then, he has been viewing life through a new lens and finding enthusiasm in ways that were never before considered. After a break from action in Port Nyanzaru, Winchton returned... but not for long. A one-night stand with Commander Portyr of the Flaming Fist led to his past coming back to haunt him, though not in a necessarily in a bad way. Raised as an unwanted child, Winchton swore never to do that to another, hence his lack of children to date. Yet here he was, an unexpected parent-to-be. And so the stalwart ranger took off to Fort Beluarian, to retire the adventuring life and become a father.
...Or did he? In exploring rumors of a Pirate King nearly a year later, the Handy Hands made a wild discovery: Winchton was the Pirate King! Bored of sedentary life, experiencing relationship troubles, and hoping to solve the pirate resurgence in his own way the half-orc took to the seas, eventually taking on a mantle that was far too much fun to abandon. After teaming up with his old adventuring mates to take down the island-sized threat of Aremag, Winchton dispersed his remaining crews and finally ended his vacation, traveling home with Lovely and his toddler daughter Esmerelda.