Tiefling
Ekrius Ashborne
Ranger · Gloom Stalker / Rogue · Scout
Watchful, dryly funny, and much better at offering protection than accepting it.
A crimson coat, gold stitching, and a watchful face make Ekrius easy to remember. His bow and knowledge of the back roads make him harder to corner. He can plan an escape for everyone in the room and still struggle to tell a friend he needs help. Rian is his chosen brother and the rival who can still bait him into a foolish contest.
Raised by: Ena, his human mother, and Dovan, his tiefling father.
Get to know Ekrius History, instincts, and connections
Family and heritage
Ekrius is a tiefling born to Ena, a human, and Dovan, a tiefling. His tiefling heritage comes through his father’s family; his deep brown coloring resembles his mother’s.
The road behind them
Ena and Dovan raised Ekrius together above a dyer’s shop. Ena washed and mended other people’s linen; Dovan carried surveying poles for officials who could dismiss an inconvenient measurement. When wages stopped, Ena counted food, fees, and favors before allowing herself an argument. Dovan taught his son to check a crossing even when the employer wanted haste. Their marriage gave Ekrius two models of courage: insisting on the truth and keeping a household fed while somebody made truth expensive.
Errands became his first education: which alley flooded, who needed coal carried upstairs, and when yesterday’s bread could still become somebody’s supper. As a temple acolyte, he discovered ward diagrams that made the city look different again. Long before he learned the bow, Ekrius was learning that knowing a route and understanding the people along it are different skills.
What they carry
His crimson-and-black coat, high collar, gold embroidery, and pendant give him an unexpectedly formal silhouette for a man who studies drainage. He takes pride in looking cared for, an instinct learned in a household where clean cuffs cost work. The bow is his practical reach; the leaf beneath glass is his private measure of value. Neither a fine coat nor an impressive weapon makes asking for help easier.
What they notice
Terrain, patterns, and the exit everyone else missed.
Under pressure: Turns being needed into a reason to avoid being known.
Can a protector learn to trust a map drawn by someone else?
Fun Facts Little gifts. Questionable uses.
Website worldbuilding extras, not scenes quoted from Book One. Learned abilities develop with training.
Inherited gift
The door was already open
Ekrius can use Thaumaturgy to make an unlocked door swing open and give his voice a threatening boom. He prefers to save that entrance for someone who deserves it. Jarik objects to a perfectly good theatrical talent being used so infrequently.
Equipment
A fine coat still has to survive the road
The crimson coat and gold stitching satisfy a pride Ekrius rarely admits to. Ena’s working hands taught him what clean clothing costs. He checks the hem for snags, the bowstring for wear, and everyone else’s footing before remembering he has been invited somewhere to enjoy himself.
Inherited gift
Excellent lookout. Unreliable wardrobe consultant.
His darkvision picks out nearby shapes in darkness, not colors. He can spot someone approaching camp and still hand Jarik the wrong scarf. Jarik considers this a serious failure of reconnaissance.
Personality
He can find the exit from a compliment
Praise his scouting and Ekrius will explain the terrain. Thank him for staying beside you and he will suddenly remember a perimeter that needs checking. Rian has learned to walk with him instead, usually while proposing a contest Ekrius insists he is too sensible to enter. Ekrius then asks about the rules.
Personality
The leaf is not for sale
The leaf beneath glass comes from the tree outside his childhood temple. In the prologue, a collector offers to buy it and Mera asks whether he also purchases other people’s teeth. It is a useful introduction to how this group expresses affection.
