Gemini Dolgathason
Lord Gemini Dolgathason
The Lozarian half-elf Gemini mixed magic and stealth in the direct service of Chagroth Durinhelm. He operated in the pivotal years between the Kirinal Catastrophes. He was a graduate of Wizard's Peak University and one of the main members of the Lords of Greystone.
He fought against mind flayers, discovered his true heritage, and helped to discharge wild magic from the Kirinal Pit. Eventually, he became an avatar of the Trickster God Naraky and was instrumental in ending the War Against the Far Realm.
Half-breed Beginnings
Gemini was born in the sleepy forest hamlet of Makai, a small settlement on a secondary trade route. His father was a human alchemist named Abel. His mother, Galee, claimed to be an exiled elven princess from the Forest of Beral. He was the second born of twins. His older brother Janus was born just before midnight, and Gemini was born a few minutes afterward in the next day.
The closed-minded villagers of Makai looked down on miscegenation between humans and non-humans. They needed Abel's potions and medical expertise, but otherwise, the little family was shunned. The village children were not allowed to play with the "half-breeds".
To make matters worse, Janus and Gemini began exhibiting magical talents in front of the already wary villagers. They were marked as witches and the family was rejected even more. The twins only had each other, and they were very close growing up.
The boys were magically gifted and also full of mischief. They were also as different as fire and ice. Gemini was warm and happy while Janus was dark and moody.
"I grew up in the forest. My twin brother Janus was my best friend, my only friend. We mostly avoided the town, we could tell that they hated us. But every now and then, we would sneak in to play pranks. We could always do a little magic, so we'd set their shoes on fire from a distance or make them fart when they were in church. My favorite was switching the contents of their beer mugs and their chamber pots at dinner. Good times! We had a pretty great childhood!
The Forest Shrine
On Janus' 13th birthday, they went into the forest to visit a mysterious shrine built out of stone and bones. Their parents had warned them to never go near it, but the boys were very familiar with it. It was one of their favorite hiding places in the forest.
When they arrived, Galee presented Janus and said, "Spirit of the Shrine, when we could not have children we came to you. You gave us children and happiness. Now we return on our son's 13th birthday as you asked. Look and see how you have blessed us!"
The response was a bright flash of cold fire that knocked everyone to the ground except Janus. Deep laughter filled the air and slowly diminished. The shocked family returned home, Janus silent the entire time.
That night, Gemini's parents sent him out by himself to gather firewood. Upon his return, he found his childhood home engulfed in flames. His parents' motionless bodies burned in the ruins and his brother was missing.
On Janus' thirteenth birthday, my childhood ended. We visited that cursed shrine in the forest and a few hours later my parents were dead and my brother was gone. The villagers chased me out of town and I've never been back. I spent my thirteenth birthday as an orphan, alone in the forest.
Life on the Streets
The people of Makai had always shunned the half-breed children of Abel. His death did not change that and the penniless orphan was rejected by the community. Gemini survived through petty larceny. His natural stealthiness and small magical talent helped him steal from food stalls and travelers. He followed the Gold Arrow River down to the city of New Kirinal, hoping for a better life.
Gemini survived on the streets of New Kirinal for a year as a street urchin and petty thief. He met another orphan touched by magic, Ion, who became his friend and partner in magical crime. Their collaboration was successful until the day they tried to pick the pocket of Chagroth Durinhelm, the Chancellor of Wizard's Peak University.
I first met the Boss when Ion and I tried to pick his pocket. He looked like every other rich guy in the city, just with fancier robes. Ion was putting on his pyrotechnics show and I was cutting the mark's pouches. One second I had my hand on his pouch, the next I was floating upside down 10 feet in the air! Old Chagroth didn't even look at me!
Academic Challenges at WPU
Chagroth immediately recognized the magical talent of the two orphans trying to steal from him. He made the two an offer, accept a full scholarship at WPU, or be turned over to the authorities. The pair opted to enroll at Wizard's Peak.
Ion immediately entered the School of Invocation. Ill suited for formal schooling, Gemini floated from school to school, unable to pick a specialization. He was in danger of flunking out of school until he caught the attention of Esstavan, the Head of Security at WPU and an arcane trickster.
Gemini embarked on his career, mixing stealth and magic with such mastery that he would eventually become the avatar of the Trickster God.
My first year at WPU was bad, I barely passed my classes and I was on the verge of flunking out. Esstavan was one of Chagroth's old adventuring buddies and the head of security. That man could do it all: pick a pocket, wield a blade, cast spells, everything. I wanted to be like him and he took me under his wing.
The Troubleshooters
Gemini spent the next few years adventuring with his friends as agents of Chancellor Durinhelm. They gathered power and influence around the Kirinal Pit, throughout the Kingdom of Lozar, and out into the multiverse itself.
Gemini began a flirtation with Serena Durinhelm, one of his instructors and Chagroth's daughter. He also discovered the fate of his brother.
Those early years were the best. I made friendships that lasted me the rest of my life. We fought whatever monster or army crawled out of the Pit every single day. I met the love of my life!
It wasn't all fun and happiness though. We fought against real evil: the Necromancer of Borthakar and devils. I saw friends die. I was there when a shadow appeared behind the Dean of Alchemy and ran a sword of energy through his head. I remember the assassin's eyes most of all. Cold and emotionless in a face just like my own. My twin. My brother. The Janus I knew was gone.
The Illithid Empire
Gemini's squad discovered a mind flayer plot to snuff out the sun and all the stars in the sky. The flayers would use that energy to rebuild the ancient Illithid Empire.
Their quest to end the threat took them deep beneath the earth, out onto desolate tundra, and across the stars to the Illithid homeworld of Penumbra. The entire time they faced down mind flayers, their aberrant creations, and their mindless thralls. They allied with both of the Gith people and a lost tribe of their predecessors.
At the edge of creation, deep in the Astral Sea, they infiltrated the Illithid stronghold while githyanki mounted on red dragons made an assault to distract the mind flayers. They reached the illithid mechanism powered by dying stars that would rewrite reality. They fought a mind flayer demigod. They saved the multiverse.
Yeah, we saved the multiverse, but let me tell you about the first time I almost died! We were on the mind flayer homeworld, which was also the homeworld of the githyanki. We were sneaking into an ancient stronghold and there was this giant worm with mind flayer tentacles on its face! I jumped in a hole that had a Sphere of Annihilation in it...
Discharging the Kirinal Pit
They arrived back on Erathia bearing The Staff of Ancient Penumbra. They gave it to Chagroth who used it as the linchpin of his first great Kirinal Engine that became the basis of the Orrery of Worlds. He began the first ritual that would begin to tame the Pit while the Lozarian Armies stood guard and the Troubleshooters managed security.
As expected, Lozar's enemies attacked while Chagroth and all the wizards of WPU were focused on completing the Discharging Ritual. They hoped to complete the ceremony themselves and take the power of the Pit for themselves. Hordes of Borthakaran orcs and Kirisian mages engaged the armies while the Necromancer of Borthakar, Dolgathan, drew off the wild magic being released by the ritual.
When Gemini and his friends moved to engage the Dark Lord, they had to face the dual threats of Janus' team and an undead colossus created from the Dead of Kirinal.
So the Necromancer Is over there eating wild magic and turning into a dragon! Legions of orcs and dark magisters are attacking the Armies of Lozar. There's a kaiju made out of corpses crawling out of the Pit! But those are the third and fourth craziest things happening to me that day!
I'm locked in battle with my twin. He's trying to kill me and he says to me: "You will not thwart our father."
"You left our father to burn to death in our cottage!"
"Do you really think power like ours came from that hedge alchemist? No that's our father there, becoming his true self."
And that's how I found out that my real father was the Necromancer Dolgathan right before he became a dracolich.
Lords of Greystone
With the power he had stolen, Dolgathan successfully transformed into an undead dracolich with all of his necromantic powers. However, the Troubleshooters rallied, breaking apart the undead kaiju, and preventing the armies and Dolgathan from taking the PIt for themselves.
As a reward for their heroism, the Troubleshooters were all given noble titles and land in the Barony of Greystone. As the "Lords of Greystone", they settled down, building lives and families for themselves. They went on fewer adventures. In semi-retirement, they enjoyed the peaceful lives that they felt they had earned. Until the Night of the Shattered Moon.
We fought my father, the Necromancer and won. We were given land and I got to put the word "Lord" in front of my name! I wandered the world and the multiverse. I had a kid with Serena. We got married. I was ready to let the next generation of heroes have their shot at glory.
Then the end of the world that we had been fighting against actually happened. Those monsters shattered the moon.
Avatar of Naraky
The entire world was at War with the Far Realm. All the mortal races, the monsters, and the gods united against aberrations and warlocks who sought to crack the world open and release the Sleeper within it.
In their final adventure, Gemini and the Lords of Greystone became Avatars of the Gods themselves. They quested for the Lance of Endless Night. Gemini, as the avatar of the Trickster God Naraky, could perform the egg trick.
Gemini exchanged the Sleeper with the contents of a hen's egg. The Lords of Greystone lured the Great Old Ones away from the world and out into space. The Gods followed behind and closed the Divine Gate behind them.
With their Withdrawal from the world, the gods sacrificed most of their power. They could no longer manifest on the world. Their servants with demigod level power, like the Lords of Greystone, could not return. They could only watch the world and send down messages and grant prayers. Gemini's time on the world was done. Now he lives among the stars.
The Troubleshooters -> Lords of Greystone
Lord Ash, Baron of Greystone
Avalon, Wielder of Midnight's Bane
Lady Eropia, the Archer
Gemini Dolgathason
Lord Ion, the Evoker
Ligmokoo the Hobgoblin
Murg, Priest of Kotath Nar
Nitz the Summoner
Master Orion the Slayer
Crimson Frost, Sorcerer of Eniam-tal
Nuncio, Cleric of Thaya
awesome!
Yeah, these guys played into epic levels from 2E into 3E. Their timeline was 250 years before you guys. Your characters are going to their headquarters in a few weeks!
Take a look at my Institutions of Learning challenge article.
Learn about the World of Wizard's Peak and check out my award winning article about the Ghost Boy of Kirinal!