Player Name: bii E-mail: all dot your dot beliefs at gmail Preferred Contact:obiisama Timezone: PST Current Characters in Victory Road: Greg, Steven D
Character Name: Jarlaxle Baenre Series: Legend of Drizzt (Forgotten Realms) Timeline: at the beginning of the Waterdeep Dragon Heist module (circa 1492 DR) Canon Resource Links:wiki!
Beyond the history in the wiki, I do want to note that since the siege of Gauntlgrym in 1488 DR, Jarlaxle ended up going on an expedition to the far north in 1490 DR and met the rather less cultish drow settlement up there and that in 1492 DR he’s in the city of Waterdeep, looking for the hidden gold dragons that Dagult Neverember embezzled from the city, with the intention of publicly returning them to the city and using that as impetus to join the Lords Alliance, as representative of Luskan. Although the module doesn’t specify any particular reason for wanting to join, besides an increase of Jarlaxle’s personal power, I will personally assume that the fact that the Lords Alliance has a mutual defense pact and literally no one helped Luskan out when it got sacked in 1488 DR, that might have a lot to do with it.
(Gauntlgrym would have, probably, but it was under siege at that point by allies of the very assholes who were sacking Luskan. The point is that Waterdeep and Neverwinter and every other Lords Alliance member didn’t lift a fucking finger for Jarlaxle’s shady pirate city.)
Personality:
"He's a narcissist with a heart. He's kinder than he lets himself admit, and more dangerous than he seems. More often than not, his success is not in how thoroughly he plans ahead, but in how he reacts to the chaos around him (and a healthy dose of luck). He'll always try to throw the players off with a nonsequitur clue or hint, so use that to your advantage."
Jarlaxle, quite simply, is who Menzoberranzan has made him to be. In his base state, he’s a naturally kind and friendly person, who genuinely likes other people. Unfortunately, he grew up in a city controlled by a really fucked up spider cult, so he’s all these things despite coming from a society that mostly values the ability to manipulate people and stab them in the back—though mind you, he is quite good at both manipulation and backstabbing. His talent at the first comes from the fact that he’s one of the few drow seen in the books with anything resembling emotional intelligence, while his talent for the second is mostly fueled by his desire for survival. More than anything, Jaraxle wants to live.
And why not? After all, he almost didn’t. Jarlaxle was Matron Mother Yvonnel’s thirdborn son, which meant he was destined to be sacrificed to the drow spider goddess, Lolth, immediately after being born. He wasn’t—but only due to interference from another priestess, who used her psionic abilities to keep the knife from penetrating his infant skin. However, the ruling House of Menzoberranzan couldn’t publicly be seen to not gone through with the sacrifice, so Jarlaxle was hidden—in 1018 DR flashback scenes from the book Timeless, Yvonnel is quite sure that none of her children (including Jarlaxle) know their true relationship, although the flashback scenes from Boundless—which take place a century later in 1118 DR—seem to indicate that by that point Jarlaxle did know.
Why does this matter? Well, Jarlaxle’s knowledge of both the family he was born to and also how very much he shouldn’t be alive probably informs a lot of his overwhelming ambition—and he is ambitious. Very much so. He grew up without a House, so he built one of his own—and by late 1400s, Bregan D’Aerthe is very much the size of a small House, even if its continued existence is on the sufferance of House Baenre. And his ambitions are not only limited to Menzoberranzan, but they’ve spread to the surface world too, where a drow male can dream bigger than he ever could in the Underdark. Indeed, by the same time period, Jarlaxle had become the shadow ruler of the notorious pirate city of Luskan… and in truth, the city was more stable under his own rule than it had been previously.
This would surprise some people, most likely, as Jarlaxle has—and has partially cultivated—a reputation for being a loose cannon and a wildcard. This is not wholly untrue, for he does seem to change plans and even alliances on the fly and he delights in disconcerting his opponents with his unpredictability. That said, the man is surprisingly responsible when it comes to him and his. When not underneath the malign influence of an evil artifact, he’s quite concerned with the continued survival of Bregan D’Aerthe and of his men, going so far as to submit to the sacrifice of his most valued companion, Zaknafein, when he could have fairly easily rescued him and absconded to the surface with Zak and his son—but not without leaving Bregan D’aerthe vulnerable to reprisals from their former patrons. He also pays more than sufficient attention to the daily minutia of maintaining an organization on that scale—in fact, he’s the one character we see the most at a desk, filling out paperwork.
Jarlaxle has a love for treasure and for magical trinkets most of all—a love that far exceeds that of most adventurers, who are already covetous souls. He collects these magical trinkets and uses them creatively in his adventurers—in fact, his penchant for the use of magical items has lead him to being able to attune to more items that most. His love for shiny things has gotten him into trouble before, most notably during his possession of Creshinibon, the intelligent and malevolent crystal shard which nearly led him to his doom.
That it didn’t was wholly because of the friends Jarlaxle had made along the way–and really, that is his greatest strength, his capacity for engaging with people and ultimately befriending them. Sure, most of them have wanted to kill him at one point in time, but the ultimate point is that they haven’t yet. Despite everything Menzoberranzan shaped him to be, Jarlaxle still likes people and he still wants to form connections—-and even if practicality sometimes leads him to betray those people, it isn’t without a sense of regret at the doing and he does try to mitigate the damage he causes when he does. As Bob Salvatore says, he’s both kinder and more dangerous than he seems—-and speaking for myself, I find it delightful.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer! He’s gonna catch them all! Starter: Sableye, “Euol” Password: Atomic Fireball
Jarlaxle Baenre | Legend of Drizzt | unreserved
Name: bii
E-mail: all dot your dot beliefs at gmail
Preferred Contact:
Timezone: PST
Current Characters in Victory Road: Greg, Steven D
Character
Name: Jarlaxle Baenre
Series: Legend of Drizzt (Forgotten Realms)
Timeline: at the beginning of the Waterdeep Dragon Heist module (circa 1492 DR)
Canon Resource Links: wiki!
Beyond the history in the wiki, I do want to note that since the siege of Gauntlgrym in 1488 DR, Jarlaxle ended up going on an expedition to the far north in 1490 DR and met the rather less cultish drow settlement up there and that in 1492 DR he’s in the city of Waterdeep, looking for the hidden gold dragons that Dagult Neverember embezzled from the city, with the intention of publicly returning them to the city and using that as impetus to join the Lords Alliance, as representative of Luskan. Although the module doesn’t specify any particular reason for wanting to join, besides an increase of Jarlaxle’s personal power, I will personally assume that the fact that the Lords Alliance has a mutual defense pact and literally no one helped Luskan out when it got sacked in 1488 DR, that might have a lot to do with it.
(Gauntlgrym would have, probably, but it was under siege at that point by allies of the very assholes who were sacking Luskan. The point is that Waterdeep and Neverwinter and every other Lords Alliance member didn’t lift a fucking finger for Jarlaxle’s shady pirate city.)
Personality:
Jarlaxle, quite simply, is who Menzoberranzan has made him to be. In his base state, he’s a naturally kind and friendly person, who genuinely likes other people. Unfortunately, he grew up in a city controlled by a really fucked up spider cult, so he’s all these things despite coming from a society that mostly values the ability to manipulate people and stab them in the back—though mind you, he is quite good at both manipulation and backstabbing. His talent at the first comes from the fact that he’s one of the few drow seen in the books with anything resembling emotional intelligence, while his talent for the second is mostly fueled by his desire for survival. More than anything, Jaraxle wants to live.
And why not? After all, he almost didn’t. Jarlaxle was Matron Mother Yvonnel’s thirdborn son, which meant he was destined to be sacrificed to the drow spider goddess, Lolth, immediately after being born. He wasn’t—but only due to interference from another priestess, who used her psionic abilities to keep the knife from penetrating his infant skin. However, the ruling House of Menzoberranzan couldn’t publicly be seen to not gone through with the sacrifice, so Jarlaxle was hidden—in 1018 DR flashback scenes from the book Timeless, Yvonnel is quite sure that none of her children (including Jarlaxle) know their true relationship, although the flashback scenes from Boundless—which take place a century later in 1118 DR—seem to indicate that by that point Jarlaxle did know.
Why does this matter? Well, Jarlaxle’s knowledge of both the family he was born to and also how very much he shouldn’t be alive probably informs a lot of his overwhelming ambition—and he is ambitious. Very much so. He grew up without a House, so he built one of his own—and by late 1400s, Bregan D’Aerthe is very much the size of a small House, even if its continued existence is on the sufferance of House Baenre. And his ambitions are not only limited to Menzoberranzan, but they’ve spread to the surface world too, where a drow male can dream bigger than he ever could in the Underdark. Indeed, by the same time period, Jarlaxle had become the shadow ruler of the notorious pirate city of Luskan… and in truth, the city was more stable under his own rule than it had been previously.
This would surprise some people, most likely, as Jarlaxle has—and has partially cultivated—a reputation for being a loose cannon and a wildcard. This is not wholly untrue, for he does seem to change plans and even alliances on the fly and he delights in disconcerting his opponents with his unpredictability. That said, the man is surprisingly responsible when it comes to him and his. When not underneath the malign influence of an evil artifact, he’s quite concerned with the continued survival of Bregan D’Aerthe and of his men, going so far as to submit to the sacrifice of his most valued companion, Zaknafein, when he could have fairly easily rescued him and absconded to the surface with Zak and his son—but not without leaving Bregan D’aerthe vulnerable to reprisals from their former patrons. He also pays more than sufficient attention to the daily minutia of maintaining an organization on that scale—in fact, he’s the one character we see the most at a desk, filling out paperwork.
Jarlaxle has a love for treasure and for magical trinkets most of all—a love that far exceeds that of most adventurers, who are already covetous souls. He collects these magical trinkets and uses them creatively in his adventurers—in fact, his penchant for the use of magical items has lead him to being able to attune to more items that most. His love for shiny things has gotten him into trouble before, most notably during his possession of Creshinibon, the intelligent and malevolent crystal shard which nearly led him to his doom.
That it didn’t was wholly because of the friends Jarlaxle had made along the way–and really, that is his greatest strength, his capacity for engaging with people and ultimately befriending them. Sure, most of them have wanted to kill him at one point in time, but the ultimate point is that they haven’t yet. Despite everything Menzoberranzan shaped him to be, Jarlaxle still likes people and he still wants to form connections—-and even if practicality sometimes leads him to betray those people, it isn’t without a sense of regret at the doing and he does try to mitigate the damage he causes when he does. As Bob Salvatore says, he’s both kinder and more dangerous than he seems—-and speaking for myself, I find it delightful.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer! He’s gonna catch them all!
Starter: Sableye, “Euol”
Password: Atomic Fireball
Samples
RP Sample: TDM thread with Aymeric
Victory Road Sample: Top-level and threads on the TDM