Craig Firebrand

Halfling, AKA ‘Little Shit’, ‘Fuckhead’, ‘Potatoman’

Story

Beginnings

Craig came from a long, long line of proud stablehands and horse breeders. The life of one who cleans, feeds, and jacks off horses for the wealthy...wasn’t a fun one. Craig daydreamed between shovels of shit, that he would one day be more than a tool for others. That he would find glory, gold, and fame like so many before him.

So, one day Craig shat in his superior’s helmet, went to the nearest tavern, and started an adventuring party with one Edgar Castille. They would later recruit others and called themselves Rangers of Oakvale after the name of the first town they visited as an adventuring party. They would grow into the stuff of legend.

The Rangers of Oakvale

Craig was an adept talker and tinkerer. His time as a servant let him listen in on the gossip and political discourse of nobles. It was Craig who became the face of the Rangers, talking up their combat prowess to anybody that needed a problem solved. Despite his high-energy, often opinionated way he went about, which sometimes landed him and the others in trouble, Craig found friends and love within the Rangers.

Craig and Melanie grew very close and would eventually marry and have Hildr. Melanie was the only one who could talk Craig down from one of his many rants, and Craig made Melanie laugh, it was as simple as that. Craig’s relationships with the other Rangers was strong, it was only ever with Edgar that Craig frequently clashed with. The two had different ideas about what being an adventurer meant, but for the most part their bitter spats died down between pints of ale.

Fatherhood

Despite the adventuring life having never lost its luster with Craig, he decided to settle down near Kartenheim with Melanie and raise their daughter, Hildr, together. Adventuring came naturally to Craig, fatherhood did not. Craig lacked the empathy and warmth most parents had, and was prone to comparing Hildr to other kids her age. She was a Firebrand, and would have to train and adventure like one

Craig was relentless when it came to teaching and training Hildr, sticking her to a very strict diet and training regiment. Craig would turn her into the pinnacle of adventurer if it killed him. This drove was wedge between Craig and Hildr’s relationship. Even when Hildr was out adventuring, Craig always had some sort of critique for her.

The Sankofa Accord

After the events of the Sankofa Accord, the Rangers of Oakvale, like many other adventuring parties, were forced to formally disband. While the Rangers had went their separate ways years ago, Edgar’s stance against adventuring parties, and Craig’s stance for them, created a deep divide between the two friends. It was a matter of principal for Craig.

Starlight

As a registered caravan guard, Hildr was allowed to continue on with her “hero” duties so long as the cargo she transported arrived on time. All but distant from Craig, she only ever stopped by to see her mother. Until one night, she arrived wounded, and in a craze spouting non-sense about men in the woods. Able to calm her down, Craig went off in search of said men in the woods and found nothing.

Later that night, Craig was wracked with horrible images of his daughter, corrupted by some malignant force, slaughtering those around and raising cities. Unable to ignore the visions, Craig crept into Hildr’s tent with crossbow in hand. Before he could pull the trigger on his own daughter, Craig snapped himself out of it. It was all the time Hildr needed to see him, crossbow in hand, and lash out. In the ensuing fight, Melanie was killed by Hildr before the Firebrand daughter fled. Not far behind, Craig recruited Quoruk and Edgar to help capture his daughter. And capture her they did.

Craig locked Hildr away at the Maw, a maximum security prison for the Alliance’s most dangerous beings and creatures. With little more than a “Thanks,” to his friends, he left. He thought the nightmare was over, he thought he’d be able to move on. He was wrong.

Croak and Dagger

Craig flew under the radar for a numbers of years, sightings of him were reported around the western territory of the Alliance. After reconnecting with Quoruk and finding a room for rent at a fishery in Meadowcraft, Craig set his new plan into motion. Against the Sankofa Accord and the better judgement of Edgar, Craig sent out a mass notice to anyone that would listen. He was going to start an adventuring party, but under the guise as a citizen’s city watch which was by all standards legal. Old contacts reached out and gave Craig what he’d need to start what would eventually become known as Croak and Dagger.

The handyman and mover of Croak and Dagger, Craig passes on what guidance he has to the adventurers and negotiates deals on their behalf. Craig is unapologetic about most of his life choices, stating they got him to where he is today. Hoping to redeem himself in the eyes of his daughter and deceased wife, Craig stands by his new family through thick and thin. “I ruined one family. I’m not ruining this one.”