Lup | Drift Fleet App

[necromanswers]

IN-CHARACTER:
Character name: Lup
Character journal: necromanswers
Series name: The Adventure Zone
Canon notes: After the Suffering Game (episode 57)

Species: High Elf/Undead Lich

History: TAZ Wikia. Technically there is more but the wiki covers up to her canonpoint.

Personality:
In many ways Lup is a softer version of her twin. She's sassy and judgmental, she can be awfully self centered, and she's learned to be scrappy after having to fend for herself for half of her life- one hundred years worth, more or less. She grew up on the road, being passed from place to place or wandering freely, so her only constant was her brother. Because of their transient nature during most of her formative years she's not really the sort to put down roots. She loves and is devoted to Taako- she calls him her "heart" and she knows that the two of them are stronger and better together than apart. The other hundred years of her life has been spent traveling from plane to plane (of existence, specifically), trying to outrun and outsmart a world devouring monster through space, with a group of six other people for long term company and a collection of worlds experienced for a single year before leaving it forever. Due to her traveling lifestyle the only solid long-term housing she's ever had is their ship, the Star Blaster, so her concept of what home is tends to lean more towards loved ones than an actual location.

Lup graduated alongside Taako as top of her field from the Institute of Planer Research and Exploration, meaning she's an accomplished scientist and arcanist, a wizard specializing in evocation magic. Though she is frequently flippant and wild, when things get serious she's the more likely twin to step up and get involved or help with less reluctance than Taako, who leaned more towards self-preservation. She is also less willing to sacrifice others to accomplish their goals. During their difficult journey through time and space she's the most openly vocal about preserving the morality of their group- when half of the group wanted to destroy a crystal that was keeping a population of automatons alive in order to keep the Hunger from consuming it and growing stronger, Lup stepped up to defend them and made the crew consider other options instead. Afterwards, she convinced the group to promise never to make that kind of decision again- to never choose to sacrifice the safety of another world or its people just to accomplish their mission. She's also the first one of their group to try and reclaim her relic on Faerun, when she could no longer stand by and watch the destruction it wreaked upon the world.

When it isn't being used to hurt innocent people, she loves power and chaos, never hesitating at the chance to strut her stuff and show off. She thrives around conjured fire and has expert control, weaving flames around her companions to attack only the enemies they face. She delights in taking playful potshots at her friends and allies, or less playful verbal burns and one liners at her enemies. She wields sarcasm and mockery like dual knives, always sharp and ready. In the other hand, she doesn't let her occasionally prickly personality prevent her from being sincere when it counts, and she'll openly and nakedly share her feelings with those she trusts, good or bad, angry or loving.

When charged with giving her the best day ever, Taako chose five steps that showcased who Lup is as a person very well- 1) a huge, excellent breakfast, for her love of food and good cooking, 2) a long nap, for her lazy less-work-more-chill streak, 3) a surprise water gun fight for her love of a good prank, 4) a huge empty building for how she takes joy in magically induced chaos and destruction, and 5) a home cooked meal of their childhood, for her love for family and to help her remember what's home. At the end of the day Lup thanks him, job well done, and those memories are what helps her hold on to her stable mentality when she becomes a lich, and every time she loses her physical body it keeps her grounded, rather than becoming a destructive, uncontrolled monster.

Lup's choice for what she uses as her centers before the lich transformation is significant- it's wiser to choose something solid, something that can't be lost, but Lup chose people- her lover and her brother. To Lup, her connections to those she loves will always be stronger than any link she might have to a place, or an object, or a concept or goal.

Lup has spent the last decade or so trapped in a magical umbrella, and only in the last year or so has she had anything to do except sit in a cave next to her own dead body waiting to be found- even after that, no one could see or hear her, so she's had to learn patience and she's understandably a bit stir crazy. She's been a silent witness to her brother's life since he found the umbrella, and the only times she was able to manifest her abilities or voice outside of the umbrella was in moments of great distress or danger to either of them, such as when he struggled in battle, or when her undead presence was detected by a reaper. One of the major exceptions of that rule is when she was able to concentrate her powers and spell her name into the wall with a Scorching Ray. This patience of hers was born of sheer tenacity and a stubborn refusal to be devoured or contained, and it paid off and eventually gained her back her freedom. She has never been the sort to give up easily, and she's quick to zero in on any alternative to surrendering, regardless of how long it might take or how unlikely it may be.

As a sidenote: Lup was assigned male at birth and is transgender- she identifies as female. As per canon she has fully transitioned, and they come from a universe where there is a spell that can permanently transform a person's body (True Polymorph), and it's never come up ICly, so as far as she and Taako are concerned its a non-issue. Lup is fairly straightforward, but hardly up front about her past, so while she isn't about to bring it up, if questioned it's not something she'd bother denying. If it bothers anyone that's their problem, not hers.

Abilities:

Much like Taako, Lup has some naturally inherited abilities as an elven wizard that I am shamelessly thieving from Kaze:
>Darkvision – For a 60 foot radius dim light looks bright, and darkness looks like dim light
>Trance – Instead of sleeping, she can go into a light trance for 4 hours a day (which translates into a "Long Rest" for her in D&D terms)
>Arcane Recovery – Once a day, she can take a short rest and recover spell slots up to Level 6
>Fey Ancestry – Difficult to charm and sleeping spells don’t work on her

She's fluent in multiple languages including Common, Elvish (both her home planet and the Faerun versions), and the language of the Animal Kingdom. As a high elf and wizard she knows at least one additional language; I chose Infernal. Because fire.

Lup is a wizard and arcanist, specializing in evocation. Most of her spells are not specified in canon, but the wizard class in D&D has access to lots of spells, sometimes limited by the school of magic, sometimes not. Her favourite spells mostly involve fire, and lots of it. As an evocation wizard she's also able to spell shape, meaning she can weave her spells around her allies and reduce or outright avoid any friendly fire. Wizards are limited by spell slots- she can only cast a certain number of higher level spells before she runs dry and has to rest. Based on Taako's growth in canon and her keeping her memories, plus her lich transformation, I'd place her at level 18, meaning she can cast all levels of spells, with a varying number of slots depending on the spell level. (Obviously any spells that would break the fleet or allow for an escape would be modified or nerfed to fit into the rules, and certain spells would require permission from mods and/or other players to be useful at all.) Kaze wrote a super useful list of wizard spells for Taako here, and I'll be working on one for Lup as well at some point, since that list only covers up to level 6 and Lup knows up to level 9.

Adventure Zone's relationship with the rules of D&D has always been lax, typically trumped by the Rule of Cool, and that translates easily into RP. Even with that in mind, wizards are not all powerful, and tend to be glass cannons- strong but not especially durable. Lup is slightly more durable than most in that she has become a lich, an undying spectral being of magic possessing a physical body. Liches are incredibly powerful, especially in pure spectral form, and if she falls she's able to leave her dead body and live on as a pure lich, just as powerful but lacking much in the way of physical abilities.

Lup is also an artificer of sorts- she spent one of the Stolen Century years learning how to craft magical objects and weapons at a specialized school. During her time there she created the Umbra Staff, a magical focus that can consume the power of defeated foes, and later created the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet, which (when powered by very specific components) could decimate entire cities in a single huge burst of fire. Given the proper components and enough time, she'd be able to forge and enchant objects or recreate items from home.

As a note, Lup is immortal in a sense that if her body is destroyed or she is physically killed, she reverts to her lich form, which is like a spectral ghost made of magic. It's not super great, as liches are unnerving to be around and can't really interact with the physical world. Back home she would have a way of reforming her body, but not here. I figure a way to reconcile that in Drift Fleet is if she "dies", her body could be reconstructed like normal on the Marsiva and she'd be stuck in lich form for the normal two-week post-death period, until her body is ready and her lich soul is called back to it. I thought this might also be how she could have a body upon arriving, despite her canon point. Playing lich-Lup long term isn't ideal for forming relationships, methinks, and she wouldn't be very happy about it, either.

Augment Skillset: Security