Skip to content
CharGen Icon
CreatePricing

Ezhren Salk

NPCs
Human · Wizard, School of Evocation · Level 7

Ezhren Salk

Arcane investigator and evocation tutor
“For the record,”
AC15
HP44/44
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

At the table

Voice

His voice has a dry, grainy edge, as if shaped by years of talking over rain, docks, and the rasp of grinding stone. He places consonants carefully and lets technical terms land with crisp emphasis. When startled, the rhythm of his measured breathing breaks audibly, and his next words come out rough and faster.

His words have the clipped precision of someone accustomed to dictating notes over the grind of a mortar. He uses workshop terms and dockside comparisons, shaping explanations around pressure, heat, and weak points. When rattled, his breath scrapes audibly between phrases and he begins issuing instructions before finishing his thoughts.

Speech patterns

Explains danger through physical comparisons: a spell is a cracked kettle, a ward is a door with a bad hinge.
Uses exact measurements when calm, but switches to clipped imperatives once a fight begins.
Asks one practical question before answering a personal one.
Occasionally starts a sentence with 'For the record,' when he wants to sound less worried than he is.

How to play them

He offers useful information when approached with a concrete problem and treats competence as a form of courtesy. He is guarded about the cellar accident, but responds to honest concern with practical help rather than sentiment. If he suspects someone is concealing an arcane hazard, he presses them for facts and may act before securing permission.

Goal

Discover the source of the writing appearing in his spellbook before it leads him to repeat the catastrophe that killed his mentor.

Motivation

He wants to master destructive magic without letting fear turn him timid or guilt turn him reckless.

Secret · GM only

Appearance

Ezhren carries himself with the braced, economical movements of someone used to working over a cluttered desk while danger threatens nearby. His fingertips are permanently ink-blue at the creases, and fine calluses roughen the pads from years of grinding components and turning stiff spellbook pages. When he is calm, his breath catches in short, precise measures, as if counting beats; under pressure, the count breaks into a dry rasp. His unexpectedly conspicuous habit is wearing a tiny copper bell on a cord around one wrist, which he rings softly before opening any sealed container. People remember the smell of scorched rosemary that follows him and the way nearby candle flames lean toward his hands when he casts.

Clothing

A soot-gray wool coat with hidden inner pockets, a high-necked linen shirt, sturdy boots, and a weatherproof shoulder cape. His cuffs are stitched with small copper-thread sigils and patched where sparks have eaten through the cloth.

Body language

He angles his body toward the nearest clear route and keeps his hands visible, fingers flexing as though feeling for invisible strings. When a spell is forming, his shoulders lock and his breath divides into measured counts. When frightened, the rhythm collapses into a rasp and the copper bell taps against his wrist.

Height
5 feet 10 inches
Build
Lean and wiry, with the corded forearms of a man who hauls his own books and equipment.
Eyes
Dark hazel, with amber flecks that catch the light
Hair
Dark brown, cut close at the sides and usually mussed from rain
Skin
Olive with a warm undertone, often smudged with soot or ink
Age
Forty-two
Gender
Male
Size
Medium

Distinguishing features

Ink-blue staining in the creases of both hands, with callused fingertips.
A small copper bell tied around one wrist, rung before he opens sealed containers.
His breath falls into counted beats when he concentrates, then rasps when rattled.
A faint, persistent scent of scorched rosemary and hot metal.

Personality

12 traits and drives

Ezhren is exacting about risks yet impatient with bureaucracy, and he can be generous with knowledge while withholding anything that might expose his own mistakes. In a quiet room, he is dryly funny and attentive; when danger appears, he becomes abrupt and intensely focused. Afterward, he is inclined to replay every decision until someone forces him to eat or sleep.

Alignment
Neutral good

Quirks

Rings the little copper bell before opening a sealed box, letter, or door, even when he knows what is inside.
Sorts loose components into groups of prime numbers when nervous.
Blows gently across his knuckles after casting, as though cooling a miniature forge.
Writes weather notes in the margins of his spellbook, including the smell of the rain.

Habits

Checks exits and ceiling beams before settling into a room.
Tests unfamiliar powders by rubbing a trace between gloved fingers, then records the residue.
After using a powerful spell, counts his breaths against the fading smell of ozone.
Keeps his promises even when doing so compromises his plans.

Traits · 3

He is meticulous with other people's safety and surprisingly careless with his own comfort.
He offers frank criticism, then remembers small kindnesses for years.
He dislikes grand displays but feels an almost physical satisfaction when a spell lands exactly where intended.

Flaws · 3

Treats preparation as a substitute for trust and rarely delegates dangerous work.
Can become ruthlessly pragmatic when he believes a threat must be stopped quickly.
His guilt makes him hide evidence of magical failures until he understands them.

Fears · 3

Repeating the cellar accident and harming people who trusted his judgment.
That the writing in his spellbook is a message from something that survived the breach.
Being forced to choose between protecting Tamsin and honoring his obligations to the Watchful Order.

Wants and needs · 3

Access to restricted records concerning the cellar accident.
A trustworthy companion willing to inspect the spellbook without taking it away.
Sleep without waking to the imagined sound of stone splitting.

Combat

AC 15 · HP 44 · 30 ft.

He begins by seeking cover and shaping the field with Web or a defensive spell, then uses Fireball when enemies cluster and Scorching Ray or Fire Bolt to finish isolated threats. He favors precise, decisive damage over spectacle, but retreats if allies are endangered or the battle turns against them. He avoids casting explosive spells in cramped streets or near civilians.

Ezhren Salk

Medium humanoid (human), neutral good
Armor Class15
Hit Points44
Speed30 ft.
Level7
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsIntelligenceWisdom
SkillsArcanaInvestigationInsightHistory
SensesPassive Perception 11
Languages
Common,
Draconic
Spellcasting. Intelligence is his spellcasting ability (spell save , to hit with spell attacks). He has four 1st-level, three 2nd-level, and three 3rd-level spell slots.
Arcane Recovery. Once per day after a Short Rest, he recovers spell slots with a combined level of up to 4, none of which can be 6th level or higher.

Spells

Fire Bolt (cantrip, evocation). A mote of fire streaks toward a creature or object within range. Ranged spell attack; hit: fire damage.
Ray of Frost (cantrip, evocation). A ray of fire shoots at a target within range. Ranged spell attack; hit: fire damage.
Shocking Grasp (cantrip, evocation). A creature within range takes lightning damage, or half as much on a successful Dexterity save; the spell can arc to another creature.
Fireball (level 3, evocation). A bright streak flashes from his pointing finger to a point within range and blossoms in a burst of flame. Creatures in the area make Dexterity saves, taking fire damage on a failure, or half on a success.
Magic Missile (level 1, evocation). He creates three magical darts, each dealing force damage to a target of his choice.
Scorching Ray (level 2, evocation). He creates three fiery rays and makes a ranged spell attack for each. Each hit deals fire damage.
Flaming Sphere (level 2, conjuration). A 20-foot-radius sphere of flame appears within range. Creatures in it make Dexterity saves, taking fire damage on a failure, or half on a success.
Wall of Fire (level 4, evocation). He creates a wall of flames on a solid surface. Creatures in its area make Dexterity saves, taking fire damage on a failure, or half on a success.
Shield (level 1, abjuration). He gains a bonus to AC, including against the triggering attack, and takes no damage from Magic Missile until the start of his next turn.
Mage Armor (level 1, abjuration). A creature he touches gains a base AC of 13 + its Dexterity modifier for 8 hours.
Web (level 2, conjuration). He creates a 20-foot cube of sticky webs that can restrain creatures and impede movement.
Clairvoyance (level 3, divination). He makes an invisible magical sensor within range, able to see and hear from its position for the duration.
Disguise Self (level 2, illusion). He magically alters his appearance, including clothing and equipment, for the duration.
Mage Hand (cantrip, conjuration). He creates a floating hand that can manipulate objects, open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item, or pour out a vial.

Actions

Fire Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: fire damage.
Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: − 1 piercing damage.
Spellcasting. Ezhren casts a prepared spell, expending a spell slot as usual. His prepared spells are listed in the spells field.

Reactions

Shield. When a creature Ezhren can see hits him with an attack, he gains a bonus to AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss. He expends a spell slot as normal.

Services they sell

Identifies common magical hazards and explains how to contain them.
Provides private evocation tutoring for a suitable fee or favor.
Can help trace the origin of arcane residue in Waterdeep.

Rewards they can give

A carefully annotated map of arcane incidents in the Dock Ward
A scroll of Scorching Ray, if he trusts the recipient
A lead to a dangerous source of magical residue beneath the city

Equipment

  • Spellbook (arcane focus and reference)Contains his prepared spells and private notes; its lock is intact, though strange scorch marks have appeared inside.
  • Dagger (weapon)A slim blade kept for emergencies, more tool than weapon.
  • Component pouch (spellcasting equipment)A component pouch with chalk, copper wire, ash, and stoppered jars of powdered minerals.
  • Weatherproof coat (clothing)A treated, soot-gray coat threaded with subtle protective runes; while Mage Armor is active, it offers no additional protection.

Possessions

A spellbook with unexplained scorch writing
Master Odrask's brass component case
A copper bell on a wrist cord
A folded letter from Tamsin, kept dry inside his coat
A pouch of ground minerals and chalk

Background

Ezhren grew up in the Dock Ward, the son of a net-mender who taught him to judge a rope by its fray and a person by what they repaired. He earned a place copying diagrams for a Waterdeep arcanist, then apprenticed himself to the city's Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors. His talent was for controlled, forceful evocation, but a disastrous demonstration changed what he thought power was for: a faulty containment ward ruptured in a rented cellar, and his mentor, Master Odrask, died holding the breach long enough for two apprentices to escape. Ezhren has since made a study of destructive magic and its safeguards. He still sends money to the surviving apprentice, Tamsin, who now works as a dockside apothecary, and avoids the empty chair in the Order's lecture hall. Recently, scorch marks have appeared on the inside of his locked spellbook, forming fragments of a spell he never wrote. He is trying to learn whether the writing is a warning, a lure, or a remnant of the accident.

Role in the story

A damage-focused wizard whose expertise can help the party investigate dangerous magic in Waterdeep. His unresolved guilt and concealed evidence make him a useful ally with reasons to resist scrutiny.

“He earned a place copying diagrams for a Waterdeep arcanist, then apprenticed himself to the city's Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors.”
From their background
Faction
A registered member of Waterdeep's Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors; respected for his field work, though his superiors consider him difficult to supervise.

Known connections

Tamsin, the surviving apprentice from the cellar accident, runs an apothecary stall near the docks and knows when Ezhren is lying about his sleep.
The Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors provides his formal standing and expects him to report unusual arcane activity.
He keeps his former mentor Master Odrask's brass spell component case, though he cannot bring himself to use it.
Major secret · GM only
Minor secrets · GM only

Media

0 images

No images yet.

Visual sheet

Turn Ezhren Salk into a sheet

A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.