Rascal DeepBarrel:
Strongheart Halfling, Spellthief - Previously played by Shane
(Character illustration by Peter Bergting - Appeared in Dragon Magazine #285. Now available online in the 3.5 D&D 'PC Portraits Online Archive' (heading Halflings) at the Wizards.com website - Copyright held by Wizards of the Coast (Used without permission))

The party knew very little about the Halfling named Rascal. He was first encountered in the Sewers of Oblivion, beneath the ruins of Lingice-Enz. Rascal and a few other characters (Members of an adventuring group known as 'Nothing But Trouble') were found encased in some sort of stasis inducing coccoons. They were engaged in a quest to find Eivobrin's Incanabula when they encountered a powerful group of spiders. Thanks to the members of the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights, they were freed from their cocoons and given a second chance at life.

Rascal continued adventuring with the party when they decided to look for an ancient artifact known as "Eivobrin's Incanabula". Rascal survived that adventure, only to leave the party without so much as a good bye. One day he was simply missing. He left the party's undivided loot in the Inn. Except for that mysterious 'Ball of Light'. No one saw him leave, he didn't provide an explanation or so much as a good bye. Later, the party soon discovered that Rascal had gone back to being a member of 'Nothing But Trouble' He's back to adventuring, and wherever he is, I'm sure he's neck deep in adventure. Here's to you Rascal!

Physical Description
Rascal is a Strongheart halfling. At 3' tall (small), weighing 32lbs he is abnormally small for a halfling. He has long dark black hair that he keeps in a braided ponytail. His face is cased by thick mutton chops, and his eyes are as black as a pool of starless night. He keeps dark colored clothing and always wears a black knife-vest over all other clothing.

Homeland (Country/City)
As a young child, Rascal never knew his parents and he grew up in the big city of Waterdeep. He and his grandmother lived above Granny's Apothecary shop, and he roamed the streets playing with other street wise kids. He always came home before dark, but soon knew the backs of those streets like the backs of his hands. Growing up in the big city, Rascal learned a particular set of skills; skills which serve him still. The tricks of trade so to speak were taught to him by a group of street-wise thugs known as the 'Back Alley Brawlers'. While the city guard loved to chase them between the corridors and alleys of Waterdeep, Rascal never did anything that would endanger his home, and he thinks back fondly on those days in the shadows of the merchant guilds, creeping about on the roofs of the warehouse district, and evading the clumsy efforts of an overconfident city guard.

Background / History
As a young child, Rascal was taken to his grandmother for protection. Granny was a sorcerer who owned an apothecary shop in Waterdeep. His grandmother kept the secret of Rascal’s parents from him, though he asked continuously. Granny changed the subject anytime it arose. So Rascal grew up not knowing who his parents were or why they left him.

Despite not knowing his parents, Rascal grew up learning many life lessons from Granny. Though not every lesson contained truth, Granny kept Rascal safe. Granny taught Rascal that captured faeries had the ability to protect him, and even heal mortal wounds. She also told him the sewers were full of Were-Rats to keep him from entering them. Because of this, Rascal grew a strong fear of Were-Rats and sewers. Granny was forced to give him a silvered dagger for protection encase the Were-Rats ever came to the surface.

When Rascal’s abilities started to manifest, Granny taught him how to control them. As Rascal grew older, he became rebellious. During one of his fights with his Grandmother concerning his parents, Rascal grew frustrated and left. He joined up with a group of thieves named the ‘Back Alley Brawlers’. Rascal learned a different set of skills during this time and his abilities twisted to enhance his new skill set. After a few years, Rascal grew bored and returned to his grandmother's shop. Granny continued to train and assist him, though she no longer fully understood his ability.

Granny grew ill a year later and passed away shortly after. Despite her training Rascal did not know how to run an Apothecary shop. He sold the shop and head out to find his family. The only clue he had was a letter left with him when he was a child. Rascal was not prepared for adventuring. He fell in with a mercenary group for safety and ease.

During one of his missions, Rascal stumbled upon two humans fleeing the city. Kriek, a dragon heritage sorcerer, and Runewick, his Ranger/Rogue friend, had gotten into some trouble and needed to flee quickly. They seemed fun so the halfling decided to tag along. For two years Rascal followed the two on wild and silly adventures. It was on one of these adventures that the group met the elven noble known as The Black Shard.

Shard wanted the group to travel to an ancient tome and return an artifact to him. He promised a rich reward for the safe return of the artifact. After a year, the group returned to the shard with the relic. The Black Shard had no intention of paying the group and instead attempted to murder them. The resulting battle forced Shard to activate the relic prematurely. The relic surged from misuse and vanished, taking Shard and half his mansion with him. The group gathered their wits and some treasure before the guards showed up. The group skipped town and headed to the next city.

On the road to the next city, a golden dragon in human form offered to take Kriek and teach him of his heritage. Kreik agreed and he went off with the dragon. Rascal and Runewick continued to the city. Runewick fell in love with a serving Maiden at first sight. He decided with the loot recovered from the Black Shard, he could retire with her. With Runewick out of the game, Rascal was left to continue the search for his parents on his own.

Thanks to an invisibility potion, Rascal was able to stow away aboard a flying ship. That ship took him half-way across the world and he disembarked in a Sembian town called Whillip. For a year or so he took odd jobs in Whillip, always looking for an opportunity to prove himself. When the opportunity presented itself he joined an adventuring group called ‘Nothing but Trouble’. Rascal wasn’t surprised to find that the group lived up to its name.

That was two years ago. Rascal and the other members of ‘Nothing but Trouble’ had agreed to go on a quest for a wizard named Tekelut Thringus. This mage teleported the entire group to the town of Kester; that’s where they heard his ‘sales pitch’ and decided to depart on this quest. A quest for a book called “Eivobrin’s Incanabula”. Some sort of magical book, with a ‘Closed Eye’ ornament on the cover. After nearly a year of trekking across the desert wastes brought them to a ruined city and the sewers beneath. Out of all the monsters they fought, who would have guessed that a few spiders would cause the most trouble?