Zann

Zann

Wildemount

Full Name:	Orrelius Zann
Race:	Half-Elf
Pronouns:	he/him
Age:	30
Height:	6'2"
Hair:	Silver
Eyes:	Abyssal blue
Nationality:	Concordian
Affiliations:	Band of the Sea Dragon Gunther Painter's Guild of Port Damali (formerly)
Languages Spoken:	Common Elvish Dwarvish Primordial

Orrelius Zann (almost always referred to solely as Zann) is a painter and member of the Band of the Sea Dragon. He is a warlock with Gunther serving as his patron and Schneider serving as his familiar, though Zann is oblivious to the nature of these relationships and even to the fact that he would be considered a "warlock," merely believing himself to be a painter granted magical gifts by his "good friend."

Personality

Although Zann typically kept to himself before his life as an adventurer, he's quick to make friends and form bonds with others, and rarely brings himself to dislike others unless they explicitly mean to do harm. Because of this, he has a confident approach to conversation that is often capable of swaying even people that he just met, though this is countered by his severe gullibility that rarely allows him to see things beyond face value. Likewise, Zann always puts his true self forward, and his qualities lead to his belief that friendship should be valued above all else.

Despite his frequent obliviousness, Zann's background as a painter does grant him an eye for detail when he takes the time to focus in on a more specific picture.

Zann's general eccentricity, combined with the fact that he frequently speaks aloud while telepathically conversing with Gunther or Schneider despite the inability of others to hear these conversations, can cause others to believe that Zann is completely insane, as opposed to just very slightly insane.

Appearance

Zann is of an above average height for his race, which makes his already slender frame appear even thinner by comparison. His silvery-blonde hair is short-to-mid length and slightly messy. Zann's most striking feature is his eyes, which are completely lacking in visible pupils or irises, with sclerae that are a deep, near-black shade of blue, with white, sea snow-like glints speckled throughout them.

Zann typically wears a deep, vibrant blue cloak, along with simple articles of clothing typical of most adventurers. He often has a paintbrush in his hand, which he uses as an arcane focus, and when casting spells he uses the brush to appear to "paint" his spells into existence.

After the Sea Dragons defeated Captain Three Earrings and destroyed Uk'otoa's artifact, Gunther modified Zann's physical form to allow him to breathe and move through water as a reward. As a result, Zann now has webbing lining his fingers, toes, and armpits, as well as a set of gills on his abdomen, though most of these physical features are typically not seen under Zann's cloak.

Despite his more unusual physical characteristics, Delmon has noted that Zann is physically attractive in general.

History

Before the Game

Orrelius Zann was born and raised in Feolinn, where he quickly discovered his love of painting. Eventually, his talent was honed to the point that he was able to join the painter's guild of Port Damali, where he enjoyed moderate success.

Unfortunately, during his time with the guild, Zann developed a degenerative illness that gradually deteriorated his eyesight to the point of total blindness. Desperate to find a way to restore his sight in order to continue painting, Zann searched for potential cures of any and all natural, technological, and magical means, but every attempt resulted in failure.

One day after giving in to defeat, Zann heard a voice calling to him from the ocean along the shore by his house. This voice came from an unusual seahorse that was somehow aware of Zann's situation, and claimed to be an envoy for a greater being that had the power to restore Zann's sight. Zann was then told that in return, he must offer his infallibly loyal friendship to this being. Having exhausted all other options, Zann agreed to the deal, and was granted the ability to see through the eyes of the seahorse. During the process, Zann saw a brief, obscured glimpse of his new patron, and expressed interest in getting a better look. The seahorse introduced himself and his patron (renamed by Zann to Schneider and Gunther, respectively, due to possessing unpronounceable true names), and told Zann that Gunther may one day be able to enter the realm with Zann's help.

Zann returned to work at the painter's guild, although his newfound sight came with an altered artistic vision. Zann's new, hauntingly surreal work was not popular with the guild, and Zann eventually left the guild in disgust.

Post-guild, Zann's primary goal became to find a way to bring Gunther into Zann's realm, allowing Zann to view Gunther in full and paint his full form as Zann's magnum opus.

Joining the Sea Dragons

Sometime around the mission to Eiselcross, Gunther tasked Zann with retrieving an amulet in a shipwreck on the northwestern shores of Wildemount, and pulled Zann into the waves, with Gunther using his powers to cause Zann to wash up on said northwestern shores unconscious but otherwise unharmed.

With the Sea Dragons on their way to deliver an Aeorian tablet to Port Damali's auction house, the ship they were using for transport made a pit stop on these shores, where they met Zann and agreed to help him retrieve the amulet. After fighting the various beings inhabiting the shipwreck, Zann successfully retrieved the amulet with the help of his new companions. Gunther then requested Zann to throw the amulet into the ocean. Zann obliged, much to the confusion of the others.

With the task completed and being so far away from home, Zann decided to travel with his new companions, joining the group that would one day be known as the Band of the Sea Dragon.

Journey to Port Damali

The Sea Dragons made another stop on the way to Port Damali, this time on an island that housed what was revealed to be Aralyn's former hermitage. After fending off an undead horde, with Zann receiving a temporary increase in power from Gunther as assistance, Zann and the others headed to the Pit of Hatred to defeat the source of the horde. Zann made an offering to Gunther in an attempt to provide more assistance in this underwater environment, with Gunther obliging by creating a temporary air bubble around the Pit of Hatred, as well as protecting Zann from the Sea Dragons' first brief encounter with Uk'otoa. After defeating the captain of the cursed ship Tammeraut, Zann and the others permormed a sealing ritual on the rift in the Pit of Hatred, then continued on their voyage to Port Damali.

Port Damali

Upon arrival in Port Damali, the Sea Dragons delivered the Aeorian tablet to Eiler, head of Port Damali's auction house, where Zann (as well as War) was refused payment due to joining the Sea Dragons after the delivery deal was made, and therefore not being listed on the payment receipt. Zann reluctantly refused to argue for payment, having already had negative experiences with Port Damali's upper class in the past.

The Sea Dragons then chose the Rapid Seahorse as the inn they would use during their stay in Port Damali, largely due to the name drawing the attention of Zann & Schneider. This would also form the beginning of the Sea Dragons' relationship with Alyn, owner of the Rapid Seahorse.

Having once worked in the Port Damali painter's guild, Zann showed the others the art gallery. To his surprise, the art gallery had an exhibit dedicated to Zann's post-Gunther paintings, which had formerly proven so unpopular with the guild that it led to Zann's resignation. Curious about this change in opinion, Zann was incensed to learn that the guild was claiming Zann left on good terms and there was never a negative reception to his work within the guild, with the truth being that the change in opinion happened only after a wealthy art collector purchased one of Zann's works sometime after Zann's departure. Zann then stopped by the guild office, where he was successfully able to convince the guild to alter their public story of Zann's relationship with the guild to a more truthful variant, as well as receiving compensation for his art that had been purchased from the guild in the past.

Zann and the others would go on to investigate a series of murders caused by Thresh (with Phery, cook at the Rapid Seahorse, among the victims), and would battle him several times, eventually defeating him with the help of Lucian and Senna. During one of these encounters with Thresh, Schneider was temporarily banished to his home plane, forcing Zann to reveal his blindness to the others without Schneider to act as his eyes.

After Thresh's defeat, Alyn told the Sea Dragons of her intent to return home from Port Damali due to the loss of Phery, and left the Rapid Seahorse in their care. Also around this time, Zann & the others were approached by Rose, a woman working for the Myriad that requested the Sea Dragons to steal back the tablet they delivered to the auction house, and deliver it to a contact in Palma Flora. Though Zann was reluctant to accept the mission, he did agree to the task in order to help the other Sea Dragons (who all accepted the mission) that he had come to see as his family.

The following night, Zann & the others went to the auction house to steal the tablet. Zann's outstanding deception skills proved especially worthwhile, with his most noteworthy bluff to date-successfully convincing the guards that Zann was a hired investigator and the planned heist was the work of Francisco, one of the guards' own-occurring here.

Though the Sea Dragons were easily able to stay one step ahead of the guards, they were eventually outmatched by Callum, the auction house's "security system." Callum was so amused by the Sea Dragons' bold yet doomed attempt at a heist that he agreed to give the tablet to them if they could pass a test. Zann & the others were tasked with choosing a room in the auction house basement and selecting the most valuable object in the room, with Zann selecting a journal accounting a trip to the Feywild from a book storage room. The Sea Dragons passed Callum's test, and in turn he gave them the tablet and the items they chose for the test, and transported them out of Port Damali into the Vezdaweald.

Palma Flora and Captain Three Earrings

After a journey through the Vezdaweald that included assisting a tribe of Lizardfolk against a tribe of Yuan-ti, Zann & the others eventually arrived at Palma Flora.

Before the Sea Dragons could find their Myriad contact, Palma Flora was invaded by sahuagin, which led to the sinking of Flora Isle. Zann & the others wound up on board of a ship belonging to Captain Three Earrings, where she tasked them with defeating the sahuagin at the now sunken Flora Isle in order to retrieve an artifact.

Despite an incredibly punishing encounter, the Sea Dragons succeeded, and handed the artifact (which turned out to be a rod aligned with Uk'otoa) to Three Earrings. Three Earrings then immediately turned on the Sea Dragons (minus Lyra, who agreed to work under Three Earrings as a cover), tying them up and depriving them of all of their equipment. Three Earrings (who in taking possession of the artifact had formed a pact with Uk'otoa) then set course for an out of the way volcanic island. Upon arrival, Three Earrings ordered her crew to carry Zann away with the intent to throw him into the island's volcano as a sacrifice (due to his pact with Gunther, a rival of Uk'otoa), leaving the others behind on the ship.

Zann successfully escaped from his restraints with a well-timed Thunder Step, and got a head start on the pursuit of Three Earrings before being joined by his comrades after their escape from the ship. With Uk'otoa's rod destroyed by Clock, Zann knocked Three Earrings into the volcano with an eldritch blast, though this proved to be less lethal than expected, as she shortly rose from the volcano as a yugoloth. After taking the fight back to the ship, Zann & the others slew Three Earrings for the final time.

Return to Port Damali

The Sea Dragons then took the ship back to Port Damali. During the trip back, Gunther granted Zann with a set of gills and webbing as a reward for vanquishing a servant of Gunther's rival, Uk'otoa. The other Sea Dragons reacted to Zann;s transformation with horror, but reluctantly accepted his positive reception to the "gift" for the time. Upon arriving in Port Damali, they told the story of their encounter with Three Earrings to Admiral Merle Sloefswyn of the Clovis Concord's Navy. Having done a great service to the Concord, Admiral Merle (who turned out to be a fan of Zann's art) offered a semi-official alliance to the Sea Dragons, which they accepted.

Staying the night in the Rapid Seahorse, Zann and the other awoke the next day to discover that the Aeorian tablet (which was unable to be delivered to the Myriad contact due to the events at Palma Flora) had been stolen. The Sea Dragons were contacted by Rose once again shortly after, informing them that she and they were in trouble with the Myriad for failing to deliver the tablet, and would be in even greater trouble if they didn't retrieve it from the thief. Rose identified the thief as Tepin Hai, a former member of the Myriad that was most likely heading into the Dwendalian Empire with the tablet.

Zann & the others returned to Admiral Merle in an attempt to receive aid in traveling to the Empire, but the political relationship between the Concord and the Empire prevented direct aid from being available. During this meeting, Frau Schaeffer entered to Admiral's office, requesting help in regards to her son, Hans, who had gone missing in Felderwin after enlisting in the imperial army. Admiral Merle, realizing that a team could oversee this investigation and receive aid in traveling into Empire territory as a matter relating to a citizen of the Concord, offered the investigation (and aid from the Concord along with it) to the Sea Dragons. Needing a name to put on the paperwork, at this point Zann & the others officially declared themselves as the Band of the Sea Dragon for the first time.

The next morning, the Sea Dragons received a set of horses (with Zann naming his Delgado), and they set off on their long journey to Felderwin.

Feolinn

Being the hometown of both Zann & Lyra, the Sea Dragons decided to make a stop in Feolinn while on the way to the Empire. Zann took the others to his house with the intent to stay the night there, only to discover that an elderly woman was living there, and claimed to have been living there for 20 years. When the party returned the next morning to ask her and her son further questions, all signs seemed to indicate that the woman believed she was telling the truth. Zann was also not recognized by Joey, owner of the art supply shop where Zann was a regular. Eventually, Schneider put forth the hypothesis that Gunther had accidentally erased Zann's time in Feolinn from existence when Zann was dragged into the ocean and carried to the northeastern shores of Wildemount.

While Zann pondered this new scenario, the Sea Dragons encountered Delmon and Mio, figures from the pasts of Lyra and Robyn, respectively. Delmon told Lyra of a companion, Balfarin, that had been abducted by hobgoblins in the Plumgroves, and with a little prodding from Zann, Lyra agreed to help rescue her.

After clearing out the hobgoblins from a cave in the Plumgroves, Zann and the others rescued Balfarin, who somehow recognized Zann, despite all other residents of Feolinn forgetting his existence. This was theorized to be due to Balfarin being out of town during the incident that wiped Zann's existence from Feolinn. The Sea Dragons then continued on their way to Felderwin shortly after the rescue mission.

Trivia

Zann is Jared's second character in the campaign, after deciding to retire Alder.

Zann speaks with a (vaguely) German accent.