Portia is a wild magic sorcerer who served as a somewhat unwilling member of the Council of Echoes and is responsible for the raising of the Mongrelfolk and the creation of the Nuckelavee. She was born as a Lightfoot Halfling but following a death during the Echoes Crisis, she was reincarnated as a Hill Dwarf by her wild magic. She has since spent time in prison and then been released on parole to breed drakes in the village of Carran in the Grey Valley.
Description
Appearance
Portia was initially a lightfoot halfing, standing at 3'2'', with short fire orange hair and brown eyes. Her face was covered in freckles as a halfling. She was also heavily scarred across her face as a result of raising the dangerous Mongrelfolk.
Following her resurrection she moved into the body of a Hill Dwarf, her height raising to 4'3" and her figure becoming more bulky. She is still described as being thin for a dwarf, almost to the point where it looks unnatural. Despite the reincarntion healing her injuries she retained the triple claw scar across her left eye that she had gained from the Nuckelavee.
Personality
Portia is fun loving and sharp witted, often trying to find a funny side to situations. In Barovia especially, she attempted to add levity to the very dark and dangerous positions the group could find themselves in. She possesses a huge amount of empathy, choosing to remain in Barovia to help the Mongrelfolk after seeing their situation and then remaining with the Council of Echoes to protect them even as she regretted her involvement. Her fun loving nature was greatly repressed during her time with the Council of Echoes, turning her into a fierce protector of her Mongrelfolk charges to the point that she died to protect them.
Portia is also extremely smart, able to reverse the Mongrelfolk condition somewhat successfully and more recently, able to breed and train Drakes in the Grey Valley. Her fun loving nature has returned since the Echoes Crisis ended, although it is now tempered by a cautious approach and her protective nature over those she loves remains strong, particuarly over her drakes and her son, Irving.
Portia's alignment is Chaotic Good, with a short time as a Chaotic Neutral during her time with the Council of Echoes.
Biography
Early Life
Portia was born in the capital city of Emon in Tal'Dorei and from an early age, showed the signs of her wild magic powers. In an attempt to tame the powers her parents sent her to apprentice under a wizard at the Alabaster Lyceum but she quickly grew to despise it there, often sneaking out and getting into mischief. When she was 19, Portia decided she had had enough of following the wizard's rules and stole his Wand of Wonder before attempting to use it to escape. While the wand did create a portal for Portia however, the destination proved quite different than she had imagined.
Curse of Strahd
Portia found herself in the valley of Barovia and quickly met a group of adventurers, consisting of Korg, Din and Pikkik. She agreed to help them overthrow the vampire overlord of Barovia and travelled with them through battles in the Amber Temple and the abandoned village of Berez. In the Abbey in the village of Krezk, Portia encountered the half beast, half human race called the Mongrelfolk and took pity on them, wishing she could help their situation. The party eventually assaulted Castle Ravenloft and killed Strahd.
Following Strahd's death, Portia took over the Abbey in Krezk, coming to care for the Mongrelfolk that lived there. However, Barovia soon fell under the leadership of another dark ruler, Riza Whispercreek who gained Portia's allegiance as a member of the newly named Council of Echoes promising that Portia could use whatever supplies she needed to attempt to cure the mongrelfolk.
Riza tasked the Council with locating the vestiges required to free Tharizdun. She also began to make preparations to leave Barovia to Tal'Dorei. Portia began to breed new generations of the Mongrelfolk and travelled with them all to the Whispercreek Estate in Tal'Dorei. Over the next seven years, Portia pushed her attempts to cure the Mongrelfolk forwards and she bred a monstrous mongrelfolk named the Nuckelavee that destroyed any plant life around it and Riza used it to start cutting off the food supply to the Tal'Dorei military.
Council of Echoes
Portia remained in the shadows for much of the Echoes Crisis due to her experiments with the Mongrelfolk and her doubts and regrets over working for Riza and the Council of Echoes. She was seen briefly by Hindsight while they were prisoners of the Council of Echoes.
She later appeared at Whispercreek Estate when Hindsight raided it and she fought them due to their killing of the Nuckelavee and several of the Mongrelfolk. While Portia put up a good fight she was eventually defeated by Hindsight and slain by Ariawyn while in her wolf form. Luckily for Portia however, the battle had triggered her Wild Magic and it caused her to be reincarnated into the body of a Hill Dwarf. The newly resurrected Portia directed her mongrelfolk to surrender and gave herself in to Hindsight. Ariawyn responded by giving Portia a symbol of the Claret Order and telling her to take the Mongrelfolk there to be protected.
Post Echoes Crisis
Following the Echoes Crisis, Portia ensured that her Mongrelfolk made it to safety with the Claret Order and some aid from Pikkik. Once she had gained assurances that they were safe and cared for, Portia left her Mongrelfolk behind and travelled to Emon, where she turned herself in to the authorities as a member of the Council of Echoes. She was tried and given a prison sentence of at minimum 20 years, to be served in the prison at Fort Daxio. While imprisoned at Daxio, Portia befriended a guard named Cooper who became a personal guard to her due to her good behaviour and compliances. This friendship developed over time into a mutual attraction that neither party was able to act upon.
In 830 P.D. Portia was approached by Roland Songsteel who expressed a wish to hire her to assist in the Grey Valley Project as a form of parole for her good behaviour in the prison. Once Portia agreed and expressed interest, Roland and Ariawyn Vennan spoke before courts on her behalf, eventually convincing the judges to allow Portia freedom, on the condition that she be accompanied by a guard as a parole officer. Ariawyn recognised the attraction between Cooper and Portia and suggested he be the guard to accompany her. The courts agreed and Portia and Cooper joined the first settlers of the Grey Valley Project.
A New Purpose
Now free of the watchful eyes of the courts and other guards, Portia and Cooper quickly developed a relationship and were married by Irril Manais in early 831 P.D. Portia and her new husband then found themselves a purpose in taming and breeding the Drakes native to the Grey Valley to assist in a variety of roles within the valley. Portia's first two successful drakes that she grew from hatchlings were a red Guard Drake that she named Scarlett and a Moon Drake named Janus. Scarlett became a loyal Guard Drake, hunting and fighting at Cooper's side like a trained bloodhound, meanwhile it became clear to Portia that Janus had some form of learning disability, becoming easily distracted and preferring solitude. Portia also found that she was pregnant with Cooper's child and she gave birth in mid 832 P.D. to a half dwarf son that she named Irving. Much like her Drakes, and the Mongrelfolk before them, Irving became a focus that Portia dedicated herself wholly to. In 834 P.D. a few of the settlers, led by Irril Manais and Helfi Stonecutter, left Yana to travel towards the mountains at the side of the valley and establish a mining colony. Portia and her family joined them, with a mining colony having more use for her drakes and the mountains being a more suitable terrain to raise the new drakes in.
Grey Frontier
In 840 P.D. the village that the settlers had established, Carran, was beseiged by a pack of gnolls, attempting to reach the mine which had suffered a collapse under mysterious circumstances. Cooper led the defence of the town, assisted by the other guards and Scarlett. Meanwhile, Portia remained in her home to protect her young drakes and Irving. However, when she looked out from her home, she saw that a small kobold warrior was greviously wounded by the raiders and she immediately set out, along with a young bathhouse drake named Steamy to save the kobold. She killed the Gnolls and had Steamy carry the kobold back to her home where she was able to treat the wounds she had sustained, discovering the horrific scars the kobold bore on her back in the process.
When the kobold awoke Portia introduced herself and Steamy and the kobold introduced herself as Karr, and admitted a certain curiosity about the drake breeder. Portia agreed to answer any questions Karr had, introducing her to Irving and explaining her process. She refused to allow Karr to adopt a drake however, citing how dangerous the beasts could be if not trained properly. She then reunited Karr with her companions, refusing to answer Tred when he asked about her past with Korg.
After their mission in the mines, Karr and Crieff both met Portia, who was in the process of treating Janus, who had been having strange nightmares. She helped the pair get used to drakes and watched with interest as Crieff spoke to Janus in Celestial.
Portia briefly met the Sterling Rams once more as they travelled through Carran on their journey northwards towards Rilien's digsite, where she told Karr that she deliberately trains all of her drakes in Halfling so that they would be harder for any enemies to then take command of. She lamented that she would be unable to teach Karr any Halfling however.
Relationships
Cooper
Cooper initially came to know Portia while she was a prisoner. Nevertheless, the two developed a very strong relationship that eventually blossomed into love. Cooper and Portia married one another and have a son together, they are very supportive of one another and work together like a well oiled machine.
Irving
Irving is Porita's son, born to her and Cooper. She loves him very much and is fiercely protective over him, to a greater extent than she ever was over the Mongrelfolk or even her drakes
Riza Whispercreek
Portia intially thought of Riza as a just and fair leader, even as someone she could rely upon due to Riza providing supplies and theories on how to release the Mongrelfolk from their condition. However, over time, Portia began to despise the woman, seeing that she was cruel and cared little for those beneath her. During the time of the Echoes Crisis itself, Portia only remained loyal to Riza in order to protect the Mongrelfolk serving the Council of Echoes.
Ariawyn Vennan
Ariawyn and Portia originally found themselves as bitter rivals, a relationship that came to a head during the battle at Whipercreek Estate wherein the Blood Hunter successfully killed Portia. Once she was reincarnated however, Portia and Ariawyn came to a level of mutual understanding, centered around Portia's wish to protect the Mongrelfolk, which Ariawyn helped her achieve. Ariawyn later spoke in Portia's defence during her parole hearings and set up her relationship with Cooper.
Council of Echoes
Much like with Riza, Portia originally believed strongly in the cause of the Council of Echoes but she became more disillusioned over time, eventually turning her back on the group during the Echoes Crisis. Portia came to regret her involvement in the group's activities so heavily that she refused to discuss them in later years.
Hindsight
Aside from Ariawyn, Portia rarely interacted with any member of Hindsight. She does remain thankful and respectful of them due to their role in stopping Tharizdun.
Karr
Portia sees Karr as a younger version of herself and therefore tries to guide the young kobold when she can. She believes Karr may be the only person in the Grey Valley able to also train and keep drakes as she does, although she hesitates to give her a drake of her own.
Drakes
Portia breeds and keeps several different types of Drakes and treats them all as if they are her children. With Janus she is patient and careful, and with Steamy she often acts as one would when dealing with a toddler.
The Sterling Rams
Portia views the Sterling Rams as allies and capable adventurers, although she is unhappy at how readily they resort to killing drakes.
Equipment
Portia carries a Wand of Wonder which enhances her Wild Magic abilities. She also wears a suit of dragon scale armour that allows her to be protected while working with her drakes.
Trivia
- Portia, Riza, Ariawyn and Karr were all played by Laura: Riza and Portia during Curse of Strahd, Ariawyn during Council of Echoes and Karr during Grey Frontier.