Oris Arthwen

Oris Arthwen is a female, human wizard and cleric who lives on the outskirts of Westfell Dell with a familiar, a talking fairy-cat named Gilda.

Early life and education
Oris Arthwen was the youngest of thirteen children born to poor farmers. Born as a boy, Oris was a small, sickly child, and when it became clear that he would never be strong enough to work the farm, his father took him to the nearby Stonegate Abbey, to be raised in harmony with the nature spirits that guide the world.

Unfortunately, Oris quickly decided that living in harmony with the world was imminently dull. While he found himself deeply moved by the power and beauty of creation and its divine balance, he was less impressed by the serious dourness of abbey life. His mind would drift during meditation, and his magical studies more often than not provided an outlet for his boredom.

As he gained a better grasp on his magical abilities, he began to use his powers for his own entertainment. Generally, Oris' pranks were harmless, and even brought amusement and healing to those who had come to convalesce at the abbey. But when the fifth Earl of Westfell came to visit the abbey, Oris was struck with inspiration: why not enchant the bees to sing bawdy tunes? While the Earl was amused, the abbot was not. Enough was enough: Oris was sent out from the monastery to find his own way in the world.

Life after Stonegate Abbey
Though not a druid or cleric, Oris could perform the holy blessings well enough. For a time, he made his way in the world as a wandering spellcaster, performing the odd holy ritual here or there, and using cleverness, rather than force, to solve problems and get himself out of trouble.

After several years, Oris made his way back in the direction of the abbey. Upon finding himself still unwelcome, he decided to settle down in the nearby village of Westfell Dell. It was close enough to the abbey that it felt like home, and if it was near enough that he could race back to the abbey if the abbot had a sudden change of heart, well, so much the better.

Oris settled in a little cabin on the edge of the woods, where he spent his days studying magic, praying, and entertaining the village children with illusions and magic. He was regarded by the villagers with a kind of amused wariness: while he sells sturdy enchantments that have protected their homes and their crops, everyone has seen the roof of his house covered in odd-colored fires at one point or another, and nearly everyone has a story of how spindly, skinny Oris once turned their drink into something else, or enchanted their animals to speak, or made all their farming tools do a country circle dance after he'd had one mead too many.

"Heroic" exploits
When Westfell fell under a wintry curse, Oris (who was bored) decided to tag along and try to undo the enchantment. During the course of the adventure, he established himself as both respectably competent in combat, and prone to fits of finnicky, dithery hyperventilation. However, Oris did manage to somehow run afoul of the Mossenleaf Stag, and was struck dead on the spot. Kang Tealeaf convinced unicorns to revive him, giving him the added benefit of being unable to die of natural causes. At the conclusion of the adventure, Oris was awarded a Letter from the Earl.

Summoning a familiar
During the course of the party's travels in the fairy wilds, Oris summoned a familiar: a striped wildcat named Gilda. As a fairy creature, Gilda possesses a supernatural intelligence, the ability to speak, and a mind of her own. When Oris and company encountered Barbazaal in the Barrowdowns, it was Gilda who dealt the final blow to the monster by tearing out its eyes. Though she is Oris' familiar, it is unclear whose side Gilda is really on. Nevertheless, Gilda has acted as a focus and holy object for Oris over the course of their adventures.

Transformation into a woman
After defeating Barbazaal, Oris and Praxis were in Oris' hut inspecting the rings they had recovered from the crypt. The two decided to put one of the rings on Gilda, who only agreed to the experiment if Oris would put on the other ring. When the ring was placed on Gilda's tail, she became possessed by the spirit of a young man who had died while waiting for his beloved atop the Barrowdowns. (Gilda appeared to have perfect control over her level of possession, occasionally interjecting to mock the spirit that was possessing her.) When Oris put on his own ring, he was transformed into a female version of himself -- and removing the ring had no effect. Possessed-Gilda mistook now-female Oris for his lost love, and only Praxis' quick action removed the ring from Gilda's tail and saved Oris from certain death by smoochies. Gilda responded by rolling around on the ground laughing, clearly more amused than bothered by Oris' sudden transformation.

Mayhem, hijinks, and poor life choices
In spite of approaching all foreign magic with caution, Oris winds up in strange pickles upon occasion. A gnome inexplicably delivered a Wand of Wonder to Oris' door in the middle of the night, and in the course of "testing" the new object, Oris managed to enchant himself large, stun himself, summon a gale, summon butterflies, and irritate the townsfolk.

Oris seems to be particularly gullible where Gilda is concerned. This may be due to the cat's supernatural influence.

Appearance
Oris is a woman of slightly-below-average height and spare build. She has a neat, orderly appearance, though there's usually traces of dirt or smoke smudged in hard-to-reach places from her magical experiments. She keeps her spellcasting materials on-hand when traveling, and can often be found wearing a necklace strung with feathers, bracelets made of odd beads of various materials, and a belt hung with vials, pouches, and two wands. She has somehow come by a very large collection of strange cloaks, and can usually be found wearing one that will have some sort of odd effect, like billowing intimidatingly even when no wind is present.