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Callow

![[Callow.png]]

"I died with my hands full of secrets. The song called me back. I'm not finished listening."

Concept: A Halfling arcanist who delved the great tower-maze beneath the city, died down there, and bargained his way back — now a ghost clinging to a second chance with fragile fingers.

Background

The heart of Cadwallon is the fabled tower-maze that sprouts from deep in the earth — the thing delvers call Caer Dath, the Demon's Hand, the Amber Tower, Augerblot, and a dozen other names. The wiki calls it The Labyrinth. Callow listened to its song and followed: braved its dangers, touched riches, beheld terrors he can't unsee. Some expeditions were celebrated. Others were not. Eventually his luck ran out and he died down there.

But he'd found secrets. Nothing is free — and the deal he took was not the deal he wanted — but he came back from the land of the dead to hear that sweet song one more time.

Drives

Wants: to keep delving — to hear the song to its end, whatever that means.
Bond: the few who pulled him back, or didn't let him stay gone.
Flaw: a borrowed second life spends recklessly; he's already died once, so what's the worst that happens?

Connections

  • Nogzop — did a certain imp help Callow steal his soul back? Perhaps. If so, Nog will cheerfully remind him that one should always be cautious of trickery when dealing with the lower planes.

Hooks

What the song actually is

The tower-maze's "song" is the dream-pull of Desire bleeding up through The Labyrinth — the same Call that draws fortune-hunters to the city. Callow has been closer to the bottom than almost any living Cadwë, and a dead man hears the song more clearly than a living one. He may know — without knowing he knows — something about the Garden of Desire.

The terms of return

Whatever bargain returned Callow has terms, and terms have a holder. Someone, or something, expects to be paid. The clock is the campaign.

Build notes (player)

Jesse is undecided between Wizard and Bard — class, domains, and subclass left blank until he picks. The Ghost transformation reflects his stated state (he came back dead). Community and archetype also left open.

See Also