Aranthaes Local Backstory Generator

Roll 4d12 to create a character backstory rooted in Aranthaes. Each table ties you to the island’s people, places, and mysteries.
 

1. Origin (Where you’re from)

  1. Bim – born near the Mother’s Threshold shrine.
  2. Frey – raised in the shadow of Mother’s Egg hill.
  3. Lantear – grew up among tollgates and traders on the Tear.
  4. Rochpont – child of cliff-fishers, terraces, and caves.
  5. Sandmar – between marsh rice and river fish.
  6. Fairpont – ferried across the river since you could walk.
  7. Geldpont – at the bay’s oldest docks, where pilgrims arrive.
  8. New Haven – “place of second chances,” bustling harbor life.
  9. Geldcrass – heart of the plains, in the shadow of merchant towers.
  10. Draktun – raised under the Red Cloaks’ rule, independence in your blood.
  11. Aranthaes Wynds – from the crowded alleys and teeming lower city, scrappy and streetwise.
  12. High Aranthaes – born into privilege, noble houses, or priestly families near the High Temple.

 

2. Formative Event (What marked your youth)

  1. Survived a caravan accident in the Geldsan Pass.
  2. Blessed at Bim’s Chapel of First Light before a long journey.
  3. Worked summers in the Sandmar rice marshes, knee-deep in water.
  4. Climbed Mother’s Egg to prove your bravery, and nearly fell.
  5. Served as a dockhand in Fairpont, ferrying crates until your back ached.
  6. Joined a lantern procession in Geldpont Bay; something strange floated near your boat.
  7. Carried messages for Red Cloaks as a child, learning their ways.
  8. Studied accounts in a Lantear countinghouse, numbers sharper than knives.
  9. Saw lights in the Derkwuds forest and fled, never speaking of it again.
  10. Took shelter in the High Temple gardens, finding unexpected peace there.
  11. Ran errands in the winding alleys of the Wynds, learning to slip unseen when trouble came.
  12. Apprenticed in a guild hall of Aranthaes City, where coin and contract weighed more than kinship.

 

3. Connection (Who influenced you)

  1. A Defender of the Mother who fed you free bread in Draktun.
  2. A merchant factor in Geldcrass who paid you fairly, or cheated you.
  3. A Red Cloak overseer who kept you safe, or kept you quiet.
  4. A fisherman from Rochpont who told endless tales of the sea.
  5. A Sandmar abbot who taught you to read scriptures, and secrets.
  6. A New Haven guild clerk who saw promise in your skills.
  7. A hermit on Dragon’s Ridge who whispered of stone dragons.
  8. A farmer in Bersh who shared everything, even in lean years.
  9. A pilgrim in Bim who pressed a relic into your hand, “for the road.”
  10. A mysterious stranger in the Derkwuds who gave you directions to a glossy black temple – and you lived.
  11. A priest of the High Temple who once spoke to you as if you mattered — and you’ve never forgotten it.
  12. A noble patron from High Aranthaes who sponsored your studies, training, or debts… for reasons of their own.

 

4. Secret or Quirk (What you carry with you)

  1. You own a toll token from Lantear you never earned — did you steal it, or was it given?
  2. You avoid deep water – terrified of the black Tear lakes, though you never say why.
  3. You wear a cheap red cloak “for luck,” but would deny it if challenged.
  4. You still dream of the High Temple bells, though you’ve never set foot inside.
  5. You carry a carved stone from Mother’s Egg — it’s warm some nights, cold others.
  6. You once smuggled contraband through Draktun and kept one piece for yourself.
  7. You stole a wax votive from Bim’s Threshold; years later, it hasn’t melted.
  8. You know a hidden goat path into the Geldfrays – and swore never to use it again.
  9. You whisper prayers to Lady Bune in her old draconic name, not her holy one.
  10. You keep a shard of smooth black glass from the Derkwuds Tear, and sometimes it hums.
  11. You were adopted into a guild family in Aranthaes Wynds, but your birth name still follows you.
  12. You once glimpsed something vast moving beneath the Aranthaes Cauldron… and no one believed you.