mag gonna be so mad at me
Shiff was the rogue spymaster that I have tried to make with varying levels of failure for the last two chapters. I'm glad to say that I can consider him a success- he went by half a dozen aliases and disguises, interacted with a whole host of heroes and villains and kept his alter-ego a secret (though being outed is the best part, and I was looking forward to the great hunt as an excuse to pull off the mask). Shiff's defining goal was to amass enough wealth to find himself a nice, secure hole and just wait this whole apocalypse thing out. He had no interest in fighting wars or slaying aberrations, just trying to live as comfortably as he can.
[hide=His background]
Background: The son of a drunkard sailor and an negligent mother, 'Shiff', born Andrew Sheffield, ran away from home as twelve and would spend the next ten years eking out a miserable living on the streets of Waterdeep. With few prospects for proper employment and no discipline to maintain the jobs he was qualified for, Shiff hired out his services as a lookout and informat for the Plague Rats, a thieves' guild working out of the Docks' Ward. Shiff contracted the lycanthropic disease, which the guild referred to as a 'Gift', after years of faithful service and was inducted into the Guild proper.
A survivalist at heart, Shiff broke ties with the guild and the city hours after the Darkening, squatting in an abandoned home for days and emerging only for food and drink. When the Dread menace eventually arrived, Shiff simply burrowed down deeper, fleeing into the sewers and subsisting on carrion and sewage water. When he eventually emerged from his hole, Waterdeep was a much different place than what he remembered. It was easy to find the remaining people who were unenthralled, for where a man could not go, a rat could. Shiff managed to escape the city with his life by selling out his fellow man on the eve of their escape, giving away their position to thralls and making a break for freedom in the confusion. He spent the next several weeks a husk of a man, subsisting on what he could before stumbling across a portal to Sanctuary.[/hide]
The restrictions of Upper Sanctuary and the sheer number of adventurers made Shiff extremely uncomfortable lingering there for very long. Wearing little but rags and a smile, Lower Sanctuary made for a more welcoming environment for the beggar-thief. He found himself a nice spot in the back alleys and went about the slow work of making contacts and prying secrets. The Hundred Hounds took notice of his skills in trap-setting and lock-picking, and he used their group as a veil to expand his net of contacts.
[hide=Lower and the In-Between](http://i.imgur.com/xzK5myM.jpg)
home sweet home
(http://i.imgur.com/h3zyBEy.jpg)
listen to this nerd
(http://i.imgur.com/yrSFgRT.jpg)[/hide]
The arrival of the Drow during the Dark Lake conflict shook Shiff from his easy life. Their first night in Lower, an ultimatum was issued by the corsairs- ten rings of Sanctuary would be delivered to them, or Lower would be crushed beneath their boot. Naturally, the adventurers and mercenaries would never back down- their lives for their ruins. Shiff, however, had other ideas. His maneuverings brought him contact with some questionable folks.
[hide=Dark Lake Conflict](http://i.imgur.com/kAMUOYp.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/9qTpTxQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/OmPRD4R.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Xk8qLx0.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/cEguuuE.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/fnYltkB.jpg)
[/hide]
Wyran Aims, a Hundred Hound an ally, invited Shiff along on a planar journey that would introduce him to the Sojourners of the Hidden Sea and a new purpose. Now he didn't have to worry about hiding in the Underdark and hoping the Dread overlooked him- he could travel to another plane entirely to escape, as long as he proved himself to the crew. Naturally this was harder than one might think, considering how fluid his loyalties could be.
[hide=Planar voyage](http://i.imgur.com/kC617qZ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/7fSSqis.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/1nfI4Su.jpg)
I know that face
(http://i.imgur.com/7oKzH1U.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HxhwnCo.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/l3GJ7p8.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/jdmCoZg.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ClWCOKK.jpg)[/hide]
Becoming a Sojourner meant a new name, new clothes and a whole lot of conversations. I was sole recruiter for a month or so, and I had my work cut out for me. I also had to negotiate with the Spellguard after our brawl with them in Lower...
[hide=Back-room meetings](http://i.imgur.com/X2Z4Tci.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/WFxJ0en.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/XTcTBIN.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/5YaelwS.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/m9GbvHS.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/BOmg8pO.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/2ziPY7p.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/syGM3du.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/kCU0w9D.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/L218jer.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gXNVZhr.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/l5gX3kG.jpg)[/hide]
Of course, Shiff was also a monster- a were-rat who used the presence of the Chosen to hide his identity and purpose up until the day he died. Joining the Sojourners was just what he needed to put the beast to its paces- rob travelers and adventurers of their coin as the Chosen One, then use the Tinkerer to buy baublium and hand it right back. Gradually, however, the rat's needs grew darker...
[hide=Rat Attack](http://i.imgur.com/Xn4VtO7.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/CFRJ4TG.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gu47cGj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/r3MRPNp.jpg)
[/hide]
The Plague Rats were servants of Talona, and lycanthropy would be Her plague, her Gift to the People. Shiff was pious enough, but the propaganda and infections served another purpose- presenting the people of Sanctuary with a more viable and threatening target than the Sojourners. No one would ever know the sacrifices he made for his crew...though there was plenty of profit to be made. He was LE after all. 14+ PC's were infected, even more were subdued. I lost count. Silverdust elixir is no longer available as a direct result of the plague.
[hide=Muggings](http://i.imgur.com/6fKbZ8E.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4fMVkpF.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/nSGCCep.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/w4YwjIw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/O8MY1lT.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/UpKbRc4.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/bf83pGE.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/cVqaeK0.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/iXrH09F.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Gu81ZJY.jpg)[/hide]
Unfortunately, overconfidence leads to many a man-or rat's- downfall. With death came peace- an end to schemes, lies and hoarding gold. Shiff has escaped from the Dread into the bosom of a greater power.
[hide=The End](http://i.imgur.com/k1JNVXj.jpg)[/hide]
A couple of shots that don't fit anywhere
[hide=Stuff](http://i.imgur.com/2SCDKzH.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/zwRTYoG.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HX7K58P.jpg)[/hide]
You're dead to me Blue.
lawl
... and I was starting to have plans.
I am jealous of how well you did this, blue! Well done... REALLY well done.
I never saw the character in game, but I knew he meant business, only from hearing EVERYONE speak about that dirty rat.
Well done.
I think I bought gems from him once.
RIP my PVP teacher. :(
Nooooooooooo....
-_- We were just getting started.
I think Geoffrey will always be my favorite PC of yours, but Shiff was something. I sadly never got to interact with Shiff the Sojourner as much as I'd liked to, we had a few good conversations.
Your biggest achievement, of course, was in cultivating a terrifying and very fun monster PC leaps and bounds better than most.
Blue41, You played an amazing character, even more fun to play with instead of just being a victim, you had a great run for this PC and from the beginning of being some scavenger begging on the streets of the freeedom square to big bad everyones scared of me. KUDOS
Even from the outside I was always amazed at the depth of Shiff's deceptions and disguises. Never really having a chance to interact, it was none the less incredibly enjoyable to hear about his exploits through rumour and second hand accounts. Kudos Blue.
I'm still happy you chose to attack us, was hoping on seeing you again on the other end, perhaps. XD
Shiff, Shiff, Shiff.
You'll live on in my memories.
big man :)
Sad I didn't have a truly compatible PC for more interactions, but it was funny believing him to be a goodly lowersmen on Mari and trying to sniff him out without getting bit on Prisca.
Good monstermanmonster. Terrifyingly strong, too!
Hunted Shiff a lot. Your ambush of Sudoc and their fight was cool. Think we chalk that one up as a draw :)
*clap* *clap* *clap*
Bravo, Blue! From an ally in Wyran, to a victim turned Terror of the Seweres in Maaravi..to being a mugging victim on what? Three PC's..every interaction was a class act. Going to be hard to top Shiff! Really well done...so glad Smythe did not get him!!! :P
Way to go Blue. Easily my favorite EFU:R "villain" so far. Well-played all around. The caves are going to be boringly safe for a bit :(
Blue41 is legend and you will all show some goddamn respect.
I spent ridiculous amounts of time looking for Shiff in the caves. We had a great 1v1 fight on one of my first few days alive and Klaengr never forgot or stopped looking to settle the score (he just wanted his 500 gold back!). I could never manage to find him or catch him in the act of banditry. So sad.
Well done blue. Possibly the greatest monster PC so far in EFUR. A real shame you didn't make it to the hunt tomorrow! =(
So much I want to write. Blue41, like always, I adore your PCs. I don't try to decide whether Geoffrey, QUaregg or Shiff was your best because they were all really different and each of them really awesome.
Thanks to Shiff I had really fun the last couple of months. The knowledge that every time I step out of Lower something horrible can happen to my PC was really great (and you made it such more than once).
It's great that Shiff lived for so long and I hope you managed to accomplish a lot of your goals.
Can't wait for your next!
<3
Arguably my favourite PC so far.
Another great one Blue. Good stuff
Loved interacting with him on card, though their time was short. Interesting to try to find out his many faces! ( though I accidentally did mess up one or two disguises... )