Sabian Cambiare

Sabian Cambiare is a character played by Ryan Neenan. A changeling with a muddy past, he balances his talents and need for trickery with his love for music and knowledge.

Note: Due to conflicts, I never played this character in a campaign.

Themesong: "Peace" by Weezer

More and more, I can't say no, So afraid of letting go If there's something, I can grab, You can bet I'll pay the tab ''Counting all the flowers, Waste the precious hours ''I need to find some peace ''All these problems on my mind, Make it hard for me to think ''There is no way I can stop, My poor brain is gonna' pop ''And I don't have a purpose, Scattered on the surface ''I need to find some peace ''And all the broken tethers, We can bring together ''I need to find some peace

Description
Sabian is slight, even for a changeling. In his true form, he has pale gray skin, and short platinum hair with hints of a light blue. He has little to mark him different from other changelings, at least in physical appearance.

His major personalities (see below) all vary in size, color, race, and even gender.

Personality
Sabian’s true personality is usually hidden behind his guises, but his true personality matches his main persona: he is curious, funny, devious, and goes with whatever seems to be right at the time. Throughout his short life, he has not taken sides in good and evil, or law vs. chaos, but knows what boundaries he doesn’t want to cross. He is a seeker of knowledge as well, and a somewhat devout follower of Oghma. With his past behind him, he now uses his abilities to learn as much as he can. If he seeks information, or a good time, however, many things will not stand in his way.

Finally, he is a lover of music, and his bardic talents bring rave reviews amongst his audiences. While in Baldur’s Gate, he rarely played for audiences, but now he has expanded his viewpoint on such matters, and travels with a lute for practice.

Family & Relationships
Both of Sabian's parents were killed in Baldur's Gate when he was young. Few people beyond Nine Fingers Keane know of his true abilities, and thus he has no real relationships, nor will he ever until he meets others of his kind or finds a true trusting relationship.

Early Years
Sabian was born in 1457 in a middle-class portion of Baldur’s Gate, in a nearly lightless room. His parents, as changelings, hid their true race from the populace, quite aware at the prejudice shown toward them. Both his parents taught this to him at a young age: trust only when you have to, and only when you are certain it will not harm you. They taught him how to change into different races, assuming different identities. They shared with him how they lived by playing the parts of several well established identities throughout the city. Though it was a cautious one, Sabian’s childhood was happy, as his parents maid a living posing as a human blacksmith and an Elven alchemist.

This relative bliss was shattered 12 years after Sabian’s birth: his mother was careless and her identity was compromised. Someone had discovered she was a changeling, and immediately she was wanted for questioning, as accusations of murder of the original Elven alchemist spread across the city. His parents knew that if she was caught, she would be killed one way or another. She was pursued for several days, and Sabian was led by his father to a safe place to hide, away from his mother. She was caught 2 days later, and in the ensuing fight, Sabian’s father was killed by the Flaming Fists. His mother went on trial for murder, and was found guilty with little evidence and with the fact that she had always been the alchemist disbelieved. She was jailed the next day.

Sabian remained quiet and hidden throughout all of this, as taught and ordered by his parents. He was eventually brought into an orphanage, posing as an orphaned human. A month after he entered, he discovered that his mother had died in jail. He was happy he never found out the cause. He was now truly alone, and knew of no others of his kind in the massive city. More than anything, he knew he must never be careless about who he actually was.

The Life of a Thief
The little boy Sabian was posing as suddenly disappeared from the orphanage a year later in 1470. Slightly jaded, he turned to petty theft to make a living. He learned he was quite good at what he did, but he hesitated to do anything too large or dangerous. He deeply feared getting caught by the authorities. Eventually, Sabian bit off more than he should have. Almost a year had gone by, and he had grown confident in his changeling abilities and lying tongue. Impersonating a merchant who he knew had left town, he attended a fancy Ball at Midsummer in the wealthy district of the city. Unfortunately, Sabian did not do his homework. Sometime during the night, he lied badly to the wrong person. When he was leaving, he was assaulted in a side alley. He lost consciousness very quickly.

He awoke in a nondescript room, bound to a chair. There was a rather attractive looking female standing in front of him, glaring at him with a slight smirk. Behind her was a man dressed in black, the man who had attacked Sabian, and one he recognized from the Ball. Sabian tried his best to spin a story of who he was, but the woman knew the merchant he was impersonating, and knew he was positively out of town. Sabian’s natural shade of white leaked through when the original merchent was produced, quite dead. The woman then gave Sabian a choice: she knew what he was, and she wanted his talents for her operation. Help her, and he would live a good and prosperous life. Deny her, and he would not live to see outside of this room. Sabian saw little choice and agreed. The woman introduced herself as Nine Fingers Keane, head of the thieves guild in Baldur’s Gate.

Over the next 5 years, Sabian grew not only in stature but in his abilities. Nine Fingers immediately put him to work, using his abilities to steal, lie, and manipulate those she wanted to control. Only Nine Fingers and the mysterious man who attacked him knew of his true abilities. Sabian enjoyed every minute of it – he enjoyed seeing the faces of the people he was controlling through his guises, and he enjoyed the satisfaction he felt at hurting those that took away his parents. But most of all, Sabian enjoyed knowing all the things he discovered. He learned that knowledge and information was more valuable than platinum, and he used what he knew wisely. Posing as a cleric of Oghma, he soaked up as much as he could about Oghmanyte doctrine and became a somewhat devout follower. Sabian grew to be a master at lying and subterfuge, and had managed to make the Thieves Guild a lot of money in the process. Nine Fingers kept a tight leash on her favorite toy, knowing that he could slip away at any time if he ever really wanted to. She sheltered him from some of the more “evil” jobs, knowing that he stood on a fine edge of morality and too much killing might send him away.

The Hell of Luskan
In early 1476, Nine Fingers had a big problem, and she knew that Sabian was the only one who could fix it for her. One of her moles in the Flaming Fists had turned on her, and when the dust settled, many of her men were dead and her mole had fled the city. It took her months, but she tracked him down to the north, and most probably Luskan. Besides the obvious desire of revenge, she needed some of the information this man had. Sending anyone into Luskan was crazy, but she knew Sabian’s talents might make it work. Knowing little of the true danger of the city, Sabian agreed and took several men with him.

A horse and portal ride later, he found himself inside the city. Sabian remembers little of what happened over the next week, but he does remember finding the man he sought quite dead, and many swords slashing around him. The only one that survived the encounter, he fled and hid as best he could. Surviving only by using his gifts, he witnessed more death and despair in one week than he had in all his life. He managed to get out of the city, hungry and near death.

The Music of Knowledge
Sabian skirted around the ruined city of Neverwinter and made it to Waterdeep a week later. Posing as a cleric of Oghma, he took refuge in the city’s temple to his god. Nightmares of Luskan haunted his sleep for days, and his body did not physically recover for just as long. Sabian thought long and hard about his next course of action. He enjoyed his work in Baldur’s Gate, but what he saw in Luskan made him realize the despair that existed in the world. He chastised himself for not knowing more about the city – he must remember the power of knowledge.

Knowing that Nine Fingers believed him to be quite dead, he decided to spend some time in Waterdeep. It was here where Sabian saw a clearer path to life: the one of music and knowledge. He embraced his religion and for the first time in his short life focused on other aspects of his skills: his music and his performance. Posing as a half-elf bard named Horatio Hightree, he started playing his lute for an audience for the first time in his life. He studied the works of the great bards, and eventually got good enough to be hired by local Inns and Taverns. Horatio’s name was now known, as was his human cleric’s name of Koloran Waterhouse. In just a few months, Sabian nearly forgot about his antics in Baldur’s Gate. Though he still enjoyed the trickery aspectof his abilities, he saw a new path to their end: learning and using that information.

Waterdeep was a large city, and even though it contained a lot of opportunities, Sabian decided he must move on if he truly wanted to discover and know Faerun. In late 1476, he left Waterdeep for the east.

The Forest of the Dales, and his major Personalities
Going south, and then east past Baldur’s Gate, he made haste through Elturgard – he was sure any slip up of his abilities there would be his end. Eventually, as spring came to 1477 he found himself in Cormyr. Here he spent over a year, establishing Horatio as a semi-popular attraction in different cities. Suzail, of course, was his favorite, as the shrine to Oghma and the many Inns and entertainment fit him well. He learned what he could of the nation, and took a strong interest in the power and evil of Netheril and Sembia. He saw the Dalelands as a very interesting place, thrust in between the two. Thus, after a year enjoying Cormyrian wealth, he traveled north into the Dalelands.

It is here Sabian has spent the last year, exploring the Dalelands as much as possible. He has established several personas throughout the Dales. All of these are copies of people Sabian met in Baldur’s Gate some time ago.

Horatio Hightree, a young half-elven bard of some renown. With long flowing brown hair and sparking green eyes, he is quite a ladies man who enjoys a good time and who seems not to have a care in the world. Most know him to be from Waterdeep and a traveling minstrel who sings and plays the lute. He is generally outgoing and happy.

Koloran Waterhouse is a human cleric of Oghma. Though not quite venerable, his face shows the lines of long years and his mustache is a ghost white. Koloran cares about knowledge, and preaches Oghmanyte dogma across the Dales. He is believed to come from the east, but resides in Highmoon in Deepingdale.

Mulo Cragfall, a stout dwarf adventurer. Mulo is a typical dwarf: stern, unhappy, and gruff most of the time. He has been seen around the Dalelands, but is believed to be from New Velar in Harrowdale.

Finally, there is Solara Sunvale, an elven woman of immense beauty. Solara is believed to be some kind of mage and a merchant. She is also mute, and speaks through writing only. Most men don’t mind this at all, as her beauty outshines any other faults. She is believed to reside in Shadowdale.

Current Whereabouts / Activities
Sabian currently travels through the Dalelands, but resides most of the time in Battledale. He travels to the other cities in the Dales as much as he can, making appearances where he can.

Powers
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