Vesper Thrum — Still-Glass | The Infinite Tavern

Ability Scores

STR

10

+0

DEX

14

+2

CON

15

+2

INT

20

+5

WIS

16

+3

CHA

12

+1

Combat

Armor Class: 15; Mage Armor + DEX modifier
Hit Points: 84; Hit Dice: 13d6
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft.
Proficiency: +5
Passive Perception: 18

Attacks

Quarterstaff+51d6 bludgeoning (1d8 if two-handed)

Personality

Speaks in a gentle, deliberate cadence as if weighing each word's gravity before releasing it into the world. Has an unconscious habit of running his thumb along smooth surfaces—tabletops, glass, the rim of a teacup—as if checking for cracks. Always offers guests tea first, conversation second. Never raises his voice, even when the world is ending.

Ideal

Time is not meant to be conquered or stolen—it is meant to be savored, like the moment before molten glass cools into permanence.

Bond

The orphans and refugees he teaches glassblowing are his second chance at those seven lost days—each one a moment he can preserve and protect.

Flaw

Cannot destroy anything beautiful, even when strategically necessary. Will risk his life to save a stained-glass window or rescue a painting from a burning building, even if it means letting a villain escape.

Backstory

Vesper was seventeen when he first touched dunamancy, apprenticed to a master glassblower in Hupperdook. He'd been experimenting with temporal magic to hold glass at the perfect heat longer—just a few seconds, nothing ambitious. But the spell fractured. Reality stuttered. When he came to, a full week had vanished from his memory like smoke, and his master's workshop bore scorch marks that hadn't been there before. The old craftsman never spoke of what happened in those missing days, but he gave Vesper a single gift before sending him away: a glass orb containing a perfectly preserved moment of laughter, frozen mid-echo.

For three decades, Vesper has walked the world as a towering, gentle giant—a form he chose because people lean into the shelter of large things. He opened his workshop in Rexxentrum, where he teaches glassblowing to orphans and refugees, his massive hands impossibly delicate as they guide small fingers around blowpipes. At night, he practices chronurgy in secret, learning to catch moments before they shatter. He collects candles obsessively, lining every surface of his home—not for light, but to watch time burn at a rate he can see, measure, and understand. When violence erupts near his workshop, Vesper doesn't fight. He steps between combatants and slows the world to a crawl, offering tea from a pot that never cools, asking softly: 'What if we had more time to think about this?'

He has never tried to recover that lost week. Some glass, once broken, is better left as sand.

Abilities & Actions

Molten Moment (Recharge 5-6)

Vesper weaves strands of chronal energy, slowing time for a creature he can see within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Intelligence saving throw or have its speed reduced to 5 feet until the end of its next turn. While slowed, the creature perceives the world moving at normal speed while everyone else blurs past. Vesper uses this moment to approach calmly, offer tea, and begin a conversation. If the creature accepts the tea (no action required), the effect ends early, but the creature gains advantage on its next saving throw against being frightened or charmed.

Shattered Week (1/Day)

Vesper touches a creature or object and attempts to excise a small fragment of its timeline. A creature within 5 feet must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or take 8d8 force damage as micro-fractures in time ripple through its body. On a successful save, the creature takes half damage. If this damage reduces a creature to 0 hit points, it doesn't die—instead, it is suspended in temporal stasis (as the spell *temporal stasis*) for 1 minute. Vesper only uses this ability as an absolute last resort and will spend the rest of the encounter trying to stabilize the victim.

CandlelightChronometer (3/Day)

Vesper pulls a thick beeswax candle from his robes and lights it with a snap of his fingers. For the next 10 minutes, he and up to six creatures of his choice within 30 feet gain the benefits of the *haste* spell, but without the lethargy effect afterward. The candle burns at an accelerated rate, melting completely in 6 seconds of real time, but Vesper's allies perceive its light as steady and eternal.

Glass Memory Orb (At Will)

Vesper produces a fist-sized glass sphere from his satchel and speaks a command word. The orb projects a perfect illusion (as *major image*) of a moment from his past—a blooming flower, a child's laugh, a crackling hearth fire. The illusion lasts up to 10 minutes and requires concentration. Vesper uses this ability to comfort the grieving, distract enemies, or simply remind himself why the world is worth slowing down for.

Temporal Shield (Reaction, 3/Day)

When Vesper or a creature he can see within 30 feet is hit by an attack, Vesper fractures time around the target, imposing disadvantage on the attack roll. If the attack still hits, the target gains resistance to all damage from that attack. Vesper describes this as 'spreading the impact across a dozen timelines so no single one bears the full weight.'

DM Notes

Vesper's voice is deep and soft, like distant thunder muffled by heavy curtains. He punctuates important statements by placing his hand flat on a surface, as if anchoring the moment in place. When nervous, he compulsively counts candles under his breath. His go-to greeting: 'You look like someone who could use more time. Fortunately, I have some to spare.' If players destroy something beautiful in his presence—a painting, a sculpture, even a nice chair—he goes silent for a full minute, then quietly asks if they understand what they've done. He will never directly fight unless someone tries to harm his students, at which point his pacifism shatters like dropped glass. His workshop smells of beeswax, burnt sugar, and ozone.