Thistle 'Glass-Heart' Applebee, a Stout Halfling Cleric — D&D 5e NPC portrait
#0347

Thistle 'Glass-Heart' Applebee

"The Breath-Catcher"

Female (She/Her) · Middle-aged (54 years)

Ability Scores

STR
10
+0
DEX
14
+2
CON
16
+3
INT
14
+2
WIS
20
+5
CHA
12
+1

Combat

Armor Class
16
Breastplate
Hit Points
99
Hit Dice: 12d8
Initiative
+2
Speed
25 ft.
Proficiency
+4
Passive Perception
19

Attacks

Cinder-Tongue (Mace stats)+41d6+0 bludgeoning
Sacred FlameDC 17 Dex3d8 radiant

Personality

Personality

Thistle speaks with a warm, gravelly voice—the result of years near a furnace. She is prone to 'mothering' her companions, fussing over their gear and ensuring they’ve eaten, but she becomes terrifyingly stern if anyone gestures too wildly near her waist-pouches where her 'Fragile Truths' are kept.

Ideal

Preservation. A story lost is a second death, and I'll not have it on my watch.

Bond

My iron blowpipe, 'Cinder-Tongue,' is the only tool that can bridge the gap between breath and stone.

Flaw

I value the memory of a person more than the person themselves; I sometimes find myself waiting for someone to finish their story just so I can 'capture' it.

Backstory

In the rolling hills of the Shire, Thistle was always 'too much.' Too loud for the library, too broad-shouldered for the embroidery circles, and far too fascinated by the way the midday sun could set a glass carafe on fire. While her kin counted bushels of apples, Thistle watched the smoke rising from chimneys, mourning the way a family's history vanished into the air the moment the fire died. She left her home not to find adventure, but to find a way to make the ephemeral permanent. She apprenticed herself to a master glassblower who taught her that sand was just the earth’s memory, and heat was the only thing that could make it speak.

Her turning point came during the Sack of Oakhaven. As the great library burned, Thistle didn't grab the gold; she grabbed her iron blowpipe. She stood amidst the falling embers, weeping as she literally inhaled the soot-heavy air and blew it into a glowing glass sphere. To her shock, the sphere didn't just hold smoke—it held the last whispers of the archivist. From that day on, she became a priestess of the forgotten. She wanders the world following the scent of ending things, determined that no truth, however small, should be lost to the cold hunger of the Void.

Abilities & Actions

Breath-Catching (Reaction)

When a creature with an Intelligence of 6 or higher dies within 30 feet of Thistle, she can use her reaction to blow into her signature item, Cinder-Tongue. She captures the creature's final memory in a glass 'Memory Orb.' This orb functions as a scroll of *Speak with Dead* that requires no corpse, or it can be shattered to grant Thistle and her allies Advantage on all History checks regarding that creature's life for 24 hours.

Cinder-Tongue's Rebuke (Action)

Thistle uses her blowpipe to exhale a 15-foot cone of molten glass and radiant light. Each creature in the area must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d8 fire damage and 4d8 radiant damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. Creatures that fail the save are also Restrained as the glass hardens; they can repeat the save at the end of each of their turns to break free.

Visions of the Furnace (Passive)

Thistle’s eyes have been hardened by years of staring into magical kilns. She has Truesight out to 10 feet and can cast *Identify* at will without consuming components, though she must touch her blowpipe to the object.

Knowledge from the Embers (Channel Divinity)

As an action, Thistle can tap into the collective consciousness of the glass orbs she carries. For 10 minutes, she gains proficiency in any two skills or tools of her choice as the 'breaths' of past masters whisper guidance in her ear.

DM Notes

Thistle should be introduced when the players are mourning a loss or investigating a ruin. She doesn't offer condolences; she offers a jar. She constantly wipes soot from her forehead with a thumb, leaving a permanent dark smudge. Sample dialogue: 'Careful now, lad! That orb in your hand isn't just glass; it's the recipe for a grandmother's blackberry pie and the only reason her lineage remembers her name. Treat it like your own soul, or I'll treat your head like an unshaped glob.'