Krag Beluarian, a Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin) Gnome Paladin — D&D 5e NPC portrait
#0068

Krag Beluarian

"The Hollow"

Male (He/Him) · Middle-aged (214 years)

Ability Scores

STR
16
+3
DEX
10
+0
CON
14
+2
INT
12
+1
WIS
14
+2
CHA
18
+4

Combat

Armor Class
20
Plate Armor + Shield
Hit Points
76
Hit Dice: 9d10
Initiative
+0
Speed
20 ft.
Proficiency
+4
Passive Perception
12

Attacks

The Merciful Chisel+71d8+3 bludgeoning
Lay on HandsN/A45 HP Pool

Personality

Personality

Krag speaks in a gravelly, rhythmic whisper that sounds like grinding stones. He moves with agonizing slowness, his heavy armor groaning with every step as if the metal itself is exhausted.

Ideal

Every soul, no matter how stained, can be scrubbed clean by the light of a single selfless act.

Bond

The rusted music box; it is the only compass he trusts to lead him out of his own darkness.

Flaw

I am so afraid of my own capacity for violence that I may hesitate to act when a swift strike is the only mercy left.

Backstory

For two centuries, Krag was a ghost in the Underdark’s arteries, a merchant of 'The Quiet Sleep'—a toxin so subtle it could erase a Drow House between heartbeats. He lived for the clink of platinum and the thrill of the unseen, a hollow man who viewed genocide as mere logistics. His conscience was a numb, calcified thing until he walked through the silence of a Svirfneblin mining colony he had inadvertently helped poison. There, amidst the unmoving dead, he found a rusted music box still playing a tinny, broken lullaby in the hands of a child. The music didn't just break the silence; it broke Krag.

He discarded his stealth for the thunderous clank of penance. Krag commissioned a suit of heavy plate, far heavier than necessary, and swore to wear it until his legs failed or his debt was paid. He hammered his finest blades into 'The Merciful Chisel,' a massive tool of protection, and took an oath of non-violence. He now wanders the lightless tunnels as a beacon of unwanted mercy, shielding those whom the world has deemed 'expendable'—goblins, kobolds, and even the very Drow who once employed him. He is a man terrified of his own shadow, praying that the killer he once was is truly buried beneath the steel.

Abilities & Actions

The Penitent’s Burden (Passive)

Krag’s armor is supernaturally heavy. He has disadvantage on Stealth checks and his speed cannot be increased by magical means. However, he cannot be moved against his will by any creature smaller than Huge while his feet are on the ground.

Aura of the Broken Melody (Aura)

Krag periodically winds his rusted music box. While within 10 feet of him, any creature that attempts to take an aggressive action must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or feel a wave of profound sorrow, granting disadvantage on their next attack roll.

The Merciful Chisel (Reaction)

When a creature within 5 feet of Krag is hit by an attack, he can use his reaction to interpose his massive warhammer. Krag takes the damage instead, and the damage is reduced by 1d10 + 9. If this reduces the damage to 0, the attacker is knocked prone by the sheer immovable weight of the Chisel.

Echoes of 'The Quiet Sleep' (1/Day)

Krag releases a puff of neutralized toxin from a hidden compartment in his gauntlet. Instead of killing, it acts as a powerful sedative. Each creature in a 15-foot cone must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or fall unconscious for 1 minute. This effect ends if the creature takes damage.

DM Notes

Sample Dialogue: 'Do not fear the dark, little one. Fear only the silence that follows the wrong choice.' Krag never initiates combat; he spends his turns using the Help action, Grappling to restrain, or using his Channel Divinity: Rebuke the Violent. He reacts with genuine, heartbreaking sorrow if forced to kill, often stopping to pray over the body mid-encounter.