Dagen Underthorn

 is a dwarven explorer hired to escort the party on Foren. As an NPC, is played by Matthew Mercer.



Appearance
Dagen is an extremely grizzled-looking male dwarf, his face a mess of tanned, leathery skin framed by a mane of jet-black hair that tumbles thick past his shoulders meshing with a rats' nest of a beard. Tattoos wrap his arms extending under his sleeves. He moves via an intricate chair of scuffed metal and wood with slanted wheels on its side. There are numerous tools and plates bolted onto it.

He carries a battle-axe that has a massive thick leather hilt and a dark metal blade that he named Sheila.

Personality
Oweda described him as "a beast" who had been up and down most parts of Foren, but was respected. She would want him on her side in a battle. He appears to largely be unconcerned with the politics of the Empire and Dynasty, and will gladly work for anyone who pays him money no matter what side of the conflict they are on.

Background
Dagen has suggested that he is a native of Uthodurn. His combat wheelchair is of Uthodurnian make.

Chapter 18
The Mighty Nein and Vess DeRogna met up with Dagen in Balenpost. He and the Mighty Nein set out into the interior of Foren the next day after the Nein told him they were to meet DeRogna later following her murder.

Dagen led the party north, and helped de-escalate a fight with yetis he recognized as being the intelligent sort from Allowak's Sanctuary. He opted to stay outside of site A5 while the Mighty Nein explored within, and when they emerged he helped them track the Tombtakers northward from there, and was suitably impressed when Jester used Polymorph to neutralize a frost worm. When Fjord let slip that Vess DeRogna was dead, Dagen was distressed to even know about it, given how dangerous it was to mess with the Cerberus Assembly; he wished his memory could be wiped, and Jester obligingly used Modify Memory on him the next morning.

The Mighty Nein left a hidden Dagen above-ground while they explored the ruins of A2 and recovered a threshold crest. When they traveled onward, he was with the party when they were accosted by Lucien and the Tombtakers, although hidden. From his hiding place, he told them he'd follow at a safe distance because he wanted the other half of his pay. Later, the party dropped the balance of his payment on the trail for him to find in exchange for taking a message to Essek Thelyss. When they encountered him again at the Kryn Dynasty outpost, they encouraged Essek to hire him as a mercenary.

Chapter 19
Dagen was one of the guards posted by Essek at the secret entrance to the ruins of Aeor that the Mighty Nein believed the Tombtakers intended to use in order to place the threshold crests which would return the Cognouza to the Material Plane. He was therefore among the group that Fjord ordered to engage the Tombtakers when they indeed did come that way. Dagen survived the encounter and used his sending stone to contact Essek Thelyss to report that some of the rangers had been lost and many injured, and the Tombtakers were on their way.

Matthew Mercer subsequently confirmed that afterwards, Dagen was doing swimmingly, making some good cash off his following Kryn Dynasty contracts, and likely took a vacation to the Menagerie Coast to unwind after all that “Mighty Nein” business.

Relationships
Jester believed Dagen may have once loved someone named Sheila since he named his battle-axe Sheila. When she mentioned this theory to Dagen, he did not respond and went very quiet.

Notable Items

 * Large dwarven battleaxe named Sheila
 * Combat wheelchair

Quotations

 * Dagen: Sometimes scavenging isn't worth what you find.
 * Dagen: So long as someone's paying me, I don't care who we're escorting.

Trivia

 * Dagen uses the combat wheelchair designed by Sara Thompson (@mustangsart on Twitter).
 * Dagen's first name is similar to that of Matt and Marisha's pet bird Dagon.
 * Dagen is said to be allergic to cats.