Cree Deeproots

Cree Deeproots was a tabaxi cleric (Blood domain) and a member of the Tombtakers. She previously worked for The Gentleman, a crime boss in Zadash. As an NPC, Cree was played by Matthew Mercer.

Appearance
Cree is "a muscular panther-like female of dark brown/black fur and yellow eyes." When the Mighty Nein first met her, she was dressed in maroon and dull grey robes.

Much later during the Mighty Nein's encounter with the Tombtakers in Eiselcross, Cree wore heavy leathers and furs, and a necklace around her neck with a red circular polished orb in the center of it. On closer inspection, Beau noticed it contained a red liquid. Cree bore five eye tattoos on her body, only seen by the Nein during their final battle.

After her death at the hands of the Mighty Nein, Cree was transformed into a monstrosity of mangled flesh and bones. Her face could still be seen within the pile of flesh.

Personality
When the party originally met Cree in the company of Mollymauk Tealeaf, she seemed very friendly and outgoing. Later, even after they told her of his death, she remained cordial.

However, when the Mighty Nein encountered the Tombtakers while in Eiselcross, Cree was far more stand-offish and quiet around the party. While in Widogast's Nascent Nein-Sided Tower she muttered under her breath, "Fucking rich kids," in apparent disgust at its opulence. She evaded questions about where she was from.

Early life
Cree grew up in Shadycreek Run, where she met Lucien and began working alongside him as a thief. She saw that he had a "glint" that indicated he has the attention of The Raven Queen, which was either a blessing or a curse, and this motivated her to befriend him. Before 829 PD, he and Cree joined the Claret Orders, where he was trained as a blood hunter, but he and others discovered that they disliked authority and felt that the Orders were "clouded" in their path. They left the Orders and returned to Shadycreek Run, where they formed the Tombtakers in about 829 or 830 PD.

Tombtakers
They began traveling together and working as mercenaries out of Shadycreek Run, performing work ranging from theft to bodyguarding. They were also hired for a number of expeditions into the ruins of Molaesmyr and other locations; on at least one expedition, they encountered hags and made it to the tower of Caes Mosor. Vess DeRogna eventually hired them to accompany her on expeditions to Molaesmyr. and to the ruins of Aeor in Eiselcross.

In 833 PD, Lucien acquired a journal that contained a ritual that would take him to Aeor's Cognouza Ward in the Astral Plane. He contacted Vess to perform the ritual. Lucien, Vess, and the Tombtakers gathered in a forest and held a feast, at which Lucien gave a speech. Vess sabotaged the ritual so that Lucien's soul was shattered into pieces and scattered instead of being projected into the Astral Sea whole. He stopped breathing for one hour, and his body went cold. Though the Tombtakers knew that he was dead and Cree found no pulse, they waited further. At dawn, with no change, they buried him near their hideout, and the group disbanded.

Greeting Mollymauk in a strong embrace, Cree revealed that it had been two years since they had last seen each other and that she had known him under the name Lucien and before that under the name "the Nonagon." Lucien, unlike Molly, had short hair and did not have as many tattoos.

When the Mighty Nein returned to the Evening Nip, Cree was called upon again to take the blood sample of Caduceus Clay. She noticed that Lucien was not with them and asked about him, expressing how fervently she desired to speak to him again. The party, not wanting to break the news to her that her friend who mysteriously and miraculously returned from the dead had died once again, chose to tell her that they had a falling out with "Lucien" and he left the party. Cree expressed sadness at this news and requested that they tell Lucien to come see her if they ever saw him again.

Upon his return to Zadash, Fjord told Cree the truth about Mollymauk's death, while still referring to him as Lucien. Cree blamed Fjord's "carelessness" for Mollymauk's death.

After discussing their options in figuring out the mystery of the floating city in the Astral Sea, Jester decided to send a message to the Gentleman, asking if they could have a conversation with Cree, but Cree was no longer at the Evening Nip. Jester then sent Cree a message directly, asking if the Mighty Nein could have a conversation with her. Cree responded saying that she didn't remember Jester, and failed to respond at all to a follow-up message.

With the help of blood samples left behind at the Evening Nip, Jester used Scrying to see what Cree was up to, and saw her trudging through blizzard conditions with a leather sack. When Jester used Scrying later that day on Mollymauk, she found him doing exactly the same thing.

The Mighty Nein encountered Cree with the rest of the living Tombtakers at site A5 on the island of Foren on Eiselcross. Lucien was able to turn all of the Tombtakers' eyes red and speak through all of their mouths at once. It turned out Cree had told Lucien a little about the Nein. Beauregard noticed Cree wearing a necklace with a red fluid.

The party pursued Cree into the ruins of Cognouza, meeting her in the tunnels under the city leading to the threshold vault, where she had placed one of the two threshold crests required to return the city to the Prime Material Plane. In the subsequent battle, Cree was killed, revealing that she had five red eyes on her body. In her death throes, she telepathically reached out to Lucien, asking for help. He told her that he needed more time and for her to "become part of the pattern". Her body convulsed and transformed into a horrific flesh creature that also fought the party, but was eventually killed.

The Gentleman
After the uncertainty surrounding Lucien's death, Cree was in need of work and in time she found herself in service to the Gentleman as part of The Gentleman's Troupe.

Lucien
Lucien, along with Cree and a few others, left the order and made a faction called the Tombtakers. Cree described Lucien as a strong and charismatic leader to whom she looked for guidance.

Notable items

 * Red Necklace - a small red globe with a red liquid slightly moving around inside, glowed when she cast spells. It was later identified as her holy symbol containing the blood of the Nonagon.
 * Cape of the Mountebank
 * Scroll of Control Weather (Used to create snow to cross the River Inferno.)
 * War pick

Abilities
Cree specialized in controlling the flow of blood, and could pull it out of a person's body and manipulate it around the air. She claimed to have learned this ability in the same place Lucien learned his skills. Working for the Gentleman, she used this power to draw blood from the members of the Mighty Nein into vials she kept in a small leather satchel. This blood could then be used to track down anyone who betrayed the Gentleman.

Tabaxi Abilities
Unless otherwise noted, the following abilities are assumed from the standard Dungeons & Dragons materials:
 * Darkvision
 * Feline Agility
 * Cat's Claws
 * 20 ft. Climbing speed
 * Cat's Talent
 * Proficient in Perception and Stealth

Miscellaneous Abilities

 * Resistant to psychic damage.

From the Eyes of Nine
Like Lucien, Cree was exposed to the "Pattern" of the Somnovem that imparted her the red eyes. She was found to have five on her body although she was not shown to have used all of their abilities during her time with the Mighty Nein.


 * First eye: Mild telepathy with others bearing eyes (120 feet)
 * Second eye: Darkvision
 * Third eye: Ability to see through illusions
 * Fourth eye: Ability to see into the ethereal plane
 * Fifth eye: Ability to scry into the "eye" of another

Cleric abilities

 * Spellcasting (Wisdom-based ability)
 * Divine Domain: Blood Domain
 * Domain Spells
 * Bonus Proficiencies
 * Bloodletting Focus
 * Channel Divinity: Crimson Bond
 * Channel Divinity: Blood Puppet
 * Sanguine Recall
 * Divine Strike
 * Channel Divinity (2/Short Rest)
 * Turn Undead
 * Destroy Undead (CR 2)
 * Divine Intervention

Appearances and mentions

 * Campaign 2