Fjord

Fjord (pronounced "Ford") is a half-orc warlock. He is played by Travis Willingham.

Appearance
Fjord wears beat-up leathers and piecemeal armor put together. He has a big scar across his face and green skin tone. His face changes to a lighter green complexion from his cheekbones down to his neck. His orc tusks are chipped and filed down, and not visible when his mouth is closed.

Jester, Beauregard, and Nott have described Fjord as handsome.

Personality
Fjord is described as the strong silent type, and he tends to keep a cool and rational outlook. He is also very charismatic. Though willing to break rules when needed, he seems to operate under certain principles of honor, claiming that he tries to be honest and he thinks people should do what they say they're going to do. However, when he raised the question with his other party members of whether they would hijack a caravan, Fjord told the thievery-prone Nott that he didn't want to change her behavior to be more lawful and that he might take her up on the offer to learn how to steal.

Fjord is also adept at acting, having used his talents in changing his voice and accent and his magical abilities to alter his appearance to get the party out of multiple sticky situations. Despite using a "country" accent (United States Texan English) around the other party members, he dropped the accent for a dream with his warlock patron; this was confirmed as intentional by Travis, which suggests that Fjord is hiding his true accent from his companions. Jester noted that Fjord is copying Vandren's accent, implying that this was his way of mourning Vandren.

Background
Fjord was orphaned and grew up without his parents. As a child, Fjord was a chubby, short, mis-proportioned stumpy kid with big teeth, though he at one point did his own dental work to remove his tusks. Fjord had to continue filing down his tusks on a regular basis, but got teased about them less.

Fjord had at one point worked to take care of, load, and offload goods onto a ship called the Pink Giver. He later worked on the Tide's Breath under Vandren. Sabian sabotaged the Tide's Breath, sinking it in the Diver's Grave.

Fjord came from Port Damali on the Menagerie Coast where he worked as a sailor. At some point, sabotage sank a ship he was sailing on, and he made a pact with his patron. Fjord and Jester met about a week and a half before reaching Trostenwald.

Pre-Stream
Traveling along the Amber Road, on their way to study magic at the Soltryce Academy in Rexxentrum, the trio (Fjord, Jester, and Beau) saved the daughter of Rinaldo (a fisherman in Trostenwald) from a giant snake.

Chapter 9
Fjord, along with Jester and Beauregard, first encountered the rest of the party at the Nestled Nook Inn in Trostenwald. He was immediately suspicious of Nott and Caleb Widogast. The group was invited by Mollymauk Tealeaf to a show put on by the The Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities. However, the unexpected events that transpired at this show ultimately intertwined the fates of the seven individuals who met in a simple pub.

After an elderly man was hideously transfigured and members of the Carnival disappeared, the party was instructed not to leave town. They set out to investigate the mysterious circumstances of the show, and to clear their names. When Beauregard was taken to the stockades, Fjord attempted to negotiate with the Crownsguard to let her free as an innocent, making up a story that something similar had happened to Beauregard's sister.

When prompted, Fjord revealed that he had recently discovered that he could use magic. However, he sidestepped further questioning into the circumstances around how this had happened to him. Fjord secured passage to Crookedstone Island in the Ustaloch from a local boat owner by indicating that he was from Port Damali. On the island, the party found Kylre, the nergaliid they had been hunting. During the battle, Fjord cursed Kylre, prompting his falchion to grow barnacles and start dripping water. He secured the killing blow on Kylre, slamming his Eldritch Blast into the nergaliid and turning him into ash.

While traveling northward towards Alfield, Fjord experiences a vision in his sleep. He finds himself underwater, facing an enormous, yellow eye. He tries to speak to it, but it responds only in single words: "Watching. Potential. Learn. Grow. Provoke. Consume. Reward. Patience." He wakes up with a start, coughing up seawater, and finds that his falchion is missing from its sheath. When prompted by the party, Fjord explains that his magical abilities came to him around the same time as the the sword did. He also notes that this was around the time a trip on a merchant ship went bad. Focusing on the sword, Fjord is able to conjure it in his hand.

Jester secures a letter of recommendation to the Soltryce Academy for Fjord from Starosta Kosh in Alfield, in return for the party having dealt with the gnolls plaguing the town. The group formally names themselves the Mighty Nein.

When the party arrived in Zadash, Fjord and Beauregard enter a meeting with the Knights of Requital in the basement of the Leaky Tap. They express that they were "mistreated by the Empire," but deliberately leave the details vague. A couple nights later, Fjord and Beauregard bring Caleb along to meet the Knights of Requital, accepting a job from the rebel group to sow discord between the High-Richter Dayana Prucine and Lord Sutan. Fjord stayed outside with Mollymauk during the Mighty Nein's heist on the Sutan Residence. He participated in the heist on the High-Richter's estate, securing entrance for the party with Jester by disguising themselves as Prucine and a crownsguard escorting her. During the heist, Fjord caught Caleb attempting to steal a spell scroll and threatened him to put it down. The delay caused Dayana Prucine to catch the party rummaging through her things. However, Ulog of the Knights of Requital sacrificed himself to kill Prucine, allowing the Mighty Nein to escape in the ensuing chaos.

Fjord felt compelled to dive into a dark pool in the Merrow lair as he heard the voice from his dreams say "Learn". Swimming through a passage under the pool, he finds another chamber with several merrow standing among ruins and piles of objects. Fjord swims back to tell the rest of the Mighty Nein about the room, but does not mention hearing his patron's voice.

After the Mighty Nein defeat the merrow in the ruins, Fjord touches a yellow orb found in the chamber. He immediately entered a trance state. He had a vision from his patron. The rest of the Mighty Nein saw Fjord take the orb and push it into his stomach. He told the group about the vision and about how seeing Vandren in it confused him. He also told a little more than previously about the ship he worked on being sabotaged. Fjord summoned his falchion as they left the safe house and noticed there is now a yellow eye in the center of the hilt.

When he learned that the Shuster children would likely be sent to an orphanage without the intervention of the Mighty Nein, Fjord insisted that they help the children reunite with their parents. In the ensuing conversation, he revealed the fact that he was raised in an orphanage and did not wish that fate on others.

Fjord was very pleased to see the Shuster family reunite, and wished them and Kiri well as they left.

In the middle of their first night on the road north of Hupperdook, Fjord, Jester, and Yasha were kidnapped by a group of humanoids led by a bald human. The three were manacled and caged on carts that took off into the night.

Upon being rescued by the Mighty Nein, Fjord said that he, Jester, and Yasha had been tortured physically and mentally before being put to sleep with special manacles. During their time in captivity, Jester and he had kept close to each other after being separated from Yasha.

When the Mighty Nein got back to Zadash, Fjord talked to Caleb and Beau about how he felt that Jester came out fine while he felt deeply scarred from his experience. He'd learned that going after the Soltryce Academy isn't what he should be doing and that he needed to focus on trying to find the people he'd lost.

Fjord negotiates with Avantika.

When the group gets back to the Squall Eater, Fjord and the Nein discussed negotiating an exit with Avantika. Fjord went to Avantika's quarters, and ended up sleeping with her after getting caught in a lie about Vandren. This was an act for business more than romance or physical pleasure. Later on, when he sneaks back into his quarters, Caduceus merely shakes his head and tells him sardonically: "Sleep well with your bad decisions."

Fjord absorbed another Cloven Crystal that he found in Dashilla's lair.

Avantika
The relationship between Fjord and Avantika was complicated. Their patron Uk'otoa brought them together, but Avantika tried to maintain constant control over Fjord and the Mighty Nein. She conscripted them into the crew of the Squall-Eater, eventually forcing Fjord to become her quartermaster.

During the weeks that they knew each other, neither of them wholly trusted the other. However, their mutual desire to hide their true intentions led them to pursue a physical relationship.

Avantika openly yearned for the power Uk'otoa might grant her when released, while Fjord denied any desire to release Uk'otoa outside of her presence. When Fjord shared new dreams from Uk'otoa, Avantika became jealous due to her belief that Uk'otoa favored Fjord over herself. This fueled the race to claim Uk'otoa's boon in, which she won.

Fjord did not trust Avantika or her long-term plans, even conceding that she probably wanted to kill him. The degree of her fervor for Uk'otoa led the Nein to plot her downfall, culminating in the theft of her journal in. Fjord slept with Avantika to ensure she did not interfere in the plan (though neither Jester nor Nott went through with disguising themselves as her). The following day Fjord was called with the rest of the Mighty Nein to Avantika's ship, where a battle ensues.

After the Plank King arrived with knowledge of her journal and plans, Avantika claimed Fjord had blown up the Tide's Breath, though Fjord had never informed her of Sabian's sabotage. She also claimed that Fjord seduced and manipulated her by using the memory of Vandren against her. Fjord did not seem bothered by her death at the hands of the Plank King.

After her execution, Fjord used her journal to pinpoint the location of the next temple to Uk'otoa.

Beauregard
Beauregard and Fjord met a day or two before the events of. Beau instinctively trusted Fjord by the time of, relying on his instructions in order to act more "manly" for a disguise. Fjord eventually started guiding Beau towards less hostile forms of social interaction, to mixed success. The two joined a meeting of The Knights of Requital together and didn't reveal what they witnessed to the other members of the Mighty Nein, though Caleb saw the first meeting they attended through Frumpkin.

Beau thinks that she and Fjord have similar moral perspectives.

Caduceus Clay
Fjord is very impressed by Caduceus's insight skills and often asks for his impressions on new people the Mighty Nein meet.

Caleb Widogast
Fjord is intrigued by Caleb's wizardry, as he's interested in learning more magic himself. Fjord is allergic to Caleb's (sometimes) cat familiar, Frumpkin.

During Midnight Espionage, they got into an argument over Caleb stealing a spell scroll and potentially exposing the operation. Caleb walked away without the scroll when Fjord held his falchion to Caleb's throat and prepared to cast "Eldritch Blast" at Nott.

Caleb has grown increasingly suspicious of Fjord's motives and what he may be concealing from the party. He has repeatedly mentioned an incident when Fjord spoke with a different accent for a few moments right after waking up from a dream and seems frustrated that none of the rest of the party is concerned by this.

In Dashilla's lair during "The Diver's Grave", Caleb agreed to put his own blood onto a runic table because Fjord wanted to see what would happen. Caleb did so only after Fjord agreed that he owed Caleb a favor in return.

Jester Lavorre
Fjord and Jester met in Port Damali, a little while before encountering the rest of the party. Jester called Fjord very handsome and Nott believed that they were romantically involved, but Jester asserted that their relationship had been platonic. After reading "Tusk Love", Jester started referring to Fjord as "Oskar" (after the Half-Orc character in the book).

Jester was also thoroughly impressed with how well Fjord can change his voice and accent. While Beau was out buying some cheap wine, Jester pulled the warlock aside and told him that she liked both of his accents. The first was the one that he put on in order to obtain passage to Crookedstone in Trostenwald which, according to her, sounds like he did in Port Damali. The second is the "Texan" accent that he has now.

Fjord also confided in Jester about his former mentor Vandren, as it was revealed she's the only one that knows Fjord has been mimicking his accent. He also asked her to go with with when searching for Vandren at The Tide's Breath shipwreck.

Jester showed concern over Fjord's tusk filing and offered to support his choices about it.

While escaping the Temple of the Cloaked Serpent on Urukaxl, Jester ran out of air and began to drown. Fjord kissed her and gave her his own air supply, putting himself in danger of drowning to save her. The two of them have not discussed the kiss with each other.

Mollymauk Tealeaf
Molly and Fjord had a friendly relationship, often being roommates at inns. Fjord wanted to learn about Molly's ritual with his swords and asked to join in.

After being rescued from the Iron Shepherds and learning that Molly had died, Fjord was saddened and took Molly's sword up in remembrance. He made Summer's Dance his pact weapon to honor Molly's memory.

Nott
Nott hoped to steal Fjord's letter of recommendation to the Soltryce Academy for Caleb to use instead. Fjord set a trap after Nott's initial theft attempt, learning of this and Nott's motivated attachment to Caleb when Molly charmed Nott. Afterwards, Nott treated Fjord with hostility.

Fjord tried to convince Nott to dive in the ocean with them at several occasion with improbable stories, thinking that Nott would believe him. Nott wasn't fooled and called him "this fucker". According to Travis, Fjord likes Nott more than his behavior would imply; he simply likes messing with Sam, and consequently, Fjord likes messing with Nott.

Sabian
Fjord and Sabian were both hired by Vandren as crew of the Tide's Breath. Fjord said he's known Sabian for many years, and they grew up together. However, he stated Sabian has "always been a piece of shit of one variety or another". In recent years before the Tide's Breath explosion, Fjord believed "that stuff had faded between us", implying the two have had many disputes during the time they've known each other.

Uk'otoa
Fjord's Hexblade patron is a mysterious entity. After Fjord defeated a nergaliid and left Trostenwald, the patron came to him in a dream. While falling asleep, the air seemed to transform into a cold, dark ocean. Struggling against the currents, Fjord gasped the cold water into his lungs, and eventually he was able to breathe it. A giant yellow eye appeared, and an entity communicated eight words directly into Fjord's mind: watching, potential, learn, grow, provoke, consume, reward, patience. Upon waking, Fjord coughed out the salty water from his dream, He then gained the ability to summon and dismiss his falchion as a pact weapon.

When Fjord made another weapon into his pact weapon, his falchion eventually absorbed the other weapon's properties. This is apparently what Fjord's patron meant by "consume."

Fjord has had several dreams/visions from Uk'otoa since the beginning of the campaign. He often denies he had an unusual dream or lies about the contents of the dreams.

After meeting Captain Avantika, Fjord discovered she was another follower of his patron and learned its identity: a mighty leviathan known as "Uk'otoa".

Fjord claims he does not want to release Uk'otoa nor does he want the kind of power Uk'otoa seems to offer his "chosen". He believes control over the seas is too much power for one person to have. He tells the Mighty Nein power like that could turn him into someone else.

Vandren
Vandren was captain of the Tide's Breath at the time it was sabotaged and sank. Fjord has described him as a mentor and father figure, and seemed surprised to learn of his previous connections to Avantika, The Revelry, and Uk'otoa. Seeing that someone looted Vandren's quarters after the Tide's Breath wrecked seemed to make Fjord angry. Fjord claimed to the Mighty Nein that part of the reasons he appeared to ally with Avantika was to find out what happened to Vandren. It is unclear how Fjord feels about Vandren now.

Quests
Fjord was on his way to the Soltryce Academy in the hopes of learning more magic there and more specifically about his powers. But since, after being rescued from Lorenzo, Fjord has stated that he may not want to go to the Academy anymore.

Fjord spent a good portion of his down time in searching for his former crew mate Sabian. He also asked Captain Adella about him when the Mighty Nein went to Nicodranas. Whether he wants to find Sabian to get answers about the shipwreck or to exact revenge is unknown.

Ever since finding out his former captain and mentor Vandren had previously traveled with Avantika in search of Uk'otoa, Fjord has expressed a desire to find Vandren again. He was disappointed not to see another vision of Vandren after putting the second Cloven Crystal in place to release Uk'otoa.

Current Items

 * Sword of Fathoms
 * This weapon was not revealed by Caleb's Detect Magic spell because the Falchion in itself was not magical.
 * When Fjord invoked Hexblade's Curse against a target, the blade of his falchion transformed from polished metal to a barnacle-covered blade that sourcelessly dripped water as if it had just been pulled from the ocean. The sword disappeared when Fjord established his Pact of the Blade. When he summoned the weapon for the first time, it appeared in its transformed state.
 * The Falchion seems to be a part of the pact with his Patron as it absorbed the power of the Waste Hunter Blade and took on some of the physical qualities of it.
 * Absorbed the power of Summer's Dance Scimitar after staring at it. This caused the power of the Waste Hunter Blade to disappear from the falchion.
 * Piecemeal Leather Armor (notably without pockets). This armor received the Mariner's Armor enchantment in favor of the actual Mariner's Armor.
 * A letter of recommendation to the Soltryce Academy received from Starosta Kosh.
 * Cloak of Protection bought from The Invulnerable Vagrant.
 * +1 Shield. A beautifully crafted diamond shaped shield with a gold border, and two gold lion heads facing away from each other on a metallic graphite field. (Bought from The Invulnerable Vagrant) Retconned to a standard shield
 * Component pouch
 * Bag of Holding looted from Lorenzo's room
 * Magical Manacles looted from the torture room
 * Orc tusk found in bag of holding
 * The Cloven Crystal
 * A broken sword, found in the Subterranean Tunnels of The Labenda Swamp

Former Items

 * Scorching Ray Gauntlet (traded to Caleb for the Mariner's Armor)
 * Waste Hunter Blade  (absorbed by Fjord's falchion, destroyed by absorbing Summer's Dance.)

Abilities
Unless otherwise noted, the following abilities are assumed from the standard Dungeons & Dragons materials:

Feats

 * War Caster

Half-Orc Abilities

 * Darkvision
 * Menacing
 * Relentless Endurance
 * Savage Attacks

Warlock Abilities

 * Eldritch Invocations (4+)
 * Agonizing Blast
 * Dank Water Powers (Boon from Uk'otoa)
 * Gift of the Depths
 * Mask of Many Faces
 * Thirsting Blade
 * Otherworldly Patron (Hexblade)
 * Accursed Specter
 * Expanded Spell List
 * Hexblade's Curse
 * When Fjord first invoked the Hexblade's Curse against a target, the blade of his falchion transformed from polished metal to being covered in barnacles which grow down towards the hilt. Additionally, the blade began to sourcelessly drip water as if it had just been pulled out of the ocean. Since Fjord made the falchion his pact weapon (a pact feature he chose and acquired at level 3), these changes appear to have become permanent.
 * Hex Warrior
 * Pact Boon: Pact of the Blade
 * Rather than creating a new weapon or performing a ritual on an existing weapon, Fjord's mysterious falchion disappeared during a dream in which he met his patron. Upon waking, he was able to summon the falchion as a pact weapon. It absorbed weapons he performed rituals on. Matt has mentioned that a weapon absorbed by the falchion changes its damage die to that of a falchion, a reskinned longsword.
 * Pact Magic (Charisma-based spellcasting)

Warlock Spells
As a level 8 warlock, Fjord knows three cantrips and nine spells. He only has two 4th-level spell slots for those nine spells, but he regains his spell slots on a short rest. He can replace the spells he knows when he gains a level, so he no longer knows all of these spells.

Cantrips

 * Booming Blade
 * Eldritch Blast
 * Minor Illusion

1st-level

 * Armor of Agathys
 * Hex
 * Witch Bolt
 * Wrathful Smite

2nd-level

 * Crown of Madness

3rd-level

 * Blink
 * Hunger of Hadar
 * Hypnotic Pattern
 * Major Image
 * Thunder Step

4th-level

 * Sickening Radiance
 * Summon Greater Demon

Quotes

 * "We need to drop this fucker and get the hell out of Dodge." (Fjord after attacking the zombie in the second battle)
 * "Is that single horse a, uh...a mustang?" (how Fjord met Shelby the Mustang)
 * "They call me eagle eye Fjord where I come from. [cawing] Crow Fjord, maybe raven, you don't know." (Fjord claiming to the party that he has keen vision)
 * "I would say something about that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but I feel pretty fucking weak right now." (Fjord to the Mighty Nein after the group fought a dragon)
 * "Crap fire. Slopdolly." (Fjord being a Texan)
 * Travis (describing Fjord leaving Avantika's quarters): "I turn around and I head towards the door and as I get there, I look back." (pauses) "And I walk away!"
 * callback to Vax'ildan frequently walking away from emotional moments in Campaign One

Trivia

 * Fjord has the lowest dexterity and lowest wisdom of all of The Mighty Nein, including Frumpkin.
 * However, Fjord has the highest constitution and highest charisma of all of The Mighty Nein.
 * Travis made the first roll of the campaign; the result of which was: a natural 20.
 * Fjord is allergic to cats, as is Travis.
 * Due to his status as a hexblade warlock and his thick Texan accent, many Critters have given the nickname "Texblade" to Fjord.
 * A fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier.
 * Etymologically, it is related to the Norse verb ferd (travelling/ferrying) and the Norse noun fjǫrðr, meaning a "lake-like" waterbody used for passage and ferrying, which is of Indo-European origin.
 * The Norwegian coastline is known as a "generous" fishing ground, thought to be due to marine life found in recently discovered coral reefs discovered along the bottom of their fjords.
 * Fjord is "near thirty" according to Travis.
 * Throughout Campaign 2, several jokes have been made that compare Fjord's name to that of the Ford Motor Company. For example:
 * Fjord found a mustang and named it Shelby, a reference to the Shelby Mustang, which is a high-performance variant of the Ford Mustang.
 * When Fjord stated that he didn't have a surname, Sam joked that it was "Tough"—which would make his name "Fjord Tough", a pun on the FMC's slogan.
 * Fjord's patron may be a sea creature, based on his dream as part of his 3rd-level warlock Pact of the Blade feature. The patron gave Fjord vague instructions to grow in strength and learn; because of this many Critters refer to Fjord's Warlock patron by the name "Watching", as when Fjord asked his patron what it was, it simply replied, "Watching".
 * Before the patron's identity was revealed as Uk'otoa: a powerful leviathan that once ruled the Lucidian Ocean in the days before the Calamity; many Critters guessed (correctly) that Fjord's patron may be a sea creature.
 * His main 'hobby' is watching and imitating peoples habits, most likely to improve his disguise self (mask of many faces) and deception
 * Travis has talked about Fjord being a bottom on Talks Machina (due to the manner in which he first consumed a pact weapon) after talking about Fjord being submissive/acting submissively towards 'higher powers'.
 * According to Jester, Fjord is really good at making chili.
 * Travis has claimed on multiple occasions that Fjord is Lawful Good, though the other players do not believe him. Many of Fjord's actions (such as creating a specter and summoning a demon) are inconsistent with the ideals of a lawful good character.
 * Fjord's eyes bear a great similarity to those of Uk'otoa.
 * Several parallels can be made between Fjord and Percival de Rolo. Each of them has a particularly antagonistic relationship with a female NPC (in this case, Avantika and Anna Ripley respectively); they both forged pacts with unseen higher forces (again, Uk'otoaand Orthax respectively). Additionally, each wields an enchanted weapon (either provided or influenced) by those higher forces: Sword of Fathoms and The List; although the similarities end there as Orthax clearly had a dark and nefarious endgame, whereas we do not yet know Uk'otoa's goals or alignment.