Balt Tolgrim

Balt Tolgrim, usually known simply as Tolgrim, is an infamous dwarf pirate and cleric of Umberlee. He spent the majority of his life pirating on the high seas, on both the Trackless Sea and the Sea of Fallen Stars. But later on in life, after taking a job as a mercenary working for Revaan, he acquired a dragonmark and joined Revaan's adventuring group in fighting to retake the Sword Coast.

Early Life
Tolgrim was raised in an orphanage in Luskan in the 13th century DR. He grew up largely on the streets of the northern city, and learned to sail at an early age.

The High Seas
Tolgrim spent most of his life as a pirate, sailing the oceans of Faerûn as an feared pirate. At some point, he began worshipping the goddess Umberlee. He has implied that this decision was not entirely voluntary. After this, he started making regular sacrifices to the the Wavemother, which somehow aided his pirating greatly. The nature of these sacrifices is unconfirmed, but rumors quickly spread that he was sacrificing living humanoids, kidnapped by his crew.

Throughout the three centuries of his life, Tolgrim became infamous, with countless stories and sea shanties mentioning him circulating throughout port cities of Faerûn. These stories often mentioned a ship permanently engulfed in storm, and a dread pirate captain who could call lightning from the sky.

Later Life and Joining Revaan
At some point in his life, Tolgrim left his ship and crew for an unknown period of time. But in 1539 DR, he purchased a mule named Jimmy Charmer. He then joined a squad of mercenaries, headed by Revaan, with the expressed purpose of crossing the Anauroch and venturing into the Sword Coast. This party included Egram, Edgar Green, Azrel, Inizziv, Lemon Shrub; who was at the time not sentient, Revaan and Tolgrim himself.

Traveling the Anauroch
Tolgrim traveled with the other mercenaries for at least several weeks, moving west along the Black Road toward the Sword Coast. At some point in the journey, the group was attacked by several blue dragons, which they were able to fight off, sustaining some injuries. During the fight, Tolgrim cast several spells, using the powers he was granted by Umberlee. This was the first time Tolgrim revealed his abilities to the others of the party, though none were particularly surprised, since all of them except Lemon Shrub had their own magical abilities.

After this, the group encountered an orc hunting camp which was revealed to be hunting a dragon of some sort. Tolgrim stayed outside of the camp, while it was infiltrated by other members of the group. Here, the party found an Astral Map.

Soon after this, all members of the group began experiencing strange dreams, under the influence of the yellow dragon Ersen. Like the rest of the party, Tolgrim was distressed by these visions and sought to find their source. When the party found Ersen's underground enclave, Tolgrim was one of the mercenaries who thought venturing inside was a good idea. After fighting their way through hordes of undead, the party finally managed to meet Ersen, and help him defeat a neothelid sent by to kill him.

Ersen revealed to the party that they were all part of a mysterious prophecy, and explained that to fulfill it and unlock new magical abilities they had to have dragonmark s tattooed on their bodies. Tolgrim was extremely hesitant at this prospect, and tried to convince the rest of the party not to go through with it. Over the hours it took for the rest of the party to have their dragonmark s tattooed, Tolgrim secluded himself in a deep cavern in the enclave, and prayed to Umberlee. Upon finishing his prayer, Tolgrim determined that Umberlee desired him to have a dragonmark. He reluctantly agreed to Ersen's wishes, and received the Mark of Storm on his chest. This dragonmark was abnormally large on Tolgrim, and turned out to be the largest mark of the party.

After this, Ersen and his disciples set out with the party, now nearing the western edge of the Anauroch. Revaan and his team worked as advanced scouts, traveling a day ahead of the yellow dragon and his followers. During this time they encountered Martin Tamaros, riding a dragon. Edgar and Martin dueled with shovels in the desert. Tolgrim, along with the rest of the party had his spells readied throughout the fight, but he did not use them until Martin attempted to escape. This ultimately failed to stop the paladin.

Skyreach Castle
Upon crossing the western border of the Anauroch, the scouting party soon reached the village of Parnast. Here, they found the great Skyreach Castle, which had been lying abandoned for decades. The castle was now infested with hordes of skeletal warriors and other undead. The group quickly decided to capture it, and Tolgrim agreed with this decision, not wanting to risk the creatures inside attacking him or the others later on. After clearing the two outer towers on the castle of undead, they made camp in one of the towers, building a fire to protect themselves from the cold.

It was here that Azrel first attempted to confront Tolgrim about his past. Tolgrim ignored her, but Revaan took a more direct approach, taking him out to another tower and openly demanding Tolgrim open up about his past. Tolgrim told Revaan, "we all have sacrifices to make," alluding to his reputation for making humanoid sacrifices. The two reached an uneasy alliance here, deciding that they had the same goal: freeing the Sword Coast.

After this, the vampire ruler of Skyreach Castle, Sandesyl Morgia interrupted the meeting. Sandesyl gave the party a tour of the castle, and during this tour Tolgrim slipped on the ice floor, and alerted the undead giant Blagothkus to the party's presence. Blagothkus quickly came charging down the hallway, initiating a near fatal battle with the party.

The Dueling Peaks
After the party escaped Llorkh by using Egram's mana battery and arrived at the Dueling Peaks, Azrel left the party to travel to Mount Celestia. Revaan after left, going after her. Tolgrim was frustrated by Azrel's leaving, but decided to take the time to rest with the rest of the party. The party eventually went sledding down the mountainside. Tolgrim initially declined to sled with them, but after being shoved down the mountain by Edgar and Egram, he joined in.

Later on Tolgrim borrowed Egram's Alchemy Jug, and held a feast for the kobolds and the remaining adventurers.

Upon Azrel's return, Tolgrim expressed his frustration with her, but grudgingly accepted her return.

Appearance and Equipment
Tolgrim is unusually pale for a gold dwarf. He has balding white hair, and a scruffy beard that reaches halfway down his chest. He wears a wide-brimmed faded red hat, which is enchanted to create a bubble of air underwater. His coat, which is of the same color, provides protection from attackers through another enchantment. Under this coat, he wears a full set of platemail armor. On his hands, Tolgrim wears a pair of Gauntlets of Ogre Strength.

Until recently, Tolgrim's primary weapon was his enchanted maul, called Irontide, which is branded with the emblem of Umberlee on its head. After the party killed Blagothkus in Skyreach Castle, Tolgrim took the giant magical morningstar which Blagothkus' soul transferred into, and began wielding it as his main weapon. Despite this, he still carries Irontide and uses it regularly to cast spells using Umberlee's magic.

Personality
Tolgrim is gruff and grumpy, and often complains when the situation turns sour. He is very reserved, and secretive, rarely opening up to others, and revealing nothing about his past without coercion. Though he can be cooperative, he is extremely slow to trust others and never puts full faith in anyone but himself and Umberlee.

Relationships
Tolgrim's gruff personality means it takes a long time for him to form any real friendships, but over time he has learned to cooperate with the party, if never fully fit in.

Revaan
Tolgrim has always had an uneasy relationship with Revaan. Though he often looks to Revaan, this is mainly habit from being hired by the monk as a mercenary. Tolgrim's trust for Revaan worsened after Revaan confronted him about his past while they were capturing Skyreach Castle. Revaan demanded to know his past, seemingly wanting to know if he was indeed a ruthless murderer, and Tolgrim refused to tell him much. Despite this, the two have an alliance of goals, both wanting to see the Sword Coast freed.

Egram
Tolgrim gets along with Egram better than with most of the other party members, due to in part to their shared criminal pasts. Though Egram is all but certain of Tolgrim's past, they both respect each other and don't ask too many questions. They also have a shared love of flight, and Tolgrim co-pilots Skyreach Castle with the grung artificer.

Azrel
Tolgrim sees Azrel as valuable to the party, but not trustworthy. The two argue often and rarely agree on decisions for the party. This was made much worse when Azrel called Tolgrim out on his past, at Skyreach Castle.

Jimmy Charmer
Tolgrim seems to have a close bond with Jimmy Charmer. He shows great care toward the mule, often worrying about his safety. When the Ersen's kobold followers were transporting Jimmy Charmer, Tolgrim made sure that they had not eaten the mule.