So in my last sketchbook tour, I briefly mentioned an old D&D character I made years ago and a lot of people were interested in hearing about her story! so today, I'll be talking about Plumeria: my fairy bard While I've never really been super into the fantasy genre, I've always really enjoyed the ideas of fairies and magical powers ever since I was a kid! I mean, I believed in the tooth fairy at one point. I watched a lot of Winx Club and Ojamajo Doremi on Saturday mornings back when 4Kids was still a thing. Dragons and Elves and high fantasy stories of adventurers going on long journeys in search of a mystical artifact? Eh. CUTE GIRLS with WINGS and MAGIC POWERS? NOW you had my attention! I guess I never really grew out of that because when my friend asked if I wanted to play D&D for the first time back in college, I said… *gasp* I wanna be a fairy! a fairy? I don’t know if you can do that. If you want wings, you could always be an Aarakocra. They’re like...bird people. Or an aasimar. If you want fey ancestry, I guess you could be an elf... or even a half-elf! And if you want to be small, you could be a gnome. whaaat? I don't wanna be any of those. I wanna be a cute fairy. *sigh* alright screw it, why not. we can make it work. go look up a homebrew. YAAAAAY! and so, my charismatic fairy bard Plumeria was born! named after one of my favorite flowers! I remember at the time thinking Plumeria was a super cute and unique name for a character... ...and then Pokemon Sun and Moon happened... ...and then Fire Emblem Heroes happened. so. not as unique as I thought. but in my defense, these two hadn’t existed yet at the time of plumeria’s creation!
I’m assuming you’re familiar with what Dungeons and Dragons is, but if not, then...hm, what’s the easiest way to describe it? It’s a more complicated version of playing pretend with your friends. Your fantasy-themed OC’s group up together and go on adventures while one person builds the world and story around you! I highly recommend you watch Jocat’s crap guide to D&D, in particular his dungeon master one because they’re delightful to watch and they give you a pretty good idea on how the game is typically played! Unfortunately this video will NOT be a detailed retelling of the campaign that i used her in because to be honest, the campaign only lasted a few sessions so we didn’t get very far, and in between moving from place to place, I lost the character sheet I made for her. Turns out, having a consistent D&D schedule that works for everyone gets a lot harder when everyone starts working and moving and dealing with the responsibilities of being a full fledged ADULT. I just remember I really liked to use and abuse the sleep spell and vicious mockery. So, this video will actually be less about the dungeons and dragons game we played and more about Plumeria’s story and how I imagined her world to be like. Back when I first made her character sheet, I spent a lot of time in class doodling and thinking about her background and what fairies were like in this world. I even found some doodles and notes that I jotted down back in college during lectures that I probably should’ve been listening to. I don’t know if there’s like an official lore for fairies in dungeons and dragons, but if there is, then it’s safe to assume that whatever lore I came up with is separate from any existing official D&D lore. I DUNNO HOW THIS STUFF WORKS IM JUST HERE TO TELL YOU ABOUT MY OC. So, where does her story begin? Well… In this fantasy world, fairies lived in little colonies... Hang on a second, I don’t think my voice is really immersing you in this world. Let me go get someone-hang on. In this fantasy world, fairies lived in little colonies,concealing themselves from anyone who might disturb their peaceful lives. Spring and summer fairies were the most common of all and oftentimes their colonies consisted of both types. They liked to live in warm or temperate climates and they had intermingled so much that there wasn’t much difference between them except for the months they were born in. These fairies had varying insect wings that determined what kinds of jobs they were better suited for. For example, fairies with dragonfly wings were likely to be messengers between colonies because of their speed. Fairies with bee wings might pollinate flowers just as a regular bee would, and wasp-winged fairies might choose to be fighters to defend their colonies. Those with cicada wings were the loudest of all, and they typically served as look-outs and were in charge of announcements. Moth-winged fairies were usually nocturnal and took on night shifts for the fairies who were active in the daytime. Not every fairy had a designated job, and many chose to simply live comfortably in their whimsical safe-havens. Autumn fairies had wings that resembled leaves instead of insect wings, and while summer and spring fairies had an affinity to insects, autumn fairies had an affinity to small woodland creatures. While they didn’t often interact with one another, summer spring fairies and autumn fairies were generally friendly to one another when they had more frequent encounters during the passing of seasons. Winter fairies were the most mysterious and elusive of all. Few had ever laid eyes upon one. Their wings appeared to be made of ice or glass. Nobody knew if they truly spoke. Some say they’re so quiet that their voices can be mistaken for the sounds of snowfall. Many have been deterred from seeking out their magic because of rumors that say if you anger a winter fairy colony, your village will be cursed with a winter that lasts a hundred years. Of course, nobody knows if there’s any truth to these claims, but it’s assumed that the magic that allows them to exist in such harsh climates isn’t something to be trifled with. In one of the spring and summer fairy colonies, there lived a summer fairy by the name of Plumeria, who worked in a tavern as an entertainer with her enchanted flute, which she lovingly named Nightingale. She had the wings of a junebug, which meant she wasn’t a very fast flyer, but that didn’t mean much to her when she spent most of her days entertaining tavern patrons and basking in their praises and adulation. The only thing Plumeria loved more than being the center of attention was her dear sister Amaryllis, a gentle spring fairy who spent most of her time looking after the flowers and plants that grew around the colony. Plumeria also had a great distrust and prejudice against humans and a great admiration for elves, who she believed were the fairies’ natural allies, connected by their fey ancestry. In this world, while some humans dedicated their lives to studying magic, others who wielded no magic power of their own sought out more dishonest ways of acquiring it by hunting for fairies to capture them and use their magic to enchant weapons or jewels. Crueler practices involved crushing their wings to make strong magical powders. Fairies were difficult to capture when they were grouped together, but became easy targets when they became separated and located. For this reason fairies typically made their colonies invisible to the human eye. Plumeria’s disdain for humans is only further amplified when one day, a human used a powerful wind spell to violently disrupt her peaceful colony and she, along with many others, were blasted away in all different directions. Her wings weren't strong enough to help her quickly recover from being thrust into the skies, and she was knocked out upon falling to the ground. After some time, her unconscious body was discovered by a half-elf named Robin, who happened to be walking through the woods when he found her. Robin, who lived alone in the woods as a tailor, helped Plumeria quickly recover from her injuries. Although she was initially wary of his intentions because of his half-human blood, during this time they developed a fast friendship and told each other stories of their lives. AND GUESS WHAT :D I actually have some comic pages of Plumeria and Robin’s interactions that I uh, ALSO doodled during class years ago. (make sure you pay attention in class, kids.) I figured for this video, I oughtta redraw them and get a few friends to dub over them! so, hope you enjoy! So against her better judgement, Plumeria had in fact fallen for Robin. Ah yes, the charmer became the charmed. But of course, she knew that her feelings would forever be one-sided and that soon enough she’d have to part ways with him to find the rest of her colony. However, that day came sooner than she’d anticipated when one night, just a few weeks after the day Plumeria had been found, Robin didn’t return home. The following few days after, clients would occasionally show up to his door, only to be met with silence. Plumeria felt something was amiss, so she put on the leather armor that Robin had left out for her, spread her little june bug wings, and flew out the window in search of both her sister and Robin. ...and so, her journey officially began! This is the point where her campaign would begin and she’d run into the other members of her soon-to-be party! One of the people she’d meet was my friend Soley’s character, Ravellois, who was an intelligent and young high elf wizard. Her father disappeared when she was young, and when she discovered one of his books in his old study after her mother’s passing, a voice spoke out to her from the blank pages, urging her to go out and uncover the mysteries within. While Ravellois was academically smart, she was sheltered, awkward, and uncharismatic, so Plumeria and Ravellois had a friendship that could best be described as... Glinda and Elphaba from Wicked. They were total opposites in every way, but they were able to connect through the shared pain of having a loved one go missing. Ravellois was the one that Plumeria respected the most out of the whole party. Plumeria was a little shit so to pretty much everyone else in the party she was sometimes snide and a little rude, moreso if you were a human or a half-orc. And what happened with Robin? Well, I let the DM figure that one out for me. I never finished her story because her journey hasn’t been fully played out yet. I know at some point in her story she learns that the human responsible for destroying her colony had bribed a greedy elf into revealing its whereabouts, which sort of alters her perception of elves and the idea that they even view her as an equal. And of course, she learns to work through her preconceived judgements through her fellow party members and the NPCs she meets on her journey! And there you go, that’s my most fleshed out DnD character! I know it probably doesn’t look like she has a whole lot to her because there’s a huge empty space where the bulk of her story would be, but that part will get filled in if and when I decide to play her again! It’s been a few years so she’d need to restart with a whole new party and a whole new character sheet but I look forward to whenever that day comes. I really want to use these cherry blossom dice that I got from Dispel Dice’s 2019 kickstarter. They almost look a little like candy, dont you think? If you wanna check out their beautiful work, I put their link in the description. NOT sponsored by them by way, I just think their stuff is incredible and wanna show them some love. You know who I AM sponsored by, though? You guessed it.
RAYCON. Raycon prioritizes their customer experience from start to finish, from the way they design their products to the way they price them. And, if you’re not happy with them, they have a 45 day free-return policy! Raycons come in a range of fun colors and patterns, with a variety of fit options, and no dangling wires or stems. As you’ve probably heard me mention before, raycon earbuds give you 6 hours of playtime, seamless bluetooth pairing, more bass, and a more compact design for a comfortable, noise-isolating fit! If you’re trying to take a break from screens but don’t want to feel totally unplugged, raycon wireless earbuds are a great way to bring your favorite content with you wherever you go! Like when I do chores, I like to listen to true crime podcasts! Because what better way to stop myself from going outside than to give myself reasons to be afraid of it! Click the link in the description box or go to buyraycon.com/emirichu to get 15% off your Raycon purchase!
Thank you to Raycon for sponsoring this video! This is the part where I gas up everyone who helped me with this video! SO... Big thank you to Noble Tea ASMR for doing the narration during the story bits!! She reads a lot of bedtime stories on her channel so check her out if you’re interested in hearing more of her lovely narration! Lilypichu of course, did the voice for Plumeria! They both have flower names and are both musically skilled, so I thought it was a perfect match. Aleks Le did the voice for Robin! Fun fact, he’s also the English dub voice for Zenitsu in Demon Slayer and he has a channel so check out his links in the description too! And of course, thank you to Hanayo Sora for drawing up some gorgeous backgrounds for me during the story bits. She really helped bring this world to life and she has a channel of her own so please go check her out and send her all the love! and also, thank you to the lovely Jocat for voicing my DM! and that's it! I hope you liked the video and I'll see you next time!
Emirichu didn't just make a DnD character, she made an entire faerie racial supplement LOL