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Orym

Tal'Dorei

Orym is an Air Ashari halfling fighter and member of the Crown Keepers and later Bells Hells. He is played by Liam O'Brien.

Orym is an Air Ashari halfling fighter and member of the Crown Keepers and later Bells Hells. He is played by Liam O'Brien.

Appearance

Orym is 3 feet and 3 inches tall, slender, with ropey muscles and fine features. He has a short shock of brown hair less than an inch long. He has a full-sleeve tattoo of swirling winds and clouds on his right arm stretching up onto his chest, and a tattoo of Ruidus cradled within a crescent Catha on his right shoulder, and more recently, a flaming bell tattoo in his left shoulder blade. Originally, he wore green armor with a leaf theme over brown leather, with well-worn sashes with ivy and flower patterns around his waist, and his boots were brown leather with green stone rings laced into his shin guards. His shield was adorned with ivy. Just before the party traveled to Aeor, he altered his appearance slightly. His hair had grown out longer and was now wavy, and he wore newly-purchased antique Zephyr Armor dyed a dark brown and with a shoulder pauldron made from a piece of FCG's body; on his left boot is a jade piece identical to the one Fearne had on her own outfit. Tiny fey spider vines grew over his armor, symbolizing his connection with Nana Morri.

In every version of his outfit Orym wears a green sash of Ashari design, to remind him of his home in Zephrah.

Orym looks a lot like his mother, Alma, and the resemblance becomes even stronger when they smile. According to Allura Vysoren, after his months with Bells Hells he looked much more confident than he had earlier in his life.

Personality

Orym is generally serious, dutiful and level-headed. He considers himself responsible for "babysitting" his friends' antics, and makes efforts to protect them in combat. Orym prefers to leave complicated, dangerous matters in the hands of more experienced figures whom he trusts. According to his mother, his stoic but curious and active traits were present from his childhood.

Orym is uncomfortable with getting involved in crime or "fucking people over", believing there's more to the world than corruption and temptation. Dariax considered him to be the most moral member of their group. Liam stated that Orym's "kind heart" was his favorite part of the character, and that he wanted to make a character that held onto kindness as much as he could, as long as he could.

When around 837 PD Keyleth was attacked in Zephrah by mysterious individuals who appeared out of nowhere and evaporated when killed, Orym wanted to forget and come to peace with his unsettled memories that felt unresolvable and would haunt his life. However, when similar attackers assaulted the Lumas twins in Marquet and he was asked to investigate, he was frustrated that all the leads were growing cold and was inspired to pursue them to try to make it right.

Orym seems to be a man of deep convictions and goodness who wants to do the right thing, protect the people he loves, and see the best in others in a morally gray world. Liam characterized Orym as the straight man of his adventuring groups and as one who seems set to lead but views himself as one who follows, and he felt that Orym is the closest to Lawful Good of any character he has ever played. Even if he feels inadequate to meet the expectations that his friends have of him, his sense of responsibility and affection towards them makes him take charge anyway as the perceived leader and moral compass.

Background

Orym was born in the Air Ashari community of Zephrah, the son of a local midwife and a man surnamed Tarrintel; however, the halfling's biological father left, so his son does not use his last name, and never bothered to look for him. Orym grew up there with his mother, who taught him about wood carving. She described him as a "sweet little boy", although stoic and very physically active. He was curious and frequently got into trouble, and he admitted he'd gotten pretty high up in the town's central tree.

They were in close contact with another local family of half-elves: the father, Derrig, was a bodyguard for The Voice of the Tempest, and trained Orym, teaching him " to write on the air "; the mother, Nel, was an herbalist, and with one of her triplet daughters, Maeve (who would become a druid), taught the halfling some basic magical healing, although he didn't excel in that area as much as in his physical training, proving to be fast and athletic. Of that family, however, the one Orym grew the closest was Will, the youngest son of Derrig and Nel: they were both of similar age, trained together, and eventually both of them joined the Tempest Blades, serving as guards in Zephrah; during that period of time, Orym was more in contact with the Keyleth, the leader of the Air Ashari, as well as her legendary companions, the members of Vox Machina, whose conversations the halfling fighter overheard.

Orym and Will grew even closer and fell in love, initiating a relationship that later became a marriage after Will proposed. During their four-year marriage Orym remained close to Will's family, being fond of all of them, but spent the most time with Leeta due to them training together under Derrig, whom he saw as a father figure in the absence of his own biological father.

Circa 837 PD, Orym witnessed an attack on Keyleth in Zephrah. It was unsuccessful, though a few Ashari died in the attack, including Orym's husband Will and beloved father-in-law Derrig. The guards were able to fell some of the assailants, but the bodies melted away into nothing before their eyes; due to a special toxin in the weapons of the attackers, none of the fallen Ashari could be resurrected, and Orym lost Will and Derrig forever. Orym stayed in Zephrah less than a year after that, during which he helped train some of the new Tempest Blades, including a human called Julian, until Keyleth encouraged him to leave and travel, in order to escape his memories.

During his later adventures, Orym's goal was to find those responsible for the death of his husband and the attack on his community.

The first of the Crown Keepers Orym met, apparently, was Fearne Calloway.

Exandria Unlimited Prime

At the beginning of Exandria Unlimited Prime Orym remembered waking up as a group a day or so ago on the road outside Emon, but didn't remember anything about the week prior. He remembered being at Thordak's Crater and seeing footprints leading out toward where the Scar of the Cinder King is located. The others were also missing memories of the same week.

When the group found the Circlet of Barbed Vision aboard the Blightstar at the behest of Poska, both Orym and Dorian Storm became nauseous near it. Later, when Opal was seriously wounded in a battle, Orym stepped in front of her to protect her. When the fight was over, Orym found multiple crates and barrels holding refined residuum, about half of which were from his hometown of Zephrah. He talked the group into taking some of it to the Fire Ashari so they could get word back to the Air Ashari about it. When the group realized that the Circlet was one of the Vestiges of Divergence, Orym suggested showing it to the Fire Ashari as well. When they arrived, he did tell the Ashari about the residuum, but Opal and Dorian stopped him before he could mention the Circlet. Later, he agreed that keeping it was probably a good idea. When the group was kidnapped by Poska on their way out of town and realized they had inadvertently endangered Shaun Gilmore with their overheard conversations, Orym used their gifted magic one-way one-use box to send a warning to Gilmore.

At Byroden, Orym was taken under the wing of the wife of the War Ringer, Ruby Lee Beckfort, who swept him off and fed him pie in an attempt to fatten him up. His participation in the Gem of Byroden Pageant was limited to being the target for an axe-throwing Cinna Brightbow.

Back on the road, Orym confronted Dorian when he offered to carry the Circlet for a while and was able to do so without feeling his former nausea. Orym forced Dorian to give it back to Dariax, and kept a close eye on him thereafter.

Thrascuur, the tetrarch of the city of Niirdal-Poc, gifted Orym with a seed and told him to make it grow. When the party left, a very young feline girl tried to give them a letter to deliver to Umejii, but the group was suspicious. Orym followed her out, spoke to her and learned her name, and promised to deliver the letter.

During the party's final battle, Orym again defended a prone Opal against Myr'atta Niselor. He joined the others in their decision to stay together for at least a while longer as they continued their search for Umejii.

Alma

Alma is Orym's mother, a midwife from Zephrah. She and her son love each other very much, and he considers her a very good mother, describing himself as a "mama's boy". The fighter tries not to worry Alma despite having to expose himself to danger during his missions.

Will

Will was Orym's half-elf husband. He was another of Keyleth's guards, and died in the attempt on her life. Orym's moon tattoos are in remembrance of Will, as the two moons represent the pair of them: "big moon, little moon". Will was the son of Derrig, Keyleth's guard in " Dalen's Closet " (Sx47).

Orym considered the years previous to his wedding, with the whole process of falling in love with Will, as the most peaceful period of his life. After that they were a passionate couple that "defiled" all the hills in Zephrah.

Keyleth

In Exandria Unlimited Prime, Orym alluded to having worked for Keyleth in Zephrah a long time ago; he also says she had told him about the people of Emon and that she was exactly right about them. He later said he was aware of Keyleth and her possession of a Vestige, and that made him conscious of the danger and unlikelihood of stumbling upon a Vestige himself. Keyleth was the one who sent Orym, Fearne, and Dorian to Marquet.

Keyleth feels bad for putting so much pressure on Orym's shoulder, but after so long, and given the fighter's many deeds under her service, she considers him a friend. They have both experienced the loss of their most dear loved one. In recognition of this, Keyleth reminded Orym that he was not alone and that the strength of his people will rally behind them. She urged him to find the strength to take the first step forward, and gave him the title "Savior Blade of the Tempest". Although he is honored, the halfling actually feels pressured by the title, considering it too big for him.

Although Orym was originally just one of many bodyguards, in recent times Keyleth has become very involved in the progress of both him and his group, being very proud of their successes, but also very fearful of the dangers they face.

Fearne Calloway

Fearne Calloway and Orym have contrasting personalities: she with a chaotic fey nature and he soberly making a conscious effort to do good and not screw people over. Despite Orym's worrying about the trouble Fearne will get herself and the party into, they are attentive to each other and get along well. Orym entrusted Fearne, along with Dorian, with knowledge of the attack on Zephrah, and both Fearne and Dorian accompanied Orym to Jrusar.

After Dorian left Marquet, Fearne remained as Orym's closest friend. They both took care of each other, and when he was in danger, she prioritized his well-being. After Orym caused the death of Fearne's biological father he felt extremely remorseful, considering it a "very deep sin" that could potentially affect his friendship with the druid.

Dorian Storm

Orym expressed alarm about Dorian holding onto the Circlet of Barbed Vision, which inadvertently hurt his feelings; Dorian was more concerned about ensuring that their party collectively kept stewardship of the evil artifact, rather than using the artifact for personal gain. However, by the time of Campaign Three, Dorian considered Orym their small group's leader. Orym supports Dorian in his musical endeavors and entrusted both him and Fearne with knowledge of the attack on Zephrah.

After Dorian left Marquet Orym kept talking to him through sending stones, reminding him how much he and Bells Hells missed the bard.

During a team-building exercise about honesty Orym admitted that he still missed Dorian, and although sometimes he felt that was okay, sometimes he felt that it wasn't. After losing FCG during their mission to Ruidus, Bells Hells returned to Marquet, and Orym, filled with grief, used his sending stone to contact Dorian, admitting how much he missed him and asking him to come to them. Orym knows he has feelings for the bard, but is shy about it, and believes they are not reciprocated; moreover, since Dorian left the Ashari has kept in his head a happy version of him that he remembered fondly, and now he faces the actual man, much sadder and angrier. Even with that contrast, the two of them still care about each other, and try to make the other happy. After some days traveling together, before a big mission Dorian went to see Orym, and they both admitted to have feelings for each other, with Dorian spending the night with Orym simply so he could hug him and give him comfort. The following day they both agreed that if they survived their adventure they wanted to explore their potential relationship, and shared two kisses. After their mission was over they explored their relationship calmly and became a couple.

Imogen Temult

Orym believes Imogen is intelligent, wise, well-meaning, and has the potential to be great, but is carrying a lot of baggage. He has seen her give in to her dark side and sees that she is powerful and coming into her own. Remembering Opal and Dorian's struggles with the corrupting influence of power, he hopes that he can act as a buffer against things that might cause her to tumble into darkness. In more recent times he still maintains that idea, but he also has reluctantly warned Fearne about being prepared to stop Imogen, if necessary.

Although Orym still trusts and defends his friend, he isn't afraid of pressing her if he believes it will benefit their mission. Despite that, he allows himself to show how pressure affects him in front of the sorcerer, even hugging her without a warning after getting good news (being able to communicate with their allies via Sending).

Ashton Greymoore

Orym and Ashton complement each other well in combat. Outside of battle, the barbarian has always expressed that Orym is the best of the group, to which other members of Bells Hells have agreed; however, Ashton has also spoken privately with Orym, expressing concern about the pressure their friend regularly faces, and the fighter has responded to that concern with affectionate gestures such as hugs; in fact, despite his general rejection of physical contact, Ashton has tolerated it on several occasions when it came from Orym, and the halfling has always tried to be careful whenever such contact occurred.

After Ashton almost died trying to absorb the power of Rau'shan, Orym kept his opinion about it to himself for an entire day, but when he finally spoke to the barbarian he was gentle and efficient with his words, reassuring them and even kissing their forehead.

Notable items

Former items

Abilities

Orym's Passive Perception at level 9 was 31, and at level 13 rose to 33. After the end of the campaign while Bells Hells was traveling through the Shattered Teeth, he had a +15 to Perception skill checks.

After absorbing the power of Ishta Orym gained a new permanent ability to deal an additional 1d6 force damage each time he hits a prone enemy with a melee attack.

Halfling abilities

  • Brave
  • Halfling Nimbleness
  • Lucky
  • Subrace: Stout
    • Stout Resilience

Ashari magic

Due to his background Orym has access to two nature-based cantrips:

  • Druidcraft
  • Gust

Feats

  • Observant
  • Skill Expert
  • Tough
  • Fey Touched
    • Misty Step
    • Hex
  • Bountiful Luck
  • Fighting Initiate (Dueling) (temporarily, from the Matron of Raven's boon)
  • Shield Master

Proficiencies

  • Skills: Athletics, Acrobatics, History, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion
  • Expertise: Perception
  • Tools: Carpenter's Tools

Fighter abilities

  • Fighting Style: Superior Technique
    • Bait and Switch
  • Second Wind
  • Action Surge (once per rest)
  • Martial Archetype: Battle Master
    • Combat Superiority
    • Student of War
    • Maneuvers
    • Additional Maneuvers
    • Additional Superiority Die
    • Know Your Enemy (with 1 minute observation, learn information about a creature's stats vs. his own)
    • Relentless
  • Extra Attack (2x)
  • Indomitable (2x per long rest)

Maneuvers

As an 13th-level Battle Master with the Superior Technique fighting style, Orym knows eight combat maneuvers and has six Superiority Dice, five of which are d10s and one is a d6. He may replace one maneuver he knows with a different one whenever he learns a new maneuver or when he gains an Ability Score Improvement, so he may no longer know all of these maneuvers.

  • Bait and Switch, from Fighting Style
  • Disarming Attack
  • Feinting Attack
  • Goading Attack
  • Pushing Attack
  • Riposte
  • Trip Attack
  • Zephran Heart, allows a dice roll to add to a saving throw

During Exandria Unlimited Prime, he temporarily learned two additional maneuvers through magical boons:

  • Pushing Attack
  • Quick Toss

Daggerheart abilities

For " Oaths & Ash – Indianapolis Live Show 2025 " (Sx100), which was played using the Daggerheart game system, Orym had the following characteristics, skills. and abilities:

  • Level: 8
  • Class: Warrior
    • Subclass: Call of the Brave
  • Domains: Blade and Bone
  • Abilities
    • Flea Jump: Spend a Stress to jump 20 feet
    • Zephran Strength: Spend a Hope to add 4 to an Agility roll
    • A Soldier's Bond (Blade): Self and 1 other gain 3 Hope each
    • Deadly Focus (Blade)
    • Strategic Approach (Bone)
    • Tactician (Bone)
  • Experiences
    • "Eyes and Ears": aids perception
    • "Tiny Dancer"

Behind the scenes

In development since the end of Campaign One in 2017, this character was originally built as a halfling druid/monk multiclass from Zephrah and was the widowed husband of Riegel, another member of the Ashari, sent by Keyleth's father Korrin "to be of aid to her in her grief". Later, Liam created Derrig in the Dalen's Closet one-shot to set up Orym. He also played a druid/monk called Oldwin Tarrintel in Stream of Annihilation: Tower of the Curator, using both the mechanical concept of the original character and the surname of Orym's biological father.

Orym became Liam's initial character concept for Campaign Three. He was brought into Exandria Unlimited Prime for further development. He set out to create a character who was close to a normal person, one who did not start off tangled in challenges like fighting gods or fate, and wished to see where the character would go if he was "really centered and in a good place when he started". Moreover, he wanted to explore the idea of a character with a loving and stable family, even if it wasn't perfect, compared to his previous characters with traumas related to their parental figures.

The cast usually knows little about one another's characters before a campaign begins, but Orym is an exception. Because Orym is connected to Marisha Ray's Campaign One character Keyleth, she knows "pretty much everything" about Orym because Liam checked in with her while developing the character to avoid encroaching on any ideas she had about Keyleth.

Though he had the option to choose another character for the campaign, Liam chose to continue playing Orym. Liam was offered the opportunity to reroll Orym's stats under the same rules as other characters in Campaign Three and prior campaigns—using the rolled method in the Player's Handbook with a homebrewed rule that if the sum of the scores was less than 70, they could reroll the scores—but chose to keep his Exandria Unlimited Prime stats. Even before Campaign Three started, Liam played games and watched movies with swordfighting to take inspiration for his own character's moves and style.

Appearances and mentions

Quotations

  • "I know that you are wrong. I know that there's more in this world. I know that temptation and corruption and imperfection is rampant in this world, but that's not all there is."
  • "I am not becoming a criminal. I am babysitting."
  • (about Will) "You know what, though? The time we had was real good, and I'm not going to lie, I mean, most nights, I miss him, but the time we had was real good."
  • (explaining his tattoo) "[Will] was... half-elven, and big moon, little moon."
  • "Power is power. What you do with it is up to you."
  • FCG: You know you want to protect your Voice of the Tempest. You have that mission.
    Orym: Yes.
    FCG: And you want to do right by the name of your husband and his father.
    Orym: That is my prime directive, yeah.
    FCG: Is that enough for you?
    Orym: For right now it is.
    FCG: What happens if you succeed?
    Orym: Well, that's the question mark. I don't know what comes next.
  • (after Bor'Dor's death) "We're at war."
  • "Little things sometimes get overlooked."
  • FCG: What's the happy ending for you?
    Orym: Tomorrow. That there be a tomorrow. And spending time with you. All of you. I'm so grateful to have you in my life now, in this moment, when everything's going to shit. Do I wish I had my husband back? Yeah, every day. Every day. But he'd want me to live and he'd want me to fight. Not for my city, but for all cities.
  • "For the longest time I walked under the moons. Now I think it's time to spend some time in the sun. Under the clear blue sky."

Art gallery

For more images, see Category:Images of Orym.

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