Large Luigi

Overview

Large Luigi was the proprietor of a small but prosperous tavern known as the Laughing Beholder, which was located in the Low City area of the asteroid city known as the Rock of Bral. While he earned his keep as a tavern owner, Luigi also moonlighted as one of the most knowledgeable information brokers in the Known Spheres.

Description

Large Luigi was an outcast beholder who had fled his homeworld after undergoing dramatic changes, both physiologically as well as mentally and spiritually, all of which attracted the ire of members of his extremely xenophobic race. Luigi was one of the few individuals to have successfully reached the summit of the Spire, an extremely precipitous mountain at the very center of the disk-world H'Catha. Completing this challenging spiritual pilgrimage filled Luigi's mind with a vast repository of knowledge gathered over eons, which in turn granted him near god-like intelligence and wisdom.

Luigi's apotheosis revealed to him that all beholders had a singular purpose: to learn as much knowledge as possible, to gather this information together and share it amongst each other, and to become the preeminent teachers or transmitters of this knowledge in the universe. This revelation altered his moral and ethical outlook, and while he remained very lawful, he became far less malevolent than a typical member of his race. And while he retained most of the eye-powers common to all beholders, his death ray eye-power had seemingly been replaced with a detect lie effect (possibly to facilitate his true purpose - the acquisition and distribution of knowledge).

Personality

Luigi was civic-minded and well-liked, and while he spent most of his time - like all barkeeps - listening to his patrons telling tall-tales and gossiping amongst themselves, he possessed a somewhat idiosyncratic sense of humor. Luigi was friendly and approachable, though he got on best with those who were law-abiding. His closest friends, however, all shared his balanced outlook on life, rejecting the extremes of good and evil.

Activities

Luigi was a conscientious business owner, and used his eye-powers, such as his sleep and charm person abilities, to keep brawls in his tavern to a minimum. In addition, he used his telekinesis eye-power to dispense food and drink to his patrons.

Luigi was the preeminent information broker in the Known Spheres, having known everything there was to know about anything in the universe at one time or another. Luigi was more than happy to share what information he had with anyone who cared to approach him. However, he was extremely conscious of the need to maintain the cosmic balance, and as such was careful not to reveal harmful or disruptive information. All he asked for in return was a story or a song to entertain his many patrons.

History

Luigi was originally from the distant planet known as H'Catha in Realmspace. At the centre of this disk-shaped water world was a tall peak known as the Spire, which at over a 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometres) was the tallest mountain in the entire sphere. The summit of the Spindle was obscured by a never-ending storm, which shrouded the peak in thick clouds and a constant barrage of lightning. This is where the beholders of H'Catha believed all knowledge in the universe was kept. However, to prove themselves worthy, supplicants first had to ascend the mountain from the base, stopping at hundreds of stations to prepare their minds to receive this knowledge, before finally ascending the summit.

Luigi was one of the few individuals to have successfully completed this task, and upon his ascension, his mind was suffused with all the knowledge accumulated over aeons, granting him god-like intelligence and wisdom. Luigi was inexorably altered, both physically and mentally, and came to understand that the true purpose of the beholder race was to learn as much as they could, share this information amongst themselves and to enlighten the rest of the universe. However, when Luigi returned to his nation and tried to explain what he had learnt, he was scorned and shunned, and when they discovered the extent of the changes he had undergone, he was forced to flee for his life.

Having traversed the entire planet in his effort to get away, Luigi was fortunate to encounter a tradesman crewed by humans who, once he had explained his predicament, were willing to take him on as a crew member. Eventually, they dropped him off on the Rock of Bral, where he managed to purchase a small tavern, the Laughing Beholder. It was his patrons who named him "Large Luigi", and eventually he became a well-known businessman and citizen of Bral.

Appendix

External Links

• Large Luigi article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.

References