(The images in this profile were created using HeroForge. The rights to the character of Melkor Calagrant, and all images of him, all belong to me, TheHumbleWanderer, All Rights Reserved. All rights to any other media used go to their respective owners.)

Name: Melkor Calagrant

Age: 37

Race: Fallen Aasimar

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Class: Fiend Pact Warlock

Background: Hermit (Discovery Feature)

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Strength: 10
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 11
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 6
Charisma: 20

Appearance:
Melkor is both incredibly attractive and freakishly disturbing in his appearance - he is a tall, and handsome man, standing 6'5 tall, lithe and muscled as a mountain cat. His facial features are sculpted and imperious, with an aquiline nose, wiry eyebrows, a strong chin and both a high brow and high cheekbones. His hair is jet-black with streaks of wolfish grey, worn free-flowing in a thick and magnificent mane, and his face is adorned with a well-trimmed goatee beard and moustache.

However, not all is perfect. For one, Melkor's skin is the colour of a bleached skull, making his face look sickly and sinister. His teeth are slightly sharp, like those of a tiefling, and his eyes are two spheres of ethereal red flame. Lastly, when he releases his inner darkness as a fallen aasimar, his eyes become terrible black pits of pure nothingness, great skeletal wings of shadow burst from his back, and his face grows gaunt and ghostly, making him resemble a half-starved vampire or a demon in human skin.

Melkor dresses in the colours of smoke, silver and scarlet, donning a set of handsome robes, fine suede gloves and boots of high-quality leather, along with a high-collared mantle and a silken shoulder-cape over his left arm. He carries his tome of souls upon his hip and wields a cane of crimson wood, carved to resemble a great clawed hand at the top, both as a weapon in battle and as a fashion accessory.

Personality:
You could summarize Melkor in two words with the phrase 'magnificent bastard' - a suave and charismatic individual who seems like he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. As ruthless and manipulative as he is charming, Melkor treats life very much as a game that he plays by his own rules. He is proud and princely, carrying himself magnificently with his every move and cloaking the darker, crueller parts of his personality behind a dashing, debonair demeanour. He claims to not take anything personally and refuses to pursue revenge, considering such actions to be petty and beneath one such as he. Instead, he simply behaves dismissive, ignorant and patronizing towards those he doesn't like, considering them beneath his notice and making sure they know it for themselves. Because of his patronage by the archdevil Mephistopheles, the aasimar has become rather narcissistic and self-absorbed, with an unshakeable belief that he has a great destiny to fulfil and forever seeing himself as the hero of his own story.

While his only true loyalty is to himself, though, Melkor is not above making temporary alliances with those whose interests align with his own, and can become rather fond of his allies in the same way that one can become fond of a pet. He is incredibly confident, even in the face of despair, in that can be inspiring, but this self-belief also means that Melkor is comically arrogant, especially when dealing with those outside his immediate adventuring party. While he is smarter than most in pure intellect, he tends to assume that nothing will go wrong for him and, due to a lack of patience and foresight, only considers the true consequences of an action after he has committed it. He is also rather irresponsible, ignoring problems or deliberately forgetting them, believing that most things sort themselves out if left alone.

Melkor is very gregarious and socially competent, and enjoys festivals, fairs and social gatherings of all sorts, though he claims to do so in the same way adults find it cute to watch children play. Still, his love of life can be rather intoxicating, and he certainly has a fun side even if the logic behind it is twisted. He is also an accomplished singer and a graceful dancer, and has used both of these traits, along with his looks and quick wits, to charm those around him, as he greatly enjoys being fawned over. He is known to be rather hedonistic and promiscuous, indulging his pleasures and enjoying life to the fullest when appropriate - and while he's not a rampant skirt-chaser like your stereotypical bard, he's not above seducing any woman he finds attractive or worthwhile enough to spend time with one as glorious as he is. All in all, as you might expect from a narcissist, Melkor wants to be the centre of attention at all times, and can become wroth if he isn't given the respect he is due.

Likes:
Himself, Mephistopheles, high society, social events, devils, dark magic, getting others to do his bidding, power, authority, discovering his destiny, music, dancing, seduction, life's pleasures

Dislikes:
Being ignored, not getting what he wants, his old tribe, busy work, clerics, boors, morons, those who interfere with his destiny, people he considers beneath him (i.e 95% of people)

Backstory:
Born to a nomadic barbarian tribe living on the great plains, to two human parents, Melkor is incredibly unusual for an aasimar, though his tribe didn't know exactly what he was at birth due to aasimar being rare in the mortal world.

Typically, his kind are born aligned with good and justice, and when fallen aasimar do come to be, it is due to them committing some kind of heinous crime that goes against the will of their parent deity.

Melkor, however, was born a fallen aasimar in a birth so unnatural that it killed his mother. Not long after, his father was killed in a hunt, and the tribal elders gathered to discuss his fate. His celestial nature unnerved many of them, with some considering him to be cursed and stating that he should be left in the wilderness to die from the elements or be eaten by wild beasts. However, others said that they should not kill a newborn baby, fearing it would bring the wrath of the ancestors, whom the tribe worshipped, upon their people.

To see what should be done, the tribe's shaman entered a trance to consult with the ancestors in question, and after emerging from the trance, he decreed that the ancestors had told him that Melkor was a sacred baby and a demigod, and that he would be destined to do great things and should be protected at all costs. And so, the strange-looking baby was allowed to live...

Growing up among the nomads, Melkor soon discovered three interesting things growing up:

The first was that he could easily manipulate his fellows into getting what he wanted. Using honeyed words and learning the secrets of all those around him, Melkor could soon twist anyone's decisions to align with his own, and he gained de facto power through making friends in high places, especially amongst the elders. The fact that he was considered a creature of divine parentage by his people also meant he was spoiled as much as they were able to.

This led into the second Melkor learned - that he wanted more in life than just being part of a piss-poor tribe of horse-riding nomads living on a dry and endless steppe in the middle of nowhere. He was a very curious child, often chafing at his responsibilities and ignoring his people's wisdoms and traditions to investigate that which interested him. He learned about the existence and power of magic without becoming a shaman's apprentice, as was traditional, and after reaching adulthood, he would take lovers from among his people's women, even those who were already married, before leaving them behind for no other reason than he grew bored of them. He also refused to marry and start a family of his own, as was traditional and also necessary for the continuation of the tribe's existence.

The third thing he learned, though, was the most interesting of all.

In his dreams, Melkor would often be visited by a strange figure - one with red skin, dark hair, small horns and glowing eyes like his own. These dreams were normal for aasimar, but instead of receiving them from his guardian angel, Melkor soon discovered he was being visited by Mephistopheles, the Lord of Hellfire and the eighth of the nine Archdevils of the Nine Hells himself.

Mephistopheles gave advice and ideas to Melkor, teaching him about who he was and whispering to him of all that was possible in the mortal world and beyond. He told him of the cities of other humans and all the other races, and of the realms that lay beyond mortal ken, all of it feeding into Melkor's curiosity and ambition. Unlike the stuffy tribal elders, who frowned on anything new and unusual, Mephistopheles taught Melkor everything he ever wanted, including magical spells, and told him of how unique he was as a born fallen aasimar. He also revealed to Melkor that it was he who appeared the tribe's shaman years ago, disguised as the tribe's ancestors, and foretold that Melkor would do great things... under Mephistopheles' tutelage.

This made Melkor come to believe that he was special, and that he had some great destiny ahead of him that he would one day fulfil. Hopped up on this belief, and on liquid courage after having drunk a bit too much ale during a feast his tribe held one evening, Melkor set his eyes on the chieftain's beautiful daughter, who was an adult, but unmarried and still a virgin.

However, this was where Melkor's luck with the rest of the tribe ran out, and as he was putting the moves on his daughter, the chieftain noticed. Filled with raw, unfettered fury, the chief rushed at Melkor and began to beat him bloody, fully intending to kill the aasimar for his antics that had hurt their tribe for years. Melkor retaliated, using the dark magic Mephistopheles has taught him, and burned the chieftain to a crisp in a colossal wave of hellfire.

Looking over his tribe's members as their leader roasted alive before him, Melkor knew he would no longer be accepted, and turned to leave after spitting on the ashes of their chieftain. But as the tribal elders cursed him, his parents, the ancestors, his unnatural appearance and the day he was born, the aasimar felt nothing but derision and contempt.

He was better than all of them, meant for more than they could ever understand... all he needed was his patron, the dark master who had given him so much.

And so Melkor left his people behind, and to this day has roamed the world, searching for signs, omens and portents that promise the approach of his great and glorious destiny...

Strengths and Weaknesses:
Melkor is a skilled and accomplished spellcaster who wields dark magic and commands great eldritch lore through his connection to his patron - the archdevil Mephistopheles. As such, Melkor can unleash tides of hellfire and blasts of dark energy in combat, conjure terrifying illusions to make his foes flee in fear, and summon devils and demons to crush his opponents for him. Melkor can use his abilities as a warlock to great effect outside of combat, as he can innately detect magic around him, conjure light to help his party see in dark areas, and manipulate the energies around him to control flames and move objects from afar.

Outside of his spells, though, Melkor is still a great asset to his party. A cunning and capable manipulator, Melkor's incredibly high charisma and proficiency at interacting with others mean he can be incredibly deceptive, persuasive or intimidating whenever the situation demands it, flipping from being a steadfast, earnest negotiator to a beguiling, silver-tongued liar in the blink of an eye.

However, due to his arrogance, Melkor is a reckless caster who will often use highly dangerous spells that could harm both himself and his companions, assuming that such possibilities will never befall him as he does so. This hubris, combined with the fact that he isn't the toughest customer and has little skill in close-quarters combat makes him very vulnerable to damage and liable to be taken out if he isn't careful. While also a very keen manipulator himself, Melkor's ego also makes it hard for him to read others, as he tends to innately assume that everyone is dumber than him and not an obstacle to his goals in the slightest - a dangerous assumption indeed.

Weapons:
A dagger and a wooden cane that can be used as a quarterstaff, along with his spells

Theme Song:

https://youtu.be/1BgfG4qEdxg