#### Portrait <div style="max-width:1100px;margin:0 auto;padding:14px 12px;"> <div style=" background: #0a0c12; border: 2px solid #7c3aed; border-radius: 18px; padding: 16px; box-shadow: 0 18px 45px rgba(0,0,0,.35); "> <div style="text-align:center;"> <img src="Cedric.png" alt="Cedric portrait" style=" width:100%; max-width:520px; height:auto; border-radius: 18px; border: 2px solid rgba(124,58,237,.55); box-shadow: 0 14px 35px rgba(0,0,0,.55); "> </div> <div style="margin-top:14px;text-align:center;"> <span style="display:inline-block;margin:6px;padding:8px 10px;border-radius:999px;background:rgba(124,58,237,.12);border:1px solid rgba(124,58,237,.35);color:rgba(245,248,255,.88);font-size:14px;"> Human </span> <span style="display:inline-block;margin:6px;padding:8px 10px;border-radius:999px;background:rgba(96,165,250,.10);border:1px solid rgba(96,165,250,.30);color:rgba(245,248,255,.88);font-size:14px;"> Sordia Vignti </span> <span style="display:inline-block;margin:6px;padding:8px 10px;border-radius:999px;background:rgba(234,179,8,.10);border:1px solid rgba(234,179,8,.25);color:rgba(245,248,255,.88);font-size:14px;"> Peanut Allergy </span> <div class="sv-statcard" style="background:#070b14;color:#eaf6ff;padding:18px;border:2px solid #7c3aed;border-radius:16px;font-family:system-ui;max-width:1100px;margin:auto;overflow:hidden;"> <div style="display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:flex-end;gap:14px;"> <div style="display:flex;align-items:baseline;gap:12px;flex-wrap:wrap;"> <div style="font-size:2.2em;font-weight:900;line-height:1;">Cedric Steelstring</div> <div style="font-size:1em;opacity:.65;letter-spacing:.06em;">Collage of Valor Bard</div> </div> <div style="opacity:.75;font-size:1.05em;">Level 15</div> </div> <div style="height:14px;"></div> <div class="sv-statgrid" style="display:grid;gap:14px;grid-template-columns:1fr 1fr 1.2fr;align-items:stretch;"> <div style="border:2px solid #7c3aed;border-radius:10px;padding:10px;background:linear-gradient(180deg,#0c1325,#070b14);"> <div style="display:grid;grid-template-columns:1fr auto;row-gap:10px;font-size:1.15em;"> <div style="opacity:.8;letter-spacing:.08em;">STR</div><div style="font-weight:900;">8</div> <div style="opacity:.8;letter-spacing:.08em;">DEX</div><div style="font-weight:900;">18</div> <div style="opacity:.8;letter-spacing:.08em;">CON</div><div style="font-weight:900;">14</div> </div> </div> <div style="border:2px solid #7c3aed;border-radius:10px;padding:10px;background:linear-gradient(180deg,#0c1325,#070b14);"> <div style="display:grid;grid-template-columns:1fr auto;row-gap:10px;font-size:1.15em;"> <div style="opacity:.8;letter-spacing:.08em;">INT</div><div style="font-weight:900;">8</div> <div style="opacity:.8;letter-spacing:.08em;">WIS</div><div style="font-weight:900;">10</div> <div style="opacity:.8;letter-spacing:.08em;">CHA</div><div style="font-weight:900;">20</div> </div> </div> <div class="sv-vitals" style="border:2px solid #7c3aed;border-radius:14px;padding:12px;background:linear-gradient(180deg,#0c1325,#070b14);display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(3,1fr);gap:10px;"> <div style="border:1px solid rgba(124,58,237,.55);border-radius:12px;padding:10px;text-align:center;"> <div style="font-size:1.9em;font-weight:900;line-height:1;">138</div> <div style="opacity:.7;font-size:.5em;letter-spacing:.08em;margin-top:6px;">HP</div> </div> <div style="border:1px solid rgba(124,58,237,.55);border-radius:12px;padding:10px;text-align:center;"> <div style="font-size:1.9em;font-weight:900;line-height:1;">16</div> <div style="opacity:.7;font-size:.5em;letter-spacing:.08em;margin-top:6px;">AC</div> </div> <div style="border:1px solid rgba(124,58,237,.55);border-radius:10px;padding:10px;text-align:center;"> <div style="font-size:1.6em;font-weight:900;line-height:1;">30</div> <div style="opacity:.7;font-size:.5em;letter-spacing:.08em;margin-top:6px;">SPEED</div> </div> </div> </div> <div style="margin-top:10px;text-align:center;opacity:.65;font-size:.85em;"> Bardic Inspiration </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div style="margin:18px 0 10px;"> <div style="height:1px;background:linear-gradient(90deg, transparent, rgba(124,58,237,.6), rgba(96,165,250,.35), transparent);"></div> </div> <div style=" background: rgba(10,12,18,.85); border: 1px solid rgba(124,58,237,.25); border-radius: 18px; padding: 14px; box-shadow: 0 12px 28px rgba(0,0,0,.25); "> <div style="font-size:14px;letter-spacing:.18em;text-transform:uppercase;color:rgba(245,248,255,.70);margin-bottom:10px;"> Mini & Badge </div> <div style="text-align:center;"> <img src="Cedric-turnaround.gif" alt="Cedric mini" style="width:100%;max-width:380px;height:auto;border-radius:16px;border:1px solid rgba(124,58,237,.25);box-shadow:0 10px 22px rgba(0,0,0,.35);margin:6px;"> <img src="BardBadge.png" alt="Bard badge" style="width:100%;max-width:180px;height:auto;border-radius:16px;border:1px solid rgba(96,165,250,.22);box-shadow:0 10px 22px rgba(0,0,0,.25);margin:6px;"> </div> </div> #### Character Information > [!info] **GUILD RECORD** > **Species:** [[Humans|Human]] > **Identity:** Male (He/Him) > **Class:** [[Bard]], Collage of Valor > **Titles:** > **Also Known As:** "Steelstring" > **Languages:** [[Common]], [[Draconic]], [[Halfling]] > **Connections:** Sordia Vignti [[Team]] > **Family:** > **Place of Birth:** [[Baldur’s Gate]] > **Significant Other:** #### **Backstory:** > [!abstract] **GUILD ARCHIVE • PERSONAL HISTORY** > Cedric Steelstring was once a low-ranking but highly trusted soldier in a formal military order. He was not noble-born, not politically connected, but he was dependable. The kind of soldier commanders relied on to hold lines, escort dignitaries, and survive battles others didn’t. > It was during a brutal campaign that Cedric’s weapon was born. Amid the chaos of one engagement, he found himself entangled in the wreckage of a fallen battlefield minstrel and shattered arms. Splintered wood, snapped wire, broken steel. When he tore himself free, the twisted remains sang with a harsh, screaming vibration. He used it to survive the fight. Afterward, he kept it. > He repaired it. Reinforced it. Reshaped it after every battle. Over time, the strange hybrid of instrument and weapon became his constant companion. Soldiers began calling him **Steelstring** long before he ever embraced music. What started as an accident became a ritual, after each conflict, he improved it, and with it, himself. > Cedric’s unit was later assigned to serve under a renowned battle cleric, [[Edravan Holt]], a living symbol of faith within the army. This cleric was beloved by the ranks, known for fighting on the front lines, healing the wounded, and openly opposing darker forces spreading through the world. To Cedric, they represented everything the army was meant to be. > Not long after, the cleric, [[Edravan Holt]] was found murdered. The army erupted in shock. Investigations were rushed. Fear spread. And answers were demanded quickly. Cedric had already begun to suspect something was wrong. > He had uncovered fragments of forbidden correspondence, strange rites, and coded references tying his commanding officer, [[Commander Althoren Kade]] to a secret cult devoted to Vecna. When Cedric confronted him in private, the officer did not deny it. He smiled. > Within days, evidence surfaced placing Cedric at the scene of the cleric’s death. Witnesses were “found.” Orders were forged. His own reports were twisted into confessions. > The truth was buried with the cleric. Cedric was condemned not merely to prison, but to erasure. Rather than rot in a cell, he was magically bound into a demi-plane sealed within an object, a living oubliette designed to silence enemies the cult could not afford to execute openly. The artefact was transferred between arcane repositories, eventually moving from Baldur’s Gate to Neverwinter. Years passed. > Time had no meaning inside. Sound barely existed. Cedric could not age properly, sleep properly, or even scream. He existed in a long, hollow survival, memory, discipline, and the echo of music in his own head the only things that kept him from dissolving. > Then Kalteo fell. When half of Neverwinter was damaged by the distant catastrophe, arcane wards across the city destabilised. Vaults failed. Anchors broke. > And the object containing Cedric shattered. He emerged into a city in ruin, weak, disoriented, and displaced in time. Cedric spent nearly a year recovering, relearning the world, piecing together what had changed, reforging his weapon, and hunting rumours. In that time, one truth became clear: > The fall of Kalteo, and the chain of events that freed him, traced back to a Group named **Sordia Vignti.** > He learned they had crossed [[Vecna, the Lich God|Vecna]]’s influence and lived. That they had shattered hidden structures. That their actions had rippled through prisons, cults, and sealed places alike. They had not meant to free him. But they had. > And if they stood against [[Vecna, the Lich God|Vecna]]… then walking beside them might be the only path that would ever lead him back to the man who destroyed his life. His former commander still lives And Cedric Steelstring has already waited long enough to end this Charade #### Playlist <iframe data-testid="embed-iframe" style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/74bLsmDZIe2bqdxEb0vop6?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe> <div class="sv-wardrobe"> <div class="sv-wardrobe-head"> <span class="sv-dot"></span> CHARACTER WARDROBE </div> <div class="sv-wardrobe-shell"> <div class="sv-wardrobe-strip scrollbar-orange"> <figure class="sv-fit"> <img src="Images/Outfits/CedricOutfit1.gif" alt="Cedric Outfit 1"> <figcaption>OUTFIT 1</figcaption> </figure> </div> </div> </div>