![[Auruiel.png]] # Auruiel _Aarakocra Bounty Hunter (Retired) | [[Heroes of Waterdeep]] | [[Waterdeep]]_ ## Summary Legendary bounty hunter and one of the [[Heroes of Waterdeep]]. Born among an Aarakocra tribe on a distant continent, Auruiel came to the Sword Coast seeking vengeance against the adventurers who slaughtered his people and stayed to build a new life. He made [[Waterdeep]] his home and built a fearsome reputation: if you got a note from Auruiel, that was your one chance to surrender. He didn't ask twice. Recruited by [[Remi Haventree]] to hunt [[Gar Shatterkeel]] and the [[Cult of the Crushing Wave]], Auruiel fought alongside [[Baldric]], [[Mya]], [[Kurogash]], [[Rat]], [[Bussy]], and [[Carrota Alagondar|Carrota]] through some of the most dangerous battles of the age — from the [[Mere of Dead Men]] to [[Mintarn]] to the depths of the [[Plunging Torrents]]. He claimed the trident [[Drown]] from [[Gar Shatterkeel]] and survived the near-TPK against the aboleth [[Yngukulub]]. His final and greatest hunt came decades later when [[Remi Haventree]] hired him to track [[Graz'zt]], the Demon Prince, who had gone into hiding under the protection of [[Vlaakith]], the Lich Queen of the Githyanki. Auruiel succeeded — returning with [[Graz'zt]]'s location and enabling the heroes to launch their assault on the Shadow King. Now very old, he lives in quiet retirement in [[Waterdeep]]. %% ## At a Glance Weathered and ancient now, his plumage faded to pale grays and whites where it was once sharp and dark. Moves with the careful economy of someone whose body remembers what it could once do. Still watches everything — old habits from decades of tracking quarry across the Sword Coast. His eyes are as sharp as ever even if the rest of him has slowed. In his prime, Auruiel was terrifying in his efficiency. He could spot cultists moving on the [[High Road]] from impossible distances, infiltrate towers using his flight, and grapple targets mid-air. He once snatched [[Jarlaxle Baenre]] himself and took flight with the drow mercenary leader. He fought with brutal precision — his opening assaults often changed the course of entire battles. The friends he made in [[Waterdeep]] became his new tribe after losing his first one. That fierce loyalty drove everything — he took up arms not out of patriotism for the city, but because these were his people and someone had hurt them. ## Personality Patient, methodical, and absolutely relentless once committed. Not cruel, but pragmatic — if a bounty was wanted dead or alive and the price was the same, most targets never got the courtesy of a warning note. Genuinely cared about the people around him, sometimes more perceptively than they realized; he once tried to have a heart-to-heart with [[Carrota Alagondar|Carrota]] about how the group treated him. Quiet professionalism that masked deep loyalty. ## Quote _"You got my note. That was your chance."_ ## Background **The Lost Tribe:** Born among an Aarakocra tribe on a mountaintop on a distant continent. His early years were peaceful until a band of adventurers stumbled upon the tribe searching for a magic item. Misunderstanding turned to violence, and Auruiel's people were slaughtered. He alone survived, and he pledged vengeance. **The Bounty Hunter:** What began as a means to survive and track down his tribe's killers became a way of life. Over nine years operating principally out of [[Waterdeep]], Auruiel built a reputation up and down the Sword Coast. His method was distinctive — he would send a note to his quarry letting them know he'd found them. That was their one opportunity to surrender. Many took it, because word spread about what happened to those who didn't. **A New Tribe:** [[Waterdeep]] became home not out of civic loyalty but because of the people there. When the city was devastated by the earthquake that killed the [[Open Lord]], Auruiel was away. He flew back to find his friends hurt or dead. That was enough to draw him into the larger fight. **The Crushing Wave:** [[Remi Haventree]] recruited Auruiel to find [[Gar Shatterkeel]] and stop the [[Cult of the Crushing Wave]]. He joined [[Rat]], [[Carrot]], and [[Bussy]] — each memorable in their own way — and later fought alongside [[Baldric]], [[Mya]], and [[Kurogash]]. The campaign took them from [[Leilon]] to the [[Mere of Dead Men]], from [[Neverwinter]] to [[Mintarn]], and finally into the [[Plunging Torrents]] beneath the sea. Auruiel claimed [[Drown]] from [[Gar Shatterkeel]] during the battle at the [[Water Node]] and survived a mind-controlled [[Bussy]] trying to kill him for it. [[Bregan D'aerthe]] also held a grudge against him for killing one of their prominent members during an old job — a complication that followed the party throughout. **The Greatest Bounty:** Thirty years later, long after the original campaigns had ended, [[Remi Haventree]] came to Auruiel one last time. [[Graz'zt]], the Demon Prince and Shadow King, had escaped destruction and gone into hiding — sheltered by [[Vlaakith]], the Lich Queen of the Githyanki, in the [[Astral Plane]]. Remi needed someone to find him. Auruiel took the job. He tracked a Demon Prince across the planes, located [[Graz'zt]]'s hiding place, and returned with the intelligence that allowed the [[Heroes of Waterdeep]] to launch their final assault. It was, by any measure, the greatest bounty ever collected on the Sword Coast. **Retirement:** After that, there was nothing left to prove. Auruiel retired to [[Waterdeep]], very old by Aarakocra standards, the last hunt behind him. %%