Rodrick

Half-elf Blood Hunter of the Order of the Diamondback; Trout's childhood rival-turned-friend at Castle Shain, and, alongside him, one of only two survivors of their class's Hunter's Bane. Dies fighting the dracolich Dread Gloom roughly ten years after the fall of Castle Shain, making Trout the last Diamondback.

Overview

A lithe half-elf with short, tousled ginger hair and a perpetual smirk, armed with bow, sword, and Mutagens like Trout. Sharp-tongued and mercenary on the surface ("I'm killing this thing to get filthy rich"), but genuinely loyal underneath — he and Trout's lifelong needling of each other ("as brothers do") masks real affection and shared trauma.

History

Raised at Castle Shain under Quinon Hexshade alongside Trout, Rodrick was one of thirteen children in their cohort and one of only two — with Trout — to survive the Hunter's Bane. Unlike Trout, Rodrick remembered his birth family clearly before the Order took him in: his parents, a baker and a bard, were killed by goblins, and he went with the recruiting Blood Hunter "to get stronger. To be able to kill monsters." He resented Quinon as a "drill sergeant" rather than a father figure, and bore a lifelong, half-acknowledged jealousy of being "not the favorite" compared to Trout — though the two reconcile this openly, once as adults, shortly before their final battle.

He was present when The Dread Gloom destroyed Castle Shain and killed Quinon, escaping with Trout. Afterward the two lost touch for roughly a decade; Rodrick spent the intervening years in the Underdark, working as a hired blade and assassin amid drow political intrigue ("the drow don't care about my blood magic").

Reunion and death

Roughly ten years later, Rodrick and Trout unexpectedly reunited among a crowd of mercenaries drawn to Moonveil by Duke Athtar's bounty on a monster ravaging his duchy — the Dread Gloom, returned and grown far more dangerous. Rodrick joined Trout and Elysia on the hunt, helping clear a lizardfolk raiding party from a ravaged village en route to the dragon's lair. In the final battle at the castle (later rebuilt as Castle Orion), the Dread Gloom bit off his arm and, as he stood in shock, pierced his heart with a single claw, killing him instantly.

Trout buried Rodrick in the meadow beside the rebuilt castle, marking his grave with his own Diamondback-etched breastplate. His death left Trout the last known survivor of the Order of the Diamondback.

Family / Relationships

• Trained alongside: Trout Brightshield (childhood rival, later close friend)
• Mentor: Quinon Hexshade (deceased)

Sources

• Additional Materials/The_Last_Diamondback_or_Bound_by_Blood.md