Finnian Tidecarver

Level 1 Variant Human Ranger (Horizon Walker)

STR
13 (+1)
DEX
16 (+3)
CON
14 (+2)
INT
12 (+1)
WIS
10
CHA
9 (-1)

Defense

Armor Class 14 (Leather Armor)
Hit Points 12 (1d10 +2)
Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.

Proficiencies & Skills

Saving Throws Strength, Dexterity
Skills Arcana +3, Nature +3, Stealth +5, Survival +2, Athletics +3, Perception +2

Character Information

Finnian Tidecarver is a weather-carved ferryman whose life is bound up with the whispering names of the dead. Born along a fog-drenched coast, he learned to read the winds and currents as a child and to watch the sea for signs of those who did not survive. He became a ferryman in the most literal sense, guiding sailors, merchants, and even the occasional ghost across treacherous gaps where cliffs rise and fog closes in. Finnian is a quiet, contemplative figure whose cadence mirrors the tides: patient, deliberate, and inexorably drawn toward the next crossing. His past is a map of scars and stories—a memory of a debt he could not repay, a coin that glows with saltwater light, and a pact with a Selkie Queen that binds his fate to the ocean’s moods. As aVariant Human Ranger, with the Horizon Walker subclass, he walks between planes and across thresholds. In him, the call of the horizon is not merely geographic; it is metaphysical. He finds the party’s path through impossible gaps, calling on the spirits to ferry them past chasms or across time’s eddies when no ordinary bridge can suffice. His harpoons aren’t just weapons; they are returning spectral tethers capable of dragging foes 20 feet if a desperate strike fails. His bond with the Selkie Queen gives him unusual access to sea-magic and a debt that can only be settled by delivering the last coin to the one soul he could not save. He is a quiet guardian of ships and souls, a living testament to the sea’s power to both take and grant passage.

Character Background

Finnian's earliest memory is the sound of waves and the sting of cold spray on his skin as his parents carved a boat from a driftwood log. They were humble boatwrights, but their work was more than craft; it was a ritual that tied the living to the dead—coats of resin that glinted like scales, ropes that hummed in the wind. Finnian learned from his mother how to read wind shears and how to listen to the sea’s whisper—names carried on spray: sailors, kin, even the ghosts of those who regretted leaving shore. When he was a teenager, the sea uttered his name in a way that felt like a baptism: a voice that cut through fog and rain, asking him to ferry the between-worlds—the living and the dead, the now and what once was. It wasn’t long before a Selkie Queen appeared to him in a storm, a creature of salt and shadow who spoke of debt and obligation and the ferrying of souls across thresholds only she can cross. She bound him with a pact that felt like both a blessing and a tether. He would serve as a guardian of passage, a courier of souls who needed to cross impossible boundaries, though the price would often be paid in memories and time itself. Finnian took to the road with his harpoon and his cunning, a quiet man who never forgets a face nor a name the sea whispers. The signal of his life is a coin with a glimmering surface—a coin he believes is the key to the last memory he owes to a soul he couldn't save. His vow is clear: keep the sea’s current moving, keep the group safe, and repay the old debt by guiding the living and the dead toward the horizon they share. His life is a rhythm of ferry bell and whistle, of salt wind and the quiet, hopeful certainty that every voyage ends with a safe harbor but every harbor hides another storm on the horizon.

Unresolved Plots

  • A debt still exists between Finnian and the Selkie Queen involving a memory that was never fully extracted—the memory could unlock a hidden power but at potential cost to Finnian’s own mind.
  • A mysterious shipwreck appears at a new location each year, always on Finnian’s birthday, guiding him to collect a new coin fragment that may hold the power to unlock a time-lattice.
  • The name whispered by the sea proves not to be a single person but a group whose combined memories could topple a political order if compiled.
  • The coin Finnian delivered to the last soul might awaken a curse that will require him to ferry a whole city’s souls to the afterlife in the next storm.
  • An unusual fog is creeping closer to the coast, hiding a gate to a realm of living memories that could reveal Finnian’s origin.

Secrets

  • Finnian once witnessed a pact formed between the Selkie Queen and a powerful noble who now seeks to sever the Queen’s influence from the mortal world.
  • The memory Finnian traded to cross a time-eddie was a memory of his own mother, a fact he has hidden from others for fear it would break him.
  • The coin Finnian guards is not a mere token; it contains a living echo that can be harnessed to reveal a past life that Finnian may have forgotten.

Fears

  • Losing his own memory to a debt he cannot repay and becoming nothing more than an echoing tide.
  • The sea withdrawing its protection and leaving him to drift in fog and storm without a ferry’s guiding hand.
  • Failing to deliver the coin to the one soul and watching the remainder of the dead’s whisper names drift away forever.

Aspirations

  • To free the memories contained within the coin and to restore one lost soul who cannot save themselves.
  • To master the spirit ferry to keep the party safe across cliffs, fog banks, or even memory breaches in time.
  • To prove that debts of the sea can be repaid without converting Finnian into a pawn of the Selkie Queen.

QUEST -- The Last Coin

Finnian carries with him a single, stubborn coin that was meant for a soul he could not save. He believes delivering that coin to the person it was meant for might finally quiet the sea’s whispering names that haunt him and grant the departed a last, peaceful farewell. The coin glints with a faint seawater glow, as if it holds a memory trapped between world and tide. His quest is to locate the rightful recipient — whether in a fever-drenched dream, a drowned harbor, or a fog-bound quay — and place the coin in their palm, granting passage to the afterlife and severing a lingering tether that binds him to his past failure.

Current Stage

Stage 1: The clue emerges from a storm-ridden memory-labyrinth: a coin-bearing seal with a name etched in salt. Finnian must choose to sail toward the drowned city at the edge of the world or to linger in the ferry’s safe harbor, waiting for a more precise sign.

Choice

Pursue the drowned city immediately, trusting the sea’s whisper to guide him.

The sea roars and parts the fog, revealing a ghost-lit avenue of ships. A memory of the coin’s donor surfaces in a half-remembered face, spooling out a long-forgotten oath. Finnian feels the weight of a debt resolved in a single moment, but the path is perilous and the coin’s location remains uncertain.
Alternative

Delay and trust the tides to reveal more precise directions through time-worn currents.

The tide reveals a memory replay of the soul’s final breath as if it happened yesterday. The coin remains out of reach, yet Finnian gains clarity about the person who owes that debt, and feels the weight of patience bearing down upon him.
Mechanical Rewards
  • Harpoon weapons gain the returning spectral tether property after stage 2: dragging enemies up to 20 feet on failed saves.
  • Spirit-affinity trait granted by the coin, enabling a once-per-long-rest self-echo ferry across a gap as a reaction to aid the party (requires Hit Dice to pay the fare).
  • Permanent grant: +1 to Wisdom saving throws when crossing gaps or when facing spectral foes.
Narrative Rewards
  • A remembered face emerges from the coin’s memory, providing Finnian with a future ally or foe who will cross his path again.
  • The Selkie Queen’s bargain becomes a living thread through Finnian’s choices, guiding his steps toward a destiny tied to sea-borne bargains.

QUEST -- Queen's Bond and the Sailor’s Pact

Finnian seeks to deepen his bond with the Selkie Queen who bound him to the tides. He must navigate a delicate balance between freedom on the open water and the queen’s burdensome demands. The pact promises access to sea-spirit magic and the ability to ferry others across impossible gaps, but demands ritual offerings, compliance with the Queen’s whims, and the occasional sacrifice—metaphorical or literal—of memories and secrets long kept. The journey tests his loyalty, his courage, and his willingness to forego some of his own humanity for the survival of others.

Current Stage

Stage 1: The Queen requires a token of Finnian’s loyalty, a memory he clings to the most. He must choose to reveal a long-held secret or destroy it to prove devotion.

Choice

Reveal a painful memory to the Selkie Queen to demonstrate commitment.

The Queen’s eye gleams with approval as the memory unfurls. Finnian’s bond tightens, and a portion of his own past becomes accessible to her sea-laden mind, ensuring further protection and guidance but at a cost to his own privacy.
Alternative

Refuse and safeguard the memory, accepting the risk of losing favor.

The Queen’s disappointment is a cold tide that washes over Finnian. The pact remains intact, but the favor of the sea is not guaranteed, and future crossings may become more arduous.
Mechanical Rewards
  • Grant of limited pact magic: once per long rest, Finnian can perform a Spirit Ferry to transport the party across gaps by paying Hit Dice as the bargain with the Queen requires.
  • Harpoon tethers gain additional reach and a persistent tethering effect against enemies, allowing 20 ft drag on a failed save.
  • Selkie Queen’s Bond: resistance to cold damage when traversing icy or fog-bound areas.
Narrative Rewards
  • The Selkie Queen’s blessing improves Finnian’s navigational instincts, granting him advantage on Survival checks related to water and weather conditions in and around coasts.
  • A new ally in the form of a spectral ferry-guide emerges from the depths when Finnian calls upon the Queen’s favor.

QUEST -- The Time-Eddies Crossing

A drift of time-winds curls around the cliffs of a haunted coastline. Finnian learns that the dead whisper across time as well as space, and he believes he can ferry a whole party across a temporal chasm. The risk is high: stepping into a time-eddie could unravel memories and birth paradoxes—yet the reward is the chance to rescue a soul that would otherwise be lost to a single, fatal moment.

Current Stage

Stage 1: The party negotiates passage with the spirits of the time-eddie, offering a fare in Hit Dice and memories to be traded for safe crossing.

Choice

Trade a memory for passage across the time-eddie.

The memory traded is a treasured moment from Finnian’s past—perhaps a memory of a family member or a promise to a friend. The crossing is granted, but the memory’s absence echoes in Finnian’s mind as a gap in his story.
Alternative

Refuse to sacrifice memory and seek another way.

The spirits offer an alternative path: a risky trial that could either grant the crossing or trap the party in a loop of echoes.
Mechanical Rewards
  • Crossing a time-eddie grants temporary mastery over time-winds: advantage on a single ability check or saving throw tied to travel or timing during the next long rest.
  • The ability to ferry across time-eddies once per long rest by spending Hit Dice to 'pay the fare'.
Narrative Rewards
  • Finnian glimpses a possible future where he might save the life of the soul he failed to save—this prophecy guides his decisions and steadies his resolve.

Major Decision

Context

Accept the bond with the Selkie Queen and willingly become bound to a sea-deity for power and purpose.

Choice Made

Accept the pact and bound powers, even at the cost of control over memory and humanity.

Impact

Finnian’s magic and navigation deepen; he gains pact-inspired abilities and a stronger link to the water realm, but the sea’s demands and the Queen’s memory-price begin to influence every move.

Major Decision

Context

Offer a memory of a loved one to cross a perilous time-eddy to save another, risking the memory’s absence forever.

Choice Made

Trade a memory for crossing the time-eddy.

Impact

He strengthens his bond with time-spirits and gains a new ability to alter the timing of events by a brief margin, but the cost leaves a permanent hole in his personal history.

Major Decision

Context

Choose whether to deliver the last coin to the one soul he could not save, thus paying the price of closure.

Choice Made

Deliver the coin, completing the debt.

Impact

If successful, Finnian gains a powerful relic of memory and a stronger connection to the Queen’s power, shaping future crossings and the ferry’s reach. If not, the debt lingers and the sea remains a puzzle.

Transformative Moment

Trigger

First successful harpoon pull with a spectral tether in combat.

Transformation

The harpoon tethers bond with the water’s will, snaring enemies and pulling them closer, as Finnian discovers how to direct the tide’s energy with the weapon.

Mechanical Changes

Harpoon

Gains Returning Spectral Tether: Drag enemies 20 ft on failed save.

The Queen’s bargain begins to reveal its true martial potential.

Transformative Moment

Trigger

Binding the Selkie Queen’s will with a memory exchange.

Transformation

Finnian’s bond deepens; a spectral guide of fog and foam forms a protective aura around him and his ship during crossings.

Mechanical Changes

Spirit Ferry

Once per long rest, Finnian can ferry the party across impossible gaps by paying Hit Dice.

Bond with the Selkie Queen empowers transport across barriers.

Transformative Moment

Trigger

Delivering the coin to the one soul he could not save.

Transformation

Finnian’s face takes on the salt-streaked lines of sacrifice; his eyes reflect a thousand tides, and he feels the last debt paid.

Mechanical Changes

Memory Debt Release

Permanent memory-warded boon: +1 to Wisdom saves related to judgment and timing.

Resolution of the coin’s debt grants him clarity and resolve for the future.

Ally:
Marin Hale

Relationship Ally
Influence 4/10
Loyalty 75/10

Shared History

Marin Hale was the last merchant Finnian ferried before the storm that took his memory of home. Marin owes Finnian a debt of gratitude for saving their crew during a pounding gale. Marin later discovered Finnian’s vow to deliver the last coin and swore to help him in exchange for Finnian’s protection of the seas and their trade routes. Marin is an elderly navigator who knows sea-charts as if they were stories. Their shared history includes countless nights on deck exchanging stories of ships and souls who have passed through fog, and how those memories shape the tides.

Potential Breaking Points

  • Passive suspicion: Marin could be secretly colluding with a rival merchant who wants to steal Finnian’s ferry metaphorically and literally (by controlling where crossing paths occur).
  • A moment of weakness: Marin could pressure Finnian to break the coin’s oath to free a soul, offering safe passage in exchange for a favor that would endanger the party.

Enemy:
Captain Grist

Threat Level 3/10
Conflict Type Rivalry

Personal Stakes

Captain Grist believes Finnian’s pact with the Selkie Queen is a threat to the sea’s balance and to his own control of the trade lanes along the coast.

Possible Resolutions

  • Negotiation and shared crossing with Captain Grist to test if their interests overlap.
  • A duel of wits to determine who guides the currents in a fog-choked harbor.

Faction: Selkie Court

Standing 3/10
Influence High

Obligations

  • Provide Finnian with guidance when crossing temporal or sea-borne barriers.
  • Demand loyalty during key moments of crossing and negotiation with spirits.

Benefits

  • Limited access to sea-mage qualities and a spectral ferry when needed.

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