Spondulix the Numismatist was weird. Weird, by any and all standards.

By arcane standards, the wizard caste of his colony recognized his innate talent, yet could not train him as a sorcerer either; strangely, he could cast even when wearing a chain shirt. He called himself a numismatist; they condescendingly called him a bewilderment, a befuddlement, a beguiler, an anomaly and atrocity to magic, and trained him no further.

By duergar standards, for example, he was not a selfish prig, scrambling for a position of power like the rest in his affluent mountain colony, called Van Darkholme. So his job became to manage the Great King’s Vault–—a bank of sorts, where duergar would come in, deposit cheques signed by the labormaster, and Spondulix would pay out their day’s wages.

He loved money, but didn’t quite seem to grasp the concept of it. To many, a coin was a coin was a coin. Gold gathered in the Petty Kingdoms could be spent in Yakami, and vice versa, and the point of all life was to gather gold, any gold, and look down your nose at those who did not have as much. For all intents and purposes, Spondulix did the first part reasonably well. The second… he didn’t seem to bother, for whatever reason.

He was fascinated by how old any coin was, where it was minted, what history was embedded in it, when it was minted, and where. He hated spending money because it wasn’t money to him, it was his collection.

His obsession started when one day, in the Vault, one–just one!–of the gold pieces that came through for sorting after tax season was minted in that place of ill fate: Zakarion. He took one of his own coins and replaced it in the larder–he was no thief, not to the King!–and pocketed the Zakarion Gold. What a journey it must have had! How could it have gotten here? Had a refugee dropped it in the dirt? Had they traded with a Darkholme duergar? Tales of wild speculation flew inside of his head. What an adventure it had to get here! What a joy it was to see, in a sea of boring crude Darkholme gold pieces, which was a boring mix of Al-Qashqan and Zweistrum currency.

Horrifyingly, one day, he must have been so lost in his thoughts that he actually gave his Zakarion gold piece away. For two weeks he was miserable, his favorite coin lost, lost in the caverns of crystals and gems and mushrooms… when one day, on his birthday, in fact, just as unceremoniously, the coin returned.

It was a bittersweet feeling. Relief flooded through him when his coin was in the month’s tax collection he sorted through… but he had the strangest realization. He was the coin. An oddity that did not fit in with the others, and just as some unexpected adventure took him away, he would only ever come back here, to the vault, forced to be with others that resembled him on a completely superficial level.

He wanted to find crudely-sculpted Northmen coins, he wanted tumultuous Lunda coins and the Ngonda coins minted as a direct rival, he wanted the coins the Shining Sea minted as the only thing the bickering Kingdoms could agree on, he wanted far-off Yakami coins and he wanted Zhengese coins minted with the seven kingdoms neatly on the obverse. And while he could–and might!–travel the world to collect them, he realized his fortunes would literally be easier to find in a great melting pot of a settlement known as Ohm’s Basin, where coins of all kinds would flow through.

He put in a two-week’s notice, and began to buy all kinds of equipment to leave. The King of Van Darkholme, Wilbur–who was not so much a king as an expedition leader turned opulent, spoiled noble–even summoned him personally to be searched, thinking he had taken the Vault’s riches. He was stunned to find nothing but a standard journeyman’s gear. The parting was suddenly more wistful–the position of wage distributor was being given to a scribe and intern named Kel whom Spondulix was friends with, and the King, in spite of it all, was sad to see a fellow duergar go out into a world that was more cutthroat to the gray dwarves than they were to each other. Nevertheless, he gave him his blessing, and told Spondulix he would be welcome back any time.

And so, Spondulix came to the Ohm Basin.

Spondulix has been a part of two expeditions since his arrival at Barrow's Maw.

To whom it may concern:

I am Spondulix, the Numismatist! And I am here to put an end to some ruffian goblins bedeviling the poor locals and their water supply, for coin that they do not have or that they do not wish to part with! If this enrages my fellow coin collectors, then I ask you leave your signature (in dwarven runic if you please!) below.

ᛊᛈᛟᚾᛞᚢᛚᛁᚲᛊ•ᚦᛖ•ᚾᚢᛗᛁᛉᛗᚨᛏᛁᛊᛏ
-Shieldmaster
-Scarlet
-Eloen Amandel

Spondulix's first expedition was on the 31st of Immotian. He did not seem to understand that the locals had been harrassed for their livelihood, instead believing they were fellow numismatists angered over their lost collection. It was also his first indication of being far from home, as none of the others used dwarven runes, nor could they speak Dwarven… nor were they dwarves.

This would also be the first expedition where he would pair up with Scarlet, a human whose arms ended strangely in red, dragonlike talons and who battled with a table; bracing herself behind it and charging unsuspecting victims with it as a kind of makeshift tower shield.

The investigation led them to an encampment by the river, where the party battled goblins and uncovered the nearby base of Hammerfast, which they routed. Though they found deeper flooded catacombs, they realized they were badly injured and were better off not risking further explanation.

Hammerfast had been a former dwarven mountainhome of a dwarven folk hero, St. Arthrak Shadowhammer, whose eponymous weapon had been particularly skilled at taking out goblins. Whether the goblins settled there out of spite or coincidence would forever be unknown, as they were slain to the last one.

For his efforts, Spondulix received some coins minted in honor of St. Arthrak as well as the fabled wood coins from the Eastford peasants who had hired the party in the first place.

The second expedition would bring Spondulix into contact with Krang the Mageknight, a Zakarion native. Reconvening with Scarlet, they would group up with four others (and an owl named Archimedes) to challenge the Gauntlet of Glory–a local dojo run by a charismatic battlemaster known as Brutal Mike. However, upon arriving, they would discover it ransacked and overtaken by the Viper Clan, a sadistic organization led by “Vicious” Luke.

Fighting through a combination of traps laid by the Viper Clan as well as normal challenges laid by Brutal Mike himself, the seven battled their way into the heart of the compound. After Spondulix stunned a dire weasel by casting Color Spray, a druid named Aragwyn Moonshadow would slay it with a shortbow she had borrowed from a rogue named Shade, then move to the final room to finish off Vicious Luke.

Brutal Mike would arrive after the end of the battle, thanking the seven for their efforts protecting the compound and proclaiming them 'righteous'. They receive replica headbands for their efforts, and the Viper Clan–natives of the Rashari Highlands–had a variety of coins from their homeland that Spondulix added to his own collection. With the surplus, he would purchase a pair of Sundark Goggles to protect his sensitive duergar eyes from the sun, as well as chainmail to better protect himself in his further quests.

Spondulix can be fairly childish, which is often reflected in his “look over here!” fighting style; often distracting or stunning his enemies rather than killing them (although he has slain a few on his expeditions). He has used illusions of marauding sahuagin to distract a goblin encampment by the river and charmed one of the Viper Clan by pointing out that they're acting like a jealous hater.

His attire is also childish–though non-natives of Van Darkholme may not realize it, the red robes and wizard hat he wears are only used for children's costumes on Dead Fellow's Day or plays; it is otherwise illegal to wear the official dark speckled robes and pointed hat of the Wizard Caste as it is considered a kind of stolen valor. Spondulix wears the robes openly in the hopes of having an iconic, recognizable color, like the Gray or the White or the Mottled.

He is also surprisingly pious given his lackadaisical nature and often finds serenity in his faith in Icele, who he believes watches over him in every dwarven rune and cool breeze. Icele worship is the dominant religion in Van Darkholme, and he received a blessing from the King and head clerics in her name before leaving.

Though lacking in any particularly notable propinquity, Spondulix has expressed fondness for Scarlet and her unorthodox tablefighting method; when heading off to the Gauntlet of Glory, he was swift to inform the party of her tactic and was demonstrably excited when she employed it against Vicious Luke.

Spondulix is the central focus of The Numismatist, a mini-novelization-in-progress of his life and adventures. If it sucks, I'm so sorry. I hope it's enjoyable though, if you read it.

Often employing distraction, stunning, or incapacitation for the sake of others to sweep in and finish off the target.

Sundark Goggles: Shaded lenses wrapped in canvas that help duergar function in regular daylight conditions.

Red Robes: A fashion revolution waiting to happen!

Numismatist's Notebook: A spellbook repurposed as a diary to keep track of all the coins Spondulix finds.