Meepo

Meepo was a kobold wizard and transmuter. He also had training as a ranger. He had golden-yellow scales with beard-like spines on his jowls. He typically wore oversized grey robes with a blue star stitched on the hood.

Rebirth on the Battlefield
Meepo was born in the mountains to a kobold clan. True to their nature, kobold society was built upon strict hierarchies and power structures. Among the hierarchy, Meepo was noted for his wits and assigned the role of a craftskin and tinkerer. However, he secretly longed for the power and position of the sorcerers, the natural magical kobolds who dominated his society.

During this time, the kobolds had grown increasingly aggressive with the gnomish neighbors. The gnomes often treated the kobolds like pests, fighting and killing them whenever possible. This aggression was not unfounded, as the especially fecund kobolds were constantly in search for new territory. They would raid, pillage, and occupy whatever corridors they could, and if met with opposition, would simply dig their own tunnels.

This conflict came to a head when it was learned the gnomes planned to invade kobold territory directly with the intent of wiping them out. Understanding they could not take on an entire gnomish army directly, the kobolds even went so far as to hire a band of goblin mercenaries. Their leader was a charismatic goblin who carried with him a cloak that allowed him to turn invisible when activated.

As the two armies gathered, they were suddenly ambushed by the gnomes. Completely caught off guard, the gnomes deftly began to dispatch their enemies, using a combination of skilled soldiers, machines of war, and magic. Meepo watched as the goblin mercenary leader was struck down, along with many of his kin, within the first few moments. He dove into the blood and muck pretending to be dead, as he heard the battle continue on around him.

Slowly, he crawled his way through the dead until he came upon the slain goblin leader, prying the magical cloak from his back and throwing it over his own shoulders. Soaked in blood, sweat, and who knows what else, the cloak was clearly changed, but functional. It turned Meepo invisible, giving him the opportunity to sneak away before being found as either an enemy or a deserter. Along the way, he stumbled across a dying gnome wizard, clutching a spell book. Still invisible, Meepo pried the book out of his hands and watched him confusedly cough and then pass away. Finally fleeing the battlefield, Meepo found himself alone.

Survival in Solitude
For many years, he lived as an outcast. His home was destroyed. The gnomes were likely to kill him on sight if they found him, especially with one of their spellbooks. The other races of the mountains were often aggressive or outright hostile to his kind, if not all kinds. All he could do was strike out an existence on his own, traveling from place to place, cave to cave, and slowly studying the spellbook.

Understanding came slow to him. He was intelligent, but had never learned to read. He could speak and understand draconic, but did know how to write it. Many people he encountered spoke other languages, such as common, which he did not understand. Mutual distrust forced him to avoid even the most kindly looking of travelers as he simply hid and watched them pass from afar. Occasionally, he had no choice but to use his natural talents to sneak in a camp and steal just enough to still his grumbling stomach, but even as an act of survival, he was still disgusted to act like a common thief.

During these days, his growing understanding of magic was all that brought him comfort. He learned first a few basic but useful cantrips, slowly coming to understand the focus of this gnomish wizard as being something called "transmutation". It was a school focused on transformation. Somehow, Meepo thought, that seemed fitting.

Mending the Divide
One day, Meepo overheard conversation and argument coming from a nearby road near a cave where he had been resting. He could not understand what they were saying, but saw clearly their cart had been damaged, having hit a rock and breaking a wheel that had no replacement. He watched as they settled in to make camp, perhaps hoping to find other travelers or reassess their situation in the morning.

Knowing he could use his magic to mend the wheel, Meepo waited until deep in the night to sneak down to the road and examine the cart. The horses stirred. With a flash of fingers, he repeated the memorized incantations and pressed a pair of stones together in his hand. The wooden wheel mended itself together and, with a snap, secured itself properly back in position.

A moment later, an imposing human man reached out and grabbed Meepo's hand, shouting at him and waving a menacing dagger toward his throat. Meepo struggled to pull away, barking back at him in draconic, but it was clear that neither of them understood the other. But then the man saw the wheel repaired, and looked curiously down at Meepo who had all but resigned himself to death, before letting him go. Surprised, Meepo shared a glance with the man before turning and fleeing back into the brush.

The next morning, Meepo watched as the man spoke with his companions, gesturing to the wheel and out into the brush. They all scratched their heads in confusion. Next, the man walked to the edge of the road while his friends watched and started calling out. After a few calls, it seemed clear he was trying to find Meepo.

Hesitantly, Meepo moved through the brush and poked his out by the side of the road. The man's eyes lit up as he pointed at him, and his companions shouted in surprise. The man gestured for Meepo to come forward, speaking softly and reaching into a satchel to draw out dried meats. Meepo could not rightly comprehend at this point why the man would be offering him food, but it was enough to bring him cautiously out into the open and among them.

He ate heartily as they watched him and laughed. One of the men pat him on head which confused Meepo but he was too busy stuffing the rations into his gullet. They offered him a place in the back of their cart and Meepo accepted. Before long they were on their way down the road, with Meepo having little to no understand of what he was getting into.

Back to Society
The cart and men traveled for many days, with Meepo often sleeping most of the day and joining them by their fires at night. As they communicated with him more and more, they realized how quickly he learned and even began to trust him to help keep watch, stow their gear, and so forth. Meepo was satisfied with such work as they continued to feed him, and as they slept he could continue to study his spellbook.

With time, he began to learn their language - what they called "Common" - as well as their names, business, and so forth.

(And so on...)