Ashlyn

Ashlyn Blackwood · Player: Vale · Member of The Shattered Coin
Dhampir Blood Knight, born 1320 behind the wooden walls of Copseweald, a small
town on the Veilwood–Rivalon border.

Daughter of Lady Selantria Blackwood (a powerful vampire) and Theren Vaelen
(an elven scholar) — a dhampir birth considered improper among vampire society;
Selantria didn't care. Younger half-sister of Ariana Blackwood, who trained her
in nobility's careful language while Ashlyn trained her body as a Blood Knight —
martial prowess fused with blood-fueled magic. She joined the reclamation to prove
the family name still means something.

Signature Soulbind: links her soul to a target so damage she takes transfers to
them — she has killed enemies by stabbing herself. "Save an Essence" recovers HP from
a victim's life force. Also: Hellish Rebuke, Lightning Lure, a vampiric bite. Her
"friendly" high-five once deadened Magra's hand for two hours.

Session 3

• Killed the giant spider in Scrawbles' manor by soulbinding it and stabbing herself —
  "metal as fuck," per the GM.
• Sliced an alley thug in two, bit another; threw Thalia at the enemy like a Pokémon.
• Signed up with Magra at The Urina as tag team "Blood and Thunder"
  (fight to the death), hoping for a magic artifact prize.

Session 4

• Won the 2-v-4 upset with Magra: Soulbind made Pancat sap himself into surrender;
  drained Warb dry with a public vampire bite (half the crowd delighted, half
  retching into buckets).
• Finished the armored orc Pit Gladiator by soulbinding him and stabbing herself
  for 8 — "some kind of fucked-up living voodoo doll."
• Prize: protective vambraces. Her "soft" victory high-five deadened Magra's hand
  for two hours ("she's neutral evil, not chaotic evil").

Session 5

• Blood logistics established: needs blood weekly minimum (ideally a daily bite) or
  risks going feral — irreversibly. Her family's 24-pack of human blood was
  confiscated at the port; the elderly servant sent with her died en route.
• Drank a bowl of stale animal blood from Argath's shack ("empty carbs"), then fed
  on a volunteering Fenric — and overdid it: 10 damage, half his health
  ("I didn't mean to go that far. I apologize.").
• Her insight spotted that Port Quaybay's entire adventuring economy switched off
  the day the ship left — fueling the "quest conspiracy" theory.
• Tied the nymph Eleanor at Conquest before being edged out; pitched Lash to
  Tilda as a crafting partner (and got newspaper-bonked for calling her a lizard).

Session 6

• Backstory clarified at the night circle: she was sent by her family to gain
  real-world experience, not banished — the Blackwoods control the palisade town of
  Copseweald on the Veilwood–Rivalon border.
• Two one-punch knockouts below decks: a 19-to-hit spinning head kick on
  Sir Conolith (out for 4 hours) and a left hook for the Potato Man — both in
  defense of a fleeing Thalia.
• Hired as Jugs's guard at 5 gp/day, the operation's top earner ("I'll punch
  anyone who comes close." "Sold.").
• Carried the passed-out Lash to Brebo's hammock, then slept hanging
  from the ceiling like a bat.
• Vampire mechanics aired: confirmed she doesn't need to breathe (still sleeps),
  and — once the table settled that silver harms vampires — flagged Lash's
  new Silvered Short Sword as a weapon to keep away from her.

Session 7

• Sat front-row at the fire ceremony and refused to sing ("absolutely not"); watched
  Kain burn with detached "that was weird" — "Who's Kain again?"
• Picked up the newborn Draak when he startled her (and got put right back down on
  the floor); joined the ghost-test outing and looted the unconscious Sir Conolith for 12 gold, binning his chastity key and anti-sex holy symbol.
• Mused, of the seasick "community sick pile," that vomiting overboard is a "them
  problem" — "Ashlyn, I think your privilege is showing." "And what of it?"

Session 8

• Sunlight rules clarified ashore: no mechanical penalty, but "normal people get
  sunburn, you get undead" — hood up, walls hugged, no sunbathing.
• Pawned her cutlass to the half-celestial dealer in dead adventurers' effects
  (30 g — "I sense the sadness of the father who gave it to his son") and upgraded
  ringmail to chainmail (+1 AC), over her own protest that getting hit makes her
  better at fighting.
• Debuted a fresh haircut, new armor and a full makeover; the GM forced party-wide
  Charisma saves to compliment it within five minutes ("nobility in the Valewood is
  all about fashion") — Lash managed "the top of your head looks different."
• Spent the voyage's tail end terrorizing Sir Conolith ("make him even more
  afraid of women"); paid the last oar gold for The Land Boat while Fenric
  covered her share of the cart.

Session 11

• Spent the party's off-hours earning her own bounty: slew a scarred direwolf for 25 gold, collected from Fort Foothold's rhino-man sergeant, and rejoined the group still dripping blood. Lash's comment on not skinning it: "That's not a very good use of a direwolf."
• In the coelodon encounter: Hexed the juvenile (CON disadvantage), jumped off the 25-foot cliff without a second thought (5 bludgeoning, superhero landing), and chose not to pursue opportunity attacks when the creature retreated with its mother watching. Threw a dismembered corpse leg into the water to lure the baby out to sea — resolving the fight.
• On watch at the caravan with a grizzled one-eared halfling (missing ear, light crossbow); took his advice on Gwyndinas districts — Blue is fine, south-side discount magic market is cursed knockoffs.
• First time in Gwyndinas; interested in fighting at the Colosseum.

Session 13

• Returned from a week of feeding on Fenric; established a sustainable food source by buying a 2-week supply of cow blood (14 flasks, 14 gp) at Mendelin's Meats. Spent her unused level-3 ability to heal Magra and Lash 10 HP each (taking 20 herself).
• Soulbind backfire: opened the grief-demon fight with Eldritch Blast (a clutch advantage-crit Charisma save let her get the first hit in), but her instinct to Soulbind the demon bound her own soul to it — knocking her unconscious, then puppeting her to attack Lash. She broke free only when the demon was killed.
• Drank a demon-summoned "Living Blood" for 10 temp HP and damage resistance.

Session 15

• Rejoined the investigation (having missed the prior interviews — "My mistake, I was not here"). Applied her vampire senses at the dump site: no significant blood present (the victim was bled dry elsewhere), and her investigation read the body as dropped unceremoniously off a cart on a busy street, implying high-powered stealth.
• A Nature check on her own species essentially ruled out a vampire as the killer — vampires don't exsanguinate to the last drop, and there are no bite marks — but flagged that someone milking blood from commoners "has vampire vibes," pointing at blood markets and blood magic.
• Tried (and failed) to get inside the killer's head, concluding even she — an "evil" dhampir — couldn't stomach the carving and child-killing.
• Drank Professor Wind Douglas's conjured substitute blood for "science"; bland but it sated her for a full day — a potential ethical food source. (Also settled in-fiction that vampire fangs are for stabbing, not drinking through.) Sided with Thalia and Draak in wanting to drop detective work for fighting.

Session 16

• Died — her first death. In the South Wall alley ambush she Soulbound the gang leader Rickard (a homebrew anti-human paladin) so his hits rebounded onto him, cast Bane on the thugs, and bit a fleeing one. Smitten to the floor, she chugged a blood bag on a coin-flip to stand back up at 1 HP — "I live, bitch."
• Rickard's crit smite dealt 87 radiant — more than double her 56 HP max — instantly killing her and cleaving her body in two. The Soulbind transferred the blow back and killed Rickard too; both died halved in the same instant. Her last act was two raised middle fingers at the sky.
• Raised from the dead within ~25 minutes at the arena Bloodworks via a 1-hour Raise Dead ritual, paid for by the City Guard (she died in the line of duty as a deputized guard). Thalia and Magra argued her soul back. As her first death it could not fail — no scar.
• Resurrection quirk: chose a permanently, subtly mismatched shadow as a memento. She's at -4 to checks for ~4-5 days of recovery and is sitting out arena fights. Her afterlife, briefly: just darkness, the lights going out.

Session 17

• Recovered from her first death over three days of pure waiting (no books, no music) — penalty ticking back to zero — fed Thalia's peppered "blood soup." Mused that dying was conveniently timed but could end badly on a deadline.
• Returned to the arena for the squires' fight: opened with Tasha's Hideous Laughter on Grisel (recast when it lapsed), Bane'd the line, and Soulbound what she could — easily catching the budget knight but bouncing off Braille's "wily, spiked soul." Took a brutal spike-armor shoulder-check (17 damage) for it.
• Finished the cursed-armor knight Braille with a pommel-bop "nap time" rather than a kill, keeping with the no-deaths arena.

Session 18

• In the sewer swarm: Death-gripped mushroom men 90 ft across the room into Drak's reach (and shoved others into the sewer water), cast Bane to blind a cluster, and Eldritch-Blasted heads clean off.
• Bitten for the first time in her long undeath — "Oh, that's what that feels like." Noted she's near a level-up (extra attack and improved Soulbind incoming).

Session 19

• Mostly the "I would like to leave" voice of sanity through the sewer bestiary — wary of the wiggling tree, the hairy monster ("I want to shoot it, but... bad idea"), and the oozes — and, with Silithane, proposed using her vampire senses to memorize the lair's spilled orc blood so she could later sniff out the disguised changeling (a plan the GM allowed only the slimmest chance of working).
• Her noble Veilwood education couldn't place the Shard of the Autark (foreign history outside her courtly specialty), but she knew it mattered.

Session 21

• Written out (temporarily). Per Silithane's recap, Ashlyn was called back to the Veilwood during the changeling aftermath — Vale's character steps out of the campaign for now. Not present this session.

Character Sheet (mechanics)

In-play co-pilot sheet. No authoritative numeric character sheet exists in the sources; all values below are stated in play or drawn from the vault notes (which cite sessions). Anything not observed is marked unknown. Ashlyn was an active PC from Session 03 through ~Session 19, written out (recalled to the Veilwood) by Session 21 — she may return as NPC or PC.

Identity

• Class: Vampiric Blood Knight (homebrew hybrid — martial blade fused with CHA blood-magic; the "Vampiric / Dhampir" species line in the DM Companion class table). Source: DM Companion (p. with "Vampiric Dhampir, Thrall, Vrykola"); vault PC note.
• Level: 5+ by Session 18 — fires two Eldritch Blast beams (Session 18), which a caster gains at character level 5, and casts Bane at 2nd level (Session 18). Gained a level-3 ability by Session 13 (the HP-transfer heal); Extra Attack + improved Soulbind flagged as incoming around Session 18. Exact class level unknown.
• Species: Dhampir (Vampiric). Born a dhampir, not turned — "has never died and been brought back before because you were born a dhampir" (Session 16). Source: vault PC note, Session 16.
• Background / origin: Noble Blood Knight of Copseweald, a palisade town on the Veilwood–Rivalon border. Daughter of vampire Lady Selantria Blackwood and elven scholar Theren Vaelen; half-sister of Ariana Blackwood. Sent by her family to gain real-world experience (not banished), Session 06. Source: vault PC note / brief.
• Member of The Shattered Coin.

Combat stats

• AC: unknown as a number. Wears chainmail as of Session 08 (upgraded from ringmail, "+1 AC" stated relatively, no absolute value given).
• Max HP: 56 — stated by the player ("Because I have 56 HP," Session 16).
• Key saves: unknown as numbers. Charisma is her casting/key stat (Soulbind and her own resistance use Charisma saves — advantage CHA save to act first, Session 13). Makes routine CON saves vs bites (Session 18). No save bonuses were ever announced.
• Initiative: unknown (no modifier or roll value ever stated).
• Weapon attack / damage bonus: unknown as a flat number. Wields a short sword (Session 18 inventory). Signature trick is self-harm via Soulbind — e.g. "stabbing herself for 8" to kill a bonded foe (Session 04).

Abilities & spells (seen in play)

• Soulbind (bonus action; signature) — binds her soul to a target so damage she takes transfers to them; she kills foes by wounding herself. Target/contest uses a save. Used on the giant spider (Session 03), arena gladiators incl. stabbing herself for 8 (Session 04), the gang leader Rickard Frey (Session 16), arena knights (Session 17). Backfires on stronger souls: binding the grief-demon knocked her unconscious and puppeted her (Session 13); bounced off a "spiked soul" (Session 17).
• Vampiric Bite / "Save an Essence" — bite to regain HP from a victim's life force. Fed on Fenric (overdid it: 10 dmg, Session 05), public arena drain of Warb (Session 04), bit a fleeing thug (Session 16), bit foes in the sewer (Session 18).
• Eldritch Blast (cantrip) — 120 ft range, fires two beams (Session 18); used to open the grief-demon fight (Session 13).
• Bane — cast at 2nd level to hit 4 targets (−1d4 to their rolls), Session 18; also Session 16, Session 17.
• Hex — imposed CON disadvantage on the juvenile coelodon (Session 11).
• Tasha's Hideous Laughter — on Grisel, recast when it lapsed (Session 17).
• Death Grip (bonus action) — telekinetically yanks a creature to her / shoves it away; pulled mushroom-men ~90 ft across the room into Drak's reach (Session 18).
• Hellish Rebuke and Lightning Lure — listed in the vault brief; no specific session use cited (to confirm).
• Level-3 ability (HP transfer / heal) — laid hands to give Magra and Lash 10 HP each, taking 20 herself (Session 13). Unused until then.
• Last Stand (homebrew death rule) — on a lethal hit she may take one final action while bleeding out; below the HP threshold every attack against her auto-crits (Session 16).
• Dhampir / vampiric traits: sleeps hanging from the ceiling like a bat and doesn't need to breathe (Session 06); sunlight = "you get undead" sunburn flavor, no mechanical penalty (Session 08); silver harms her like any vampire (Session 06); vampire senses — can smell/trace blood, "big sniff" at scene/dump sites and tracing blood sellers (Session 14, Session 15, Session 19); Nature check on her own species to reason about the killer (Session 15).

Items & equipment

• Chainmail — upgraded from ringmail (+1 AC), pawning a late owner's cutlass for 30 g to fund it (Session 08).
• Protective vambraces — arena prize cut ("Blood and Thunder"), Session 04.
• Short sword — current melee weapon (Session 18).
• Cow blood, 14 flasks — sustainable food source from Mendelin's Meats, 14 gp (Session 13).
• Blood bags — chugged one at low HP to stand back up, Session 16.
• 12 gold — looted off an unconscious Sir Conolith (Session 07).
• Share in The Land Boat — though Fenric covered her oar/cart gold (Session 08).
• Mismatched shadow — cosmetic resurrection memento; her shadow no longer matches her pose (Session 16).

Resources (last known)

• Spell slots: has at least 2nd-level slots (cast Bane at 2nd, Session 18); ran out of spell slots by her death (Session 16). Exact slot count/progression unknown.
• Level-3 HP-transfer ability: recharge unknown (was "haven't used it yet" before Session 13 — likely per long rest).
• Soulbind: no announced use cap; risk is binding to a stronger soul.
• Blood feeding (resource leash): needs blood weekly minimum (ideally daily) or risks going feral, irreversibly; current store = the 14 cow-blood flasks (Session 05, Session 13).
• Temp HP sources used: "Living Blood" for 10 temp HP + damage resistance (Session 13); party-wide 5 temp HP (Session 18).
• Post-death recovery: −4 to checks for ~4–5 days after her Session 16 resurrection (had recovered by Session 17).
• Coin / hit dice: unknown.

Unknowns / to confirm

• Ability scores — none ever stated as numbers (Charisma is the key/casting stat; Strength implied by one-punch KOs, Session 06).
• Exact AC, attack bonus, damage dice, save bonuses, initiative — never announced.
• Exact class level and the full Blood Knight feature table — homebrew; not in the DM Companion beyond the class-name row.
• Full prepared/known spell list — only spells seen in play are listed; Hellish Rebuke and Lightning Lure (from the vault brief) lack a cited session.
• Spell-slot count by level — only "has 2nd-level slots" is confirmed.
• Player attribution note — the vault note, the brief, and the transcripts (the player "Vale" speaks as Ashlyn, e.g. Session 16) all indicate Vale. Treated as Vale here.

SUMMARY: Dhampir Blood Knight Ashlyn (Vale); 56 HP, CHA blood-magic, Soulbind — most numbers unknown, transcript-mined.