My fencing club brought me up to the edge of playing D&D, and furries kicked me over it. Here's my Dragonborn Barbarian drawn by https://twitter.com/ritwells on twitter.

"Out from the Hand's left flank they broke, steel and fire and screaming wrath..."

Devo'ssa Isk Lorea Kosjm Boreas is a brass Dragonborn of the Marquet mountains and a member of the Brassen Guard, the mercenary-princes who serve as bodyguards to J'mon Sa Ord. Their exact number is unknown, and they are rarely seen outside the Cerulean Palace. The nobility of the city loathe them for their arrogance, hauteur, and complete incorruptibility; it is well-known that they cannot be bought for any price, and they will sanction treason wherever they find it. They live opulently on the Ducal coffers, enjoy the complete favour of their lord, and are entitled to one-third of the loot of any battle they take part in. In exchange they are the most loyal and ferocious troops at J'mon Sa Ord's disposal, serving equally well as bodyguards in the streets, police in the palace, or shock infantry on the desert battlefields. Their unique gifts mean their formal robes are the only armour they require.

Boreas was somewhat unusual among his fellows in that he developed a deep affection for Ank'Harel and it's people. He lived in an apartment overlooking a canal in the River District rather than being barracked in the palace, and he was a frequent sight in the Suncut Bazzar; he would strike up conversations with merchants in Marquesian and Common and buy trinkets to send home to his mother. When not on duty he was often seen in the coffee-houses that serve as focal points for social life in the city: over tobacco and sweet coffee Marquesians of all classes exchange news, idle gossip and political discourse to which the Dragonborn served as a friendly and informal spy.* Over the course of a year he developed a friendship with a group of scholars who gave him a chance to improve the half-remembered Celestial from his schooling. In exchange he taught them Draconic, and they made a game of conversing each day in both languages, each testing and teaching the other.

One can imagine Boreas’ displeasure on the day he woke, not on his bed, in the dawn sunlight from his balcony, in the cool air of a Marquesian morning; but in the rotting undergrowth of a Barovian forest. He was fully dressed, with his sword by his side and a pack stocked for several days’ travel in the wilderness. Following an animal track that ran from where he lay, he came across a hunter who offered to guide him to the nearest town. The man spoke of a “Devil Strahd” as they walked, but Boreas failed to learn much before a werewolf attacked them. The Brassen Guard drove off the monster, but couldn’t save his guide.

With the (decapitated) body slung over his shoulder he continued down the road to a sad little town called Vallaki and enquired after a coffin-maker. There he encountered a group of adventurers who seemed just as lost and confused as he, and thus the journey began…

In combat Boreas fights as a Barbarian Ancestor Guardian. His great sword is six feet and seven inches long from pommell to tip, an exact match for its owner. The enchanted weapon is a gift from his master, and equally dangerous to vampire or man. Striding into combat with the same arrogance and pride of any Brassen Guard his sword flies out in silver arcs, sweeping away limbs and heads and clearing the ground around injured comrades. The ghosts of mighty ancestors whisper in his ears and flicker about his limbs, reservoirs of ageless experience and courage. Of the foes he has thus far encountered in Barovia, the vampires are the only ones he finds impressive, and he regrets missing the chance to collect one of their heads in Vallaki.

Despite appearances, Boreas understands the need for subtlety and subterfuge, and respects those who use them well. After all, the Brassen Guard know the correct way to employ violence: suddenly, in a place the foe has taken no precaution.

*I've become a fan of turkish coffee irl wholly and completely because of a D&D game.