Berenzaar the Archivist
The Archive speaks through him now. And sometimes it uses your voice.
Mike’s Personal Thoughts
Ye ever hear a book scream, lad?
I have. And it weren’t from some cursed grimoire or fireball-laced journal. It was him. Berenzaar. Used to be a brilliant scholar, they say — scribe o’ the Conclave, cartographer of stars that hadn’t even winked into existence yet. But the fool dug too deep into the Archive of Broken Charts, and it dug right back.
Now he floats.
Not hovers. Not flies. Floats — like ink in water, like a dead thought that forgot how to settle. His robes don’t touch the floor. His eyes don’t blink. And when he speaks? Sometimes it’s not him talkin’. Sometimes it’s a page from a future that ain’t been written — or worse, has been erased.
He ain’t evil.
He’s just… overwritten.
I asked him once what year it was. He answered in coordinates.
Character Overview
Character Type: NPC
Build Type: Min-Maxed (but unstable)
Build Role: Magical Glass Cannon, Lore Dungeon Boss, Dangerous Lore Node
Who (or What) He Is Now
Berenzaar was once the Head Astral Cartographer of the Conclave. But when the star fell, he didn’t flinch. He went deeper. He entered the Archive of Broken Charts — a place not meant for eyes — and tried to correct the sky.
Instead, the Archive corrected him.
Now he’s part flesh, part glyph, part seething knowledge. His voice crackles like ink on fire. His hands are gnarled quill-tips and starlight veins. And his mind? It’s not so much “mad” as multiple.
Sometimes he offers answers.
Sometimes he vomits light.
And sometimes he asks you questions so sharp, they feel like they take a finger with ‘em.
What He Looks Like
Skin: Thin parchment-gray, etched with crawling ink veins that move when he’s agitated
Eyes: One is a blank scribe’s seal. The other rotates slowly like a compass
Clothing: Robes stitched with burning constellations — half of them don’t match any sky you’ve ever seen
Voice: Echoing, layered, sometimes delayed. Occasionally speaks in a chorus of past versions of himself
Presence:
When he enters a room, books tremble. Quills snap. Maps curl at the edges, trying to re-write themselves. And if yer character’s carryin’ a journal? He might already have read it.
Narrative Role & Gameplay Use
Lore Function:
Berenzaar ain’t just a mad scribe — he’s a living archive leak. A star-touched soul so saturated with forbidden knowledge, the laws of memory bled into him. He now acts as both guardian and glitch of the Archive of Broken Charts.
Think of him as a lore event in a man’s skin:
One moment he’s spittin’ riddles.
Next, he’s casting spells from tomes that don’t exist.
Then he forgets who you are — but remembers yer granddaughter.
“The flame must flicker west of the ink-line, or it’ll drown. You understand, don’t you?”
Optional Mechanics (For GMs Cravin’ Chaos):
Combat Mode: Archivist Unleashed
HP: Moderate
AC: Low
Spells: Treat as a high-level Wizard with access to strange homebrew spells like:
Ink Reversal:
Causes one player to forget their last round. They must re-roll their turn as if it never happened.
Chronoglyphic Echo:
Re-casts the last spell the players used — but twisted. Healing spells now burn. Buffs now disorient.
Quillstorm:
Summons spectral quills that stab at all who’ve ever written a lie (Wisdom save or take psychic damage).
Trigger Event – Page Collapse:
If struck below 25% HP, he whispers, “Correcting timeline…” and collapses into living pages that scatter across the chamber, turning the room into a trap-filled hazard of screaming documents.
Not Just a Fight — A Feedback Loop
👉 If yer players want to fight him, let ‘em. But if they want to understand him, make it hard. Make it painful. Berenzaar isn’t a villain — he’s a mirror that reflects what happens when knowledge becomes need.
Visit the Archive of Broken Charts
Meet Ilyra of the Folded Sky
FAQ
Q: Can he be reasoned with?
A: Aye. But yer questions better be precise. And yer lies better be buried six feet deep. He can smell ‘em.
Q: Can he be cured?
A: No. The Archive rewrote his ending. Only thing left to do is respect the new version — or shut the book.
Q: Can he teach the party a spell?
A: Sure. But it won’t be a spell they want. Not at first.
Madness Ain’t the Danger — Memory Is
👉 Run Berenzaar like a broken code in a dungeon made of knowledge. He’s more event than person. More echo than threat. If yer players walk away unsettled, confused, or scribblin’ things in their notebooks? Good. That’s what the Archive wants.
About Mike’s Tavern
Contact
Explore the Conclave’s Secrets
Related Lore Across the Conclave
The Voice Beyond the Star – It has not spoken aloud. Not yet. But it’s been listening since before the sky cracked.
Archive of Broken Charts – The place that broke him. The place that still whispers his name.
Ilyra of the Folded Sky – His old peer. She weeps when she hears him now.
Auralyn Starpocket – “That one still has questions,” he says. “She should’ve stopped.”
Celestial Refractor – He once tried to rewrite its purpose. The light nearly killed him.
Vimra of the Thirteenth Flame – She offered him peace once. He tried to set it on fire.
Coin of the Lost Patron – He held it. Screamed for hours. Still shaking.
About Mike’s Tavern – Mike once tried to map the Archive. Ended up passed out under a bookshelf.
Contact – Send him a message. He might reply in a different language — or a different century.
Berenzaar wrote it all down, even the parts he shouldn’t’ve.
If yer players want answers, this is who they’ll beg, bribe, or betray. Just don’t ask him about the Observatory of the Folded Sky. And if you need a relic worth the cost of memory, try the Crown of Half-Light — once we forge it.
