Shade

For a beginner-friendly player guide, see Shade/Player Guide.\n\n

Shade

Tiefling Bard

Personality

A charismatic bard whose family connections to Thundertree run deeper than expected.

Faction Membership

• Zhentarim – Inducted in Session 06 with codename "Fang"

Character Arc

• Daughter of Reidoth the Druid (revealed in Session 08)
• Offered to immortalize Venomfang the green dragon in song
• Previously had an encounter with a doppelganger named Verhys
• Fireproof (revealed in Session 04)
• Can commune with the dead, travels with ghostly companion Cooter (revealed in Session 04)

Relationships

• Fellow party members: Bechamel, Bruder, Keyleth Siannodel, Xanphina, Gootcha Zinnoa, Cosima, Shade, Swarm of Rats
• Father: Reidoth – Druid of Thundertree

Notable Moments

During Session 42 - Bagpipes, Blood, and the Bronze Blades, Shade accepted the Bagpipes of Zariel's Lament from Lady Calera at the Waterdeep gala — an infernal instrument safe in her tiefling hands where it would damn a non-infernal wielder. Her first performance on them was the "Toot of the Fallen," an old tiefling heritage ballad (in her own parlance, tiefling songs are "toots"). The session also established Shade as a prolific writer of dragon-worship music: her hit "Ah Dang, Venomfang" is beloved among Cult of the Dragon cultists, and she performed it for the dying Lord Valtheran to coax the location of the Draakhorn out of him in his final moments.

During Session 46 - Diggy Diggy Hole, Shade experienced profound mycelial-induced visions when exposed to Myconid rapport spores in Garmok's Mine. These hallucinogenic experiences revealed disturbing spectral imagery that may hold significance for future events.

Shade's mycelial vision - a spectral winged creature encountered during the rapport spore experience

Appearances

• Session 01 – The Road to Phandalin
• Session 02 – The Goblin Lair Negotiations
• Session 03 – Welcome to Phandalin
• Session 04 – Fire and Faith at Cragmaw Castle
• Session 05 – The Black Spider's Shadow – Demonstrated deception skills
• Session 06 – Shadows and Allegiances
• Session 07 – Murder Hobos: Welcome to the Grind
• Session 08 – Thundertree: Family, Faith, and Fang
• Session 09 – Wave Echo Cave: The Depths Awaken
• Session 10 – Blood and Echoes in the Dark
• Session 14 – The Calm Before Greenest
• Session 16 – The Secret Tunnel and the Storm
• Session 19 - The Cultist Encampment and the Fate of Leosin (8/13/23)
• Session 21 - The Depths of the Dragon Hatchery (10/8/23)
• Session 22 - The Fate of the Dragon Eggs (11/19/23)
• Session 23 - The Pair of Black Antlers and the Caravan Plan (12/2/23)
• Session 25 - Murder on the Trade Way (1/28/24)
• Session 28 - Alliance of Scales (3/24/24)
• Session 35 - The Training Montage Begins
• Session 36 - Gootcha Talks to Death
• Session 38 - Now We Have a Hoard
• Session 39 - Waves, Wands, and Wagon Tracks
• Session 40 - Deez Nuts Brew Deals, Break Oaths, and Bake Blades
• Session 41 - Return to the Castle
• Session 42 - Bagpipes, Blood, and the Bronze Blades
• Session 43 - The Council of Waterdeep
• Session 44 - Garmok's Mine
• Session 45 - The Mind Gobbler
• Session 46 - Diggy Diggy Hole

• Session 47 - The Sea of Moving Ice
• Session 48 - Inside Oyaviggaton (2026.04.12)