Mark Malthrek
Mark Malthrek is a younger son of Duke Ellington Malthrek and Antoinette Malthrek née Thralmal, and a member of the Malthrek ducal family. During the Vengeful affair, he became important both as one of the Malthrek sons targeted by Reformist and parasitic influence and as a guide through the hidden approaches to Castle Malthrek.
Mark’s later condition was shaped by three overlapping crises: a parasitic infection, a geas or similar magical command connected to a shard-like object, and lycanthropy acquired during the attempt to save him. His usefulness, vulnerability, and fear of losing the power to help against the Reformists became recurring themes in later Malthrek operations.
Overview
Section titled “Overview”Mark was the second son of the Malthrek house, younger than Luke Malthrek and older than John Malthrek and Matthew Malthrek. At the time of Luke’s planned wedding to Pallia Travertine, Mark was betrothed to Gwyniviere Rannek but was suspiciously absent from the Travertines.
His absence quickly became alarming. Luke and John both contacted him with SendingLevel 3 · Evocation1 action · Unlimited · 1 roundV, S, M (a short piece of fine copper wire)You send a short message of twenty-five words or less to a creature with which you are familiar. The creature hears the message in its mind, recognizes you as the sender if it knows you, and can answer in a like manner immediately. The spell enables creatures with Intelligence scores of at least 1 to understand the meaning of your message. You can send the message across any distance and even to other planes of existence, but if the target is on a different plane than you, there is a 5 chance that the message doesn't arrive., and Mark gave nearly identical answers saying that their father had asked him to handle something and that he would return in a day or so. Tiphanie suspected a mind-altering spell or command, and the party began treating Mark’s absence as part of the same Reformist and aberrant pattern threatening the rest of the family.
Rescue and Geas
Section titled “Rescue and Geas”Luke’s immediate emergency after the Travertine revelations was the need to save Mark. Using a personal focus provided by Gwyniviere, the party teleported to him and found him wet, muddy, pale, feverish, and abandoned in a ditch after rain. His belongings were gone, and the trail appeared to end at him, suggesting Dimension DoorLevel 4 · Conjuration1 action · 500 ft. · InstantaneousVYou teleport yourself from your current location to any other spot within range. You arrive at exactly the spot desired. It can be a place you can see, one you can visualize, or one you can describe by stating distance and direction, such as "200 feet straight downward" or "upward to the northwest at a 45-degree angle, 300 feet." You can bring along objects as long as their weight doesn't exceed what you can carry. You can also bring one willing creature of your size or smaller who is carrying gear up to its carrying capacity. The creature must be within 5 feet of you when you cast this spell. If you would arrive in a place already occupied by an object or a creature, you and any creature traveling with you each take 4d6 force damage, and the spell fails to teleport you. or similar magic rather than ordinary flight.
Mark said that he needed to meet his father. The party withheld sensitive information from him because he might be compromised, and GeasLevel 5 · Enchantment1 minute · 60 ft. · 30 dayVYou place a magical command on a creature that you can see within range, forcing it to carry out some service or refrain from some action or course of activity as you decide. If the creature can understand you, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become charmed by you for the duration. While the creature is charmed by you, it takes 5d10 psychic damage each time it acts in a manner directly counter to your instructions, but no more than once each day. A creature that can't understand you is unaffected by the spell. You can issue any command you choose, short of an activity that would result in certain death. Should you issue a suicidal command, the spell ends. You can end the spell early by using an action to dismiss it. A remove curse, greater restoration, or wish spell also ends it. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th or 8th level, the duration is 1 year. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 9th level, the spell lasts until it is ended by one of the spells mentioned above. was identified as the likely magic rather than simple SuggestionLevel 2 · Enchantment1 action · 30 ft. · 8 hourV, M (a snake's tongue and either a bit of honeycomb or a drop of sweet oil)You suggest a course of activity (limited to a sentence or two) and magically influence a creature you can see within range that can hear and understand you. Creatures that can't be charmed are immune to this effect. The suggestion must be worded in such a manner as to make the course of action sound reasonable. Asking the creature to stab itself, throw itself onto a spear, immolate itself, or do some other obviously harmful act ends the spell. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it pursues the course of action you described to the best of its ability. The suggested course of action can continue for the entire duration. If the suggested activity can be completed in a shorter time, the spell ends when the subject finishes what it was asked to do. You can also specify conditions that will trigger a special activity during the duration. For example, you might suggest that a knight give her warhorse to the first beggar she meets. If the condition isn't met before the spell expires, the activity isn't performed. If you or any of your companions damage the target, the spell ends.. He remembered finding shard-like sea glass near one of the waterfalls near the Travertines, connecting his condition to the broader shard and Elven Boon investigations.
Parasite and Lycanthropy
Section titled “Parasite and Lycanthropy”Mark was treated as an immediate parasite or Reformist-control emergency. The group suspected that the enemy was trying to reach him through the parasite, the shard, or a related influence. Jessica’s celestial blood was used as part of a stopgap treatment because Mark was John’s brother, though the party recognized the danger of relying on celestial blood in ways that resembled earlier abuses.
Mark was moved into a secured dungeon or cage, where he underwent a violent transformation. His veins throbbed, fur grew, claws emerged, and his face became wolf-like. He howled and clawed at the bars, but Jessica’s attempt to calm him suggested that he remained more mentally present than a mindless werewolf. The party nevertheless worried that apparent lucidity might itself be shaped by command magic.
Jessica’s celestial blood removed Mark’s parasite, but her blood was also tainted with lycanthropy. As a result, Mark was affected by the curse even as the parasite was cleared. His lycanthropy remained urgent because he had been turned at the new moon, and the first full moon afterward might make him uncontrollable. How Jessica acquired lycanthropy despite celestial blood usually curing the curse remained an unresolved mystery.
Malthrek Infiltration
Section titled “Malthrek Infiltration”When the party later planned the approach to Castle Malthrek, Mark was needed because he knew the mountains, secret entrances, ruins, and hidden castle areas better than John. He anchored the party to a mountain cave near the Malthrek ancestral domain, a place used for solitude, calm, and centering. From there, he identified nearby mountains including Mt Thibris and Mt Sinitar, then led a dangerous but controlled descent toward the concealed approach to the castle.
Mark avoided the main road and brought the party to a hidden entrance near the castle wall. He set pitons and rope, tested the descent, and went first. Inside, he helped navigate older stonework, Kalassarian passages, and the route toward the kitchens and pantry.
Because of his lycanthropy, Mark eventually took the form of a dog for disguise. Emily Hazeldine helped him manage the change, and the form settled into something like a herding dog. In that form he could not speak, but he remained useful to the infiltration. He bumped his nose trying to open a door, later created a distraction by stealing a feather duster, and was covered as Junior, a house-trained dog or pet.
Family Status
Section titled “Family Status”During the Malthrek operations, Mark identified John, Emily, and Antoinette as family. He knew Antoinette was his mother, that Luke was alive, and that Matthew’s status remained uncertain. He also knew enough of his own condition to compare himself unfavorably to John and trained fighters.
Mark resisted removing the lycanthropic curse because he feared losing usefulness against the Reformists. Others insisted that he had sorcerer potential, though he worried that he might be a wild magic sorcerer. This fear of uselessness shaped his choices as much as the curse itself.
Encounter Statistics
Section titled “Encounter Statistics”Mark Malthrek, Human Form
Action Surge (1/Short Rest). Once per short or long rest, Mark can take one additional action on his turn. If he uses this to attack, he makes four longbow attacks total that turn instead of two.
Archery Fighting Style. Mark gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls he makes with ranged weapons.
Favored Quarry. The first time on each of his turns that Mark hits a creature with a weapon attack, the target takes an extra 3 (1d6) damage if Mark has tracked, marked, or pursued that creature for at least 1 minute.
Keen Hearing and Smell. Mark has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Recent Lycanthropy. Mark is still learning to contain the curse. When he starts his turn below half his hit point maximum, he must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or use his movement to get closer to the nearest hostile creature he can see or smell.
Actions
Multiattack. Mark makes two Longbow attacks or two Shortsword attacks.
Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.
Bonus Actions
Second Wind (1/Short Rest). Mark regains 12 (1d10 + 7) hit points.
Hunter's Step. Mark takes the Dash or Hide action.
Reactions
Archer's Brace. When a creature Mark can see enters a space within 30 feet of him, Mark can make one Longbow attack against that creature.
Mark Malthrek, Wolf Form
Keen Hearing and Smell. Mark has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Pack Tactics. Mark has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of Mark's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Reluctant Shapechanger. Mark can use an action to polymorph into a wolf-humanoid hybrid, into a wolf, or back into his human form. His statistics are replaced by the statistics of the new form, but he retains his personality and memories.
Actions
Multiattack. Mark makes two Bite attacks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked proneProneConditionSource XPHBWhile you have the Prone condition, you experience the following effects. Your only movement options are to Crawling or to spend an amount of movement equal to half your Speed (round down) to right yourself and thereby end the condition. If your Speed is 0, you can't right yourself. You have Disadvantage on attack rolls. An attack roll against you has Advantage if the attacker is within 5 feet of you. Otherwise, that attack roll has Disadvantage.. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with werewolf lycanthropy.
Bonus Actions
Bounding Rush. Mark moves up to half his speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Mark Malthrek, Beast Werewolf Form
Action Surge (1/Short Rest). Once per short or long rest, Mark can take one additional action on his turn. If he uses this to attack, he makes two additional attacks as part of that action.
Feral Archery. Mark can still fire a longbow in this form, but his claws make precise shooting difficult. His Longbow attack does not include the Archery fighting style bonus while he is in beast werewolf form.
Keen Hearing and Smell. Mark has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Pack Tactics. Mark has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of Mark's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Reluctant Shapechanger. Mark can use an action to polymorph into a wolf-humanoid hybrid, into a wolf, or back into his human form. His statistics are replaced by the statistics of the new form, but he retains his personality and memories.
Actions
Multiattack. Mark makes three attacks: one Bite attack and two Claw attacks, or three Longbow attacks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with werewolf lycanthropy.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d4 + 5) slashing damage.
Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Bonus Actions
Second Wind (1/Short Rest). Mark regains 12 (1d10 + 7) hit points.
Feral Lunge. Mark moves up to half his speed toward a creature he can see or smell. If he ends this move within 5 feet of that creature, his next melee attack against it before the end of the turn deals an extra 3 (1d6) slashing damage.
Reactions
Savage Pursuit. When a creature Mark can see within 30 feet of him moves away from him, Mark moves up to half his speed toward that creature.