Halph Budkin
Description
Halph is the son of Vonnifa Budkin and the nephew of Beethro. Ever since he was small, he has always had a strong interest in dungeons and their occupants, something that has caused many problems for Beethro, ranging from finding Halph trying to explore dangerous subterranean areas, to enduring sustained pleas to be taken along on one of Beethro’s extermination trips. Despite this, Vonnifa was reasonably able to keep him out of trouble and away from dungeons while he was younger, most notably because of her firm opposition to the entire dungeon extermination profession and her reluctance to let Beethro see Halph too often. This changed, however, when Halph became a teenager, and started to take his interest seriously, attending lectures by the Smitemasters’ Guild when he could and attempting to talk to dungeon exterminators about dungeons and their trade. Vonnifa became very concerned that Halph might actually attempt to enter a real dungeon himself one day without any training, and eventually decided to send him to Beethro in the hope that he could change Halph’s mind. Unfortunately, Beethro was also unable to convince Halph not to become a dungeon exterminator, even after numerous warnings, descriptions of dungeon life and stories about some of his most dangerous experiences. Beethro despaired after his visit to Vonnifa’s basement actually encouraged Halph, and decided, after some time, that the last thing he could do was to take him on his return to King Dugan’s Dungeon in the hope that seeing a real dungeon and monsters would scare Halph enough to curb his enthusiasm. This, however, was to yield strange results, since although Halph showed no interest in dungeon extermination while he was travelling with Beethro, he showed no fear of anything either, and was able to move around in the hold in strange ways, even appearing completely unattractive to monsters. Beethro soon realised that although this was one of the strangest things he had ever seen, he could use it to his advantage, and used Halph to help him solve puzzles that he could not have completed unaided. This unusual ability was also to hold a darker, more mysterious secret, as Beethro discovered later on during his journey.
Character Traits
Halph is a detached and dreamy sort of person, sometimes appearing to be completely uninterested in his surroundings. He is generally fearless and will not hesitate to do something that he wants to do, or investigate something he finds interesting, even to the point of completely ignoring Beethro and putting himself at risk. Although interested in dungeon extermination, Halph is actually a peaceful sort of person, who generally avoids attacking monsters, even if it would be useful to Beethro. This innate pacifism is also sensed by monsters, which likewise avoid attacking him and ignore him too. In a way, Halph trades any combat ability he has for safety with monsters, which is strange and not something that any Eighther would normally do, even to gain an advantage. Halph also has a slightly playful character, and is quite a social person, being able to speak with total strangers and even goblins while completely at ease.