In the vast realm of Dungeons & Dragons, where players become heroes, and dungeon masters craft intricate worlds, it’s been a long and winding road to bring this beloved tabletop game to the silver screen. After a less-than-stellar cinematic debut in 2000, fans have eagerly awaited a film that truly captures the essence of D&D. This year, 2023, their patience has been rewarded with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
This cinematic adventure manages to strike a remarkable balance, offering the immersive fantasy world dungeon masters meticulously create while also embracing the whimsical and unpredictable antics that players are renowned for. Plus, to add even more layers to this delightful experience, the film brings forth a variety of interesting characters, each with their own classes and backgrounds, that are bound to ignite curiosity amongst fans. In this article, we will discuss who the characters are and their background stories before the events of the film.
Edgin Darvis
Starting with the main character and protagonist of the story, Edgin Darvis. He is a human bard who does not use magic, and while he did explain his past in the film, here’s a quick recap. Edgin once joined the Harpers, a group of spies and peacekeepers, and took on different disguises like a minstrel or beggar to spy on targets. He encountered various challenges during his time with them, such as facing a banshee’s cry and surviving a sea hag’s attack while sailing along the Sword Coast.
However, Edgin’s life took a tragic turn when he stole a gold token from a Red Wizard. This act led the Red Wizards to attack his home, causing the death of his wife, Zia, and leaving their daughter, Kira, in hiding. Grief-stricken and blaming himself, Edgin abandoned his Harper oath and burned his Harper code. This series of events marked the end of Edgin’s career as a Harper and his transformation from a peacekeeper into a thief.
Holga Kilgore
Holga Kilgore is a barbarian, once-shunned member of an Elk tribe who faced exile for falling in love with a halfling named Marlamin. Their marriage eventually crumbled, as Holga couldn’t let go of the pain of her banishment, and Marlamin grew tired of worrying about her safety.
Her life took a turn when she befriended Edgin, a widowed ex-Harper, in Targos. Together, they embarked on a life of crime to provide for Edgin’s daughter, Kira, and their adventures introduced them to new team members, confronted gnoll raiders, and many more. However, their destiny took a drastic turn after encountering Lady Sofina, the wizard, during a fateful heist. This event ultimately led to their capture by the Harpers and an uncertain future.
Kira Darvis
Kira Darvis is the daughter of Edgin Darvis, and her story is most likely portrayed in the film. With Edgin and Holga turning into a life of crime, Kira learned their ways to be a child thief and join their heists. However, after that one fateful heist, Kira was left to be with Forge Fitzwilliam. In his hands, she lived a life of nobility due to Forgeโs skillfulness in being a con man, although unknowingly, she was also being fooled into thinking her father left her for treasures.
Simon Aumar
Simon Aumar is the half-elf sorcerer whose power relies on his level of confidence. Before the events of the film, Simon embarked on a mission to investigate mysterious occurrences on a supposedly haunted island, but he mysteriously disappeared. Two concerned villagers, Del and Grace, sought assistance from Forge Fitzwilliam, Edgin Darvis, and Holga Kilgore to locate their missing friend. The team ultimately saved Simon from the clutches of dark, oily vines that ensnared him. In exchange for his rescue, Simon pledged to lead them to a high-stakes heist in Neverwinter.
Their adventures took them to various encounters and challenges. However, their most fateful decision came when they were recruited by Lady Sofina for a daring heist at Korinn’s Keep. This undertaking ended in betrayal, leaving Simon to make a harrowing escape. After some time, Simon met the tiefling druid Doric and attempted to court her, but their relationship didn’t last. Subsequently, he honed his skills as an apprentice to a cleric of Kelemvor, granting him the ability to speak with the dead.
Eventually, Simon’s path led him to Triboar, where he struggled financially and resorted to petty thievery and stage magic. His life took an unexpected turn when Edgin and Holga, who recently escaped from Revel’s End prison, sought him out, culminating in a chaotic reunion.
Forge Fitzwilliam
Forge Fitzwilliam’s background was marked by a life of cunning deception and crime along the Sword Coast. Over the decades, he assumed various false identities, perpetrating heists and scams that left behind a trail of broken promises and stolen wealth. While he attributed his crooked ways to his mother’s strict upbringing, the truth of this claim remained debatable. He was a con man from the very beginning, after all.
In her later years, Forge’s path intersected with two fellow thieves, Edgin and Holga, in the tavern of Targos. Initially viewing them as easy marks, he was drawn into their heroic deeds as they rescued a child from gnolls. Their group confronted supernatural threats and plotted daring heists, all driven by Forge’s relentless pursuit of greater riches.
However, the introduction of Lady Sofina brought betrayal, culminating in their heist at Korinn’s Keep. Forge’s double-crossing schemes ultimately led to Simon’s near demise and Edgin’s tragic sacrifice to save Kira, his daughter. Forge’s true allegiance to Sofina was exposed, unraveling their partnership in later years.
Lady Sofina, The Red Wizard Of Thay
Sofina, an allegedly ancient Red Wizard about 300 years old, played a vital role in Szass Tam’s sinister coup in the past, using the horn of beckoning death to create an army of undead. As Szass Tam’s disciple, she later sought to retrieve the same horn from the vault of Korinn’s Keep, stored by the Harpers.
To achieve her goal, she formed an alliance with Edgin Darvis, Forge Fitzwilliam, and a team of thieves that included Holga Kilgore and Simon Aumar. While she promised to help Edgin resurrect his wife, her true intentions led to treacherous consequences, as they sought to steal the treasures guarded by the Harpers. Her actions set off a dangerous chain of events that ultimately jeopardized the group and their objectives, revealing her cunning and ruthless nature in later events.
Doric, The Druid
While Doric is introduced a bit later in the film, her background is rich and well-fleshed out. Doricโs journey began as a tiefling child abandoned by her human parents due to her demonic heritage. She endured isolation and cruelty until her rescue by wood elves, who provided her with a home and the opportunity to develop her druidic abilities.
She ventured south to train with the Emerald Enclave, honing her druidic skills and forming a strong bond with nature. Her journey took her on various adventures, including encounters with a sorcerer named Simon and aiding a village with a problematic well. Doric faced internal and external conflicts as she embraced her role as a druid, ultimately answering the call to protect nature from a raging wildfire.
Upon receiving a plea for help from her elven family in Neverwinter Wood, she returned to her roots, defending her woodland home from the encroaching logging operations and standing against the oppressive rule of the now Lord Forge Fitzwilliam. After successfully thwarting the logging efforts and preserving her owlbear spirit guide’s glade, she celebrated the victory with her newfound friends from the Enclave.
With her heart filled with experiences and knowledge of the world beyond her elven home, Doric embarked on a final quest: to visit her biological parents’ house, offering her a chance to confront her past. But before that happened, she encountered Edgin and his team, along with Simon, who recruited her to help them out on their heist on Neverwinter.
Xenk Yendar
Portrayed as a holy warrior and the one that led Edgin and his new team through the Underdark to reclaim the Helmet of Disjunction, Xenk Yendarโs past was key for the viewers to gain context of what Lady Sofinaโs motivation was in the film. His life began in Thay’s harsh and oppressive land under the rule of the Zulkir of Necromancy, Szass Tam.
He witnessed a horrifying event in his youth when Szass Tam used necromantic magic to forcibly transform the people of Thay into undead servants. Xenk barely escaped the dark ritual, leaving a part of himself behind and gaining an unnaturally long life. He spent the next century in exile, wandering the Realms and performing heroic deeds.
One of his notable quests before the events of the film involved the retrieval of the Helmet of Disjunction, which he promised to safeguard after a dying warrior entrusted it to him. His journey led him to the underground world of the Underdark, where he clashed with mind flayers and assisted deep gnome sisters, Trick and Trap, in their struggle against the illithids.
He successfully liberated the Svirfneblin and concealed the helmet in the hanging city of Dolblunde. Xenk’s heroic endeavors also extended to working with the Emerald Enclave to protect nature from the church of Talos, as well as battling foes in the desert of Anauroch and even holding off a beholder with a makeshift weapon.
Szass Tam
Szass Tam was the cliched trope โBig Bad Evil Guy.โ He is a powerful and infamous lich who is a central figure in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, particularly in the region of Thay. Thay is a land known for its heavy use of necromantic magic and its ruthless Red Wizards, who often practice dark arts. Szass Tam is the Zulkir of Necromancy, making him the head of the Red Wizards in this school of magic. He is one of the most feared and influential figures in Thay, wielding immense magical power and controlling legions of undead.
Szass Tam is known for orchestrating a coup that allowed him to seize power and transform much of Thay’s population into undead minions to serve his ambitions. He is also associated with the horn of beckoning death, which was later retrieved by Lady Sofina in the film. It is a powerful magical artifact that can command the dead. His cruel and despotic rule has made him a major antagonist in many Dungeons & Dragons campaigns set in the Forgotten Realms, and his necromantic machinations often bring suffering and chaos to the region.