Urchin for Arhyn, Hermit and Charlatan for Ari!
Urchin: Who had the most influence on Arhyn during her childhood?
Gonna be predictable and say Gorion. I mean, it’s his fault she got stuck in Candlekeep for over a decade and all. (I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about canon BG timelines and ToB’s depiction of your character’s mother and everything. so bhaalspawn childhoods need... some more fleshing out in general...)
Hermit: If Arizan were left alone on a deserted island with all his abilities but no supplies besides the clothes on his back, what measures would he take to leave the island? Or would he leave at all?
He would try to leave, yes. His immediate actions would depend on the circumstances? Like, is this a MotB case where he just. Wakes up on the island and has no idea how he got there? (in which case: Don’t move too far in case a Safiya is coming, but maybe set up a camp, find food, etc.) Or was there a shipwreck? (In which case: look for survivors, salvage, etc.)
His main plan for getting home is to cast Sending and tell Eladyna to come get him. Cause his holy symbol definitely counts as clothes. You’re not taking that away from him. (Less sure how spell components work, but after MotB I would THINK that’s one he’d just SEW INTO HIS HEMS or something) Anyway: Repeat Sending until his ex-pirate wizard friend has figured out where he is and how to get him, and then make a camp and live off local food/the Create Food and Water spell.
...haha I went through the cleric spell list and found this thing so it SOUNDS like he would even be able to give Eladyna reverse-directions, provided he’s got some kind of divination thing in his spell components pocket. Which isn’t guaranteed. (Eladyna carries a set of runes everywhere. they waste several Sendings going “just divine the way to Neverwinter” “with WHAT” “Do you not carry divination tools with you everywhere WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL ARE YOU” “well EXCUSE ME why don’t YOU divine it if you’re so prepared” etc etc).
If all else fails he is an ABSURDLY POWERFUL CLERIC, and several absurdly powerful cleric spells need diamonds, so he could probably. just. Gate in a friendly celestial. He’s gotta know a few by New Neverwinter time. Or he could straight up Gate to the Feywild or the Shadowfell, and then Gate back to the Prime. I’m using Gate instead of Plane Shift because 1. he’s more likely to have a diamond in his pocket than a tuning fork and 2. he’s absurd and would probably immediately jump to the most powerful teleportation spell Kelemvor can give him.
But he’s not so absurd that his first thought isn’t still “I need a boat. I KNOW A WIZARD WHO KNOWS BOATS. Time to call her.”
...idek what pre MotB Arizan would do. Aside from make a sheltered camp and pray a lot. And eventually remember he can use Sending to call Sand, who does not know boats especially well, but still might have advice?
(pre nwn2 Arizan is. in trouble. and probably just ends up living on the island provided it has enough food and fresh water on it)
Charlatan: Who does your character wished to be, as opposed to who they are now?
Nah sorry he’s pretty much always wanted to be a cleric since he learned that clerics were a Thing. REALLY TINY Arizan probably wanted to grow up to be a Big Powerful Sorcerer like his mom, and was THRILLED the first time he managed to make sparks. But then shit happened and he got older and figured out that baby sorcerers are nearly useless against undead, while baby clerics can usually accomplish SOMETHING, and he devoted his time to making that happen.
Chances are he met Brother Merring before he met any Kelemvorites, so there might have been a phase of “I really hope I can figure out how to channel Lathander’s power without getting really bad headaches,” but he’s still where he wanted to be. And he likes Kelemvor better than Lathander anyway.
Now, I’m not sure he’s as connected to the Kelemvorite community as he hoped he would be (once he got out of West Harbor and to a place that had an actual temple), but I feel like. At any stage I could use for “now,” he feels like he could GET there. So it’s not a problem.