accent and has a fear of trees, taking any chance he can get to fight them. Belkar Bitterleaf: A chaotic evil halfling ranger/barbarian, Belkar is an erratic, casual killer driven by selfish impulses. He joined the Order to escape justice from a deadly bar fight in which he knifed fifteen people. The Order does not abandon him, despite his bloodthirsty tendencies, due to Roy's belief that he must keep Belkar under control. Belkar's loyalty to the Order fluctuates with his mood, and, despite frequently thinking about it, he never actually betrays them. He adopts a housecat named Mr. Scruffy to be his animal companion. Elan: A chaotic good human bard/Dashing Swordsman. Elan is the happy-go-lucky, childlike bard of the Order. Early in the series, he is frequently inept and oblivious to the motives of those around him, such as Haley's long-concealed attraction to him. Raised solely by his mother, Elan discovers early in the story that his absent warlord father raised his twin brother, Nale, to be an evil mastermind. Vaarsuvius: A true neutral elven wizard. Their gender is deliberately ambiguous, causing others, including teammates, to guess or make assumptions about their gender. They tend to be unnecessarily verbose, often to the point that it interferes with their effectiveness as a teammate, although sometimes it can be of value; they are also arrogant and condescending and are motivated by the need to gain "ultimate arcane power" as an end unto itself. They have two adopted children and were married to an equally ambiguously-gendered elf baker Inkyrius, but Inkyrius filed for divorce due to Vaarsuvius's quest for power taking priority over family matters. Antagonists The comic's central antagonists include the following: Xykon (Formerly human lich sorcerer, Chaotic Evil): The archvillain of the story, Xykon is engaged in a plot to conquer the world by controlling a world-destroying being known as the Snarl. While he has a notoriously short attention span and requires near-constant amusement, he is also capable of truly horrific acts of evil. Redcloak (Goblin Cleric of the Dark One, Lawful Evil): Xykon's main ally, he is a high priest of his deity and commander of the goblinoids that serve as the lich's minions. He is motivated by concern for the goblin people and their poor lot in life, believing that harnessing the power of the Snarl will allow his god to bargain for a better place for all goblins.