Ratanish

General Ratanish
Official art of Ratanish, by Mike Pape.
Type	NPC
Actor	Matthew Mercer
Character Information
Pronouns	he/him
Titles	General
Creature type	Humanoid
Race	Goliath
Class	Barbarian (Path of the Storm Herald)
Age	40s
Languages	Common, Giant[presumed]
Place	Jrusar
Connections	Paragon's Call (leader)
Profession	Mercenary
Status
Status	Deceased
Cause of death	Killed by Bells Hells
Death episode(s)	"Embattled in Bassuras" (3x70)
Stats
Level	Between 5 and 9
HP	∼160
AC	15
DC
Appearances
First seen	"A Dance of Deception" (3x13)
Last seen	"Phantasmal Parley" (3x72) (via Speak with Dead)
Stream	Campaign Three (9 episodes)

General Ratanish (pronounced /rəˈtænɪʃ/ or /rəˈtɑːnɪʃ/) was a goliath and leader of the Paragon's Call. As an NPC, Ratanish was played by Matthew Mercer.

Description

Appearance

Fan art of Ratanish, by Colton Balske of Kraven's Keep.

Ratanish was a very tall, broad shouldered goliath in his 40s. He was mostly bald except for a waist-long, deep red and gray braid on the back of his head that was fastened at the end with a metallic iron ring. He had a brand mark of the symbol of the Duskmaven on his left shoulder.

Personality

Ratanish was imposing and aware of it. He openly confronted both Laudna and Ashton at the ball over Laudna's undead status and Ashton's Nightmare King mask. He also seemed somewhat short-tempered, particularly with Ashton, although after their fight he became jovial and offered them employment with Paragon's Call in Bassuras.

When the party accepted this invitation he was welcoming and friendly, although warning them not to show too much initiative without having received orders first.

Biography

Screenshot of the Ratanish mini from "Embattled in Bassuras" (3x70) at 0:40:56.

Campaign Three: Bells Hells

"A Dance of Deception" (3x13)

Ratanish entered the ball with four fellow members of Paragon's Call. He danced with Laudna during the Dance of the Crossroads, identified her as undead, and revealed to her that he was a follower of The Raven Queen. Later, Vali Dertrana noticed Ashton's Nightmare King mask and alerted Ratanish. Ratanish approached Ashton and confronted them about the mask. Ashton did not reveal any information about why he was wearing the mask nor who he was working for, so Ratanish ripped it off. Ashton retaliated by slapping him, and Ratanish hit him back then challenged him to a fight. The two went outside, followed by the curious party attenders.

"In Too Deep" (3x14)

In their fist fight, Ashton was successful in damaging Ratanish but was eventually knocked unconscious. After his victory, Ratanish took the opportunity to promote Paragon's Call's services to the gathered audience. Later, three members of Paragon's Call approached Ashton and invited him to converse privately with Ratanish, who questioned Ashton about the Nightmare King mask they were wearing. Ashton told him only that the reason they were at the ball had nothing to do with the Call. Ratanish accepted this, but advised Ashton that in the future, when they are involved in the destruction of property within Jrusar, such as the Moon Tower, not to immediately show their face in the center of its politics. He then extended an offer of possible employment in the future.

"A Stage Set" (3x32)

Ratanish personally welcomed Bells Hells and showed them to their new quarters in the Seat of Disdain. When Ashton began helping other Call members in loading a crawler with stacked crates, Ratanish warned them against taking actions without orders, but ultimately accepted their aid and thanked them afterward.

"The Apogee Solstice" (3x51)

Ratanish was in the Tishtan excavation site the day of the apogee solstice. He encountered Imogen and Orym with a Warder automaton (who was controlled by FCG and carrying the rest of Bells Hells inside), but he didn't recognize them, assuming Imogen was a member of the Ruby Vanguard and Orym (with his face full of red stains from cleverly-used red berries) was a dying prisoner. Before the general left he even kicked the halfling's body, but Orym didn't react.

"Embattled in Bassuras" (3x70)

After the solstice began, Paragon's Call returned to Bassuras under the command of General Ratanish, who forced the locals to stay within the city and made Imahara Joe and Verna the Viper work for him building weapons to use against skyships, such as a brumestone nullifier. When Bells Hells visited Bassuras they went to Imahara Joe's while Ratanish and six of his people were there. A battle ensued during which Fresh Cut Grass Banished the general. After everyone else was defeated, Bells Hells gathered around the spot where Ratanish would return to the Material Plane and mercilessly attacked when he did; Orym disarmed him and made him fall to the ground, leaving him exposed for Ashton, who crushed the goliath's chest with his hammer.

"Phantasmal Parley" (3x72)

Since they had taken the general's corpse, Bells Hells tried interrogating him through FCG's Speal with Dead spell in a beach in Slival. Imogen pretended to be her mother (with Laudna's illusory assistance) and asked Ratanish about the methods of communication of the Ruby Vanguard, as well as the access to the Malleus Key. Although the echo of his spirit answered at first, he started getting suspicious and towards the end his answers became cautious. The Exaltant ripped his head off his body to ask about Caleb Widogast and Beauregard Lionett's fates, but when the goliath said they were probably dead, she ended the interrogation. They left the corpse in the sea after Fearne took two molars from it.

Character information

Notable items

• A pendant of a golden bird skull, taken by Bells Hells
• A battleaxe, taken by Bells Hells

Abilities

Feat: Fighting Initiate (Unarmed Fighting) (presumed)

Barbarian abilities

• Rage
• Extra Attack
• Primal Path: Path of the Storm Herald
  • Storm Aura: Desert

Appearances and mentions

• Campaign Three
  • "A Dance of Deception" (3x13) (first appearance)
  • "In Too Deep" (3x14)
  • "The Tunnels Below" (3x15), mentioned only
  • "A Taste of Tal'Dorei" (3x25) (seen at a distance)
  • "A Race for the Prize" (3x27)
  • "The Deathwish Run" (3x28)
  • "A Stage Set" (3x32)
  • "The Apogee Solstice" (3x51)
  • "Embattled in Bassuras" (3x70)
  • "Phantasmal Parley" (3x72), Speak with Dead

Quotations

• Ratanish: (to Ashton, after having been slapped by them) You see, when I taste blood, it's hard to get it out of my mind.
• Ratanish: (to Ashton, after defeating them in a duel) All I can do is hope that, when next we meet, it is not as opposition, because I would hate to cut your throat.
• Ratanish: I will say initiative is rewarded in situations of defense of the Paragon's Call. Initiative is considered extremely bad if you are taking things you are not given orders to do. I order you to help with the loading of this, please. We need more people. See, there is a process to this. You wait for the orders, then you do them. When it comes to cutting throats that do not wear the capes, please take your initiative if you feel it is necessary. If it is not necessary, then we just disavow any knowledge of you and toss you to the dogs.

Trivia

• Ratanish's hobby was jewelry-making.
• He was the highest-ranking ally of the Ruby Vanguard killed by Bells Hells before Otohan Thull was killed by Fresh Cut Grass.

References

Art: