GM R Box - Reign of Winter

Game Master Twistlok

Helka Elvanna, baroness of the town Ledenica within the province of Thronehold and niece of Queen Elvanna, was briefly the talk of the wintry nation when she gave birth to triplets in AR 4696 -- seventeen years before the expected end of the current queen's reign. She immediately set about training her daughters in the ways of witchcraft and preparing them to rule. She had lofty expectations of both herself and her daughters when Baba Yaga returned to install a new daughter on the throne.

Her three daughters, Letitia, Lobelia, and Lucretia, all showed excellent promise. They were beautiful, white-haired and blue-eyed darlings and everything that their mother could have hoped for. They were given the finest tutoring as they grew up in the town on the Marbleflow River. Strangely enough, despite the lessons in the ruthlessness of Irriseni politics, the three girls were incredibly close and looked after each other. Whenever one faltered, the other two would be there to help her up.

Their lives in Ledenica was idyllic for the daughters of a winter witch. Their favorite Uncle Lazlo would take them to see the Marbleflow River and sometimes they would watch the hired adventurers that were sent to deal with the threats that would shamble out of the Frozen Fog.

On their fifteenth birthday, they were sent into the frozen wilds near their home to find their familiars. Lobelia found an arctic fox, while Lucretia made a connection with a white snow cat. Letitia, however, didn't find an animal to bond with.

The girls explored for several days, fighting the elements as Letitia tried everything to find a familiar. Frustration mounted, as did desperation. Finally, Lobelia suggested she charm an animal and pass it off as Letitia's familiar. Finding an arctic hare, they managed to capture it and return to their mother with their shared triumph.

Helka didn't notice the ruse, more concerned with the completion of their trials in the eyes of society than their actual success. Letitia kept the rabbit with her and relied upon her sisters' magic to fool their mother and instructors. They managed to keep up the ruse for four months until they were visited by Queen Elvanna herself.

The queen met at length with Helka while the triplets fretted over the queen's reasons for visiting. What sorts of business were conducted and what matters of state were discussed, the girls could only guess. But ultimately, when the two witches exited their chambers, something had been decided, and at least a portion of it involved Helka's girls.

The triplets were told to present themselves before their queen. Queen Elvanna smiled without warmth as she explained the trio were to go with her to Whitethrone to undertake study and tutelage within her own household. The honor of such a request turned to horror when Lobelia's charm on Letitia's hare wore off and the animal began fussing in the middle of the meeting.

The girls' ruse was discovered, and Letitia's shame in not having even begun the steps of becoming a winter witch was laid bare. Elvanna ordered Letitia to strangle the hare with her own hands. Then she took Lobelia and Lucretia with her to Whitethrone, and left Baroness Helka with instructions to do the same to her daughter that Letitia did to the rabbit.

Helka delayed, however. She locked Letitia up in her room so she could muster the will to do as her queen had bade. However, Letitia's uncle stole her out of her confinement and brought her to the docks. Lazlo knew the guard captain Vlad Omelinsky, who was responsible for the hiring of the mercenaries and adventurers, had been misreporting the payments and amassing a side fortune for himself. Blackmailing the guard captain, he had Letitia smuggled out of the city and the entire country with one of the adventuring parties that had finished their work.

Letitia dyed her hair and had to ride unceremoniously in a sack in the back of a wagon for most of the journey out of Irrisen. Once past the country's borders, Letitia followed the adventurers south. She didn't exactly know when to stop running, so she kept on traveling until she reached the nation of Taldor. It was there, in a small village called Heldren, that the adventurers finally dumped her.

Letitia decided she couldn't continue calling herself Letitia Elvanna, so she changed her surname to Frost. With some skill at alchemy, she found work at Willowbark Apothecary when she went in to buy some more hair dye with her last bit of coin. After several months enduring a blisteringly hot (though it was mild, the locals said) summer, Letitia began to come to the realization that she was fated to be an ordinary peasant in a foreign town. For a time, she was near inconsolable.

When winter finally arrived that year, she felt immeasurably better. She would wander in the woods in the blissful cold and feel somewhat normal. And then a snowy owl descended from the frost-covered branches and connected with her. It finally happened: she connected with a familiar!

The rest of the winter passed in a blur. Her work in the apothecary improved immensely, and her arcane abilities flourished with the guidance of her familiar, who she named Lazlo after her favorite uncle.

Unfortunately, winter ended, and spring and summer began once more. But she was a witch, and would carry winter in her heart no matter where she went.

Recently, though, Soshyar has been inexplicably drawn back towards his home region. While the reports of strange, decidedly unnatural activity around the Border Wood has Soshyar unnerved and worried about his home, he feels a more primal pull as well, as if he was a drop of water being slowly but surely driven down the face of a leaf before plummeting to the unknown below. Gathering his few belongings and thoughts, he breaks from his travel to head back to the familiar lands of home, and the unknown that is befalling it.

Blue from head to toe, Soshyar's extraplanar blood is evident at a glance. He's not particularly tall or big, though he carries a restless intensity with him. His armor and gear all seem to be crafted carefully from natural materials. Soshyar is eager to move around and see the world, preferring to never stay still for too long - both on a map, and in person. Though this may make him seem jittery, he can be quite patient and thoughtful, though he tends to let his instincts take him in new directions when he can't make up his mind - which is quite often.

Languages Common, Aquan, Kelish, Druidic, Sylvan

HP 10/10 Initiative +3 Speed walk 20 ft swim 30 ft Senses perception +8, darkvision 60ft

STR 10(+0) DEX 16(+3) CON 12(+1) INT 13(+1) WIS 18(+4) CHA 8(-1)

Craft (Armor) +5 Knowledge (Geography) +6 Knowledge (Local) +6 Knowledge (Nature) +7 Perception +8 Stealth +4 (+0 with ACP) Survival +10

===Offense===
BAB +0 Melee +0 Ranged +3 CMB +0

Weapons
Sickle (+0, 20/x2, 1d6 S)
Sling (+3, 20/x2, 50/500 ft, 1d4 B)

===Defense===
AC 13 (18 with armor) TAC 13 FFAC 10 (15 with armor)
CMD 13 FFCMD 10
Fort +3 Reflex +3 Will +6
Damage Resistance none
Energy Resistance cold 5
Spell Resistance none

Armor/Shield
Horn Lamellar (+5 AC, -4 ACP, +3 max DEX)

===Feats and Traits===
Feats
Hydraulic Maneuver

Traits
Restless Wayfarer (Local)
Whiteout

===Special Abilities===
Race
Energy Resistance
Hydraulic Push (Sp) 1/day
Water Affinity
Darkvision 60ft

Class
Weapon Proficiency (Druid/Natural)
Armor Proficiency (Light/Medium/Druid)
Shield Proficiency (except Tower)
Spontaneous Casting
Bonus Languages
Nature Bond (Ex) - Flowing subdomain
-Go with the Flow (Su) [3+WIS/day]
Nature Sense (Ex)
Wild Empathy (Ex) +0

Favored Class Druid
+1 HP

===Spells===
Bonus Spells/Day 1:1 2:1 3:1 4:1
Spells/Day 0:3 1:1+1
Spell DC 14 + spell level
Concentration +5
0
Detect Magic
Mending
Spark
1
(domain) Obscuring Mist
Cure Light Wounds
Hydraulic Push

===Gear===
pp 0 gp 3 sp 2 cp 0

Weight 65 (16 in backpack)
Carrying Capacity 33/66/100

Traveler's Outfit
Horn Lamellar
Sickle
Sling
Sling Bullets x20
Holly and Mistletoe
Spell Component Pouch
Common Backpack
-Waterskin
-Trail Rations x5
-Bedroll

The one bright spot in all this however was that it brought him to the attention of the Heralds of Summer's Return, when his owner took him to a Pharasmin temple for healing after a particularly invasive experiment. His rescue was actually highly successful, and a huge morale boost for the Heralds, as they successfully smuggled him out of Irrisen. One of the group that escorted him after he escaped from Irrisen was a tiefling named Tomorbaatar, whom Zakat bonded with over their shared outsider influences, to the point where when it came time for them to part ways, he left his backup weapon, a strangely sleek halberd, with Kazak.

After almost two years of travelling, he ended up in Heldren, in Taldor, under the care of an old soothsayer named Theodora. For the last two years she has raised him, and done her best to help him discover and adjust to what was done to him. While he still occasionally has flashbacks, and has a tendency to take even casual suggestions as ironclad orders, for the most part he is healthy and content.

Age: 17 (14 when rescued by Heralds, 16 when started living with Theodora)
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 165 lbs
Personality Type: ISTJ
Actor: Gladiator era Russel Crowe, or Joe Dempsie

Racial Traits:
Reptilian Ancestory (Humans with reptoid or serpentfolk ancestry sometimes have nictitating membranes or patches of scaly skin. They gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects and poisons. This racial trait replaces the bonus feat trait.)
Draconic Heritage (At times, a human’s family history can have a dragon’s power bound to the bloodline. Humans with this trait gain darkvision with a range of 10 feet and low-light vision. They can also ignore the Charisma prerequisite for Eldritch HeritageAPG and any feat that has Eldritch Heritage as a prerequisite, but can select only the draconic bloodline with these feats. This replaces the bonus skill rank humans receive at each level.)

Traits: Warded Against Witchery, Know the Land, Heirloom Weapon

Feats: Cunning

Skills: Knowledge (Arcana)+5, Knowledge (Planes)+5, Perception+5, Sense Motive+5, Spellcraft+5, Survival+6, Use Magic Device+7

Background Skills: Knowledge (Geography)+2, Linguistics+5

Languages: Taldane, Hallit, Draconic

SQ Knacks, Spirit, Spirit Surge

Equipment: Halberd, Masterwork Studded Leather, misc Will finish if selected

How many PbP games are you currently in? I am playing in 1 PFS scenario, but I have recently started to add to recruitments on several (including your Jade Regent one as Onas Feher). GMing? I have been running a PBP of Mummy's Mask for over a year now. It has been a learning experience.

Have you played, GMed or read Reign of Winter? I have read the AP, though it has been a few years now.

Can you post at least once per day M-F 90% of the time? Yes.

Would you, if requested, provide an actual email for contact if you ghost the game? I will private message the GM and players with that if asked.

Is there any other information you would like to share? I am not as experienced at PBP as I am with the games overall but I bring years of experience at RPing over mechanics. I love a good story and as life has gotten in the way of playing in person, I have found that the PBP environment allows me to play more but with less scheduling issues.

Do you understand that you need to track XP and other resources for yourself? As a logistics specialist in real life, keeping track of numbers is kind of what I do. This will not be an issue, I even feel I can tend to take it further than is necessary.

--Melee:+4
Masterwork Cold Iron Fauchard +6 (1d10+6) 18-20

--Ranged:+2
Orc Hornbow (cold iron arrows) +3 (2d6) x3

-------------------------------=STATISTICS=-------------------------------
Str: 18, Dex: 14, Con: 12, Int: 7, Wis: 14, Cha: 12

-------------------------=Traits=----------------------
Adopted: You were adopted and raised by someone not of your race, and raised in a society not your own. As a result, you picked up a race trait from your adoptive parents and society, and may immediately select a race trait from your adoptive parents’ race.
Ancestral Weapon: You have inherited a sacred tribal weapon wielded by your forebears, and you were trained in its use from a young age.
Select either cold iron or silver. You begin play with a masterwork melee weapon made of the material of your choice. You must be proficient with this weapon, and its combined cost cannot exceed 500 gp. (Masterwork Cold Iron Fauchard)
You gain a +1 trait bonus on attack rolls with weapons made of the selected material.
Northern Ancestry: One of your parents came from the North, and the tales of the frozen lands at the top of the world that you grew up listening to excited your imagination. Alternatively, maybe one of your ancestor passed on the blood of some frost-rimed creature. You feel most alive during the chill of winter, and as a child, you spent hours playing in the snow. You rarely feel the cold, and you’ve always had a restless longing to travel north. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves, as well as cold resistance 2; this resistance does not stack with cold resistance gained from any other source.

----------------=Race Traits=-------------------
Skilled: +1 skill point per level
Military Tradition: Several human cultures raise all children (or all children of a certain social class) to serve in the military or defend themselves with force of arms. They gain proficiency with up to two martial or exotic weapons appropriate to their culture. This racial trait replaces the bonus feat trait.

--------------=Feats=-----------------
1st: Combat Reflexes
Human: Exotic Weapon Profiency Fauchard
Human: Exotic Weapon Profiency Orc Hornbow

-=Languages=- Common

---------------=Background Skills=- (2 points)---------------
Appraise(Int)____-2{+0rank,-2Int}
^Craft (Int)____-2{+0rank,-2Int}
Handle Animal (Cha)____+1{+0rank,+1Cha}
Knowledge (Engineering)(Int)____-2{+0rank,-2Int}
Knowledge (Geography)(Int)____-2{+0rank,-2Int}
^Knowledge (History)(Int)____-2{+0rank,-2Int}
^Knowledge (Nobility)(Int)____+2{+1rank,-2Int,+3class}
^Linguistics(Int)____-2{+0rank,-2Int}
Perform(Cha)____+1{+0rank,+1Cha}
^Profession (Vinter)(Wis)____+6{+1rank,+2Wis,+3class}
Sleight of Hand*(Dex)____+0{+0rank,+2Dex,-2ACP}

ACP -2

*ACP applies to these skills
^In Class Skill Bonus +3
-=Non-Standard Skill Bonuses=-

Dedicated Summoner
A herald caller depends on summoned allies to overcome her foes, which affords her little experience with the martial pursuits typical of other clerics and a narrower spiritual focus. A herald caller can choose only one domain from her deity’s list of domains, rather than the normal two domains, and she doesn’t gain proficiency with medium armor or shields.

Divine Heralds (Su)
A herald caller can use summon monster spells only to summon creatures particularly appropriate to her deity. This includes all creatures listed as summon monster options for priests of her deity (see Expanded Summoning for Clerics), creatures whose alignment matches at least one aspect of her deity’s alignment, and creatures of an elemental subtype that matches a domain granted by the deity (if any). When summoning a creature that is normally summoned with the celestial or fiendish template, a herald caller of a chaotic deity can instead summon it with the entropic template, and a herald caller of a lawful deity can instead summon it with the resolute template.

Because of these summoned monsters’ strong ties to the herald caller’s deity, the herald caller also gains specific benefits with creatures she summons with summon monster spells gained from her cleric spell list. The herald caller and her summoned monsters can understand each other’s spoken words as if they shared a common language (though this doesn’t give summoned monsters the ability to speak if they normally lack it). Whenever the herald caller uses channel energy to heal, she can include all of her summoned monsters, even if they are out of her normal channel energy radius or of a creature type that would not normally be affected. If she channels energy to deal damage, she can exclude any of her summoned monsters that would normally be affected.

Travel Domain:
You are an explorer and find enlightenment in the simple joy of travel, be it by foot or conveyance or magic. Increase your base speed by 10 feet.
Agile Feet (Su): As a free action, you can gain increased mobility for 1 round. For the next round, you ignore all difficult terrain and do not take any penalties for moving through it. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
Channel Energy (Su):
A good cleric (or a neutral cleric who worships a good deity) channels positive energy and can choose to deal damage to undead creatures or to heal living creatures. Channeling energy causes a burst that affects all creatures of one type (either undead or living) in a 30-foot radius centered on the cleric. The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to 1d6 points of damage plus 1d6 points of damage for every two cleric levels beyond 1st (2d6 at 3rd, 3d6 at 5th, and so on). Creatures that take damage from channeled energy receive a Will save to halve the damage. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the cleric’s level + the cleric’s Charisma modifier. Creatures healed by channel energy cannot exceed their maximum hit point total—all excess healing is lost. A cleric may channel energy a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. This is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. A cleric can choose whether or not to include herself in this effect. A cleric must be able to present her holy symbol to use this ability.

-=Carrying Capacity=-
Light 0-100 lb. Medium 101-200 lb. Heavy 201-300 lb.
-=Current Load Carried=- 0 lb.

-=Money=- 0 GP 4 SP 0 CP

Growing up for Erik was a clash of cultures, his mother taught him courtly manners, his father taught him how to fight, but the day to day business was all about making wine. Every day he would practice with his father for several hours, using mighty polearms from his father's tribe or a powerful hornbow that his father had once upon a time claimed as spoils of war from the orcs of the hold of Belzeken. After dark his mother would more often than not spend an hour or so to teach him and eventually his brother Haldor and two sisters Katerina and Anna as well about their ancestry and how to behave.

There were often other people coming to the winery to trade or to buy wine. They came with tales of adventure, or frequently worship of Cayden Cailean, because his followers couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit an excellent winery. They told him about the importance of fighting tyranny and oppression and this made the young boy wonder if his parents really did make the correct choice in leaving their homeland instead of staying to fight.

Inspired by these visitors Erik would often travel to the nearby city to visit the temple of Cayden Cailean and stay longer than what would be necessary to just sell wine. Eventually he spent more time there than at home and finally he was ordained a cleric of the lucky drunk. He was surprised at his father's reaction to the event. Jon gave him one of his finest polearms, a fauchard and one of the mighty bows. Jon told his son that it was now up to him to prove himself and that Jon would pray to Erik’s god that his son would gather more valor and accomplish more than he had been able to do.

Erik has ventured out adventuring to fight for what's right, though he doesn't get know exactly what he'll encounter. He wants to see the world and what's out there, not just stay in one place all the time.

The young man loves wine and tasting different kinds and he hopes that his travels will give him opportunity to sample more. When he needs to relax, he prefers to enjoy alcoholic beverages with song and good company. He's not a loner that prefers to drink by himself.