Heart of the Jungle (Inactive)

Game Master Mowque

Stats: 
Grippli Druid 3 
Small humanoid NG 
Init +3; Senses Perception +10 
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DEFENSE 
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AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+3 armor, +3 Dex, +1 size) 
hp 27 
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +7 
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OFFENSE 
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Speed 30 ft., Climb 20 ft.  
Melee mwk scimitar +4 (1d4/18-20) or 
Melee dagger +3 (1d3/19-20) 
Ranged dagger +6 (1d3/19-20), ranged touch attack +6  
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STATISTICS 
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Str 10, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 8 
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD +12  
Feats  Agile tongue, Toughness 
Traits Magical Lineage (snowball), Swamp Rebel 
Skills Climb +6, Heal +5, Knowledge (geography) +2, Knowledge (nature) +4, Perception +10, Profession (trees) +3, Profession (water creatures) +2, Ride +7, Spellcraft +5, Stealth +10 (+16 in marshes and forested areas), Survival +10, Swim +6
Languages Common, Druidic, Grippli, Sylvan 
SQ  
Combat Gear mwk scimitar, dagger, +1 leather armor Other Gear Wand of CLW (50 charges), antitoxin [2], backpack, belt pouch, rope [50 ft.], vermin repellent [5], waterskin, gp, sp (still sorting out gear...)
Carrying Capacity 
Total Carried Weight: 
Light Load: 33 lbs. or less 
Medium Load: 34 - 66 lbs. 
Heavy Load: 67 - 100 lbs. 
Lift Over Head: up to 100 lbs. 
Lift: up to 200 lbs. 
Push or Drag: up to 500 lbs.
Druid Features 
Nature Bond (Water Domain), Nature Sense, Wild Empathy, Woodland Stride, Trackless Step
Water Domain:
Granted Powers: You can manipulate water and mist and ice, conjure creatures of water, and resist cold.
Icicle (Sp): As a standard action, you can fire an icicle from your finger, targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. The icicle deals 1d6 points of cold damage + 1 point for every two druid levels you possess. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
Cold Resistance (Ex): At 6th level, you gain resist cold 10. This resistance increases to 20 at 12th level. At 20th level, you gain immunity to cold.
Domain Spells: 1st—obscuring mist, 2nd—fog cloud, 3rd—water breathing, 4th—control water, 5th—ice storm, 6th—cone of cold, 7th—elemental body IV (water only), 8th—horrid wilting, 9th—elemental swarm (water spell only).

Spells per day: 0: 4, 1: 3+1, 2: 2+1

Racial Traits 
Swamp Stride (Ex), Weapon Familiarity (nets), Darkvision 60'

He followed the Vanji River all the way to its mouth, simply to see where it went, and what lived in it. Bloodcove fascinated him for other reasons. He saw the damage humans were able to cause to his beloved trees and swamps (and his people), and the reckless pursuits behind it all. This bothered him, but he was wise enough to see that he couldn't stop it. He could only try to ameliorate the damage with education, and his druidic magic.

Sborki knows that Bandrift and company will not care for the forest like he does. He wants to go along both to educate, and to protect what he sees as a threatened wild space. His knowledge of the flora and fauna make him a valuable guide/scout/healer, and he knows what is and isn't safe to eat.

The years passed this way as he slowly increased his power and even took an apprentice named Inura Valdom, a half elven maiden of some power. Over the next two years it became apparent that Inura was not meant to wield the spells of wizards, instead her powers developed from within, she had become a powerful sorceress. With little fanfare Mrenel released her from her apprenticeship, he knew he was holding her back as she desperately tried to master the written formulae of a wizard. She declared him a foolish man who would pay.

Despite this setback Mrenel had discovered he truly loved teaching and chose to devote his life to teaching and his studies. At least until Dagen Bandrift made his way out of the Mwangi Expanse laden with treasure and rubbings of an ancient language. Mrenel was quickly dispatched to examine the rubbings and see about joining Dagen in his new expedition in an attempt to win prestige for the Academy and help people remember them in a more positive light than the Carrion Golem incident.

Just like with the townspeople of Korholm, Elator and Ahrendué never discussed any personal business of their time before coming to Cheliax with their son. That suited the young elf just fine, as he was eager to fit in with his almost 100% human neighbors. As a young man, Tathlan had the misfortune of seeing the Death of Aroden first hand, and the subsequent eruption of chaos across the mostly-human Avistani continent. He enthusiastically enlisted in the Molthuni liberation army as barely more than a boy, and his service in the country's war of liberation saw the Larethaeriths awarded with full citizenship once Molthune had secured its independence. Tathlan left the army and found a position with the newly formed city guard of Fort Ramgate.

In the intervening decades, just as before, Tathlan served with distinction and eventually became captain of the wall guard of Fort Ramgate, overseeing those that patrolled the walls of the city- no small feat given that there were constant attacks by Nimrathi rebels. In his time on the wall Tathlan slew hundreds of Nimrathans with his trusty crossbow. He developed a reputation as a bit of martinet in his role as guard captain, and it could fairly be said his subordinates (and even his superiors and peers) respected him greatly, but few loved him.

Tathlan eventually met and married a human woman, a mid-ranking priestess of Abadar at the city's shrine, named Klebertine Chiroc. Though Klebertine was a confirmed maiden by the time she met Tathlan (she was assigned as guard chaplain to his wall section), the two fell in love quickly. Though she was slightly past normal childbearing age, some fertility potions from Ahrendué (and a lot of time spent under the covers) Klebertine and Tathlan ended up having two children together- the older a girl named Fleurice, the younger a boy named Theresien. At home the Larethaeriths were strict with their children, but unlike what many expected given his reputation with the guard, Tathlan did not keep them under military discipline. Theresien became the apple of his parent's eyes, while Fleurice rebelled and left home at a fairly early age to pursue her fortune elsewhere. There was no argument that caused her departure, just a mutual recognition of incompatible personalities, and Tathlan still loved her and maintained a cordial relationship with her. Theresien was accepted into an elite military order of the Abadarian church, and was sequestered in its monastery just outside of Canorate undergoing training.

Though Tathlan had already experienced some of the sorrow that comes from an elf living amongst humans- most of his closes war buddies from the Molthuni independence war were long dead, things finally hit home in later 4714. Though his wife had aged before his eyes, some stubborn part of him had refused to accept it. That was, until she fell ill, and rapidly deteriorated- she was dead within the week. If that wasn't bad enough, three months later his mother Ahrendué- an elderly elf, finally had all of her years crash upon her. She was dead in another three months. His father Elator followed her soon after. No foul play was involved, just the crushing hand fate. Tathlan's world was shattered as he faced the very real possibility that, now bereft of his wife & parents, he'd likely outlive his own children. A mid-life crisis ensued. While going through his parent's things he discovered something he never knew about them- an old diary of his father's written in Elvish. It described Elator and Ahrendué attending a society ball- in Kyonin! - before setting sail for the Mwangi expanse at the request of of some Lirgeni scholars. The date given was 4522. While the thin diary was complete, Tathlan found no others that gave further context.

His head spinning with these deaths and the brief glimpse into his parents' past, Tathlan sold his mother's potion shop to one of her apprentices for a song. His discipline at work began to slip, though of course nobody in the guard would dare mention this to his face. A visit from his wayward daughter after his father's funeral finally seemed to offer a solution to his downward spiral. She brought him a locket with miniature portrait of Klebertine inside, with news from her friends in the Aspis Consortium that the famed explorer Dagen Bandrift was looking for competent people to escort him into the Mwangi Expanse. Taking it as a sign from Abadar, Tathlan accepted the locket from his daughter with a hug. The next day he tendered his retirement letters to General Hakar and the shocked faces of his staff. Tathlan boarded up the fine townhouse he had shared with Klebertine, and set out on the long journey from Molthune to Bloodcove. If he could join with Bandrift and head into the Mwangi Expanse, fine. If not, he'd be going in anyway. After three literal human lifetimes of serving others, it was time for Tathlan to find himself.

* Tathlan is a bit self-conscious about being an elf. His parents did teach him Elvish, but his primary language for the past 179 years has been Taldane. In fact, he speaks Elvish with a Molthuni accent, not the other way around. He has had few interactions with other elves, other than to inspect them at the gates to Fort Ramgate.

* Tathlan is a Molthuni patriot. He is willing to fight people who openly insult Molthune if they will not apologize. A cold glare of hatred is all he has to spare for most Nimrathi.

* Theresien Larethaerith is a LN male half-elf (Chelaxian) Warpriest of Abadar. He is currently in training at the Hermitage at Feldspar, an Abadarian monastery where warpriests of the faith are tutored, just outside of Canorate. He is set to graduate in six months. The Hermitage is very serious about the warpriest's calling, and likes to put its graduates through a trial-by-fire. Both Tathlan and Theresien know that Theresien is likely to be assigned a mission in someplace dangerous once his studies are complete- almost certainly along the border of the Worldwound and Mendev. Theresien is currently engaged to the daughter of a prosperous spice merchant based in Canorate, with their nuptials scheduled for when Theresien returns from his first tour of duty (in about 2.5 years).

* Fleurice Larethaerith is a N female half-elf (Chelaxian) Rogue (Spy). She has done criminal work for various groups, from the Pathfinders to the Aspis Consortium, and even stranger patrons. All of this was done in order to support her gambling addiction- something of which her father and brother are only vaguely aware. Tathlan has lent her small amounts before in order to cover her debts, but Fleurice hid her deeper obligations because she feared his wrath. Fleurice is now in very deep debt to very unpleasant people (of your choice), who put her up to convincing her father to try to get in on the Bandrift expedition (in which they have a suitably secret & evil interest). The locket bearing her mother's picture that she gifted to him is actually an item well known to a magician in the employ of her shadowy creditors, allowing them to spy on the expedition via scrying spells with ease. In return for betraying her father in this way, they have promised to clear her debts with them "as long as things work out in our favor." Felurice has half rationalized this by thinking that Tathlan can handle anything they thrown at him, half by thinking that he deserves it for favoring Theresien.

* Elator Larethaerith (LG male elf ranger [skirmisher]) and Ahrendué Larethaerith (LN female elf alchemist) were Tathlan's parents before their deaths from old age in 4714 AR. In their younger days, they were nobleborn elves of Kyonin & adventurers. They were hired by the stargazers of Lirgen, before the death of Aroden, to investigate or find something inside the Mwangi Expanse. Whatever they encountered there prompted an alignment shift (from CG and CN, respectively), a rejection of their native Kyoninite culture, and a flight to an obscure part of Cheliax for life as commoners. I leave it to you to determine what caused this massive change of heart.

* Peguy Saintine (LN old male human [Chelaxian] alchemist) was Ahrendué's most recent apprentice and assistant at her apothecary shop on Korholm. He purchased the shop from Tathlan after Ahrendué's death, and the two are fairly close. Peguy attempted to dissuade Tathlan from going on this foolish adventure, but to no avail. He may occasionally send his friend a care package, along with a list of rare alchemical ingredients he wants collected and that can only be found in the Expanse.

Gear & Ability Info

Taanan, and a trio of friends, delved deep into the ruins, and by sheer luck, he had found his father's journal. After reading it, he chose to fully immerse himself in his father's shoes, and took to a life of adventuring and exploring old ruins.

He made his way to Bloodcove, with no intention of exploring the Mwangi Expanse. He had actually intended to travel to the Kaava Lands. He was hanging around in a local tavern, when he had heard the stories of a local hero. He listened, engrossed in the tales.

He then went up to him,

Excuse me sir, I hear you are planning another trek into the Mwangi Expanse. I would love to be a part of your team. I am a archaeologist, wishing to unearth and document all that I come across in Golarion. It would be an honor to head into the Expanse and document everything we come across.

Taanan, awaited any sort of reply from the local famed hero.

I sure hope that I can live up to my father's exploratory nature?!

Her life wasn't always so quiet. Once upon a time she lived in a busy little gnome settlement where the usual gnomish shenanigans took place. But she was a little less inclined to talk even then. Everyone else seemed to have so much to say and she was content to just listen. People often wondered if she had been born mute, to which she would reply "no" (to everyone's shock) before returning to her usual silence.

When she came of age, she did what many gnomes do and wandered off to go exploring. A wanderlust tickled her feet and took her from what seemed like one corner of the continent to the other. She was picked up by the Pathfinder's Society when she crossed from Avistan to Garund on the Grinning Pixie and she was sent off with a journal to record her travels with explicit instructions to send the book back to a local Lodge when she filled the pages. Since then, she's filled four journals for the Pathfinder Society.

But on her last drop off at the Pathfinder Lodge in Nantambu, the venture-captain excitedly told her of the famed explorer Dagen Bandrift who has come back from a three year expedition in the Mwangi Jungle and is looking for volunteers for another! He quickly explains that he would go on such an endeavor himself if he was not so busy running the Lodge and suggests that Briar go ahead and meet the man in Bloodcove. The venture-captain really left no room for argument (not that she was going to bother with that anyways) so she made her way down stream to the busy port town at the mouth of the Vanji River.

It was easy enough to find this Dagen fellow; why the whole town seemed a twitter about the entire thing. She slipped quietly into the Witchlight Inn and bobbed and dodged her way to the front of the audience he seems to have gathered. She waits patiently in the thick of the excitement with a little smile on her face. This will be fun.

Typically Briar wouldn't worry about her adventures being published, but recently another gnome from her village, Rosie, has been published in the Pathfinder Chronicles after only two months of being a member of the Pathfinder Society! Why not celebrate a peer's success? Because it was a snotty girl who used to make fun of her for being a little different and maybe a touch odd to gnome standards. It was also her sister, but Briar preferred to forget that part altogether. Whether Rosie knows it or not, they have started a most sibling vicious rivalry!

Other than that, loving the concept. The Mwangi is a pretty neat place when you consider the amalgamation of cultures Paizo took inspiration from when they created the place. I'm really excited to see how you flavor it up for your own campaign. Plus, who can resist a little traditional ruin-raiding?