Kingmaker: War for the Stolen Lands

Game Master Mackenzie Kavanaugh

Pharast 16th, 4709
I have decided to write about my father, since that is what I am most recently having nightmares about.
He wasn’t a cruel man. He wasn’t even particularly My father wanted a son. He never said it out loud to me, but I heard him yell it before. He’s always wanted one. He wanted a fighter, someone who could ride along with him, hunt game and such. He wanted someone who could stand tall, and show strength. He wanted someone who he could adventure with over the weekdays, slaying those who bring evil. He wanted a bastard who could still bear honor.
Instead, he got me.

Pharast 19th, 4709
I should write about myself, shouldn’t I? I’m a girl, about twelve years of age. My ears are pointed, though you probably couldn’t see it under my hair. I’ve taken to Wizardry like a fish into water. I was raised in a household that forbid magic. I’m of noble descent, though few, if anyone, knows that. I like magic. I don’t know what else to say, but that I like magic. I was raised to fight, kill, and slaughter those who were against Good. I don’t like killing things.
I like pie, that’s something. I never ate pie before.
To be honest, I’m not all that interesting. Ask me stuff about magic, I’ll be able to tell you anything- I know more about magic than many of the three year apprentices my master does. Sometimes I know more than my master in some fields (I’m better at Divination than him, that I know.)
I’m a weakling, that I can say. I’m not one that’s particularly apt to fight, or particularly competent- though my drills helped me a bit, though I don’t like them.
I’ve been having nightmares, recently. About my father, and before my apprenticeship.

Pharast 25th, 4709
I’ve heard my father say that a child of twelve, if not trained for knighthood, is fit as nothing more than a priest. I am not certain if that is true or not. I do know that I know a fair bit about combat. I know it from my training- My father taught me from an early age, by himself.
He also wasn’t very good with other kids- Uncle Isaac stated that his training of me was barbaric. He was a barbarian, though.

Gozran 1st, 4709
Nightmares have yet to subside without practice drills. Wooden broom has not functioned effectively to this purpose. Have practiced enough to gain access to an arcane bond- Detailing on functions of each arcane bond have proven useful, and now I have a rabbit bonded to my soul. It’s an odd feeling. I like it.
I chose a rabbit for it’s enhancement to my reactionary time to ensure that I might lay down control of the battlefield and ensure that all assailants do not affect me too much. He’s fluffy.
Today I learned I like fluffy things.

Gozran 8th, 4709
Fluffy worries about me. I can feel her. In my mind. It’s weird. Very wierd.
I should write about how I met John. He’s my master.
I left my father’s household six months ago, to this day. I don’t regret it. I kicked one of my father’s servants child’s head in, until she was knocked out, and proceed to steal her peasant clothing. I snuck out the sewers, into the city. I covered myself in fecal matter, and exited the city on one of the honeypots. Was kicked off, cleaned myself in river. Walked. And walked. And walked. For five days, I walked without rest. Feet were calloused. Bleeding. Still walked. Feet ceased responding. Bandits began to walk to me, intending to slay me. I laid there, unable to walk due to overwalking. Cart rode by, bandits attacked it. A ball of fire flew from the cart. The bandits burned alive. At edges of fire, hid behind tree, minor singe marks, unconscious. Johnson took me to cleric, kept me in his home. Read his books, cleaned his house, performed weapon drills. Helped. He liked me.

Gozran 10th
Got Johnson to perform a masterwork transformation on my bastard sword in repayment for my attempt at fixing his dagger.
I should describe johnson. Johnson is an old wizard- Gray hair, long beard, robes with jewels in them, everything. He’s decently kind, but doesn’t like me that greatly. Am his apprentice, after paying the usual payment of ten gold. He doesn’t like my pointed ears that much, so I hide them under my hair.
I’m incredibly quick in my ability to learn magic- Magic, to me, is incredibly intuitive. I don’t know why.

(From hereon out, most days are incredibly similar, but I’ll give you a rundown-)

0600-0700: Clean room.
0700-0900: Free reading
0900-1700: Training with Johnson.
1700-1800: Cleaning and errands for Master Johnson
1800-1900: Free time, converse with orphans in alleyway.
1900-1945: Study some more
1945-1955: Weapon Drills.
1955-0600: Sleep.

Nightmare Frequency:
Rova, 4708: Daily
Lamashan, 4708: Daily
Kuthona, 4708: Daily
Kuthona 4708-Calistril 4709: Every other night.
Pharast: Twice
Gozran: Weekly
Desnus: Twice
Sarenith: Monthly.
Erastus: Every other night (Interestingly, there are no journal entries on these dates)
Arodus: Twice
Rova, 4709: Monthly
Lamashan, 4709: Monthly
Kuthona, 4709: Monthly
Abadius, 4710: Monthly.
Castril: Monthly
Pharast : Twice per week.
Gozoran: Bi-weekly
Desnus: -Incomplete-

And here are where more important bits come into play

Pharast 31st, 4710
My father came in.
He came into Johnson’s shop.
I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do, didn’t know what to say- I had to make up a reason to avoid being in the same room as him. I saw from a crack, him giving Johnson my old dress- I was terrified.
I watched as he cast Scry on it. I held my breath. I was terrified. Fluffy was terrified. I was scared. I hadn’t felt this scared since I ran from my father’s household.
The spell failed. Thank Nethys, thank Gorum, thank Desna, doesn’t matter who did it, but thank the gods.
I watched as my iresome father broke the table in half, and destroyed most of Johnson’s office, as I climbed further into his house, and hid.
It was about thirty minutes until Johnson came up and found me- He set me to work repairing most of his office- I don’t think he noticed the look of relief on my face as he barged out the house.
I needed to get away from here.

Gozran 4th, 4710
I’ve had nightmares flow through my mind. Awful ones. The most recent has been the most painful one so far. Blood. But not blood. Wood. Iron. Metal. A broken hand. No hand. Whips. Mind broken. Blood. But not blood. Glass. Flows from my bones. I shatter. I look up to a girl with no hands- Just clubs of metal. She breaks me. I see my father smiling at her. I melt. Flow into her club, surrond it, and into her blood. I am her. I destroy everything.
I don’t want that. I don’t. I won’t have it happen. So... I told Joe about who I am. She accepted it- She’s currently working on preparing stuff to ensure that I can leave safely. I’m worried about her, now- What if He finds her? I don’t want her to suffer.

Gozran 16th, 4710
Johnson has recently made another attempt to find me, and has failed. That’s very good. He has recently received a message from the Swordlords in Brevoy, requesting that he comes to serve as the Cartographer for a mission into the Stolen Lands- He’s been complaining, and thinking to himself about something, I don’t know what, but I worry.

Gozran 20th, 4710
I had another nightmare. I won’t go into detail this time. It’s not a good nightmare. I’d like to forget about it. I need to get away. As soon as I can.
[The following is scribed in later]
I’m going to the stolen lands. I’ll need to get a Wayfinder, but otherwise, I’m going. He was contemplating sending me there- Upon hearing the opportunity, I took it. I’m to spend the next month or so doing research on Geography, and the proper methods of a cartographer, so it shouldn’t be too hard.

Gozran 24th, 4710
Today is the day I leave. I have packed my belongings, stored provisions, and gained a fairly above average understanding of Geography and Scribing over the last 24 hours (Thank Gorum for Stand Watch). Joe said goodbye to me, and is going into Numeria with a party Vartisans. I don’t know if I’ll see her again. I made her some sleeves of many garmets with my name embroidered onto them, to remember me by.

Desnus 1st:
I have arrived after a somewhat bumpy travel here, and am now in Restov. I’m preparing myself to meet the remainder of the crew, and prepared for their disapointment that only a kid, rather than the great wizard Joseph, is going to be their Cartographer. I’m ready to go.

Training (Memory)-
My father looms over me. I see a goblin, screeching. I have a blade in my hand. I drop the blade. He grabs my hand, and makes me rip out the goblins throat.

Practice
Practicing with dueling sword. Hand are calloused. Impale dummy. Dummy turns to flesh of a young woman, crying out in agony over getting impaled.

Kindness-
Kate gives me chocolate she stole. I like it. I eat it. She stumbles into my sword and impales herself. She looks into my eyes, and asks, “why?”

Sleeping-
Lying in ditch on side of the road. Can’t get up. See goblin without a throat slowly stumble to me. Can’t move. Feet are mangled. He comes. He rips out my throat. Sticks it into his chest. My voice laughs at me, as I bleed to death.

Ire-
Eating dinner with Johnson. step away from body. Pull out bastard sword and imapes

Performance-
Father tattoos an arm onto my chest. It’s uncomfortable and painful. I walk and perform a drill five times. Make a mistake on sixth time, get punched, knocked out, blood.

Punishment (Memory)
Flaying a Necromancer. Father yells at me for not doing it well enough. Flays her harder himself. Hands me whip. I try. I fail. I miss a few times- Yelled at for failing. Beaten.

[These are among the more recent entries]

Return-
Father charging to me. I jump away. I jump off a cliff. My arm breaks. He rips my arm off. He chops my other hand off. He replaces them with clubs. I see joe. I try to hug her. She shatters like glass to my touch. I flip into a rage. I shatter Joseph like a wood wall. I break Joe like a fragile bird. I destroy the world I lived in.

Holding-
Tied. Being flayed. Burning. Tongue removed. Cannot speak. Cannot breath. Air burns with fire- Feels everything burn. Joe holds out her hands. She’s broken apart into a thousand pieces by her father.

1) Raised from the ripe age of seven for combat by her barbarian father. The training was brutal and bloody, so she ran away.

2) She’s usually rather quiet in how she carries things. She’s not particularly loud, except when you call her not a wizard, or treat her like a child.

3) She never has an idle moment. She makes sure of it. She’s never doing NOTHING. She’s always spending her time doing something.

4) She loves magic. She loves it in an almost obsessive manner, spending eight hours a day, sometimes up to twelve, hours a day practicing.

5) She’s going to the stolen lands

Step 2: List at least two goals for the character.

1) Master Magic. She just wants to enjoy her magic, for the most part, the whole exploring the area doesn’t matter as much.

2) She’ll probably want to do a bit of research on her own, and, you know, get away from her father.

Step 3: List at least two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!

1) Katlin is born of the Noble House Medvyed, born of her barbaric father, and is his bastard.

2) Her father won’t subject her to physical training again- He’ll try to make her learn some other academic art, instead, and maybe go into preistdom- Maybe alchemy. He just wants her back- He knows he failed at the promise he made to his wife as she died- To make it so that legends will be told about her.

3) *Fill it in how you desire*

Step 4: Describe at least three people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.

1) Katlin’s primary friend, Joe. A young sewer girl, she walks around, and is very adept at begging- Most folks can’t stop. She’s pretty good at understanding the human psyche.

2) Joseph, the Wizard to whom she is apprenticed, and to whom she learns magic.

3) Her father’s mother died while she was young, married in- He was raised a barbarian, and seeks to make it so that she will be the most legendary woman who even lived, as his wife wanted her to be. His methods were far too brutal, though, and now he seeks her.

Step 5: Describe three memories, mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.

1) Her loathing of idleness results in her planning for most hours.

2) Joseph showing her how to trick things.

3) Sticking her hands into a still living goblins throat and destroying it alive with her bare hands, by her father.

A year passes.

She learns quickly, quicker than any sane individual ever should. She tore through her books, over all things arcane, pouring her heart and soul into her magic training, finding joy in it, for the first time in ages.
Her master, however... Found her unnerving. Uncomfortable. She was too young. She didn't fit in. She was unnerving. She was half-elf, not whole elf... She didn’t quite fit right, in his mind.
No. She needed to go, eventually, he told himself.
There was a knock on the door. John opened it, and welcomed the noblemen, some folks from a few counties over. They talked about their missing daughter, how they needed your help, to cast a few divination spells. They were somewhat assholish about it, but they seemed to genuinely care. So he tried to scry on her, but she easily succeed her will save. He told her he failed, flipped the table, and ran off.
He then got offered to go to the Stolen Lands as a cartographer. Was not that bad, but he rather liked his house... Maybe... He could rid himself of the odd girl he's been teaching...
No, that would be far too immor-
Her father came- Katlin's father hated magic the way Water loaths Fire, extinguishing it whenever it's near him... But coming to a Wizard to find her. He was desperate. He wanted her back... She wouldn't go back. She would NEVER go back. She needed to get as far away as she could... But where would she go?
An angel came from the Swordlords. They asked her master to function as the Cartographer- So she asked to take his place.
And that’s how she got there.

Mackenzie Kavanaugh wrote:

Katlin -

Step 1: replace several instances of 'pour' with 'pore', unless you're meaning something drastically different from what is implied. (Yes, you pour your heart and soul into something, but you pore over old books... unless you're pouring honey over them for some odd reason.)

My apologies for the confusion, however, I did mean Pour as in this definition: "Express one's feelings or thoughts in a full and unrestrained way." My apologies if there was any confusion- That was my intent. And I really did use pour a fair amount, didn't I? And probably should have read through my post again- Pour isn't quite the right word during her first usage, though the "(of people or things) come or go in a steady stream" definition is rather effective at conveying the concept of her being forced to toil until she's nearly able to fight in a compatant manner.

Mackenzie Kavanaugh wrote:

I would be willing to allow a child character, but the feat you're asking for is really two feats at once. The bluff and diplomacy is essentially the trait Student of Philosophy, so all four skills would be two traits or one full feat, and adding/substituting a different stat for a save or other major score would be a full feat. (Much like using Cha for initiative or Dex for melee attack rolls.)

Understandable- However, I'd argue that the -2 to charisma counterbalances the Int to Will- In 3.5, there were flaws, and I'm essentially taking the Pathetic flaw. And, in my defense, Initiative and Charisma to Initiative and Attack are very different things- Initiative is a very, VERY important stat- He who stabs first chooses the tide of battle. Dex already handles AC, Reflex, four more skill checks, and ranged attack rolls, while Strength is used only for carrying capacity (Which many groups ignore due to it being too fidly) and attack roles- The feat was made while still maintaining compatibility to 3.5, and in 3.5 the feat was designed to prevent Dex (And, even now, it's meant to) prevent Dexterity from becoming a God stat.

If we use Divine Protection as a balancing point, and as an example, it shows that a stat to ALL your saves is worth a single feat, rather than multiple. Just my two cents on that subject matter.
Profession is pretty much useless to the standard adventurer- Unless you are fairly kind, by default, all you can do is make money and know stuff about your profession.

From a character perspective, I'm trying to make a girl who's slightly off in how she moves- The Int to Disguise we can drop, if that's something, doesn't fit that well. Fluff wise, I can't dump Charisma while also dumping Strength, due to the fact that multiple stats have to be above 10, which kinda throws a wrench in the whole "She's kinda unnerving" aspect of her characterization- Hence the -2 penelty to Charisma. Bluff is there because she had to lie, continually, to ensure that nobody figures out her heritage. Diplomacy is because, those few who DID find out, she has to talk into not telling anyone. Int to profession is because she ought to be able to be fairly competent in what she was taught for five years of her life. Disguise would also be able to hide yourself from them. Will is because she's not very wise- But she's been through hell, and has grown strong due to her reading.