Fighter

Azami Ito's page

704 posts. Alias of Lane Ellen.


Full Name

Azami Ito (Rosalyn Marie Portnoy)

Race

Human

Classes/Levels

Samurai 11, HP: 84/128, 3/4 Resolve, 1/4 challenges

Gender

Female

Size

Medium

Age

31

Alignment

LN to a CODE, and not to the Law of the Land.

Deity

Dawn of Iron and Blood

Location

Empire of the Mists

Languages

Common

Occupation

Ronin, currently, Palace Guard in Lanzhu

Strength 18
Dexterity 16
Constitution 18
Intelligence 9
Wisdom 14
Charisma 10

About Azami Ito

AZAMI, headshot care of me.

AZAMI care of me.

AZAMI ITO - ROSALYN PORTNOY
Female Human Samurai 11
LN Medium
Hero Points 7

Init +3; Perception +10
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------

AC: 20, touch 10, flat-footed 20, on a challenge 18
(+9 armor, armor check penalty, +1 deflection)
HP: 128
SAVES: Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +6 (+8 vs fear)

--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------

Speed: 30 ft.

Melee: +1 Keen Katana--------------- +16/+11/+6 (1d10+5/17-20/x2) (1d10+7 two-handed)
..........Masterwork Naginata--------- +15/+10/+5 (1d10+4/20/x3)
Ranged:Composite Bow +4 STR rating +14/+9 (1d8+5)

Challenge adds +11 to damage

BAB= +11/+6/+1
CMB = +15

BUILD AND CLASS ABILITIES:

BUILD
Human= +2 bonus to Constitution
Lvl 4= +1 bonus to Strength
Lvl 8= +1 bonus to Constitution

TRAITS:

Indomitable Faith=You gain a +1 trait bonus on Will saves.

Azami is focused utterly on her vision in death, believing that her breath was given back to her in order to accomplish this task. Every night she claims to see the dawn of iron and blood while she sleeps.

Jaded= You gain a +2 trait bonus on saving throws against Fear.

Surviving the brutal slaying of the Kagawa noble house and the death of her husband, Azami fears no bloodshed or horror of battle. She welcomes it.

CLASS ABILITIES

Weapon Prof: simple, martial + katana, wakizashi, naginata
Armor Prof: all armor, all shields except tower

Relic Weapon: more later?

Ancestral Relic : +1 keen, allying heart-seeker katana

Challenge 4/day: As a swift action, the samurai chooses one target within sight to challenge. The samurai's melee attacks deal extra damage when made against the target of his challenge. This extra damage is equal to the samurai's level.

Challenging a foe requires much of the samurai's concentration. The samurai takes a –2 penalty to his Armor Class, except against attacks made by the target of his challenge.

The challenge remains in effect until the target is dead or unconscious, or until the combat ends. Each samurai's challenge also includes another effect, which is listed in the section describing the samurai's order.

--Ronin Order Challenges: Whenever a ronin is the target of a challenge, a smite, a quarry, or similar effect, and he issues a challenge against that character in return, the ronin receives a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls made against the target of his challenge and a +1 dodge bonus to his AC against attacks made by the target of his challenge. These bonuses increase by +1 for every four class levels the samurai possesses (to a maximum of +5 at 20th level).

Resolve: (4/day) Whenever a samurai defeats the target of his challenge, he regains one daily use of his resolve, up to his maximum.

--Determined: as a standard action, can spend one resolve to remove the fatigued, shaken, or sickened condition.

--Resolute: whenever required to make a Fort or Will save, can spend a resolve as an immediate action to roll twice and take the better result. Must use before rolling.

--Unstoppable: when reduced to fewer to 0 hit points, but not slain, he can spend one resolve as an immediate action to instantly stabilize and remain conscious. Gain the staggered condition but can take standard actions. Falls unconscious if additional damage is taken.

Weapon Expertise: Katana. Can draw as a free action as if having Quick Draw. +2 to confirm criticals.

Combat Reflexes: (In lieu of mounted archery)

Banner: The banner becomes a symbol of inspiration to allies and companions as long as it is visible. All allies within 60' feet receive a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against fear and +1 morale bonus on attack rolls made as part of a charge.

Greater Resolve (Ex): At 9th level, a samurai can spend his resolve to negate some of his most grievous wounds. After a critical hit is confirmed against him, the samurai can spend one use of his resolve as an immediate action to treat that critical hit as a normal hit. Effects that only trigger on a critical hit do not trigger when the samurai uses this ability.

Honorable Stand (Ex): At 11th level, a samurai can make an honorable stand, deciding to fight the target of his challenge to the bitter end, no matter the cost. He can make an honorable stand once per day at 11th level, plus one additional time per day at 16th level. Declaring an honorable stand is a swift action. While making an honorable stand, the samurai is immune to the shaken, frightened, and panicked conditions. He does not fall unconscious while his hit point total is below 0. Finally, whenever a samurai making an honorable stand must make a saving throw, he can spend one daily use of his resolve to reroll the saving throw after the first roll is made. He must take the result of the second roll, even if it is worse. If a samurai making an honorable stand ever retreats from battle against his challenged foe, he loses the ability to make a challenge for 24 hours.

Order: RONIN

Self Reliant= when failing a Will saving throw against an effect with a duration greater than 1 round, can make another saving throw at the end of the second round of effect. If he makes this saving throw, has the same effect as if having made the original save. Whenever Ronin is brought below 0 hit points, he can roll twice to stabilize, taking the better result.

Without Master (Ex): At 8th level, the ronin's fierce independence allows him to overcome staggering odds. The ronin can summon up this willpower as an immediate action, and can use it in one of three ways. He can use his willpower whenever an attack would reduce him to fewer than 0 hit points but wouldn't kill him, to instead be at 1 hit point and conscious. He can use his willpower after making an attack roll to confirm a critical hit in order to reroll the confirmation roll. Finally, he can use his willpower to take 10 on a skill check during combat, even if the situation or the skill would not normally allow him to take 10. A ronin can use this ability once during a combat.


FEATS AND SKILLS:

FEATS
Bonus Human Lvl 1 Feat: Power Attack
Lvl 1 feat: Intimidating Prowess
Lvl 3 feat: Cleave
Lvl 4 replacement for Mounted Archer: Combat Reflexes
Lvl 5 feat: Great Cleave
Bonus lvl 6 combat feat: Vital Strike
LvL 7 feat: Bodyguard
Lvl 9 feat: Critical Focus
Lvl 11 feat: Toughness

SKILLS (4+int mod=3+1 for human=4 each lvl (+10 holiday points) Total Skill Points=46)

The samurai's class skills are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), and Swim (Str).

(u/c)SKILL------------------Total ====ability modifier + ranks + class skill +additional modifiers
___________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________
(u)ACROBATICS:............+3(-3 /armor)………… = +3 + 0 + n/a + (-6armor) (-4 for jump)
(u)APPRAISE:.................-1 …………………………… = - 1 + 0 + n/a
(c)BLUFF:......................+4 …………………………… = +0 + 1 + 3
(c)CLIMB:......................+8(+4/armor)………… = +4 + 1 + 3 + (-4armor)
(c)CRAFT(Kumihimo):.....+4 …………………………… = -1 + 2 + 3
(c)DIPLOMACY:..............+6 ……………………………= +0 + 3 + 3
(u)DISGUISE:................+0 ……………………………= +0 + 0 + n/a
(u)ESCAPE ARTIST:........+3(-3 /armor) …………= +3 + 0 + n/a + (-6armor)
(u)FLY:.........................+3(-3 /armor) ………… = +3 + 0 + n/a + (-6armor)
(c)HANDLE ANIMAL:.......+4 …………………………… = +0 + 1 + 3
(u)HEAL:.......................+3 ……………………………= +2 + 1 + n/a
(c)INTIMIDATE:.............+15 ………………………… = +0 + 8 + 3 + 4(feat)
(c)KNOWLEDGE(Local):..+6 ……………………………= - 1 + 4 + 3
(n)KNOWLEDGE(History):+1 ……………………………= -1 + 2 + n/a
(n)KNOWLEDGE(Religion):+0 …………………………= -1 + 1 + n/a
(u)PERCEPTION:............+10 …………………………… = +2 + 8 + n/a
(u)PERFORM:................+0 …………………………… = +0 + 0 + n/a
(c)PROFESSION
......(Merchant):..............+6 ………………………… = +2 + 1 + 3
(c)PROFESSION
......(Soldier):.................+10 ………………………… = +2 + 5 + 3

(c)RIDE:......................+8(+2/armor) ………… = +3 + 2 + 3
(c)SENSE MOTIVE:........+16 ………………………… = +2 + 11 + 3
(u)STEALTH:................+3(-3 /armor) ………… = +3 + 0 + n/a
(c)SURVIVAL:...............+10 ………………………… = +2 + 5 + 3
(c)SWIM:.....................+8(+3/armor) …………= +4 + 1 + 3


GEAR:

Armor: +1 Fortified (Light) Agile Half-Plate (O-Yoroi)
--Fortified=25% miss chance on criticals & sneak attacks, causing damage to be rolled normally.
---Agile=armor check penalty for climb & Jump is only -4, and can still run at quadruple speed.
O-Yoroi: Worn almost exclusively by high-ranking samurai, o-yoroi—or “great armor”—is a heavy combat armor that consists of various supplementary components that include both plate and lamellar elements. Each suit is crafted for a specific individual and displays the owner's aesthetic. Upon completion, the suit is colored and sealed with a final lacquer finish. The centerpiece of o-yoroi is a cuirass consisting of two parts—a separate reinforcement for the right side called a waidate, and a kikko cuirass. The upper part of the waidate consists of a leather-covered iron plate. The cuirass's leather shoulder straps—called watagami—are likewise armored with metal plates. Affixed to the cuirass are a number of supplementary pieces, including wide lamellar shoulder guards, a kikko sleeve for the shield arm, lacquered iron greaves worn over padded silk leggings, and a groin protector. Still, the signature component of each suit of armor is the tiered kabuto helmet and its accompanying ho-ate mask. Ho-ate masks can be made of hardened leather or metal and are fashioned into fearsome visages such as oni, dragons, or other mythical beings.

Sashimono
Azami's banner, or sashimono, is attached to the backs of the chest armor (dou or dō) by special fittings. The banner hung from an L-shaped frame, which was attached to the chest armor by a socket machi-uke or uketsubo near the waistline and hinged at shoulder level with a ring gattari or sashimono-gane. Azami's design is a rough silver sunburst on a crimson flag.

Primary Weapon:

Ito Ancestral Katana (treat as bastard sword): +1 Katana Keen, Allying, Heart-Seeker, 1d10/ 17-20 x2

Allying: An allying weapon allows the wielder to transfer some or all of the weapon's enhancement bonus to one weapon being used by an ally of the wielder. The wielder must have line of sight to the intended ally. As a free action, at the start of her turn before using her weapon, the wielder chooses how to allocate her weapon's enhancement bonus. The bonus to the ally's weapon lasts until the allying weapon's wielder's next turn. The enhancement bonus from the allying weapon does not stack with the enhancement bonus on the ally's weapon (if any).

HeartSeeker: This special ability can only be placed on melee weapons. A heartseeker weapon is drawn unerringly toward beating hearts. A heartseeker weapon ignores the miss chance for concealment against most living targets, though the attack must still target the proper square. This special ability does not apply against aberrations, oozes, plants, outsiders with the elemental subtype, or any creature specifically noted to lack a heart.

Scabbard of Vigor, of Ito Katana

Once per day, as part of the action of drawing forth the weapon held by the scabbard, the wearer can order it to endow the weapon with an enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls. The duration of the effect depends on the desired enhancement bonus for the weapon.

Bonus Duration
+4 1 round
+3 3 rounds
+2 5 rounds
+1 10 rounds

Other Weapons

On back:
Efficient quiver
--60 Masterwork Arrows
--20 Smoke Arrows
--1 Searing Arrow
--1 Sizzling Arrow
Composite Long bow STR rated +4
Masterwork Naginata (treat as glaive) 1d10

Magic/Special Items

Right Hand, middle finger: Ring of Sustenance
Left Hand, ring finger: Ring of Protection +1

General EQ:
+Masterwork Backpack
--incense
--soap in waxcloth
--boxwood comb carved with roses
--brocade sack, kumihimo disk and tama in place of a proper maru dai
--Inkpen/brush
--Ink
--Candles (3)
--parchment paper
--flint & steel
--Lantern (common)
--basic clothing and kamishimo (2 sets) (kamishimo (上下 or 裃). Worn by samurai and courtiers during the Edo period, the outfit included a formal kimono, hakama, and a sleeveless jacket with exaggerated shoulders called a kataginu)
--in pouch, next to her skin: plum blossom ring and stone from the Sera with Khoda in it.
--rusty, ancient key from Baslav
--Scabbard from Imuri

+Pouches, Belt, Boots, tabi.
+Bedroll and blanket

295 GP left over for the purpose of following the path when it reveals itself.

APPEARANCE:
Height=5'8" Age=31

Azami is Gaijin from Mamban. When not in armor (see above for armor), Azami has long red hair grown to traditional lengths of the Empire (probably to her waist) that she keeps tied back or in a braid, but the hair is shorter by the face to facilitate wearing her mempo. It has obviously been shorn randomly by Azami herself. Her eyes are a grey blue, seemingly almost colorlessly grey at times. She is attractive, but not striking or beautiful--especially when compared to the delicate loveliness treasured in the region. Her skin contains the warm tone of southern Tiria. She has a powerful build that commands a sinuous grace, a conflicting mixture of earth and air in her facial structure.

An unlucky face, the oracle had said. A face that would see many dark things.

There are many scars over her skin, mostly from the brutal failed assassination attempt, including a large one that crosses just shy of her right eye and into her cheek. She has little concern for maintaining more than a functional appearance, and would be hard pressed to wear any clothing that is not practical.

PERSONALITY AND SOME BACKGROUND::
Azami has fought to earn her skills and recognition as a quality soldier/samurai, and this causes her to be cautious and gruff. She is a foreigner and a ronin, and the questionable nature of both of these makes her focused on maintaining an air of professionalism and honor, keeping a hesitant distance. She is obviously not skilled in the arts, scholarly pursuits, or even in the social dynamics of court.

Since joining the palace guard two years ago, she has been wary of building closeness with anyone, knowing that when she finds her path, she must leave. This is enhanced by her discomfort in social situations, always feeling as if she is out of place when called upon to be anything more than a guard or a blade. She might have risen higher in the guard if she did not seem immediately discomfitted by intrigue or politics. Large or complex social situations test her patience and are wearying, causing her to pull inward or become overly cold/distant, relying on her training as a soldier in her interactions. She is almost always more approachable in a small group or one-on-one.

Azami, nevertheless, is not hard-hearted or without emotion. Her marriage with Juro Ito had been a happy one, respectful and tender, and their relationship was as much enhanced by the mutual trust and comraderie born of working and fighting side by side as it was by a quiet, faithful love. Their service with the Kagawa overlayed a close friendship between the two families, such that Juro and Azami may have been able to raise a family there in time.

Now, she has occasionally been seen to smile at a jest, or --more often-- with self-satisfaction at an accomplishment. But it is usually fleeting, appearing uncomfortable. She has spoken of her past standing with the Kagawa family when appropriate - usually to indicate that she was not always ronin-- but it is flat, restricted in emotion, rarely comfortable with expressing such things. Losing her husband, her hopes of children, and the family she protected has seared her to the bone, and never has she felt more separate in the world she so sought to become a part of.

Everything about her says that she wishes she were somewhere else.

She has something of an acerbic, dry wit when it breaks free, usually only with people she trusts or can relate to. While not dedicated to any god, Azami recognizes them as necessary and has something of a superstitious bent, taking dreams, shapes in the mist and small rites of passage seriously even if she does not understand them. Having no capability for magic-arcane or divine-she is often amazed by its capability.

HISTORY:
Azami Ito was born Rosalyn Portnoy of Mamban (Rose or Rosie to her family). The Portnoy family are merchants, seeking to build a trade between houses of the Empire of the Mists. Her father, Gregor, was certain this was the key to finally building the family name to a level of importance in Mamban. After many years of efforts, the family finally arranged to meet with the Kagawa noble house, which had access to several sources of trade within the Empire of the Mists. Rosalyn traveled with her father, not only as a member of the house but as a guard.

While there, Rosalyn met Juro Ito, samurai of the Kagawa, protector of the noble house. He was always there during negotiations and even social meetings, and Rosalyn would wake early to watch him perform his morning exercises. Being gaijin, she did not understand the chance she was taking when one day she asked to practice with him. That he allowed it, she learned later, showed his interest.

After several visits, Rosalyn requested the right to remain behind and undertake training as a samurai for the Kagawa family, under the tutelage of Juro. This move unwittingly also aided the family in securing a trade relationship. She was 19 at the time.

After several years of training, Azami earned her place as samurai and it was not long before she and Juro were married, as they had fallen in love. They were faithful companions and warriors for three years, serving as Samurai for the Kagawa family. As part of her rise to the title of Samurai, Rosalyn left her name behind and took on the name given her by her lord, Azami: thistleflower, for her sometimes prickly nature.

Azami grew to love the Kagawa family, even as she also learned that they were not as prominent as they appeared to her father: truly, they were attempting to achieve the same goals for their family as he had been for his. Still, the family name was old, commanded respect and held some long-maintained family connections to mines or ruins, or something. To be completely honest, Azami did not care.

Azami was a strong, brutal warrior, but also gaijin. She learned in her time there of the transient beauty and artistic nature of these people—things she lacked in addition to being of foreign blood. There were few social occasions that she ever felt entirely comfortable in. But she took heart: within her armor, she was Samurai- a trusted, dependable warrior, her ethnicity forgotten and her loyalty treasured by the Kagawa family.

Those three years of her marriage were amazing.

Four years ago, the entirety of the Kagawa family and its protectors –including Juro-- were attacked viciously in their ancestral home. All were slaughtered, except Azami, horribly wounded but still alive against all odds. She hovered between death and life as she bled out just feet from the mauled body of her husband and one of the Kagawa children.

Azami finally managed to draw herself up, wanting to commit seppuku to join the others in the failed protection of her household, but passed out from blood loss and fell over again.

That was when Azami first saw the dawn of iron and blood, the dawn that would appear to her before opening her eyes every day of her life to this point.

Laying there in waking death, her breath eclipsing. Becoming conscious again, she screamed her frustration and pain in the face of all that was lost, and wounds burst open anew, like a bloody flame across her flesh. All Azami could do is lay there and watch the night sky, waiting for the end, praying for it.

Her sight blurred and the visions came, half-real, half dream, as she felt the strength within her begin to finally wane...

…there was a surreal, powerful dawn rising over the horizon, a wild dawn that spread across the sky like the wet fingers of crimson and silver calligraphy inks...a dawn that signaled a freedom from a great evil. It staggered her, feeling infinitely small amid her loss and the glow of that sunrise. Even as she felt her life force ebb, her eyes closed in gratitude to have seen this dawn before the end of everything…

…she awoke as her life force surged back, still in the deepest stretch of night, any dawn hours away.

Azami knew with everything in her that she must seek that dawn, that she had been given a task with her life, and even if it meant her destruction or the destruction of everything there was, she must fight for that vision- whatever that meant. It owned her, that Dawn; she had been reborn to it.

After a month of healing from the attack, Azami set out to her task, now an uprooted ronin. She painted her own banner, a rough silver sunburst on a crimson flag. Azami prays each morning to the banner of that dawn, in the name of her husband, in the name of the Kagawa family. She will avenge them --if not by finding the true killers, then by destroying the world they have built.

Azami traveled to Lanzhu, taking up a position in the palace royal guard. Whatever wind would carry her to her path, it would have its source there.

Age 13: Began acting as a guard on trips to Lesotho and Katapesh.
Age 17: Began to act as a guard with her father's merchant trips to the Empire.
Age 19: asked to stay in the Empire, train as samurai
Age 21: Officially made a samurai under the Kagawa family
Age 24: Married Juro
Age 27: Slaughter of Kagawa family and all their people, including Juro. Saved by something. The dreams begin. Spent the next two years tracking down possibilities, leading her to Lanzhu.
Age 29: Became a guard at the palace, as been for two years.

She’s basically traumatized by the loss of her husband and every connection she had to this foreign land, now set adrift as a gaijin ronin samurai. Much like when people experience horrible things they suddenly “find religion”, Azami /really/ believes that something –a spirit, a god, whatever-- /owns/ her life, is giving her a chance to earn a place in honorable death with her husband. There is no other reason to continue living this cursed existence.

When she has completed her task, she believes that that life-giving breath will be once again taken, and she can finally die –having avenged their deaths and restored her honor. When the dawn comes, she will be able to join her husband’s spirit.

Edicts as part of Kagawa Household - Order of the Warrior: The samurai must protect the life and lands of his lord with his life. He must be truthful and courageous, respectful to his elders and his masters, and loyal to his friends and liege. He must conduct himself with honor and dignity.

Edicts as Ronin:
1)Law and Rules are important. She will honor laws as much as possible.
2)Courage, Honor, Loyalty and Respect are important and exist outside the structures of Law and culture.
3)Her life belongs to the vision, to the dawn - She will do whatever is necessary - law or no law, good or evil - so that her last breath brings that vision to fruition.

Level 7 changes:

Leveling Up: Samurai 7

HP: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Skills: +1 perception, knowledge: history, intimidate and bluff
Feat: Combat Reflexes
Abilities: Challenge 3/day instead of two.
BAB: +1/+1
Saves: nothing changed
Extra Point = skill point in knowledge: religion

Level 8 changes:

Leveling Up: Samurai 8

Extra Ability point: +1 CON (adds +7 hitpoints from previous levels)
Hitpoints: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Total HP Now: 88
BAB +8/+3
+1 to Fort saves

Skill points (4)
+1 Knowledge Local
+2 Sense motive
+1 Intimidate

Gained Without Master Order ability.

Extra point: In Craft: Kumihimo

10 pts of Holiday skills! 2011:

Skill points (10)
+1 Craft: Kumihimo
+1 Intimidate
+2 Knowledge: Local
+3 Sense motive
+3 Perception

Level 9 changes:

Hit points 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Total HP Now: 95
BAB +9/+4
+1 to Ref and Will saves

Skill points (4)
+1 Sense Motive
+1 Profession Soldier
+1 Heal
+1 Intimidate

Gained Greater Resolve ability.

Feat: Critical Focus

Level 10 changes:

Hit points 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Total HP Now: 109
BAB +10/+5
+1 to Fort save

Skill points (4)
+1 Sense Motive
+1 Profession Soldier
+1 Knowledge History
+1 Intimidate

Gained Challenge 4/day.

Level 11 changes:

Hit points 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Total HP Now: 128 (with Toughness)
BAB +11/+6/+1

Skill points (4)
+1 Sense Motive
+1 Profession Soldier
+1 Knowledge Local
+1 Diplomacy

Gained Honorable Stand.
Feat: Toughness