Belathorian Twice Born's page

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One thousand years ago…
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”So will fall all tyrants!”

With a sigh Elarioth sank to one knee. Relying on his mighty blade Authok, sword, legend, friend, once more to prevent his falling. The dread necromancer, leutenant to the Whispering Tyrant, was destroyed at the cost of Elarioth’s host. Fifteen hundred souls lost. The field of bones filled the horizon on all sides. The host had fought unceasingly for 13 days and 13 nights to reach this point. It was over.

Elarioth died where he knelt that day… blood flowing like water to wash the field clean.

So ended an age of heroes.

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Twelve years ago…
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The temple door flew open banging back on its hinges. With a start and a scowl the priest of Pharasma turned to greet the visitor

”The Lady of Graves welcomes those… oh, it’s you”

The visitor pushed past the priest and without turning

”Quit your mewling Toth, send your best healer to my rooms”

The visitor was Karakt, high Inquisitor of Pharasma, a half-orc of fearsome reputation as a hunter of the once dead. In his arms he carried a child, perhaps 3 years old. A living child he had discovered encircled by the unmoving remains of the undead.

So began a new age of heroes.

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Four Years ago…
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With the gasp of a drowned man desperate for life, Belathorian began thrashing on the stone altar. His young body had fought off the poison. Only when the cool hand of Father Toth rested on his sweat dappled brow did the boy relax.

”The boy you were died on this altar. And you are reborn, you have reached the next step on The Ladies Spiral, Belathorian Twice Born. You have learned of the pain of the dying, now you must learn of the pain of the still living.”

The very next day Belathorian, a boy of only 12, was on the road. He was travelling to stay with Father Rantal Prasst, an acquaintance of Toth and priest responsible for some backwater town far to the south, over the border. Belathorian was to learn the skills of a healer, undertaker, and community priest.

He was dreading it.

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…And Now.
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Belathorian has been living in the town of Kassen for four years, it is more pleasant than he expected. He is now sixteen, and the differences between him on the other teenagers is starting to be a problem. Belathorian has got on well with Father Praast and the other adults in the town, and he learns his lessons fast. But he has struggled to make friends his own age, perhaps because of his dour demeanour, all he has been through in his short life; or perhaps because he is physically different…

…perhaps he will be chosen for the Everflame mission this year, maybe the adventure would bond him and the others.

Being Samsaran, Belathorian’s soul has lived many lives. A thousand years ago the soul belonged to a mighty Paladin, a hero of the Shinning Crusade responsible for personally destroying a lieutenant of the Whispering Tyrant. This great deed marked the soul in the eyes of the undead, beginning centuries of hunting and counter hunting. Belathorian’s soul has died many times since then, each time at the hands of the once living and each time being reincarnated to unerringly fight the agents of the grave once more.

The latest rebirth was once more in Lastwall. As a feral boy cornered in a forest by a pack of skeletal servants, a remnant of the crusade times, he crushed the bones with rock and wood but later succumbed to his wounds. The boy who would be known as Belathorian was found by an inquisitor of Pharasma, Karakt. Seeing the bones surrounding the young boy as an omen, Karakt took the boy to the temple of Pharasma to be raised by the priests as one of their number. Toth, the leader of the temple, raised Belathorian as his own.

Belathorian did well at the temple, quickly learning his lessons and prayers. He took the first test at the age of 12. Imbibing a poison, Belathorian lay as if dead for three days before returning to the world. Upon his rebirth (not literally, for once) Belathorian passed into the next stage in his training, that of a healer and undertaker.

Belathorian now lives in Kassen with Father Praast, learning the ways of country living.

Five concept capturing points
1) Belathorian was raised by priests, and is training as a devotee of Pharasma.
2) Being a Samsaran makes Belathorian diferent, he struggles to fit in with others his own age.
3) He is a healer and an undertaker by trade, besides being a cleric. He has lived in Kassen for around four years.
4) In a prior life Belathorian was a Paladin, he was cursed by a powerfull necromancer, his life tied to the machinations of the undead.
5) He is bullied by most of the children in Kassen, but longs for the first time in his life to have friends.

Two character goals
1) To make friends amongst his fellow adventurers. Friends have never been important to Belathorian but now, amid the close community of Kassen, he longs for them.
2) To learn more about himself and how he operates. Belathorian has always been instructed and tutored, he yearns to make his own decisions and make his own path.

Two secrets
1) Belathorian knows he is Samsaran, but not a lot of what that means, Karakt told him a little (being well travelled) against the will of Toth. He knows little of his past lives but remembers snatches, specifically of the Paladin. Belathorian maintains this secret because he knows no different and sees no reason to tell anyone.
2) Belathorian’s soul is cursed to be hunted by the undead over and over again. He will feel this curse, if he encounters the undead, as a strange sense of knowing, a feeling that fighting them is somehow ‘right.’ He is doomed to die at the hands of a powerful undead creature.

Dramatis Personae
1) Toth The priest of Pharasma that raised Belathorian in the temple. Toth is not a father figure, he is not a warm man. But neither was he cruel, he is a bit like a favourite teacher.
2) Karakt The half-orc inquisitor of Pharasma, famed undead slayer who saved Belathorian as a child, he often visited Belathorian in the temple to check on him. He is a role model for Belathorian and his real father figure.
3)Praast The priest of Erastil that Belathorian is currently staying with, Praast is helping Belathorian to be more social and about the importance of the pastoral roll of a priest. Belathorian likes Praast, and is intrigued by the attention the priest gets from the ladies.
4)Jeral One of the local boys of Kassen, born and raised in the town. Jeral is responsible for most of the ill feeling toward Belathorian amongst the youth of Kassen. Jeral bullies Belathorian mercilessly over his strange complexion.

Three key memories
1) Belathorian’s dreams are haunted by flashes of Elarioth (the Paladin)’s final moments, the battle and the field of bones, the death of comrades all around him. He knows these are memories, but not their importance or why they are particularly strong.
2) Belathorian remembers vividly awaking from the poison induced coma, and the fear that he felt on that day. The fear of a wasting, inevitable death.
3) Strangely Belathorian remembers being saved by Karakt in the forest, nothing specific just the feeling of being safe, being secure in the arms of the strong man. Whether these are true memories of simply imagined, they are the safe place that Belathorian retreats to in his mind when things are tough.

…and a fear!
1) Poison. Ever since that moment of awakening on the alter Belathorian has been terrified of being poisoned. It is not a fear of death, Belathorian is a loyal follower of Pharasma after all, but of dying inactive, of wasting away.

DC 13

1 Create Water
2 Purify Food and Drink
3 Sotto Voce
4 Guidance
5 Spark

DC 14

1 Divine Favour
2 Divine Favour
3 Challenge Evil
4 Divine Favour
5 Endure Elements

DC 15

1 Divine Favour
2 Divine Favour
3 Challenge Evil
4 Divine Favour

DC 16

1 Divine Favour
2

Samsarans gain a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws made to resist death effects, saving throws against negative energy effects, Fortitude saves made to remove negative levels, and Constitution checks made to stabilize if reduced to negative hit points.

You can add spells from another spellcasting class to the spell list of your current spellcasting class. You add 4 spells.

Paladin Spells added:
Bless Weapon
Challenge Evil
Veil of Heaven
Veil of Positive Energy

You earn a +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy when used to gather information, Knowledge (religion), and Survival when used for tracking when related to an undead quarry. Choose one as these as a class skill. The undead have a +1 bonus on any roll to learn about you, as your family’s fame precedes you.

As someone who has performed or observed funeral rites for a wide variety of people, you have a basic understanding of many different religions. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Knowledge (religion) checks, and Knowledge (religion) becomes class skill for you

You gain brief flashes of insight from your past lives at a moment’s notice. Three times per day after making an ability check, attack roll, initiative check, saving throw, or skill check, you may add a +1 trait bonus to your roll. You must use this ability before the result of your roll is revealed.

Whenever you are under the effect of a luck bonus of any kind, that bonus increases by 1.

You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon.

When you attempt a combat maneuver check against a foe you are flanking, you can forgo the +2 bonus on your attack roll for flanking to instead have the combat maneuver not provoke an attack of opportunity. If you have a feat or ability that allows you to attempt the combat maneuver without provoking an attack of opportunity, you can instead increase the bonus on your attack roll for flanking to +4 for the combat maneuver check.
Special: This feat counts as having Dex 13, Int 13, Combat Expertise, and Improved Unarmed Strike for the purposes of meeting the prerequisites of the various improved combat maneuver feats, as well as feats that require those improved combat maneuver feats as prerequisites.

You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a trip combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks made to trip a foe. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense whenever an opponent tries to trip you.

Fate’s Favoured and Flash of Memory

At 1st level, you can add power to a cure spell as you cast it. As a swift action, you can treat any cure spell as if it were empowered (as the Empower Spell feat), causing it to heal 50% more damage (or deal 50% more damage if used against undead). This ability doesn’t stack with itself or the Empower Spell feat.

At 1st level, you can touch one weapon and enhance it with the power of water. For 1 minute, this weapon glows with a blue-white chill and deals an additional 1d4 points of cold damage with each strike.
This additional damage doesn’t stack with the additional damage from the frost or icy burst weapon special abilities.

At fifth level you can treat a sacred weapon (Scythe or Dagger) as if the base damage were D8.

At 4th level, the warpriest gains the ability to enhance one of his sacred weapons with divine power as a swift action. This power grants the weapon a +1 enhancement bonus. For every 4 levels beyond 4th, this bonus increases by 1 (to a maximum of +5 at 20th level). If the warpriest has more than one sacred weapon, he can enhance another on the following round by using another swift action. The warpriest can use this ability a number of rounds per day equal to his warpriest level, but these rounds need not be consecutive.

These bonuses stack with any existing bonuses the weapon might have, to a maximum of +5. The warpriest can enhance a weapon with any of the following weapon special abilities: brilliant energy, defending, disruption, flaming, frost, keen, and shock. In addition, if the warpriest is chaotic, he can add anarchic and vicious. If he is evil, he can add mighty cleaving and unholy. If he is good, he can add ghost touch and holy. If he is lawful, he can add axiomatic and merciful. If he is neutral (with no other alignment components), he can add spell storing and thundering. Adding any of these special abilities replaces an amount of bonus equal to the special ability's base cost. Duplicate abilities do not stack. The weapon must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus before any other special abilities can be added.

By expending one use of this ability, Belathorian can touch a creature to heal it of 2d6 points of damage. Using this ability is a standard action (unless the warpriest targets himself, in which case it's a swift action). Alternatively, the warpriest can use this ability to harm an undead creature, dealing the same amount of damage he would otherwise heal with a melee touch attack. Using fervor in this way is a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Undead do not receive a saving throw against this damage. This counts as positive energy.

As a swift action, a warpriest can expend one use of this ability to cast any one warpriest spell he has prepared with a casting time of 1 round or shorter. When cast in this way, the spell can target only the warpriest, even if it could normally affect other or multiple targets. Spells cast in this way ignore somatic components and do not provoke attacks of opportunity. The warpriest does not need to have a free hand to cast a spell in this way.

Starting at 4th level, a warpriest can release a wave of energy by channeling the power of his faith through his holy (or unholy) symbol. This energy can be used to deal or heal damage, depending on the type of energy channeled and the creatures targeted. Using this ability is a standard action that expends two uses of his fervor ability and doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity. The warpriest must present a holy (or unholy) symbol to use this ability. A good warpriest (or one who worships a good deity) channels positive energy and can choose to heal living creatures or to deal damage to undead creatures. An evil warpriest (or one who worships an evil deity) channels negative energy and can choose to deal damage to living creatures or heal undead creatures. A neutral warpriest who worships a neutral deity (or one who is not devoted to a particular deity) channels positive energy if he chose to spontaneously cast cure spells or negative energy if he chose to spontaneously cast inflict spells.

Channeling energy causes a burst that affects all creatures of one type (either undead or living) in a 30-foot radius centered on the warpriest. The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to the amount listed in the fervor ability. Creatures that take damage from channeled energy must succeed at a Will saving throw to halve the damage. The save DC is 10 + 1/2 the warpriest's level + the warpriest's Wisdom modifier. Creatures healed by channeled energy cannot exceed their maximum hit point total—all excess healing is lost. A warpriest can choose whether or not to include himself in this effect.

At 7th level, the warpriest gains the ability to enhance his armor with divine power as a swift action. This power grants the armor a +1 enhancement bonus. For every 3 levels beyond 7th, this bonus increases by 1 (to a maximum of +5 at 19th level). The warpriest can use this ability a number of minutes per day equal to his warpriest level. This duration must be used in 1-minute increments, but they don’t need to be consecutive.

These bonuses stack with any existing bonuses the armor might have, to a maximum of +5. The warpriest can enhance armor any of the following armor special abilities: energy resistance (normal, improved, and greater), fortification (heavy, light, or moderate), glamered, and spell resistance (13, 15, 17, and 19). Adding any of these special abilities replaces an amount of bonus equal to the special ability’s base cost (see Table 15–4 on page 463 of the Core Rulebook). For this purpose, glamered counts as a +1 bonus, energy resistance counts as +2, improved energy resistance counts as +4, and greater energy resistance counts as +5. Duplicate abilities do not stack. The armor must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus before any other special abilities can be added.

The enhancement bonus and armor special abilities are determined the first time the ability is used each day and cannot be changed until the next day. These bonuses apply only while the warpriest is wearing the armor, and end immediately if the armor is removed or leaves the warpriest’s possession. This ability can be ended as a free action at the start of the warpriest’s turn. This ability cannot be applied to a shield.

When the warpriest uses this ability, he can also use his sacred weapon ability as a free action by expending one use of his fervor.