Isabelle "Ellie" Jackdaw's page

Isabelle was born in January of 476 AOV to a family of poor miners as the fourth child of a family that would eventually grow to have seven children. As the only girl born into the family, expectations were a bit skewed for her compared to the rest of her family--a fact she had trouble understanding as she grew through her childhood. One thing was abundantly clear, however. She was smart. She liked learning things and it was as if her "Why" stage never ended.

As she grew older, her roles within the family began to part from what she saw her brothers doing. They farmed, they worked on the machinery, they were expected to go into the mine, and they hunted. She was expected to cook, clean, and just generally not think about much. Her family was devoted to The Old Faith and drew most of their resources from the land and they were dogmatic about the Faith. She was never sure if the reason she grew apart from her parents was due to their dogmatic attitude or due to their derision and sexist attitude toward her and her brothers.

Isabelle had an older brother named John (that she affectionately referred to as JackJack). John liked to tinker with machinery in his free time and Isabelle garnered a strong bond with him at a young age. As he learned more about mechanics and the world, he taught her. They had playful arguments that never ended in anger unlike her discussions with other people in her family, virtually the only people she interacted with.

Her knowledge and skills in mechanics and crafting eventually outgrew her small homestead and eventually even John as she approached her teenage years. It almost seemed as if her family got more resistant to the idea of her "playing" with machines, other crafts, and reading as she got better and more knowledgeable. They constantly reminded her of what her place in nature is, they reminded her that she had a hard time staying focused on simple tasks and that'd make her awful at building, and that there are some things that simply don't need to be questions.

She grew tired of home life. Her parents were loving but close-minded people who expected her to be precisely the contrary of what she was. She wanted to know how things came to be. She didn't like assuming answers and being confined to a bubble of man-made hope and fantasy. She wanted to make that hope and understand its purpose. That's why she moved to Flint.

"The best way to understand why is to learn how."

At first, Isabelle struggled in the big city. Most of her skills and knowledge was impractical. For the first couple of years she refused help from her family and got whatever odd jobs she could just to afford to rent out a shack. Well, she accepted almost no help from her family. During these first few years, her brother John would sneak away from her family's homestead to visit with her for a few hours. She would refuse money from him but he'd always find a way to slip her a few gold when she wasn't paying attention (which was most of the time).

After a a year, however, he stopped visiting. When couple of months had passed, she wrote him a single letter simply asking him to write back. When she didn't receive a response, she was forced to assume that all ties had finally been severed from her family. She devoted herself to the city and to Risur by taking on engineering and construction roles within the city and signing on the the Royal Homeland Constabulary.

As it turned out, however, joining the RHC wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. It wasn't that her loyalty to Risur wasn't strong enough--she believed in the people of the land and that the heads of Risur had their best interest in mind. If it weren't for the kingdom and especially the city of Flint, she would be right where she started. She blamed her family for their position and she's willing to give all of her talents over to the people who helped her escape that position.

The background check wasn't a difficult hurdle either. Isabelle had almost no background to check. She was a nobody who came from no where. She hadn't done anything important to make her particularly famous or infamous. The way she figured, even if they asked her coworkers for references, they'd just tell the RHC that she's forgetful, friendly, and scary intelligent.

As it happens to be, no background can make it a bit tougher. Isabelle wanted to be actively helping the RHC in the field. She thought her skills and inventiveness could be useful and she wasn't interested in being a bookkeeper or secretary (besides being boring, she has a hard time remembering where she sat her wrench let alone where specific papers are or what someone's name is).

After applying for field work and being denied, Isabelle was at a loss for how to proceed. She was convinced she had to be a competent fighter or wizard. Or something. But she wasn't and she couldn't imagine herself becoming either of those things. That is, until she met Lindara.

Lindara was a traveling dervish dancer. She was unbelievably skilled with a scimitar who easily turned war into an art. She met Isabelle by word of mouth. Lindara had heard from asking locals that she was one of the top people to talk to if you needed to know about engineering or architecture and Lindara was on a mission that Isabelle still doesn't know any details on.

While short lived, Isabelle cherished her relationship with Lindara. Isabelle was almost certain that she'd never be half the fighter Lindara was and she was about equally skeptical that she could ever possess the same level of confidence in stressful situations. In exchange for knowledge, Lindara happily agreed to show Isabelle the ropes of becoming a bard.

Learning magic was different than anything Isabelle had learned before. While that certainly explained why she'd never figured it out on her own, she didn't like it at first. Lindara used it to enhance her own abilities and cast spells that affect the mind and Isabelle wanted to use magic to help her create and repair. She certainly picked up on Lindara's magic and decided to focus on the good aspects over the intrusive ones. It also didn't take much magical theory to apply the magic to something she was already intimately familiar with; making and finding weaknesses in things.

After her training with Lindara, the bard continued her travels and Isabelle reapplied for the RHC armed with confidence in her ability to help an elite group of protectors. She was not what most people considered when they thought of someone in the constabulary but she was someone who wanted to do what was right. She didn't care to bend the rules if it meant protecting her nation or especially her city.

Eyes: Hazel (Mostly Green)
Hair: Red
Skin: Fair
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 128 lbs

Ellie stands about 5'4" tall and only weighs 128 lbs. She has a slender build that doesn't clearly lend itself to appearing stout, indeed quite slender and fragile, or tough. She does have a slighter build that may look agile to the trained eye, though even then it's unlikely that she's much quicker than average.

She has a gorgeous face. Her eyes are a vibrant hazel/green color and her hair is short and somewhat unkempt, yet it somehow comes across as a purposeful hairstyle despite how little the effort she puts into it is daily. She has a few very lightly colored freckles that dot her cheeks and nose, mostly notable because of her fair skin. She has a strong jaw, just a step from being considered masculine, that accents her small chin and long face.

She's often dirty from working and building things, though if there's a time that she's not covered in wood shavings or black dust, she has likely been studying instead.

Portrait

Ellie is extremely personable, fun to be around, and scarily intelligent. One thing becomes extremely clear to anyone who is around her for long though; she has the attention span of a gold fish. She's extremely forgetful, occasionally talks about things that she forgets other people don't know, and is prone to zoning out. A lot.

Ellie knows how to get down to business. While she isn't naive, she sometimes forgets what others are capable of and what the consequences of her actions might be. She is absent-minded, but she's aggressively focused on any task at hand. She's the type to remember the exact specification of a complex artifact, but turn around and forget her pouch of gold on the bar and forget the name of the bar she was just in.

Isabelle Jackdaw
NG Female Human Archivist Bard 1
Init +2; Senses; Perception -2 (-4 sight based), Sense Motive -4
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Defense
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AC 17, 12 touch , 15 flat-footed
(10 base, +2 dex, +4 armor, +1 shield, +0 deflection, +0 natural, +0 dodge)
Hp (1d8 + 0 (con))
Fort + 0 [+ 0 base + 0 ability]
Ref + 4 [+2 base + 2 ability]
Will + 0 [+2 base - 2 ability]
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee

Ranged

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Statistics
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Strength 8, Dexterity 14, Constitution 11, Intelligence 18, Wisdom 7, Charisma 16

Base Attack +0; CMB -1; CMD 11
Feats Flagbearer, Extra Magic Talent (Creation Sphere), Docker's Jank
Skills

(Note: Background skills are Knowledge (Engineering) and Perform (Oratory))

Acrobatics________________+2 (+ (rank) + 2 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Appraise__________________+4 (+ (rank) + 4 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Bluff_____________________+3 (+ (rank) + 2 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Climb_____________________-1 (+ (rank) - 1 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Craft (Mechanics)_________+10 (+ 1 (rank) + 4 (ability) + 3 (class skill) + 2 (Race))
Craft (Traps)_____________+8 (+ 1 (rank) + 4 (ability) + 3 (class skill) + (misc))
Craft (Alchemy)___________+8 (+ 1 (rank) + 4 (ability) + 3 (class skill) + (misc))
Diplomacy_________________+3 (+ (rank) + 3 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Disable Device____________+2 (+ (rank) + 2 (ability) + 0 (class skill) + (misc))
Disguise__________________+3 (+ (rank) + 3 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Escape Artist_____________+2 (+ (rank) + 2 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Fly_______________________+2 (+ (rank) + 2 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Handle Animal_____________+- (+ (rank) + 3 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Heal______________________-2 (+ (rank) - 2 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Intimidate________________+3 (+ (rank) + 3 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Knowledge (Arcana)________+9 (+ 1 (rank) + 4 (ability) + 3 (class skill) + 1 (Bard))
Knowledge (Dungeoneering)_+5 (+ (rank) + 4 (ability) + (class skill) + 1 (Bard))
Knowledge (Engineering)___+9 (+ 1 (rank) + 4 (ability) + 3 (class skill) + 1 (Bard))
Knowledge (Geography)_____+5 (+ (rank) + 4 (ability) + (class skill) + + 1 (Bard))
Knowledge (History)_______+5 (+ (rank) + 4 (ability) + (class skill) + + 1 (Bard))
Knowledge (Local)_________+9 (+ 1 (rank) + 4 (ability) + 3 (class skill) + 1 (Bard))
Knowledge (Nature)________+9 (+ 1 (rank) + 4 (ability) + (class skill) + 1 (Bard))
Knowledge (Nobility)______+5 (+ (rank) + 4 (ability) + (class skill) + 1 (Bard))
Knowledge (Planes)________+9 (+ 1 (rank) + 4 (ability) + 3 (class skill) + + 1 (Bard))
Knowledge (Religion)______+9 (+ 1 (rank) + 4 (ability) + 3 (class skill) + + 1 (Bard))
Linguistics_______________+- (+ (rank) + 4 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Perception________________-2 (+ (rank) - 2 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Perform (Oratory)_________+7 (+ 1 (rank) + 3 (ability) + 3 (class skill) + (misc))
Profession________________+- (+ (rank) - 1 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Ride______________________+2 (+ (rank) + 2 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Sense Motive______________-4 (+ (rank) - 2 (ability) + (class skill) - 2 (drawback))
Sleight of Hand___________+- (+ (rank) + 2 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Spellcraft________________+8 (+ 1 (rank) + 4 (ability) + 3 (class skill) + (misc))
Stealth___________________+2 (+ (rank) + 2 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Survival__________________-2 (+ (rank) - 2 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Swim______________________-1 (+ (rank) - 1 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))
Use Magic Device__________+- (+ (rank) + 3 (ability) + (class skill) + (misc))

Languages Common, Elven, Dwarven, Halfling, Orc
Special Abilities Bonus Feat, Industrious, Bardic Performance, Bardic Knowledge, Spell Points (4/day), Creation Sphere (Repair, Destroy, Create, Expanded Materials), Mind Sphere (Command, Inspiration)
Favored Class Bard (+1 Skill Point)
Theme Docker
Drawback Forgetful and Oblivious

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Gear
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Combat Gear Chain Shirt, Buckler, Light Crossbow, RHC Flag
Other Gear Backpack, Artisan's Tools
Money: 0 pp, 25 gp, 0 sp, 0 cp
Encumbrance 0 – 26 lbs; 27 – 53; 54 – 80; [Current Weight: 44 lbs/ Medium Load]

Slots
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Magic
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0--DC 10
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Stuff

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1--DC 10
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Stuff
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Special Abilities
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Bonus Feat (Race): Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Industrious (Race): Humans are known for their drive and work ethic. Humans with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on concentration checks and checks with their choice of one Craft or Profession skill.
Docker's Jank (Theme Feat): You may select up to four allies to be affected by this feat. Once per combat, each ally may, as swift action, attempt the aid another action, granting another ally or yourself) either a +1 bonus on his next attack roll or a +1 bonus to his AC.
Bludgeoner (Granted Feat): You take no penalty on attack rolls for using a lethal bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal damage.
Flagbearer (Level 1 Feat): As long as you hold your clan, house, or party’s flag, members of that allegiance within 30 feet who can see the flag (including yourself ) gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, and saving throws against fear and charm effects.
Extra Magic Talent (Human Bonus Feat): Choose one bonus magic talent or sphere (Mind).
Casting Tradition (Spheres of Power): The following drawbacks and boons apply to spellcasting.
-Focus Casting (Toolbelt) (Drawback): Your magic requires you to use an item such as a wand, holy symbol, ring, or staff to create magic. Using magic without your focus requires you to make a concentration check (DC 20 + 1/2 the caster level) to produce the desired effect.
-Skilled Casting (Craft (Mechanics)) (Drawback): You must create your magic through singing, drawing, or some other activity. Your magic is tied to a particular Perform, Profession, or Craft skill (although with GM permission another skill may be substituted). You must succeed at a skill check to use any sphere ability. The DC of this skill check is 15 + the ability’s caster level.
-Verbal Casting (Drawback): You must speak in a loud, clear voice to cast spells. Using magic alerts all nearby hearing creatures to your presence and location, effectively breaking stealth. You cannot cast in an area of magical silence, or in any other situation where you are unable to speak clearly.
-Empath (Drawback): You cannot plant suggestions into a target’s mind, as the Mind sphere base suggestion charm. You must select a (mind) talent with the bonus talent granted by this drawback.
-Easy Focus (Boon): When maintaining a sphere ability through concentration, you only need to spend a move action to maintain concentration instead of a standard action. This does not decrease the sphere ability’s casting time, only the action used to maintain concentration.
Bardic Performance [7 rounds/day] (Bard Ability): A bard is trained to use her skill to create magical effects on those around him, including himself if desired.
-Countersong: At 1st level, a bard learns to counter magic effects that depend on sound (but not spells that have verbal components.)
-Distraction: At 1st level, a bard can use his performance to counter magic effects that depend on sight.
-Fascinate: At 1st level, a bard can use his performance to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with him.
-Naturalist: An archivist who has identified a creature with a Knowledge check appropriate to its type can use performance to share strategies for defeating it with allies in combat.
Creation Sphere (Spheres of Power): (4 Spell Pool/Day) You may create and alter physical materials.
-Repair: You may repair a damaged object, healing it a number of hit points equal to 1d4 + 1/2 your caster level.
-Destroy: You deal damage to the object equal to 1d4+ 1/2 your caster level.
-Create: As a standard action, you may spend a spell point to create a non-magical, unattended object out of vegetable matter such as wood, hemp, or cotton in either your hand or an adjacent square.
-Expanded Materials: When you create or alter an object, you may work with any non-harmful material with a hardness of 5 or less, including glass, ice, or leather. You may create water (3 cubic ft equals a small creature), but not gases or flesh.
Mind Sphere (Spheres of Power): (4 Spell Pool/Day) You may place charms on creatures.
-Command: You may directly control another creature’s body.
-Inspiration: You inspire competence in the target.

Bonus Feat (Race): Isabelle is among the adaptable minded members of the human race.

Industrious (Race): While Isabelle has a difficult time multitasking as well as being rather absent minded, she is very difficult to shake from doing anything she has set her mind to doing and her skills in mechanics are unrivaled by those with as little experience as her.

Docker's Jank (Theme Feat): One of the things that Isabelle prides herself in and one of the things that helps alleviate her nerves about being fairly inept at combat compared to her colleagues in the RHC is her ability to help her friends in a pinch. She's smart and her long hours working with a team has enlightened her to the best ways of making her team work as a strong unit.

Bludgeoner (Granted Feat): Joining the RHC was hard work. They have all of their agents go through oddly specific training. Isabelle would have argued that the training was unnecessary but she was far too excited to get started and be doing official... things.

Flagbearer (Level 1 Feat): Isabelle isn't a very structured person and not normally the type of person you'd expect to swear allegiance to a nation. After years of living as a peasant with her family being told that she shouldn't think the way she does and escaping on the industry of Flint and the help of Risur, the Flag of Risur inspires her when she needs it most so she always keeps it near. Who knows who else might feel similarly?

Extra Magic Talent (Human Bonus Feat): When Lindara taught Isabelle the basics of bardic magic, she taught her how to use mind altering magic. Isabelle picked up on the magic quickly but it wasn't long before she started applying her new skill to trying to create things and take them apart. Now she has a slightly wider array of abilities than she once did.

Casting Tradition (Spheres of Power): The following drawbacks and boons apply to spellcasting.

-Skilled Casting (Craft (Mechanics)) (Drawback): Most bards have a way of speaking, playing music, or (in Lindara's case) dancing to create their magic. Isabelle has always enjoyed the arts but she's never been able to devote herself to them. Instead, she keeps a handful of magically malleable materials around in a toolbelt that she can use to quickly make her magical effects not unlike an artificer might.

-Focus Casting (Toolbelt) (Drawback):

-Verbal Casting (Drawback): Isabelle's mind magic, which was her initial introduction to magic, involves her shouting knowledge and advice--be it to allies or to enemies (though she tends to reserve the good advice for allies and the bad advice for enemies). One of the fundamental parts of this magic is shouting. Naturally, even when Isabelle began tinkering with creation magic, this continues to be a part of her spellcasting.

-Empath (Drawback): Isabelle's strength in mind magic isn't to affect another person's emotions. It's to affect their intellect and convince them that something is a good idea by their own volition--she still speaks the argument. Magic is only there to speed along the process.

-Easy Focus (Boon): Since she has incorporated her magic into a medium that's extremely easy for her to manipulate, she is much better able to control and keep that magic active.

Bardic Performance [7 rounds/day] (Bard Ability): Lindara taught Isabelle how behavior can enable a bard to impose her will on those around her passively and sometimes subtly if the bard puts their passion into it. Lindara's passion was for dance and, while Isabelle wasn't a very artistic person, she has a passion for knowledge, learning, and making.

-Countersong and Distraction: Isabelle is able to use her knowledge of bardic magic and her skill at conveying that knowledge to make it much easier for allies to avoid being affected by spells that depend on sound or sight simply by displaying that knowledge to distract the enemy and empower the mind of allies.

-Fascinate: While most people consider lectures boring, Isabelle has a way of making you want to listen to her rambling about the nature of life, magic, and the world and that was before Lindara taught her how to use magic to amplify that effect.

-Naturalist: One of the things Isabelle perceives to be among her greatest assets is her intense curiosity and, by extension, knowledge of anything her potential team could run across. Not only can she impart that knowledge onto her teammates so they're better prepared, she can infuse her words with bardic magic to help them fight better and defend themselves better against foes she imparts that knowledge about. In a sense, she arms her teammates with knowledge--literally.

Mind Sphere (Spheres of Power): (5 Spell Pool/Day) Isabelle was initially taught bardic magic by Lindara who specialized in affecting people's mind with magic. After learning only the basics, though, she was ready to move on and learn more.

-Command: The first thing Lindara taught Isabelle was how to impose her will on an enemy's mind. Isabelle doesn't enjoy using her magic so forcefully but she's pretty good at it if she must.

-Inspiration: After learning to command a target, Isabelle requested a way to do something a bit contrary--use her magic to bolster the mind of an ally. The magic came easily since Isabelle has more insight than most and an intense eagerness to help her allies.

Creation Sphere (Spheres of Power): (5 Spell Pool/Day) After learning the basics of magic from Lindara, it didn't take long for Isabelle to dive into using that magic for her passion; making.

-Repair: Isabelle uses her magic to expedite her ability to repair objects to nearly instantaneous.

-Destroy: Her extensive knowledge of how to create also enables her to use magic to efficiently destroy objects as well.

-Create: One of the most exciting discoveries that Isabelle has made since beginning her study of magic is the potential it has to temporarily create things she could craft instantaneously.

-Expanded Materials: Isabelle quickly learned to work with more structurally sound materials. As an engineer and a mechanic, it is important that her creations are strong and capable of bearing a lot of weight.