About Gabriel the HandBackstory:
Parched Dunes… several weeks ago "Gabriel, rise!" The voice was the first thing he heard. It was the first thing he heard for a very long time. How long? He felt the scorching sun bathing his naked body with its life-giving rays. He felt the sand under him. He did not dare to open his eyes yet. The brilliance he saw even through his closed eyelids was more than he could take at the moment. When was the last time I felt the sun above or the sand under me? "Gabriel, it is time for you to serve the Lady again. You have been resting long." The voice was continued. Resting, I do not feel especially rested.. "Whrr…" his mouth was parched. He swallowed and wet his lips, then he tried again. "What lady?"
Gabriel tried hard to remember. To remember anything, but his memory was blank – tabula rasa. Easy for you to say.. He slowly opened his eyes. Just a little at first. He saw a plate-clad woman with large bird wings augmented with pieces of metal. The armor was adorned with skulls. A pair of glowing eyes was all he could see of her face in the open-faced helm. "Are you an angel?" He though the being sighed, but could not be sure. "Gabriel, the Lady of the Graves demands your services again. You have been most resourceful agent in the past and she was always pleased with your performance. Almost always." she paused as if thinking of some past event. "Nevertheless you have a new task in front of you. The Lady saw a most disturbing occurrence about to happen. You will go to Wati, where the Necropolis has been reopened. You need to become one of the new explorers. Fate will give you an opportunity to enter the Necropolis. That is why I have been instructed to bring you back to life." Gabriel tried to sit, his head was hurting. He listened to the being but he could not make sense of what she was telling him. "I live… I live again?" The being was patient, she might have been patience incarnate. "Gabriel, you are the Hand. You go where the lady sends you and you do what needs doing. You have always done so. Now it is time for you to head to Wati. Trust in fate. It will show you what to do." He felt his mind was slowly starting to work properly. Well, go to Wati, do what needs to be done. The task seems straightforward enough. But more information would not hurt. "Can you tell me more?" he asked. "Gabriel, you should know I am not permitted to share any more details with you. You have to find what is going on for yourself. I cannot be seen to help you. That is the way it works. That is the way it has always worked." the armored women told him. "All I can do is give you this. It should help you start your new life once you find your way to the civilization." she handed him a purse and a sheathed dagger. "So long, Gabriel. We will meet again." she nodded and vanished. Nice trick. He unsheathed the weapon. It was a double-edge ceremonial dagger with a dull gray blade. The pommel was decorated with a stylized depiction of a woman’s face and hair. He looked around. Desert, I am in the middle of a damn desert. She could at least take me somewhere more hospitable. He stood up and started walking… Recent history:
The Necropolis… several hours ago "Hello, Gabriel" the voice surprised him, he thought he was alone in the room. He rolled from the makeshift bed, both daggers springing into his hands. He crouched in the corner, ready to face the unknown person. Then he recognized the voice. It was the first thing he heard after the long sleep. “Hello, you.” he said and followed by casting a ball of light onto one of his daggers. The plate-clad winged woman stood across the room. Yeah, it is her. Again. I am thrilled. "Gabriel, you may put the weapons down, you know who I am." the being said, her eyes glowing more brightly inside her helmet. Actually no, I do not. But I know who sent you. Or who you claim sent you. he thought. "I remember you, all right. You are the one who left me in the middle of nowhere, almost naked, with only a purse full of coins and a dagger. And with a cryptic message. You know, money is great. If you have somewhere to spend it. In the desert – not so much. Some food and a better weapon would be preferable." he looked at her angrily. ”I was hunted by some oversized vermin across the desert, unable to defend myself properly. It was no fun, no fun at all. I am not feeling particularly grateful, trust me." "But you survived, Gabriel. As I knew you would. You needed incentive to awake properly." the woman said calmly. "Bones and ashes, awake properly!? You must be kidding." he almost shouted. She waited, watching him. He calmed after a while. His voice became low and icy. Somehow, he sounded distinctly more dangerous than before. "You know, last time we met, you asked me to search my memory, my feelings. I did. I still do not know who I am or was. Memory evades me. But not so my feelings. I do not like you. I never did. I even do not much care for the Lady. Yes, I agree with her on most points. The important ones. But I think we do not see eye to eye. We never did. And her clergy, I like them even less. Most of them are a bunch of self-serving, pompous and smug boneheads." "Let me tell you a short story. After I escaped those crawling monsters, I arrived to Wati. I hooked up with an adventuring group bound to enter the reopened Necropolis – they called themselves Tomb Claws. There was a lottery and they were one of the groups that won." "The funny thing is, one of the Claws was a Pharasmin cleric – that was the initial reason I chose to join them. But I found out he was actively opposed to helping poor and destitute people in the city. I thought he was only joking the first time, but through our exploration of the Necropolis, other clues gave him away. He was an uncaring bastard who thought the only way to serve Her is to kill the monsters. When one of the other Tomb Claws was mortally wounded, he behaved as if he had no way to cure him just because he feared he will need the healing for himself as more enemies were closing in. Later I overheard him saying that before the lottery he had been passing a pregnant woman in a side street near the market and he laughed at her when she begged him to help her deliver the child but was unable to pay him for it. He even found it to be a funny enough story to share with his companions. Oh, it was funny for those Tomb Clowns, all right." he stopped, sheathed one of his daggers and put the lighted one on a slab of stone. Then he picked up his canteen and took a swing. The glowing eyes seemed angry now. Could it be she does not know about such behavior of her clerics? Or she does know and is not permitted to do anything about it? Gabriel mused. "They were not having such a great time when next we met some of the denizens of these ruins…" he paused, taking another sip of the water. "Gabriel, what happened next?" the women enquired. "I let them deal with it. Did not feel like spending any more time with them." "You have been known to enact more… permanent… solutions, Gabriel. But it is for the best. You did right to enter the Necropolis. Now you have to join forces with another adventuring group you meet here. They are the ones who will help you with your destiny. You must agree to accompany them anywhere their quest will take them." "A quest?" Is her tone pleading this time? What is going on? "Yes Gabriel, they have a quest set before them, but they do not know it yet. They will ask you to join them. You will accept. It is the Lady’s will. That is why I was sent here tonight." He was taken aback. Cryptic again, aren’t you? Can’t say more, can you? "All right, I will do that…" "Good," she paused. "So long, Gabriel. We will meet again." she nodded and vanished. Again? At least she has not left me in the middle of a desert this time. I should count myself lucky. Or perhaps not. He extinguished the light, sheathed the dagger and returned to his makeshift bed…
Appearance and Personality:
Gabriel is of average height and weight. He has athletic body and no fat to speak of. His skin is tanned and crossed with so many scars, it is a surprise he is still alive. Some of the scars are from standard weapons but others are of decidedly strange origin. He has a spiral shaped tattoo on his left hand. Although he looks to be around 25 years old, his dark brown eyes seem ancient. He keeps his blackish hair short and wears no jewelry. He wears travel stained clothes but keeps them reasonably clean. He bathes regularly to keep his odor to minimum. Gabriel has no social skills to speak of. He is direct and usually quite truthful – often to the point of being annoying. He is not exceptionally talkative but usually says what he thinks with no regard to what others may think about him. This does not make him many friends. He does not care. He has low opinion of churches in general. He values the services some of their representatives provide to the common folk (healers, midwifes etc.), but finds most of them to be too rigid, self-absorbed, haughty, lecturing, greedy or power-hungry fools. It cannot be said he believes in or even reveres gods. He knows they exists, but finds them to be no better than the majority of people and definitely worse than some. His relations with Pharasma are something even he does not understand. He feels they are connected somehow but as he does not remember almost anything from his life before he awoke in the desert, he is not sure how. All he has are brief flashes and feelings. He thinks laws and rules in general are good as long as they do not impede people doing the right thing. This approach usually does not endear him to authorities. He does not really have problems with authorities as long as he considers them competent, but it is safe to say many authorities have problems with him. He has hard time trusting people as he usually expects the worst. He may seem paranoid at times, but as the saying goes “Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean they are not after you”. He has been proven to be right several times. He cares about folks. It does not mean he is nice to them, but if someone really needs help, he does his best to aid him/her to the best of his ability. This usually means facing some threat – ordinary or otherwise. He hates anybody who preys on innocents or on those who cannot defend themselves properly. This holds especially true for undead and other monsters, but applies to bad people as well. Personal recount of Gabriel’s departure from TC:
"Well, if you really feel like you need to know. The Tomb Clowns were a pitiful bunch, I would never joined them if I knew what sort of people they were. They are just glorified tomb robbers, self-centered bastards who do not care much about each other and even less so about anyone else. I decided I was safer alone down here than in their company. If you meet them, be careful. They might seem friendly but it will change when it suits them the most. If they are still alive... They were about to have some company when I took my leave. I reckoned, there was no reason to risk my life for the likes of them. Oh, and they are not really called Clowns, they call themselves Claws. But in reality - they resemble clowns more closely." Statblock:
Gabriel the Hand - Osirion Male human (garundi) inquisitor of Pharasma 2 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 38) N Medium humanoid (human) Init +5; Senses Perception +8 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 18 (+6 armor, +2 Dex, +2 shield) hp 16 (2d8+3) Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +6; +2 trait bonus against death effects. -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor) Melee dagger +5 (1d4+4/19-20) or . . dagger +5 (1d4+4/19-20) or . . mwk morningstar +6 (1d8+4) Special Attacks judgment 1/day Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2nd; concentration +5) . . At will—detect alignment Inquisitor Spells Known (CL 2nd; concentration +5) . . 1st (3/day)—cure light wounds, expeditious retreat, protection from evil . . 0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, disrupt undead, guidance, light, read magic, stabilize . . Domain Spellkiller inquisition -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 19, Dex 14, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 10 Base Atk +1; CMB +5; CMD 17 Feats Disruptive, Intimidating Prowess, Toughness Traits armor expert, resurrected Skills Acrobatics -2 (-6 to jump), Heal +7, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (arcana) +4, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (nature) +4, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +8, Sense Motive +9, Stealth +3, Survival +8 Languages Common, Osiriani SQ monster lore +3, spellkiller, stern gaze +1, track +1 Combat Gear potion of endure elements, potion of hide from undead, potion of remove fear, potion of shield of faith +2, alchemist's fire (3), armor ointment (2), healer's kit, tanglefoot bag, vermin repellent (4); Other Gear mwk breastplate, heavy steel shield, dagger, dagger, mwk morningstar, bandolier, bedroll, belt pouch, candle (10), crowbar, fire-resistant boots, flint and steel, marbles, marbles, masterwork backpack, mess kit, pot, silk rope (100 ft.), soap, spell component pouch, surgeon's tools, torch (10), trail rations (3), waterskin, wooden holy symbol of Pharasma, wrist sheath, spring loaded, wrist sheath, spring loaded, 115 gp, 1 sp, 3 cp -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty. Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will. Disruptive +4 DC to cast defensively for those you threaten. Fire-resistant boots Fire resistance 1 against attacks directed against your feet. Inquisitor Domain (Spellkiller Inquisition) Deities: Any (with GM approval). Granted Powers: You gain the Disruptive feat as a bonus feat (even if you do not meet the prerequisites). Judgment (1/day) (Su) Variable bonuses increase as the combat continues. Monster Lore +3 (Ex) +3 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures. Resurrected You do not die until your hit points drop to negative 15 or lower. Spellkiller (+2 Sacred, DC 14) After defeating enemy, gain +2 sacred bonus to AC for 2 minutes. End the effect when hitting an arcane spellcaster to stagger your opponent. Track +1 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track. lvl 2 equipment:
Rules: no more than 25% of their wealth on weapons, 25% on armor and protective devices, 25% on other magic items, 15% on disposable items like potions, scrolls, and wands, and 10% on ordinary gear and coins Selling (half price):
Disposable capital 1301,79+2+30=1333,79 (25%=333.45, 15%=200.07, 10%=133.38)
- mwk breastplate 350 gp - backpack, mwk 50 gp
- potion of Endure elements 50 gp
Total: 1219 gp 2 sp Remaining coins: 115 gp, 1 sp, 3 cp |
