Harbaestus's page

Originally "born" in Arcadia, Harbaestus and several other relatives were kidnapped and brought to Baskarath - a dying demiplane connected to the Tarterian Depths of Carceri, dominated by Demodands. The leshys died, but their seeds were savaged and saved by the Green Men - mythic plants who serve as avatars of nature itself.

Brought to the prime material plane and replanted, Harbaestus was the only one that survived and thrived. Living amongst the other native vine leshys on the swamps across the lands, he learned the ways of druidism and dedicated his few years to the protection of everything green.

As other reborn creatures, the young creature didn't have any memories from his previous life. Yet, there was clearly something special about him. Every year - in a festival known as the Great Harvest - their swamps would be visited by the same green men who once saved Harbaestus, and through the deific existence the local druids - Humans and leshys - would gain their powers.

Exactly three decades passed as their society flourished. Considering some of the trees were many centuries old - and even some of the other local leshys - Harbaestus was still young for the plant standards. Yet, on that year, no green men visited the Great Harvest. Devastated, many of the local druids fell into despair and lost their faith, while others prayed and communed with no answer.

Harbaestus did differently. Dreaming a terrible nightmare where titanspawn wandered the lands and burned even the very souls that animate the leshys, the young plant understood there was something different with his spirit. He went to the forests, alone, and there he dug a hole - and planted himself. He closed his eyes and communed, and such was the power of his faith - that he ascended.

When he finally opened his eyes, he felt a surge of pure mythic energy. A reborn hierophant, he moved with difficulty until finally unearthed, just to find that the swamps were very different than before. They were desolate, rotten; as if life had vanished from there. Almost fourteen years had passed while he slumbered.

All vine leshys are born via druidic rituals, where their spirits are attracted to animate plant bodies and become something. Harbaestus situation was similar, but he now knew the truth - that his spirit wasn't from this plane, and that his true mission wasn't there either.

He walked the once full of life swamps feeling the pain in each step. As he got to the center of it, he breathed. And breathed. And in that moment in time, pure life energy was channeled from him, touching the dead flora around him in a wave of silence and steadiness.

And then, life started anew. Sprouts came from the ground. The dark gray scenery slowly became light green. Only young life. But something, once again. As he opened his eyes, for a moment, he had the impression of seeing a green man himself - but as he shook his head, he understood it was simply his small and frail leshy shape.

And thus his journey of discovery through the planes of existence truly started. For the next decade, he traveled the lands of the prime material plane, taken as a special godsent creature by some, and a bad omen by others. He walked and fought, hid and made friends and enemies.

In each breath, one step closer to understand what happened with the green men and the other plants of the swamp. In each step, a new memory of who he truly was. In each memory, a revelation of gods amongst mortals.

Harbaestus is a joyful leshy with an easy smile and a blase attitude about everything around him. He's absolutely balanced - no law or chaos, no good or evil. His main desire is to learn more about himself and his origins; what secrets truly lie on his past? Who were the deific green men that saved him, and what happened with them? Were the swamps he was "born" in the prime material plane destroyed because of him? Who were the monstrous outsiders of his nightmares?

Physically speaking he's short - less than three feet tall - and very skinny and frail. This gives him a lot of agility, but certainly weakness as well. His entire skin is green, as imaginable, covered in leaves, a mix of willow and reed, and his head is a giant water lily.

While he's very wise and somewhat charismatic, he is not intelligent at all. He's very much an evolved plant and most of his knowledge is around nature and religion - his knowledge is such in these areas that what he knows about outsider creatures is an extrapolation of druidic religious concepts.

Harbaestus is a druid and, as such, a divine caster with some capability for support and off-healing. My main goal on his design is to evolve him on the wondrous wild shape world of powerful shapechanging - specifically, he's all about plants, green men, leshys and nature in general. As we gain new mythic tiers, my idea is that it represents he "regaining" a bit of his memories, getting closer to his origins in Arcadia. It's not for mechanical reasons, more like a RP-quirk that I think it's cool.

He's not much martially capable nowadays, so I hope my colleagues can help cover these aspects. Eventually he will become a good damage dealer and crowd controller, and I hope a good buffer for the party as well. For now, like I said - I will have to hide and hope for the best, and try to help using my spells.

Mythically speaking, he's a hierophant, as it brings the most to evolve my focus (wild shaping and divine spells). I might get dual path at some point for trickster or champion, but undecided yet... It will depend on what the party needs the most. It's okay for me if we have another hierophant around, especially since Harbaestus isn't really too capable of being the main healer around. Let's cross our fingers for lots of wands if it's the case!

Harbaestus
Male vine leshy druid (treesinger) 3/Hierophant 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide 25, Ultimate Wilderness 20)
N Small plant (leshy)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +8
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +2 shield, +1 size)
hp 28 (3d8+10)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +7
Defensive Abilities hard to kill
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft.; pass without trace
Melee dagger +5 (1d3+4/19-20) or
. . dagger +5 (1d3+4/19-20) or
. . heavy shield bash -3 (1d3-2) or
. . lashvine +7 (1d3+4) or
. . scorpion whip +5 (1d3+4) or
. . sickle +5 (1d4+4) or
. . unarmed strike +5 (1d2+4 nonlethal)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with scorpion whip)
Special Attacks divine surge (recalled blessing), mythic power (5/day, surge +1d6)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +5)
. . Constant—pass without trace
Druid (Treesinger) Spells Prepared (CL 3rd; concentration +7)
. . 2nd—barkskin, burst of nettles[D,UM] (DC 16), resist energy
. . 1st—cheetah's sprint, hydraulic push[D,APG], magic fang, windy escape[ARG]
. . 0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, know direction, read magic
. . D Domain spell; Domain Swamp domain[UM]
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 7, Dex 19, Con 14, Int 5, Wis 18, Cha 14
Base Atk +2; CMB -1; CMD 13
Feats Piranha Strike, Weapon Finesse[M]
Traits blessed touch, missionary, rejected emperor
Skills Acrobatics +1 (-3 to jump), Climb -3, Knowledge (geography) +3, Knowledge (nature) +3, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +8, Profession (herbalist) +10, Stealth +5 (+9 in forests), Survival +10; Racial Modifiers +2 Climb, +4 Stealth in forests
Languages Common, Druidic, Sylvan; plantspeech (vines)
SQ green empathy, lashvine, natural healing, nature sense, paranoid, plant bond (Swamp domain[UM]), plantbringer[MA], trackless step, woodland stride
Other Gear mwk lamellar (leather) armor[UC], heavy wooden shield, dagger, dagger, scorpion whip[UC], sickle, belt pouch, blanket[APG], flint and steel, masterwork backpack[APG], spell component pouch, spider's silk rope (50 ft.)[APG], trail rations (5), waterskin, wrist sheath, spring loaded (2), 597 gp, 3 sp, 6 cp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Dagger - 0/1
Dagger - 0/1
Mythic Power (5/day, Surge +1d6) - 0/5
Natural Healing (5/day, DC 13) (Su) - 0/5
Pass without Trace (Constant) - 0/0
Speak with Plants (related species only, Constant) - 0/0
Trail rations - 0/5
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Druid (Treesinger) Domain (Swamp) Granted Powers: The sour-sweet depths of bogs, marshes, and swamps are your places of power.
Green Empathy +5 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an plant, as if using Diplomacy.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Lashvine Free act, transform hand into nat attack dealing 1d3 B.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Natural Healing (5/day, DC 13) (Su) Channel as cleric to heal Hp or ability dam of animals, plants, and vermin.
Nature Sense (Ex) A druid gains a +2 bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks.
Paranoid Aid Another DC 15 for attempts to help you.
Piranha Strike -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage with light weapons.
Plantbringer (fast healing 1) (Su) Allied plant creatures within 30 ft. gain fast healing equal to your tier.
Plantspeech (Ex) All leshys can speak with plants as if subject to a continual speak with plants spell, but only with species they’re related to. Fungus leshys can communicate with molds and fungi as if they were plants.
Recalled Blessing (Su) Use 1 power, cast known/memorized divine spell for free, non-mythic foes must save twice, you roll twice for healing amt.
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Trackless Step (Ex) You do not leave a trail as you move through natural surroundings.
Woodland Stride (Ex) Move through undergrowth at normal speed.