About Niklos Voski⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ Niklos Voski
DEFENSE:
AC 22, touch 16, flat-footed 17, (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 natural)
OFFENSE:
Speed 30 ft.
STATISTICS:
Str 8, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 14
107 pp, 99 gp, 53 sp, 12 cp Current Encumbrance: 81 lbs. Light Load: 86 lbs. or less (with muleback cords) ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ DESCRIPTION:
Height: 5′6″ (168 cm), Weight: 117 lbs. (53 kg) Niklos is a short, wiry man with messy dark hair and an unkempt goatee. The Varisian bears the semblance of a washed-up bravo: he sports a once-fine leather longcoat over a worn satin vest, multiple pieces of tawdry jewelry, and a mithral rapier at his side. The weapon is by far his most valuable possession, an extravagantly ornate example of elven craftsmanship. Around his waist he wears a purple scarf, lined with jingling decorative coins. Though not handsome in the traditional sense, Niklos has a certain roguish charm. Despite his continuously dishevelled appearance—and the lingering smell of cheap cologne and tobacco—his confident swagger gives the striking impression of someone wholly unburdened by any worldly responsibility. The scruffy scoundrel is quick to smile, though it rarely reaches his eyes. Lazy and hedonistic, Niklos seeks comfort and luxury without having to work for either. He craves power and respect, but lacks the motivation to maintain a permanent position in an organisation—as well as the drive to place himself in opposition such regimented systems. Above all, he is a coward. Most of his life has been spent nursing ambitions that he is too craven to pursue. This has made him bitter and resentful, though he hides it well—indeed, years of swindling others have honed his talent for deception and misdirection to a fine point. As it is, he has little natural compunction about doing whatever it takes to get a job done. However, he worries constantly—and sometimes excessively—about the possible consequences of his actions. Fortunately for others, this reins in some of his darker impulses. As a gambler, Niklos' relationship to the Harrow is a complicated one. For most of his life, he has treated the tradition as superstition, and desecrated the cards by using them for mere games of chance. Now that he has experienced their true power in such a traumatic fashion, he struggles to perform even the most basic functions without first consulting the fates. A coping mechanism of sorts, this allows him to avoid taking responsibility for his actions—especially those that resulted in the death of his sister. After his tragic revelation, Niklos has been obsessing over the act of divination, even dabbling in some minor magicks. However, his knowledge of the arcane is dubious at best. Lacking relevant information, he tends to make up facts on the fly, rather than admit his own ignorance. BACKGROUND:
Niklos Voski was born to a semi-nomadic clan of Varisians, then situated in the kingdom Brevoy in north-eastern Avistan. He and his twin sister Kornelia lost their mother when they were very young, and their father was absent—a considerate way of saying dead or imprisoned. As such, they were raised primarily by their grandmother. A bitter old woman, she blamed the children for her daughter's early demise. This did little to endear her to her progeny, who had to learn to fend for themselves. During their adolescence, the siblings grew up to be troublemakers and petty criminals, living up to many of the less favourable stereotypes about their people. They specialised running cons and cheating at games of chance, with the occasional theft, rarely getting involved in drug trade or violent crime. As soon as they were old enough, the siblings behind their extended family, eager to see the world and make their fortunes. They spend the first few years in and around the Free City of Restov, sometimes venturing to the northern River Kingdoms. Eventually Kornelia and Niklos ran afoul of the Brevic authorities, and fled further south to Daggermark. They spend some time embroiled in the underworld of the infamous city, before having to relocate once again—this time due to Niklos' mounting gambling debts. After escaping their pursuers, they made their way west to Lake Encarthan. The two spend the next half a decade travelling its various surrounding nations: Ustalav, Druma, Molthune, and finally Nirmathas. Most of their departures were just as sudden as before, and the Voskis soon left behind a string of bounties and warrants. Their schemes grew ever bolder, and their various enemies were ever closer to catching up with them. However, after having flaunted the law and evaded capture for so long, they had grown certain of their own invulnerability. After many close calls, Tamran was where their luck finally ran out. The two had been staying in one place for longer than usual, working closely with some local Sczarni. One of their contacts came to them with a profitable proposition: the two were to act as the gang's envoys in an important deal with a foreign party, who was interested in purchasing a stolen Thassilonian artifact. The siblings accepted the offer with glee, fully intending to use their carefully cultivated trust to take the artifact for themselves, and pawn it off somewhere else. They celebrated their coming wealth raucously, planning their retirement somewhere far south. On a drunken whim, they decided to seek the advice of a local harrower. Rankled by their inebriated noisiness and disrespectful behaviour, the old woman still consented to performing a reading, perhaps hoping to teach them a lesson in humility. The spread revealed many a dark omen, but there was one card in particular that would haunt Niklos' nightmares for years to come: The Crows. The crone warned the Voskis that were they to embark on this venture, one of them would be taken and one of them would be taken from. Full of youthful bluster, the siblings laughed at her cryptic predictions, and left without paying for their fortune. Only a few hours later, Kornelia was dead, and Niklos was running for his life. He never learned which of their supposed allies had sold them out, or who had payed for the hit, but instead of the buyer, the siblings were met with a group of Daggermark assassins. With hired killers on his tail, and wanted by authorities across Lake Encarthan for various foul deeds, Niklos fled west to Varisia. He spent some years hustling newcomers in Riddleport, until being forced to flee to Magnimar. Soon after overstaying his welcome with the local Sczarni, he settled in Korvosa. He hid in the crumbling district of Bridgefront in Old Korvosa, hoping that the presence of the domineering Cerulean Society—the city's legally sanctioned thieves' guild—would keep his many pursuers at bay. Though he managed to survive as he had before, the loss of his sister continued to gnaw at him. The two had been inseparable for all their life, and without her, Niklos had come to the realisation that he was truly on his own. With nowhere to go and nobody to turn to, he had to set out to find new allies... ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ HARROW CARDS:
The Suit of Keys:
The Suit of Crowns:
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