Staryth's page

About Staryth

Staryth
Male Human (Garundi) Bard 2
NG Medium Humanoid (human)
Hero Points 1
Init +4; Senses Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 15 (2d8+2)
Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +3; +4 vs. bardic performance, sonic, and language-dependant effects
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee Longsword +1 (1d8/19-20/x2)
Ranged Shortbow +3 (1d6/x3)
Special Attacks bardic performance (standard action) (16 rounds/da, bardic performance: countersong, bardic performance: distraction, bardic performance: fascinate (1 targets) (dc 15), bardic performance: inspire courage +1
Bard Spells Known (CL 2):
1 (3/day) Cure Light Wounds, Silent Image (DC 15), Sleep (DC 15)
0 (at will) Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation (DC 14), Ghost Sound (DC 14), Detect Magic, Summon Instrument
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Statistics
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Str 11, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 18
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Dodge, Extra Performance
Traits Magical Talent (Disrupt Undead) (1/day) (Sp), Reactionary
Skills Bluff +9, Diplomacy +9, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +2, Knowledge (geography) +2, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge (local) +6, Knowledge (nature) +2, Knowledge (nobility) +6, Knowledge (religion) +6, Perception +4, Perform (dance) +8, Perform (sing) +9, Perform (string instruments) +8, Sense Motive +9, Sleight of Hand +6, Spellcraft +5, Stealth +6, Use Magic Device +8
Languages Common, Necril, Osiriani
SQ bardic knowledge, hero points, versatile performance abilities (singing), well versed
Other Gear Leather armor, Arrows (20), Longsword, Shortbow, Backpack (12 @ 4.72 lbs), Blanket, Ink, black, Inkpen, Musical instrument (Lute), Parchment (5), Trail rations (2), Wine, fine (per bottle), 2 PP, 2 GP, 7 SP
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Special Abilities
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Bardic Knowledge +1 (Ex) Add +1 to all knowledge skill checks.
Bardic Performance (standard action) (16 rounds/day) Your performances can create magical effects.
Bardic Performance: Countersong (Su) Counter magical effects that depend on sound.
Bardic Performance: Distraction (Su) Counter magical effects that depend on sight.
Bardic Performance: Fascinate (1 targets) (DC 15) (Su) One or more creatures becomes fascinated with you.
Bardic Performance: Inspire Courage +1 (Su) Morale bonus on some saving throws, attack and damage rolls.
Hero Points (1) Hero Points can be spent at any time to grant a variety of bonuses.
Magical Talent (Disrupt Undead) (1/day) (Sp) Choose one 0-level spell - it becomes a 1/day spell-like ability for you.
Versatile Performance (Singing) +9 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Sing skill for Bluff or Sense Motive checks
Well Versed (Ex) +4 save vs. bardic performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects.

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Background/History:
"Are you sure she's gone?" Staryth stated with hope. Of course, he used the term 'gone'. One rarely said 'Dead' in this land unless one meant UNdead.

Kirani gave a sly wink "She hasn't been by the perfumers in weeks, not since the duel with Baron Kazeeth. Clearly, he didn't just defeat her, he destroyed her."

That clenched it then. The Dead were nothing if not creatures of habit. And Hazina had more reason than most for her love of perfumes, not that they had ever helped her.

"Good riddance to stinking trash," Staryth said. Living in Geb was hell for most Quick as it was, but 'Lady' Hazina had been worse that most. Lower nobility, she had delighted in ignoring the few laws meant to protect the living, using undead even weaker than she to seize ''criminals' off the street and punish them with an invite to, no, make that AS, dinner for her and her court of ghouls.

The people taken were not criminals at all, just poor fools with insufficient connections caught on trumped up charges and offered no true justice in a land fallen to abominations.

But then Lady Hazina had made the mistake of angering a vampire noble more powerful than her in every way. The duel was inescapable. Everyone knew by now that Kazeeth had won. Judging by the the evidence, it had been to the final death.

Which freed Staryth up to do what bards like him loved best. One had be careful what one said of the living Dead, and more so what they sang of them. But piles of Ash? Their memories were fair game, and making mockery of them was one of the few forms of rebellion Staryth could safely do.
...........
The crowd was rollicking in the tavern. The Dead rarely came here, and emboldened by companionship and liquors, the Quick were in fine spirits.

"Again, Staryth!" They bellowed.

"Not tired of it yet?" He strummed his lute.

"No!" was the response.

And he began...
"O gather round, and harken to the tale.
Of the late again Hazina, Lady by her claim
She was cruel and she was vicious, but that's not her source of fame.
Where err she traveled, mortal nostrils she would blast.
Flowers would wither as she walked on past.
And if ever she was told she stunk, well the lady was a ghast!"

"The lady was a ghast my friends, the lady was a ghast.
It even outdid the stink of her dark repasts.
Eyes would tear not from grief but from her noxious fumes
Nothing could cover her stink, not even fine perfumes!"

"O the lady Hazina, her crimes went beyond the pale
And the wretchedness of her deeds marked her as sinful or insane.
No one dared to defend the innocent, no one dared complain.
How could one inhale to voice thier rage without gagging on an odor unsurpassed?
If told her manners were those of a pig, the lady was a ghast!"

"The lady was a ghast my friends, the lady was a ghast.
It even outdid the stink of her dark repasts.
Eyes would tear not from grief but from her noxious fumes
Nothing could cover her stink, not even fine perfumes!"

"O the ghast named Hazina, her fetor deadly to inhale
finally faced one greater, whos anger she incured.
What she did to offend the vampire, I really hadn't heard.
But if I had to guess, I'd say what did the trick
she offended the vampire by smelling WORSE than Garlic.
Well, he took her out quite proper, her second death was far too fast. And we're all better off without her, for the damned b!$%& was a ghast!"

"The damned b+*~& was a ghast my friends, the damned b+##~ was a ghast! And I think we're all feeling better now that her odor's passed! She was a poor pretender to the noble class. She stank at everything she did for the lady was a ghast!!"

The tune was well suited to clapping along and joining in, so that's what most did.

It was a source of pride to Staryth that his tune was a hit among the Quick for many months after that.
........
He did not expect to be invited to Baron Kazeeth's castle to perform. There was no safe way to refuse. The baron had heard the song, and decided he simply MUST hear it from the originator. Staryth was, understandably, scared. The Baron was cultured, but prone to whimsy. And while Staryth tried to explain the song was really for "we rabble of the Quick", the vampire insisted.
The coin was good, and dying just now was not on the list so.. he sang at Court. He put his heart into it, and his voice was pitch perfect.

The baron laughed and clapped along like a child... and then turned to what seemed an empty space in his court room and asked, "And what did YOU think of it, dear lady?"
The illusion of nothing faded, and there, bound in chains, was Hazina. With the vision of her came the sound of her snarls, and oh gods, the stench! "You are a doomed man, Staryth of the Quick. I will feast on your liver while your heart still beats!" She strained against her restraints.

Staryth felt his heart sink in fear and turned his eyes to the vampire, "You... you spared her."

"Politics, my dear boy. Nothing more. Having her as a ..guest for a year and a day was my plan. So she might go and teach others how to bow to their betters. BUT, when I heard your song, I found it so delightful it became something of a hit at my court. I had to reward you. You have some coin, you've eaten my food..." Kazeeth's smile grew, "but here is your true reward. The year and the day ends in one week. Foreknowledge is the greatest gift of all, is it not?"

"You are... most kind," Staryth gulped, "...my lord. Pray forgive, I have most pressing engagements elsewhere."

"I am sure," The noble of Geb chuckled, "that you do. Perhaps I shall hear more of your songs one day, if you live to make them. Be well."

With another bow, the bard turned and walked quietly out of the court room, and after that? He RAN.

In a week, the Lady Hazina was freed, and it is said she tore apart her domain seeking out a bard that had mocked her in her absence and make her a laughing stock. But the bard in question was already gone, hiding among cargo bound for Nex, and clutching a note he had received but could not believe. The cost to be smuggled was not cheap, but it was certainly worth his life. Whether or not there was any truth to the letter? He wasn't sure, but it certainly beat the alternative waiting for him.

[ooc]Current HP: 9/15 as of 5/9/2013