About Varrien Tobinus
Character Sheet
Born the product of a tragic coupling between an orc father and a Shoanti mother, Rök was destined to be an outcast. He grew up in his father's clan, apprenticed to a shaman. Much of Rök's childhood was spent with the elderly orc, watching with fascination as the shaman created potions to heal or enhance a warrior's strength or virulent poisons to kill a rival.
Rök was smart and in time, he began to master the shaman's arts. Indeed, it seemed that he would be the heir apparent to the guide and aid the clan in worship. However, as is so common with their savage race, the leaders of the tribe were murdered in a bloody coup. Facing death for collusion with the old previous regime, Rök fled into exile.
Eventually, the half-orc found his way to Korvosa and fell in with the humans that lived there. To assuage concerns over his feral appearance, Rök adopted the mannerisms and language of his new neighbors, even going so far as to adopt a new name: Varrien Tobinus. Using what he knew of alchemy, Varrien managed to carve himself a niche in the community: providing healing elixirs, love potions, and other draughts to whoever would buy them. He continued to experiment, expanding his alchemical repertoire and, eventually, buying a modest storefront in Old Korvosa.
Varrien's dream, ultimately, was to unlock the potential of his orcish blood. Every half-orc felt the simmering rage that laid beneath their skin, threatening to erupt at any moment. It was the curse of his barbaric heritage. Varrien believed that if he could harness and control the bestial anger that existed within the orcish race, he could provide his kind a more peaceful existence. Unfortunately, his work was cut short.
Varrien was falsely accused of a murder. A fisherman gave an eyewitness account of the alchemist dumping a body into the bay and a quick search of Varrien's shop produced a bloody dagger. Accused and locked in a city jail, only a strong alibi prevented a quick sentencing. The outcome seemed inevitable until the fisherman turned up murdered. Without the key witness, the charges were dropped and Varrien was set free.
He returned home to find that his shop had been ransacked and his clientele turned against him. Although acquitted of the crime, Varrien was a pariah in his new home. It made too much sense that the monster that tried to look and talk like a man was a murderer.
Left with no other options, Varrien decided to take revenge on the person responsible for destroying his livelihood. To that end, Varrien doubled his efforts on research and modified his rage serum into a weapon, magnifying his strength to fearsome heights. After weeks of digging for the truth, Varrien discovered that he had been framed by a local crime-lord, Gaedran Lamm. Varrien didn't know why he had been framed, but now he knew where to look.
Appearance: Varrien is tall and lanky and corded with muscle. His brownish-green skin bears shamanistic tattoos and the scars of countless abuses by his orcish "family." Even by the standards of a half-orc, Varrien is monstrously ugly. Cartoonishly large tusks sit in a bucket jaw, his nose large and discolored by broken veins. His red eyes are different sizes and his head is topped by a shock of coarse, black hair.
Despite his physical appearance, Varrien attempts to dress with a fashionably conservative sense. He typically dresses in well-fitted and understated clothing, covered by a dark leather greatcoat and complimented by immaculately white gloves and stylish shoes.
When Varrien drinks his rage mutagen, his appearance changes drastically. He adds significant muscle mass to his frame and his skin changes from green to red.
Personality: Varrien learned early in his life among the more "civilized" races that a gentlemanly persona helped to assuage any concerns about his frightening appearance. As a result of this, Varrien is unflappably polite and well-spoken. In spite of this, Varrien constantly struggles with containing a burning anger that is so endemic with his kind. He aggressively pursues his alchemical research, as he believes that his serum can aid half-orcs in assimilating with the rest of Golarion.
Varrien's personality changes with the rage mutagen as well. Although still capable of speech, Varrien loses any semblance of his polite mannerisms, replacing them with a brusque and standoffish demeanor. He becomes quick to anger, hot-headed, and difficult to reason with. His condition only deteriorates further when in the throes of battle, as his rage grows and it becomes more and more difficult to think rationally.
Relationship with Lamm: Varrien has never met Lamm personally. It's only been two months since Varrien was released from jail.
