(5) Ancient Fortress of Kotelia (Table B) (Inactive)

Game Master mdt

Born in the poorest neighbourhood of the Kotelia from a family of grunts. His dad was a grunt, his grand dad was a grunt, his great grand dad was grunt... All the way to first arrival of the family.

Rokas was different. Event though he had the discipline, the endurence and the agility to be a regular soldier. What he didn't have was the strenght and the drive to be one. Math, engineering and the arcane was more what he was looking for in life. So, while his brothers and sisters were playing with fake swords, he was building miniatures siege weapons and walls.

One day, has he was testing one of his latest creation, he attraction the attention of Ipsum Garvezio. Ipsum was a officer in charge of some of the siege weapons of the city, he was impress by the quality of the toy version that Rokas made. So much so, that once a week, the two would meet after Ipsum work day to examin Rokas latest creations. The math and engineering understanding of Rokas were way higher then one would expect from someone of his education. So, after a while a deal was struck. Ipsum would take Rokas under his wing and bring to a school were he could learn more. This was Rokas chance to be more then a simple grunt and also get away from the teasing of his borthers and sisters.

Once at the academy, Rokas found another field of study. Alchemy! The posibilies were so vast and amazing. Combining alchemy to siege engine made even more sense to Rokas. So he spend the majority of his years at the academy studying alchemy, engineering and any other field that he felt would help him. Then came the time for the mandatory service. Rokas was happy. He volunteer to spend most of his service near the beatiful siege weapons. He spended days cleaning them, dragging anumitions and helping the crew for the maintenance. For most, this would have been a choir, but for Rokas it was a dream come truth. Finally, he was able to see such wonderful weapons up close and to study them. 

Background is fine as it is. Other than some misspellings that have been rubbing my OCD the wrong way.

Born in the poorest neighbourhood of the Kotelia from a family of grunts. His dad was a grunt, his grand dad was a grunt, his great grand dad was grunt... All the way to first arrival of the family.

Rokas was different. Event though he had the discipline, the endurance or the agility to be a regular soldier. What he didn't have was the strenght and the drive to be one. Math, engineering and the arcane was more what he was looking for in life. So, while his brothers and sisters were playing with fake swords, he was building miniatures siege weapons and walls.

One day, as he was testing one of his latest creation, he attracted the attention of Ipsum Garvezio. Ipsum was a officer in charge of some of the siege weapons of the city, he was impress by the quality of the toy version that Rokas made. So much so, that once a week, the two would meet after Ipsum work day to examine Rokas latest creations. The math and engineering understanding of Rokas were way higher then one would expect from someone of his education. So, after a while a deal was struck. Ipsum would take Rokas under his wing and bring to a school were he could learn more. This was Rokas chance to be more then a simple grunt and also get away from the teasing of his brothers and sisters.

Once at the academy, Rokas found another field of study. Alchemy! The possibilities were so vast and amazing. Combining alchemy to siege engine made even more sense to Rokas. So he spend the majority of his years at the academy studying alchemy, engineering and any other field that he felt would help him. Then came the time for the mandatory service. Rokas was happy. He volunteer to spend most of his service near the beautiful siege weapons. He spended days cleaning them, dragging ammunition and helping the crew for the maintenance. For most, this would have been a chore, but for Rokas it was a dream come truth. Finally, he was able to see such wonderful weapons up close and to study them.

Bast blessed that family, as for their love for each other knew no bounds; the big Beigra family had fifteen members. The last one, though - the youngest, the thirteenth child, with seven sisters and five other brothers, was born even more feline than the rest. As per, by wish of the goddess, he was bred as really part tiger. While the other twelve children had their ages very close, Abbo himself was almost four years younger than his youngest siblings.

If initially the family was scared of what he was, as Abbo grew up he learned that their love for community and family brought them together, and the Lyrios started to see their youngest cub as a blessing: Abbo Lyrio was born a Weretiger in a family of common, humble, hardworking Beigras, and his very existence was maybe something holy to that family.

Hunting together in the jungle with his sisters and brothers, Abbo quickly gained a stronger and more agile body, despite being the youngest; yet, he was mostly known for his bad temper, social awkwardness and strange wiseness at some points. He didn't know much about anything beyond the small set of houses his family lived, yet he'd discuss and ponder as to what Kotelia and its ideals mean, and how was for the Beigras to live far from their family, within strangers from strange - sometimes aggressive - races.

When his siblings came of age the orders arrived for them to go serve their mandatory service. Abbo himself was still young, but he offered himself to go; his request was denied, and for the next year, he'd hunt in solitude. Even his parents - fierce defenders of the law and knowing the history behind what happened now in Kotelia - became sadder and silent with the distance of their other children.

It was the hardest year for the Lyrios; despite the relative peace, which would guarantee somehow the safety of the family members on service, family was everything for them. By the end of the hunting season, Abbo's mother fell sick, missing her children, and his father grew more and more distant. Abbo, however, became reactionary, disgrunted and missing his siblings, and incapable of helping his parents.

Eventually, after some months, the matriarch died. Abbo's father, Marthello, buried her and, for days, ran wild on the jungle, refusing to eat or rest. Finally he came to his senses and returned home, only to find almost everything destroyed: as per Abbo's hybrid nature took the best of him and turned him almost into a blind, feral beast.

Understanding his errors and what he was causing on his own son, Marthello spent the next months praying and taking care of the feral weretiger, until he eventually was able to revert back to his Fashtali form and calm down. Marthello understood that, to really take care of his family, he'd have to yet split it even more; and so they travelled far, to the monasteries on the cold mountains.

The monks reluctantly accepted the boy and guided him towards a lawful and balanced way of life. Abbo's pain for losing his mother - and almost losing his father - slowly got replaced with a sincere desire to improve himself and bring the remaining members of his family together. A little over two years after joining the monastery, when he came to the age of fourteen, he was finally accepted on the military ranks.

He went with dedication, and would have gone even if it wasn't mandatory. The next five years were harsh, but he got the chance of reuniting sometimes with his brothers and sisters and, together, sing stories about the past. Each of the thirteen Beigra Lyrio siblings would eventually follow a different path, but for all those years they were a family again.

Being the youngest, at some point Abbo became the single Lyrio on the military ranks. Yet, he had now a balanced heart - with the help of the monks - and his weretiger side was actually channeled for his strength and martiality. At nights, Abbo would pray for Bast - and the deity's blessing was obvious.

As for he, now, understood he didn't lose his family: he gained a new one, with the other friends and members of the military, and now they were at the end of the five years, it would be his loyalty to such family that would allow Abbo to survive on the Fortress City...

Just need to make a few tweaks to handle how weres work and the family would fit into the city, should be very close

Bast blessed that family, as for their love for each other knew no bounds; the big Beigra family had fifteen members. The last one, though - the youngest, the thirteenth child, with seven sisters and five other brothers, was almost never born.

His mother, only a few months pregnant with him, was out harvesting in the forest when a band of weres attacked her and her companions. Three of the foragers were killed, and his mother bitten and badly wounded.

The healers managed to cure her of both the wounds and the curse the beast passed on, but unknown to them, the small life inside her had picked up the curse from the bite as well.

Abbo was born even more feline than the rest. As per, by whim of the goddess, he was bred as really part tiger. While the other twelve children had their ages very close, Abbo himself was almost four years younger than his youngest siblings.

If initially the family was scared of what he was, as Abbo grew up he learned that their love for community and family brought them together, and the Lyrios started to see their youngest cub as a blessing: Abbo Lyrio was born a Weretiger in a family of common, humble, hardworking Beigras, and his very existence was maybe something of a holy test to that family.

Hunting together in the forest with his sisters and brothers, Abbo quickly gained a stronger and more agile body, despite being the youngest; yet, he was mostly known for his bad temper, social awkwardness and strange wisdom at some points.

He didn't know much about anything beyond the small set of farm houses his family lived in, yet he'd discuss and ponder as to what Kotelia and its ideals mean, and how it was for the Beigras to live in the city proper, far from the open fields of the farms with strangers from strange - sometimes aggressive - races.

When his siblings came of age the orders arrived for them to go serve their mandatory service within the primary walls. Abbo himself was still young, but he offered himself to go; his request was denied, and for the next year, he'd hunt in solitude.

Even his parents - fierce defenders of the law and knowing the history behind what happened now in Kotelia - became sadder and silent with the distance of their other children.

It was the hardest year for the Lyrios; despite the relative peace, which would guarantee somehow the safety of the family members on service, for family was everything for them. By the end of the hunting season, Abbo's mother fell sick, missing her children, and his father grew more and more distant. Her old wounds, from Abbo's birth, were perhaps weakening her in her older age.

Abbo, however, became reactionary, disgruntled and missing his siblings, and incapable of helping his parents.

Eventually, after some months, the matriarch died. Abbo's father, Marthello, buried her and, for days, ran wild in the forests, refusing to eat or rest, hunting the were creatures he blamed for her death.

Finally he came to his senses and returned home, only to find almost everything destroyed: as per Abbo's hybrid nature took the best of him and turned him almost into a blind, feral beast.

Understanding his errors and what pain he was causing on his own son, Marthello spent the next months praying and taking care of the feral weretiger, until he eventually was able to revert back to his Fashtali form and calm down. Marthello understood that, to really take care of his family, he'd have to yet split it even more; and so they approached the great Monastaries in the heart of Kotelia, spending days getting special permission to pass through each barrier wall to an even more secure section of the city, until they reached the innermost of the 3rd precinct, where the Great Monastaries still held sway.

The monks reluctantly accepted the boy and guided him towards a lawful and balanced way of life. Abbo's pain for losing his mother - and almost losing his father - slowly were replaced with a sincere desire to improve himself and bring the remaining members of his family together.

A little over two years after joining the monastery, when he came to the age of fourteen, he was finally accepted on the military ranks.

He went with dedication, and would have gone even if it wasn't mandatory. The next five years were harsh, but he got the chance of reuniting sometimes with his brothers and sisters and, together, sing stories about the past. Each of the thirteen Beigra Lyrio siblings would eventually follow a different path, but for all those years they were a family again.

Being the youngest, at some point Abbo became the single Lyrio on the military ranks. Yet, he had now a balanced heart - with the help of the monks - and his weretiger side was actually channeled for his strength and martial prowess. At nights, Abbo would pray for Bast - and the deity's blessing was obvious.

For he now understood, he didn't lose his family : he gained a new one, with the other friends and members of the military, and now they were at the end of the five years, it would be his loyalty to such family that would allow Abbo to survive on the Fortress City...

And he had also come to understand that his were-hood was not a curse, but a blessing that had tested his entire family, and left them all the stronger for it.

When word of the Black Horde's siege of Kotelia reached the conclave of the Contemplatives, the thought spread that assistance should be rendered. But concordance was not easily achieved about what that assistance should be. For a decade minds debated, concepts and positions flowing through the conclave like ripples in a pond.

Eventually one plan won. A caravan was assembled and crewed. A dozen souls traveled with non-perishable supplies, alchemical reagents, plans for siege engines, and what warriors the Contemplatives could supply. After years of travel they arrived to find the Black Horde disbanded and repairs already begun.

Their mission, in a way, accomplished they sold their goods and most began the trek home. Part of their deal was for consultants to interpret the weapon plans. The three youngest of their number remained in Kotelia to help with the assembly of the new siege defenses.

T'Krell Voril was one of those three. A mere stablehand when they left, he had been trained on the journey to trade with any they encountered. He had a way with the draft animals and was able to quickly pick up new languages and how to assemble and use the massive weaponry they brought.

Since their stay in the fortress city the three young Contemplatives joined the service to add that experience to their own. During the intervening years there has been some attrition to their number. T'Krell is the only Contemplative remaining in Kotelia.

The deaths of his companions were a series of mighty blows to T'Krell. Having felt their minds fade while in telepathic communication and their souls move on, he has begun to change. Turning his studies away from the engines of war and to the transition away from the corporeal world.

As he has served in the defense of Kotelia, T'Krell has begun to see the material plane as a stepping stone to more evolved state. He seeks the release of the physical body and the limitations of a physical mind. His studies have already born some fruit as he can now shift his corporeal form slightly out of phase making him harder to hit in combat.

How upset would you be with a fairly substantial rewrite? A large part of the plot revolves around the people of Kotelia being very insulated and having little or no real information about the world at large. T'Krell sort of heavily violates that concept.

Would you be good with a situation where T'Krell was a junior member of a group of his kind who had gone to study the Ancient Ruins many centuries ago, before the rise and fall of the Empire? T'Krell would have been trapped in an extradimensional trap in the ruins, and only released by the Kotelians a decade or so ago, and he's been trying to come to terms with being the only one of his kind as far as he knows...

I have no problems with that. I can probably move some of those Profession skill ranks around to make a more dungeoneering focused character.

Background updated in the profile! Thanks for your help. Let me know if I should change anything else.

History: Hylar is an Alseid, and as such was born in his current form. That being the case, he spent his time in forests and caves, hearkening to his dual nature as Alseid but also Drow. He took to exploring and once got a little too far from home and was captured by hunters. Overpowered, he was displayed as an oddity in town before eventually boring both patrons and his captors, and being released as one discards an animal one has tired of caring for.

Left alone and with no appreciable skills outside of the forest (which he was no longer near), Hylar took to hunting small game and trading for what he needed to survive. Time passed and he grew to be a notable guide for the plains and nearby woods, though he hesitated even to call them that. He missed the wilds of his childhood, a distant past he can barely recall. In time the military took notice of his particular talents at tracking and his exceptional speed (rivaling their own horses), and called him up. At first they tried making him a mounted combatant, but found him more suited to ranging and tracking fugitives. He was assigned a large cat to assist him in his work, to track and to help subdue any fleeing subjects; it also helped in hunting, as occasionally he was required to fend for himself with regards to food, not being particularly favored by several of his compatriots. It was also his considered opinion that they assigned her to him because her kind tend to hunt his purely animal counterpart. Kasha was her name, and they were if not great friends amicable companions. Both grew stronger and became respected after time, but never truly felt accepted. Perhaps it was something about having too many legs.

His time in the military coming to a close, Hylar does not know what the future will bring, but genuinely hopes it involves more scenery and less city. It is not his way to be near crowded buildings.

Due to the city being in the mountains/forests, it's very much near both. The plot requires that the PCs know little about the world beyond a few miles from Kotelia, other than what they've heard as rumor. With that in mind, would you be ok with the following tweaks to your background?

Hylar is an Alseid, and as such was born in his current form. That being the case, he spent his time in forests and caves, hearkening to his dual nature as Alseid but also Drow. He and his family lived outside the city walls, among the folk affiliated with the city, but not living directly within it.

He took to exploring and once got a little too far from home and was captured by goblin hunters. Overpowered, he was displayed as a trophy by the goblin tribe, and eventually they planned to eat him.

Fortunately, for him, they fell to arguing over who would get to kill him, and in the resulting brawl, they accidentally cut his tether rope with a rusty axe. Hylar was freed and ran away as fast as he could, but became lost.

Hylar took to hunting small game and foraging for what he needed to survive. Time passed and he grew to be a notable hunter in the mountains and forests, but could not find his way back to Kotelia and his family.

In time he stumbled upon the city again, this time from the south, whereas he had lived to the north of it originally. Upon his return, he was immediately inducted into the military, as his time of enlistment was long past.

At first they tried making him a mounted combatant, but found him more suited to ranging and tracking fugitives. He was assigned a large cat to assist him in his work, to track and to help subdue any fleeing subjects; it also helped in hunting, as occasionally he was required to fend for himself with regards to food, not being particularly favored by several of his compatriots.

It was also his considered opinion that they assigned her to him because her kind tend to hunt his purely animal counterpart. Kasha was her name, and they were if not great friends amicable companions. Both grew stronger and became respected after time, but never truly felt accepted. Perhaps it was something about having too many legs.

His time in the military coming to a close, Hylar does not know what the future will bring, but genuinely hopes it involves more scenery and less city. It is not his way to be near crowded buildings.

The tavern is almost full tonight, the sounds of music and laughter mixing with the heady aroma of ale and tobacco.
You look around, there's no where to sit apart from next to the one figure everyone is studiously ignoring. The 6'6" heavily cloaked stranger. Apart from drinking and chain smoke cigars, he's not done anything overt to draw attention but you can't help feel there's something off about him. Time and again, without realizing you find you eye drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
Perhaps you've had more to drink than you realize because you find yourself take a seat by him. For long moment nothing happens, perhaps he hasn't noticed? Suddenly with a start you notice the ruddy light of a cigar glinting like coals from the strangers eyes. Yet the rest of his face is hidden in shadows of his cloak. Were those eyes slitted? No surely not, no one had slitted eyes!
A plume of fragrant smoke envelops you and he laughs a deep gravely laugh, borne of gin and cigars, "The smoke bothering you? Ha! They say these things will kill me!"
He pauses to consider the cigar before saying, "I should be so lucky. My death will be at the hands of something much, much worse. More than likely something a little closer to home..."
A brief waft of brimstone and then it's gone. The stranger continues, "Lets just say I burnt my bridges with home and I'm persona non gratis... How did that happen you ask?" The stranger produces two shot glasses, bangs them the table and pushes one your way, "Gin. If you're buying, I'm telling."
You catch the bartender's eye and with a worried glance he hands you a full bottle, which you pour out. The stranger watches you drink, and you shudder as the bitter liquid burns your throat. He grins and downs his shot in one before pouring another.
"When I say I burnt my bridges, that wasn't technically true. They burnt the bridge while I was on it. A corporate take over, nothing personal, it's just business when somebody liquidates the former CEO's family. Something snagged me on the way down, my brothers and sisters were not so lucky. Oh don't be sorry for me, they almost certainly deserved it. I know I did, you see I was destined to follow in my father's shoes and my father is not a nice man. And before it was taken away, my father's business was not a nice business.
It's funny how you imagine you'll grow up doing one thing and end up doing something entirely different. In my case I had a epiphany, that I was going to die. It's the sort of thing that comes to you after you've been hanging by your ankles for two days and a night over a deep gorge and at first I thought it terribly unfair, then by degrees it came to me that I truly deserved it, and death was a release. Eventually something gave way, I fell and all was darkness for a time.
Later, half drowned, I was pulled out of the river by a holy man. I think he nearly killed me when I opened my eyes, for he drew back like he'd been bitten and in a blur, his curved sword surrounded by a luminous blue light, was digging into my throat. Yet something stayed his hand, he stared at me for a long while before sheathing that sword and half carrying, half dragging me back to his mountain hut. And there I remained for many a year, until I understood the real meaning of a single, very particular word. And that word was "Mercy'. It changed everything..."
My mentor, he's five years dead now, died peacefully in his sleep. I miss him terribly, yet I am not sad. He found enlightenment and his spirit is in Heaven. He taught me that I too could find redemption. Still it was heart-wrenching when he died. I didn't know what to do, except I did. I wanted citizenship and we all know what that means.
I signed up and did three tours of duty. I'd like to think I did our Dark Protrectress and my mentor proud, but in my heart I know it was only the beginning. It wasn't like the songs the bards sing, mostly it was boredom and drill, interspersed with moments of pure terror. Moments when you come to understand who you are and what you stand for, and what's at stake.
They say I'm a free man now, a citizen. I'm not entirely sure what that means, I've only just got here after all. Still some things are clear, there will always be those in need, the injured, the sick the weak. I'm here to protect them, to cure them if I can, to defend them if needs be. I don't do it for money, I don't do it for power, or fame. I do it because it's right, because somebody has to, and I shall carry on doing it for however long or short I may live.

The usual way of doing this on a paladin chassis is one level of oracle of life (legalistic curse, life link revelation) plus either sacred servant or hospitaler archetype paladin. One consideration for a PbP is both of those archetypes don't really come online till level 4 (character level 5 with a dip), although the life link is immediately useful. Mechanically the best feat bar non for such a build is fae foundling but that really doesn't fit Kincaid's background.

When the elves fled the Empress's armies to Kotelia, they brought with them pseudodragons--some as familiars, some as friends, and some as fellow refugees from the ruin of their forest. Since that time, the little dragons have worked and fought just as hard as the more humanoid races for their new home, whether stealthily scouting out enemy camps or fighting off imps or quasits or mephitis summoned by the foe to infiltrate the nooks and crevices of the fortress city. Without their valiant service, Kotelia would have fallen to these small, unassuming threats long ago while focused on the larger, more obvious dangers...

...or so the pseudodragons tell it. Just how vital and venerable their service is to Kotelia is, perhaps, debatable, but whatever the case, Terexaltherin sees himself as the inheritor of a legacy of tiny, underappreciated heroes, whose valiant service has been just as vital but much less celebrated as that of Kotelia's larger soldiers. Terex was convinced from a young age that he was meant to join the ranks of these heroes... eventually.

The problem was, while Terex was an exceptional specimen of his species in nearly every way, he had no self-discipline to think of. While he showed talent for magic, he never studied hard enough to learn to cast spells. While he was stronger, tougher, and more dexterous than most of his kin, he never trained for battle.

Indeed, the only thing the little pseudodragon could seem to stick with was sating his ravenous curiosity. He showed incredible ingenuity in doing so... but when he was found somewhere he shouldn't have been one too many times, he soon found himself in more trouble than he could get himself out of.

Fortunately for Terexaltherin, someone in Kotelia's army heard of his talents. He offered the little dragon a deal--if he would immediately start his term of service, and stay in the army for twice the normal time, his crime would be considered punished. Terex was only too glad to agree.

Time in the army changed Terexaltherin. Where once he was ruled by his curiosity, now his self-discipline balances his hunger to know everything. Where once he couldn't stick with anything long enough to master it, now he has trained and practiced long enough to become a skilled scout, ambusher, and saboteur. Terex is proud of what he has become, to the point of being somewhat disappointed that no grand siege has happened during his term of service for him to test his skills against a real foe. He continues to search for ways to both prove and improve himself as his long service nears its end.

A large part of the plot revolves around the PCs not knowing a lot about the lands beyond Kotelia, because they are very insular. Your background works well if you were too young to remember much about your times outside the city. Or if you don't remember much before your meeting the paladin who didn't kill you.

Background is fine as is....

I've changed Kincaid's feats to Power Attack & Deadly Aim. He's otherwise unchanged. Incidentally that's the most crazy gear I've ever had a lvl 3 in! I'll er try to do it justice. Re Kincaid's mentor it might be amusing if he was Marcus de Winter if you remember him. Although I haven't the faintest idea what Marcus would be doing here, probably stepped into a portal by mistake or something.