Reign of Winter - DM Twilight (Inactive)

Game Master DM Twilight

To expand off of Grimkell's question, what would motivate her to go on an adventure since she knows she'd leave her son behind?

Despite her age, Theora hasn't had much of a chance to see the world. Her youth was spent in confusion and disarray, and she never made it to Absalom, which she'd planned as her big adventure. The death of Yolana still affects her, but part of her wants to move on, perhaps by setting out for the world, but unwilling to do it alone.

At thirteen, Ambrose is nearly an adult himself, and Theora knows she won't be able to keep and mollycoddle him forever. He's growing restless with the small town life, and if it helps believability, I can make him a bit older and ready to stretch his wings - in which case, Theora would be feeling a bit lost and possibly wanting to leave in search of her own adventure. Does that work?

And I'll admit to partly leaving Ambrose in as a potential plot hook. I tend to do that.

These are the kind of questions I like to get. Figuring out my own characters is good exercise. :)

DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +1 dex)
HP 12 (1d8+4)
Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +2

OFFENSIVE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk longsword +4 (1d8+3/19-20); or
two-handed mwk longsword +4 (1d8+4/19-20)
handaxe +3 (1d6+3/x3); or
dagger +3 (1d4+3/19-20)
Ranged sling +1 (1d4+3/x2); or
dagger +1 (1d4+3/19-20)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Magus Spells Prepared (CL 1; Concentration +4)
1st - enlarge person, true strike
0 (at will) - arcane mark, dancing lights, detect magic
Special Attacks spell combat (-2 attack)

STATISTICS
Attributes Str 16 (+3), Dex 12 (+1), Con 13 (+1), Int 16 (+3), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)
Base Atk +0; CMB +3 (+4 to sunder); CMD 14 (+1 vs bull rush and overrun)
Feats Toughness, Power Attack
Skills Climb +7, Craft (books) +7, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (nobility) +7, Perception +1, Spellcraft +7
SQ arcane pool (4 points, +1)
Traits rich parents (nobility), blood of giants
Combat Gear Mwk longsword (Kernbog), handaxe, dagger (2), sling w/20 bullets, chain shirt; Other Gear magus kit, spellbook (contains all 0-level spells and all prepared spells as well as the following: 1st- blade tutor's spirit, long arm, shocking grasp, shield), 328g, 8s
Transportation light horse (combat trained, named Macha), riding saddle, saddle bags
Carry Capacity Light: 0-76, Medium: 77-153, Heavy: 154-230; Current Encumbrance 75 w/bag, 44 w/equipment

In another place or in another life, Fran's unusual size and physical strength might of ostracized her from her peers, but thanks to the diversity of Absalom, and the wealth of her family, Fran enjoyed a childhood nearly devoid of conflict. At least conflict she didn't seek out herself. By the time Fran was in her early 20s, she had already graduated from a well-to-do academy and had begun dedicating her life towards a passion for history. With any financial concerns covered by her family's wealth, she was free to explore the libraries and registries of Absalom without restraint. In particular, Fran was fascinated with lineages. She reveled in tracing back the line of cause and effect that resulted in the present. What had lead certain families to success and others to ruin? Was it possible to locate and identify the critical turning points in a person's life which determined their ultimate fate? Such pursuits brought Fran joy, and she would have likely occupied the rest of her days with such idle pursuits had she not discovered the sword.

Naturally, the first family lineage Fran had explored was her own, but she was quickly disappointed by the lack of information relating to the family Yevena, and the so-called Veles they hailed from. She had the names of a few personages of import, references to great deeds here and there, but the point of genesis for her family was seemingly lost to time. That is, until Fran discovered an old sword in her family's vaults. It was an incidental discovery, but the moment she saw the blade's name engraved upon its hilt, everything changed for Fran. Kernbog, the short sword of one of her distant ancestors. Yet it was no short sword at all, but a full-sized longsword. Had the scribe mistakenly categorized the weapon incorrectly? Or was there more to it? In all her research Fran had only ascertained that her family had hailed from some place far to the "North" and nothing more. The discovery of Kernbog caused Fran's mind to explode with all manner of speculation and theories. Her unusual size, the curiosity of the "short sword" Kernbog, and the suspiciously obscure origins of her family in the North. Fran could only guess, but she knew that guesses would not satisfy her forever.

Over the course of the next few years, Fran began to study fencing and sorcery with an almost religious fervor. Previously she had only dallied in such pursuits, treating them as academic. No longer. Fran knew that not even the wealth of knowledge in Absalom could answer every question, and that she would need to prepare adequately if she were to step into the world outside its walls to find the truth. Those years of training were the longest in Fran's life. For the first time she exposed herself, both knowingly and accidentally, to hardships that she had never known before, evidenced most strongly by the fresh scar across her right cheek. The woman who emerged from those trials was not the same one who had first entered them. Some of the light had gone out of Fran's eyes, but her ambition burned stronger than ever before. It would all be worth it to seize hold of a greater destiny than the one she knew. If it didn't kill her first.

Fran is a tall woman, about 6 feet in height. While not exactly broad, her stature certainly isn't lithe or frail looking. Her black hair can look almost a deep indigo blue in the right lighting. She has a noticeable scar on her right cheek that she gained quite recently, but declines to speak on.

Although the difficult and shocking experiences of her days spent in training have matured Fran considerably, she still holds on to her irrepressible love of lineage, legend, and myth. The lands of Irrisen in particular would be fascinating to her, due to a history that seems more like a fairy tale than an account of historical fact. While neutrally aligned, Fran leans more toward a good outlook on life. The lengths she is willing to go to realize her ambitions currently preclude a NG alignment, but she would rather take the least harmful option when possible.

Init +2; Senses: Perception +5

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DEFENCE
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AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13
HP: 9 (1d8+1 favoured class bonus)
Fort +0, Ref +4, Will +3

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OFFENCE
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Speed 30 ft.
Rapier: +2, 1d6+1
Shortbow: +2. 1d6

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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Alchemy
Inspiration (4)
Trapfinding

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STATISTICS
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Str 12 (+1), Dex 14 (+2), Con 11 (+0), Int 16 (+3), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 14 (+2)
Base Atk +0; CMB +1; CMD 13

Favoured Class: Investigator

Feats
1st: Weapon Finesse
2nd: Dodge

Trait(s):
Charming
Northern Ancestry

Skills:
(1) Bluff +6
(1) Craft (Alchemy) +7
(1) Diplomacy +6
(1) Disable Device +5
(1) Disguise +6
(1) Perception +5
(1) Spellcraft +7
(1) Stealth +5
(1) Use Magical Device +6
(1) Knowledge (Local) +7
(1) Knowledge (Arcana) +7

Languages: Common, Goblin, Elven, Gnomish, Halfling

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EXTRACTS
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Save DC: 13+ Extract Level
1st Level Extracts (2/day)
Cure Light Wounds (Prepared)
Keen Senses
Longarm
Shield
True Strike (Prepared)

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GEAR/POSSESSIONS
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Studded leather Armor (25gp)
Rapier (20gp)
Investigator's Kit (30gp)
"This kit includes an alchemy crafting kit, a backpack, a bedroll, a belt pouch, a flint and steel, ink, an inkpen, an iron pot, a mess kit, soap, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), and a waterskin."

Currency: 30 gp

It was enough to get their family by for several years... until one day, her sister up and vanished. She had been set to attend a nearby magic school, only to disappear before she could even start the journey to her new place of learning. Kaytlin was devastated, and her mother didn't fare much better. The town marshal and even hired adventurers looked up and down the surrounding areas and even into the Verduran forest and across the border into Andoran. Unfortunately, there wasn't a trace of Robyn to found, and eventually her disappearance was chalked up to monsters or any other number of possible incidents around Cassomir. The myriad possibilities of her disappearance left their mother despondent, and before too long, she passed on, the strain of keeping the business alive and the heartache of losing her oldest daughter taking it’s toll on her – and Kaytlin was left alone to deal with the aftermath.

Kaytlin never thought it was as cut and dry as everyone else seemed to believe, thinking something had happened to her sister beyond the normal occurrences of monsters, bandits, kobolds, or goblins. It was unlike her sister to just up and leave without saying anything, but she had noticed strange behaviour in her not long before her disappearance, though no one had believed the young girl at the time. On top of that, monster sightings and bandit problems were on the downturn when her sister had vanished, and most importantly everyone had just been too quick to give up. It felt weird to her. She felt like there was a reason her sister had vanished, one no one was seeing yet.

Determined to figure out if her hunch was true, upon taking over what remained of the family business when she turned 18, she converted it into an alchemy shop, and used the time she wasn't in the shop to better herself, to hone her investigatory skills. Even with several years having passed, she never gave up on finding her sister, or at least finding out what had happened to her, and if she was going to do that she had to learn how to better perceive the world around her – or otherwise get whatever she needed.

Within two years, when she felt she was at a comfortable point, she put the alchemy shop in the hands of family friends and set off from home on a long journey for answers and closure. It quickly turned into much more than that, as she found herself offering her services as a private investigator throughout Taldor and Andoran, and even in parts of Qadira. And though she never forgot her sister – her real reason for venturing out into the world – she began to enjoy her life away from home, piecing together the mysteries of life as she liked to put it.

It’s been four years since she left home, and though not quite to Cassomir, she’s found her way back to Heldren in south Taldor after an extended stay in Qadira. Welcoming the return to her homeland, she’s stopped into the town to rest and see if there’s any work she can get – after all, the last thing she wants to do is return home to the alchemy shop without much to show for her travels, even if she still isn't closer to finding her sister.