The Ballad of Bloodmarch Hill

Game Master Joana

In Trunau, she walks a line between being liked and respected, and simultaneously sort of pitied (or, in the case of the Iomedans, disapproved of).

The dwarf called 'Banny' was freed on a raid by Trunau warriors on an orc encampment; she was a slave with several others who were liberated by the Trunauans and brought back to town, with evidence of much harsh treatment. Physically, she wasn't noticeably hurt, but she seemed to have suffered mental injuries, unable or unwilling to talk about life before the orcs held her captive. One of the other freed slaves mentioned that she had been the personal slave to a shaman among the orcs, and that at night strange lights and dwarven screaming could be seen/heard from the shaman's quarters, but nobody knew exactly what sort of things the shaman was subjecting her to-- only that they appeared to have resulted in a woman who was still withdrawn, barely vocal, and barely responsive to anything at all for a full month after she had been freed from captivity. The only word that could be gotten out of her was bani, a Dwarven word meaning 'death' or 'slayer', which the Trunauns misunderstood to be her name, and have rendered in the common tongue as 'Banny'. (By the time Agrit got involved and suggested they not call her that, it was too late; the nickname had stuck.)

The Iomedans did what they could for her, as did Gorkis Meeson and Agrit Staginsdar, but prayers, potions, and spells seemed to have little effect. Trunau has little use for those who cannot pull their own weight in defense of the town, but everyone was sympathetic to whatever horror she had experienced, and tried to give her time. She was not deemed to be a threat to others or herself, so Banny was left to wander, mostly, with the Iomedans corralling her at dusk.

One day, she showed up at the Killin' Grounds' doorway. Rabus had just gotten in a keg of expensive dwarven ale from Janderhoff, and, feeling pity for Banny, offered her a 'taste of home.'

The transformation was remarkable. A few swallows in, and Banny seemed more responsive, more alert, and said her first full sentence since arriving in Trunau: "Janderoff 4690, isn't this? That was a damned good year."

It's been a year since that first drink Rabus gave her. Since then, Banny has improved a good deal, and she has won her place in the town fair and square by fighting well against the orcs when they attack. Anyone who has seen Banny lock an orc two feet taller than her into a brutal chokehold and drive him down to the ground doesn't deny her contributions to the town defense... but when there's no immediate threat from orcs, Banny is somewhat less useful, preferring to sit on the cliff edge with a bottle of strong ale and watch the birds flying by, or arm-wrestling people for coin in Rabus's tavern.

Jagrin grumpily tries to get her to join the cadre of dedicated troops, that he might put her to good use, and Banny always easily agrees, then stops showing up to drills, to Jagrin's great irritation. Disciplinary methods tried so far don't seem to really get through to her-- if she's assigned extra, unpleasant work such as helping to muck latrines, Banny does it without complaint, but an hour later is back on the cliff-edge, nursing another bottle. It is possible that the memory of how mentally broken she seemed at her arrival in Trunau has kept the town council from harsher punishments.

Banny is able to function now without alcohol, but if she hasn't had a drink in her, Banny is grumpy and sharp-tongued. The application of any sort of booze mellows her considerably; she becomes affable, relaxed, and curious about others (though still not talkative about her own past).

What little she has shared seems to indicate that her parents were brewers, and that she was trained in the trade, as well as in the militia training most young dwarves receive. She has never said how she came to be in the possession of the orcs, or what clan or cave she belonged to, or if she has living family. She's been given the semi-humorous moniker of 'kneebreaker,' describing how she often destroys a grappled orc.

In town, she is closest to Rabus and the Graths-- the former as she will eagerly discuss the minutiae of brewing with him, and offer suggestions on what he could do differently (she also half-lives in the tavern); the latter as Jagrin and both the sons were in the raid that rescued her. Quiet Kerst was the one who argued most, in the beginning, that she be given time to heal and time to contribute. She seeks him out as a drinking partner above anyone else in the town.

The Iomedans, on the other hand, find Banny to be a bit of a disappointment-- or perhaps a strange rebuke of sorts, in that a vice like alcohol seemed to do what their prayers could not. They don't approve of her constant state of inebriation, and Tyari has been known to try and lecture her into clean living, or at least drinking in moderation. She has not been successful.

Basically, the town widely regards Banny as a good dwarf with a regrettable reliance on the bottle. For Banny, her drinking is more complex than simple alcoholism; while it's true the alcohol helps her function, for Banny it is less about getting drunk, than trying to silence the parts of her mind scarred by her time as a slave. Drinking for her doesn't feel like an escape so much as a return to home-- to the security she remembers as a child, the smell of aging hops and sour malt... the safety of family and clan, the cameraderie of drinking together. For Banny, alcohol has come to resemble, in some ways, all that is right with the world: it requires a stable enough civilization to practice agriculture and produce the base materials for alcohol, and then also the stability of time required to brew and ferment and age liquor... A good keg of ale is more than a way to get hammered: in her mind, it represents community, safety, tradition, and fellowship.

Gnomish Wizard (Familiar Adept)

Racial Traits:
+2 Con, +2 Cha, -2 Str
Small: +1 size to AC, +1 size to attack rolls, -1 to CMB and CMD, +4 size on Stealth
Slow Speed: 20ft
Low-Light Vision: can see twice as far as humans in dim light
Gift of Tongues: +1 on Bluff and Diplomacy, learn one additional language each rank in Linguistics
Gnome Magic: +1 to DC of illusion spells. 1/day – dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, speak with animals.
Illusion Resistance: +2 on saves vs illusion spells / effects
Keen Senses: +2 on Perception
Obsessive: +2 racial bonus on Craft (X)
Weapon Familiarity: treat any weapon with gnome in name as martial weapon.
Languages: Common, Gnome and Sylvan.

Traits:
Trickster: +1 trait bonus to caster level when determining duration, range and area of all spells from the illusion school.
Student of Giantkind: +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy against giant subtype and treat as class skill, +1 Knowledge (Local) regarding creatures with giant subtype. Start with knowledge of Giant language.

Skills: (2 +Int)
Craft (Toymaking – Int): ( +3 Class +2 Racial
Diplomacy (Cha): ( +3 Class
Linguistics (Int): ( +3 Class
Perform (Act - Cha):
Spellcraft (Int): ( +3 Class

Feats:

Class Abilities:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, quarterstaff.
Spells: Int based
Bonus Languages: may substitute Draconic for one of race’s available bonus languages
Diminished Expertise: does not gain scribe scroll at 1st level, or wizard’s bonus feats at 5th/10th level. Also must choose one additional opposition school.
School Familiar (Ex): must select a familiar as arcane bond. Familiar gains the school familiar archetype, but cannot use lesser power until 4th level or greater until 8th level.
Familiar Spells (Ex): stores spells in familiar rather than spellbook, exactly as a witch does.
Focused School (Ex): at 1st/5th/10th/15th/20th level familiar gains the ability to use the wizard’s 1st level school ability 1/day without counting against wizard’s daily uses.

Illusion (Shadow) School:
Opposition Schools: Evocation, Conjuration, Necromancy
Extended Illusions (Su): Any illusion spell you cast with a duration of “concentration” lasts a number of additional rounds equal to 1/2 your wizard level after you stop maintaining concentration (minimum +1 round).
Binding Darkness (Sp): standard action, you cast a weave of shadows at any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. The shadows entangle your foe for 1 round plus 1 additional round for every five wizard levels you possess. In conditions of bright light, this duration is halved (minimum 1 round). A creature entangled by your shadows has concealment from those without darkvision or the ability to see in darkness, and other creatures likewise have concealment relative to it. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

Spells Known:
0th:
1st: 6

Familiar:
Cat N Tiny animal; Low-light Vision, scent
Str 3, Dex 15, Con 8, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 7
Hit Dice: as master; Hit Points ½ master

Melee: 2 claws +4 (1d2-4), bite +4 (1d3-4)
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana) 1, Knowledge (Nature) 1
Racial modifiers: +4 Climb, +4 Stealth
Master gains +3 on Stealth checks

Attacks: Use the master's base attack bonus, as calculated from all his classes. Use the familiar's Dexterity or Strength modifier, whichever is greater, to calculate the familiar's melee attack bonus with natural weapons.
Saving Throws: For each saving throw, use either the familiar's base save bonus (Fortitude +2, Reflex +2, Will +0) or the master's (as calculated from all his classes), whichever is better. The familiar uses its own ability modifiers to saves, and it doesn't share any of the other bonuses that the master might have on saves.

Skills: Regardless of a familiar's total skill modifiers, some skills may remain beyond the familiar's ability to use. Familiars treat Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Perception, Stealth, and Swim as class skills.

Improved Evasion (Ex): When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails.
Share Spells: The wizard may cast a spell with a target of “You” on his familiar (as a touch spell) instead of on himself. A wizard may cast spells on his familiar even if the spells do not normally affect creatures of the familiar's type (magical beast). Illusion school only.

School Familiar: Illusion
School Link (Su): can use share spells and deliver touch spells only with spells of associated school.
School Cantrip (Sp): can cast at will one cantrip from associated school, using master’s caster level. haunted fey aspect
Specialty Stowaway: can use granted abilities of master’s school, expending twice the number of uses as usual.
Sage archetype:
Class Skills: treats all Knowledge skills as class skills.
Dazzling Intellect (Ex): Int score is equal to 5 + level, but gains natural amour bonus of familiar half it’s level.
Sage’s Knowledge (Ex): can attempt all Knowledge checks untrained and gains bonus on Knowledge checks of ½ level. Gains 2 skill ranks per level.

On the one hand, it seems odd that an archetype like drunken master doesn't come with any sort of alignment restriction; on the other hand, if you're just going to play "Woo, let's smash up some stuff!" you should really be playing a brawler or barbarian. (Not at all saying that that's what you're intending to play, btw.)

My philosophy is that low-level PCs in general are works in progress. You can't be the consummate fighter or wizard or monk at level one; no more can you be consummately lawful or good (or chaotic or evil) at level one. You just have too many mechanical limitations.

As such, I'd say that Banny aspires to Lawful Goodness. After her experiences among the orcs, discipline is a refuge to her, a world of order to which she can withdraw when the lingering brokenness of her past threatens to overwhelm her. Violence could undo her, but when she channels her violent impulses into protecting the community, it grounds her instead; drunkenness could undo her, but when she allows the experience of alcohol to root her in the traditions of her lost past, that also prevents her from losing control.

As long as she is struggling toward order rather than drifting away from it, I think her alignment will be fine. You have to work with what the rules give you, after all. I'd expect that, in an emergency, she default toward obeying legitimate orders rather than going rogue.

Are there any religious underpinnings to her Lawful Goodness: a memory of Torag, some gratitude to Iomedae, or a respect for Erastilian community, for example? Or is it purely a personal code for her?

(Yeah, I wish that Drunken Master had ditched alignment like Martial Artist did, because when you look at the sort of stories that the drunken monk thing comes from, those monks tend to be sneaky shysters and carousers, not really classic LG, but.... it is what it is.)

I think the way that I think of it is that Banny is a damaged lawful good. She used to be a very archetypal dwarfy-dwarf, staunchly loyal, fond of good drink and a good meal, big family, hearty back-slapping, my-word-is-my-bond and honorable-fighting, prays at Torag's forge weekly, so-forth-and-so-forth.

The remnants of her old self are still there, just scarred over and half-buried. She's still mending. So yes, she aspires to being "a good person" again (and a lawful one), but it's one day at a time, and only if the nightmares weren't too bad last night, and maybe with just one more tankard today...

And yeah, she doesn't disobey authority just for the sake of disobeying. Sometimes she just needs to get away and have quiet time in her head, but she can't express that well to Jagrin, so instead it comes off as her just blowing off orders.

Regarding religion/gods: CAYDEN CAILEAN coff I mean

(Actually, I was trying to find a dwarven god of wrestling that I was sure I remembered reading about, but apparently I was hallucinating him, IDK. I think the god I am thinking of is Trudd, but I can't find any references to him being a god who enjoys wrestling. Maybe I hallucinated it.)

Basically, I'm sure she has reasonably fond memories of worshiping Torag like any good dwarf, but I think even back in her Good Old Days, she was a bit too jovial a dwarf to find a great deal of personal connection to Ol' Mr. Srs Forge. Bolka, Grundinnar, and Trudd were more her speed. So she'd solemnly attend rituals at Torag's temple, then go drink heartily to Trudd's health, or the like.

As for now... IDK, honestly. Of course the patron god of booze would have some appeal to her now, but with Cayden being chaotic and her base nature being damaged-LG, not sure if that really works. Plus he's human, I mean come on, you've got to have standards.

I guess the result of my TL;DR is: her moral code is more the product of her upbringing than a specific god's formative influence. The whole dwarven pantheon, but not necessarily Torag in particular. Just the idea of a strong family, a strong clan, and everyone having each other's back and never leaving anyone behind.

• Born to a librarian mother and woodcarving father (flute carver) in Whistledown.
  
• His childhood was one of happy negligence from his parents who were loving, but after he was out of diapers and mostly self-sufficient - left Vhailor more to his own devices than otherwise.
  
• He developed a skill at carving making his own toys while left idle in his father's workshop - a skill he has continued to hone to the present day.
  
• His mother's bookshop was gnomish in tastes... consisting solely of books in languages other than Taldan... or Gnomish. It was here that Vhailor honed his skill and talent at linguistics. Fables and legends of the other races were what he devoured... especially the fairy tales told by the fae; and legends of the more brutish and cruel races such as giants.
  
• Apprenticed to a wizard named Carbonel Tobermory (with a cat familiar) who was passing through for the Convocation. Carbonel needed a gnome who knew Giantish, and Vhailor was now of age enough to choose for himself - and jumped at the opportunity to go a wandering.
  
• While he didn't have any real skill at illusion craft yet, Vhailor was put to translating a pair of tomes in both Giant-ish and Sylvan... that seemed to deal with peacocks and cities floating on chains. His other duties involved a rapport with Carbonel's neglected cat - and general dogsbodying.
  
• Carbonel was an aged gnome, already whitening with age and the onset of the bleaching. A disgraced member of the Wonderseekers who had split from the group and was seeking his own means of forestalling the bleaching.
  
• After a short meandering, their path led to Truneau - where unbeknowst to Vhailor, Carbonel sought the secrets kept within Sech Nevali. Carbonel's research had pointed to a means to rebirth kept secret within the Peacock Spirit's teachings.
  
• Vhailor was left in Truneau to look to Carbonel's possessions as his gnomish master forged into the wilderness alone.
  
• Days later Vhailor was unconsciously drawn to the city outskirts, where he spied a mangy and emaciated cat approaching the town. Drawn by impetus of spirit - he rushed headlong out towards the cat. Unbeknowst to Vhailor... there were also orcs nearby - and it was only the fortuitous intervention of Rodrick Grath that meant Vhailor retained his life. Rodrick could be heard half jesting that he wished he had not intervened that day... considering the half-minded and bizzare ways that Vhailor had attempted to make up the balance to the half-orc.
  
• Nursing the cat back to health Vhailor observed it had an uncanny similarity to Carbonel's familiar... but was changed somehow. An emotive connection grew between them... and the gnome also felt a spiritual awakening in his heart and mind.
  
• Gazing into the cat's mismatched irises, Vhailor felt understanding grow... and elements of Carbonel's teachings that had to that point been beyond him began to make sense. A skill at the art arcane was growing.
  
• It was thus that the day of the present approached - where Vhailor was coming to grips with his bond to the cat, and his own burgeoning skill... while also coming to the realization that his master was now dead and gone.

The Peacock Spirit is really only to tie Sech Nevali in as the mystery location. I've used the real world mythology of the peacock as a sign of rebirth and immortality to suggest that perhaps that was gained via the synthesis between Carbonel and his cat familiar - making the product both lesser and more than the separate parts.

1st Level:
color spray - boring but efficient
ventriloquism
crafter's fortune
silent image
lock gaze
adjuring step

I hoped we might get an Iomedaean cleric, for that little bit of extra awkward tension between the townies and the missionaries, and you brought in an unrequited love triangle, too. Excellent! :D

I do aim to please.

Can we say that Carbonel (the gnome) met up with a small group of wilderness guides/bodyguards at Trunau for the final leg of the trek? I'm allergic to characters who make long and dangerous journeys solo that a party of PCs would have several encounters during.

EDIT: Oh, and haunted fey aspect is fine. No core race is more fitting than gnome for fey connections.

Marikel was born in Lastwall to devout crusaders who would leave him in the care of the church of Iomedae when they had important missions to perform. When he was 9, they didn't return and he was raised to adulthood by the church. A somewhat lonely and introspective child, Marikel nevertheless excelled at his studies. As a result, he was stunned when he wasn't accepted as a paladin.
When Tyari Varvatos, his secret crush, announced she was leaving for some tiny village he'd never heard of Marikel decided things couldn't be much worse and volunteered to join her small group. Naturally, things got worse.

Is there anything else you want for the character? I was going to let him grow mostly organically from here, but I have some ideas for his future.

Bell - 1 gp
Gear Maintenance Kit - 5 gp
Grooming Kit - 1 gp
Pyrography Kit - 1 gp
Scrivener's Kit - 2 gp
Waterproof Bag - 0.5 gp

Remainder: 38.5 gp

Unfortunately, as one might expect with the inhospitable nature of the land between Lastwall’s borders and Trunau, tragedy struck Alicia fairly early in life. An orcish raiding party ambushed the merchant family and their hired guards a couple of days outside of Trunau. Caught by surprise, the battle was short and decisive—at age 12, Alicia was the only survivor, and she survived her family’s death only to be kidnapped and taken back to serve as a slave to the tribe of orcs who had captured her.

Fortunately, a patrol from Trunau happened upon the wreckage of the caravan to discover that one of the hired guards had survived. Mortally wounded, he was only able to say that Alicia had been kidnapped before expiring; yet that was enough for the patrol, and they set off in hot pursuit of the orcish raiding party—truth be told, the Dawnblade caravan was not the first casualty of the raid; scouts and foragers from Trunau had met their end at the raiders’ hands as well. Riding hard, the patrol was able to catch up to the raiding party within a couple of days. A pitched battle followed, and Alicia had the sense to slip her bonds and hide in the confusion. Yet when a Trunau patroller fell near her hiding spot, she took the patroller’s rapier and backstabbed the orc who felled the woman.

After the battle, she returned with the patrol to Trunau, where she was placed in the care of Iomedaean clergy. A foreigner and connected with Lastwall on two levels (her parents and the Iomedaeans), Alicia has lived the past several years as an outcast; a trait she found that she shared with Ruby Wilder, another orphaned girl in the Iomedaeans’ care. Yet while the two have bonded over their shared origins and social status, Alicia rebels against the social order of Trunau. She has taken to sneaking out at night, skulking around the small town in the dark. But she is a small-time thief at best, and so far she hasn’t had the courage to steal anything that anyone would miss.