The Faceless GM's Irrisen: The Realm of Winter Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master kamenhero25

Great character. Sadly we are in direct competition for the Mythic Guardian slot. I could see our characters becoming fast friends. Too bad Faceless wouldn't allow two Guardians in the same party. Good luck to you all the same.

(emphasis mine). If that's so, then, best of luck to you too!

I think part of his development will have to do with dealing with his own heritage. Now that I think about it, a possibility occurs to me that his father might've been an agent of one of the Winter Witches. If Eirikr was confronted with evidence of his father's wrongdoing in Irrisen I think he'd realize that is not the path he wants to go down. In his heart Eirikr doesn't like the idea of being ruled over or ruling over others and whether his father just wanted him to go on murder ramages or being a part of the Irrisen secret police he wouldn't be okay with that. He doesn't want others to have to go through with what he went through in Ustalav but he's going to need to learn that means he can't just burn down the world to protect himself, so to speak.

Let me know if that seems workable to you, I can tweak anything about it or his backstory if needed

And I love the idea of his father being in the secret police. Baba Yaga's Iron Guard are brutal and dangerous secret police and solely loyal to her. And they have a roll in the campaign starting in book 2. Plus, a number of members are Winter Wolves, so having a werewolf in their number is plausible.

Okay, now that is exactly what I'm looking for. Please, expand on this idea if you wish.

I'm also thinking that when he operated in Irrisen that he was kind of a dark mirror of Eirikr's personality. So he's this charming, attractive Ulfen man who can get people to let their guard down, and when they do he wolfs out and kills them or turns them in to Baba Yaga. I think it could be a source of major pathos for Eirikr hearing about his father's brutality in Irrisen

If you could describe Ashnah Lialda in a single word it would probably be “change”. Born a half elf, in the Mordant Spire, Ashnah grew up never knowing of her father, who he was, how he had met her mother, and so on, and her parent refused to be drawn on the subject.

Life in the spire was exceptionally difficult for Ashnah, who struggled daily with tasks her tutors believed any elf could handle. Her tutor’s believed that her half human side was holding her back, and preventing her from achieving her full potential, whereas Ashnah argued that the tutor’s themselves were pushing her harder than anyone else, purely because she was half human, not because she was any less skilled in her studies as anyone else.

The frequent arguing ended up encouraging Ashnah into a path where she began to look at mastering transmutation magic. She found solace in one of the Eldest gods, The Lanturn King, and began to look at adopting the form shifting magic that an intermediate transmutator could accomplish. Ashnah believed that with transmutation magic, she could be the true equal of anyone else. No more could an elf or anyone else claim to be superior purely on race alone, because her magic could bridge the gap between then. After looking at druidic magic, Ashnah eventually came across a branch of arcane magic that eventually would let her pass on her transmutation spells onto others. Known as Brown Fur Transmutator’s, these spellcasters preferred changing into animals and the like, which was how they received that name. Ashnah knew that such magic was currently beyond her reach, and so began to become a “generalist” at spellcasting, but was determined to work toward a goal where she could transform herself and others into anything that could adapt to any given situation. Still clashing with her tutor’s over her human heritage, Ashnah decided she had grown skilled enough in her studies to leave the Spire, and act as an intermediary between human and elf, using her magic for the betterment of all, assuming her studies advanced far enough.

Ashnah found herself on her own, out in a world she was very unfamiliar about. Fortunately, she had studied several languages during her time in the Spire, and could thus communicate better than most, and so she roamed the world, hungering for any advantage she could find that would perhaps give her an edge with her magic. Eventually, Ashnah hit upon a rumor that it was the Ice Mages of the North, that might hold the secret. Ashnah knew that many spellcasters in the North had powerful transmutation powers over ice, and suspected that it was highly possible that such spellcasters had access to items or knowledge that could allow her to refine her technique and advance her studies. Furthermore, Ashnah herself found the current weather situation in Irrisen itself very distasteful. For someone that deeply appreciated change, locking an entire nation into a single season, with almost no change in weather was simply horrible, and a issue that Ashnah wanted to explore. Who could know, maybe some powerful enough transmutation magic could reverse the permanent winter in Irrisen?

Ashnah Lialda
Female half-elf (Spireborn) arcanist (brown-fur transmuter) 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 8, 77)
CN Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +1
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Defense
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AC 9, touch 9, flat-footed 9 (-1 Dex)
hp 8 (1d6+2)
Fort +2, Ref -1, Will +1; +2 vs. enchantments
Immune sleep
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Special Attacks arcane reservoir (1/5), arcanist exploit (potent magic[ACG]), consume spells
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +1)
1/day—comprehend languages, detect secret doors, erase, read magic
Arcanist (Brown-Fur Transmuter) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +5)
1st—color spray (DC 15), magic missile
0 (at will)—dancing lights, detect magic, prestidigitation, read magic
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Statistics
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Str 15, Dex 9, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 9, Cha 11
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 11
Feats Improved Initiative
Traits adaptive magic, tenacious shifting
Skills Knowledge (arcana) +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +8, Knowledge (nature) +8, Knowledge (planes) +8, Knowledge (religion) +8, Perception +1, Use Magic Device +5; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Azlanti, Common, Elven, Gnome, Sylvan, Thassilonian
SQ arcane training, elf blood, mordant envoy
Other Gear 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Reservoir +2 DC or CL (5/day) (Su) Pool of points fuel exploits, or can expend to add +2 CL or DC while cast spell.
Arcane Training +1 CL for spell trigger/completion items for favored class, or use them as if 1st level.
Consume Spells (1/day) (Su) As a move action, expend a spell slot to add its spell levels to arcane reservoir.
Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Mordant Envoy Spireborn add +1 to the caster level of any transmutation spells they cast. Spireborn with a Charisma score of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—comprehend languages, detect secret doors, erase, read magic. The caster
Tenacious Shifting Non instantaneous Transmutation spells increase duration 2 rounds.

1. What does your character look like? (Height, weight, age, appearance, etc.)

Ashnah stands at around 5"5, 65kg, 20 years of age, and has fair skin, long dark red hair, and piercing green eyes. She frequently enjoys wearing dark clothes, mostly green or brown if at all possible, and generally favours clothing that is maneuverable to move about in. Ashnah has a tattoo on her upper right arm, which symbolises her attachment to the Spire, but in general, she keeps this hidden.

2. What is your character’s personality?

Ashnah is inquisitive, changes her mind quite often, and generally has a relaxed attitude. She has a slight dislike of elves, mostly because in her experience, some tend to look down on Half Elves, but she remains polite to all. She remains highly motivated to improve her studies, at least for the present time, since she hasn't reached a level where she would be happy with. Ashnah tends to avoid authority figures, she hates rules and regulations, finding them constraining, but she is always happy to lend a hand to anyone else in need, and is prepared to believe the best of most people.

3. Where is your character from? Golarion’s history and geography is very detailed. Make good use of that.

Ashnah is from the Mordant Spire, but left as soon as she was able. Technically, she is an envoy, but not an official one. In general, most envoys would end up with a strict guard for protection or advice, but seeing as Ashnah had mostly poor relationships with many of the Elves in the Spire, an exception was made in this case, and Ashnah wonders alone.

4. Why does your character have the class, feats, weapon, etc. that they do? Where and how did they learn to fight? What made them take up this path?

Ashnah is a transmutation specialist, because she genuinely believes in her abilities to improve, to evolve. In general, its also a "screw you" to anyone that believed themselves superior to her back in the Spire. Ashnah takes this desire further though, as she remains committed to sharing her transmutation spells (when strong enough), so that anyone could achieve whatever goals they wish. For instance, in Ashnah's mind, she would be perfectly happy granting a blacksmith an transmutation spell that would allow him to ignore fire (such as Elemental Body), make a solider stronger than usual, and so on. She remains committed to benefiting others with her magic, not just herself, and she believes that this sets herself apart from more selfish casters.

5. Is your character religious? If so, who do they worship and why?

Ashnah worships The Lantern King, but its not a particularly devoted worship, its just one of the few deities that she can closely identify with. I could forsee her switching deities if she found one she could better identify with, but for now, The Lantern King is her patron.

6. What is your character’s reason to get involved with Irrisen? It can be something as simple as hating tyranny, but something more detailed will certainly help your chances.

Ashnah generally has two reasons for getting involved with Irrisen. Firstly, as far as she knows, the magic affecting Irrisen (and keeping the weather as is), is some form of powerful transmutation magic, and Ashnah hates the idea of something remaining an unnatural constant for so long. Therefore, she believes that she could find items or knowledge of value to her transmutation studies within Irrisen, but also is quite happy undermining the entire system along the way.

Valani is a beautiful young woman from a distance, and that doesnt change up close, other than it is obvious The pretty young dark haired and violet eyed woman has haunted looking eyes, as if she has not slept properly in a long long while. Her dusky skin has a hint of an ashy tone to it as well. Almost as if she was sick. Unlike most of her people her clothing is dark and subdued, favoring the dark greys and blacks prefered by the clergy of her goddess Pharisma. The only oddity to that, is the bright orange kapenia that the young woman as added swaths of green too.

2. What is your character’s personality?

Due to her illness, Valani does her best to ...quietly observe people quietly not saying much until she is sure of their character. Devout people of most neutral to good diety's She tends to give the benefit of the doubt to. To those who have earned her trust she will gladly speak about a multitude of things from theology, weather, histories, and more mundane things like fashion, dancing and music.

3. Where is your character from? Golarion’s history and geography is very detailed. Make good use of that.

Valani was born to a traveling Varisian caravan that made a round about trip from Brinewall through the lands of the linnorm kings through snow filled Irrisen, the realm of the Mammoth Lords and even orc filled Belkzen, through the eastern tip of Ustalav, through Lastwall, Nirmathas, and back into Varisia proper. A round trip the caravaning familes had made easily a half dozen times before through the years. Tragedy struck shortly after she was born and her mother cursed. The entire caravan is no more, if there are any survivors she knows nothing of them.

4. Why does your character have the class, feats, weapon, etc. that they do? Where and how did they learn to fight? What made them take up this path?

She grew up under the guide of a Pharasmin church and in her teens was taken in by known inquisitor of the tenets as his apprentice. Her weapons and training came from him, the crossbow for its ease of use, the mace for its handiness in laying the undead back to rest, and the multiple daggers both from the connection they hold to her goddess to their very handy nature. Her mentor trained her hard, Her first lessions were how to avoid being hit and how to quickly reload her crossbow. (he felt as young and untested as she was she would be more useful at a distance than up close.)

5. Is your character religious? If so, who do they worship and why?

Valani is deeply religous knowing next to nothing of her family besides the sisters and brothers at the church/monestary she was raised in she holds the tenets of the Pharasmin faith very dearly.
Her time with her mentor led her astray to several of the other gods and goddesses of the world, and she has spent a small about of time studying them as well. After all allies can come from all faiths. About the only people she doesnt trust are the nonbelievers.

6. What is your character’s reason to get involved with Irrisen? It can be something as simple as hating tyranny, but something more detailed will certainly help your chances.

She has always felt a strange pull to the northlands, though she is not sure why. Whether it is a strange side effect of the curse or even something way more sinister is yet to be seen, but once she arrives in the northlands there is no doubt the pull will strengthen and she is not likely to leave until that mystery has become clear.