Valence's "Into the Icy Jade Yonder"

Game Master Æroden

Over the years, his talent for swordplay was non unnoticed. At first reluctant to bring the boy into a world of death and hell, his fathers realized the boy was born to that world and each began training him: one father taught swordplay, another the naginata, another the skill of deception, still another the art of cooking, etc.

As he aged and grew stronger, other changes became apparent. There was something ...different about the boy. For a large man, his steps were deceptively light. When angered, he projected a fury even the most stalwart of his fathers noticed. And that was only the beginning.

During a training exercise one day, Kuso-yaro began to even look different. His hair began to stand up, and his eyes to spark. After a perfectly-executed iajutsu strike, lightning from heaven struck his katana, now perfectly-fit to his hands.

It was decided: whether blessing or curse, this was a Thing. Kuso-yaro’s fathers had nothing more to teach the boy, and he was to set off on his own.

And so he did.

He traveled far and wide, earning his keep as a yojimbo or caravan guard, with no destination in mind. He found he was oddly (rather, supernaturally) adept at learning new languages. This is yet another mystery Kuso-yaro doesn’t even know how to investigate. Who were his parents? Where do these strange powers come from? Why was an infant holding a sword in a decimated battleground?

He wandered to many lands looking for answers or clues, but finding mostly adventure and debauchery instead. Things started to change when he hooked up with a caravan going back to his old home Minkai, with a comely bartender who is actually the true heir to the Dragon Throne. Having found little purpose and fewer answers abroad, he decided it was time to come home.

To those who threaten others he's ferocious in battle. Despite his constant attempts to redeem those most see as unwanted, he wastes no time spouting platitudes to on the battlefield if lives are at risk. For those who are captured alive he offers fair chances to redeem themselves should be they sincere. And even when his blade must pass judgment he offers a prayer to them that they find a way through the next life.

Despite all this he has a particular dislike of slavers and the clergy of Abadar. Having spent his early life as a slave he holds slavery to be a generally evil practice and works actively to counter slavers and their interests as a point of principle. He also finds the followers of Abadar to be hypocrites more worried with order than justice. He knows this is a personal prejudice, but he has yet to learn to let this go.

Unlike many he enjoys the company of monstrous humanoids who are at least inclined to good. Often times, because of being raised as a slave among Orcs, he finds he prefers the company of Goblins, Orcs, Half-Orcs, Hobgoblins and other shunned races for their frank natures.

When he came of age he underwent the ritualistic tattoos of his mother's people. His chest, shoulders, back and arms are marked with tribal patterns and imagery fitting both the Shundar-Quah Shoanti tribe and the Burning Sun tribe of Orcs who revere Sarenrae. Since receiving them he's added to them, showing accomplishments as his people are want to do. However he keeps them where they are covered in armor or in polite clothing as he realizes that the mere presence of tattoos on a large man can seem off-putting to some.

I will seek out and destroy the spawn of the Rough Beast. If I cannot defeat them, I will give my life trying. If my life would be wasted in the attempt, I will find allies. If any fall because of my inaction, their deaths lie upon my soul, and I will atone for each.

I am fair to others. I expect nothing for myself but that which I need to survive.

The best battle is a battle I win. If I die, I can no longer fight. I will fight fairly when the fight is fair, and I will strike quickly and without mercy when it is not.

I will redeem the ignorant with my words and my actions. If they will not turn toward the light, I will redeem them by the sword.

I will not abide wanton evil, and will combat it with steel when words are not enough. I do not flinch from my faith, and do not fear embarrassment. My soul cannot be bought for all the stars in the sky.

I will provide aid to those who are lost on their path. I will abide imperfection of those who are learning, but not at the cost of the innocent. Should the stain of evil not wash away, I will end their pain quickly.

My blade is my justice and my judgment. If I must I will grant a swift and peaceful passing into the next life to those who cannot be redeemed, and comfort to the sincerely repentant.

I will show the less fortunate the light of the Dawnflower. I will live my life as her mortal blade, shining with the light of truth.

Each day is another step toward perfection. I will not turn back into the dark.

God: Sarenrae

Strength: 14 (+2) Dexterity: 14 (+2) Constitution: 12 (+1) Intelligence: 13 (+1) Wisdom: 15 (+2) Charisma: 16 (+3)

Fortitude: 10 Reflex: 8 Will: 12

AC: 21

HP: 41

Skills:
Bluff: 3, Climb: 6, Diplomacy: 7, Handle Animal: 10, Heal: 7, Intimidate: 13, Perception: 9, Ride: 7, Sense Motive: 8, Spellcraft: 5, Stealth: 6, Survival: 11, Swim: 3, Knowledge (Arcana): 6, Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 6, Knowledge (Nature): 6, Knowledge (Nobility): 6, Knowledge (Planes): 6, Knowledge (Religion): 6, Craft (Carpentry): 6, Craft (Metalwork): 7

Traits: Fate's Favored (+1 Luck bonuses), Adopted (Human): Carefully Hidden (+1 Will, +2 Saves vs Divination)

Languages: Common, Orc, Goblin

Proficiencies: Light, Medium and Heavy Armor, shields (and tower shields), simple and martial weapons

Feats by level: Veiled Vileness (1st), Power Attack (3rd)

Feats by Class: Precise Strike (3rd lvl teamwork feat)

Gear: +1 Full Plate (2,500 gp), +1 Scimitar (2,015 gp), Vest of Endure Elements (1000 gp)

Equipment:
Deluxe Essentials Kit: Backpack (2 gp 2 lbs), Bedroll (1 sp 5 lbs), 1-pint flask (3 cp 1.5 lbs), 7 days’ trail rations (3.5 gp 7 lbs), Healer’s kit (50 gp 1 lb)
Total Cost: 55.63 gp

Deluxe Wilderness Kit: Hunting knife (2 gp 1 lb), Whestone (2 cp 1 lb), Bucket (5 sp 2 lbs), Shovel (2 gp 8 lb), Hammer (5 sp 2 lbs), 2 square yards canvas (2 sp 2 lbs), Fishing line and hook (1 sp), Flint and steel (1 gp), Iron pot (5 sp 10 lbs), Signal whistle (8 sp), Tent (10 gp 20 lbs), Waterskin (1 gp 4 lbs), Climber’s kit (80 gp 5 lbs)
Total Cost: 98.62 gp

Remaining Gold: 1,830.75 GP

Class Abilities: Aura of Good, Monstrous Rapport, Merciful Smite (2/day), Divine Grace, Lay on Hands (5/day), Aura of Courage, Divine Health, Mercy (x1), Channel Positive Energy, Eat Sin, Judgment 2/Day, Monster Lore, Orisons, Stern Gaze, Cunning Initiative, Detect Alignment, Track, Solo Tactics

Mercies: Sickened (3rd)

Spells:

Inquisitor Spells Known:
Lvl 0: Brand, Create Water, Detect Magic, Light, Resistance
Lvl 1: Divine Favor, Expeditious Retreat, Lend Judgment, Sanctuary. Shield of Faith
Lvl 2: Bloodhound, Shield Other

Paladin Spells Prepared:
Lvl 1: Challenge Evil

Favored Class Bonus: Inquisitor +1 HP levels 1-3, +1 Spell (human option) level 4.

Calder was born to a shaman of the Shundar-Quah Shoanti tribe. Regrettably he was also born deep in the darkest warrens of a Urgir slave cage.

Earlier in her life Calder's mother, Eyota Cloud-Caller, was a revered shaman and peacemaker amongst the Shoanti Spire-Clan. Her hard demeanor was balanced with her ability to show great kindness to those she thought deserving of it. Battle scarred and tested, she was unafraid of the Orcs that dwelled in Belkzen or the harsh lands of their neighbors, the Linnorm Kings. Ever the wanderer her calling to follow the will of the great sun spirits propelled her through her life. A testament to this was written in her skin, as she achieved more and more she added more tattoos to her body to denote her accomplishments.

Her life was filled with commune with her people, their neighbors and battle against those who would do them harm. For her this was a good life filled with meaning. To revel in the beauty of nature, the radiance of the sun and the accomplishments of her tribe. However it was not to last. And during a raid by an Orcish band of the Empty Hand Tribe, she fought with her people to fend off the incursion, but despite her best efforts she was taken alive.

What terrors she suffered in the dark pits of Urgir was unknown. But within a year she had birthed a child from an unwilling union with an Orc. While pregnant it was believed her child could be a sign of good fortune for the Orc clan. Shoanti are notorious for their distrust of even Half-Orcs. They suffer none to join their ranks no matter where they are from. Believing that the offspring of one of their spiritual leaders and an Orcish father could be used in a ritual to weaken their enemies, she was watched carefully and unable to end her unwanted pregnancy.

However once the child was born he was, in all ways they could see, human. Broad shouldered even for an infant, he was still a pink-skinned child. Believing she had laid with another slave in private she was punished and the child given to her as a way to keep her in line in the future. What she never told was that she'd never lain with another slave, and the remarkably human child was, in fact, a half orc. Only his pale amber eyes spoke of anything different about him. Believing this to be a sign from the sun spirits, she raised the child as best as she was allowed being a slave. So long as she remained in the dark wallows of the caverns beneath Urgir she could not cast her spells and free them, but she awaited the moment she could find a way.

Naming him Calder, he grew with her in the darkness of the Orcish stronghold. Large and strong, he was used for physical labor once he was old enough. By the time he was only ten years old he was already being used as muscle for the forges lining the once-grand Dwarven citadel. He grew up on tales of the Shoanti and their exploits across the lands. His mother's tales of both battle and their strides at peace fascinated the young man who had only known the world behind the veil of Orcish terror. Instead his life was filled with the need to work under the cruel lash of the tribe and their whims. His only comfort was Corranne, a female orc who took pity on the boy and showed him some measure of kindness.

He did not see a free human until he was almost thirteen years old. A great procession of humans entered the Orcish city one day while he tended the forge. Merchants and bodyguards, he even saw his first Gnome that day. However what was most memorable to him was the moment he presented an axe to a Cleric amongst them. Believing that no person of holy intent could allow his mother to continue to suffer in darkness, he begged him quietly to help save his mother from her confinement. The Cleric, a worshipper of Abadar, cuffed Calder for being a disobedient slave and told his handler who had him beaten mercilessly as a result. He nearly died from the beating he took. Only the care of his mother and the concerned Corranne kept him from succumbing to his wounds.

Months later, in the early months of winter, a skirmish broke out in the city. Fights between rival clans spilled into the city streets and left the whole of the city nearly on fire. During the chaos Corranne came to them with several other Orcs, all branded with marks of the sun across their arms. Believing that the Black Sun tribe had come to take their fun, Eyota attempted to fight them as they entered her small hovel. However Corranne stopped her before she could hurt anyone and explained that they were members of the Burning Sun tribe, worshippers of Sarenrae, and wished to free as many as they could in the chaos. Distrustful, but willing to take the risk, Eyota and Calder made their escape with almost a hundred slaves, running hard across the plains.

Their escape did not go unnoticed. By the second day they were chased by a war band, intending to kill or capture everyone they could. With days to recover Eyota had regained her powers and despite her efforts to speed them along, by the fifth day they knew they could not outrun their pursuers. In a desperate bid some of the slaves and Burning Sun tribe chose to stand and make a fight so the others could escape. Unwilling to be captured again, Eyota chose instead to fight and entrusted Calder to Corranne. The boy, unwilling to leave his mother, wanted to stay with her. However she convinced him to return to their people and tell her story.

In the end Eyota and the twenty who remained faced down over three hundred battle-crazed Orcs. From atop the ridge in the distance Calder saw some of the battle. Fire and lightning crashing from the sky onto the Orcs with a fury he would never have believed. Only when it went silent did he know his mother had died. Whatever transpired on that bloodied battlefield was unknown to them, but no further pursuit was made and they were free to escape. Saddened at her death he was pulled along by Corranne and other slaves, all unwilling to leave him behind in honor of his mother's sacrifice.

Despite his grief he and the others safely crossed into the battle-scarred lands of Lastwall before finding refuge in Castle Firrine. At first the supply hub for the crusaders was unwilling to open it's gates to a group that included Orcs. However the Burning Sun Cleric was able to convince them of their intentions. As followers of Sarenrae they were welcomed, if given some measure of distance. They aided in the healing and support of the Castle while they cared for the slaves who were too exhausted to be immediately helpful. Offering healing spells where able and even assisting in hunting and foraging if needed.

Taken in and cared for, the slaves mostly joined the efforts of the crusaders in gratitude. However the Orcish tribe was soon turning to leave once their charges were recovered enough to fend for themselves. Corranne, afraid of what would become of Calder on his own, stayed behind with the boy. She cared for the young boy like he was her own, pleased at the seemingly human child's ability to still hold such kindness in his heart. Afraid to leave him alone even months later, she resigned to stay in Lastwall and make herself useful while she helped raise the boy.

As time passed she became the unofficial point of contact for the Burning Sun Tribe amongst the crusaders. Still distrusted for her Orc blood, she endured their doubts without a complaint and offered his help where she could. By the time Calder was sixteen they had made a kind of home in Vellunis. Corranne worked as a healer and Calder had already become a squire to a kindly old Crusader at the temple of Sarenrae. However Calder believed he had come of age for a name-day similar to his Shoanti people. Not knowing how to perform such a ritual, Corranne instead sent word for help from a traveling Shoanti.

An aged and withered old Shoanti answered her call. A member of the Shundar-Quah himself, he did not know Calder's mother, but he did offer to perform the name-day ritual in her stead as recognition of her bravery and endurance. Despite his distaste for the Orcish priestess, he acquired the inks and the needles required and over the course of two days he inked the young boy with the line of his family. His tattoos, blessed by the elder and sanctified by the blessings of Sarenrae, provided the framework for whatever life he chose to lead. Because of the unusual amber color of his eyes and his worship of the sun Goddess, he named him Dawn-Seeker.

Calder's squire ship lead him to join the seekers. There he learned the ways of tracking, identifying the landscape and the lore of the things that the crusaders of Lastwall fought on a daily basis. However unlike the gruff worshippers of Torag or the intense faithful of Iomedae, the faithful of Saranrae seemed more interested in being deliberate in all actions. In combat they were trained to be fearless and honorable if their opponent was, but merciless if required. They were also taught to offer a helping hand to even the most vile of creatures if they sought redemption.

This earned them some manner of skepticism from the other crusaders, but they seemed unperturbed. Most of their ranks were filled with one time bandits, murderers and even so called 'monsters' who had decided to follow the Dawnflower. There were even criminals who had been spared the headsman's axe because they repented and joined the church to perform service in Her name. Yet for all this Calder had never forgotten the indifference of Abadar's Cleric. How a God so concerned with civilization would be so cruel and indifferent to those around him. Despite himself Calder's ability to forgive seemed to cease at the clergy of Abadar. Even their Paladins.

Despite this, and praying for the ability to someday release his anger at the God to little avail, he chose to take his squire ship further. From there he was taught now to root out the difference between good and evil no matter where it should lay. Preparing him to find the penitent and those who simply wish to spare themselves, he was instructed on how to offer aid to those in need and how to quickly end those who's existence caused only suffering. Yet in all things he was taught to forgive those he could and to offer the dead a prayer that in their passing they could find the Dawnflower in the here-after.

When he was eighteen he was inducted into the order of the Dawn Guard, a group of wandering Paladins who's mandate was to travel Golarian and seek out those in need until they found their calling in Sarenrae's name. Before he left Calder and Corranne celebrated his admittance. With him old enough to follow his own path, Corranne had decided to make the trek back into the Hold of Belkzen to bring more of her order to Lastwall. So the pair traveled north together until Calder felt a pull leading him west. The pair said their goodbyes and separated, promising to see one another again someday.

Since then Calder tracked down his mother's people, the Shundar-Quah, and informed them of his mother's capture and eventual death in battle. However he left out that he was at least partially Orcish himself. Though few lived who remembered her, they rejoiced in her strength of faith and the blessing of family she was able to find regardless. Finding even her people narrow minded and xenophobic, he left shortly after and struck further west. Along the way he acted as caravan guard and protector for civilians and small merchant bands, often using the chance to speak to those in his care about the Goddess who had saved him.

After traveling briefly with a cargo freighter who wanted competent healers and guards in case of an attack from Riddleport, Calder arrived in Sandpoint and has yet to leave. For the last year and a half he has helped to guard the city from threats both inside and out. He has acted as a scout and tracker outside the city when asked and as a guard in the market at times, often working for just enough money to eat and pay for his meager lodgings. Recently he gained some renown among the merchants for helping put down a gang war in the market by publically striking down a pair of gang leaders.

He currently continues his work as a guard for the city in spite of offers elsewhere.