GM Whiteroses War for the Crown: Uneasy Lies The Head (Inactive)

Game Master Vanulf Wulfson

It wasn't long after she officially became a cleric that she was beset with tragic news, her father was killed by a couple of drunken soldiers who mistook him for a Qadari spy. Filled with distraught, she grew distant and closed her building to all but her halfling servent who has been around ever since her father was young. Over the years, she turned her palace into a minor clinic, using the wealth her family has accumulated to buy potions. She kept tabs with the noble life, but did not attend any meetings. It wasn't long before her rank was forgotten.

It was only a recent meeting that sparked her interest in the crown. While at a tavern, she met with an energetic woman with brown hair. Together, they spent hours conversing, dancing and overall enjoying the other's company. It was only after they left the building that the woman revealed herself to be none other than Princess Eutropia herself. Kinjal immediately bowed down in penance for not recognizing her, but the princess replied that was her intention. She wanted to survey the city of Oppara to meet the people without any bias from her ranking. Kinjal grew a fondness for the woman's teachings and wished for the best.

It was after that time that she found out that Eutropia plans to allow women to rule the land. She had already made plans to enter the ball, but was met with someone else. Martella Lotheed arrived to state how she made a good impression with the princess and has offered to invite her to help steer the vote. It was an opportunity she couldn't possibly pass up. Who knows, maybe things will change for the better for Taldor after all...

Since the AP will feature many social encounters, Lyn is capable in that department. However, I’ve left her Charisma average and she’s therefore not really optimized in the social skills. Many other characters might opt for high-Cha build and I felt like the contrast would be nice: Lyn isn’t naturally at home among nobility, but she’s going to put in the effort to make it work, regardless.

One last point I wanted to clarify is regarding her alignment: There are some references to Norgorber in Lyn’s background and I’ve pegged her as a N alignment. However, there’s no evil or malicious intent in her, at all. She’s mostly Good, with a dormant resolve to do what must be done if the circumstances require it: she’s also not naive as to what being a Lion Blade might entail. That’s why I pegged her ‘down’ to a Neutral alignment. Still, Lyn is optimistic, friendly, loyal, inquisitive and adaptable. Also, she’s highly secretive regarding her early childhood and cagey on her ambition to become a Lion Blade. It might be quite a while before it comes up, and if it ever does I’ll make sure (as a player) that it never becomes problematic.

Ismene believes that most racial strife is due to fear and misunderstanding and feels confident that she can help eliminate miscommunication.
She is by no means a party face, but she has a wide range of utility. She is a Mindchemist Alchemist which means she trades Mutagens for Cognatogens. These allow her to increase one of her mental stats for a while. The Orator feat lets her substitute a Linguistics check in place of Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate in social interactions so she will be ready for Social Combat. She speaks several languages now and will continue to learn more. She will also likely dip Empiricist to allocate INT to other important skills.
She will also be able to save the party money, especially early game as she will be able to craft alchemical goodies and brew potions at much reduced cost.

When his father stood up against Maxillar Pythareus opinion of attacking Qadira, things started to go bad for the nobleman. Eduardo de Vega was accused of not being of Taldan noble blood. He had to demonstrate that despite his father only being a rich Taldan trader, her mother (Lope’s grandmother) who came from Brevoy, was an Aldori sword whose bloodline could be traced back to Baron Sirian First, former Taldor nobleman and founder of the Aldori Order.

As Eduardo was winning the public opinion, Pythareus plotters attacked trying to ruin the reputation of Lope’s grandmother, seeking proves that Magdalena Aldori had contacts with the Great Beyond and the entire family was under its influence and plotting against Taldor. Eduardo acknowledged that her mother’s sword, which latter passed to him, was forged in the Axis but that the sword’s will was tied to recover and expand the greatness of Taldor.

Finally, when Eduardo was still on the defense, Pythareus came up with a final plan that could be definitive. With well forged documents, Pythareus demonstrated Eduardo de Vega had been deviating money from the army into the trading ventures of his family, and moving part of its wealth out of Taldor’s reach at Andoran and Absalom banks. Not finding many supporters this time, Eduardo and his family were dishonored and their properties seized, including ‘Taldstar’ the aldori sword heirloom of the family.

Dishonored and with little else left than a few loyal servants, Lope had to follow his father and mother and leave Taldor for decades. Still young, the diaspora of his family made Lope fall very ill. Without access to medicine the disease caused him terrible scars in his face but ultimately survived. It was a disrupting event that changed his family forever.

The family took refuge in the nation of Brevoy, among the Aldori swords friends of her grandmother Magdalena. Although Lope was granted a place to train among the Aldori, his father Eduardo did not want him to lose ties with his Taldan culture. He put the young boy under the mentorship of Eldon García, one of the few people that remained loyal to Eduardo and followed the family diaspora. Eldon had been professor of magic in the Kitharodian Academy and taught Lope on magic, arts and knowledge of Taldor traditions and history at the same time he was being trained by the Aldori.

Knowing what losing all and being at the edge of death meant, Lope showed from an early age an extreme discipline and a cunning mind. The boy was not easily distracted by child games and quickly mastered subjects as diverse as swordplay, magic and poetry. When his father Eduardo de Vega passed away, he promised Lope none of the accusations made against him were true, and requested that Lope would not be as naive as he was in his youth and to help Taldor recover its greatness from the shadows.

Once his mother also died, Lope decided to return to Taldor short after completing his wizardry and Aldori training. Now a man, he wanted to restore the rightful position at Taldor for his family, and recover the richness that was stolen from them. Fearing Maxillar Pythareus influence he decided to reunite with his merchant grandfather at Yanmass, far from the capital Oppara and closer to his Aldori friends. Followed by his mentor, Eldon Garcia (a former Lion Blade, but this has been kept secret from Lope), he served protecting the caravans that bolster trade in the area while helping run his grandfather’s trade business. But not all is hard work, Lope had fun and infiltrated the high class circles demonstrating his cunning tongue on something he calls magical poetry, an art that combines prestidigitation effects with rhymes.

Lady Martella Lotheed found Lope at a club in Yanmass making rhymes while trying to charm the hearts of young maidens. Interested, she started to talk with the young man and finally discovered his ascendancy as a member of the Vega family. Thinking she might profit of the young man for her intrigue network, she has invited Lope to the Exaltation Gala.

Although, reticent at first to expose himself, Lady Lotheed probed convincing and beautiful enough for Lope to decide it was the right time to relocate to Oppara and clean the name of his family.

His first mission is to recover the blackblade of his family which was taken by the people who set a trap to his father. The mission of this blackblade might be to see Taldor become the most prosperous country in the world, to defend the true bloodline of Taldor royalty, to recover his old glory, or maybe to make his family into the most powerful ones of Taldor. Or all ensemble.

Lope follows the opinion of his father that the Empire should focus on seeking a lasting peace with Qadira, while boosting the trade openness with Absalom and Andoran, opening sea routes with the distant Taldan nation of Amanandar in Tian Xia, and expanding the Empire territory to the north, seeking to reunite and civilize now ruined regions like Iobaria in Casmaron.

Lope enjoys bullfighting and plans to open a restaurant in Oppara with the best grilled meats of the capital.

DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 mage armor, +3 Dex, +1 dodge canny defense)
hp 10 (1d8+1+1)
Fort +3 (2 class, 1 Con), Ref +3 (0 class, 3 Dex), Will +2 (2 class, 0 Wis)

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee aldori dueling sword +4 (1d8+3) 19/×2 slashing
arcane pooled aldori dueling sword +5 (1d8+4) 19/×2 slashing (1 minute, 3/day)
Ranged light crossbow +3 (1d8) 19/x2
arcane pooled light crossbow +4 (1d8+1) 19/x2

STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12
Ability increments +2 Dex (racial)
Base Atk +0; CMB -1 (+3 to Disarm, Sunder and Trip); CMD 13
Feats Weapon finesse, Slashing Grace*, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (aldori sword)*, Weapon Focus (aldori sword)*
* = Bonus feat
Traits
Disgraced Noble: Your noble family used to matter, until your father took a stand against Maxillar Pythareus, the commander of Taldor’s military. True or not, the accusations Pythareus leveled against your family in return destroyed your reputation and isolated you from the society you grew up in. You’ve had to practice deception as you began working your way back into Taldan social circles; +2 trait bonus on Bluff, +2 bonus on Linguistics, and one becomes a class skill for you [Bluff]. Once each day, you can choose a single humanoid involved in the conspiracy; you gain a +1 morale bonus on attack and damage against that NPC for 1 round/level. At 10th level, this bonus increases to +2.
Savant: From a very young age, the ability to master performance types has come quite naturally to you. Choose a performance type (Oratory). You gain a +2 trait bonus on all Perform checks made using that performance type. Perform is always a class skill for you. Requirement(s) Kitharodian Academy
Skills (2 class, 2 Int, 1 skilled = 5/level x 1 = 5 ranks; 0 ACP) Bluff +7 (1 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class, 2 trait), Climb (-1 Str, class), Fly (3 Dex, class), Intimidate +5 (1 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class), K. arcana +6 (2 Int, 1 rank, 3 class), K. dungeoneering (2 Int, class), K. planes (2 Int, class), Ride (3 Dex, class), Spellcraft +6 (2 Int, 1 rank, 3 class), Swim (-1 Str, class), Use Magic Device +5 (1 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class)
Background skills (2x1 = 2) Craft (2 Int, class), K. nobility +3 (2 Int, 1 rank), Linguistics +4 (2 Int, 2 trait), Profession (0 Wis, class), Perform Oratory +7 (1 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class, 2 trait; specialized on poetry)
Languages Common, Draconic, Azlanti (next: Celestial, Elven, Vudrani, Osiriani, Hallit)
Favored class (magus): HPx1

SPECIAL ABILITIES AND RACIAL TRAITS
Ability score +2 Dex
Bonus Feat Slashing Grace (Aldori Sword)
Skilled Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A kensai is proficient in simple weapons and in a single martial or exotic melee weapon of his choice. A kensai is not proficient with armor or shields and suffers normal arcane spell failure chance when casting magus spells while armored.
Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Aldori Dueling Sword, level 1 Kensai bonus feat
Weapon focus: Aldori Dueling Sword, level 1 Kensai bonus feat
Canny Defense (Ex): At 1st level, when a kensai is wielding his chosen weapon, he gains the canny defense ability. This is identical to the duelist prestige class ability of the same name (Core Rulebook 382), save that his chosen weapon may be of any type: When wearing light or no armor and not using a shield, a duelist adds 1 point of Intelligence bonus (if any) per duelist class level as a dodge bonus to her Armor Class while wielding a melee weapon. If a duelist is caught flat-footed or otherwise denied her Dexterity bonus, she also loses this bonus.
Spells: A magus casts arcane spells drawn from the magus spell list. A magus must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time.
To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, the magus must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a magus's spell is 10 + the spell level + the magus's Intelligence modifier.
A magus can learn spells from a wizard's spellbook, just as a wizard can from a magus's spellbook. The spells learned must be on the magus spell list, as normal.
Diminished Spellcasting: A kensai may cast one fewer spell of each level than normal. If this reduces the number to 0, he may cast spells of that level only if his Intelligence allows bonus spells of that level.
Arcane Pool (Su): At 1st level, the magus gains a reservoir of mystical arcane energy that he can draw upon to fuel his powers and enhance his weapon. This arcane pool has a number of points equal to 1/2 his magus level (minimum 1) + his Intelligence modifier. The pool refreshes once per day when the magus prepares his spells.
At 1st level, a magus can expend 1 point from his arcane pool as a swift action to grant any weapon he is holding a +1 enhancement bonus for 1 minute. For every four levels beyond 1st, the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +5 at 17th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon enhancement to a maximum of +5. Multiple uses of this ability do not stack with themselves.
At 5th level, these bonuses can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: dancing, flaming, flaming burst, frost, icy burst, keen, shock, shocking burst, speed, or vorpal. Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property's base price modifier (see the Magic Weapon Special Ability Descriptions). These properties are added to any the weapon already has, but duplicates do not stack. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. These bonuses and properties are decided when the arcane pool point is spent and cannot be changed until the next time the magus uses this ability. These bonuses do not function if the weapon is wielded by anyone other than the magus.
A magus can only enhance one weapon in this way at one time. If he uses this ability again, the first use immediately ends.
Spell Combat (Ex): At 1st level, a magus learns to cast spells and wield his weapons at the same time. This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast. To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand. As a full-round action, he can make all of his attacks with his melee weapon at a –2 penalty and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action (any attack roll made as part of this spell also takes this penalty). If he casts this spell defensively, he can decide to take an additional penalty on his attack rolls, up to his Intelligence bonus, and add the same amount as a circumstance bonus on his concentration check. If the check fails, the spell is wasted, but the attacks still take the penalty. A magus can choose to cast the spell first or make the weapon attacks first, but if he has more than one attack, he cannot cast the spell between weapon attacks.

SPELLS
CL 1, Concentration +3 (2 Int, 1 CL)
Cantrips (3/level)
detect magic
dancing lights
prestidigitation

Level 1 (1/day)
silent image (Will DC 13)

SPELLBOOK
Cantrips (all known)

Level 1 (5 known)
color spray (Wil CD 13)
enlarge person
frostbite
silent image (Will DC 13)
shield

EQUIPMENT
silken ceremonial armor, 30 gp 4 lbs (+1 AC, max Dex -, 0 ACP, 0% ASF)
aldori dueling sword, 20 gp 3 lbs
cold iron dagger, 4 gp 1 lbs
light crossbow, 35 gp 4 lbs
bolts x10, 1 gp 1 lbs
rope (silk), 10 gp 5 lbs
grappling hook, 1 gp 4 lbs
flint and steel, 1 gp
spell components pouch, 5 gp 2 lbs
scroll case, 1 gp ½ lbs
scroll of mage armor [x1], 25 gp (UMD DC 21)

Gold earned: 140 gp
Gold spent: 21(starting gear)+35(crossbow)+1(bolts)+4(dagger)+20(sword)+30(armor)+25(scrolls) = 136 gp
Gold remaining: 140-136 = 4 gp

Total lbs: 24.5 lbs (light encumbrance)

Light encumbrance: 26 lbs
Medium encumbrance: 53 lbs

Upon his arrival in old Oppara, Jin, creating something of an alter-ego known as "Junius" to deal with Taldan society, set to work under the patronage of a minor noble family, the Trias, who had sent the dignitaries in Amanandar. In Taldor, his work became decorative, adorning mantlepieces and dining tables - though no less deadly if their use was called upon. Junius also quickly picked up more traditional Taldan weapons and methods, blending them with his own experience to make the blades that the Trias and many more nobles wore at their sides. However, with success and acclaim came loneliness. With so few Tian around, Jin maintained his connection to his homeland by continuing to train in the martial arts taught to him years before as he started his military service - the swordsmanship of the samurai, mixed with his own learnt tumbling in the streets as a child.

It wouldn't be long before Junius's non-blacksmithing skills would be called upon in his new home. Sensing the coming conflict around the Taldan succession, the Trias decided to support the princess, Eutropia, but were unwilling to do so publicly. Instead, they contacted Lady Martella Lotheed - an acquaintance they knew to be on the same side - and offered the service of Junius as an agent. When the Lady expressed interest, Junius accepted his new role, bound by his vow of loyalty to the Trias but also out of his own interest in the cause. Now, he prepares to embark on a mission unlike any he has faced before...

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An average Tian man, short but relatively stocky. Jin prefers to wear simple, functional traditional clothes, which makes him stand out at times in extravagant Oppara. He's been told that he would look good in Taldan noble fashion, but always feels extremely uncomfortable whenever he tries.

Softspoken and humble, loyal and hardworking, Jin prefers to keep his head down and toil in obscurity. That's not because he's shy or afraid - he knows that being in the shadows helps his chances of success when he needs to pop out into the light, a lesson he learned the hard way on the streets of New Oppara. And when it happens, Junius takes over - not quite brash and arrogant like the Taldan nobility he's had to deal with at times, but forceful enough to stand his own in games of intrigue...or so he hopes.