Deathlok's Wrath of the Righteous - 3+

Game Master Death-Lok

After murdering his adopted father, Reknar was quickly and summarily condemned to incarceration, spending most of his juvenile years in prison - the boy was broken when he entered that place, and callous when he left - the opportunity presented itself as it usually did every couple of years - anyone willing to serve in the army got their sentence commuted by 2 years for each one served - he grabbed it with two hands and crawled out of the hellhole.

The military weren't much better, ex-convicts being considered 2nd class soldiers, treated almost as poorly as they were in prison, poorly geared, thrown at the worst of assignments, commanded by the less able of the officers - no one cared about body count among Jailites, they were there as fodder. Instead of fighting it, Reknar embraced it - amongst the rabble he found variety - anyone can end up in jail, so he met with the most varied walks of life, and he soaked it all in - he learned discipline from Riktor, and old grizzled veteran of war who had murdered his commanding officer after he had sent them to be massacred on a tactical deathtrap, with Janice the dual wielding dagger hired assassin to be, he learned passion and to speak before swinging his blade...

He met countless, befriended some, and watched most of them die on the field.

He usually kept to himself, but those serving with him quickly learned he would be the first to step up and assume the hardest of things when you are smack dab in the middle of a fight - making decisions. No point in waiting for the Captain, too tied up in pleasing the Commander with "strategic" considerations - when the s*** hit the fan, there was no time to ponder relations with the neighboring kingdom, or the Lady and kids waiting back home - you needed to let go, evaluate the here and now and MOVE. Stop and you would be dead.

And that was why the boys and girls in Badger company turned to him - bottom line, the only thing worse than a bad decision, is none at all. So one way or another, that hodgepodge group of ex-convicts and other pariahs who somehow ended up in there with them, they would get the job done.

Through grit and blood he climbed the ranks - proved himself and his Badger Company able and willing, but it was for naught as he came to understand - even after his 5 years of service were completed things did not improve - others still looked at him and his boys and girls like "Jailites", they kept throwing them into the deepest of possible mess, and his commanding officer was still an incompetent jerk. Curiously enough, that was perhaps the only time in his life that he felt some sort of sense of duty - towards those that looked at him for leadership, encouragement, and above all those oh so dreaded decisions.

By this point he was free to leave, but he chose not to - at a certain point, and after a particularly messy affair at the Drecchard Bog, he was even offered another command, not a jailite team this time, but real soldiers - he refused without a second thought, and returned to his soggy and filthy barracks to down a couple of watered ales with the Badgers.

And that is why after so many years in the service he never made it past sergeant - "When a troll comes wailing at ya, it really doesn't matter how many stripes you have on your shoulder, or how many plumes you have on your helmet now does it?" - it mattered not, he was being quite successful at keeping the Badger company up and running, casualties to a minimum, and a high rate of success - so much so that it made a lot of high ranked officers feel awkward, and that is never good.

The badgers operated smoothly - parts were well defined and the hierarchy well taken in - listen to the Sargent, ignore the Captain - simple. But nothing could have prepared them for that day - "With your permission SIR, you have got to be kidding me - you want me to take the whole company into a g!@ d*#ned crypt, with confirmed hauntings reported, as is?! Sir, we are ill-equipped to deal with any sort of undead menace - as I reported over six months ago at the Tellis offensive, we have received none of the blanches requested, Tulion has been refused his robes because the church believes his work here is a waste of resources, and Lucian tells me that the reports so far are an understatement of what can be found in there - the undead concentration points to something else in there... And we are supposed to get in the hole, and clean it up?!"

He didn't have to hear the answer to know what it was. As he left the tent, his two corporals waiting outside needed no questions - Reknars' grim face was enough - "This is going to hurt"

He hasn't shared any of what actually happened in the infested crypt with anyone since that day - the surviving members of the badger company emerged three days later - covered in blood, Reknar carried Tulion on his arms - his body showing evidence of desiccation, barely a husk of skin and bones, Lucian the company wizard followed them, his left arm swollen and festering with some sort of unholy sickness, one of his eyes gouged out, barely walking.

Around his chest, the sergeant bore a harness, connected via improvised ropes to a pall, where three others laid, their sunken eyes dark, their mouths locked into a perpetual, silent scream. Without a word the three wounded were delivered to the infirmary - the physicians shaking their heads, lost at what to do. Reknar kept on, crossing the barracks, and wading right into the church that served the military quarters, striding in before appalled eyes he deposited his priest companion body on the altar, turning to the priests to one side with a sneer - "There's your martyr - I'm sure you will praise his deeds - remember to say to everyone that he died screaming"

He did not murder the captain, did not even address him - even though he would never forget the Krastigan name, he was irrelevant after all, as a man, and as a commander - he just took the blood soaked pall from his back, and without missing a step, both him and Lucian gathered their gear and left the quarters that same day, stil bloodied and wounded.

"Sense of Duty... It has a nice sound to it does it not? Seems to roll off the tongue... But that is all there is to it - a nice sound"

Reknar
Half-orc bard 2/ranger 1
CG Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 28 (3 HD; 2d8+1d10+8)
Fort +7, Ref +10, Will +6; +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependent, and sonic
Defensive Abilities sacred tattoo[APG]
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk bardiche +6 (1d10+4/19-20) or
. . mwk cold iron morningstar +6 (1d8+3)
Ranged sling +4 (1d4+3)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with masterwork bardiche)
Special Attacks bardic performance 7 rounds/day (countersong, distraction, fascinate [DC 12], inspire courage +1), favored enemy (evil outsiders +2)
Bard Spells Known (CL 2nd; concentration +3)
. . 1st (3/day)—cure light wounds, feather fall, saving finale[APG] (DC 12)
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, light, mending, message
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Statistics
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Str 17, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Power Attack
Traits armor expert, fate's favored
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +7, Handle Animal +5, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (arcana) +1, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +5, Knowledge (engineering) +1, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (nature) +5, Knowledge (planes) +1, Knowledge (religion) +1, Linguistics +4, Perception +6, Perform (oratory) +7, Profession (soldier) +4, Survival +6, Swim +7, Use Magic Device +7; Racial Modifiers +2 Intimidate
Languages Common, Orc
SQ bardic knowledge +1, orc blood, track +1, versatile performance (oratory), wild empathy +2
Combat Gear wand of shield (50 charges); Other Gear mwk chain shirt, mwk buckler, mwk bardiche[APG], mwk cold iron morningstar, sling, cloak of resistance +1
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Bardic Knowledge +1 (Ex) Add +1 to all knowledge skill checks.
Bardic Performance (standard action, 7 rounds/day) Your performances can create magical effects.
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Favored Enemy (Evil Outsiders +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs. evil outsiders foes.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Sacred Tattoo +1 to all saves.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to Survival checks made to track.
Versatile Performance (Oratory) +7 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Oratory skill for Diplomacy or Sense Motive checks
Wild Empathy +2 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an animal, as if using Diplomacy.