Strange Aeons (PF 1) (Inactive)

Game Master EltonJ

The full backstory is a bit long. Sorry, I often tend to write long.

The earliest knowledge Miren has of her life was relayed to her by the Desnan priests who raised her. She had been brought to them when very young, the equivalent perhaps of a human 4 to 5 years of age. She had been found at the edge of a garbage dump, ill with fever and covered in rat bites. The woman who found her brought her to the priests, a young husband and wife, for healing. The couple nursed her back to health. In the meantime they tried return her to her family, but were unable to find Miren’s parents, or any clear indication of where she might have come from.

Courtaud, the town where the priests maintained a small chapel, had no resident elves. No elves were known to have visited the town recently. Given Miren’s undernourished condition, they speculated she must have been on her own for some days or perhaps weeks. It seemed she had been using an old shed near the dump as shelter and scavenging food from the dump. Miren spoke only elven at that time, so she was unable to give them any information herself.

The couple, Davos and Alika Carasu, gave Miren her new name and raised her. First it was a temporary situation to their minds. But as months then years passed and nobody claimed her, Miren became their adopted daughter. Of course Miren matured very slowly. She was still in her youth at the end of Davos’s and Alika’s lives. A new cleric had come in their old age to carry on keeping up the chapel, but Miren never developed a close connection with her. Within a couple of years after her adoptive parents’ passing, she moved on, traveling to Lepidstadt with vague notions of attending the university there.

Miren was easily intelligent and well educated enough to pass the entrance exams for commoners who wished to gain admittance to the University of Lepidstadt, but she found paying the tuition beyond her means. She dropped out before completing her first year. She did however secure a position at the university’s main library, which allowed her continued access to the books at the various libraries there. Over the next couple of decades she watched both students and faculty come and go as she continued her studies independently. Although she read widely and on many subjects, her main interests were arcane especially the concept of the Void. It was an idea she has long been familiar with from her parents’ religious teachings. Among all the subjects related to Desna, the Black Butterfly was the one she found most fascinating. She even saw a metaphorical connection between herself and the Black Butterfly. Both of them had appeared fully formed, seemingly from nothing and nowhere. Over the years when she would hit a dead end or roadblock, she would take a break, diverting her attention to alchemy for a while. But she always came back to true arcane study.

During her initial few years in Lepidstadt Miren tried to connect with other students, but too many differences separated her from them: class, wealth, race, intellectual pursuits. In any case, few of them were around for very long by Miren’s measure of time. Mostly she held a low opinion of the students at the university. She saw them wasting the opportunities handed to them while she, who did not, was excluded due to lack of funds.

Eventually Miren settled into a quiet life of study. Her life was largely solitary, with hardly anyone she could describe as a close friend. She kept busy though. Aside from her studies Miren was a percussionist in he community orchestra. She also participated in book clubs when she found one not devoted to trivial subjects.

Manfri Caramitru would change Miren’s life in every way. One of the first things Miren had given up on in Lepidstadt was human males. Considering the city’s demographics, this meant giving up on practically all males. For well over a decade Miren avoided romantic relationships entirely. Manfri was different though. He was a youngish new member of the Theology and History faculties. When they came across each other in the library, he did not treat Miren in the expected ways. She had gotten used to sticking out as the sole elf on campus. Her exoticness attracted attention, but almost always from a particular kind of arrogant, loutish, overly confident kind of man. She soon came to understand that she was the target of a perennial game of “who can get the she-elf”. She was approached by men who were looking for bragging rights amongst their friends. Miren supposed if other students or faculty who might have had a more genuine interest in her were out there somewhere, they either found her intimidating, or were to shy to let it be known to her.
Manfri had a natural confidence about him that was attractive. But he also treated her courteously and made it obvious he valued her as a professional. It helped that he was also quite handsome and obviously brilliant of course. Miren and Manfri went from greetings when they saw each other, to short chats about books, to chats about literature and cosmology over dinners or tea, to a physical relationship over a period of a few months. Miren found Manfri’s work on manifestations of negative energy on the material plane and its consequences very interesting. Manfri expressed admiration for Miren’s determination to master her own subjects of interest, and showed considerable curiosity and enthusiasm about her work.

Miren saw their relationship as more than romantic, it was a burgeoning intellectual partnership. Manfri found her knowledge of the libraries’ collections and her talent with languages to be of great help, and he increasingly sought her assistance with projects. As their relationship became closer and closer, Miren ignored rules concerning loans of materials and restrictions on access to certain books and scrolls to get Manfri the things he needed. If she sometimes felt Manfri did not take their relationship as seriously as she did, it only caused Miren to work harder to prove herself. Miren practically took on a second job as Manfri’s assistant. This was not something done lightly. Miren had spent time among dark tomes herself over the years in her own pursuits, but Manfri’s exceeded anything she would have dared on her own. He broke rules that required new degrees of self-justification from Miren. But, she found ways to carry on with him.

Without a doubt Miren had Manfri’s trust, and she valued it as much, if not more, than anything else in her life. Eventually the time came when Manfri was supposed to travel away for a few days to take possession of a number of tomes. A person with whom he had occasionally corresponded had offered the rare books as a donation. Manfri explained to Miren that his lecture schedule would make the trip impossible for him, and asked her to go in his stead. Of course Miren agreed to do so. She never returned.

Manfri Caramitru, Most Worthy Angelic Prince of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, was never able to discover what happened to Miren. He knew her well enough to be certain her disappearance was not voluntary. His hold on her affections was too great for that. He found it regrettable. He had suspected maybe something was not quite right about the donation offer, which is why he has asked Miren to go. But, she had been very talented, probably more so than she knew. Although she was unaware of it, her grooming as an agent had been proceeding splendidly, and Manfri could even imagine a time in the future when she might have been offered membership in the order. Though alas, the girl's race and poverty would have made it unlikely. But, whether she knew it or not, there was a silent shadowy war being fought, and wars create casualties.

Post-Amnesia:
Miren remembers almost no elves in her past. She lived with humans when she was young. Later she remembers spending most of her time around books and other types of items held in libraries.

There was a man who was important to her. She remembers his face, and feels that she was in love with him. They worked together on projects. She is quite sure what they were doing was very important for some reason. The last thing she remembers is traveling to collect something.

She soon learned knowledge was power. People would pay urchins for information they overheard, and so she learned as many languages as she could in order to become a better informant. Knowing what was safe to eat and what wasn’t, being able to sense if a person was too dangerous to get involved with, understanding a bit of cartography in order to map out the sewers she lived in to better get around, all of these things drove Serra to learn like her life depended on it – because it did.

Despite her harsh upbringing, or perhaps because of it, the young woman maintains a cheerful and laid back demeanor. You catch more flies with honey, after all, and there’s no point in worrying about things that can’t be helped.

Of course, beyond her name, Serrahalia knows none of this. She has no idea how she got here, who she is, or what’s going on. No need to panic, though. Certainly, together, you’ll be able to sort it out.

But his idyllic and simple life soon came to an end when his wife was abducted and possibly killed by some dark force, and Gabrie was overcome by grief and guilt for not being there for his wife, because he was away collecting woods when his wife went missing. For many nights, he spent his time praying to Erastil, hoping for guidance and strength.

Soon, Gabrie could feel something within him. He felt empowered, as if his prayers had been answered by the Old Deadeye. He could feel that he had been given a divine mandate to eradicate corruption in all its forms. But Gabrie was still grieving over the loss of his love, and his grief had made him reckless in his duty.

Not long after he was anointed with the divine blessing of Erastil, Gabrie was struck down by the dark force that he sought to destroy. The head trauma was enough to make him lose most of his recollections. However, despite the loss of his memories, divine blessing of the Old Deadeye remained, and while he might not remember his past, he still knew his name and the name of the love of his life.

Because? … Because I am a collector.

I was an academic and I fell off a boat

2. If you were in Ustalav's armies, did you see any action? How did Ustalav's wars affect you?

I was not in the arimes

3. Were you a researcher (good for Alchemists)? Were you working on a breakthrough with your alchemy?

I was a researcher and I wasn't working with alchemy but I was on the way to an important occult sight in Lake Encarthan.

4. Did you have a rival in your earlier life? If you were married, was it a rocky marriage? Are you in a homosexual relationship that was going south?

I made a few rivals within the Pathfinder society in my brief period there, I tried to gain access to things I shouldn't have been going near, there are a fair few people in the Dark Archive that would rather I disappeared.

5. Were you comfortable and had the blessings of wealth?

I was never poor but never wealthy enough to retire either.

6. What is your religion? Did you worship one of Golarion's many gods? Or was like Wiccanism? Was your worship casual? Are you an atheist and did not believe in any god or religious movement? Are you more spiritual?

I think that all the gods are worthy of praise but looking to one over all the others would be insanity, all the great gifts of all the gods can be gained if you stay neutral.

7. What are your dreams or aspirations?

To do anything of note, I wrote a thesis that wasn't worth a damn after doing work following others at a noteworthy institution and did well but never did anything that truly mattered, I want to become someone who can make the things I find.

8. A question for players: What are you looking for in this AP? Hack and Slash Combat? Intrigue? Roleplaying?

I like the idea of intrigue and roleplaying most but a balance of all three would be ideal

Bobbi never knew what land her parents came from, or why they settled in Ustalav. Such trivialities were unimportant. The study of magic was all that mattered, and they devoted their lives to it. If she'd been a certain kind of child, she'd have wondered why they'd had her at all. But she didn't have that type of curiosity within her.

Her parents, both wizards, were delighted when Bobbi started to show a magical aptitude at the tender age of three. But it quickly became apparent that it wasn't strict book-learning that she was recreating. There was something of the stink of sorcery around the child.

Horrified, over the next few years, her parents tried everything to discourage the spontaneous sorcery of their offspring. Positive reinforcement - they rewarded her for diligent studies and clever insights. Negative reinforcement - they punished her when she did anything they felt was improper. Which was a lot. At first it was she was shouted at, sent to her room, made to skip dinner. When that didn't work, they escalated to beatings, sending her to the basement, to be left in the dark, starved for days.

Bobbi, named for famous wizard Roberta Brightmantle, could not please her parents. She tried, she really did. She learned the spells, she copied them into her spellbook, she studied them every morning. But when she tried to do the magic, it just came out...sideways.

Finally, her parents became desperate. Bobbi hit puberty, and things were getting worse. They knew of a hedge-witch, well-respected (as they are in Ustalav). She knew of their struggles, and offered to cure the child of her sorcery. Bobbi's mother would have accompanied her there, but their research on that new spell was nearing completion, and she couldn't leave, not now. Bobbi was sent off, past the village, into the fens. She never came home.

Waking up in the cell, Bobbi was terrified, but that was nothing new. It seemed she'd been afraid her whole life. And now there was something new to be afraid of. Something she'd done, something horrible. Bobbi was pretty sure she didn't want to remember what it was.

But his idyllic and simple life soon came to an end when his wife was abducted and possibly killed by some dark force, and Gabrie was overcome by grief and guilt for not being there for his wife, because he was away collecting woods when his wife went missing. For many nights, he spent his time praying to Erastil, hoping for guidance and strength.

Soon, Gabrie could feel something within him. He felt empowered, as if his prayers had been answered by the Old Deadeye. He could feel that he had been given a divine mandate to eradicate corruption in all its forms. But Gabrie was still grieving over the loss of his love, and grief could drive anyone to dark places.

Not that he could remember any of this, of course. Besides his name, there was nothing that he could recall. Still, he couldn't help but feel uneasiness about himself as well as inexplicable guilt, as if he had done something truly wrong. This feeling of uneasiness would certainly drive him to right the wrongs that he might have committed. Perhaps losing his memories was a blessing in disguise.

Waking up in the cell, he tries to hide his uncertainty and fear from others.

2. Didn't serve in army.

3. He is more interested in history and Outer planes.

4. Several rivals, never have been in a loving and equal relationship

5. Not particularly wealthy, but doing well.

6. Some of the gods may be worth respect, but he is leaning atheist.

7. Power and, post-amnesia, revenge for his captivity.

8. All of above in balance.

Sorry, I had originally built her using average instead of rolling dice

4d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 5, 4) = 18