Leaping up from his seat, Zeldrith rushes after Ano, redirecting her down a side street so that she doesn't pass near the Clovermark house with all the subtlety the other members of the group have come to expect of him. "Hey-Ano-I-think-I-heard-that-High-Street-will-be-closed-how-about-we-try-R aven?" He clears his throat as he catches up with his catfolk friend. "You know, Ano, since I'm new here in town, I was thinking I might try and see some of the sights down this street here at this specific moment for some reason. It's on the way to the Cathedral, too, so there's that."
Steering her down the side street and away from another violent confrontation with her mother, Zeldrith casts about frantically for something to justify his intervention in Ano's affairs. "There, aren't you glad we came down this way? Now we can see... um... that alchemist's shop that-" Narrowing his eyes, the tiefling sniffs the air experimentally. "-smells like cheese for some reason. You know, I don't think I even want to know..." He laughs nervously. "Well, Ano, how many people can see they've set foot inside of a Thassilonian ruin and lived to tell the tale? And then there was that freaky little imp - it's definitely something to remember for the future. Hey, did you feel anything weird when you stood near that flame pool down in those catacombs? I thought I felt a little tingling in my hand here, and I was wondering..." He trails off, looking hopefully at Ano to see if his babble is helping to distract her from her recent confrontation with her mother or the prospect of having to kill her old friend.
[ooc[ Now I have to figure out what chemicals smell like cheese :p [/ooc]
"... That sounds like something I'll have to ask about later. Cheese isn't a usual scent in alchemy," Juriya says as she rushes to catch up. She... vaguely remembers them trying to extract reagents out of rancid butter recently? Just thinking about it made her nose burn. Blegh.
She then realizes what Zeldrith is trying to do. Oh. And now she's at a loss for words.
At first, Ano’s fur bristles when Zeldrith takes her around the long way. Though she does realize he’s just making sure she’s not going to get mangled.
When the tiefling asked about the well, she says, “I don’t think so? Other than the pregnancy vision, all I saw…well, heard and smell…was weird. I heard moans, and I smelled something…like…”
Once the thought popped up she looked physically sick. “Oh Gods…Father Zantus better have the answers I need…”
"I don't think so? Other than the pregnancy vision, all I saw…well, heard and smell…was weird. I heard moans, and I smelled something…like… Oh Gods…Father Zantus better have the answers I need…"
Zeldrith grimaces almost imperceptibly, interjecting quickly to distract his friend from the nauseating thoughts. "Well, maybe... maybe it's not your friend's fault, then, yeah? I mean, after all, I think us two were the only ones to have visions down there - proper visions, I mean - so maybe your friend's head got blasted full of all those evil thoughts, like ours were but worse? None of this would really be her fault then - all this would be on those crazy old wizards." Glancing behind him, he sends a death glare at Donimah, daring her to interrupt with another tangent about how great the Thassilonians were.
The ex-mercenary puts an arm around Ano to console her as he quickens his pace to match hers, the sound of his hooves on the hard-packed dirt of the road drowning out the softer sound of her footsteps. "Look at it this way, if your friend can't be held responsible for her actions, we'd be doing her a favor by killing her, right? Stopping the thing that's taken her face before it can taint her memory? We can talk with Father Zantus, but I think he'll say the same thing. And the longer we delay here instead of taking Thistletop, the more likely it is that someone's going to put two and two together, same as we did."
Donimah glowers as the group suddenly gets up and starts leaving and looks over at Ameiko and Shalelu.
"We can continue this conversation later, perhaps," she says as she gathers up her scrip bag and grabs her whaling spear and races to catch up with them, robes fluttering about her bony legs.'
When she finally catches up with the group, she sees Zeldrith glaring at her and gets a confused look on her own face.
Ano sighed, “I just have a question or two for Father Zantus, then we prepare immediately.” She turned to look at Arrian, “Hopefully whatever gold we get we can get me a chain shirt…maybe make my rapier a masterwork quality.”
"If we split it evenly," Juriya says, "we'll probably end up getting the same gear," she says with a chuckle. "At the very least, a better rapier wouldn't be a bad idea. I uh. Might not be strong enough for the chain shirt!"
I'm remembering why I gave a non-caster a Haramaki now, lol.
Ano pauses when she realizes that the people in the cathedral are the ones who lost someone due to the goblins. It reminded her of when she lost her father those years ago…
Celestial:
”Desna, I hope you and my father are guiding the ones who died in the raid…”
She then clears her throat, and walks up towards Father Zantus. “Father? I’m sorry to bother you, but I have a couple questions. Of a private nature.”
Ano hears a fluttering sound. When she turns to look at it she sees a swallowtail butterfly flying close to cathedral ceiling. After a while, it flies down close to Father Zantus, almost at her hand's reach. She understand this is a sign of approval.
Father Zantus seems completely unbothered to be interrupted in his prayer. Being the sole caretaker of the magnificent building that is the cathedral, as well as the spiritual well-being of Sandpoint, certainly doesn't warrant him time to have a moment of silence.
He wears a smile and says "Yes, Ano, of course. Shall we retreat to my office? I've also requested special access to the roof during construction. I said it was to help clean it, but in truth I like the view from there."
The catfolk stared at the swallowtail. She almost wondered if that was…
She shook the thought out of her head and wiped the tears before clearing her throat, “I think your office will be better. Somewhere where no one can hear us. It’s…well to say important would be an understatement.”
Father Zantus leads Ano through a boring door, through a small corridor, then his office. It is small in comparison to the cathedral, but large enough for comfort. He lights a fire and puts a kettle on, as he waits silently for Ano to start talking.
What about the other folks, are you doing anything interesting in the cathedral?
Male NG Male Half-Orc Inquisitor 5 | HP 43 (36) / 43 | AC 16 / 12 T / 14 FF | CMD 18 | Fort + 8 (+ 2 vs. disease and poison), Ref + 4, Will + 8 | Init + 4 | Perception + 9 (Darkvision 60') | Speed 40 ft. | Hero Points = 3 | Conditions = None| Effects = Divine Favor |Bane: 5/8 | Judgement: 1/2 | Spells: 1st Level (3/5), 2nd Level (3/3) |
Arrian feels extremely self conscious as he's in the cathedral with his 'to go' dinner. He tries to find a spot at the back where he attempts to eat quietly...
“I have a couple questions to ask about…Nualia,” Ano started, “More specifically…did something happen to her in the month before the Cathedral burned down? I remember her going somewhere, her not wanting me to follow her, and we had a fight and she shoved me. I sent letters to her but she never responded and…I need to know.”
Meanwhile, Juriya realizes she left her food at the inn... and sighs a little inside. It's unimportant, she needs to figure out what is causing her back such massive issues.
What even is Ano talking about, anyways? I... ow. I'll check all three forms just... just in case it's something related to my tail. Not... not here though.
Father Zantus sits looking at the wall. For a moment, Ano thinks there is a window there that she just isn't seeing, before she realizes the cleric is in deep thought. When he finally speaks, he says "I wonder why you are thinking about Nualia right now. I remember... I was training under Ezakien and..."
Suddenly, he finds the kettle he is heating up is very interesting and goes to it. As he verifies that the water is still not hot, he sighs and says "At some point, he and Nualia started arguing a lot. I do remember I used to put my ear on the wall to listen to what they were talking about." He turns back to Ano and says "This is their private matter. I should never have listened to their conversation, and I should not repeat it to you or anyone else." He turns back to the heating water, as if trying to conjure a spell to make it heat up faster.
Meanwhile, some of the people in the cathedral start looking at Arrian and Juriya. They look a bit annoyed.
Juriya makes her best effort to distance herself from the person eating in a church. She realizes that that's probably against social norms to do so... granted if she was still hungry, she would not have thought to not bring the food. That's thinking too highly of Juriya's common sense.
Did I do something wrong, she thinks to herself, ready to turn and leave on a dime if being an annoyance continues. Probably to figure out this back pain.
Father Zantus sits looking at the wall. For a moment, Ano thinks there is a window there that she just isn't seeing, before she realizes the cleric is in deep thought. When he finally speaks, he says "I wonder why you are thinking about Nualia right now. I remember... I was training under Ezakien and..."
Suddenly, he finds the kettle he is heating up is very interesting and goes to it. As he verifies that the water is still not hot, he sighs and says "At some point, he and Nualia started arguing a lot. I do remember I used to put my ear on the wall to listen to what they were talking about." He turns back to Ano and says "This is their private matter. I should never have listened to their conversation, and I should not repeat it to you or anyone else." He turns back to the heating water, as if trying to conjure a spell to make it heat up faster.
Meanwhile, some of the people in the cathedral start looking at Arrian and Juriya. They look a bit annoyed.
“I need to know. The townsfolk didn’t treat her right, and I should’ve done something about it. And…and…”
She took a deep breath, and said seriously as Zantus heated the kettle.
“Do not repeat this to anyone. Perhaps only the Mayor, but nobody else. We know who is responsible for the goblin raids. There were more in the Glassworks, they killed Lonjiku and the workers. Tsuto was down there but…he’s not the leader. Nualia…she is.”
Ano paused and took another deep breath. She was shaking as she continued. “Nualia’s alive. She didn’t die in the fire. There’s some Thassilonian ruins under the Glassworks, with a shrine of Lama-ahem, the Mother of Monsters-and…I saw visions. I heard a woman moaning down there…and I had a vision that I was some half fiend child inside a woman’s womb. My friends suspect I had visions of what happened to Nualia.
“Please, Father Zantus, if there’s anyone in this town who would even have the slightest idea of what happened to Nualia, it’s you. I need to know because…we’re going to stop her. And I have-I’m going-to save her. Something happened with her and I need to make things right.”
As Ano heads into Father Zantus's office, Zeldrith stays behind in the main area of the Sandpoint Cathedral, glancing around idly as he waits for Ano to finish. Seeing that Father Zantus was interrupted in the middle of sweeping the vast cathedral's floor, he picks up the broom resting against the wall and continues the old priest's work, quickly falling into a rhythm as his mind strays back to when he would do the same task as a child in his family's store. As Donimah enter with her query, he glances briefly up from his task before nodding to the exceptionally boring door Ano and the Father had retreated through. "Meeting about the troubles. The assault on Thistletop won't be easy - you want to make peace with your gods beforehand, then there's altars around here."
Returning to his sweeping, he continues for several more minutes before addressing Arrian. "To be frank, I'm more than a little worried about how that kid ended up - the one from Ano's vision, I mean. My family's had generations to get used to having a strange child every once in a while, but... you hear stories about what people generally do to monster children. Midwives drowning them, mothers going nuts - I'll be honest, that kid's future wasn't exactly promising. No matter how much of a freak they look, little babies haven't exactly had time to do anything worthy of death, right?" He shrugs, shifting position to sweep the area around where his hooves were. "I mean, who's the real monster in that situation? The baby or the parents? Makes you think."
Male NG Male Half-Orc Inquisitor 5 | HP 43 (36) / 43 | AC 16 / 12 T / 14 FF | CMD 18 | Fort + 8 (+ 2 vs. disease and poison), Ref + 4, Will + 8 | Init + 4 | Perception + 9 (Darkvision 60') | Speed 40 ft. | Hero Points = 3 | Conditions = None| Effects = Divine Favor |Bane: 5/8 | Judgement: 1/2 | Spells: 1st Level (3/5), 2nd Level (3/3) |
"And that worry will be added to the list. First we have to get to Thistletop to stop the gathering and I agree with you that it won't be easy. That's why I want to trade what we have for something we can use."
Juriya just nods in agreement. She's heard stories from her parents of what people might do to non-human children of a seemingly human pairing, let alone something like a tiefling or one with deformities. If one looks at her, she seems to be either lost in thought, or lost in prayer... in reality it's merely lost in thought though.
Aren't midwives normally Pharasmin? Could that be some systemic issue with the church due to its tenets? That... cannnot be right, at least in the case of tieflings. Dhampirs, on the other hand...
The people continue shooting gazes at Arrian, Zeldrith and Juriya, but also Donimah when she arrives. Most leave as though annoyed.
With Father Zantus...
As Ano speaks, the water begins to boil. The kettle starts whistling slowly. As she speaks the word "Nualia", the kettle hisses strongly, blowing steam into the priest's cheek, which starts to sweat. He cannot bring himself to look at Ano, but stares at the floor.
After she stops speaking, he turns to her, his eyes in near panic. He says "What? How could that be? She died..." He clearly has trouble focusing, as a million thoughts run through his head.
Eventually, he sees he must reply to Ano, straightens his posture and attends the boiling water. He pours it on a couple cups and dips a tea bag in each. Afterwards, he methodically opens a drawer and pulls out a small glass cup with a yellowish thick liquid inside. As he pours some of it in each cup of tea, Ano can see that this is the famed spiced honey that Father Zantus is rumoured to have, which he has always denied having. Without asking Ano if she wants some, he also pours some milk in both cups.
After offering Ano the tea, he sits at his table and start churning his. He says "It seems you are in a better position to help Sandpoint than I am, Ano. I am happy to share some of this responsibility, along with the sheriff and the mayor."
He sighs and says "I overheard Nualia talking to my mentor. As his protegé, he felt she should follow in his footsteps, to answer Desna's call. Luckily, I could also abosrb some of his teaching desires, but he was always pressing her to pray more. One day, she told him... Well, she became pregnant." Father Zantus sips his tea and burns himself, maybe on purpose to hide his feelings of sadness.
He continues "They argued so much. Ezakien scolded her so much. He wanted her to spend more time in front of the altar and become more pious. From their discussions... It seemed she became pregnant in a smuggler's tunnel...", finishing his sentence with much apparent pain "under the Glassworks." He strokes Desna's holy symbol on his vest and continues "It seems that being so close to such an unholy temple may have caused the unborn child to grow monstruous? Maybe?"
After making some effort to remember some things, he continues "In any case, I think she likely had a miscariage, given she never showed any visible sign of pregnancy. After that, the fire happened. Could it be? No, it couldn't be... From what you tell me, now that I think about it, she might have had something to do with the fire itself." He speaks in a low voice, which is a sad one.
Ano’s blood ran cold and she sat in silence hearing what Father Zantus had to say. She gingerly sipped her tea, and then said with a sigh, “I don’t know why Nualia would do something like that…I…I wish she came to me. I would’ve helped her and supported her. But…I’ll help now. My friends think Nualia has been taken over by a demon…I don’t think so. I think she’s just hurt…she thinks nobody in this town cared for her. I’m going to show her that one person has always cared. Thank you, Father Zantus. For the information and the tea.”
Once she left his office, she met with her friends and motioned them to go outside with her, to not bother the people still inside. The catfolk then starts to relay what she knows.
“Nualia did have a lover, in the tunnels. She ended up pregnant and confronted Father Tobyn about it. Father Zantus says she didn’t look pregnant, so she must have had a miscarriage shortly afterwards. He…suspects she caused the fire herself.” After a long pause, and with shaky breath, she continues, “Let’s sell what we collected and get what we need. I think it would be best for us to head to Thistletop first thing tomorrow morning, if not tonight. Will that work for you all?”
Donimah looks up at the shrines of the various gods in the Cathedral with an aggressively neutral look on her face. She'd be lying if she called herself pious. Some of them; Desna, Sarenrae, Gozreh, were gods the Shoanti worshipped...in practice, her people had many, many gods, in everyone and everything, and what city folk called gods were just some of the biggest, strongest and wisest, but even that wisdom wasn't something she'd grown up with. Gods, big or small, were distant and silent things, and you could spend a lifetime praying to them and never know if they did anything, or if they heard you. Magic was different...it was power you could understand, could command, could use to make your life better. But she'd also be lying if she just dismissed Zeldrith's suggestion to make peace with the gods as mere sentiment. After all, gods granted magic of their own. Cayden Cailean granted it to Arrian, and Cayden himself had once been just a man who was brave and more than a little lucky and found himself becoming an equal to those distant and silent figures. And perhaps...that made mortals and gods and spirits more alike than some priests proclaimed.
She's still thinking about it when Ano returns and shares what she's learned. She listens and her expression softens.
"That's...honestly what I imagined the situation was, from the descriptions of your...visions and what we learned from what she left behind. It...sounds like she had a lot of anger towards Father Tobyn if one of her goals with the raid was to steal his bones out of his grave when she may have been the one who killed him in the first place," she says in a low, quiet voice.
She doesn't say outright that Nualia killed her father, for Ano's sake, but she seems to feel that even she's coming around to the notion that Nualia would have been capable of such a deed.
"He was more than just "Father" Tobyn to her, right? He was her actual father too?"
Juriya... admittedly never came to the cathedral often. Her family, as craftspeople and kitsune, have a shrine to Daikitsu in their home; so, no need to really worship here... maybe that's why everyone was annoyed with her?
"I... remember being here for... all this. I... I wasn't really... as connected in all of it as Ano was, but... what you're saying makes sense from what I remember, Donimah. But... I agree with that plan, Ano."
She then walks out of the cathedral, once conversation is finished. The amount of not-so-welcome stares is putting her on edge. Was it because she was only here at the behest of Ano? Was it because of Fosyo?!
Male NG Male Half-Orc Inquisitor 5 | HP 43 (36) / 43 | AC 16 / 12 T / 14 FF | CMD 18 | Fort + 8 (+ 2 vs. disease and poison), Ref + 4, Will + 8 | Init + 4 | Perception + 9 (Darkvision 60') | Speed 40 ft. | Hero Points = 3 | Conditions = None| Effects = Divine Favor |Bane: 5/8 | Judgement: 1/2 | Spells: 1st Level (3/5), 2nd Level (3/3) |
Arrian tries his best to conceal the plate of food and waits until the group leaves the Cathedral before resuming his now-cold meal. It was better than nothing.
Nodding at Juriya he adds, "Same for me; I was still more of an outsider at that point. While it would be nice to discover who Nualia's lover was back then I'm not sure who would know besides her. As for when to leave I can see in the dark but so can the goblins. I'm torn between resting and regaining my spells or just starting out tonight."
"He was more than just "Father" Tobyn to her, right? He was her actual father too?"
“That’s correct,” Ano replied, “Nobody knows who Nualia’s real parents are. Father Tobyn found her and took her in. Though…” The catfolk started to trail off a bit.
“Well,” Ano started, “Some of the townsfolk didn’t treat Nualia right. Some were horrible to her-thinking she could do good things for them. One time, I was with Nualia and some old woman came up and cut a big chunk of her hair off. Said aasimar hair makes a nice luck charm. I yelled at the woman, and she smacked me with her walking stick. My dad and mom saw, and my dad was ready to tear that woman apart, if it weren’t for my mom calming him down. From what I heard, Father Tobyn never really did anything about the townsfolk doing stuff like that…so it wouldn’t surprise me if Nualia resents this town…”
“Well,” Ano started, “Some of the townsfolk didn’t treat Nualia right. Some were horrible to her-thinking she could do good things for them. One time, I was with Nualia and some old woman came up and cut a big chunk of her hair off. Said aasimar hair makes a nice luck charm. I yelled at the woman, and she smacked me with her walking stick. My dad and mom saw, and my dad was ready to tear that woman apart, if it weren’t for my mom calming him down. From what I heard, Father Tobyn never really did anything about the townsfolk doing stuff like that…so it wouldn’t surprise me if Nualia resents this town…”
Donimah's eyes widen and she scratches her own shaved scalp a bit.
"'Resents' would be an understatement!" she exclaims. "What the f***?!"
Juriya just shudders at the vague memory of how people treated Nualia. "I... I can see why she might be. How she is and targetting Sandpoint. It's not like she's taking on protean features even though they'd be down for someone destroying their home-village... her nature as an Aasimar might be something she resents and is going the uh... opposite way of intentionally."
“If it helps,” Ano replied to Donimah, “The town really changed after the Late Unpleasantness. I don’t know if it’s because some of the nastier folk were part of the murders, or if the murders and fire scared everyone into opening their eyes, but the town’s been more of a community since then. All those townsfolk giving me encouraging words after my mo-Fosyo-did this to my ear? That didn’t happen when the old lady smacked me, nor did it happen when Nualia was treated badly.”
"I think it's..." Juriya says, a slight wince as she stretches out her back. "I genuinely think it's both. People change their tunes when a big event like that happens... and there were bound to be some closed-minded whackjobs only concerned with themselves to the point they'd treat her only as a good luck charm."
As the group leaves the Cathedral and continues their discussion of Nualia's circumstances, Zeldrith follows behind, seemingly not interested in their conversation but still unwilling to leave his friends behind. At Juriya's words, he scowls, speaking up. "Look, why she's trying to kill us isn't important. I'm sure that back in the wars, you could have written whole books about the hobgoblins we fought, why they decided to bother organizing the tribes into a unified force, all that. A soldier on the front doesn't care about all that - the key point here is that they're trying to kill us, and that we know where they are massing so we can kill them first."
His mismatched eyes flick back and forth, searching for enemies, and his hand strays close to the hilt of his sword as he shifts his stance to put the comforting mass of the Cathedral's stone walls at his back. "If we're bound for Thistletop, let's go already. Those little psychos are quiet when they want to be - the more time we stand around jawing about it, the more time they have to sink their grubby little claws into Sandpoint's underbelly."
"I'm discussing the motives of one person. One person people KNEW," Juriya says, a bit of venom present in her voice. She sighs, then continues, "Either way. We should probably sell off what we found, and equip ourselves better if we head to Thistletop. Cold iron weapons are going to be important for dealing with anything demon," Juriya adds, "And we could all use better armor. I didn't expect to get in a fight so a belly-warmer is all I have right now."
Male NG Male Half-Orc Inquisitor 5 | HP 43 (36) / 43 | AC 16 / 12 T / 14 FF | CMD 18 | Fort + 8 (+ 2 vs. disease and poison), Ref + 4, Will + 8 | Init + 4 | Perception + 9 (Darkvision 60') | Speed 40 ft. | Hero Points = 3 | Conditions = None| Effects = Divine Favor |Bane: 5/8 | Judgement: 1/2 | Spells: 1st Level (3/5), 2nd Level (3/3) |
Turning to Zeldrith, "It is important if Nualia is the 'glue' holding the goblins together. If we can convince her to change her mind the goblins will hopefully return to fighting one another and leave Sandpoint alone."
As the group leaves the Cathedral and continues their discussion of Nualia's circumstances, Zeldrith follows behind, seemingly not interested in their conversation but still unwilling to leave his friends behind. At Juriya's words, he scowls, speaking up. "Look, why she's trying to kill us isn't important."
Ano whips her head towards Zeldrith, her face contorting into an insulted anger. "Maybe not to you because you weren't her friend. But to me? It means everything. How would you feel if you found out your friend fell to anger? Question what happened and find a way to help, or just plunge your blade into them, deciding that they're no different than some hobgoblin soldier?" The catfolk's words were filled with venom, making Cherry feel uncertain about Ano's...stability for the situation. She continued, "You all may think she's beyond saving, but I'm going to get her back. I'll be at the store where we can get new weapons. Go ahead and talk about Nualia like she's a lost cause all you want, you can't talk me out of trying to save her." And with that the catfolk stormed off, passing by her mother's house, and not caring in the world what happens today.
Zeldrith scowls as Ano storms off, turning to Arrian as he speaks up about convincing Nualia to change her mind. "And what then? If we talk her down, who knows if she'll truly change, or if she'll go back to planning an attack even bigger and more destructive than the last? Even if her little tryst in the smuggler's tunnels made her what she is, she still managed to fool everyone in Sandpoint for months! Even gone five years, she's still got that fool Ano in her pocket!"
He shifts his glare to Juriya, crossing his arms in an unspoken dare for her to argue with him. "As for what Ano said, about what I'd do if our roles were reversed? I'd still kill this Nualia in a second. During the wars, when Corporal Marin turned on us at the Spire, I didn't stop to see if some wizard's spell had scrambled his mind. Didn't ask him if his head was turned by hobgoblin gold. One of us was going to die - it was him or me. I chose him." He glances down the street where the furious catfolk had just retreated. "Pretty soon, Ano's going to have to choose. I pray to all the gods she makes the right choice."
The catfolk grumbled all the way to the store, occasionally kicking away a spare bottle in the way. She knew Nualia the best…there was still good in her! There…had to be good in her…right? Ano shook the doubt out of her head, and continued to head to the store, to which, once she entered, replaced her worn out rapier with a new, high quality rapier, and ditched her torn leather armor for some nice lamellar armor.
“Ano,” Cherry chirped as they headed out of the store and to the Rusty Dragon, “Zeldrith has more experiences than you-”
“Doesn’t mean he’s right about everything,” Ano snapped.
“Listen. I get it,” the bird chirped back, a little miffed about being interrupted, “Your friend who you thought was dead for years is actually alive and you want to help. That’s noble of you. But…what if she won’t listen to you, won’t even-”
“I’ll deal with that if it happens,” the amurrun responded. She looked at her familiar with a face that spoke, clear as day, that her mind has been made up and she didn’t want to be pressed any further about it.
Knowing he can’t talk her out of the idea, the cardinal fluttered back to the rest of the group, landing on Arrian’s shoulder. “Well, she’s sticking to her plan of redeeming Nualia. Her heart is in the right place…but I’m worried she’ll risk getting herself killed pulling this stunt.”
"Well, then we'll make DAMN sure she doesn't die, then," Donimah says matter-of-factly. "Even if we have disagreements like these we've still got each other's backs in a fight. If Ano's earnestness can pull Nualia's soul back from the Abyss, then I'll take the miracle the spirits have clearly given us. If not, we'll fight and we'll win, as we have since the Swallowtail Festival."
Donimah, making sure the group has a healing wand to do that making DAMN sure no one dies, begins conferring with the local magery, to see if there are scrolls available that she can use to diversify her grimoire. She expects primarily spells of mundane utility, but even spells like that could come in handy. To her surprise, however, she finds some strong protective and offensive enchantments (strong for a novice like her, anyway). She purchases them and inks them into her spellbook, and drops off her rubbings and notes with Brodert, giving him a brief description of what they discovered in the smuggling tunnels and how it surprisingly supported his theories about the Old Light. Once those affairs are in order, she joins the group to begin the way to Thistletop.
Juriya agrees with a simple nod to Donimah. Killing Nualia isn't an immediate thing but... Juri surmises it's likely to happen, so she'll likely need a better weapon and armor than what she currently has.
To that end, she goes to whoever necessary, possibly not so above-board given the drow armor, and purchases the spidersilk bodysuit and the cold iron masterwork rapier, fearing that Nualia may have some demonic resistances now. After all is said and done, she goes to her parents' shop/house to change and purchase some equipment from them (they would not let her take an entire adventurer's alchemy kit for free, sadly). While there she decides to shift into her natural form... and panics as she starts madly researching in what few books her family has on Kitsune to find out what this even means.
Once she realizes what she can do, and reviews anatomy a bit more to keep what little combat she has viable, she transforms back into human form, then rushes to meet the group as they head to Thistletop. She does not want to go through a conversation about growing a second tail with her parents. No.
------------------
Once there and away from everyone else.
"Well. I found out what the back pain was... I can, I think, cast disguise self now? And maybe even charm person? Got a second tail; had to research the correlation between the number of tails a kitsune has and the abilities they gain... which meant looking at barely-used books in our attic. I also found some anatomy texts I forgot we had and a book on the relation between arcane spells and alchemagical extracts," Juriya says, her mind going a mile-a-minute as her brain is too overloaded with information to process much around her... as is usual. She jealously eyes Donimah's spellbook as well, knowing now that it's fairly easy to convert select wizard spells into alchemist extracts.
Male NG Male Half-Orc Inquisitor 5 | HP 43 (36) / 43 | AC 16 / 12 T / 14 FF | CMD 18 | Fort + 8 (+ 2 vs. disease and poison), Ref + 4, Will + 8 | Init + 4 | Perception + 9 (Darkvision 60') | Speed 40 ft. | Hero Points = 3 | Conditions = None| Effects = Divine Favor |Bane: 5/8 | Judgement: 1/2 | Spells: 1st Level (3/5), 2nd Level (3/3) |
Arrian looks like he wants to comment about the second tail but wisely closes his mouth. He also travels to a couple of stores to purchase some mundane equipment and then to the Cathedral to purchase some scrolls.
Our Rise of the Runelords game is in need of 2 extra players, one of which must be a healer. We are currently in the final part of book 1, so I recommend you stop reading if you don't want any spoilers.
We are in the middle of Thistletop and the party has just hit level 4. Nualia has already been fought off (she managed to escape, apparently), but the dungeon may have... other terrors... and loot!
So, character making rules are:
- 20 point buy
- Level 4
- 3 traits, one of which can be from the RotRl player's guide, anniversary edition
- 6000gp to use as you like. You may start with items you're crafted yourself if you have crafting features built into your character
We are using Background skills, Hero Points and Elephant in the Room additional rules.
The current party is described below. I may have maimed some descriptions in my attempt to summarize them.
- Ano Clovermark: An urban bloodrager (Dex based) born and raised in Sandpoint, with family issues.
- Juriya Arima: Our resident rogue/investigator/(future) alchemist waiting to bloom from under her parents' shadow.
- Zeldrith Angothane: An eldritch scion magus that comes from the simpler parts of Magnimar, hoping to find stability in a new town.
- Donimah Southlander: A thassilonian specialist transmuter that studied due to her father's extraordinary efforts in Riddleport. She is fond of Thassilonian culture, but Sandpoint has been growing on her.
I will let this recruitment go for a week or until we have enough candidates, whichever comes last.
I've got this guy whose Kingmaker campaign shut down. He's level 5 but I can make him level 4 pretty quickly. He's a lifelink healer with a battle pet to tank.
His background is 'guy who wanders the countryside helping people,' so that can be adjusted pretty easily to him being from the area around Sandpoint.
As for Juri's build, she's a feinting-based rogue/future-vivisectionist and skill-monkey. Figured I should elavorate since Rogue/Alchemist/Investigator might be a bit confusing.
As for Juri's build, she's a feinting-based rogue/future-vivisectionist and skill-monkey. Figured I should elavorate since Rogue/Alchemist/Investigator might be a bit confusing.
And Donimah is going for Cyphermage, if that helps clarify things!
Ano’s build is an entirely Dex based martial build, with Rapier, Fencing Grace, and controlled bloodrage going into Dexterity. She has a familiar who is a talking cardinal named Cherry, who
I may upgrade with Improved Familiar into a fairie dragon. She’ll have some spellcasting but will mostly be for self buffs and Arcane Strike feats
Her background has ties with Nualia, and due to Nualia’s escape-and some horrid encounters with her abusive mother-she is not going to be in the best shape mentally. Before this she was pretty chipper and bubbly.
I could totally come up with something for this. Everyone would just have to be okay with him being well known and/or employed at The Pixie's Kitten.
I personally don’t see a problem with that. Lore wise the only people who have a problem with the Kitten’s existence are the Scarnettis and their supporters.
I've got a Half-orc worldwalker druid who I originally built for a Rise of the Runelords game that swiftly died, and I've got a human hedge mage witch set up to be a party healer who recently lost a different game she was in. I think I'd be more likely to apply with the druid (who perhaps could have been off helping Shalelu outside town for a bit before coming to help the party), but if one or other seems better, let me know and I'll work on leveling/deleveling said character.
I also, due to couple past kerfuffles (amid successfully participating in dozens of PBPs), feel a need to post a disclaimer about me as a player:
DQ's disclaimer:
I am an experienced poster who generally can post once a day to every two days. I will communicate when I can't post or if I have concerns that can be easily resolved through civil discussion. I can point to prior GMs and players who can vouch for me as a player if needed.
I've also gotten into disagreements with some GMs--and chose to leave games as a result--over one of two issues:
1. I advocate for player agency; save for obvious circumstances (e.g., consented-to botting, GMs performing standard issue Perception or Sense Motive checks for PCs, GMs summarizing combat actions already made, mind control), players should describe their own PCs' actions, feelings, and reactions, and neither GMs nor other players should write those things for them.
2. Given we are in a public global forum full of strangers, I do not wish my PCs to engage in scenarios involving flirtation, propositions, romance, affectionate or intimate touching, sex, abuse, or harassment. If someone for narrative reasons wants to go in that direction, I expect the player/GM to reach out to me about it first out of character before posting it in game.
I have also left a small handful of times because of burnout or a character was not feeling right for a game. In those cases I always discussed the issue with the GM well ahead of time to avoid ugly surprises.
If you think any of the above would be cause for concern in your campaign, please let me know not to apply. Thank you.
I have Scoria here from a RotR game that fizzled out long ago. Not a healer but a monk that I was fond of playing. Would love to submit her for joining up here, but if you're looking more at healers I might come up with something else that would fit.
I have Scoria here from a RotR game that fizzled out long ago. Not a healer but a monk that I was fond of playing. Would love to submit her for joining up here, but if you're looking more at healers I might come up with something else that would fit.
We have many ideas for healer characters already, and the nonhealer we’re replacing was a inquisitor, so applying the monk is fine.
I have Scoria here from a RotR game that fizzled out long ago. Not a healer but a monk that I was fond of playing. Would love to submit her for joining up here, but if you're looking more at healers I might come up with something else that would fit.
We have many ideas for healer characters already, and the nonhealer we’re replacing was a inquisitor, so applying the monk is fine.
Very good to know, maybe I will go in a different direction then. What role did the inquisitor fill (if there was one)?
I had an Investigator idea I wanted to try (which would totally not step on Violant's toes, I promise)
I have Scoria here from a RotR game that fizzled out long ago. Not a healer but a monk that I was fond of playing. Would love to submit her for joining up here, but if you're looking more at healers I might come up with something else that would fit.
We have many ideas for healer characters already, and the nonhealer we’re replacing was a inquisitor, so applying the monk is fine.
Very good to know, maybe I will go in a different direction then. What role did the inquisitor fill (if there was one)?
I had an Investigator idea I wanted to try (which would totally not step on Violant's toes, I promise)
I have Scoria here from a RotR game that fizzled out long ago. Not a healer but a monk that I was fond of playing. Would love to submit her for joining up here, but if you're looking more at healers I might come up with something else that would fit.
We have many ideas for healer characters already, and the nonhealer we’re replacing was a inquisitor, so applying the monk is fine.
Very good to know, maybe I will go in a different direction then. What role did the inquisitor fill (if there was one)?
I had an Investigator idea I wanted to try (which would totally not step on Violant's toes, I promise)
Might I ask which archetype?
Psychic Detective, about to go prestige as a Thought Thief
Throwing Basil Kettering, CG Elf Magus (Eldritch Archer/Hexcrafter) 4 into the running.
Mostly ranged attacks, with a little light healing thanks to a mixture of spells and Hexes. Although I know there is already a Magus in the party, I suspect mine will play quite differently :-)
I have Scoria here from a RotR game that fizzled out long ago. Not a healer but a monk that I was fond of playing. Would love to submit her for joining up here, but if you're looking more at healers I might come up with something else that would fit.
We have many ideas for healer characters already, and the nonhealer we’re replacing was a inquisitor, so applying the monk is fine.
Awesome! I plan to rework Scoria into an Unchained monk, but generally her role favors disrupting spellcasters and specialists along with flanking enemies with her allies. Outside of combat she's excellent as a scout and observer.
Her backstory is one of living under the tutelage of her adoptive Vudrani parent who looked after her and taught her self defense. She ended up in Sandpoint finding work as a stonemason before the events of the goblin invasion kicked off her adventuring career.
Kit'Arr
Catfolk gunslinger (mysterious stranger) 4 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 47, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat 9, 51)
NG Medium humanoid (catfolk)
Init +8; Senses low-light vision; Perception +10
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Defense
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AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +4 Dex)
hp 36 (4d10+8)
Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +4
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee rapier +4 (1d6/18-20)
Ranged +1 pistol +9 (1d8+1/×4)
Special Attacks deeds (deadeye, focused aim, gunslinger initiative, gunslinger's dodge, pistol-whip, utility shot), grit (3)
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk +4; CMB +8; CMD 18
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Gunsmithing[UC], Power Attack, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload, Rapid Shot
Traits larger than life, seeker, totem spirit - shriikirri-quah (hawk clan)
Skills Acrobatics +11, Climb +12, Craft (alchemy) +8, Craft (firearms) +8, Intimidate +10 (While wielding a firearm, considered one size category larger than your actual size), Knowledge (local) +8, Lore (Firearms) +5, Perception +10, Ride +6, Stealth +6, Survival +6, Swim +4; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Stealth, +2 Survival
Languages Catfolk, Common, Goblin
SQ cat's luck, finesse weapon attack attribute, gunsmith
Other Gear +1 mithral chain shirt, +1 pistol[UC], rapier, cape of free will +1/+2[MA], belt pouch, flint and steel, gunsmith's kit[UC], hemp rope (50 ft.), masterwork backpack[APG], powder horn[UC], 10 gp, 7 sp
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Special Abilities
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Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Cat's Luck (1/day) (Ex) Can roll 2d20 for a Reflex save and take better result.
Climb (20 feet) You have a Climb speed.
Combat Expertise +/-2 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Deadly Aim -2/+4 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Deeds Use Grit to perform special abilities with your firearms.
Finesse Weapon Attack Attribute Finesse weapons use on attack rolls.
Grit (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on firearm crit/killing blow.
Gunsmith Gain free starting firearm that only you can use properly.
Gunsmithing You can use a gunsmithing kit to craft/repair firearms and ammo.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Rapid Reload (Pistol) You can reload fast with one type of Crossbow or Firearm.
Rapid Shot You get an extra attack with ranged weapons. Each attack is at -2.
I could not figure out a build for the halfling jinx I wanted at first but I came upon an idea for a Tiefling Warpriest of Erastil. May I present Sasum-Pul. He is a hunter and butcher in Sandpoint, and a friend of Shalelu. His appearance may put some people off but his smile and friendly demeanor should let some people look past that.
His main role is as a healer and support. By giving up some of his Blessings for the Distracting Shot (Erasilt's Divine Fighting technique) he can help in combat without necessarily focusing on damage. Depending on if he finds that healing is less important he may or may not go into the Hinterlander PrC or the Holy Vindicator PrC. It isn't necessary either way.
Thanks for the consideration. All details should be found in the profile, though I still need to list the details of the abilities but that should be done later tonight or tomorrow.
Going to raise Neb here to level 4 with the given rules. He's a cleric of Sarenrae with fire and healing so he can throw fireballs when not healing his peeps.
This is DeathQuaker, I'm going ahead and submitting Kalig here. There's probably still a few tweaks I need to make on the sheet, but she generally should be set.
This is DeathQuaker, I'm going ahead and submitting Kalig here. There's probably still a few tweaks I need to make on the sheet, but she generally should be set.
Tweaked some equipment and fixed some math errors.
I believe I'm done converting Scoria now and hope that she might be looked favorably as a new recruit - she's likely still continuing with construction on the new cathedral.
I would need to uplevel her to level 4 (and adjust for pointbuy, trait number etc.), but a hospitaller should be reasonable at healing, and in dealing with the undead.
Also adds a dedicated tank. Kelinahats Paladins also arent fun removers for the more chaotically inclined party members either.
Quick mechanical summary:
--Sports pretty reasonable ACs, has a degree of damage, but probably less then other frontliners
--Can unfatigue the bloodrager via mercy fatigue
--Has a lot of positive energy, and is seriously impressive at self healing
--Has some stagger proof boots to somewhat mitigate mobility issues
Paladin being a 2 skill point class, she will be stuck with diplomacy, bluff, handle animal (background skill) and a few other "lets invest 1 point in it".
Personality wise, she is professional, polite, somewhat restrained personally and a bit paranoid, which isnt that unusual for a tiefling paladin.
GM how do you feel about summoning? Some tables hate it (usually because it slows things down which is less of a problem in PbP), others are fine about it.
Well, I don’t know if this character is exactly what you were looking for. Tanja’s background got pretty out of hand. It’s very violent, and might be a little over the top for a game like this (not sure). I enjoyed writing it a lot. I’ll definitely make a shorter, clearer version so you don’t have to read the whole thing, since it ended up being very long.
But for now, here’s a more or less finished submission. You can add her to the pile of non healer options, although she would tell you Lead Blades is a very useful healing spell. ”The greatsword is good for healing too. Carved up those goblins and look, now there’s not a scratch on you.”
HP 4d8+4+4 (29)
AC 21 (+1 Dex, +10 Armor, +1 Deflection) FF 20 Touch 12
Fort +8 Ref +8 Will +6
Speed 20ft
Reach 5ft
Mwk Greatsword - assuming Power Attack, Animal Focus (Bull) +8 (2d6+10) 19-20 and Bite +2 (1d4+3)
Spells Known
0th (DC12) - Guidance, Create Water, Mending, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Purify Food and Drink
1st (DC 13) 4/day - Cure Light Wounds, Resist Energy, Residual Tracking, Lead Blades
2nd (DC 14) 2/day - Carry Companion, Stone Call
STR 18 (15+2+1) / DEX 12 / CON 12 / INT 13 / WIS 14 / CHA 11
BaB +3 CMB +7 CMD 18
Feats: Heavy Armor Proficiency, Craft Wondrous Item, Outflank (Hunter Bonus), Pack Flanking (Hunter Bonus)
Traits: Fate’s Favored, Tusked, Survivor
Drawback: Stigmatized
Race Traits: Darkvision 60ft, Sacred Tattoo, Shamanic Enhancement, Orc Blood
Items
Equipment
Ring of Deflection +1: 2000 GP
+1 Full Plate: 1550 GP (partially crafted)
Cloak of Resistance +1: 1000 GP
Mithral Barding Chain Shirt: 734 GP (crafted)
MWK Greatsword: 350 GP
366 GP worth of mundane gear I’ll pick if I’m chosen
Str 16 (13+2+1) {+4 almost always} Dex 18 Con 13 Int 3 Wis 15 Cha 10
BaB +3 CMB +8 CMD 22
Feats: Iron Will, Favored Animal Focus (Bull), Outflank (Hunter Bonus), Pack Flanking (Hunter Bonus)
Skills 4 ranks total
Perception, 1 rank, +3 class, +2 Wis (+6)
Stealth, 1 ranks, +3 class, +4 Dex (+8)
Acrobatics, 1 rank, +3 class, +4 Dex (+8)
Survival, 1 rank, +2 Wis (+3)
Tricks 8 known
Watch
Menace
Intimidate
Heel
Flank
Down
Attack x2
Optimizing and Crafting note:
I think crafting is cool and flavorful. Especially for this character, who I want to make various items for her animal companion. I don’t plan to take other crafting feats, and I’m generally going to avoid going too high above WBL guidelines. For example, as submitted, Tanja has not used the Craft Wondrous Items feat at all, because doing so would put her too far above the wealth guideline for my liking.
Regarding power level, I feel like it would definitely be possible to reduce her power level and still have a strong, viable character. The way her backstory is written, I feel like Tanja should have some serious prowess. But if I’m selected, I’ll probably revisit her statistics, compare them to existing characters, and consider whether toning things down might make for a more fun play experience
Tw: violence against children, general violence (mostly implied, not described)
Tale of Tanja:
Tanja blinked at the blue paint of Desna’s shrine, which shone bright beneath the moon. ”Bright enough to make me blue!” She twirled a little, raising her hands and examining them closely as they passed in and out of shadow. Yenna lifted her high and then spun, faster and faster, until she fell to the ground, laughing. Tanja rested her head on her mother’s chest, listening to her heart. ”You make a good pillow, mommy.” ”For you, my sweet, I am softer than the finest feather beds in Kaer Maga.” Tanja closed her eyes and burrowed into her mother a little. The Cinderlands were hot when the sun rode high, but tonight the moon was queen of a clear and cold sky. Here and there a few clouds, writhen by the wind, shone with a pale white radiance
Tanja felt safe enough to ask about the thing she feared most in the world. ”Will you keep me safe from him?” ”From who, my beautiful butterfly?” ”From daddy”
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”Come inside my child, and help me with the hides.” Yenna’s voice had that tone to it, and even though Tanja was playing frogs and ladies, she knew not to argue. Rupert could wait to be transformed back into a prince. Just as she had with Cinder Wolves and Bush Tigers, Yenna had shown Tanja how to stalk goats, how to choose the right ground and wait for the best shot. Tanja had been quiet the whole time, and she had gotten the tongue when they were done. She licked her lips, remembering the way the warm blood filled her mouth with rich flavor. Yenna showed her how to gut the goat, then, how to dress and skin it. Now, she showed Tanja how to stretch a hide, how to scrape and tan it. Hides were the most important part of any creature, she said, even if you were lean and hungry. Hides meant money, and money meant people listening to you. When the hide was scraped and the profits calculated, she asked her daughter, ”any questions?” ”What’s a frog?” ”It’s an animal...like a goat.” ”Are there any frogs here?” ”No, my child. It’s too dry and sandy here. Frogs live in water. They take a long time to grow big and strong, before they walk on the ground.” ”Are there any princes here?”
Yenna sighed and wiped sweat from her brow. Her hands were still stained red with blood. A little blood had dried on one cheek, but she didn’t seem to notice.
”Why do we live here mommy, if there are no frogs AND no princes?” ”Because there are goats,” Yenna said finally. Weakly. She sat down, tired. ”And because other people are too scared of the wyverns to live here, so we can have the goats all to ourselves.” ”I like people. I liked Vaana. She taught me about lots of things. Embroidery. Why don’t you teach me about embroidery, instead of smelly goats?” ”My star and moon, there are things you must understand.” Yenna took her child’s hands in her own. Dull green against bright red. ”When people look at us, they’re afraid. Afraid that someone big will come to hurt them.” ”Who? Who are they afraid of?” ”The same one we both are.” Yenna could see that Tanja understood. She picked up the child and held her close. ”But while I am with you, you don’t need to be afraid of anything. Now come with me, you’ll have the best needlework of anyone I know, from here to the Stolen Bay.”
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The sun rose grim and red over a burned and broken world. A cloud of ash and dust rose with it, growing steadily from the east. There was a sound now too, growing closer. A steady tramp of doom, the kind that could make the sky tremble. Nightmares came under the dust, with dark steel and darker hearts. One of them picked Tanja up by the ankle and shook her. ”Little half breed girl. Camp so neat, you keep it clean by yourself?” His voice was rough as raw iron beaten into cruel shapes. Somewhere else, one of the monsters was going through Yenna’s things, tossing them one by one into the fire. Nothing caught his eye. ”Where’s your mum, little one?”
--------------
Tanja pulled slow and steady against her bonds, never when the nightmares looked at her. When she thought it was safe, she chewed at the thick cords that held her wrists together. Her feet, lashed to a giantbone pulled by an aurochs, were too high above her to reach. She was being dragged alongside other plunder. ”Little half worm will make a good prize for Grishnakh.” Mommy’s tattoos were of the radiant moon, whose rare beauty could be glimpsed now and then when she washed herself beside dancing firelight. The monster that spoke had tattoos of death and blood, screaming faces and splattered guts.
Someone else, with braided hair and spiked armor, spoke to him. ”Long way back to Urglin. Long time ta feed a hungry mouth. I know a few hungry mouths wouldn’t mind feedin tonight. Get the taste of ash outta them. We could stew her good, or roast her slow.”
---------------
Tanja lay in silence, counting the monsters. She lost track after fifteen, though there were many more than that. They had stopped marching for now, and some were dozing. One came to sit beside her. He was smaller than the rest, his features closer to human. ”It troubles me, that we never found your mum. But don’t worry, little one, we’ve still got the return journey. There may yet be time for a family reunion.” He tousled Tanja’s hair gently. ”Though my experience with human parents, they’ll abandon you to the waste when things get tough.” He shrugged, then coughed and keeled over. He was making a sputtering noise. Tanja saw an arrow in his throat, his eyes open wide and white and wheeling in every direction. She reached for a knife at his belt. He tried to stop her, tried to claw at the girl’s face, but his limbs were weak as straw.
The camp was quiet.
Slowly, Tanja crawled away, towards where she thought the arrow had come from. And then she was scooped up by Yenna’s strong arms and pulled close.
”I love you, my sun and stars. You are safe now. I love you. You are safe.”
-------------
”I tell ya, we should cut her feet in half. That way if she runs again, won’t be so hard to catch her.” ”Nah. Grishnakh will like her spirit, and he’ll like her even better if her feet work.” The one with the tattoos spoke again. His voice was shattered stones tumbling down a mountainside.
”Little bit of maiming might make her strong like me. Could be fun, Brega.” ”You had enough fun with her mother to last you a while.” Brega’s voice was hope, ruined and jagged as broken glass.
-------------
Brega and most of the others had crossed the Storval Rise and gone further south. The few who remained made camp atop the plateau. Tanja was in manacles now, resized for a child. Brega had been worried that tight bonds would ruin her hands and feet. He seemed much more concerned about that than the others, who were mainly concerned with horse lords. ”Long as we stay close to the mountains, they’ll never find us. Auroch herds will head East soon, just in time for us to head back North. We can venture a little farther from the mountains on the way back, only have the ankhravs to worry ‘bout.” It was Kruga who spoke, the same one who had killed Yenna. She ran her fingers around her braids often, petting them the way a charmer pets a snake. Kruga still had some of Yenna’s blood stained into her hair. Tanja kept her eyes away from that blood, watching flecks of ash float on the wind into the green wooded land below.
---------------
Grishnakh was a disappointing prince. Half a human, and with half a heart, he warned Tanja. ”Keep on the good side of it, and you’ll be like me one day.” He gazed up at Urglin’s War Tower. Tanja would never be anything like this monster. ”You’re special, just like me.”
---------------
Tanja was kept near Grishnakh most of the time. Often caged, sometimes bound, but never beaten. Not yet. ”You’ll go to the shamans when you’re strong enough, my child.” He often called her his child, his girl. ”I should say that when you go to the shamans, we’ll find out if you are strong enough.” Tanja watched him meet with the orc captains, Brega of the Southern Raiders, Grika One-Eye, Kroog the Demonspawn, and more.
One year, Brega and a ragged band of survivors came limping into the city. Brega carried a lump of white fur. ”Found this in the Ashwood,” he said to Grishnakh, dropping it on the floor at his feet. It hissed, but didn’t try to run. ”Stupid cub,” Brega snarled, ”bite me again and I’ll break another leg.”
Grishnakh put it in a cage with Tanja. It was a lion, with ghostly white fur and ruby eyes. He gave it all the food, so that Tanja had to steal from it to survive. Grishnakh liked watching the girl wrestle the little cat, liked the way it clawed and scarred her. Gave her honor, he said. Tanja didn’t let him see the way she lay next to the cub at night, to keep him warm. The way she healed his hurts with a soft and subtle magic. She would never let him see her be tender.
----------------
The lion went to the arena, and Tanja was given to the shamans. ”Little girl, unspoiled. Good omen, yes!” Cried an old crone. Tanja was beaten and battered, broken and then moulded slowly into something both stronger and weaker than before. What they did to her never matched the way she suffered each time she dreamed, listening to her mother’s death again and again. When she was alone, Tanja found needles and blue ink. She made drawings on her thighs, butterflies and moons, where the shamans wouldn’t see. When they scarred her, they never found that supple skin, marked in the style of her mother’s people
-----------------
”The lion comes with me,” Tanja said firmly, her thick arms crossed. She never argued with Grishnakh.
Grishnakh gazed at her steadily, plotting. He needed his tribute caravan to reach Belkzen unspoiled. He couldn’t leave Urglin.
The lion went with Tanja. She named him Zaga.
When Tanja returned, dusty and bloodstained and victorious, Zaga went back to the arena. People placed bets on which creatures would win. It had been three years since Zaga arrived at Urglin, and he was hardly still a juvenile. Yet he was small, prevented from growing to his full size by some tainted magic. People bet against him often.
”Out in the wild,” Grishnakh explained to a Shoanti traveler who he needed to placate, ”most lions die young. Killed by males who take over the pride, so that their mothers will breed again and bear their sons. In this enlightened establishment, we only make them fight other cubs or juveniles, creatures their own size. The strong survive this, though sometimes the process leaves them...stunted.” Grishnakh grinned at Tanja. ”Not many live as long as this one. Say, girl, do you know if any of the handlers have given it a name? It’s a sad thing, but as predictable as an emberstorm. When the handlers give the animals names, they lose them right after.” Tanja’s face was stone, worn smooth and hard by countless storms. She saw the tattoos on the traveler’s arms, star and bat. She might have called him a traitor, in another life. ”Help my Collectors pass to the Storval Rise, and it’s yours, along with the other items discussed. I hear they gamble among your people, too. You could take a cut from it’s wagers, and be a rich man by next year.”
Zaga went with the Shoanti traveler
----------------
Tanja had what she needed to leave. The stablemaster listened to her now; when she asked him to prepare two horses, he didn’t go to Grishnakh first. When she laid them heavy with food and water, he didn’t question her. She rode out of Urgulin ahead of a storm, lightning leaping over head, grim fury like a mantle wreathed around her.
She wasn’t going straight to Kaer Maga. First, she was going to find Brega and kill Kruga.
----------------
The Shoanti drew close. Tanja didn’t try to outrun them, instead she reigned in and waited. ”I am Tanja, daughter of Yenna Owl-Eyes, of the Lyrune-Quah. I have travelled far in search of a band of orcs, who slew my mother and may kill more of your people.” She rested her sword across one shoulder, skirling eddies of ash blowing through her streaming hair.
”If you give up your weapon and come with us to see Drake-Shooter, our leader, we will let you live.” The woman who spoke was tall, her horse a quick bay with a braided mane.
Tanja knelt inside the tent of Drake-Shooter later that day. She still wore her armor, but carried no weapons now. Her horses were mingled with the herd already. ”I can’t let a wayward half-orc, bearing arms made in the forges of Urglin, roam free on the land. You must come with us north to the meeting with the Shundar-Quah, but in time, we will find our way again to Kaer Maga. When we are there, you may go free.” ”Am I not of a kin to your people?” ”You are not.” ”You will give me command of some of your warriors, and I will lead them to the West. They will see that my story is true. There is a band of raiders, not two days' ride from here. We must find them, before the trail goes cold, and they bring more destruction to your people. I will prove my worth in battle by killing those orcs, for my mother and all those who died before her. Your people will witness my prowess and say my name.”
Drake-Shooter’s eye twitched once. ”There are none of my people in the West. The only folk that dwell there, amid gargoyles and graves, are shamed. Alone. Outcast.” He looked at the child before him, barely grown. ”I will send a rider with your tidings to our leader.” Then he said her birth name, once. ”Tanja.”
Tanja’s horses belonged to the tribe now, but her weapons and armor were kept in a store in Drake Shooter’s tent. They would be returned when she was freed. The camp was small, only a part of the Lyrune-Quah. Lots of elderly and young, not many warriors. They moved slowly. Folk were afraid when they passed by Tanja, shunning her as though she were diseased. She felt now bitterly the tooth of her mother’s words, uttered so long ago. Why did you keep me here?
Two men, both large, stole her food. At first, she let them, but she could not go hungry for long. She fought them, hard fists flying, Tanja losing until she bit off an ear. ”Not as good as a tongue,” she spat, while onlookers backed away in horror. Tanja knelt again before Drake-Shooter, hands bound now, blood splattered down the front of her shirt.
”I thought it would be safe for you to walk disarmed among our people. I see now that you cannot be disarmed, therefore you must be bound with the other prisoner, and sleep in a cage.”
-----------------
Tanja handed a filthy scrap of cloth to the other prisoner. He looked at her doubtfully. ”I know the rags I’m wearing are not the height of contemporary fashion, but I don’t think that’s going to help much.” ”It’s for your mouth.” ”Hmm. Might be helpful for that, actually.”
Jasper was Taldan, from a far away town on the Lost Coast. He had told her of that place, of craggy beaches and deep, rolling fog. Of woodland halls green and cool in summer, little pools and rivulets of cold clear water running out to the sea.
”Are there frogs there, in the pools?” Tanja had asked.
”Beneath verdant leaves and strands of gossamer at the water's edge, or perched on fragrant lilies just beginning to bloom.”
”You’ll want to keep your mouth closed, hard as that might be for you, when the black blizzard comes. ” Their hands were bound well enough to stop spellcasting. Anything that required dexterity was a challenge, so she had to help him fix the cloth in front of his face.
”Might keep my honeyed tongue from drying out.” ”Stay in this broken land long enough, Jasper, and it will regardless.” Peals of thunder rolled around them, reverberating on volcanic rocks that lay black and stark against the dun hills.
”If you think so.”
Tanja studied him carefully. ”Why did they take you prisoner?” ”Murder.”
-----------------
”Who would you prefer to kill you, the Sklar-Quah, or these hill giants?” Tanja watched the growing cloud of dust, felt the earth beneath her shudder. She began to gnaw at her bonds.
”I can’t say I’ve considered it until now.” Jasper’s voice was even, though he was obviously afraid. ”Though I’ve heard that for murder, the Sklar will string a man up and leave him to fry in the sun. Can take days. Longer, if they give him tastes of the water he begs for.” ”Guess you must be relieved to see the giants, then. When you’re looking up at the soles of their feet, you’ll probably be afraid. The feeling will pass quickly.” The camp was in turmoil. A few had already deserted, and the horses that remained were loose. Here and there, people tried to corral them. Most were preparing to make a stand at the far end of camp.
”What do you suppose the giants want? I was hoping to talk my way out of an unhappy ending with the Sklar. Maybe I can do the same with them.” ”The same thing as the orcs.” Tanja’s hands were free. She moved to the cage, chewing at the bars.
”I suppose you’re intimately familiar with that. Tell me. And please, start from the beginning, I’m in no rush.”
Tanja spat out chunks of wood that tasted like grit and ash. ”They want you to love something.” ”Then they’ll think I’m a gift fit for a king. Why in the seven hells would they want that?”
Tanja stepped out of her cage. She looked at Jasper, still stuck in his, and her eyes blazed with a malevolent light. ”So they can kill it cruelly, and watch how it ruins you.”
A passing horse slowed, saddled. Tanja lept onto it and rode off, not looking back
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Tanja rode uphill, fast as she could, until she got a view of the camp. The giants were closing, the pounding of their drums could be heard faintly. A fire was spreading among the tents. Through flecks of ash that spun in the swirling wind, Tanja could see that some of the Lyrune had mounted and were sweeping the area around the camp. ”Must be rounding up the deserters. Disciplined. I need to be the same. Find my things, hope to slip away when battle is joined. Then I can pick up Brega’s trail.” The horse liked the calm, measured sounds of her voice, the way she scratched it’s withers. It was calm now, hers to command.
Tanja tore down the hill at a gallop, moving for Drake-Shooter’s tent. The drums were closer now, rolling booms that could rattle teeth. Inside the tent, Tanja’s greatsword hung in its scabbard. She slung it over one shoulder, opening a chest. Nothing but gold. She grabbed a pouch. Another chest, some frilly clothes dyed bright purple. Bright blue birds embroidered on it, with a matching spell component pouch and a rapier. She left it open, moved to the next chest. Found her armor. Strapped on the breastplate, hands fumbling with the ties. Dropped the helmet on her head, put the rest of the armor in her pack. Her horse was outside, right where she left it. Hideous, inhuman laughter came from the far end of camp, mingled with the screams of the dying. She stood still, listening to the cries. So familiar, no different from the ones she heard in her dreams.
Tanja went back inside the tent, picked up the rapier and the spell component pouch. Rode back to where Jasper was, still stuck in his cage. He hadn’t even managed to get his hands free yet. She dropped the pouch at his feet, cut his bonds, and hacked the cage open with a sweep of her sword.
”Guess they haven’t ruined you, then,” he said, as though their conversation was unbroken.
”Not completely.” ”How in Torag’s name do you expect me to fight with just what you’ve brought me? I need my corset at least.” ”Not time to fight, it’s time to run. Can you ride?” Tanja swung up into the saddle, helping him up behind her.
”I know an exceptional poem about a rider. Several.” ”Then hold on tight.”
---------------
Tanja sat in front of Desna’s shrine. It’s chipped, peeling paint was dull blue like shattered dreams.
”I had a glass I looked at like that. You left it for the giants, along with my doublet.” ”A glass?” ”My town was famous for glass that could mesh the light of moon and sun, could catch dragon’s fire between twisted wires of silver and gold. Only thing I had left from the halcyon days of my youth.” ”Stupid to make things out of glass. Pieces of it will chip and shatter over the years, and then you’ll be left with nothing but dust and broken, jagged edges.” Tanja picked up a handful of sand, letting it sift between her fingers.
”All the more impressive, then, that my glass was still in pristine condition. Shiny and clear as though it were still brand new.” ”Help me kill the orcs I’m looking for, Jasper, and I’ll buy you a new one.”
-----------------
”You’re a better armorer than seamstress,” Jasper said, flexing his shoulders inside his new chain shirt.
”For now.” ”Really, it moves with my body like a fish's scales. A lot better than the doublet.” ”You’re going to need that armor soon, when you prove yourself. A person is always either a warrior, or a coward. I can’t wait to find out which one you are.”
They were moving south on foot, getting close to the Storval Rise. Jasper had sold the horse and used most of the rest of their gold to buy supplies. It was far easier for her to travel among the Shoanti, Tanja realized, when she was with a human. She was less than an outlander to these people, a stain on the land no more pleasant to witness than the approach of an emberstorm. And Jasper...had a way with words.
Tanja had originally planned to tell Brega she had orders from Urglin, that he needed to return to the city at once, and that she commanded his raiders now. If he went back to Urglin, she would have followed his trail a day or two later. If he questioned her authority, she would have fought him right then. None of the other orcs would wonder why a change in captain came with the old captain’s death. That plan wouldn’t work anymore. It had been too long since the orcs left Urglin, and she had Jasper with her now. She would need to stalk her prey.
-----------------
”That’s my lion,” Tanja said suddenly, stopping.
”That’s an empty, blasted wasteland,” Jasper said, surveying the Cinderlands. ”Actually, it’s not empty. It’s positively teeming with life, all of which wants to kill us.” ”Zaga and I have a link. He must be close, no more than a mile. Our senses are connected, twin hunters born under the stars, bonded since youth. He gave me these,” Tanja showed him the scars.
”Always wondered why you’re missing half an ear. Explains why you love him.” ”It’s dangerous to love.” ”And yet, here you stand beside me. Plain to see that there’s half a heart in there, at least.”
Tanja didn’t answer. Her eyes had rolled up into her skull. Her head twisted one way and then another, and then she gasped as she came back to herself.
”Time to free Zaga.”
----------------
”Should we...help them?” Jasper and Tanja watched as battle was joined.
”The last time I tried to help the Lyrune-Quah kill Brega and his band of raiders, they put me in a cage next to a scoundrel and a murderer.” ”He sounds dashing.” ”We should get close.” Zaga’s tail was lashing back and forth. ”Whichever side wins, Brega is mine.”
----------------
Tanja stood over Brega’s corpse and sobbed. Below her, the ground heaved and buckled. Above her, racing clouds were torn and rent. Far off, thunder was rumbling. The sounds of battle, close now, twisted in the whistling wind. The cries of the dying were more and more like the ones in Tanja’s dreams. She sank to her knees, gasping, clutching at her throat, screaming and desperate for air.
”I’m sorry, Tanja, I thought you knew.” Jasper was breathing hard, red blood dripping down his face.
”Thought I knew what?” She cried, her voice broken by doleful anguish.
”Killing him would never bring her back.” ”Good point,” Tanja rose, her grief buried beneath a cold, empty fury. There was no life in her eyes. She was all coiled steel and jagged edges, the twisted and merciless warrior she was made to be. ”I better kill Kruga too.” ”Eyes that have seen fire and sword have seen, and horror in the halls of stone, may yet look again on meadows green, and trees and hills they long have known.” Jasper put a hand on Tanja’s shoulder to steady himself. ”Let’s find the road that leads home.”
----------------
When the Lyrune-Quah who survived told stories of that day, they spoke of a bold, handsome outlander who fought with nothing but a slender sword. His powerful voice and clear words had turned the tide of battle, and made him a target for the orcs. When at last he was stricken with mortal wounds, the orcs had dragged his corpse behind the battle line and hacked hatefully at him with cruel swords, so that the ground was mired by his blood. But by then too many of their number had fallen. Soon they broke and fled, a captain with spiked armor and bloody hair leading a few survivors out of bowshot and into the hills. For his heroism, the outlander was given the Shoanti name Steel-Voice, and buried in a high place in the heartlands.
A tall and bloody half orc with a white tiger had walked beside Steel-Voice. Some whisper fearfully of her deeds in the weeks that followed. How she hunted the surviving orcs, each in their turn. Of what fell things she did when she found them, to satisfy her bloodlust, folk tell many tales. They say also that those who met her in that time thought they had witnessed an evil spirit, whose baleful gaze could not be met by mortal eyes. But all agree that before she rose in wrath, the half orc stopped and sat beside Steel-Voice, gazing into his dead and empty eyes. She spoke no words, and would not leave his side until the sun had set and risen again.
Appearance:
Tanja is shockingly young, once you look past her haunted eyes. Sixteen, perhaps, though half orcs grow quickly. She’s taller than most men, and much stronger. Her mother was a beautiful woman, and Tanja might have been, too. She has many, many scars: thin scratchy ones that cross each other on her arms and neck. Wider ones, more cruel, running down one cheekbone and across the fronts of her shoulders. A few war marks on her torso, deep wounds that were intended to kill, not just hurt. She’s missing a chunk of ear and half a pinkie. For all that, she still has a striking appearance, the way a Wyvern is striking when seen far off amid glittering mountain peaks. Most of the time, people notice her armor. Made of dark metal stained in an orcish forge, and covering her from head to foot. When he walks beside her, people comment on her lion, his unnatural paleness or the red of his eyes.
--Alicia is amusingly close in terms of stat distribution and subrace to Mr. Angothane. Perhaps they could even be extremely distantly related. She would not know exactly as she grew up in an orphanage.
--She is very happy that lore is fully covered, Paladins being worst at lore monkeys in the entire game
--she should get along pretty well with the quite good aligned party
--her tankiness should help a fair bit too.
Her total healing output per day is:
--6d6 +6 via channel positive energy (any healing from that that effect herself is 3 higher) partywide
--10d6+5 via lay on hands, which is a lot more effective if it is applied to her (2d6+8 on herself vs 2d6+1 on others)
--She has a half charged wand of CLW
Note, she can cover HP healing, and remove fatigue, but condition removal is not in really in her skillset.
I think fear and disease immunity will both come in handy.
Marha Suntouch
Female human (Shoanti) wizard (runesage) 4 (Pathfinder RPG Adventurer's Guide 58)
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +9; Senses Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
hp 22 (4d6+4)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +1 (1d4-1/19-20) or
. . quarterstaff +1 (1d6-1)
Ranged +1 light crossbow +4 (1d8+1/19-20)
Special Attacks hand of the apprentice (7/day)
Wizard (Runesage) Spells Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +8)
. . 2nd—acid arrow, invisibility, knock
. . 1st—burning disarm (DC 15), burning hands (DC 15), comprehend languages, ear-piercing scream[UM] (DC 15)
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost
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Statistics
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Str 8, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 19, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 14
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Scribe Scroll, Spell Penetration
Traits pragmatic activator, reactionary, scholar of the ancients
Skills Acrobatics +4, Appraise +8, Climb +0, Diplomacy +2, Disable Device +4, Fly +7, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (engineering) +9, Knowledge (geography) +9, Knowledge (history) +9, Knowledge (local) +9, Knowledge (nature) +9, Knowledge (nobility) +9, Knowledge (planes) +9, Knowledge (religion) +9, Linguistics +9, Perception +4, Ride +4, Spellcraft +8, Stealth +5, Use Magic Device +5
Languages Common, Draconic, Elven, Ignan, Polyglot, Shoanti, Thassilonian, Undercommon, Varisian
SQ arcane bond (object), finesse weapon attack attribute, fire in the blood[ARG], mostly human, runic focus, self-doubting
Combat Gear wand of enlarge person; Other Gear light crossbow, dagger, quarterstaff, backpack, flint and steel, ink, inkpen, soap, spell component pouch, thieves' tools, waterskin, wizard starting spellbook, 336 gp, 7 sp
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Special Abilities
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Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Arcane Bond Use object to cast any spell in your spellbook. Without it, Concentration required to cast spells (DC20 + spell level).
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Deadly Aim -1/+2 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Finesse Weapon Attack Attribute Finesse weapons use on attack rolls.
Fire in the Blood Gain fast healing 2 for one round whenever you take fire damage.
Hand of the Apprentice (7/day) (Su) As a standard action, throw melee weapon (use Int instead of Dex) and instantly returns.
Mostly Human Appear mostly human, count as humanoid (human) for all purposes, as well as outsider (native).
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Runic Focus (Su) Create stone that provides specialization in Thassilonian school of magic.
Self-Doubting (????) -2 penalty to particular Will saves & skill checks after failing it that day.
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A young Mwangi woman, she came to Sandpoint to study magic based on ancient runes that were scattered around her home village back in the jungle.
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Marha Suntouch is a Mwangi runesage, at least to her knowledge. Part of her is drawn to the magical nature that they have, but another part of her craves the forbidden knowledge they have, because as the daughter of a witch doctor, she was going to know magic one way or another. This led to her leaving the homeland of her people, seeking out the knowledge of runes and others.
I'd like to throw my girl with the skeleton arms into the mix. As a Pei Zin Practitioner Oracle with the Life Mystery, she'll cover the party's support needs and then some. Though she has little combat ability of her own, she'll still be able to contribute with summons.
Info is in the profile. Her Character Sheet is largely updated but I still need to double check it and then update the statblock.
