Agraxas Ambrosius Tiligris's page

Speed: 20ft, Initiative: 4

Str: 19
Dex: 18
Con: 12
Wis: 12
Int: 13
Cha: 7

BAB: 1
CMB: 5
CMD: 19

Fort: 3
Ref: 4
Will: 1

Combat:

Xiphos (Sword) +6, 1d6+4
Shield +5, 1d3+4

Traits:

Alternate Racial - Dual Talent: +2 to any 2 ability scores. Replaces Skilled and bonus feat for Human.

1. Careful Combatant: 1st and 2nd squares not considered threatened when withdrawing.
2. Threatening Defender: reduce Combat Expertise penalty by 1.

Feats:

1a. Shield Focus
1b. Weapon Focus (Xiphos)

Skills:

Acrobatics: 1 (1 rank, 4 dex, -4acp)
Climb: 4 (1 rank, 4 str, 3 class, -4acp)
Perception: 2 (1 rank, 1 wis)

Equipment: Light Steel Shield +1AC, Breastplate +6AC, Xiphos 1d6, 19-20x2.

The two met during Vaargo's patrol through Delphi. Celes was a tradeswoman and one who sold mostly fruit, only selling vegetables and occasional weapons and armour when the poor were in desperate need of some coin. She was a kind soul and often did favours for those around her, even for the more undeserving types out there. She enjoyed helping others and believed that judging was for government officials and the Gods themselves, and understood that through her co-operation with anyone in passing, she'd be less likely to provoke danger or fall to bad situation.

No ladies man as such, Vaargo was good with words and often got what he desired, not through the twisting and manipulation of words, but through the courage and honesty of which his words carried. This was something Celes both admired and found herself instantly attracted to.

Wealth was not something Celes lacked, but at the same time she was a long way from being considered rich. She was just a successful tradeswoman who took pride in her achievements in making a slightly better living for herself than most others in her situation. She could afford nice clothes....not the finest of robes, but ones of decent quality that complimented her looks, and rarely struggled to afford food or the upkeep for her living. She was also a dignified woman.

Vaargo's first move came unexpected to the woman, but Celes turned him away. Not giving reason for her choice, Vaargo tried once more the very next day. Her answer still remained the same, but this time she smiled as she gave her answer. Challenged, Vaargo returned once more after he had a few days to think things over and yet the womans answer was still the same. Feeling disheartened, four days passed and Vaargo, still feeling a little defeated, was informed his patrol would be moving out of Delphi by week's end. If nothing else the man wanted to say his goodbye's, so he turned up at Celes' stand once more, only her stock was nowhere to be seen and neither was Celes. Knowing it was his last day in Delphi and last chance to say goodbye to the woman he found himself intently attracted to, he waited for an hour and when he was finally ready to leave he received a tap on his shoulder. There, standing behind him was Celes with a bright, charming grin on her face, as she held a basket of strawberries under her left arm.

"You're early!" she said. "I don't open for a half turn of the sun yet."

Vaargo laughed. His sense of humour was playful and childish but still crude for the leader of a military patrol.

"You don't open?" he questioned. "Your shop I could understand, but you? I did not realise we had escalated to such talk so quickly." he laughed as Celes awkwardly blushed and shied away.

As Vaargo's response was received differently to that of how he'd imagined, the man quickly straightened himself up before marching up to the woman, placing his hand on her shoulder and addressing her once more.

"I apologise. I did not mean to offend. Your wording just....ah, nevermind that. I am here because I've taken a liking to you and yet at every opportunity I express such interest, you turn me away. So, I have come today to say my goodbye to you, for today is my last day in Delphi as my men and I will be departing at dawn's break tomorrow morning. Had we not met today, I would have little of interest to keep my mind occupied over the coming months. It was a pleasure to have met someone so radiant as yourself, and my only regret is that feeling is not shared."

Removing his hand from the woman, Vaargo smiled and turned away, but at that moment, Vaargo was stopped by the simple uttering of "wait" as Celes placed her hand in his.

"It is your last day?" Celes questioned.

"It is." replied Vaargo, still facing away from the woman.

"Your name. May I have your name?" asked the woman.

"Vaargo. Vaargo Tiligris. Yours?"

"Celes. Celes Denaera. It's a pleasure to meet you, Vaargo. Forgive me, I only turn you away because of my inexperience in dealing with men. Most men get the hint and disperse interest after being turned down the first time, but you? You persist. Why is this?"

Vaargo smiled as he turned back around to face the woman.

"Because Celes, I am not like most men. When I discover beauty I would seize opportunity and you seemed like fine company for my time spent here in Delphi."

That night, Vaargo and Celes spent their one and only night together, romantically under the moonlit sky of night, sharing warmth from one another's body before Vaargo's departure the next morning.

Vaargo had women previously, but none he truly cared for and the same could be said of the opposite gender for Celes who was used by several men who claimed to care for her much earlier in her youth.

The gods themselves thought Vaargo and Celes to have loved one another, yet with Vaargo's seed now growing inside, Celes and Vaargo were never to see each other again.

Not much is known about Vaargo from this point onwards. Rumour conflicts as some suggest he met his fate sailing across the Aegean Sea in a battle against a fierce Hydra, others say he stands atop Mount Olympus watching over all those below, while several claim Vaargo's patrol was wiped out by enemy forces, leaving him heavily injured and wandering the lands back towards Delphi.

On subject, Celes presumed Vaargo to have left this world long ago. Whether he's still alive or not is something that only the Gods know, but even with the aid of paid messenger, no word of his still beating heart returned, and so Celes moved to Athens where she brought up her son Agraxas to believe his father died shortly after leaving Delphi, following that fateful night of fiery passion.

Having only one parent proved hard for Agraxas as he grew up, for many called his mother name while others looked for any excuse to belittle he and his name. One boy in particular, Soccales, was arguably Agraxas' most troublesome bully. He ran a small gang that he self-lovingly named "The strength of Soccales". It was nothing more than just a bunch of kids ranging from the age of 8-18 sucking up to him and doing as he commanded. Why so many followed him was questionable, but it was commonly believed he was the strongest kid around, and one said to have Herculean strength and at just 14 was rumoured to have bested a 30 year old warrior in a fist fight. As unlikely as this may be, Soccales' reputation was based around this strength and so after years of abuse from the boy and his gang, when Agraxas finally took all that he could endure, his inner flame of vengeance burned brightly, giving him the courage necessary to take on the abusive and obnoxious ringleader.

Agraxas had few friends, for all those he befriended either moved on, or betrayed him in favour of those with more social standings, forcing the boy to trust very few people.

Like most playground fights, those loyal to Soccales encircled Agraxas and their leader the very moment Soccales began shoving Vaargo and Celes' child around. Agraxas didn't like fighting and never retaliated unless to help another. In this instance however, after beating Agraxas to the ground, spitting and also weeing on the beaten and bloody boy, Soccales felt it wise to call Agraxas' mother a whore, spouting stories of why Agraxas' father left his mother as if it were truth. "Agraxas' mother has bed so many that her own man fell ill and left of embarassment because they say his own d*** fell off. It's something he's best off without though, if all it could produce was this wretched little maggot before us." he lively jested.

After the crowd of youth's dispersed, some remained close by just to watch what little of a man agraxas was, while others felt shocked by what they'd just seen and heard. Most simply stayed on Soccales side as they did not wish to be on the receiving end of his cruelty.

Several nights after this event, noone had seen Agraxas. Even his mother wondered where he got to, after having only made himself present at meal time, staying out through most nights, remaining quiet at any questions and keeping to himself.

What he was doing however was spying on Soccales, looking for weakness in the boy, trying to guage how tough the kid really was so that he could exploit weakness and make his bully regret all actions against him. Eventually Agraxas deduced he had a 50/50 chance in winning a fight with the brat because neither one (Agraxas or Soccales) were combat trained in any way. So, when Agraxas returned to his normal lifestyle as normal, Soccales, in front of his friends, insulted Agraxas once more, only this time instead of taking it or making scarce, Agraxas marched straight over towards Soccales, ignoring the bullies friends as they too insulted him, and then punched Soccales square in the face with a piece of metal over his knuckles, hidden beneathe cloth that acted as a hand grip.

This broke Soccales' nose on impact, at which point he immediately fell to his knee's screaming while blood spurted out from injury.

Word soon got around that the child of one of Athens' noble families was beaten by a mere commoner. Not only did this bring shame to Soccales, but it too brought shame onto his family, turning them into a living joke, a laughing stock amongst the inner circles of nobility within Athens. Unfortunately, Agraxas did not know Soccales was from a family of worth, and was escorted to the bullies parents as they demanded retribution for their recent misfortune born of Agraxas' hand.

To please Soccales parents, one Magistrate at the time (Klabbos Verinian Gladrivic) ordered guard to pull Agraxas' mother from her home in order to carry out a public display of humiliation against Agraxas' beautiful mother, in this case in form of nude public lashings for all to see. This pleased Soccales' father in more ways than one, and to add to this, Agraxas was given trial by combat with the very opponent he hated - Soccales. This was to teach both children a lesson though, to allow rage to be vented between the two so that both families could move on from this trivial matter and return back to their normal lives. Celes' punishment was hardly fair, but such was often the case when the wealthy desired payback over the poor/those worse off financially.

Both boys were given real blades and shield to protect themselves, but Soccales collapsed to a blubbering mess, burying himself under shield as Agraxas repeatedly screamed with tears of anger as he hit Soccales shield over and over again, giving his old bully a few lasting cuts along the way. The point here though wasn't death, and guards soon split the two up following magistrate command.

This happened during Agraxas' 10th year of life, and regardless of everything he went through, Agraxas grew up in Athens as an intelligent young man, appreciative of his mother, for it was her who cared for him and spent her own coin to afford such proper and respectable education.

Following the events of his childhood, Agraxas took a strong interest in the art and honour of fighting, learning how to fight with sword and shield, unlike his father Vaargo, who wielded shield and spear, preferring to dual wield two incredibly long and devastatingly powerful spears (on his more offensive and bloodthirsty days). Agraxas trained for nine years, and over these nine years tried to make deep connections with women he had taken fancy to, but no relationship ever seemed to work out. Still, without distraction of more fruitful desires, the boy became a man of indomitable will and self-discipline.

Through much perseverance, he taught himself to read his opponents moves while waiting for openings so that he could strike swiftly with deadly precision while taking into consideration all possibilities of each and any encounter, knowing when to strike and when to switch to defensive stance to guard with just as much skill and focus.

A man in passing once told Agraxas to watch out for those who consider themself friend, because it is those people who are most deceptive. A true friend doesn't claim to be deserving of friendship. A true friend is your friend.

Taking heed of these wise words, Agraxas now has a greater understanding of the world around him, and now at aged 19, he is ready to depart on his first ever grand adventure, hopeful that he can carve a name for himself in history, never to be forgotten and always to be remembered.