About Alaric CrosaelVisual reference / Visual reference 2 CURRENTLY DISGUISED AS: ------- Alaric is larger than life. An enormous man who wields a sword longer than a man's body, Alaric is broad and tall with arms thick as tree trunks. His grey armor bears no coat of arms or symbology and the metal of it is well-worn with dents, nicks and scratches. His helmet bears a tall fin, and underneath it lies the surprise: he is no grizzled military man. Alaric is boyish and handsome with short black hair and a warm smile, easy to laugh and approachable. His good natured looks hide the truth-- that he is a servant of the Prince of Darkness, Asmodeus, that his very soul is forfeit and that he is cruel, wicked beyond imagination. Personality:
Alaric is regimented and orderly. He's easy to laugh or smile, even while performing macabre acts such as torture or killing. Quick witted and personable, Alaric plies his love of violence and his love of mortal pleasures with strict devotion, judging on internal consistency whether or not he is worthy of one or the other. Alaric believes in a "might makes right" mentality that he has fostered since early adulthood, believing that his skill and strength, his handsome face and calming presence, his quick mind and supple wit, have all been given to him to use in his own benefit-- and his Father's. His body, he believes, is a gift, and to deny it would be to deny his Father's love. Alaric has been blessed by deep religious fervor coupled with the intelligent mind to truly understand it. He loves Asmodeus to a delusional fault, so far as to personify Asmodeus as his own father because he can see no other possibility.
Skill Breakdown:
Bluff +10 - 4 ranks, 3 trained, 2 Cha, 1 trait Disguise +8, - 3 ranks, 3 trained, 2 Cha Escape Artist +3* (-1 in armor, -2 w/ shield) - 0 ranks, 1 Dex, 2 feat Intimidate +9 (+13) - 4 ranks, 3 trained, 2 Cha (+4 aura vs. living) Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, local, planes) +3* - 1 rank, 2 Int Knowledge (religion) +9 - 4 ranks, 3 trained, 2 Int Sense Motive +7 - 4 ranks, 3 trained, -1 Wis, 1 trait Spellcraft +6 - 1 rank, 3 trained, 2 Int Stealth +18 (+14 in armor, +13 w/ shield) - 4 ranks, 3 trained, 1 Dex, 2 feat, 3 focus, 5 cloak TOTAL RANKS: 28 out of 28 Armor Expert [Link]
Backpack:
Consumables
Gold
Abilities:
Smite Good - 2 remaining out of 2 Touch of Corruption - 4 remaining out of 4 Non-Spoilered Resource Block
Background:
Alaric was not always a soldier. When he was a boy, he, his brothers and his mother lived on the shore of Cambrian Bay. With a dead father and no way to support his family, Alaric was forced to work with his uncle to run contraband from places like Cheliax and Nidal across the foothills to Ghastenhall. He spent many nights in a shallow barge rowing down the shore in pitch black darkness until the night the Iomedean watch seized his barge and the contraband on it-- which included holy symbols of the god of darkness, Asmodeus. Alaric confessed to his crime immediately, giving up contacts and drop points and even his uncle, in the hopes of dodging the gallows. It wasn't the nature of his confession but of his stature that drew him a pardon-- a commander, seeing the boy's height was nearing six feet but he was not yet a man, saw in him the potential for a skilled and powerful soldier. He was drafted into the army of Talingarde shortly thereafter, leaving his country life and family behind forever. As he grew into his size, training alongside other hopefuls, Alaric quickly became the mountain that others wished to scale to prove their strength and worth. He sparred countless times with at least a hundred men across his training period. As he grew his hands no longer could wield a longsword to its true potential-- his arms were almost as long as the blade itself. He began to awkwardly wield a greatsword in one hand until the quartermaster witnessed this and forged for him a bastard sword-- a four foot long blade that he quickly adapted to using. While the other men were deepening their love for the goddess Iomedae, steeping themselves in swordsmanship, chivalry and faith, Alaric's unquestionable superiority became the infection that would deepen into rot. He found no joy in the acts of Iomedae beyond the regimented tenets of her order. As time passed, he found that the skill of the fight didn't matter any more-- he had peaked, far above the others, and they stood no chance against him. The thrill of forcing others to submit, the rush of power when he sent men sprawling was what he began to live for. Intelligent as well as powerful, he desired a patron to bring order to his life. Alaric began to scour texts in the sacred library seeking out a god who would match his needs and feelings. Convincing the head librarian that it was simply to "know his enemy", Alaric came across his destiny in the form of a tome on the nature of the Lower Planes: a treatise on the nature of the Duke of Hell, the Prince of Law, Asmodeus. Finally, Alaric understood-- as he steeped himself in forbidden lore, he could imagine no other lord than Asmodeus was worthy to stand over him. The thrill of his first prayer and the secret of the five-pointed star he had carved into the back of his holy symbol bade him great succor as he quickly grew into the role of the secret worshipper. Asmodeus had gifted him many times, and he had never noticed-- how he had wished that he had been the one to find those holy symbols on the barge! How his Father in Hell had been trying to reach him all this time! And as arrogant as he became, Alaric was stricken by his own folly. Another member of the order discovered his habits, caught him praying, and he found himself in an oubliette before sundown the same day. The others begged with him-- What has taken you? What affliction of the mind are you cursed with? Why would you turn your back on the glory of Iomedae? Alaric had answers-- answers they did not want to hear. Against their better judgment, the men of his order, the boys he had grown into adulthood with, attempted to turn their friend, the gentle giant Alaric, away from his new Father. They should have burned him. One night, Alaric levied his entire strength to crawl to the top of the oubliette and hang secretly from the bars. When his jailor came in the morning, he shattered his skull against the bars and escaped. But Alaric did not leave this place without leaving his mark. Using the jailor's blood as paint, he desecrated the shrine to Iomedae with marks and scripture of Asmodeus, scripture he never thought he knew until he marked it upon the walls from memory, symbols that came to him a dizzying whirl of thought. He disappeared into the night without a trace before the sun rose. He would have to imagine their horror. Alaric has spent the better part of six years with very little human contact, hidden away in the brush in Talingarde, going from home to home in the countryside and working for a meal and a warm barn to sleep in. For his size, Alaric often drew attention, but the last year saw his order's zealous attempts to capture him come to a dwindling stop. He prayed daily for guidance from his Lord until one day he found his answer. Almost a year ago, through abject chance he met a woman whose name was Price. She saw through him clearly as though he was made of water. It was her who introduced him to the Asmodean sect of Talingarde, who first brought him to the people that would become close to him. There, he met many people-- some useless, many worthless, some hangers-on but also many he could respect, such as the High Priest and Price. After years of hard labor on farms to sleep in barns and nights of faceless, unmemorable encounters with travelers and women, he had found a place to settle in for the moment. Alaric taught and was taught, learned and grew; he was able to take up a sword again for the first time in years. A moment turned into weeks, and then into months. Six months into his stay, the High Priest asked a task of him: to head to Matharyn to discretely aid in the task of procurement of a large shipment contraband at the docks. Alaric accepted this task, leaving behind the clergy to discover that he was now the one who was protecting the shipments that he had been moving as a boy. Once the task was complete, he returned to the clergy. They were all gone. They had been captured. They were all sentenced to death. When he had left, they had fallen. This was a sign. He had become complacent and dull, had stopped for a moment on his ascent to smell the roses and they had withered and died in his presence. Taking up what he could scrounge from the ransacked compound, Alaric left, alone again, seeking out what he could to discern the fate of each member of the clergy that he had respected-- a short, poignant list that found itself dwindling day by day. When he finds the person who wrought this upon his people, he will kill them. He only hopes that it wasn't Price. Alignment Code:
Alaric is evil; 1. Alaric always prefers to use words rather than violence; Alaric abuses this trust, lies, and culls the weak when they show their weakness. 2. Alaric never harms a beautiful woman; It is better to keep her, use her up entirely and then discard her at his leisure than let her blood be spilled. 3. Alaric helps those in need; It's easier to begin to process of introducing them to the love of Asmodeus, easier to gain their trust and easier to dispose of them later from a position of power. 4. Alaric stands up against injustice; Those who break the law are weak, and those who break it further to help them are villains. The punishment must always fit the crime. 5. Alaric spreads the word of his faith; An unshackled world is a world without certainty, and a world without certainty is terrifying. It is better to enslave than to allow freedom, for freedom only begets the chance of failure. Alaric is lawful;
Alaric is an antipaladin; here is his religious code.
Advancement:
1st - Skill Focus (stealth), Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) 2nd - 3rd - Power Attack, cruelty (commanded), aura of obedience 4th - 5th - Intimidating Prowess, fiendish boon (fiendish leopard) 6th - cruelty (staggered) 7th - Cornugon Smash, fiendish boon (hell hound) 8th - aura of despair, Skill Focus (intimidate) 9th - Improved Critical (bastard sword), cruelty (cursed), fiendish boon (bearded devil) 10th - 11th - Critical Focus, domination, fiendish boon (advanced erinyes) 12th - cruelty (stunned) 13th - Leadership (advanced erinyes), fiendish boon (advanced bone devil) Beyond! |
