Dawn had no idea why the man was orange. She was green, after all, and so it seemed a perfectly valid thing to be. Maybe he was an autumn Leshy? Regardless, she focused on the pregnant creature, approaching softly and being careful not to get too close - after all, the deer was pregnant and probably could eat her.
"Sure, sleep is a thing people do," the unsleeping Leshy said cheerfully, and throwing some doubt on exactly what she considered herself.
Looking at the others, she added, "We should probably stock up on meats now, before we start, as much as we can." Although she rather doubted there would be much in the way of meat in an area the troll had been living in.
Wandering in, Dawn offered the, for lack of a better definition, meat to the rock troll. "Here you go. Also, if you get hungry, I'm a plant. You can't eat me."
Dawn began unloading some of the various meats she'd acquired, especially the vulture. She wasn't sure it qualified as tasty. She wasn't sure it qualified as meat. But she wasn't sure a rock thingy would care that much.
Dawn moved to attack, but stopped, clearly confused. Her Ioun stones hovered uncertainly. She was pretty sure that they'd decided to kill the thing, but she was pretty sure that saying that now would be a bad idea. Probably.
Dawn frowned as she noted the silence. She looked around to see if there was any sign of life - birds or small animals in the undergrowth or anything at all. If not, then there was something making them flee, which wasn't the best sign.
"Then should we make a trap? If he'll try something anyway, then why bother hunting? We could just drop him in a big hole and set him on fire, right?" Daw looked around.
Dawn took the bag, more out of curiosity than any desire to own it. "What kind of tricks? Like making a coin vanish in your ear? It took me ages to get it out again."
Showing caution, for once, Dawn gestured to the others that there was a sack, and the arm, and also the dead person. The fact that there was a bunch of sentient creatures made her feel better about attacking the monster as intended.
"So we gonna try the talking, or are we skipping to the violent solution?" Dawn asked the others. She had no idea how ogres would act, or if they could be talked with, so she wanted the others imput.
Dawn looked mildly concerned with the idea. "I mean, it's one thing to kill and eat something, but to eat something without killing it...I can only see that ending in it escaping and smooshing half the village. Also, I bet troll tastes gamey. And what will you feed it? Regeneration won't stop it dying from thirst and hunger, right?" She paused. "Right?"
"Did the Bone-snappy one do anything, or was it just the one that got burned that was a problem?" The thing in the woods could have attacked, but didn't. That suggested it wasn't intrinsically violent to Dawn...or that its violence came premediated.
"Irrigation?" Dawn said, remembering there recent farming experience. "It's a watery thing where you move it from where it is to where the plants are. Sounds like something the rain guys would be talking about."
"Are you having sinkhole problems, or did something knock them down?" Dawn wasn't sure how hard it was to knock down a building - she'd never tried - but it seemed difficult.
Dawn considered for a moment. "I don't think I'm related to turnips. Maybe blackberries? I'm more vine-y than squash-ee." She started heading for the mayor, then paused. "Where did you loose all the cows? They seem like they'd be easy to spot. Maybe they learned Invisibility? Can you get cow sorcerers?"
"I'm Dew in the Dawnlight," Dawn added formally. "Do you know what the big spooky shape outside of town was? It got pretty close to our camp, and we wondered if it was bothering you folks too."
Dawn shook her head and clicked her tongue in mild annoyance. "I saw the thing, but I saw it as it was leaving. Maybe it was a bear? Can't imagine there are that many large lumbering animals around. Are there any monsters that are big, live in woods and don't need much water? Are werecamels a thing?"
"You guys can all sleep, you know," Dawn replied cheerfully. "I still don't sleep." She paused. "At least, I don't think I sleep. It's the thing where you close your eyes for a while and keep rolling around and around, right? And sometimes talk about weird stuff. I guess I could do it, I just never got why."
Dawn revealed her arm - the plant matter covering the divot where the bird had taken a chunk out - and said, "Well, my skin is healing - although it's not really my skin, exactly - but the bit underneath is a bit hollow. It should heal soon though."
"Does anything? And if the meat's tough that's what a marinades for. And a hammer." Dawn examined the dead birds to see if there was enough meat to be worth coming.
Dawn watched as the vultures fled. It was sad the beasts were desperate enough to try this on them - and sadder that they had gotten away, since there would likely be less kids in the area if this kept up. Hunting them down wouldn't do any good, though. Fixing the problem would.
Instead, she looked over at Alasayn, and wondered why he was staring so intently at the horse. It wasn't even his horse. Seemed kinda odd, but the lesh shrugged and started gather the dead birds to make into something edible later. Waste not, don't die later of starvation.
Enjoying the game, just horribly distracted by real life. It's mostly calmed down now - we're moved in an getting ready to finish off the old place to hand the keys back in - but things are still hectic, and Trifoni's player just had surgery on her jaw, so she's still not quite with it.
Dawn tsked in annoyance at the missed shot, and sent a second stone towards the bird lifting Kaliban's horse to make it drop the creature. Losing a mount would be an issue.
Dawn looked down at the wound on and frowned. It was a little surprising that the bird went for her, but perhaps it was desperate. On the plus side, it seems to choke on the 'meat' it got. A vegetarian vulture was not on the cards. And the skin began to heal back over the wound almost at once.
Still, Dawn sent an Ioun Stone to explain her displeasure at the attack.
Dawn wasn't subtle. Her Ioun stones hummed as she focused, gathering power so she could hurl them further than normal. As soon as the giant birds got too close she'd learn them. Oh yes.
Using Gather Power as a move action, then Extended Range to increase the distance to 120ft. Unless the birbs can fly faster than 60ft a turn she'll get to bop twice before they can arrive.
"Huh," Dawn said as the huge birds got closer. She got her Ioun stones spinning as she readied herself to disuade the birds from trying to eat her. "They seem pretty big." It was gonna suck to be meat person.
Race
Class and Skills:
Gunslinger (Pistolero) 4/VMC Cavalier (Dragon) | Acro +9 Climb +8 Heal +9 (+11 stabilize dying), Sense +9;
Classes/Levels
Combat:
Grit 4/4 | 30 ft. | Melee +6 (rapier/gladius) Melee +6 (mwk morningstar) Ranged +7 (+9 mwk pistol, +8 up to 30 ft., +10 mwk pistol up to 30 ft.) CMB +6;
Gender
HP 40/42 | AC 17/14/13 | CMD 19 | Fort +5 Ref +7 Will +4 | Per +12 | Init +3;
Hindsight is 20/20 (GM bonus trait)
The plan was good, certainly. But at some point, things got a bit too close for comfort. If only you had prepared for that one eventuality a bit better...
Benefit: When you gain this trait, either pick one skill you failed a skill roll with during the last story arc (from when you started to plan the blacksite raid), or a skill you have no ranks in that could have helped you at some point (Reference in a 2-3 line statement the situation, and how things could have gone differently had you succeded). This skill becomes a class skill (if it already is, instead gain a +1 trait bonus to it), and if you reach a total of 5 ranks in the skill, you receive the corresponding skill unlock for it at that time.
Sense Motive
Rapier, gladius, masterwork pistol, masterwork cold iron morningstar, studded leather, ring of swimming, beneficial bandolier (with 39/200 shots (20 silver), gunsmith's kit*, powder horn [empty]), endless bandolier (0/60 alchemical cartridges; small pouch #1: Gnoll Splasher; small pouch #2: powder horn [empty], small pouch #3: powder horn [empty]; small pouch #4: 60/60 bullets), belt pouch* (with flint and steel*, whetstone, sewing needle, fancy ring, and coinage: 30 pp, 7 sp, 4 cp), belt pouch (with healer's kit [10/10 uses], figurine of wondrous power (silver raven), x2 potion of cure light wounds [CL 1st]), bandolier (), canteen (full), canteen (full), soldier's uniform
Total weight: * lbs. (Light)
masterwork backpack (with grooming kit, shaving kit, soap, bedroll*, blanket, iron pot*, coffee pot, mess kit*, 5 days trail rations*, 4 days trail rations, 5 lbs. common tea (approx. 1,000 8-oz. servings), 2 lbs. sugar, waterskin* [full], waterskin [full], 50 ft. rope*, 10 torches*)
*part of gunslinger's kit
Total weight: * lbs. (Medium when combined worn/carried gear)
30 gp worth of refined alchemical material for black powder/alchemical cartridges, 70 gp worth of alchemical material.
Encumbrance
Light 0-66 lbs. (76 lbs. with masterwork pack)
Medium 67-133 lbs. (77-153 lbs. with masterwork pack)
Heavy 134-200 lbs. (154-230 lbs. with masterwork pack)
Background:
Boros joined Alkenstar's military at a young age and quickly demonstrated his knack with pistols. During patrols in the surrounding wastes, his quick reflexes and keen eyes saved his comrades on more than one occasion, and he even masterminded a daring escape and return to Alkenstar when he and the other survivors of one of his patrols were captured by gnolls following an ambush and a fierce battle. Because of his accomplishments, he would have advanced up the ranks swiftly, were it not for an insurmountable personal flaw: his absolute inability to think before speaking. A number of his promotions were quashed at the last moment because of an ill-timed comment from the young soldier, and the few promotions he did achieve were quickly stripped for the same reason. Ultimately, and in spite of his obvious skills, his superiors were forced to issue him a discharge.
By way of apology, and as a bit of added compensation to his discharge payment, they quite deliberately overlooked his failure to turn in his gun and kit before completing his discharge. Further, his superiors did manage to convince a local representative of the Order of the Dragon to overlook his verbal diarrhea and give him an errant's induction into the order's ranks based on his demonstrated willingness to place the good of the group above his own if needed.
Boros' claimed reason for being north of the Inner Sea is his desire to eventually learn the Aldori Dueling Style. To support himself on the lengthy trip, he hired out as a mercenary guarding caravans through Cheliax. While moving north to Brevoy through Taldor or Andoran would have been more logical than Cheliax, Boros has stated his firm desire to avoid being caught up in the bloody revolutionary mess in Galt. An alternate route through Druma, Kyonin, and the River Kingdoms was similarly rejected due to latter nations' proximity to both Razmiran and Galt, along with Kyonin's well-known stance on non-elven foreigners. Instead, he chose a route through the nations on the western side of Lake Encarthan--Molthune, Nirmathas, and Lastwall--that would take him to Ustalav where he could then head northeast through Numeria and finally on to his destination: Brevoy.
However, his mouth still proves to be the same problem for him that it was in his homeland, and a number of contracts were cut short when he said the wrong thing to the wrong person. Outrunning the attention of irate caravan masters, local authorities, and other sundry people who took exception to his words have steadily pushed Boros further west across Cheliax, away from his goal. Most recently, he made an off-hand comparison of his latest employer's wife to a whore of his acquaintance. The jaw-dropping comment was made worse still by the fact that Boros quite clearly meant it as a compliment. He just barely had the presence of mind and time to snatch up his kit bag before hauling out of caravan's encampment just a few steps ahead of the enraged caravan master, his shrieking wife, and several wagon drivers armed with stout clubs, all eager to close his mouth for good. A shouted request over Boros' shoulder for the balance of his pay actually gave the caravan master the impetus to very nearly catch up, and Boros only barely avoided the axe strike aimed at the back of his head.
Several days of rough living saw him finally reach the city of Kintargo, where Boros decided to take an extended rest from his constant traveling, reassess his plans for getting to Brevoy, and hopefully make enough coin to continue the journey, this time as a passenger in a caravan, instead of a guard, which always seems to end poorly for some reason.
See Goals and Secrets for further background.
Appearance and Personality:
Boros has the features typical of a human of Garundi descent: high cheekbones, dark skin tone, and dark hair. As a former soldier, he keeps his hair cut short and close to his head, to ensure a proper fit for his helmet as well as reduced sweat. His body is quite lean, and shorter than the average for Garundi as well. Boros' most noteworthy physical feature is his left hand, most of which has been permanently stained by years of exposure to black powder residue as a result of firing his beloved pistol. Boros still proudly wears the uniform he was issued as a member of Alkenstar's military, and takes considerable pride in keeping it in a state of inspection-ready repair and cleanliness. On the occasions that the uniform suffers damage beyond his ability to take care of, he finds a spellcaster who can cast mending or prestidigitation to restore it for him (one of his goals is to finance the enchantment of his uniform with the aforementioned spells to keep it permanently cleaned and in good repair). Though he is rarely seen with his uniform off, underneath it Boros bears numerous claw and bite scars from his encounters with gnolls in the Mana Wastes. The few who've seen these scars assume they are battle wounds, an impression he does nothing to correct.
No description of Boros would be complete without a mention of his pistol, Gnoll Splasher, which earned its name for the horrible damage it inflicted during a fierce battle in which Boros' unit was ambushed by several packs of mutated gnolls working in concert. Once a common-issue Alkenstar soldier's pistol, Boros has been slowly but steadily working on making it better, though his greatest obstacle to finishing his work is his persistent lack of funds. Once he gathers the money required, and finds someone he trusts enough to do the work, Boros has every intention of enchanting his cherished weapon with as much magic as it will bear.
Boros has an unpleasant tendency to speak his mind, even when silence would be the better (and safer) option, and has all the conversational subtlety of a brick between the eyes. He tells the truth when a lie would serve, his lies are blatantly obvious, and the worst part of it all is that he is utterly unaware of his conversational deficiencies. He views suggestions, requests, and even outright commands to be silent as efforts to trample his liberty. However, his military service has instilled in him absolute respect for the chain of command, and though he no longer serves in a national force, if someone he recognizes as a superior in a military sense tells him to stifle his mouth, he will do so without hesitation or complaint, though not for very long. That same service has also granted him an awareness that his usual lip-flapping is not appropriate in a combat environment where enemies might overhear, and such times are perhaps the only ones where he demonstrates a degree of professionalism that is completely at odds with his usual behavior.
Goals and Secrets:
Goal Boros is particularly interested in learning techniques that bolster his practice of wielding a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. Tales of the fighters known as Aldori Duelists, of Brevoy, have fired within Boros a determination to learn this style for himself, and he wasted no time in crossing the Inner Sea in pursuit of his goal.
What he doesn't know is that the fighting style he's so interested to learn is not the Aldori Dueling Style, but rather the Taldan Dueling Style. His interest was piqued when he witnessed an exhibition fight between a practitioner of each style, but mistakenly misidentifed which fighter was using which style.
Known Secret: In effort to help keep his patrols alive in the Wastes, Boros has on multiple occasions made deals with some the gnoll packs living in the Mana Wastes, sacrificing his personal honor for the good of his unit. For their part, the gnolls were to confine their raids as much as possible to targets originating in Geb and Nex, or aim them at less agreeable creatures within the Wastes themselves. In exchange, Boros would funnel a steady stream of powder and shot, and the occasional untraceable gun, to the packs. Furthermore, and this is an aspect of his secret so shameful in his mind that he would probably turn his weapon on himself before willingly revealing it to anyone, his dealings with the packs left him with a pronounced fetish for gnolls, which he did indulge.
Amazingly enough, the gnolls held up their end of the bargain, for the most part, and Geb and Nex both suffered a rash of extremely brutal and effective raids from gnolls whose unexpected arms allowed them to hit targets normally too well-defended to risk.
Known Secret and Expanded Background: After receiving his induction into Alkenstar's local chapter of the Order of the Dragon, Boros learned from his new superiors that the local chapter has a secret purpose; bolstering Alkenstar's reputation overseas by aiding in the support or establishment of governments friendly to it, with the intention of eventually forming favorable treaties that would provide Alkenstar with resources unavailable in the Mana Wastes, as well as aid against Geb and Nex, should either nation ever move to claim Alkenstar. The local chapter of the Order uses its contacts with other chapters to find groups amenable to the conditions attached to its aid, then assign members to provide that aid.
To that end, Boros was given the task of making contact with group of rebels from the city of Kintargo, in the northwestern part of Cheliax, who formed in response to the replacement of their previous leaders with a heavy-handed representative of House Thrune. Once in contact, Boros was to supply the group with a modest assortment of pistols and munitions concealed in a nondescript handy haversack, as well as training in their use, maintenance, and construction. His journey across Cheliax to Kintargo was actually intentional as opposed to the almost comedic level of misadventure it appeared to be. (Though Boros wasn't too happy about how many times people took unnecessary offense to his words, for no reason at all that he could see, he couldn't argue that his resulting flight from various outraged people in place or another was amazingly convenient for speeding his way across Cheliax while also disguising the purposeful nature of the journey.)
Upon arriving in Kintargo, he successfully met with his contacts among the local rebels and proceeded to do the job he was there for. To start, he supervised the building of a concealed depot, to Alkenstar military standards, that would serve primarily as a training range for the pistols he brought with him. Though leery of giving groups outside of Alkenstar the ability to make their own firearms, Boros' orders were to ensure that the rebels could support their operations without resupply that could be traced to his homeland, so the depot also included a small powderworks where rebel craftsmen would make their own pistols, powder, and alchemical cartridges to start, with other varieties of firearms intended to future production, once the rebels were more skilled in the process. Boros was to oversee both the training and manufacturing sides of the operation, handing off the duties to trained rebels once it became possible to do so.
However, before the depot could go into full operation, a team of Hellknights raided it, and Boros was barely able to escape their cordon with the aid of a few rebels. While he was able to retrieve his own readied pack--having learned during his journey to keep his gear ready to go at short or even no notice--the handy haversack and its contents, along with the first fruits of the rebels' own production efforts, were seized by the Hellknights. Fortunately, while the raid may have caught the rebels unprepared, they already had procedures in place for hiding and moving assets within the city when they had to, and Boros and the other depot survivors were quickly shuffled through a succession of safehouses.
Unknown Secret: The local chapter of the Order of the Dragon that Boros is now a part of has no actual connections to the government of Alkenstar itself, and its activities are in truth completely unknown to the proper authorities. When offering aid, the chapter's representatives are always careful to stipulate that Alkenstar's supposed involvement in and support for the cause must remain secret, as it would damage the nation's public reputation to be seen messing in other nations' affairs in such a way.
Boros' deals with the gnoll packs were known to the chapter's leaders (though not the more intimate aspects of those deals), who saw Boros as the perfect asset; utterly loyal to Alkenstar and its safety, willing to step outside the law to ensure that safety, and a clueless, ultimately disposable asset who won't ask any inconvenient questions.
The truth of the matter is the the local chapter's leadership hopes to present Alkenstar with a fait accompli, when ambassadors from unexpectedly friendly nations approach Alkenstar seemingly of their own volition with offers of treaties and alliances. Because their activities at the very least border on treason, as much of their aid involves supplying untraceable firearms and munitions, the leaders of this conspiracy are careful to use only people that are either fully committed to their vision for Alkenstar, or won't be missed when an unfortunate "accident" claims their lives.
Friends and Enemies:
Nominal allies Various gnoll packs in the Mana Wastes consider Boros, if not an actual ally, then at least more than a slave or meal.
Allies
Enemies The local representative of House Thrune, Lord-Mayor Barzillai Thrune, all Kintargan military forces loyal to him and his orders, and--by extension--House Thrune itself.
Mannerisms and Quirks:
Loud, unexpected noises cause Boros to reflexively drop prone to the ground on the assumption that it was an explosive going off.
When lost in thought, Boros unconsciously rubs a large but shallow bite scar on his right wrist, which is just barely covered by the cuff of his right sleeve.
Boros enjoys drinking tea whenever he can, but absolutely despises tea that hasn't been sweetened right to the brink of being able to rot teeth by its mere presence at the table.
Party Role:
Boros is meant to be a straight combatant, whether going toe-to-toe with the enemy or engaging from a short stand-off distance. With his light armor, he's best used to set up flanking attacks for heavier-hitting allies, thought he can stand alone for a short time. He also has skills that will allow him to keep allies alive after a fight until someone with healing magic arrives, keep his allies fed away from the confines of a city with nature's own bounty, and even provide handy combat aids given time and raw materials to work with. As a VMC Cavalier, he'll further reinforce his role as combat support with teamwork feats and abilities that allow limited party buffing.
For his own combat abilities, he'll be alternating between the Point-Blank Shot/Snap Shot and Two-Weapon Fighting feat trees, with the eventual goal of unifying them in the form of Sword and Pistol Combat. After achieving that, Boros will finish out the TWF tree for lower penalties and more attacks.
Weapon Finesse will allow him to make the most of his melee attacks, as well as setting up the Aldori Dueling style he'd like to acquire, while Rapid Reload and Quick Draw get his various weapons into play sooner. If Aldori Dueling isn't available, finishing off the Snap Shot feat tree becomes the goal, with a couple of feats left to spare.
Reason for presence at Kintargo protest: Tagging Along:
Taking advantage of the expected heavy crowd at the protest, Boros and the other rebels of the training and supply cell are being moved to a new safehouse during the day. Unfortunately, they arrived at Aria Park early, and must wait for the crowd's size to increase and draw in more dottari. While scouts wait for the next portion of the route to clear sufficiently, Boros and the others carefully mingle with the steadily growing mass of protesters, making sure to avoid the watchful eyes of the authorities gathering nearby.
Campaign Rules:
Gunsmithing: When crafting Alchemical items or weapons that make use of powder(or mechanically equivalent substances), this Feat allows the user to treat his crafting result as 5 higher when determining crafting progress. However, if the crafting roll results in a mishap, instead of the regular penalty, a d6 is rolled and the table for alchemical mishaps consulted to detail the effects of the mishap.
