About Aldren HalfbloodDescription:
While of average stature, that's where this man's similarity to others ends. Tousled blond hair with silver highlights frames a fair-skinned face with high cheekbones and eyes as blue as the Arcadian Ocean. Beneath the hair, his ears betray some elven ancestry while his build, more muscular than lean, favors his human lineage. Unusually perfect teeth are set within lips that float between a smile and a pout, matching a mercurial and ever-shifting mood that's nearly impossible to predict. An exquisitely crafted breastplate is worn over a black doublet and silk shirt. Atop his head is a crushed velvet cap, ebon-hued and trimmed with braided silver and gold cord. A silk-lined traveling cloak is draped casually over his back, and the dark ensemble is completed with breeches and riding boots made of supple black leather. A set of relatively simple gold and silver jewelry and a signet ring suggest some relationship to the city's peerage, though he eschews gemstones and embroidery. A typical first impression might be of a privileged nob from the Greens yet closer inspection reveals the weapons he has casually draped about his body -- morningstar, crossbow, razor whip, and dagger -- have seen extensive use. For those who stare long enough to be noticed, the attention is usually returned with a wink and a flash of that preternaturally white smile. However, despite his unnaturally good looks and ready smile, there is an aloof and superficial affect about him that can be off-putting. Concept Art: Link Stat Block:
Aldren Halfblood of House Astavare Male half-elf cleric of Calistria 6 CN Medium humanoid (elf, human) Init +0; Senses low-light vision; Perception +6 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +1 deflection, +1 shield) hp 36 (6d8+3) Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +10; +2 vs. enchantments Immune sleep -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor) Melee mwk cold iron morningstar +7 (1d8+2) or . . mwk scorpion whip +7 (1d4+2) or . . mwk silver dagger +7 (1d4+1/19-20) Ranged mwk light crossbow +5 (1d8/19-20) Special Attacks channel positive energy 5/day (DC 16, 3d6) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +10) . . 1/day—alter self (specific human, drow, or elf form) Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +10) . . 7/day—copycat (5 rounds), dazing touch -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 14, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 19, Cha 14 Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD 17 Feats Alignment Channel, Deceitful , Selective Channeling, Spell Focus (enchantment) [b]Traits child of kintargo, sacred conduit Skills Acrobatics -4 (-8 to jump), Appraise +4, Bluff +14, Diplomacy +6, Disguise +15, Heal +8, Knowledge (history) +4, Knowledge (nobility) +5, Knowledge (planes) +4, Knowledge (religion) +5, Linguistics +6, Perception +6, Profession (courtesan) +13, Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft +4; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception Languages Celestial, Common, Elven, Halfling, Infernal SQ elf blood Combat Gear: cold iron crossbow bolts (50), potion of cure light wounds (1), potion of enlarge person, potion of hide from animals, potion of lesser restoration, silver crossbow bolts (50), alchemist's fire (2); Other Gear +1 agile breastplate[APG], buckler, crossbow bolts (20), mwk cold iron morningstar, mwk light crossbow, mwk silver dagger, mwk scorpion whip, cloak of resistance +1, hat of disguise, ring of protection +1, absinthe (per bottle)[UE], bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, harlot sweets (1), holy text (The Book of Joy)[UE], iron holy symbol of Calistria[UE], jewelry[UE], masterwork backpack[APG], mess kit[UE], noble's outfit, signet ring, soap, spell component pouch, tabard[UE], trail rations (5), waterskin, 0pp, 23gp, 9sp, 10cp -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Alignment Channel (Law) Channel Energy heals or harms outsiders of the chosen alignment. Cleric Channel Positive Energy 3d6 (5/day, DC 16) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect. Cleric Domain (Charm) Granted Powers: You can baffle and befuddle foes with a touch or a smile, and your beauty and grace are divine. Cleric Domain (Trickery) Granted Powers: You are a master of illusions and deceptions. Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth are class skills. Copycat (7/day) (Sp) Create a single mirror image duplicate Dazing Touch (5 HD max, 7/day) (Sp) Melee touch attack dazes foe for 1 rd, Immune if more HD than your level. Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race. Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects. Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail. Selective Channeling Exclude targets from the area of your Channel Energy. Spell Focus (Enchantment) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC. Spells for the Day:
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 6th; concentration +10) . . 3rd— . . 2nd— . . 1st—bane (DC 16), charm person[D] (DC 16), command (DC 16), murderous command[UM] (DC 16), unbreakable heart[ISWG] . . 0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, light, stabilize . . D Domain spell; Domains Charm, Trickery Long Form Background:
A man without a family. A priest without a temple. A noble's son without so much as a bed, much less a title, of his own. Aldren Halfblood, formerly of House Astavare, is the disowned half-elven bastard son of Baron Evrem Astavare. He is also a counselor and instigator, a healer and thug, a lover and murderer. A veneer of callous superficiality conceals a whirlwind of brooding thoughts and tangled, twisted emotions, tempered by a degree of introspection and honesty (with himself if not always others). The Astavares are not one of the nine major houses that help direct the governance of Kintargo, but they are a family with deep Chelaxian roots and distantly related to the Thrunes by an earlier marriage. Aldren's father, Lord Evrem, is the patriarch of the family, a slender, wizened man who measures the world through cruel eyes infused with the color and warmth of glacial ice. Aldren was born through a liaison between Lord Evram and an unknown elven woman. The precise terms of that liaison are a mystery to Aldren and, he suspects, to all but the two who conceived him. All he knows for sure is that, as an infant, he was found in the middle of the night at the doorstep of his father's manor house in the Greens. Whether he was swaddled in a blanket and secured in a cushioned basket, or left naked and screaming, Aldren has no idea. He was told many things by his 'family', most of them contradictory and all designed to hurt him. What he does know is, despite the loathing that every member of the household seemed to have towards him, he was brought into the house, fed, and given a semblence of an education by second-rate tutors. He was also subjected to neglect and abuse, usually emotional, sometimes physical. He was a poor student and never seemed proficient in any trade or craft. The few times he attempted to run away, he was caught by his father's guards and spent a month locked in a windowless room as punishment. His father's wife, Martinia, commanded the servants to never let Aldren within sight of her. The few times it happened, she gave him a backhand, letting the heavily bejeweled rings on her hand slice his face. Of his half-siblings, he was an object of scorn and ridicule. The "half-boy", "knife-ears", "dog in the basement", and other taunts. When he once had the courage to ask his father why the baron hadn't let Aldren die or run away but, instead, held him in a personal hell, the answer was cold silence followed by a week with only moldy bread and foul water while chained in a corner of the basement next to the furnace. As a teenager, after another failed attempt to run away, he found himself praying to any god that would listen for a way out. When he opened his eyes, he found a wasp had alighted on the back of his hand and it seemed to be staring at him. In his mind he heard a voice that promised him the ability to not only escape but take revenge on those who had held him. When asked, the voice/wasp referred to herself as the Lady in the Room, but said she wielded a fierce sting. He agreed. He never heard the voice again, but the wasp became something of a pet. It periodically helped him escape the manor house, but whenever Aldren was tempted to not return 'home', he was stung every few minutes until he acquiesced. Through the wasp, he was led to the House of Silken Veils and began learning the faith of Calistria. There, he was taught how to groom himself, manipulate others, conceal his thoughts and, eventually, pray for miracles. His time at the temple was, by far, the happiest he had ever been. Rather than a filthy half-breed mongrel, he was shown how handsome he was. Rather than a victim, he was taught how to be a protector. Rather than the injured, he was taught how to be a killer. While he was instructed in the ways of the Book of Joy and the faith's more pleasurable aspects, he was groomed as more of a wrathful implement of the Savored Sting, to bring Her vengeance to those who had harmed others. During his training and despite teachings to the contrary, he found himself falling in love with an elven woman, Keya. Even more than the priests and priestesses, Keya found something in Aldren he didn't believe existed: a person worth caring about. They tried to keep their affair a secret but the high priestess -- one of the kinder members of the clergy -- did know, and let them enjoy it. Unfortunately for Aldren, it all came to a crashing end with the Night of Ashes. Though he was at his father's house that night, the Asmodeans sacked the temple and put most of those they caught to the sword. A few received 'special' treatment, however, including Keya, who was put on the slave block and sold to a Westcrani diabolist. The temple itself, the one place he found solace, was given to the Abadarans for use as a bank. Already distraught by the news, salt was to be added to his wounds. Somehow, his family had learned about his relationship with Keya. They didn't seem to know Aldren was himself a Calistrian, but they were still happy to hurt him. One of his sisters made sure he knew Keya had survived -- and was to be sold. In a public square filled by dottari, hellknights, and others, there was nothing for Aldren to do but watch from the street as the only person who'd loved him was condemned to a fate likely worse than death. Days later, he slipped back into his father's manor, disguised as one of his sister's paramours. After luring her to a quiet part of the manor, he slit her throat. As he held her against the wall, feeling the blood flow from her neck, he let his magical disguise slip and watched the life fade from her eyes. He stole some coin and a signet ring, then fled the house and has not returned since. The Ten Minute Background:
Five Concept or Story Points
1. The bastard son of House Astavare, one of Kintargo's lesser noble houses, he's always been a source of embarrassment to his family. He was dropped, unwanted, by his elf mother at the manor's doorstep. While he learned to hide his half-elven features in public with innate magical talents, he was never accepted by his family. He has no knowledge as to the context of his conception, but he was nonetheless raised by his putative father -- or rather the nurses and third-rate tutors that were hired to keep him away from the "real" family. 2. Aldren embraces the vengeance aspect of Calistria more than the lust and prostitution. 3. Taught by his family to keep his feelings and emotions hidden, his temper and wrath is a slow burn. In daily interactions, he strives to maintain an amicable demeanor, whether it is calm and docile or friendly and flirtatious. But he holds grudges and nurses them. 4. When not pursuing vengeance or otherwise dealing with the dangers of daily life as a member of an outlaw faith, he is a consummate hedonist. He adores finery and luxuries and has been known to use alcohol to excess and even dabble in pesh and other narcotics. 5. He conceals his faith through a blend of magic, friendships and lies. It was a topic that never came up with his family, so keeping it hidden hasn't been a terrible challenge so far. Two Goals
Two Secrets
People Tied to the PC
Three Key Memories/Moments
Fear or Paranoia
Disguised Forms:
==Racial Alter Self Ability== Flexible Half-Breed Source Blood of Shadows pg. 14 Once per day, half-elves with this trait can use alter self as a spell-like ability to appear as humans, drow, or elves. The half-elf can change the race of this form each time she uses this ability, but the specific form for each race is static. She gains a +10 bonus to Disguise checks to appear as a member of the chosen race. The caster level for this ability is equal to the character’s Hit Dice. This racial trait replaces multitalented. --Human (image link)--
--Elf (image link)--
--Drow (image link)—
==Hat of Disguise==
--Calistrian Priest--
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