Emeric Salonen's page

1. Emeric is a cheerful pessimist who assumes the worst and can laugh about it. Growing up in Ustalav makes optimism seem daft. Being a pessimist without being able to keep a sense of humor seems like a slow form of suicide.

2. Emeric’s family has lived in the city of Ardis and the surrounding area for generations. As a cadet family of the once prominent noble Kolagreant line, which died out 4 generations ago, their fortunes have withered right along with Ardis. The family now survives by raising pigs and some horses on the outskirts of the city.

3. Emeric began his undead hunting career patrolling “their” properties in Ardis. These are several mansions and other buildings in an abandoned neighborhood. When he was nine, Emeric and his family were evicted as squatters from their mansion by an usurping new owner since they could not prove ownership.

4. He is more a hunter than a fighter. He studies his targets carefully to learn about them and prefers to snipe with his bow rather than place himself in situations that could become a melee.

5. Emeric is not particularly subtle in his dealings with others. He typically says what he thinks without considering how best to say it or whether it should be said at all. He isn’t purposefully abrasive, but his forthright attitude can seem insensitive rather than simply honest.

Two goals that you'd like the character to accomplish in-game.

1. Emeric wants to go to the source. Destruction of the undead is a chore that never ends unless their creators are eliminated. He would like nothing more to kill a powerful necromancer or undead master, like a vampire. Killing several such monsters would be even better.

2. He would like to gather more information on his family background. He hopes that if he can prove his family’s claim to the titles vacated by the Kalogreant family, he can restore something of their fortune and reclaim the properties taken from them in Ardis.

Two secrets, one the PC keeps to himself, and one kept from the PC. I'll come up with a third that both the character and player aren't aware of, in hopes of shocking surprises within the storytelling.

1. Emeric tells nobody about his family’s connection to the aristocratic Kalogreant family. He feels that it is far more embarrassing to sink to the lows they have than to have always been nothing.

2. Emeric’s grandfather was a lying huckster and there is no connection at all between the Salonens and Kalogreants. The story was fabricated by his grandfather in order to attempt to claim abandoned properties in Ardis.

3-5 people that are tied to your PC by blood, love, rivalry, honor, etc. I'd like at least one enemy in a set of three or four, with no more than two for a set of five.

1. Dietz Glogryan: Emeric’s maternal grandfather. Now dead several years, Dietz was Emeric’s favorite relative. He was charismatic and retained a trace of the aristocratic (he claimed) flamboyance the family once had, even at that late point. Emeric believes his stories of the family’s lost nobility and his claim that he lost the last three fingers on his right hand in a duel. In fact, all the stories were fabrications and Dietz lost his fingers to the local Sczarni family. As a young man Dietz had tried to join the family, but could not resist dipping into the profits. When this was discovered, he managed to talk his way out of trouble enough to save his life by setting up another low-level member as the thief, but not enough to completely escape punishment and expulsion.

2. Jannez and Arna Salonen: Emeric’s father and mother. Jannez is a no-nonsense man who takes life as it is and expects nothing from it. He never had any time for Dietz’s claims and stories because they didn’t raise more or better animals. Arna is a sweet natured woman who is not terribly bright. Her opinion about Dietz was always “whatever Granpapa says…”. Emeric has a good relationship with his parents even though they view his crusade against undead in their old neighborhood as eccentric.

3. Matz Gelfrat: An obsessive and slightly unstable cousin of Emeric’s, Matz has come to hate Emeric over his former romance with Petrissa, a girl their neighborhood. Unknown to Emerick (and Petrissa), Matz is deeply infatuated with her. He believes Emeric’s short-lived fling with Petrissa was designed by Emeric to wound him and stymie his chances with her.

Three key memories that define your character as the person they are at the time of submission. Including Lorrimor in one of those might not be a bad idea.
All that is to help you and me tell a compelling story not only you, but any who read our adventure, will enjoy. If this is asking too much, let me know.

1. The day deputies came to evict Emeric’s family from the mansion they were living in. The family was rousted from the house and their possessions thrown in the street. Not only was the experience humiliating, but the argument between his grandfather and father afterward was terrible to see. Dietz had assured the family that the house was theirs because he never imagined the owner would care if a crumbling, otherwise abandoned house among so many others like it, was occupied. Emeric still believes the house is rightfully theirs, stolen by legal trickery.

2. One night, Emeric put a zombie down with a couple of bowshots. When he took a closer look at the corpse, he recognized it as a kindly middle-aged man who had been a neighbor when they squatted in the mansion. He was one of the few holdouts still residing in the neighborhood. This was the beginning of Emeric’s transition from undead hunter to preserve their property to undead hunter to preserve lives.

3. Professor Lorrimor sometimes traveled to Ardis to search for books and documents that he believed might have been left behind in abandoned buildings. He hired Emeric a few times to escort him because Emeric knew some of the old neighborhoods well. Emeric was also not bothered by a bit of breaking and entering if the buildings were no longer inhabited. During one trip, Lorrimor and Emeric were on the third floor of an old, rotting mansion. When Lorrimor walked into on of the rooms, the floor gave way and a portion of the building sheared off and collapsed. Emeric reacted quickly and grabbed the Professor by the arm, saving him from a fatal fall. Professor Lorrimor’s gratitude did much to boost Emeric’s self-esteem.

Finally, I'd like you to include with your submission a fear or paranoia that causes your character to shiver, cower, or panic. Anything from spiders to unexplained happenstance, but I'm sure you'll all come up with some awful stuff on your own.

After seeing the neighbor he had known returned as a zombie, Emeric has become terrified that after his death he will also come back as some undead horror. He takes whatever precautions he can to prevent such a fate, and eagerly searches for more information about charms or magic that can guard against it.