Evelina Silverblade's page

7/level (class 4, human 1, background 2) +3 favored, 24 Total
Armor check penalty -1 (Additional -1 with Buckler)

*Acrobatics +8 [3] (-1 with Buckler)
Appraise +1 [1]
*Bluff +9 [2]
*Climb +0 (-1 with Buckler)
*Craft (Clothing) +6 [2]
*Diplomacy +9 [2]
Disable Device +4 [3] (+2 w/MW Thieves' Tools, -1 with Buckler)
Disguise +3
*Escape Artist +6 [1] (-1 with Buckler)
Fly +2 (-1 with Buckler)
Handle Animal N/A
Heal -1
*Intimidate +10 [1]
Knowledge (arcana) N/A
Knowledge (dungeoneering) N/A
Knowledge (engineering) N/A
*Knowledge (geography) +5 [1]
Knowledge (history) N/A
*Knowledge (local) +5 [1]
Knowledge (nature) N/A
*Knowledge (nobility) +4 [1]
Knowledge (planes) N/A
Knowledge (religion) N/A
Linguistics N/A
*Perception +5 [3]
*Perform (oratory) +7 [1]
*Perform (act) +3
*Profession N/A
*Ride +2 (-1 with Buckler)
*Sense Motive +3 [1]
*Sleight of Hand +6 [1](-1 with Buckler)
Spellcraft N/A
Stealth +2 (-1 with Buckler)
Survival -1
*Swim +0 (-1 with Buckler)
Use Magic Device N/A

Raised in an orphanage in the middle of Taldor, Evelina grew up knowing nothing about her birth parents. Eager for attention in the crowded orphanage, she became quite the storyteller. She would start the week as the kidnapped child of wealthy nobles, who would come take her away if they could only find her. By the end of the week, her parents were spies, trying to protect her from their enemies. Evelina would cheerfully add costumes, dangerous stunts and pretend swordfights as she told her stories, not caring how silly they were. All she wanted was to entertain the other children and temporarily forget that her life was simple and boring.

At age 15, Evelina was old enough to leave the orphanage. She adopted the last name Silverblade, based on the hero from her favorite story, and began to pack her bags. The matron of the orphanage tried to offer her a job, since she had a gift for keeping the small children entertained. The old woman also worried that Evelina was not yet mature enough to survive on her own. However, Evelina had her heart set on running off to find some adventure. So, she took all the money she had saved up, as well as the money that the matron had given her and spent it on weapons, armor and adventuring gear.

However, Evelina quickly found that becoming an adventurer was not as easy as she always hoped. It turned out that no one really wanted to hire a 15 year old girl with no combat experience, who looked like she couldn't weigh much more than 120lbs. The reaction she got from the various adventure troupes she tried to join varied from polite condescension to outright laughter. The general consensus was that no one wanted it on their conscience if she got hurt or worse. For the first six months, Evelina continued looking for adventuring work with optimism and determination. However, that level of optimism proved difficult to maintain when she didn't have enough money to eat.

One day looking for a work at a tavern, she was approach by the rather desperate looking innkeeper. She eagerly offered to assist the man, thinking her luck had finally changed. Quickly she realized her mistake, as the man gratefully shoved a tray full of drinks into her arms. However, as her stomach growled loudly, she decided against clearing up the misunderstanding. Of course, the arrangement didn't last more than a few weeks before Evelina was going crazy of boredom and the innkeeper was starting to get frustrated with the amount of broken mugs from Evelina's boredom driven juggling efforts.

So, Evelina quit her job at the tavern and set off to look for adventuring work again. However, what would follow was a highly discouraging cycle. Fail to find adventuring work. Get hired as a secretary. Fall asleep at the desk. Get Fired. Fail to find adventuring work. Get hired on a farm. Spend more time practicing swordplay then actually working. Quit. Fail to find adventuring work. Get hired in a kitchen. Accidentally cause a small fire. Get Fired. The cycle continued for years and each time Evelina put less and less effort into looking for adventuring work, until she had all but given up. Though her demeanor remained cheerful on the outside, on the inside she felt like a screw up. This loss of motivation only proved to make Evelina more spacy and distracted at her various odd jobs.

After an unfortunate turn as a shepherd resulted in her somehow losing six sheep and obtaining a cow, Evelina has decided to skip town again. Pausing to rest on the road, she sees the woodmill that marks Heldren in the distance. I suppose I haven't tried being a woodcutter yet... she thinks, with a deep sigh. She pulls out her rapier and gives it a test swing. ...but I wish I could find something more interesting to do. Just this once... 

Step One - Concept Elements

1. Fashionista: Evelina really likes finding pretty things and tends to wear a lot of jewelry and accessories. To some this may be perceived as vanity, but she finds genuine joy in fashion, especially since she didn’t have a lot of nice things growing up.

2. Well-Intentioned, But Irresponsible: Evelina is a good-hearted person who never hesitates to offer help to someone in need. However, she is quite impulsive and easily distracted. This has made it difficult for her to hold down a job, despite her initial good intentions.

3. Romanticized View of Adventuring: Making a living as an adventurer is Evelina’s dream. However, her understanding of the life of an adventurer is entirely based off of the stories she has read. Her naïve vision involves saving townsfolk, felling evildoers and surviving every perilous situation through sheer moxie.

4. Extroverted: Evelina is at is at her happiest when she is around other people. In particular she loves being around anyone who has good stories to share. The lack of a family or any other consistent relationships has been quite hard for her, even if she doesn’t admit it to herself.

5. Storyteller: Acting and story telling are Evelina’s favorite past times. As such, she has a tendency to tell tall tales. However, these lies are never malicious. Usually she is just hoping to bring a smile to someone’s face.

Step Two - Goals

1. Character Goal: If asked, Evelina would say that her goal is to become a great adventurer like the ones she has read about in her books. However, in reality what she wants more than anything is to find a place where she belongs and people she can call family.

2. Player Goal: Evelina is currently a little bit naïve and immature. I would like to see her grow up over the course of the adventure. In particular, she needs to learn that she can’t just pretend that the difficult things in life don’t exist.

Step Three - Secrets

1. Evelina’s Secret: Evelina tells a lot of wild stories about her parents. However, many years ago she snuck into the orphanage office to read her case file, which indicated quite clearly that her parents were just commoners that died in an accidental fire.

2. What Evelina Doesn't Know: The orphanage records are actually wrong. Her parents are still alive. However, they are perhaps not the kind of people that Evelina always hoped they were.

Step Four - Connections

Evelina doesn’t have a lot of connections outside of the orphanage she grew up in. She had a few friends there and was on good terms with the matron of the orphanage, but her wanderlust had her running away from the place as soon as she was old enough. As for potentially hostile NPCs, she does have more than a few disgruntled former employers scattered across Taldor.

Step Five - Quirks

1. Her swordsmanship is entirely self-trained. As a result it is full of flourishes that look very impressive, but are often entirely impractical.

2. She tends to cycle through different clothing and jewelry. However, her one staple is a silver brooch with two crossed blades that was given to her by a passing adventurer when she was ten, who said he liked her spirit.

3. She is an incurable fidget, as her high energy levels makes it really hard for her to just sit still.

While much of Evelina's life falls victim to her chaotic personality, she takes great care in her physical appearance. Her wavy auburn hair is pulled up high into a neat ponytail that bounces around as the energetic young woman goes about her day to day business. Her clothes contain many bright colors, yet everything seems to have been carefully selected so that none of the colors clash. Around her neck she wears a bright red scarf. Attached to the scarf is a silver brooch that feature two crossed swords that is worn proudly by Evelina. She often stops to make sure that it has not being hidden beneath her scarf as she walked around. She also wears several gemmed rings on her fingers. However an appraising eye could easily tell that most of the gems are cut glass and of no significant value. In fact, on closer examination most of Evelina's outfit, while well put together, is clearly that of someone who does not possess a lot of weath.

Physically, Evelina is not what most people would expect from a sword fighter. She is only about 5'3 and a relative featherweight. Only the rapier at her waist indicates that this young woman might be of any use in a fight. As for her demeanor, it is almost always positive and friendly. Only a very perceptive person can catch the brief flickers of sadness below the surface.