Ferenc "Frank" Peregrine Smith's page

About Ferenc "Frank" Peregrine Smith

Ferenc "Frank" Peregrine Smith is the son of Agnes and Michael Smith. His mother was the daughter of a Hungarian doctor who'd emigrated to New York City shortly before the turn of the century. His father tried his hand at many businesses during his lifetime, always ending in failure largely due to his drinking. He abandoned his family shortly before Peregrine's 15th birthday. The boy was taking away from his education (his mother had aspired for her eldest son to become a doctor) and put to work as a bank clerk. He resented his fallen circumstances and aspirations. When he turned 18 he married the daughter of an Irish saloon keeper but she and their infant child died when a cholera epidemic swept through New York two months later. With that, he fell to drinking heavily. When he turned 20 he killed a man in a bar brawl. He surely would have been convicted of manslaughter if he hadn't fled west with money he stole from his employer.

In 1834, Peregrine (he'd started going by his middle name as an alias) was in the Mexican territory of Texas, joining an settlement along San Felipe Creek. The settlement ultimately failed because of frequent raids by the native tribes, but not before Peregrine earned a reputation as a fierce fighter.

1835 found him in San Antonio where, in September, he joined with the nascent Texas revolution and fought with them until they forced the Mexican army back across the Rio Grande the following June.

By 1841 he was settled down to the life of a small farmer in the hill country of central Texas with a common-law wife. She was a woman of mixed racial ancestry and when slave catchers from New Orleans tried to claim her as a fugitive, Peregrine killed two of them and drove off the third. A day later the man returned with a vigilante mob and burned down their cabin with his wife inside. Peregrine had been out hunting and escaped the mob's justice. He snuck into town the next Sunday and murdered the slave catcher outside a church, then fled to Illinois.

He settled in Carthage and took up work as a carpenter. He soon married again, but the marriage ran into trouble when his wife converted to LDS faith. When he refused to join her in the new faith, his wife left him with their new-born son. His attempts to get them back were stymied by the Mormon dominance of the local courts and his well-deserved reputation as a drinker and brawler. When a mob gathered to storm the jail where the LDS founder Joseph Smith was being held on charges of treason, the embittered Peregrine was among them. But in the aftermath of the violence, he found himself only sickened by what he had helped to bring about. He left Illinois and wandered for a few years throughout the eastern US, eventually coming to the Jocassee Valley where he built a shack in the woods and settled down once again - this time hoping for a solitary and peaceful life.

And it was, for almost a decade. Those that knew about the "hermit of Devils Fork" thought him a crazed and sinister figure. And he did nothing to discourage this thinking. The few times he'd venture into more settled areas to trade for goods, he'd invariably go binge-drinking, spouting random bits of esoterica gleaned from his years of eclectic reading.

But the solitude he cultivated attracted company of a different kind. A handful of runaway slaves made their way into the area and Peregrine grudgingly accepted their company. Then when the war started to turn against the south, a group of deserters made their camp in the area. And when the authorities tried to venture in looking for these fugitives, Peregrine would be sure to get warnings out.

After the war, others came and began building their homes in Devils Fork. Pregrine's misanthropy had subsided and he grudgingly accepted his new neighbors. He still keeps apart from most of them, but inside he's developed a sense of community concern that means that, no how much he thinks his fellow humans are self-centered bastards, he'll still look out for them.

To outward appearances, Peregrine is a man in his late forties. The people of Devils Fork would be shocked to know his true age. They do know he's always been living in the town though no one knows of his history before the war (and he isn't inclined to share it). He's set himself up as the caretaker of the town's church and cemetary, though no one has ever seen him at services in the former. He still has something of sinister reputation being no less inclined to use his fists than when he was a younger man. And those who've been inside his shack (few people indeed) report all manner of strange books lying around.

Peregrine Smith
Human Fighter (Brawler) 3
CG Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +0
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Defense
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AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 31 (3d8+12)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +2 (+1 vs. fear)
Defensive Abilities bravery +1
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee Unarmed strike +6 (1d3+5/x2)
Special Attacks close combatant +1/+3
Ranged Ranged: Rifle +4 (1d10/x4)
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Statistics
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Str 15(+2), Dex 14(+2), Con 14(+2), Int 13(+1), Wis 10, Cha 9(-1)
Base Atk +2; CMB +4 (+5 Bull Rushing, +5 Dragging, +5 Repositioning); CMD 16 (17 vs. Bull Rush, 17 vs. Drag, 17 vs. Reposition)
Feats Bludgeoner, Catch Off-Guard, Improved Unarmed Strike, Toughness +3, Weapon Focus (Unarmed strike)
Skills
+3 Bluff
+5 Craft (headstones)
+4 Heal
+3 Intimidate
+6 kno(arcana)
+6 kno(engineering)
+6 kno(history)
+6 kno(local)
+6 kno(religion)
+4 Perception
+4 Profession (carpentar)
+3 Sense Motive
+3 Survival

Languages English, Hungarian
Gear
Rifle
-five rounds
Bedroll 1sp
Block and Tackle 5gp
Carpenter's tools 5gp
Flint and steel 1gp
Rope 50 ft. 1gp
Riding Mule ("Kurva") 8gp
Crowbar 2gp
Pipe & tobacco 2gp

Money - 9sp

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Special Abilities
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Bludgeoner Inflict nonlethal damage with bludgeoning weapons
Bravery +1 (Ex) +1 to Will save vs. Fear
Catch Off-Guard Proficient with improvised melee weapons. Unarmed foe is flat-footed against your improvised weapons.
Close Combatant +1/+3 (Ex) +1 to hit and +3 damage with close weapons.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
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Trait
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Avid Reader (knowledge: arcana) Can always choose to take 10 on checks with the chosen Knowledge skill, even when distracted or threatened.