Fzored's page

Fzored hails from a land far to the east of Rappan Athuk. He is a short and wiry man, with light brown skin, brown eyes and black hair cut short. Fzored is from an ancient line of nobility, founded by a paladin commander in the army of light that destroyed the city of Tsar. There is intense pressure on every member of House Aellizar to live up to the standards and legacy of their noble ancestor, and prove to be worthy inheritors of the house’s secret defensive techniques passed down through the generations. Fzored grew up knowing, with absolute certainty, that he was destined for greatness. Every day of his life it was ingrained in him that he would excel at all tasks, for he was an Aellizar, and they always persevered in all endeavors.

Fzored was raised with his sister and many cousins in his family’s ancestral castle. He was the firstborn child and initially heir to the family’s title, but was soon eclipsed by his younger sister Szorra. While Fzored dutifully studied, trained, and became quite accomplished in many areas, it was soon apparent that his sister was a prodigy like had been rarely seen in the history of the house. She was found to have the gift of the oracle’s curse of lameness at the early age of 10, and quickly mastered both spellcraft and the combat arts. At age 16, she was named first Heir to the Demonslayer, the chosen one to be trained to become the heir to the house. Fzored was named secondary Heir, in the event his sister fell on her pilgrimage or was otherwise slain.

It is expected of every member of house Aellizar to undertake a pilgrimage, where they set out on their own into the world to accomplish a specific goal to vanquish an evil, great or small. In this way, they prove their worth to inherit the legacy of their founder. Great ceremony is placed on the accomplishments one chooses to undertake; the more talented the child, the greater the expectation. While many members of the house elect to choose limited tasks, such as organizing a group of men to clear a road of bandits or gathering funds for charitable causes, much prestige can be gained from members of the house by attaining a difficult goal.

Fzored knows of Rappan Athuk. It is far from his home, but he has learned in his studies of the evil that lurks there. Despite being three years her elder, his sister Szorra was deemed worthy to undertake her pilgrimage half a year earlier, and has undertaken a quest to find and slay a legendary dragon. If Fzored is to have any chance of overtaking his sister to again become the heir to his house, he knows he must choose an impressive task and succeed flawlessly. He has chosen to learn the secrets of Rappan Athuk, and cleanse the evil that resides therein, and has made the long journey west towards that end.

--Fzored likes to run endurance races. When not adventuring, he starts every day with a 5 mile run, and does a 25 mile run at least once a month. He walked over 1000 miles to Rappan Athuk from his homeland, and did so in less than a month through continual forced marches.
--Scions of House Aellizar take an honorific title based on their greatest deed, modeled after their ancestor the Demonslayer. Fzored’s greatest deed to date occurred when he ran 20 miles to the site of a goblin attack. There were not enough horses available for all who responded to the attack, so he gave his horse to another and ran beside the group, keeping pace with the horses his companions rode. At the end of the journey, he fought as if well rested, earning him the title “the Enduring”.
--Fzored is engaged in an arranged marriage to Janessa Alestout, the daughter of a powerful warlord in a province far to the north of his family’s lands. He has only met the woman in person once, when both were 10 years of age to sign the marriage contracts, but liked her immensely. He is expected to return and marry her when his pilgrimage is complete, whereupon she will become a member of house Aellizar.
--Fzored greatly enjoys coffee and tea, but does not drink alcohol.
--Fzored does not particularly care for books, but will study diligently if required to do so. Diligently is how Fzored has always done everything in life. Mathematics, sciences and memorization of facts have always been difficult for him, but he has great patience, if not the sharpest intellect.
--Fzored does love his sister, despite feeling overshadowed by her, and is secretly worried she might have finally bitten off more than she can chew. He refuses to give in to her without a contest, however, and will try with all his might to cleanse Rappan Athuk and perform deeds worthy of besting her.
--Fzored is highly confident that he can accomplish almost anything. He is, after all, an Aellizar. However, he secretly worries; why hasn’t he been gifted with the oracle’s curse of lameness like his sister and mother? Is he not worthy? He is determined to push on and do his best regardless, but prays daily that the gods see fit to bless him with the oracle’s curse of lameness.

Fzored hails from a long line of powerful foes of evil. His ancestor and namesake, Fzored Aellizar the Demonslayer, was a high commander in the assualt on Tsar. Cursed with a lame leg, but blessed with incredible endurance, the original Fzored mastered specialized defensive techniques that would be too taxing for the endurance of any normal man (his lame oracle curse made him immune to fatigue, so he could start and stop a defensive stance from the stalwart defender class whenever he wanted without penalty). He legendarily slew a Marilith in single combat, earning him the title Demonslayer. He was widely viewed to be invincible by friend and foe alike, until he was lost with the rest of the army of light.

Since that day, the line of Fzored has aspired to the mantle of their ancestor. Each child of the house has hoped to be blessed with the oracle's lameness, such that they can master the defensive techniques of their ancestor and prove themselves worthy of their name while striving to bring peace and justice to the world. Most fail, are slain adventuring or never receive the curse. A small few have been cursed, but not with lameness, so cannot model themselves after their ancestor. Nearly all of the children of the house become adventurers with class levels in Paladin, Monk, Oracle or some combination; it is expected and required by tradition to do so, and almost all comply to some degree, with a few notable exceptions. However, the vast majority of the family ends up settling for early retirement, never seriously adventures beyond the minimum expected or dies before reaching the level of power necessary to master the secret defensive techniques from the stalwart defender class. About half of the family becomes "blessed" with the oracle curse at some point in time, almost always lameness. This is unusually high for a given population; it is unknown why so many members of the family receive this curse, but the general feeling within the family is that their family is special, and that only the most deserving receive the blessing. As such, there is a slight stigma within the family against those who have not received the blessing, and the head of the house has always been someone who has the lame oracle curse and at least 1 stalwart defender level.

The most accomplished member of the family in recent history is Sforzina the Skybane, Fzored’s mother and the current head of the house. She is one of two living members who can practice the ancient defensive techniques and who has been blessed with the endurance that comes from the curse of lameness. She was cursed young, and grew to be a powerful adventurer who successfully helped slay an old blue dragon to earn her honorific before returning home to lead her house. She was chosen to lead the family over the other practitioner, Jaxiznir Devilsbane in a complex internal power struggle despite Jaxiznir being the son of the previous lord, largely due to her greater adherence to tradition (as she has modeled herself religiously after her ancestor, with paladin, oracle, monk and stalwart defender levels; Jaxiznir was considered too unpredictable and lacking in honor by comparison, as he is not a paladin).

Generally speaking, I would assume that Fzored will not have any access to his house's resources. They are far away, are involved in their own fights against evil, and expect any true scion of their house to be able to handle their own affairs. I am expecting any involvement to come in the way of RP fluff for the most part, such as a letter correspondence with his house, or to never come up at all; I am uncertain how much leaving the dungeon or down time may take place, having never played this before.

As a player, I would like to do something a little different: I would like the GM to determine if Fzored receives the family curse as an oracle, and if so what curse and mystery he receives. Traditionally, his family has been cursed with Lameness and given a Battle Mystery. When I go to level up, I'll ask if he has received the curse or not, and take an Oracle level if he has.
If he is "blessed" with the lame curse, he will likely do the best he can to become the spitting image of his heroic ancestor; something like a Paladin 2/Monk 4/Oracle 4/Stalwart Defender X build.

If he is never cursed by the heavens, he will do the best he can to follow in his ancestor's footsteps through his own efforts. His character theme would then become triumph through perseverence and hard work, despite not being gifted. Here he does something like Paladin X/Monk 4/Stalwart Defender 2, and uses the lay on hands fatigue mercy so he can stop a defensive stance and remove the fatigue.

If he is cursed, but does not receive the lame curse, Fzored is likely to have a crisis of faith. Why would the gods do this to him? He would probably investigate his mystery further, seeking to understand why he was cursed in such a way. Here he would end up in something like a Paladin 2/Monk (2-4)/Oracle X type of build.

The GM can determine if he gets cursed however he wants; random dice rolls, in game events, whatever path he feels like will be most interesting. Fzored will live with the decision of the gods, and do the best he can with what he is given.

Of course, I've never played Rappan Athuk, but I've heard that it is incredibly brutal. Fzored could always die before any of this becomes relevant.