Gaspar Khemet's page

Belt: Belt of Tumbling (800 gp)
Cloak: Cloak of Resistance +1 (1,000 gp)
Chest: Quick Runner's Shirt (1,000 gp)

Gaspar is a pretty man, no doubt. Particularly for a thirty-something year old half-elf. Standing at 5'10" and weighing in at 178 lbs, he isn't particularly large or small - whether you're judging him as a human, and elf, or a half-elf. When he's the clothing that he's made to wear in the company of nobles, his physique seems fairly unremarkable. His musculature, while very toned and well structured, isn't particularly bulky or noteworthy making it difficult to size him up accurately when he's wearing the baggier and showier courtier's clothing.

When he's wearing his standard attire, however, there is a lot more room to move and a bit more skin showing. His shoulders are about as broad as an average human tapering to a thinner waste, but still what might be considered only a little thinner than average for a human. His muscles are very well defined from the endless practice and acrobatics. His biceps, and indeed arms in general, are no larger than average, but every detail can easily be made out throughout his arms which is what can also be said about his chest, back, and torso.

Gaspar's skin is a light - almost golden - brown color. While a little lighter than many of the humans that hail from Osirion, no doubt a result of his obvious elven heritage, it is still very clear to any who see him that he is from a sunnier place than Brevoy. His hair and small bit of chin hair are a solid midnight black, but his eyes are strangely an icier blue color that contrasts heavily with his skin and hair. His ears are clearly pointed, but obviously too small to belong to a full blooded elf. His jaw is square and strong, leading to his somewhat larger chin. Though large, his chin manages to not seem bulbous and just accents his long face. He has a somewhat long, but narrow nose that's quite proportional to his face.

Hail to the king…

Osirion. The land of pharaohs. It was a much different place than many other nations. There were men, there were kings, and there were gods, but for the people of Osirion the line between king and god was blurred by the pharaohs. Throughout the vast history of one of the oldest nations, it wasn’t so much that the rulers had fooled their subjects into believing that they had divine power, no. It was that they had convinced them that they were divine. Each ruler down the line had mighty shoes to fill and being the one to receive that kind of power… you had to want it, nay, need it if you expected to get anywhere. You had to cast aside any ideas of traditional morals and you had to put yourself and your people first. Being the pharaoh was a titanic task to be sure, but to live in his shadow was to take on his responsibilities without that kind of divinity. That’s where some people are, standing in the penumbra of his shadow. That’s where Gaspar Khemet, son of the pharaoh, the Ruby Prince Khemet III was born. Not as a potential heir to the divine throne, but as a son cast aside by trivial tradition. Forever beneath the oppressive expectations of the king but just outside the reach of his status. That’s the fate of the bastard son of a pharaoh.

What child is this?

It was about thirty-four years ago when Gaspar was conceived. Things are a bit different in Osirion when it comes to this sort of thing, especially if your name is Prince Khemet III. He not only has a wife, he has wives. He also has an entire harem to suit his more exotic desires and not just any woman gets to be in the Ruby Prince’s harem. It’s a prestigious place for women to be in that society that elevates them to noble status. Not only are bastards not looked down upon, they’re expected. They’re treated as nobles just like any other. Though, of course, they aren’t held to the esteem that the pharaoh’s actual children are. That’s the position Gaspar’s mother Keerla Amaranthian was born into. Glorious or not, that’s how her life was made easier. That’s how Gaspar’s life began. He straddled the fence between the world of royalty and the world of commoners just as he did between elves and men. Being the only child that Keerla had ever came to bear, his infancy was easy. Gaspar was sheltered until he was a child old enough to consider the differences between him and the positions of other children. It was at that time that things changed.

He was raised nearly exclusively by his mother, which wasn’t to say that Khemet III had no part on his childhood. Being the man that he was, he was excessively busy. Any of his excess time would go to his actual sons and, even if he did find time to mentor his bastards, he certainly had more than one of those. Gaspar was jealous of other children for having a father in their life, but his mother would always tell him “Even if you never hear him say it, your father is proud of you.” “But mommy, how do you know?”

He tells me every time I see him.

When Gaspar was old enough to play on the street with the other children, he took every responsibility. He had a number of friends who would constantly get into mischief with him and he loved it. Three friends of his were the only ones that stuck with him into adulthood and understood that he didn’t place himself above them just because of his status or his blood. One such friend was named Ali, a human boy now approaching middle age. He was the biggest and the strongest of the four of them. Gaspar’s fondest memories of him are as a teenager when he would always stand out and try to spin a tale to the guards when they’d inevitable try to chase down the four of them so the other three could escape.

“Remember that one time I told the guards that someone had caught my cat on fire and that’s why we needed to make off with the well water?”
“He bought it like a shady merchant!”

Another friend was a fellow half-elf girl named Solana. Back then they had a larger group of friends although these four were the tightest. When they reached the teenage years, Solana was the source of more drama than any of them would like to admit now. Especially Gaspar. More than a couple of times did they fight over who would marry her, though little did they expect that it would end up being none of them. Gaspar isn’t even sure she ever found out how he really felt about her when they were young. Among the four of them, she was the only one who studied magic. She wasn’t very good at it at the time, but she’d always tell them of the daydreams she’d have about being a famous Osirion bard one day.

The last friend that Gaspar still has from all those years ago is a Halfling named Valhorn. Gaspar was always the quickest of his friends, but Valhorn was the most cunning. His words were like Gaspar’s feet and wit were like Ali’s sword. Being almost the only Halfling in the city, though, he got into trouble for more stuff than he actually did, which was really saying something. He needed that wit if he expected to make it in Osirion.

'To my son; I love you. From your father; I am proud. If we don't say it, this means it.'

That’s what was engraved in elven on the ring that was given to Gaspar when he became of age. When he was finally considered a man. He was held to human standards, so he was a little young still to be held to those sorts of responsibilities. He wanted them though. He was living in the shadow of one of the greatest men in the world and he wanted to go off into the kingdom to show what he could be worth. What his father knew about him wasn’t enough. He became a traveler, leaving his mother and his friends behind. He wasn’t yet ready to leave Osirion, but was ready to explore. Just before leaving, he was given a masterwork scimitar to be his training weapon and to use if he did get into any altercations. He still carries the sword, but it’s so worn that it’s not worth being called masterwork anymore. It’s just worth being called Gaspar’s.

It didn’t take him long in his own thoughts to embrace the half of himself that he’d been ignoring; his elven side. He felt rushed like his human heritage, but he finally began to envy elves – envy his mother. He was behind if he wanted to be able to emulate them like he would need to properly. In his few year tour of Osirion, he met many people. Many elves. They taught him how to achieve grace with time to the best of their ability and he grew obsessed. He practiced constantly. Even as a child he was talented at acrobatic pursuits, but from this point forward it was all he cared about to perfect his balance of body and mind. Well, aside from making sure that he could live up to his name.

Welcome back, my son

It was the first time he’d heard anyone in his family speak in almost half of a decade and it was his father. A memory that Gaspar will never forget is the greeting he received after leaving the city to find himself. He knew his father cared, but it was easy to get skeptical. After getting back, he was introduced more and more into noble society. It wasn’t easy for him. He had to do what he could to seem proper for that company, but none of it felt right to him. And it made him no friends. He lost most of his friends during this time, most of whom jus chalked him up to becoming another noble brat. Only his closest stayed. He also made an enemy during this time.

Hasib Ahmad was a fellow bastard of Khemet that had been raised in somewhat close proximity to Gaspar. Growing up, Hasib chose to take the name of his human mother over the name of the Ruby Prince. As time went on, Hasib grew to hate the pharaoh and even went out of his way to publicly speak against him. Just a few years before the start of the campaign, Hasib arranged an assassination attempt against Khemet III. The attempt was easily quashed, but Gaspar took it upon himself to hunt down Hasib. They had a short physical altercation before Hasib was able to sneak away leaving Gaspar injured. Hasib swore he’d get revenge on Gaspar for his involvement in the resistance against his assassination attempt, but he’s not been seen or heard from since.

Show me you can do it, prove it

Was the last thing Gaspar heard his father say before he finally left for Brevoy. The first time he set out for anywhere outside of Osirion. His father had heard though the network of nobles that there was an opportunity for rising people of note. Gaspar, likely being his favorite bastard after the incident with Hasib, was chosen to be the Ruby Prince’s representative. Gaspar was happy to oblige.

He thanked his mother, easily the most influential person in his life, and bid her farewell.

“This certainly isn’t the last you’ll hear of me, mother!” he said with a certain boom in his voice “Next you hear from me, I’ll be a someone. Not just some noble brat or over-hyped acrobat.”

“I know that’s true, Gaspar. You know I do.”

“It’s just good to hear it, even if I’m a man now.”

“'To my son; I love you. From your father; I am proud. If we don't say it, this means it.”

The last thing Gaspar did before leaving for Brevoy was smile at his mother and twist the ring on his hand.

My goals for Gaspar:

• I'd like him to come to terms with his real stance on being a noble, whatever that might be.
• I'd like him to be less naive. He's a wise man, but he's too optimistic about things he doesn't understand and too interested in the law.
• I'd like him to grow socially and be forced into many awkward situations in which being a noble or pretty do him no good.
• I'd like him to get to know himself a bit better.

Gaspar's goals:

• Make his mother and father proud.
• Become renowned for some reason or another.
• Enforce the law and gain recognition for it.
• Show everyone what a noble brat is capable of doing.
• Perfect himself and bridge the gap between his body and mind.

Family:
The Ruby Prince Khemet III (Father, Pharaoh of Osirion)
Keerla Amaranthian (Mother)
Hasib Ahmad (Enemy, Half Brother)

Friends:
Ali Osiris (lifelong human friend)
Valhorn Davsone (lifelong halfling friend)
Solana Ferivana (lifelong half-elf friend, childhood crush)

There are also unnamed childhood friends that had a falling out with Gaspar when he started really being a noble as well as unnamed mentors who taught him the positive reasons to focus on mind and body (be a freelance monk) because there were too many and they are generally too minor to call out by name.

Skills

Acrobatics (1 rank): Ever since Gaspar was a child he loved running on roofs, swinging on signs, leaping off of walls, and generally being annoying to catch. It was what he was known for among friends. Since becoming an adult he has put real training into those natural abilities as a part of perfecting his control over his body.

Bluff (1 rank): Being prone to getting into trouble when he was younger, Gaspar wasn't always the most capable of talking his way out of trouble. Instead, he relied on lying to avert attention. If you practice anything enough, you get pretty good at it.

Climb (1 rank): Sometimes being an acrobat wasn't enough to get away as a child, sometimes you had to be a skilled climber. As an adult, Gaspar honed his climbing skills as a similar and tandem skill as acrobatics that helped him master his mind over his body.

Disguise (1 rank): During his travels, Gaspar had to be careful not to be seen as he truly was; a noble. He had to learn to speak and act like the lower classes and, in some instances, like a human. After years of keeping up various personas, Gaspar became fairly capable at disguising himself.

Escape Artist (1 rank): While not weak, Gaspar is not a physically imposing man. He's not particularly large and his focus on movement mastery makes it very difficult for him to put on bulk. His training as a sort of freelance monk taught him that sometimes you need a back up plan if you're ever pinned by something stronger than you. Gaspar practiced the skill of escaping this situations as an application of movement perfection.

Perception (1 rank): Gaspar was always an observant man able to take in small details. His meditative approach to the world around him has subconsciously allowed him to tap into these talents. A skill he finds to be irreplaceable in everything from day to day life to adventuring.

Sense Motive (1 rank): Gaspar's observant nature and training extend not only to what he notices about his environment, but about social situations as well. During his time hiding his identity and social fanfares as a noble, it was important to him to be able to pick up on social queues. He was a natural of learning in this area.

Stealth (1 rank): Gaspar's quick physical reflexes made him a natural at sneaking around and avoiding detection as a child. When he finally grew up and took responsibility for himself, he stopped his training in this area... until the attempted assassination of his father. Since then, he's been focusing his training on his ability to avoid detection in hopes that he will know his opponent's strategies and be able to use them against them should any similar attempt be made in the future.

Background Skills

Knowledge (Local) (1 rank): Compared to many nobles, Gaspar is unusually concerned with the affairs of individuals. Back in Osirion, it wouldn't be unusual to see him in the bars talking to people as if he were a commoner just as they are. He has picked up a number of rumors and learned about quite a few people during his time doing this.

Linguistics (1 rank): After deciding that it was important to him to venture outside of Osirion one day (not long before the beginning of the campaign), he decided he needed to learn the common tongue outside of Osirion. Until then, he essentially had two native tongues; Osirion and Elven. Gaspar was already in his thirties andthe language was hurriedly taught to him by his father's personal scribe, Omar Osiri. Gaspar is fluent in Teldane and has a little training in recognizing other languages, but there can be a bit of a language barrier when he's flustered.

Special Abilities

Sneak Attack: Being that it's true that Gaspar isn't particularly strong, he began learning not how to hit enemies hard, but where to hit them instead. While far from an anatomist, his time training with freelance monks during his travels gave him enough practice to know exactly how to spot weak locations to strike.

Expert Acrobat: While it was already true that Gaspar was a trained and extremely capable acrobat, he had an extra advantage over other people who trained to be a combat acrobat; he didn't wear armor. At the time that he trained as a freelance monk, it sounded silly to him. The training shows now that he's capable of fighting this way.

Finesse Training: Gaspar obsesses over how to move his body perfectly. He spends hours perfecting even the slightest movements. Partially to make up for lost time as a half-breed elf, but also as an application of mind over body. As such, his strikes in combat are precise. They land exactly where he wants them to, even if they don't land with much force.

AC Bonus: The ultimate example of Gaspar breaking through in combining his technique of his mind dominating his body and obsessive fine movement training. He is a skilled enough acrobat in combat to skillfully avoid blows that, to an outside observer, he shouldn't have even seen coming. Acrobat rogue + Monk in a nutshell right here.

Unarmed Strike: As a freelance monk, turning Gaspar's body into a weapon almost seemed like step one. What Gaspar does isn't even really a martial art. It's a matrix of perfected movements at his finger tips and some of those movements are capable of hurting his enemies.

Stunning Fist: After having practiced where to put his strikes as opposed to how hard to apply them (sneak attack), Gaspar learned to occasionally strike opponents in such a way that they are dazed long enough to give Gaspar the upper hand. I'd just like to point out how well Stunning Fist goes with Sneak Attack. I love it.

Bonus Feat (Monk): Justification in the feat section (Dodge)

Traits

Wisdom in the Flesh (Religion): Climbing, though so close to acrobatics in Gaspar's eyes, was always something that gave him more trouble than it should have. He simply wasn't strong enough. During his travels, however, a certain set of Irori devout monks showed him how to overcome his physical limitations by looking inside of himself for the strength to lift himself. With a bit of awareness and a lot of inner-power, Gaspar has a new and interesting outlook on climbing with his mind dominating his muscles. Use wisdom to determine bonus to climb skill instead of strength

Noble Born "High Above" (Campaign): Not only is Gaspar a noble, he is the son of a pharaoh. Just missing the mark for one of the highest noble positions in the nation, his confidence in his blood gives him a little extra confidence not to show weakness in combat +1 CMD and gives him that extra drive when sneaking around as he remembers how close to meeting his fate his father was +1 to stealth

Group Fighter (Regional): Since childhood, Gaspar's experience in fights were not alone. He had his friends when he was young (and sometimes it was them that he fought) and he learned from travelers on his travels through Osirion. He's come to learn how to really make use of partners in combat. +1 attack bonus when flanking

Acrobat (Social): Gaspar's obsessive focus on perfecting all of his movements and his training as an acrobat push him above what most others would be with his experience. +1 to acrobatics He also seamlessly combined this training with improving his ability to not only climb objects, but climb them very quickly. Only take a -2 to climb checks made for an accelerated climb instead of a -5

Family Ties (Drawback): Gaspar's familiy is incredible important to him. If his mother were to ask anything of him, he would feel more than obligated to make her happy. If his father asks anything of him, he is duty bound. Disappointing his father would be devastating.

Feats

Skill Focus (Acrobatics): Gaspar has spent a lot of time trying to perfect his movements.

Weapon Finesse: See Finesse Training in Special Abilities for justification of this feat.

Stunning Fist: See Stunning Fist in Special Abilities for justification of this feat.

Dodge: In addition to his nearly sixth sense for danger Monk AC Bonus, Gaspar's training at simply avoiding attacks that he clearly sees coming is also uncanny.

Mobility: Moving and mobility are two of Gaspar's strongest suits. When granted the room to maneuver while moving across the battlefield, Gaspar's ability to avoid attacks is unbelievable.

Sap Adept: When Gaspar lands a strike on what he perceives to be a vital location, his training makes the strike pack a little extra punch, though this additional training is specifically for a knockout strike and not for a lethal blow.

Combat Gear

Scimitar: Gaspar rarely uses the scimitar to actually fight. At most, it's a distraction. This scimitar is his training scimitar from when he was first learning to fight, but before he had direction.

Other Gear

Backpack: Gaspar bought this unremarkable backpack before setting off for Brevoy.

Hot Weather Outfit: This outfit is Gaspar's standard attire. There's nothing special about it and he likes it that way.

Courtier's Outfit and Jewelry: This outfit is considered almost necessary for a noble in the presence of other nobles. His mother gave it to Gaspar so that he would be presentable for Lord Alystair.

Gold Etched Ring: This is the ring that was given to Gaspar from his mother when he came of age. In elven etched on the outside are the words 'To my son; I love you. From your father; I am proud. If we don't say it, this means it'. Don't steal it if you don't like to be punched in the throat.

Disguise Kit: Just like his journey before, Gaspar knew he might have to hide who he is. He purchased this kit before leaving Osirion for Brevoy.

Map of the Stolen Lands: Given to Gaspar by his father along with the scroll containing the letter addressed to Lord Alystair.