Gloria Lindgren's page

Left side:
Level: Class, Bab, Fort, Ref, Will
1: Monk, +3/4, +2-1/2, +2-1/2, +2-1/2
2: Monk, +3/4, +1/2, +1/2, +1/2
3: Barbarian, +1, +2-1/2, +1/3, +1/3
4: Barbarian, +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3
5: Barbarian, +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3
6: Barbarian, +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3
7: Barbarian, +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3
8: Barbarian, +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3

Right side:
Level: Class, Bab, Fort, Ref, Will
1: Fighter, +1, +2-1/2, +1/3, +1/3
2: Fighter, +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3
3: None
4: None
5: None
6: None
7: Fighter, +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3
8: Fighter, +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3

Best of Both:
Level: Bab, Fort, Ref, Will
1: +1, +2-1/2, +2-1/2, +2-1/2
2: +1, +1/2, +1/2, +1/2
3: +1, +2-1/2, +1/3, +1/3
4: +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3
5: +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3
6: +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3
7: +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3
8: +1, +1/2, +1/3, +1/3

Total: Bab, Fort, Ref, Will
Total: +8, +8, +5, +5

Twenty years ago, it had to be. I was young, almost too young to remember. It’s interesting how time not only fades your memories, but warps them too. I know that I could only feasibly remember the tears blurring my vision as I did everything I could to keep my sobbing silent, I know that’s all I could have done. For some reason my memories seem almost omnipresent, like I know more about everything that happened than I could have witnessed. Perhaps it’s my blind rage preventing me from admitting that I know nothing and that I was useless and filling that hole with ‘might have beens’. I can’t be sure, but what I can be sure of is that I f!@&ing hate witches.
I was no older than three when the monastery took me in. They were kind and generous to a suffering orphan. They kept what happened a secret for a long time, but I grew tough. I became a monk and learned their ways, but curiosity burned at my bones. I know now why they didn’t want to tell me. They knew the curiosity would grow into fear and fear into hatred.
“You’re a good girl.” They’d say. “You can do anything you want with your life.”

"I want to find my mommy and daddy!" I would reply. I daydreamed about them. My father was tall and handsome with dark hair and tanned skin, my mother had fair skin and pitch black hair. They were kind, they loved to play with me, and they always had something witty to say (because I never do). They were farmers, but I always imagined we did well for ourselves. I would pretend some of the other children in the monastery were my younger siblings and that my parents had just sent us outside to play until they had dinner prepared for us.

Bastards, who were they to keep me from what was rightfully mine to know? Maybe I was too naïve to tell back then, but they knew I wasn’t cut out for the monk livelihood. I know they knew it and that’s why they wouldn’t tell me. I wasn’t interested in their schooling, I wanted the training. I wanted to be a strong warrior like Ayumusensai and little else mattered to me. That is, until they thought they had rid me of my chaotic nature enough to trust me with what I wanted to know. I was a teenager, those a@@#!&&s. I was practically an adult.

“Your parents… They were killed by a witch. They didn’t abandon you.” Ayumu told me softly. “We found their bodies shortly before we found you under your bed. We didn’t want to sever your hope after such a traumatic experience.”

That makes perfect sense, let me believe they left me there for two days all alone instead. Lying sons-of-b@%%+es. My memory flooded back all at once and the pain stung me almost as much as it did back then. My mother had told me to hide under the bed and all this time they let me think that they were just abandoning me? It’s like I could feel the flames that killed my parents. 'Altering one’s own consciousness is only difficult if you try to prevent it.' That’s what they taught me. They couldn’t stop my need for vengeance. That’s what they were afraid of and they thought they could train me well enough for me to discipline myself against it. They were wrong, I’m not narrow-minded like they are, no. I’m proud and I’m strong. I wasn’t about to sit around and pray for good things in the world, I was going to go out there and do good things. I was going to go find that evil son of a b$#*& and kill her myself.

It’s interesting what such hate can do to an otherwise good person. It creates irrational thoughts and unnecessary superstitious beliefs. No matter how much you tell yourself that what you’re thinking is crazy, the rage surges through your veins. That’s something those monks never understood. Don’t fear your rage, harness it. If you give yourself just one thing to care about and to think about, it rules your life. Why does that have to be a bad thing?

I ran away from that place in search of that witch and I plan to kill every evil soul on my path there. I will train with armor and weapons and I will learn to use my anger and my lust for vengeance to become a righteous destroyer of the wicked more capable than the disciplined nut-jobs and their codes and statutes. I fight for freedom, I fight for justice, and fight regardless.

And to any evil-doers I might encounter, remember this; the only difference between me and a paladin is that I don’t have a silly code holding me back from killing every last one of you.

Gloria is headstrong and sure, but she lacks the same discipline that other enforcers of Boldrei, particularly the paladins, have. She is kindhearted and does good wherever she can, but she is prone to a zealous attitude and divine wrath when it comes to that which she perceives as evil or unnatural. While she does not outright fear magic, she distrusts it and is very cautious of anyone who wields it openly. She sometimes likes to joke and drink, but most of the time her mind is set to some goal and she will use whatever means she has to attain those goals for the good of mankind.

Gloria was born in a small farming village about 100 miles from Sharn. Otherwise unremarkable as far as farming villages in Breland are concerned, her parents weren't particularly well or poorly off. Her parents did, however, own a sizable amount of land just outside of this farming village where they farmed.

Gloria doesn't remember since she left when she was only three years old, but she had a brother who was only two. It was one summer night when the house was attacked by a group of rogue spellcasters for no known reason. The farmland was caught on fire and Gloria never saw her parents, her brother, or their bodies ever again because she hid under her bed during the attack.

Seeing the smoke from the fire, a nearby monastery sent a few monks to investigate. Finding only smoldering crops and local guards, they learn that a couple had been murdered. It was the monks that founding Gloria, and so they adopted her. For the next 12 years she learned the ways of the monks as they convinced her that her parents had abandoned her. She had a knack for a more feel-as-you-go style and she generally disliked strict rules on how to do things. When they finally told her the truth, she reverted to her more chaotic ways and ran away from the monastery in search of her parents' murderers.

She began her search in Sharn, but she turned up nothing. She has since been scouring most of Breland for clues. Now she's taking her search elsewhere. And at the age of just 19.

Gloria

Gloria is actually small for what would be considered standard for someone of her might. She refers to this deceptive amount of strength as 'Divine Might', but the explanation is easily debatable. She stands about 5'9" tall and weighs just under 200 lbs. She is thickly built but quite compact. Her hair is as black as midnight and her eyes a deep blue. She has light scarring covering her body and face from the constant battle, but her face could be described as well structured. Her nose is slightly long and narrow, her brow is slight, and her jaw is strong, but rounded. Her complexion is fair, but her skin tone suggests much time outdoors.

1) What are you best at? Your strongest talent?

"I destroy evil and crush magic. I'm quick on my feet and pack a bigger punch than you can imagine."

2) What else can you offer to the group?

Gloria leans back in her chair and puts her boots on the table in front of her interviewers, crossing her legs right over left.

"You mean besides the greatest protection Khorvaire has to offer? I've always been pretty good at farming."

She laughs.

3) What areas are you weakest in?

After taking a moment to think, Gloria sighs, crossing her arms now.

"I hope you aren't expecting me to turn my weaknesses into strengths. That's not what I'm about. People have a hard time with my bullheadedness. And honestly, I don't give a s@#t. I'm also not well educated. I know what I was raised knowing and little else. Happy? There's an ounce of humility in me somewhere."

4) What experiences do you have with the Mournland?

Gloria uncrosses her arms so that she can use her hands to help express her words. She wasn't generally one for talking with her hands, but she had a point to make.

"Look, boss. I haven't gotten around much. I'm from Breland. The only place of note that I've ever spent any length of time is Sharn, and that hardly counts considering I grew up as a farmhand in its shadow. Maybe that's what you need. The heart of an explorer. It's no fun if you only send people who've personally mapped the area."

5) Have you visited Cyre before the Mourning?

Gloria takes her feet off of the desk one at a time, beginning with her top foot and slowly sitting forward in her chair.

"I'll assume you've got this all scripted or something. I told you, I haven't been many places. I've had little reason to leave Breland in my short life. I figure if I want to get what I want, it's places like Cyre I need to go. T'least that's what I figure from what I do know about the place."

6) Did you serve in the war? For whom, and what were your duties?

Gloria stands now, her demeanor a little more serious than before.

"Look, I understand just as well as the next person how inevitable war is."

She begins a light pace.

"That doesn't mean I have to agree with the idea. The structure bothers me and the motives often sicken me. Did I serve in the war? No. Did I kill some of the evil sons-of-b@#%&es who were taking part? Probably. It's not my place to take sides in the petty squabbles of lords and nobles. It's my part to protect their pawns."

7) Do you hold any oaths or duties to others that may conflict with this mission? If so, please explain.

Gloria stops pacing and approaches the table where she firmly plants a fist. She doesn't hit the table, no. She applies a force to it that makes her words feel like they could have physical force.

"My only duties are to myself and my would-be family. I never hold an oath because I can never be sure what it might take to fulfill my duties. If this mission conflicts with what I consider to be right and just, then there will be conflict. If not, there will not. If you believe the mission is right, you should have nothing to fear out of me."

Gloria leans back, bows her head, and takes a seat back in her wooden chair, which strains slightly under her compact weight.

8) Tell me a little about yourself. Your background, your training.

Keeping with her posture, she scratches her chin and gazes into the corner of the room, as if she's remembering something.

"I was adopted by monks. As an orphaned child, I did what I could to fit in. The other kids could be cruel sometimes and, let me tell you, getting bullied by a pack of monks is not easy on a little girl."

Gloria laughs a deep belly laugh.

"They taught me a lot of what I know. Since I left there as a teenager, I've been traveling and picking up what tips I can from mercenaries and warriors I come across. I try to blend everything I know the best I can. Pole-arms are not that different from the quarterstaffs I learned to use as a kid, it turns out. And light armor isn't much more difficult to fight in than none at all."

After a short two or three second pause, Gloria's gaze turned itself back toward her interviewers.

"Most of all, the monks taught me who I should not try to be. That sometimes it's okay to let things get the better of you. Sometimes you should grab hold of your rage and make it yours instead of fearing and shunning it."