Hardish Swift's page

AC 19 ; touch 15; flatfooted 14 (+4 chain shirt, +4 DEX, +1 Dodge)
hp 22 2X[d8(Max)+2(CON)+1(Favoured Class)]
Fort +3 Ref +8 Will + 2
Defensive Abilities: +1 (trait) vs. enchantment, Evasion, Mobility

Initiative + 4
Speed 30ft.
Melee + 3
(rapier: d6+2 @ 18-20x2)
(dagger: d4+2 @ 19-20x2)
(longspear: d8+3 @ 20x3)

Ranged +5
(short-bow: d6 @ 20x3)
(longspear: d8 @ 20x3)

Sneak Attack(+1d6)

Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 17
Feats: Dodge, Mobility
Class Features: Sneak Attack (+1d6), Trapfinding, Evasion, Rogue Talent (Minor Magic Sp: Mage Hand 3/day)

(All skills shown are class skills with two skill ranks. As such, please assume +5)
acrobatics +7(+4 DEX,-2 Armour)
bluff +5 (+0 CHA)
climb +5 (+2 STR, -2 Armour)
disable device +8 (+4 DEX, +1 Trapfinding, -2 Armour)
disguise +5 (+0 CHA)
escape artist +8(+4 DEX, +1 trait -2 Armour)
k:dungeoneering +8 (+3 INT)
linguistics +6 (+3 INT)
perception +6(+7 trapfinding) (+1 WIS)
sense motive +6 (+1 WIS)
sleight of hand +7(+4 DEX, -2 Armour)
stealth +7(+4 Dex, -2 Armour)

Tattered Cloak of resistance +1, Studded Leather, rapier, longspear, dagger(hidden), shortbow, arrows (60),durable arrows (8), anti-plague, a backpack, a belt pouch, caltrops, chalk (10), a flint and steel, a grappling hook, a mirror, pitons (10), rope, soap, thieves' tools, torches (10), trail rations (3 days), crowbar, potion of cure light wounds (2), bear trap, ioun torch

Once per day, you can attempt a Knowledge check of your choice even if you are not trained in that skill and it is not usually possible to use that skill untrained. If you can normally use that skill untrained, you gain a +2 trait bonus on the check.

When trying to escape manacles, rope, or other similar restraints (but not grapples or similar attacks), you may make a Sleight of Hand check instead of your Escape Artist modifier. If you free yourself, you gain a +2 trait bonus on Bluff checks to pretend that you are still bound

Having been imprisoned for a time and having earned your freedom through sheer force of will, you have developed a supernatural aversion and resistance to any kind of containment. You gain a +1 trait bonus to escape artist checks and a +1 trait bonus to will saves against enchantments

Whenever you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you take a –1 penalty on saving throws.

Hardish is a tall, wide shouldered human. He likely looks more imposing than he actually is. He prefers to avoid conflict through logic and good reflexes. He also thinks of himself as more charismatic than he actually is. He has a golden tuft of hair up front that he can flip up to give himself a sharp coif amongst his otherwise normal brown hair. His blue eyes are wide and pensive normally. His body is generally well toned, just from living in harsh conditions, however he also suffers his history. Hardish's body has unusual burn patterns and flecks of discoloration. In particular, his back is badly burnt and his cloak remains stuck, almost fused, to it. While this would be very concerning to him normally, his injuries seem much older and much more well cared for than they actually were. Hardish asks no questions about this, preferring to count his blessings.

Hardish's personality is generally stand-offish. He prefers to avoid conflict and is fairly skilled in this. He is definitely in it for himself, but he has developed a soft spot for his follower. Regardless of his ultimate goal, he is well driven towards it. He also sleep-walks and sleep-talks. His follower would confirm that this is a very different Hardish, a scary one who speaks in foreign tongues in a low, grating voice.

He grew up amongst the acolytes and cultists, his parents being two high ranking members. Hardish spent much time in libraries, reading and developing an understanding of languages. He also learned about dangerous creatures and adventuring as the cultists often travelled to dangerous places to seek out relics or to meet in secret. Hardish developed all of the skills he needed to go wherever he so wanted. He could disguise himself and bluff his way into the grandest of affairs, and he could just as easily sneak past defenses unseen, climbing the side of a building and into an open window.
Hardish's parents were proud in their way, but their first priority was always to their work. As such, when Hardish was ordained to be sacrificed on the day of the Red Harvest, both parents knew to step back and allow the rest of the acolytes do as they would. They transferred out of that monastery and moved to another so as not to have to take part in their own son's death directly.

Hardish was well on his way to joining the ranks of the worshippers of the Dark One, but on the day of the Merging, he was told that he had been chosen to be a sacrifice instead. He saw very little of the initial adjustments to the Merging, and nearly missed the Red Harvest as well. He was imprisoned in total isolation for the month between the two events and began to slowly lose his mind, he was seeing things and hearing voices, objects would move across his cell on their own, and he began to sleep-walk.

Hardish was closely tied to the initial events of the Red Harvest in that he was intended to be a sacrifice to the Dark One. Finally, on the day of the Red Harvest, he was brought in, draped in only an anointed cloak. He saw the sacrificial altar prepared with incense, a large chalice, candles, and a dagger all arranged. He saw the growing shadows all around him and he asked aloud "Someone, set me free! It is my only wish. I'll give anything." He thought he heard a gravelly voice whisper "Deal". After that, things become foggy for Hardish. He remembers reaching out to the keys to his shackles, and having them fly into his hands, he remembers doing the same with the dagger on the altar, mumbling something in a voice not his own, and cutting his hand. He remembers an explosion of dark energy and running from it as quickly as he could. Running faster than he has ever run. He also remembers the pain as the explosion caught up to him, singing his back and nearly fusing the cloak to his body.

After that, Hardish awoke with a shock, gasping for air as though he had been choking. He was outside of the complex, with a little girl beside him. He tried to speak to her, but her response was "Quoi?". He decided that the girl must have followed him out and that there was no point in leaving her alone to die, so the two of them began exploring the new world together. Hardish was often responsible for finding food and shelter for the group and protecting the two of them, but he was shocked one day to return to his follower, Fatima surrounded by skeletons and zombies, remaining perfectly still and going completely unnoticed. Hardish was able to draw the undead away from her and double back in time to escape the horde. Now, Hardish awakens at times with scratches that he had not had before, or standing entirely upright. After learning her language, Hardish has heard Fatima explain that he sometimes speaks in his sleep, but always in a low gravelly voice. In any case, Hardish and Fatima are reasonably successful on their own, searching for new shelter every few nights. Fatima believes that she is looking for her parents, but Hardish is uncertain if he can or even should lead her back that way.

Somewhere deep in the Abyss was an imprisoned devil, called Kronos, waiting for his chance to escape. Kronos was held in a devil's jail for his betrayal of the Dark One in an attempt to usurp his power. As the Merging passed, the blurring of the lines between planes gave the devil an opportunity to escape. He needed a new host body in the material plane, and he needed the deal to be made willingly. Kronos saw this opportunity in Hardish Swift, a young human training to come in as an acolyte of the Dark One. This man was a perfect candidate: desperate, isolated, similarly hateful of the Dark One, and primed with connections to the occult. On the day of the Red Harvest, Hardish called out for help and Kronos answered. The two became kindred spirits in their freeing of each other. Kronos was left much weakened from the escape attempt, and Hardish's will dominates for the moment, but Kronos made sure to keep his escape plan nearby in the virgin he saved from the cultists. Kronos knows a ritual to take full control of his host body if he can only convince Hardish to kill the girl himself.
Conveniently enough, it seems that one of Hardish's main goals is to overthrow the Dark One, which suits Kronos just fine.

Fatima is a young girl from the modern world. This 12 year old dark skinned girl speaks French as her first language and is currently improving her understanding of common through practice with Hardish. Her black hair is usually neatly tied up, though she sometimes misses strands or clumps in a hurry. She is generally a very quiet girl, but she can be friendly once she knows you. She is certainly more trusting than Hardish. She is small and wears simple, practical clothing, though she would very much like to be able to wear dresses again. She is still under the impression that her parents may be out there waiting for her, though in reality, that is very unlikely.

Fatima
XP 65
Female young human commoner 1
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +2
DEFENSE
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 1 (1d6-2)
Fort -2, Ref +2, Will +0
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Sp: Hide from undead (self only) at will
STATISTICS
Str 6, Dex 14, Con 6, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 15
Base Atk +0; CMB -2; CMD 10
Feats Alertness, Persuasive
Skills Climb +2, Diplomacy +5, Perception +6, Sense Motive +2
Languages: French Common

dolly, backpack, a bedroll, an iron pot, a mess kit, waterskin

Fatima is a modern French human who was kidnapped after the merging to be sacrificed to the Dark One during the Red Harvest. She was taken from her parents by a team of raiders who in turns sold her to cultists for a bounty. While imprisoned by the cultists, she was anointed in special oils and made to breathe in noxious incense. These made her skin itch and her lungs burn when she moved, so after a time, she learned to remain completely motionless. This made the pain much less and Fatima was able to find a place of stillness inside herself that made her feel peaceful.
On the day of the Red Harvest, she was being taken to the main antechamber, but a large explosion from down the hall enveloped her and the cultists accompanying her. From the smoking chamber ahead, a man emerged like a streak of lightning. His eyes were filled with darkness and he wielded a ceremonial dagger with great deftness, slicing the throats of both cultists before they stood up. The man began to walk away, but paused, sniffing the air. He whispered something in a gravelly voice and then spoke to her in perfect French. "Suivez-moi si vous voulez vivre.": Follow me if you want to live.
Once in the open air, the man's eyes changed back to normal and he seemed very weak for a moment. He lay motionless for a while, before sitting upright suddenly and gasping for air. His voice was normal again too. The two of them began travelling together, searching for her parents, for resources, and for answers.
One day, the undead attacked and Fatima was helpless, she hid in a cupboard and tried to remain calm, finding the place of stillness inside herself. She found it and maintained it, even when one of the skeletons opened the cupboard door and seemed to be looking right at her with its empty eye sockets. The creatures left shortly after that, as though she had never been there.