Ignus 'Tiny''s page

Ignus does not remember much of his past. His earliest memories are the fuzziest and consist of him wandering blindly through the fog. The first significant event that he can recall is stumbling out onto a pass that carved its way across a mountain, just above the Fog. Surprised by the sudden change of scenery, he began to walk the path with curious footsteps. After an hour or so he came to a bend around which rode wagon
pulled by a pair of oxen. Ignus shot straight up in surprise, the sight of other creatures took him completely off guard. Apparently the couple riding the wagon were equally as shocked, although more likely due to finding a lone traveler wandering the mountains miles away from any civilization. Cautiously they approached, these trading routes where known to be relatively safe from vagabonds and brigands and the single figure on the road looked more confused than threatening. As they drew near the male called out; the figure had not moved since coming in to view and they were worried that maybe something was wrong with him. As they spoke to him the figure merely stammered in response seeming to try desperately to forms words into sentences with his hollow, monotone voice. Concerned the couple take a brief moment of consideration before asking the figure if perhaps he would like a ride. Ignus manages to stammer out an affirmative and proceeds to clamber onto the back of the cart where he sits amongst bales of hay and bags of seed, the wood groans under his weight. The couple continue on in silence, still unsure of what to think of their new companion. Eventually they try to break the awkward silent, asking what his name is. Ignus considers the question, but his mind seems unable to retrieve a response. Again worried by the silence of their passenger, the female of the couple looks back to see if he is alright. She eyes him for a long while, her eyes tracing over his armored form and weapons slung across his back, finally coming to rest on a single word inscribed on the collar of his armor. The inscription reads "Ignus". She mouths the words to herself, then asks aloud if that is his name. He pauses for a moment, turning the word over and over in his mind. Finally he nods in the affirmative. Pleased to have made some headway conversationally the girl beams. She presses Ignus in an attempt to draw even more from the stranger. Unfortunately, it would appear that he is having the same difficulty with words that he was having before. Undeterred, the couple proceed to simply tell him stories of their travels as traders. Ignus listens intently, still enamored by these two strangers. They speak of many things; the wars, the fog, life in the world, and the places they've been. Their tales pass the time well and soon they arrive at the walls of Shadowvale. Unfortunately, they say, this is where they must part ways. With only those words they send Ignus into the city alone and unguided. The gearforged looks out upon the new area excitedly, and any onlooker would assume him to be suffering a sensory overload. He hastily steps foot onto the busy main street, intent on exploration.

After a week in the city Ignus is much less enthusiastic. He has learned many lessons from the people, their attitude much more gruff than the first people he met due to their hard lives. The very first thing he learned was how to speak, an apparent necessity when trying to interact with others. Second, and more importantly, was that he found that one cannot go about barging into others business for no reason. On multiple occasions Ignus was rebuked by citizens that he had approached inquisitively. Third, he found that his body was not like theirs. Where as they were mostly flesh and blood, underneath his armor there was only brass nuts and spinning gears. In truth this seemed to be a great benefit as it would seem that he had no need for sustenance that so plagued many of the other citizens. However, he soon discovered that his delicate internal mechanisms had to be painstakingly maintained and damaged parts repaired or replaced. This led him to his fourth and final discovery: the parts he so desperately needed cost money, which is not something he readily had. Wandering the streets again late at night Ignus pondered his state. He was reluctant to sell his armor or weapons, they being the only things that he had to his name. For now he was making due with jurry-rigging broken pieces and spot cleaning his joints, but he could feel himself slowly seizing up and knew it wouldn't last. He needed to find a source of income, but with no skills or experience to speak of, that was easier said than done. As the dark sky opened up and began to dump rain on the city Ignus continued to pace the slick stone streets. With the rain softly plunking against his helmet he spots a wooden board. The words Work are painted on the top in faded black paint. He sighs in his deep monotone voice, he had already looked over the board a hundred times with no luck. Still, it couldn't hurt to try again. His vision scans over the familiar postings until it finds something out of place. A fresh piece of parchment, placed recently it would seem, waving gently in the breeze. He scans the paper greedily. Picking out only a few words of interest with his budding reading skills he sees Help Wanted and No Experience and his excitement grows. He scans furiously, finally reaching the passage he had been looking for: Apply at Shadwovale Orphanage. He rushes off with vigor in his step.

Now years have passed since Ignus had came to Shadowvale. He had been able to beat out other applicants for his position, one of a simple laborer, on the sheer merit that he required no food, water, and only a few hours of down time and maintenance a day. His job had turned out to be fairly simple. He mostly served to perform manual tasks such as lifting boxes and performing janitorial duties. In return he had been given a small stipend every month as well as a small room in the basement adjacent to the boiler to make his own. The heat from the massive machine made the room unbearably hot and thus completely void of use, although give Ignus's body he had no such concerns. His duties had him moving often around the orphanage and in time most there grew to recognize his armored form. Most children referred to Ignus as "Tiny" in playful reference to his giant figure. In truth, most residents of the orphanage treated him with at least some level of kindness and he would often share short exchanges as they passed by. As time went on Ignus was given many new tasks that would benefit from his unique physiology. In the evenings when others had gone to sleep for the night, Ignus would often be tasked with the cleaning and organizing of the many tomes in the facilities library. This often gave him a chance to poor over a few books alone, absorbing new and fascinating information with speed and ease. On other occasions during the day Ignus would be called upon to assist Master Coutran with physical training. This mostly involved Ignus using his natural toughness to endure blow after blow from young trainees in the course of their studies. Here he discovered an instinctual aptitude with weaponry and combat, almost as if he had been been formally trained in the ways of war. When it would come time for his maintenance or repairs, Ignus would often be taken to Mistress Longbridge who would perform the duties herself, using his delicate mechanisms as an example to her classes. Here Ignus would simply absorb her teachings alongside her students, learning the necessary information to make his own repairs to his body. In short, Shadowvale Orphanage has given as much benefit to Ignus in the ways of knowledge and training as it has to the orphans that it raises.

Five pieces of character background:
1) Ignus appears as a massive man wearing a suit of dull grey metal. Though his armor appears worn and old, it displays remarkable craftsminship across its surface. The same could be said of both his sword and bow, which appear to have similar styles and signs of age. His armor actually serves as sort of an outer shell, bolted to his metal skeleton to protect the delicate mechanisms encased within. To a normal onlooker his nature as a Gearforged is virtually undetectable. The only thing that gives away his true nature is the soft whirring of gears that can be heard coming from inside his chest.
2) Ignus began his life as True Neutral, too naive to understand the subtle nature of morality. His life in the Orphanage has brought him up to Neutral Good, where he understands and enjoys being kind to others but still lacks strong leanings towards laws or freedom.
3) Most of Ignus's combat abilities and skills are less learned as they are...remembered. When he fights his body almost seems to act on its own, drawing on some unknown pool of experience that he is apparently in possession of. The same goes for information. Usually learning lacks the sense of the unknown and instead simply feels like dredging up information from somewhere inside his mind.
4) Mistress Longbridge once did a major examination of Ingus's body in an effort to locate a cause of his apparent memory loss. She found that he only had one memory gear, and it had been recording for two years. As such, she was only able to conjecture that maybe Ignus had lost some of his memory gears, rendering him unable to recall those periods. That still didn't explain why he possessed no memories from before he became a Gearforged but it was all she could come up with given the lack of evidence.
5) Ignus has had one "birthday" so far. On the occasion he was given a very small party along with a few meager gifts. One of which was a mysterious egg of unknown origins. Ignus has taken to carrying this egg like a dotting mother, often tucking it safely away inside the gaps in his armor.

Two goals as a character/player:
1) Ignus is conflicted. Part of him wants to go beyond the orphanage and explore the rest of the world, but he is afraid of doing so unguided. Maybe he can go out with one of the groups of adventurers...
2) Normally I make large elaborate goals for characters. For once I kind of just want to play this guy out, react organically to stuff in the game and build his personality from there.

Two secrets about my character one known, one unknown:
1) Sometimes Ignus has "nightmares" as he calls them. Brief flashes of memory the erupt from the depths of his mind. Usually they come alongside a strong emotion or sensation such as pain, joy, lust, sound, colors, love, taste, or sadness. They are usually brief and serve only as a shocking curiosity rather than any serious threat.
2) It should be obvious at this point, but Ignus has some amnesia issues. The thing is, technically he is dead. I'll explain. You see, Ignus used to be a normal human mortal. He used to be a powerful warrior at one point in his life and had earned a small legacy. Sadly, as is usually the way for the violently inclined, he was eventually cut-down. His soul tried to escape its way into the ether, but the powerful magical nature of the Fog caused some interference. Rather than be transported into the afterlife, the renegade soul was instead cast rather violently into the discarded body of a Gearforged, creating Ignus as he is now. Whether it was fate or chance is unknown, though obviously the ordeal was traumatic enough to strip Ignus of most of his memories. I leave the exact specifics of Ignus's previous life to be determined, rediscovering his past could be either a major or minor part of the adventure and I don't want to spoil it by already knowing all the details.

Provide three people that are close to the character:
1) Mistress Longbridge: Well not necessarily close, but the changeling teacher has provided Ignus with a great deal of information about his body and he appreciates it very much. Secretly, he regards her as sort of a mother figure and is constantly awed by her endless expertise with machinery.
2) Anna Filaman: A local baker who delivers fresh bread to the orphanage around once a week. Usually it is Ignus who is helping her unload the bread from her cart and the two have shared many conversations during the time. She's a 5'7" human woman that looks to be in her mid 20s with shoulder length brown hair and green eyes. Her bakery is called "The Hungry Cat" and is moderately successful, being especially known for making a unique tasting loaf of pretzel dough. Ignus's sand colored poncho that he wears was a gift from Anna, she made it herself.
3) Rawgr Nyaman: The short catfolk has had a budding bond with Ignus ever since the incident with the Fog. Ignus has appreciated the companionship of the gentle cat. At one point Ignus saw that Rawgr was attending classes with absolutely no supplies, and withdrew some funds from his own stipend to purchase some meager gear for his friend. (Purchased Fighter Kit, high quality coat, and a high quality eye patch. Total cost: 19 gp)

Three quirks/mannerisms:
1) Ignus speaks in a deep, monotone voice. He apparently possesses no ability to change his tone and it always sounds like a hollow echo coming from his armor. The exception being that he can raise and lower his volume. Potentially could make him very hard to read conversationally. However, it would appear the gears in his body respond emotionally where his voice does not. When he is excited, they whir with haste. When angry, they can be heard grinding away viciously. Careful listeners can use these signs in place of voice inflection to judge his mood.
2) Ignus is relatively well spoken and versed for someone who up and wandered out of the Fog. Usually he speaks casually but can unintentionally slip into a more refined verse if he is concentrating on something else.
3) It would appear the Ignus's body is especially resistant to magic for whatever reason. Magical energy doesn't seem to flow very well in his hands and would likely just sputter out and die before creating any effect. In the future, he will likely focus more on his marshal prowess and clever tricks than the art of spell-casting. This proves espeially unfortunate because the subject of magic interests him immensely.

Size: Medium; 6' 6" 450 lbs
HP: 12
AC: 20; Touch 13; Flat-footed 17
Saves: Fort 3; Ref 5; Will 0 (+4 vs Mind Affecting effects)
BAB +1
Speed: 30 ft
Special Abilities/Class Abilities
Favored Enemy: Construct [+2]
Track
Wild Empathy
Low-light vision
Darkvision (60 ft)
Immune: Disease
Immune: Death Effects
Immune: Necromancy
Immune: Poison
Immune: Sleep Effects
Immune: Nonlethal Damage
Immune: Fatigue
Immune: Exhaustion
Emergency Surge
Rich Parents
Feats
Forgotten Past
Equipment
Longbow
Greatsword [Masterwork]
Breastplate [Masterwork]
Gear
Common Arrows (60)
Fighter Kit
Gear Maintenance Kit
Hand-Sewn Poncho
Adventurer's Sash
Egg
GP: 64
Skills
Acrobatics: 0
Appraise: 1
Bluff: 0
Climb: 5
Craft [Clockwork]: 7
Diplomacy: 0
Disable Device: -
Disguise: 0
Escape Artist: 0
Fly: 0
Handle Animal: -
Heal: 0
Intimidate: 6
Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5
Linguistics: -
Perception: 6
Perform: 0
Profession: -
Ride: 0
Sense Motive: 0
Sleight of Hand: -
Spellcraft: -
Stealth: 4
Survival: 4
Swim: -1
Use Magic Device: -