Ilse Haecht's page

One can be the villain on its own story.

The first time Ilse saw Ming Na, she was impressed. The other girl, a young Human, was picking up water for her parents at the base of the shores, kneeling on the sand and singing with the voice of an angel. Ilse couldn't make head or tail of the words; she never truly understood the Tien language. Yet, she had been fascinated by Humans for a long time, and that girl had something special about her.

Born almost a century before in the depths of the ocean, the Elf was a lot more used to deal with her family, the nearby cecaelias, and the many, many dangers of the aboleth-dominated deeps. Her childhood had been happy but insular, and she grew up hearing stories of her adventuring great-uncle. The family almost hated talking about him, and how he braved the seas to go to the surface and collect fame and glory; but for the young Ilse, he was her hero.

When she accumulated enough decades to swim far by herself, she started fleeing and trying to reach the surface. She eventually got there, and was surprised to learn about the surface dwellers, including other Elves. Almost two decades of spying on the surface and interacting with them had passed when it came to that day that she met Ming Na, and she was fascinated as never before. For the next weeks, she'd almost every two or three days go back for some hours to look for the other girl, and then swim back home.

Their friendship flourished, despite not being able to speak the same language. They'd run around and swim together; Ming Na would sing, and Ilse applauded ferociously. They would cook bread and fish dumplings together, climb trees, paint and play with farm animals. Life was never so happy. The aquatic Elf even learned a couple words in Tien, and taught others in Elven to the Human. By that time Ilse could already speak Common, like some of the surface dwellers, but most people in Ming Na's village were limited to Tien and their local dialects. In time, the friendship maybe become more than that, and the Elf knew her feelings were already beyond her original reactions, and wondered if her friend shared the same affection towards her.

A given day, some foreigners reached the village on a ship. They weren't polite, but kept their distance and respect to the locals. Ilse was on her toes; she didn't trust them from the very beginning. Ming Na shared Ilse's feelings, especially towards a young man on the group called Carl Gage. The thin, perfumed swashbuckling rogue walked around carrying two rapiers and a smile larger than both blades. He liked to play cards and throw darts, and somehow the locals seemed to warm up to him. But not the two girls.

Their suspicions were right; the pirates eventually rounded up the village and pillaged all its goods, filling their ship and departing in a whim. The worst for Ilse, however, was arrive on the day after - and see that Ming Na had been taken hostage with them, kidnapped by the deviant Carl. The humble villagers, mostly farmers and old men, couldn't do a thing; they simply cried, mourned, and tried to make their lives continue despite the happenings. Ilse? No, not her. She wouldn't accept it.

The Elf, instead, left her family behind, for good, believing it was her duty to save Ming Na. In her young blood, she was feeling like her adventurous uncle. She was prohibited from leaving, but defied the orders and fled. She joined a company of Okayo corsairs, and with them followed the pirates to the Shackles, in the hopes of finding Ming Na. But things didn't quite work well as Ilse would prefer; the life in the sea, onboard of a ship, was that of constant dangers and toil, and for a young, inexperienced Elf, she didn't see the glamour of his uncle supposed adventures.

Ilse searched and searched, for times finding clues or scarced crew members of Carl. Times passed - weeks, months, years - and the feeling of being close never faded, neither the memories. But still, she wouldn't find the kidnapper and her friend, and as hope threatened to vanish, she slowly became a swashbuckler on her own, and a pirate. Throughout all the frustrations and failure, through all the work, pain, and danger, she started to slowly find a strange pleasure in it. As if Besmara herself guided her actions; as if she was a ship, herself, learning to navigate.

As an Elf, Ilse also understood that years weren't passing the same to her as they were to Ming Na. She learned to sail and to fight, but she especially learned to accept. And as a decade went by, she just accepted that fate wasn't truly to find her friend, and that maybe she was always supposed to be pushed into this adventure for different reasons than she originally supposed. Until, of course, another of those days came - and she again found a clue, better and fresher than ever before, that could take her finally to Ming Na, so they could be together.

By that time, almost twenty three years had already passed. Ilse followed the tracks to a village inland, maybe three days in a horse from the port. It was another humble village, but the ugly hobgoblin that sold her the information had sworn that Carl had retired to this place. So many times before she had been frustrated, but not this time - and there, finally, on the small flowered cottage, she found the man; now, with a wooden leg and a much older expression, but still the same perfume. And behind him, Ming Na; his wife. Not a captive, but someone who fled with him, so many years ago, for love. Someone that for the past decades had been by his side as they lived a life of adventures, and someone shocked to see Ilse again.

Their eyes were those of fear - for the Elf wasn't a friend rescuing her companion, but an obsessed corsair who followed them through different lands and seas. Ilse understood immediately; for a moment she gasped, but then smiled. The gods had made fun of her all this time; Besmara was probably letting her rum drop from laughing so hard. But yet, Ilse understood; this made her who she was. She left the couple behind, and went back to the port, thinking on now trying to find her a new purpose, a new life.

And that night in Port Peril, at the Formidable Maid, purpose found her...

Ilse Haecht
Female aquatic elf swashbuckler (okayo corsair) 1 (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Races 242, Pathfinder Player Companion: Martial Arts Handbook 11, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 56)
CN Medium humanoid (aquatic, elf)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 10 (+4 Dex)
hp 11 (1d10+1)
Fort +0, Ref +6, Will +1
Resist cold 5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
Melee temple sword +7 (1d8+1/19-20) or
. . unarmed strike +7 (1d3+1 nonlethal) or
. . urumi +7 (1d8+5/18-20)
Ranged dart +6 (1d4+1) or
. . light crossbow +5 (1d8/19-20)
Special Attacks deeds (derring-do, dodging panache, opportune parry and riposte), panache (2)
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 15
Base Atk +1; CMB +5; CMD 16
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Power Attack, Slashing Grace[ACG], Weapon Focus
Traits besmara's blessing, expert boarder, monk weapon skill, warrior of old
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +5, Diplomacy +6, Perception +8, Profession (cook) +5, Profession (sailor) +6 (+10 to navigate in the area detailed by the chart), Stealth +5, Swim +13; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Spellcraft to identify magic item properties
Languages Aboleth, Aklo, Common, Elven
SQ amphibious, elven magic, finesse weapon attack attribute, okayo finesse, okayo panache, unlearned, water breathing
Other Gear chain shirt, crossbow bolts (10), dart (2), light crossbow, temple sword[APG], urumi[UC], flint and steel, masterwork backpack[APG], nautical chart, waterskin, weapon cord[APG], wooden holy symbol of Besmara, wrist sheath, spring loaded (2), 15 gp, 6 sp, 1 cp
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Tracked Resources
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Besmara's Blessing (1/week) - 0/1
Crossbow bolts - 0/10
Dart - 0/2
Panache Pool (2/day) - 0/2
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Special Abilities
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Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Amphibious (Ex) You can survive indefinitely on land.
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Deadly Aim -1/+2 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Deeds
Elven Magic +2 to spellcraft checks to determine the properties of a magic item.
Energy Resistance, Cold (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Finesse Weapon Attack Attribute Finesse weapons use Dexterity on attack rolls.
Okayo Finesse (Ex) Use Dex for atk with light or 1h monk wpn. Use Cha instead of Int & Wis for combat feat pre-reqs.
Okayo Panache (Ex) Regain panache only when confirm a crit or make killing blow with light or 1h monk wpn.
Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Slashing Grace (Urumi) Treat chosen weapon as 1-handed piercing weapon and can add Dex instead of Str to dam.
Swim (30 feet) You have a Swim speed.
Unlearned (Knowledge [local]) You cannot attempt untrained checks with knowledge skills other than the one selected.
Water Breathing You can breathe water as well as air.
Weapon Focus (Monk Weapons) Choose one weapon group. You become better at using that type of weapon.

Prerequisites: base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using weapons from the selected group. The bonus only applies