Kael Theren's page

Kael is strong and quick, but he appears much older than his twenty-nine years for having endured the horrible murder of his wife and daughter, wounds that can never heal. His brown hair is thick and unkempt and his skin is pale, almost unnaturally grayish in color. This condition is a consequence of his relentless quest to root out necromancy, an occupation pursued almost exclusively during the night and often underground or in crypts and cairns. It is an unhappy life, but it gives him purpose.

Despite his circumstances, Kael can put on a good face and has not lost his love for music and poetry, although he may seem aloof to strangers. He means well even if words fail him. To his acquaintances, he is loyal and focused, brave, and quick to action. His faith is strong and he knows that when his time for judgement comes he will see his family again. He speaks to them often, and to Shelyn, and though they do not respond he knows they hear him.

I am Kael Theren, a man whose life once flourished with the joys of love and music. My wife, Esgean, possessed a voice that could soothe the most tormented souls, her melodies an offering to Shelyn. Our daughter, Nura, was a beacon of innocence and adventure, her spirit intertwined with the untamed wilds of Ustalav. Together, we often ventured into the forest, where I imparted to Nura the secrets of the natural world and the creatures that inhabited it.

But the malevolent forces that lurk in the shadowy corners of our reality took notice of our happiness. One fateful night, while I was away guiding a group of hunters through the forest, an unspeakable horror descended upon our home. A necromancer, a servant of the abhorrent Whispering Way, unleashed a blasphemous terror that defiled the sanctity of our existence. Esgean and Nura were savagely murdered and transformed into grotesque abominations, their once-beautiful forms twisted by an eldritch curse.

When I returned, the scene that assaulted me defied the bounds of sanity. Our home, once a haven of love and light, had become a nightmarish tableau of despair. The air was thick with the stench of decay and the echoes of dark incantations. My heart, shattered by grief and rage, drove me to the precipice of madness. With trembling hands, I was forced to end the tortured existence of my beloved wife and daughter, their eyes, void of life, haunted my every moment.

A specter of my former self, I wandered the accursed land of Ustalav. My purpose, a grim resolve, was to cleanse the world of those who defile the dead and deny them their rightful passage to the beyond. My grief was transformed into a righteous fury, a burning desire to eradicate the agents of the Whispering Way and any other necromantic scourges that dared to cross my path.

One dreary evening, seeking respite from the torment that gnawed at my soul, I found myself in a desolate tavern on the outskirts of Ravengro. There, amidst the flickering shadows, I encountered an old man with eyes that seemed to pierce through the veil of reality. Introducing himself as Professor Lorrimor, he sensed the weight of my burden and offered a sympathetic ear. Over tankards of ale, I recounted my tale of woe, the words spilling forth like a dam long broken. The old man listened, his silence a balm to my anguished spirit.

Through our melancholic communion, I found a glimmer of hope. Lorrimor's words, heavy with the wisdom of ages, reminded me of the love and joy that once defined my existence. I resolved to honor the memory of Esgean and Nura, not solely with anger, but with the love we had shared, a love that no dark magic could ever truly extinguish.

Thus, I continue my journey, now in Lorrimor's employ, my heart a vessel of both sorrow and unyielding determination. The melodies of my wife's songs and the laughter of my daughter remain with me, a testament to the beauty that once was and the light that I strive to protect from the encroaching darkness.

However, as I wander deeper into the shadowed realms of Ustalav, I have begun to sense an ancient and malevolent presence—an entity whose power eclipses that of the Whispering Way. Whispers of a being of unspeakable horror that slumbers beneath the earth have reached my ears. This abomination, a remnant of forgotten eons, threatens to awaken and feast upon the souls of the living.

In the dead of night, I have felt its presence, an oppressive force that suffocates the very air around me. The ground trembles with its stirrings, and the shadows twist and writhe as if alive with malevolence. I have seen glimpses of its nightmarish form in my dreams - tentacles that defy reason, eyes that pierce through the fabric of reality, and a maw that hungers for the essence of life itself.

I fear that the Whispering Way's necromancers are but pawns in a grander, more sinister scheme to awaken this eldritch terror. My resolve is unwavering, yet the weight of this revelation presses heavily upon my soul. I know that to confront this newfound menace is to stare into the abyss itself, but I cannot falter. The memory of Esgean and Nura drives me onward, a beacon of light in the encroaching darkness.

13 GP (325 starting gold)
Weapons
200 Composite Longbow +1 3lbs
1 Arrows, Common (20) 3lbs
2 Arrows, Blunt (20) 3lbs
5 Battle Aspergillum 4lbs

Armor
60 Lamellar (Leather) 25 lbs
5 Buckler 5lbs

na Explorer's Outfit 8lbs
30 Thieves Tools 1lb
9 Ranger's Kit 28lbs

Track (Ex)
A ranger adds half his level (minimum 1) to Survival skill checks made to follow tracks.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A ranger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with light armor medium armor and shields (except tower shields).

Favored Enemy (Ex)
At 1st level a ranger selects a creature type from the ranger favored enemies table. He gains a +2 bonus on Bluff Knowledge Perception Sense Motive and Survival checks against creatures of his selected type. Likewise he gets a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them. A ranger may make Knowledge skill checks untrained when attempting to identify these creatures.

At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th 15th and 20th level) the ranger may select an additional favored enemy. In addition at each such interval the bonus against any one favored enemy (including the one just selected if so desired) increases by +2.

If the ranger chooses humanoids or outsiders as a favored enemy he must also choose an associated subtype as indicated on the table below. (Note that there are other types of humanoid to choose from—those called out specifically on the table below are merely the most common.) If a specific creature falls into more than one category of favored enemy the ranger’s bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher.

Class Skills
The ranger’s class skills are Climb (Str) Craft (Int) Heal (Wis) Intimidate (Cha) Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) Knowledge (geography) (Int) Perception (Wis) Profession (Wis) Ride (Dex) Spellcraft (Int) Stealth (Dex) Survival (Wis) and Swim (Str). From Archetype: Disable Device and Knowledge (local)

Blessed by his deity a divine tracker hunts down those he deems deserving of his retribution. His weapon is likely to find purchase in his favored enemy.

Alignment: A divine tracker’s alignment must be within one step of his deity’s along either the law/chaos axis or the good/evil axis.

Favored Weapon
At 1st level a divine tracker becomes proficient with the favored weapon of his deity. If his deity’s favored weapon is unarmed strike he instead gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat.

This ability replaces wild empathy.

Blessings (Su)
At 4th level a divine tracker forms a close bond with his deity’s ethos. He selects two warpriest domains from among the domains granted by his deity and gains the minor blessings of those domains. A divine tracker can select an alignment domain (Chaos Evil Good or Law) only if his alignment matches that domain. If a divine tracker isn’t devoted to a particular deity he still selects two blessings to represent his spiritual inclinations and abilities subject to GM approval. The restriction on alignment domains still applies. A divine tracker uses his ranger level as his warpriest level to determine the effect of the blessing. At 13th level a divine tracker gains the major blessing from both of his domains.

This ability replaces hunter’s bond.

For the urban ranger the streets and sewers of the city are just as dangerous as the barren wastelands or the deep forests.

An urban ranger has the following class features:

Urban Ranger
At 1st level an urban ranger adds Disable Device and Knowledge (local) to his list of class skills and removes Handle Animal and Knowledge (nature) from his list of class skills.

Favored Community (Ex)
At 3rd level the urban ranger forms a bond with a community. While inside the limits of this community he gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (local) Perception Stealth and Survival skill checks. An urban ranger traveling through his favored community leaves no trail and cannot be tracked (although he may leave a trail if he so desires).

At 8th level and every five levels thereafter an urban ranger may select an additional favored community. In addition at each such interval the skill bonus and initiative bonus in any one favored community (including the one just selected if so desired) increases by +2. For the purposes of this ability a community is any settlement consisting of 100 or more individuals. The community may be larger than this minimum. Outlying farms fields and houses are not considered part of a community.

This ability replaces favored terrain.

Trapfinding (Ex)
At 3rd level an urban ranger can find and disable traps as the rogue class feature of the same name.

This ability replaces endurance.

Push Through (Ex)
At 7th level an urban ranger is never slowed by difficult terrain in his favored communities. In addition he can move through the space occupied by local citizens as if they were allies. This does not apply to creatures intent on harming the ranger. Areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion however still affect him.

This ability replaces woodland stride.

Blend In (Ex)
An urban ranger of 12th level or higher can use his Stealth bonus in place of a Disguise skill check in any of his favored communities. This disguise does not take an action to don. He must make a check whenever someone attempts to pick him out from the local citizens. If his check is successful he blends into the crowd. While not invisible enemies do not notice his presence and take no actions against him unless they are taking actions against the local citizens in general.

This ability replaces camouflage.

Invisibility Trick (Sp)
At 17th level the urban ranger can cast greater invisibility on himself as a wizard of his ranger level as a swift action. He can use this spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to his Wisdom modifier (minimum 1).

This ability replaces hide in plain sight.