Vailea

Katsanóron Vazrasti's page

72 posts. Alias of Tinalles.


Full Name

Katsanóron Vazrasti

Race

HP: 25/25, 3 temp HP, AC: 11:11:10, CMD: 10, Saves: 5:2:3

Classes/Levels

Skills: Diplo +11, Sense M +3, Spellcraft +7, Stealth +8 (+9 in forests), Craft (glass) +9, Prof (gardener) +6

Gender

Female half-elf Incanter 3,

Age

23

Alignment

NG

Deity

Ostara

Location

Issen

About Katsanóron Vazrasti

Backstory (long!):
Katsanóron Vazrasti is the first child of Selene Vazrasti and Inuksuk, two half-elves. Both are hunters, of vastly different backgrounds. Selene comes from far to the south, where she was raised in the elven lands and trained as a ranger. She came to Issen seeking her human parent, a man named Anders Magnorson.

Inuksuk comes from the nomadic Ipondilaq tribe of humans even further north of Issen, where the aurora dances in the long cold nights. He came to Issen to trade ivory, furs, and scrimshaw, fell for Selene, and settled in Issen to be with her. They married, and inherited Anders’ house at the edge of Issen when he died of pneumonia not long after.

Katsanóron is thus the child of two hunters, both half-elves. As a young girl, she showed enjoyed exploring the countryside around town, playing hide-and-seek, and pretending to shoot arrows at imaginary targets. She might well have continued in her parents’ profession — but then, Kagen’s mansion appeared not far from their small house. She did not see it arrive; but suddenly there it was, a large house where previously there had been nothing but empty land. Spooked by this sudden apparition, Inuksuk forbade Kat to go anywhere near it. But Katsanóron was fascinated by this sudden appearance, and took to lurking in the area to watch it and the eccentric middle-aged man who lived there. Two things in particular interested her: outside the mansion there was a garden, full of plants unlike any others she’d seen before; and the mansion had large windows full of elaborate, gleaming panes of some clear material. She had never seen glass before — Issen’s windows tended to be small to minimize heat loss, and to be closed with wooden shutters.

Eventually curiosity overcame caution, and Katsanóron snuck into the grounds. She remembers climbing over the wall, admiring the gardens, and making her way towards the building to look at its glass windows; and that is all. The next thing she remembers is waking up in her own bed, with her mother sitting by her side.

Selene gave a relieved sigh. “Oh good,” she said. “You’re awake. Inuksuk, she’s awake!”
Her father came to join them. “Good to see you return from the dream-ocean, little snow-drop,” he said, sitting on the side of the bed.

“What happened?” Katsanóron asked.

Her parents exchanged worried glances. “We were hoping you could tell us that,” Selene said. “We found you outside the front door, curled up in a ball and unconscious. You’ve been asleep for two days.”

“Two days?” Kat said in disbelief.

“Yes,” Inuksuk said. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Kat guiltily thought of ignoring her father’s rule and entering the grounds of Kagen’s manor. “Nothing,” she lied. “I mean, I went out to play, and then ... I woke up here.”

As the lie left her lips, Kat heard a faint, low chime. Looking down, she discovered that she was wearing a pair of thin silver bracelets engraved with images of tiny winged people chasing one another in circles, which she had never seen before.

Before she could comment on this, her parents exchanged a glance, seemingly unaware of the chime. “Nothing at all?” her mother pressed.

“No,” Kat said, and the bracelets chimed together.

“All right,” Inuksuk said.

And that was that. Katsanóron soon discovered that no one else could see her bracelets, and no one else could hear them. She looked at them closely when she was alone, and found nothing to show her where they came from. In time, she learned that once in a while they could help her — they help her to lie, or to sneak about. It made her games of hide and seek much easier, but she was never much given to lying, and so she didn’t use that part very much.

Strangely, it never occurred to her to try to take them off. They were just ... there. And hers. To this day it has never struck her as odd that she’s never tried to take them off. Ever. In the way of children, she just accepted this as part of how the world worked, and even as she grew to an adult it never struck her as odd that the bracelets continued to fit her perfectly as she grew.

Besides, she had other things to worry about. Starting about six months after her misadventure in Kagen’s manor, Katsanóron’s body began to change. Her skin slowly changed color from a normal skin tone to pale green. Her hair, originally black like her father’s, similarly turned to a deep green color; and tiny flowers began to bloom in it. This gradual transformation frightened her father a bit; but her mother interpreted it as a sign of divine favor. “Ostara has blessed you, Kat,” she said. “I don’t know why, or how, but you have the the goddess’ favor. Have faith in her, and she will see you through.” The rest of Issen was of mixed opinion — some people insisting that she was a freak and a danger, others that she must be cursed and needed help, and others just not knowing what to think of this bizarre transformation.

Then, one day in her teens, Kat walked into town with her mother to purchase some supplies — flour, sugar, other staples. Before they could get there, however, they caught sight of a plume of smoke rising from ahead; and rounding a bend in the road, they came across a scene of chaos: one of the older houses in town had caught fire. People were running and shouting, and a bucket brigade was forming. They rushed to join in, but something caught Kat’s eye: a row of three injured people lay to one side, out of the way, tended by Audra, one of the other villagers. Her bracelets chimed at her, and on a sudden impulse, Kat turned and went to them rather than joining the bucket brigade.

“How bad?” she asked as she got close.

“Old Man Jorenson’s like to die,” Audra said. “Burned badly. His lady wife is may live, but if she does she’ll be scarred for life. Young Einar there burned his hands badly pushing a burning beam out of the way to get them out. He’ll live, but the poor fool will never play his gitar again. I just hope the doctor can get here in time to save ... to ease ... hell, I don’t know what good he’ll be able to do.”

Einar, the only one of the three injured folk who was conscious, gritted his teeth and said nothing, but it was clear he was holding back tears at the thought of losing his music.

Katsanóron looked down on the injured townsfolk, and knew, without knowing how she knew, that she could save them. Reaching up to her dark hair, she found one of the white flowers that grew there and plucked it. It hurt. She knelt by Old Man Jorenson, and let the flower slip from her fingers. It fell, splitting as it did so from one flower to a hundred, dancing in the breeze and coalescing around the gravely burned man, leaving him all but buried in drift of glowing white flowers.

“What the ...” exclaimed Audra, eyes wide. Einar looked over, his eyebrows shooting up at the sight.

Then the flowers dissipated — blew away on some unseen, unfelt breeze — leaving behind Old Man Jorenson, his burns gone. The old man gave a sigh of relief and lapsed into a healing sleep.
Kat moved to the next — Hilda Jorenson, a wagging-tongued gossip who was one of the chief protagonists of the theory that Kat was a cursed freak who should be run out of town. She plucked another flower, and laid it on Hilda’s burned shoulder. This time, tiny green roots shot out of the flower into the burn, spreading through the damaged flesh, which regrew in response. The burns faded and seeped away, apparently drawn into the flower; which then dissipated in a tiny explosion of rapidly fading sparks. Like her husband, Hilda gave a sigh and slipped into a peaceful sleep.

Audra and Einar just gaped.

Kat was feeling a bit woozy, but she moved towards Einar. “Your hands,” she said.

He held them out to her. They were curled up in protective claws, but Kat could see charring and angry red flesh through the clenched fingers. “Please,” he whispered.

Once more Kat plucked a flower from her hair; acting purely on instinct, she clasped it in her fingers and spun her hand in a wide circle. The bell of the flower grew larger and larger, shining with a pale white light, until it was the size of a man’s head. Gently, she slipped the flower over his hands like a glove, the petals closing around his wrists. “Ah,” he said, as it pulsed with a gentle light. In a moment, the flower burst into sparks as Hilda’s had. Einar looked down and opened his hands.

“It’s ... it’s like they were never hurt,” he said. “I don’t know how to ... whoa!”
And with that he just had time to catch Katsanóron as she pitched forward, unconscious from the totally unexpected and unfamiliar strain.

After that, opinion in town rapidly turned in Kat’s favor. Far from being seen as a cursed freak, she was hailed as a miracle worker, favored of the gods. Maybe Ostara, maybe not, but clearly one of the good ones. It was ... frankly, embarrassing. And a bit disorienting to find herself suddenly lauded and regarded as a pillar of the community. But, Kat reflected wryly, better a pillar of the community than a borderline outcast.

In the subsequent years, Katsanóron has proven an able healer, capable of curing most injuries swiftly and without scar, though she has so far not manifested any ability to cure diseases. The town Doctor despises her for having reduced his business by at least half, but most of the rest of the village regards her with a sort of proprietorial affection. They pay for her healing services, mostly in kind rather than cash, but even so it has been sufficiently lucrative that she’s been able to have her own house built, complete with a small glass-making workshop, where she has spent several years teaching herself to glassworking from books and experimentation. Most recently, she added a greenhouse, with windows she made herself. Though she has not told the rest of the village this, she never sleeps well unless she’s in contact with fertile soil, and so she sleeps in the greenhouse rather than her bedroom. She rarely collapses from doing magic any longer, though it’s still draining, and has discovered a few other talents.

Lately, though, Katsanóron has grown troubled. She is 23 years old. It has been ten years since Kagen vanished; 14 since her incursion into his garden. She never told her parents about that, or anyone; and more and more she wonders if there might be a connection. Is she truly favored by Ostara? Or is it ... something else? What exactly happened to her in Kagen’s mansion? Soon, perhaps she will find out.

In case that was not enough, I have further backstory for her parents Selene and Inuksuk, about 300 words each.

Selene Vazrasti backstory:
Name: Selene Vazrasti
Gender: female
Race: half-elf
Class: Ranger 2
Notes:

Selene Vazrasti was the daughter of Elessal Vazrasti, an elven ranger, and Anders Magnorson, a wandering human mercenary. It was a casual liaison, and Elessal was somewhat surprised to find herself with child despite her precautions, but philosophically accepted this as part of nature’s path. She raised Selene in the elven lands.

Selene’s childhood was difficult. She grew much faster than her elven playmates, and found it difficult to maintain her friendships properly as a result. She also wondered a great deal about her father — what happened to him after he walked away from her mother’s side? Upon reaching maturity, and completing training as a ranger, she bid her mother farewell and set out to track down her father.

It took several years, but she eventually tracked her father down to the far northern town of Issen, apparently his hometown; only to find him an elderly, infirm bachelor living alone in a house on the edge of town. Anders was astounded and overjoyed to discover that he had a daughter, for he had never married, and produced no other offspring (that he knew of). Selene moved in with him. At the end of the first year, he named her his heir for what small worldly goods he had.

Not long after arriving, Selene met her future husband: Inuksuk, a half-elf hunter and trader from the far northern Ipondilaq tribe. Neither had ever met another half-elf before, and the connection was immediate. A year later, they married with Anders’ blessing. Not long after that, Anders contracted a severe case of pneumonia, and expired despite Selene’s devoted care.
Selene has pale blond hair, green eyes, and a steady, calm demeanor learned from the long-lived, philosophical elves she grew up with. She likes berry pies, freshly fallen snow, and the quiet peace of early dawn. She worships Ostara, a minor goddess of springtime, renewal, and community. She and Inuksuk have two children: Katsonoron (23) and Tulimaq (a boy, age 3).

Inuksuk backstory:
Name: Inuksuk
Gender: male
Race: half-elf
Class: Ranger 2
Notes:
Inuksuk was born to Amka, a woman of the Ipondilaq tribe, and Lesandrian Terambulis, a far-ranging elf explorer who was ill-prepared for the far northern winter. Its swift arrival and deep chill caught him unprepared, and he was on the verge of death when the Ipondilaq found him. Amka nursed him back to health, and in time they became lovers.

When this became known it caused a great deal of friction in the tribe, as the chieftain’s son Amaqjuaq had greatly desired Amka for himself. Eventually, tensions boiled over, and Amaqjuaq demanded that the outsider Lesandrian be cast out. Lesandrian objected to being thrown out after two years with the tribe, particularly as Amka was pregnant. It came to a duel in which both Amaqjuaq and Lesandrian died.

Compared to the other children, Inuksuk grew slowly; and he was always shadowed by the knowledge that his conception had resulted in the death of both his father and the previous chieftain’s only son. He was accepted as a member of the tribe, and trained as a hunter like all young men, but struggled to form close ties with his age-mates, who grew so much faster.

On reaching maturity, Inuksuk became an accomplished trapper, walrus hunter and scrimshaw artist. Eventually, he took to making long trips south to sell ivory, furs, and scrimshaw in the town of Issen. It was on one such trip that he met Selene Vazrasti, his future wife. He had never met another half-elf before, and fell head over heels for her. He returned briefly to his tribe to ask permission to marry of Amka (now the tribe’s midwife, and a devotee of Akna, a fertility goddess). She granted it, and he returned to Issen to make Selene his bride. There they settled.

“Inuksuk” means “on the right path,” and refers to a cairn of stones placed as a wayfinding marker on long trails across flat, snow-covered tundra. He has dark skin tanned by the glare of the sun off snow, straight black hair, and black eyes. He likes fine scrimshaw work, raunchy jokes, and listening to long stories by firelight. He dislikes the taste of alcohol and refuses to drink any more than a courtesy sip. He and Selene have two children: Katsanóron (23) and Tulimaq (a boy, age 3).

Stat block:
Katsanóron Vazrasti
Half-elf incanter 3
NG Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +1; Senses low-light vision; Perception +0
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Defense
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AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 10 (+1 Dex)
hp 25 (3d6+12)
Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +3
Resist cold 2
Weaknesses draining casting, magical signs, somatic casting
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk cold iron dagger +0 (1d4-2/19-20)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 7/day (DC 15, 2d6)
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Statistics
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Str 7, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 19
Base Atk +1; CMB -1; CMD 10
Feats Cantrips, Fast Learner[ARG], Selective Channeling
Traits hunter's child, northern ancestry, trustworthy
Skills
Bluff +4 (+5 to fool others),
Craft (glass) +9,
Diplomacy +11,
Profession (gardener) +6,
Sense Motive +3,
Spellcraft +7,
Stealth +8 (+10 in forested areas)
; Racial Modifiers hunter's child (+2 stealth in forests)
Languages Common, Elven, Sylvan
SQ barrier, casting, cure, deflection, easy focus, elf blood, energy resistance, entangle, geomancing, growth, invigorate, pummel, restore, restore movement, specialization (channel energy), tainted spirit, thorns, towering growth
Other Gear mwk cold iron dagger, bracelets of the fey touch, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, candle (10), chalk (10), flint and steel, folding shovel[UE], ink, inkpen, masterwork glassblowing tools, mess kit[UE], pot, soap, spell component pouch, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, 1,623 gp
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Special Abilities
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Cantrips You can create a variety of small magical effects
Casting (CL 3, MSB +3, MSD 14, Concentration +7, DC 15) You can cast sphere effects.
Draining Casting (1 nonlethal damage) You take nonlethal damage when you cast sphere effects
Easy Focus Maintaining a sphere effect takes a move action instead of a standard action
Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Energy Resistance, Cold (2) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Incanter Channel Positive Energy 2d6 (7/day, DC 15) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Life: Cure 2d8+3 (DC 15) Heal a target
Life: Invigorate (Up to 3 temp HP) Grant up to 3 temporary HP to an injured target
Life: Restore Heal a target's ability damage and remove negative conditions
Life: Restore Movement Cure heals +1d8 HP, and restore can free the target from movement-impairing effects
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Magical Signs Your use of magic is obvious to all observers
Nature: Entangle (DC 15) Cause plants to grow rapidly, entangling creatures in an area
Nature: Geomancing (Plantlife) You may command terrain and natural effects to act on your behalf
Nature: Growth Cause plants to grow food instantly
Nature: Pummel Cause a tree to attack enemies
Nature: Thorns 1d6+1 (DC 15) Cause spiny plants to grow rapidly, damaging creatures in an area
Nature: Towering Growth Entangle or thorns grows high enough to affect flying creatures
Protection: Barrier You can create a ward that absorbs damage
Protection: Deflection +1 You can put an aegis on a creature to grant it a deflection bonus to AC
Protection: Energy Resistance 13 Create a ward or aegis that resists energy damage
Selective Channeling Exclude targets from the area of your Channel Energy.
Somatic Casting You must have at least 1 hand free to use magic, and may be susceptible to ASF
Tainted Spirit Fort save DC 10 + rounds of combat after combat or become fatigued.