About Khatef, The Beggar GodResources:
--Deceiver's Unblinking Eye (Lesser, Constant): I can always tell when someone’s trying to lie to me or deceive me. I can see through mortal illusions and disguises. This gift does not affect other Godbound with the Deception Word. --Liar's Flawless Grace (Lesser, Constant): My lies can never be detected as such by magic or other special abilities, including those of the Deception Word. Lesser foes will always believe them unless they are completely implausible, emotionally intolerable, or would oblige them to self-harm. Death (Word): Command lesser undead as an action. Greater undead get Spirit save and can't be made to self-destruct. On Turn action know details of what, where, and how anything within 200 feet died. --Scythe Hand (Lesser, On Turn): 200 ft. range, 1d10 damage. Always deals 1 damage, even on a miss. --White Bone Harvest (Lesser, Action, Smite): Commit effort for scene, destroy any hostile lesser undead within sight (so long as they are lesser foes). Other undead in sight take damage = level (tripled vs Mobs). --No Release (Greater, On Turn): Commit effort. Visible target is completely unable to die until Effort is reclaimed. If brought to 0 HP, revived with 1 HP an hour later. Even if body is destroyed or scattered, target exists in a haze of blind agony until restored or effort is reclaimed. Knowledge (Word): Set Int or Wis to 16 (or 18 if already 16) --The Best-Laid Plans (Lesser, Action): Commit effort for a day. Learn the most significant flaw in your plan to accomplish certain goal. Works only once per goal. --Th Best Course (Lesser): Commit effort for a scene. Gain a sentence of truthful information form the GM on how best to accomplish a certain goal. New information cannot be gained from this Gift until the current tidbit has been acted on or the goal it pertains to is abandoned. ----------
When he awakens, days later, his mother is dead, taken by the same illness she'd nursed him through. His father had passed years before. Barely able to stand, he sought someone to help him, but no one wanted the burden of another sick child. The lower levels of the pyramid were already too harsh a place for that. One man did take pity on him in the end, giving him a flask of water and a single apple. And that was it. He was on his own from there. Life got barely better as he aged. Whatever illness he had had nearly crippled him, leaving him weak and prone to other illnesses, unable to even run without collapsing, breathless only moments later. Khatef was one of many parentless children, but the rest were able to work for, fight for, or steal what they needed to live, forming communities and friendships to survive. Khatef could do none of those things. He was lucky if he could barely lift his own body, much less carry water. He was not quick enough to steal from the food vendors and escape (and attempting to pick a pocket was likely to get him killed trying to learn). Fighting was out of the question as weak as he was. He'd surely lose, and his bones were brittle enough to make it too dangerous. So the other children left him alone, at first. Then one of the brighter ones, a boy named Rhul, had a plan. Why not use Khatef's weakness as a strength? There were many rich men in the bazaar, and maybe some could be moved by a small child in need. And so Khatef properly begged for the first time. One of many on the street, but very few of the children bothered. His uniqueness served him well, bringing in enough coin for at least one meal a day most days, after sharing his cut with the enterprising boy and his friends. What began as a mutually beneficial 'business' arrangement soon became a true friendship. Khatef begged and Rhul and his gang stole or worked for their supper. Rhul even managed to teach Khatef how to pick a pocket, so he could make a little extra when he saw a good opportunity. Of course, as Khatef grew he drew less and less sympathy. He was forced to steal more and more to survive as he entered his teen and then adult years, as begging became less and less lucrative. Eventually, his luck would run out. He was truly caught for the first time by a merchant with a jingling purse Khatef tried to lift a few coins from. The woman was merciful, and let him off with a beating. Only a few cracked ribs for his trouble. Khatef knew next time he might not be so lucky. The punishment for theft was severe in the Oasis States, whippings being the least of it. Khatef doubted he could survive five lashes, much less the customary ten for a first offense. Desperate he turned to Rhul for advice, asked him if he could find something for him to do. Rhul reluctantly agreed and set up a meeting with his boss, Rudjek. Rudjek was a heavyset man, and he represented the interests of the criminal element of Khatef's pyramid. There were rumors they even had dealings with the Sand Princes, smuggling goods out to aid their raids on caravans in exchange for some of the more valuable items looted. Among other things, they ran brothels and casinos. This last is what Rudjek wanted him to be involved in. They were trying to take a lot of money from some very rich people, and wanted Khatef to help them do it. He was not known to be associated with any of the groups running the underworld, and was known to make some decent scores from careless merchants, so wouldn't arouse too much suspicion if he went in to try and multiply his earnings one day. They gave him enough cash for meals, and extra to gamble. The first day, he was merely to go in and learn the games. This seemed easy enough, and Khatef had a rare moment of fun losing all of their money on dice and cards. For over a fortnight he was sent to the casino nearly every day to build a rapport with the staff and regulars, and get a basic competence at the game. Then, Rudjek instructed Rhul to teach Khatef how to cheat. Winning on small wagers at first, to get the hang of it, but with promises of a large payout at the end of the job. Khatef gladly agreed to this, having lived the most comfortably of his life over the past two weeks, and eager to continue that way. The last day, Rudjek himself was a player. He got himself (and through Rhul gave Khatef enough to buy into) a high stakes game of dice. Khatef was meant to cheat as subtly and as well as he could, keeping the game going until the other players were broke. They played for hours, running back and forth, Khatef losing at key points but steadily increasing his pile of coin. He looked happier and happier, oblivious to the sour looks around him. After a large pot, Rudjek stood up and dramatically declared "There! He is a cheat! Did you see it?". Khatef, dumbfounded, did not even have time to defend himself as Rudjek stormed over, grabbed his arm, and revealed the extra pair of dice he had taken from the table and replaced with loaded ones. Rudjek then slammed his hand down on the table, and in one smooth motion drew a knife from his belt and severed Khatef's left (and dominant) hand. Khatef immediately blacked out from the pain, and awoke in the street beside the door, his hand nailed to the wall above his head. He had no idea how long he'd been there, and drifted in and out of consciousness for much longer before Rhul found him in the middle of the night. He swore he'd had no idea of Rudjek's plan. Apparently it was planned from the start. Have Khatef enter the game and cheat, with Rudjek "catching" him and earning the trust of the others. He makes several new business partners, and their casino earns from the games those gentlemen played before and after the main event. All it would cost would be alienating a sick beggar. Khatef spiraled into despair from then. He angrily told Rhul to stay away from him, that this was his fault, and Rhul reluctantly left him alone. Khatef bitterly thought to himself that at least now he had a visible crippling injury to beg more now that he couldn't pick pockets. The events left Khatef paranoid and bitter. He'd never been particularly happy with life, but accepted it as his lot. Now, as the months passed and he grew more and more angry, he railed against everything. The unfairness, the injustice of the world. The callous coldness of the people living in it. And especially he promised himself he would keep living, if only to one day orchestrate the gory demise of Rudjek and the rest of his cronies. He felt something shift in himself at that promise, but he didn't yet know what. The next day, while begging (with little success), he snapped at the most recent man to pass him by. "PLEASE!" he screamed at the man. He cringed away, expecting a reflexive backhand from the man. After a moment with no hit, he looked back. The man stared at Khatef with abject pity in his eyes, and unbelted his entire purse. He tossed it to Khatef and then walked away. Khatef was astounded by this. He picked up the purse and scurried away, to amazed looks from other walkers in the bazaar, shopkeepers, and beggars alike. On his way to his usual sleeping spot, he was accosted by three men who'd witnessed the event. Cornered, he prepared to fight, and knew this might be his end. He can barely recall what happened next, only that he fought and somehow won, the thugs killed by single seemingly feeble blows thrown by Khatef. He stumbled away and found a new spot to rest for the night, but did not sleep. He smiled faintly to himself as he plotted how to use these newfound powers to utterly destroy Rudjek. To his dismay, however, Rudjek was gone. Traveled to another pyramid city and beyond his reach for now. Nobody knew which one. Frustrated, Khatef tabled his revenge for now. It would be all the sweeter when he finally did get his hand on the man. Personality-wise, Khatef has developed a bit of paranoia and misanthropy in recent months, being hesitant to trust even his friends. In the months that pass after the end of that story above he learns how to use his other abilities and learns what they are. More importantly, he learns that turnabout is fair play, and the only way to get ahead in life is to use other people to help you get things done. He'd fit into a pantheon not out of friendship or working toward a common goal due to shared ideals, but to use their power to further his own goals (at least at first) and everything else is in service to that. ----------
Motivation (Long Term): Rule of his own shard/country. To do this he'd need to ensure it would last long term and gather large groups of followers. Disability: Khatef is missing a left hand. Paranoia: Khatef no longer takes anything at face value. If he cannot verify the truth of a statement with his abilities, he will be intensely suspicious of it (even to unreasonable degrees sometimes). He is also averse to revealing his own plans to others for fear of sabotage. |
|
