Common Rokugani, High Rokugani, Kami, Written Language, Nezumi, Oni, Ningyo, Mujina
About Kurokara Keisuke
Kurokara Keisuke
Male Human Harbinger 3 (Ravenlord)
Init +1; Senses Perception +0
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Defense
-------------------- AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+1 Dex, +4 lamellar leather, +1 deflection)
HP 30
Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +3
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Offense
-------------------- Speed 30 ft.
Melee{+2 Int, +3 Str, +2 BAB, +1 MW}
- Masterwork Mithral Scythe +8 [2d4+4] x4
- Double chained Kama +7 [1d6+3/1d6+3] x2, reach
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Statistics
-------------------- Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 16 [+2 to trip]
Favored Class Bonus +3/4 maneuvers known
Feats
- Grasp of Darkness (Claim recovers two maneuvers, Claim two more opponents with one action)
- Malevolence (Claimed creatures are cursed)
- Weaken the Prey (-2 to saves against maneuvers for cursed creatures)
Traits
- Unorthodox Method (Gain Eternal Guardian, lose Shattered Mirror)
- Armour Expert (-1 ACP)
- Bruising Intellect (Int to Intimidate)
Drawback Nervous (take 10 results in a 8)
Skills(ranks) (9/level) [ACP -1]
- Acrobatics +7 (3 ranks, +1 Dex, +3 class)
- Intimidate +10 (3 ranks, +4 Int, +3 class)
- Knowledge(arcana) +10 (3 ranks, +4 Int, +3 class)
- Knowledge(local) +10 (3 ranks, +4 Int, +3 class)
- Knowledge(martial) +10 (3 ranks, +4 Int, +3 class)
- Knowledge(religion) +10 (3 ranks, +4 Int, +3 class)
- Sense Motive +6 (3 ranks, +0 Wis, +3 class)
- Spellcraft +10 (3 ranks, +4 Int, +3 class)
- Stealth +7 (3 ranks, +1 Dex, +3 class)
Background Skills(ranks)
- Linguistics +10 (3 ranks, +4 Int, +3 class)
- Craft(weapons) +10 (3 ranks, +4 Int, +3 class)
Languages Common Rokugani, High Rokugani, Kami, Written Language, Nezumi, Oni, Ningyo, Mujina
SQ Dark Claim, Accursed Will(attack), Dark Messenger, Dark Focus(Eternal Guardian), Channel of Woe
Magic Itemsring of protection +1 Mundane Items Lamellar leather, Mithral scythe, crowbar, shovel, ten-foot pole, backpack, bedroll, waterskin, blanket, whetstone, torches(10), trail rations (5 days)
Encumbrance less than 76/76-153-230 lbs.
Money 90 GP
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Maneuvers Known
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- Clockwatcher (counter, act in surprise round)
- Debilitating Fear (Will 17 or daze feared opponent)
- Scything Strike (attack two opponents with one attack)
- Spilled Salt (counter, -4 to attack/skill check)
- Strike of the Hourglass (Will 15 or staggered)
- Terrifying Blow (Will 16 or frighten, +1d6 against cursed)
- Warden's Bearing (+2 and no AoO on maneuver, count as larger)
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Maneuvers Readied
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- Debilitating Fear
- Scything Strike
- Terrifying Blow
- Warden's Bearing
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Stances Known
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- Aura of Misfortune (-2 to saves in close range)
- Vigilant Keeper's Stance (threatened squares are difficult terrain)
Backstory:
Far from Shiro Minumoto, the ancestral home of the Dragon Clan, offshoot members of the families keep up their mystical work, working their craft among the common folk. Keisuke Kurokara was born Keisuke Tamori, carrying the family name but none of its power, son of the grandchild of a man who was once ruler of the family.
He lived in western Rokugan, around Ginasutra, and he grew up being taught how to commune with the kami, how to respect them and how to strengthen their bond to the land. He was unimpressive as a shaman, but her showed skill in dealing with the spirits, and when he was twelve, he was bestowed the enormous honor of having a kami bind to him personally, as an advisor and guide. It was a female karasu, a raven spirit by the name of Hojin, and Keisuke soon grew connected to her as a wizard is to his familiar.
Then, one day, disaster struck. A band of rogue nezumi from the Shadowland Marshes attacked Keisuke's village in the night, raiding and murdering with fire and steel. In the mayhem, he was knocked into the well losing consciousness, left for dead. When he awoke and climbed out of the well, he found himself surrounded by corpses, including those of his family. Wrath and revenge blossomed in his heart like a black and red lotus: he grabbed a scythe from the hands of a dead farmer and set off on the tracks of the raiders, heading for the Shadowlands, uncaring of the danger. Hojin's pleas had no effect on the boy's grim determination, and within a fortnight he had found the rats, camped just beyond the Shadowlands' edge. To say that he killed them is an understatement. He whirled his scythe like a reaper, screaming in rage and revenge, malevolent energy pervading his strikes. Shaken by the ghastly display, the raiders couldn't manage to fight back efficiently, and their blood nourished the dark lands.
The rampage of revenge and the taint, however, affected Keisuke, corrupting him. He fled the Shadowlands, but not before the taint had seeped into his body. It was then that Hojin saved his life, accepting all of the corruption into herself. Keisuke was painfully purified, but the act marked and mutated Hojin, twisting her shape into a jigokukarasu, a Hell Raven. Her gentle nature turned into violence and bloodlust, her beak and claws sharpened, her demeanor grew cold and ruthless. She still followed Keisuke around, but their minds had been forever changed.
Keisuke never returned to his family. Corrupting a kami would be unacceptable to any Dragon Clan member, an unforgivable and irredeemable offence to all the Clan stands for: he changed his name to Kurokara, and started wandering the world, looking for either purpose, redemption, or death.
Appearance:
Keisuke is a muscular man of slightly above average height, with raven-black hair and a short beard. He wears unassuming clothes, trying to hide the cuirass underneath it, and carries a scythe on his back, apparently a farmer's tool although, to an accurate analysis, well-balanced for swinging as a weapon. He usually tries to avoid being at the center of the attention, keeping to the sides.
Personality:
When Hojin is close to him, Keisuke is soft-spoken, kindly and shy, always looking slightly out of place. He rarely looks anyone in the eye, and he can be so quiet that you would forget about his existance. However, when she is out of arm's reach, his personality shifts dramatically. The shy boy becomes aggressive, possibly violent, his body language that of a predator. His features twist into a furious snarl, his muscles tense, ready for a fight.
Hojin:
Small Bird
AC 18 (+3 natural, +1 size, +3 Dex, +1 dodge)
HP 21 (8+5+5+3*1)
Fort +4 Ref +6 Will +3
Attack Bite +5 (1d4), 2 talons +5 (1d4)
Speed 10 ft., fly 80 ft. (average)
Str 11, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 6
Special Qualities Low-light vision, Channel of Woe, Evasion
