About LeMond Asher---------------------------
Cash 46 gp, 5 sp, 4 cp
SKILLS (4+2/level):
(total - name : ranks, ability, class, [misc]) 11 - Acrobatics* : 4,4,3
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Energy Resistance(racial) Sylphs have electricity resistance 5. Darkvision(racial) Sylphs can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet. Breeze-Kissed(racial) Breezes seem to follow most sylphs wherever they go, but some sylphs are better able to control these winds than others. A Sylph with this racial trait surrounds herself with swirling winds, gaining a +2 racial bonus to AC against non-magical ranged attacks. The Sylph can calm or renew these winds as a swift action. Once per day, the Sylph can channel this wind into a single gust, making a bull rush or trip combat maneuver attempt against one creature within 30 feet. Whether or not the attempt succeeds, the winds are exhausted and no longer provide a bonus to the sylph's AC for 24 hours. This is a supernatural ability. This racial trait replaces air affinity. Weather Savvy (racial) Some sylphs are so in tune with the air and sky that they can sense the slightest change in atmospheric conditions. Sylphs with this trait can spend a full-round action to predict the weather in an area for the next 24 hours. The sylph's prediction is always accurate, but cannot account for spells or supernatural effects that might alter the forecast. This racial trait replaces the sylph's spell-like ability racial trait. Larger Than Life (trait) You wield firearms with truly terrifying menace. When you use the Intimidate skill on a creature while wielding a firearm, you are considered one size category larger than your actual size. Never Stop Shooting (trait) Even when the chips are down, you keep on shooting. If your hit point total drops to 0 or lower but you are not dead, you may act as if disabled rather than dying (as if you possessed the Diehard feat). However, you can use your actions only to draw a firearm, reload a firearm, or attack with a firearm. If you have the Diehard feat, this trait also allows you to substitute your Wisdom score for your Constitution score for the purpose of determining the negative hit point total at which you die. Display of Heroism (Theme Feat) Once per combat you may assist an ally who is imperiled. As a move action, you may move your speed to an ally. This movement doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. The ally may stand as a free action if prone. You and that ally gain a +2 circumstance bonus to AC and saves until the end of your next turn. If you choose Yerasol Veteran as your character’s theme, the party’s Prestige with Risur starts at 2 instead of 1. See “Prestige,” page 14. Gunsmithing (feat) Point-Blank Shot (feat) You get a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at ranges of up to 30 feet. Extra Grit (feat) You gain 2 extra grit points at the start of each day, and your maximum grit increases by 2. Deadly Aim (feat) You can choose to take a –2 penalty on all ranged attack rolls to gain a +4 bonus on all ranged damage rolls. Rapid Reload (feat) The time required for you to reload your chosen type of weapon is reduced to a move action (for heavy crossbow or one-handed firearm), or a standard action (two-handed firearm). Gunsmith (Class) At 1st level, a gunslinger gains one of the following firearms of her choice: blunderbuss, musket, or pistol. Her starting weapon is battered, and only she knows how to use it properly. All other creatures treat her gun as if it had the broken condition. If the weapon already has the broken condition, it does not work at all for anyone else trying to use it. This starting weapon can only be sold for scrap (it’s worth 4d10 gp when sold). The gunslinger also gains Gunsmithing as a bonus feat. Nimble (Class) Starting at 2nd level, a gunslinger gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC while wearing light or no armor. Anything that causes the gunslinger to lose her Dexterity bonus to AC also causes the gunslinger to lose this dodge bonus. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd level (to a maximum of +5 at 20th level). Deeds:
Deadeye (Ex): At 1st level, the gunslinger can resolve an attack against touch AC instead of normal AC when firing beyond her firearm’s first range increment. Performing this deed costs 1 grit point per range increment beyond the first. The gunslinger still takes the –2 penalty on attack rolls for each range increment beyond the first when she performs this deed. Quick Clear (Ex): At 1st level, as a standard action, the gunslinger can remove the broken condition from a single firearm she is currently wielding, as long as that condition was gained by a firearm misfire. The gunslinger must have at least 1 grit point to perform this deed. Alternatively, if the gunslinger spends 1 grit point to perform this deed, she can perform quick clear as a move-equivalent action instead of a standard action. Steady Aim (Ex) At 1st level, as long as a musket master has at least 1 grit point, she can take a move-equivalent action to increase the accuracy of a two-handed firearm. When she does, she increases the range increment of the firearm she is firing by 10 feet. This stacks with other abilities that increase her range increment. This deed replaces the gunslinger’s dodge deed. Gunslinger Initiative (Ex): At 3rd level, as long as the gunslinger has at least 1 grit point, she gains the following benefits. First, she gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks. Furthermore, if she has the Quick Draw feat, her hands are free and unrestrained, and the firearm is not hidden, she can draw a single firearm as part of the initiative check. Pistol-Whip (Ex): At 3rd level, the gunslinger can make a surprise melee attack with the butt or handle of her firearm as a standard action. When she does, she is considered to be proficient with the firearm as a melee weapon and gains a bonus on the attack and damage rolls equal to the enhancement bonus of the firearm. The damage dealt by the pistol-whip is of the bludgeoning type, and is determined by the size of the firearm. One-handed firearms deal 1d6 points of damage (1d4 if wielded by Small creatures) and two-handed firearms deal 1d10 points of damage (1d8 if wielded by Small creatures). Regardless of the gunslinger’s size, the critical multiplier of this attack is 20/×2. If the attack hits, the gunslinger can make a combat maneuver check to knock the target prone as a free action. Performing this deed costs 1 grit point. Fast Musket (Ex) At 3rd level, as long as the musket master has 1 grit point, she can reload any two-handed firearm as if it were a one-handed firearm. This deed replaces the utility shot deed. ----- Physical Description:
Asher is a thin man consisting mainly of straight lines and sharp angles, magnified by his crisp, well tailored clothing. He dresses well, but with an eye toward practicality. Even at fancy events, Asher errs on the side of being under-dressed instead of wearing constricting clothing. He'd prefer to dress in muted colors, but he has been coerced into putting on a respectable appearance, including maintaining a well-groomed beard and brightly colored outfits. Asher is 38 years old, and looks to have lived it rough; lines mark his face beyond his years. Despite being a sylph, his appearance is only subtly affected by it. His skin is pale, his frame is slim, and although his skin is marred by the blue marks that reveal one as a Sylph, most of it is covered by his clothes and beard. However, one side of his face has the markings clear from his beard-line to his cheek bone. His rapier is a gift for military officers who have distinguished himself, something that is both functional and elegant in appearance. Asher's gun, Darling, is however a black beast of a musket with no adornment. The cold and black metal of the weapon reflects perfectly the look in Asher's eyes if not his outward appearance of noble dress. Like the man himself, the musket he wields is one that values function over fashion. It is a device meant for killing.
Personality:
Asher is a grim man, honed into a serious severity by years fighting in a horrible war. He is known to have a cruel tongue, and is impatient with frivolities and pleasantries. He is disciplined, and poised, but not overly prideful. He rarely takes offense on his own behalf, but has been known to retaliate with words or action if he feels someone has treated the deaths of soldiers with a flippant or casual tone. This offense doesn't extend to fellow soldiers; Asher also participates in gallows humor. For entertainment, he usually spends time with his friend, Willie. He'll either drink at his bar, or maybe go out on a boat with his friend and fish. He holds himself with excellent posture, and if angered will start to clench his right hand as if he were wrapping his fingers around his musket. Asher loves engineering and the art of both creating and using firearms. He finds it cringe-inducing when people insist on giving names to their weapons and despite his mentor never producing a firearm without having given it her own name, observing someone referring to their weapon by name makes him roll his eyes. Even still, his black musket has a name, Darling, but it is not an anthropomorphism or a pet name. Kenneth Darling was a young soldier who fought with Asher, and was killed when his already damaged weapon misfired. As Asher was the one responsible for maintaining the weapons of all soldiers who couldn't do it themselves, his death is on Asher's head and he named his own weapon after the deceased kid as a valuable reminder. Asher is distraught to be out of the military, but after sliding down a seven year slope of civilian life towards acts unforgivable in the eyes of his country, he was given a final opportunity to serve country within the RHC. Though he might never admit to himself the reasons for it, Asher craves to be active once again, to once more hold a rank and engage his enemy. He desires to defend Risur in the only way he is proficient. Even though his parents have finally accepted him despite his Sylph heritage (because of the glory he earned them indirectly through his actions in war), Asher has all but publicly renounced his family. Although Asher became more and more disgruntled with life as a civilian, being paraded around as a hero to be entertained in polite society, he never held any real malice to the leaders of Risur. He eventually felt as though the archipelago was not worth the lives of the countless soldiers that died in the attempt to claim it, but he honestly desires to protect his country.
Contacts:
Willard Leland (aka Willie) Another soldier who fought in the Yerasol Campaign, and served on the same ship as Asher. They bled out together, side by side, during the boarding of their ship by the enemy, but while Asher fired shot after shot, killing the last of the enemy combatants and saving the ship, Willie barely hung onto consciousness. Even still, Willie (and the rest of the men on that ship) owe their lives to Asher. Unlike these other men, Willie was actually Asher's friend and hasn't forgotten what he had done for him. Willie never properly recovered from his injuries, and took his final pay to start a gambling house in the Bosum Strand. While Asher continues his life of danger, Willie has turned himself into a bit of a information dealer and always has his ear to the ground for noteworthy tidbits of information that passes through his place. Despite the higher-ups encouraging Asher to show his face in public places worthy of a war hero, he never feels as comfortable as when he is dressed down and drinking at Willie's place. Willie is a man of considerable energy who cannot properly expend it because of his injuries from the way (He lost a leg). He is congenial, knows when to make jokes, knows when to keep silent, and is always good for a story. He makes up for his slow mobility by keeping busy with his hands with anything that needs done, or with letting his mouth run. Delilah Washer When Asher was a boy, he wasn't able to make many friends. His obvious inhuman inheritance made others fearful of him, or incite bullies. While other kids played, Asher wandered. Eventually his wanderings brought him to the factories of Parity Lake, and that's where he met Delilah. Delilah is a gunsmith who taught Asher everything he knows about guns. At least, everything about building them. More of a mother figure to him than his birth mother, Delilah is now a wizened old woman who is still able to make Asher feel young. Delilah Washer is wire thin, smart, witty, grime covered and unafraid of most things. Despite her technological prowess, she is also a spiritual woman who still secretly observes the old traditions. Asher will go to her to talk shop, show her his own improvements on his weapon, and generally just unwind with the oldest friend he has.
Backstory:
LeMond was born to upper-middle class humans near the Parity Lake end of the North Shore district. Being born with the unusual blue markings of a sylph, he was obviously an outsider. This led to a neglectful childhood. His parents saw him as a failing from birth, and though while he had any material things he could want, he was deprived emotionally. He didn't make friends easily, and it wasn't until he was a few years away from being a teenager did he meet his mentor in gunsmithing, Delilah, his first real friend. He took to gunsmithing and engineering rather well, and eventually Delilah gave him his own broken musket to try and repair. Slowly and with a lot of effort, he made it usable, and eventually even competent. Unlike Delilah, Asher wasn't just interested in the engineering side of the weapons, he also loved the art of using them. A weak boy, getting good with an equalizer like a firearm was a dream for him. Once he was a man, Asher was heavily encouraged into joining the military by his parents, who hoped that maybe through combat he could earn his family some renown. LeMond brought his engineering skills to the naval battlefield, keeping the firearms of his fellow soldiers maintained and even picking up some tricks with alchemy to create special cartridges. He helped train the new soldiers in the use with the firearms, and eventually became the head gunsmith on his ship. Asher loved the sea. The open sky brought out some of his sylph-blooded qualities, and he found himself forming a bond with the air. A storm never surprised him, and he was early on seen as a sign of luck on his ship, being able to tip his navigator off on if the weather were about to turn. As his combat experience progressed, he even learned how to use the winds that always stuck near him to help defend him from enemy bullets and bolts. He spent over a decade in the military as an officer, and proved himself many times. As the war continued, and he saw more and more death and horror, he became disillusioned with the campaign, the fight over the archipelagos. Asher eventually lost his patriotic spirit, and after nearly dying in a boarding (A bloody fight and Asher's final glory in the campaign, defending his ship with a white-knuckled refusal to die by shooting the remaining enemy combatants while soaking in a pool of his own blood) that left him and his best military friend, Willie, in a hospital for months, the war ended. Risur no longer needed the man power in the military it did during the campaign, and considering Asher's many deeds (his family finally pleased with him) he was retired from military service to be paraded around Flint as a political beacon of a good soldier along with many other veterans. He pleaded to go back out on a ship, but no, it was demanded of him that he attend high society and be the talking point in parties. Asher was forced to take care of his appearance, to dress well and to groom himself. It seemed that the city had forgotten that he was a sylph, and not a normal man. The honored his skill at killing people as if this made him a great man, and it made him sick. Slowly, the years after the campaign eroded his soul even more than the fighting did. He longed for the horrors of combat, and though maybe he wouldn't like to watch all the good soldiers around him die, he did miss the action. Though his parents took advantage of his fame at every chance, Asher refused to speak with them unless forced to. Eventually, Asher spent more and more time in Willie's seedy bar. He'd get in fights, but rarely would anyone accept a challenge of they recognized this war hero, or noticed the black, unadorned musket on his back. It wasn't until Asher challenged some high-class merchant to a duel to the death for his thoughtless words (at a party, around witnesses) did the powers-that-be realize that he was quickly becoming a problem. Wishing to keep Asher as a badge of honor for Risur to wear, they gave Asher at least part of what he craved and enlisted him in the RHC. They hoped that his considerable skills would not only earn him more renown to be used politically in defense of Flint, but that it would also sate his need for adrenalin. Story 1: Civilian life:
Six months after Asher was released from the hospital to find the war had ended and his military career over, he woke to a cold bucket of water. He didn't jump up from his bed in the shock of it, cursing and dancing and yelling threats. Instead, Asher simply woke with a slight spasm of surprise, then quietly looked around his disheveled room to gain his bearings. Still full dressed from the previous night, it seems he had successfully made his way back to his home this time. His head hurt, and his mouth tasted of blood and vomit. Standing before his bed in a well-tailored suit is an overly calm looking man holding an empty bucket. "Ah..." Asher said, narrowing his eyes at this man. "You again." The man tisks slightly at this. "We have not yet met." "Haven't we..." Asher says, still laying on his soaked bed, in wet, dirty clothes. "Black suit, cute little mustache, more arrogance on your face than your age has earned... I think it was only last week I saw a man who looked just like you. Jameson, or Jackson or some such." "That was someone else. Master Burnham had briefed me on what to expect from you when he resigned from this... Particular duty... And now it falls to me to get you into shape, Master Asher." "Master?! I am an officer, son." "WERE an officer. You are no longer in the military, Master Asher. This is a point my predecessor failed to make clear to you. You are a civilian now. A highly respected civilian, but still a civilian." To this, Asher met the man with eyes of cold steel. "Get out." "In a moment sir, but first I need to give you a message with the authority of the king. You will listen." When Asher didn't respond, he continued. "You will clean yourself and be presentable. You will dress well and groom yourself when in public. You will stop declining the invitations you have been receiving and attend the parties held
The sound of Asher grinding his teeth was audible in the silent room. "Look at yourself." the man goes on. "A man decorated many times in combat, and now you smell like firedust and piss. I don't care if you spend every last coin we give you on whores and booze, but you will be discrete and continue to serve Risur by keeping a respectable face, or your stipend will end." ---- "No." Asher says, a deadly glint gleaming in his eye. "I draw the line at the hat you frilly stooge!" "... And a blue plume I think. Don't you think it looks good on him?" The man in the suit asks the seamstress. "Oh yes!" She says, pleased at the stylish clothes she had fitted Asher into, and stands back to take in the complete look with the blue plumed hat. "It really brings out your eyes, sir." A low growl escapes from Asher and he turns to look at himself in the tall mirror once more, straitening his collar as he does so. "It's gaudy. What is the point of dressing so... Colorfully" he says the last word with disgust. "Left to yourself, Master Asher, you'd attend any party dressed as if you were mourning. That's not how things are done. These are balls, not funerals. You're supposed to be a happy hero, finally home from the war." "I am mouning..." he responds lowly. "You think I should be happy to be asked for the hundredth time what it was like to kill all of those people? Happy to recount the horror of finding yourself flanked in the jungle by an overwhelming force. Happy to remember the sound of a boy dying next to you as his weapon misfires and knowing that you are the one who maintained it..." Asher loses himself in his memories for a moment, his face grave. "Yes... the blue plume will do nicely for tonight I think. Please send over several outfits in this style, including hats." Asher's troubles go completely ignored by this man. "Well, Master Asher. You are dressed, your beard looks presentable and the smell of firedust is only vaguely noticeable. I think you are ready to be charming." "Master Larson, I will be charming when I am dead. Until then, the best you shall get from me is inoffensive."
|
