Lerith Ryn's page

AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 14. . (+3 armor, +1 shield, +5 Dex)
hp 8 (1d8)
Fort +0, Ref +5, Will +3
Weakness Haunted

Spd 30 ft.
Melee Dagger +0 (1d4/19-20/x2) and
. . Dagger +0 (1d4/19-20/x2) and
. . Morningstar +0 (1d8/20/x2) and
. . Shield, Light Wooden -4 (1d3/20/x2) and
. . Unarmed Strike +0 (1d3/20/x2)
Oracle Spells Known (CL 1, +0 melee touch, +0 ranged touch):
1 (1/5-day) Command (DC 16), Cure Light Wounds (DC 16), Liberating Command
0 (at will) Detect Poison, Read Magic, Light, Ghost Sound (DC 15), Detect Magic, Mage Hand

Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 20
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 10
Feats Combat Casting, Extra Revelation
Traits Fast-Talker, Power of Suggestion
Skills Acrobatics -2, Bluff +10, Climb -2, Diplomacy +9, Escape Artist -2, Fly -2, Knowledge: Arcana +9, Knowledge: Geography +9, Knowledge: History +9, Knowledge: Local +9, Knowledge: Religion +9, Knowledge: The Planes +9, Ride -2, Stealth -2, Swim -2 Modifiers Lore Keeper
Languages Common, Draconic, Polyglot
Combat Gear Studded Leather, Dagger, Morningstar, Dagger, Shield, Light Wooden; Other Gear Backpack (empty), Flint and steel, Ink (1 oz. vial, black), Inkpen, Lantern, bullseye waterproof, Oil (1-pint flask) (2), Paper (sheet) (5), Rations, trail (per day) (5), Rope, silk (50 ft.), Wrist sheath, spring loaded

Combat Casting +4 to Concentration checks to cast while on the defensive.
Haunted Retrieving stored gear is a Standard action or worse, dropped items land 10' away.
Lore Keeper (Ex) Knowledge Skills become CHA-based.

Lerith is older than most new adventurers, already in his early 30s, though to be fair his youth was its own kind of adventure. Born to a family of inner sea merchants, Lerith was always a strange child and had an imaginary friend from before he could speak, he would often stare off where no one was and laugh and chatter. His parents saw this as a sign of intelligence and imagination at such an early age and were proud of it at first, though that pride turned to concern as he grew into a young child and began to act out, blaming smashed items, frightened animals and odd noises on that friend no one else can see.

Before his tenth birthday these outburts had already begun to cause trouble for Lerith's parents business, potential customers would often hear rude shouts or have things thrown at them from the ship while his father was trying to conduct business and soon a reputation had built that caused profits to massively drop off at all the ports they would normally berth. Never intended to be overheard, one night he caught his parents talking, heard them discussing just what they should do about things since they couldn't maintain their business. The idea of surrendering him to one of the churches was quickly discarded, even with all the troubles his parents still loved him, but they needed to do something. It was eventually decided that it would be best to try and set up a trade route at Sargava and some of the frontier towns in the Mwangi Expanse where trade was beginning to flourish. The people their didn't know anything of their reputation and the locals' belief in spirits may even help them to be understanding about their son.

When Lerith returned to bed that night he made a pledge to himself, his parents were ready to give up their known lives to continue to look after him, he would be a burden on them no longer. He knew that there really was something there, he wasn't just pretending, but he would learn to control it. During the long trip across the sea to Mwangi he grew up quite a bit, maybe not in body but emotionally. He gained focus and became more introspective as he looked to himself to try and learn what this spirit wanted with him. He began to meditate, trying to use it almost as a communion with this force to make peace with it. His real breakthrough came when he tried to dig into some of the books that were part of the goods being transported, looking to see if there were any further ideas in the legends within about ways to deal with spirits. As he read he found that things had actually grown quiet.

It was through such studies that Lerith finally made a peace of sorts with whatever it was that haunted him. The being must have been a scholar in its life, it loved books and all sorts of knowledge. Lerith himself was an intelligent boy, but he had taken after his father and prefered the art of the bargain, of sizing up your opposistion and talking your way through them before they knew their own thoughts. Still, when he shared new knowledge with the spirit it seemed ready to return the favor and more, sharing its own lore with him in times of need and he could swear that he could hear its voice warning him when there was danger nearby.

His parents didn't know what happened, but they simply decided that he had matured during his trip because it was what they wanted to believe. It seemed he had become taken with books though he did still seem to pull odd pranks in more stressful situations that was at oods with his more serious meign. Still, with his new found focus the business in the new country was able to flourish and the son even began to help his father in deals, showing his natural talent with words.

When he was old enough, his father had a surprise for him. Having seen how interested Lerith had becoming in his studies and having the trading business doing so well now it was decided that he could be sent to school in Oppara. This was a confusing time of Lerith's life, but quickly became an experience he treasured as he built many important skills, not all of those related to his education. The constant influx of knowledge kept the spirit that followed him peaceful, even helpful, giving his words a new type of power that he began to try and explore. Never having much talent for fencing, Lerith won multiple duels in his more combative courses by bringing his blade to the challenger's and murmering for them to drop their sword only to have the spirits power flow through him and find they did just that.

The spells the spirit provided him weren't the only ways that Lerith found his voice at this time. Even with the newly found assistance it would provide him as he fed it knowledge, the ghostly form's power still was not always fully controlled. Never as destructive as it once was when he was a unfocused youth, small items would still occasionaly swirl around him as if a gust of wind had picked up or fly off to the side when he tried to pick them up. These oddities led to him building on his merchant's abilities to talk fast, distract from little things and play off the oddities. He found himself popular among the other students and his time at university was among the best of his life. Still eventually his schooling had to come to an end.

Realizing that going back to his life as a merchant would only lead to him losing some of the control he had begun to built through his studies he spent time looking for ways to continue them. He passed through several churches, trying to learn their dogma, knowing that many of their clerics held powers similar to his. He never felt the touch of the gods though and knowing that his powers came from somewhere else the other clerics never were very accepting though he did find an appreciation for those in the church of Nethys and their search for further knowledge.

It was during his time there that he met some adventurers, explorers planning on going to Mwangi and looking for maps of the area. When they spoke of how they hoped to find some of the ancient ruins and learn mysteries of the past he realized how he could keep always building his knowledge. He told the men he had grown in Mwangi, new some of the area and could speak polyglot and they quickly hired him on. During the trip back to Mwangi he took the time to study up on the local events in the years since he left and learn the maps of the surrounding regions in order to be prepared.

Unfortunately the expedition itself went bad, he was able to map out where the ruins correctly and the group found them, but as their studies some of the natives came upon them. It was sacred ground and they were taken prisoner, to be killed. While the others prepared for their death, Lerith tried to speak to the chief, putting some of his talents to the test. It took a great deal of talking, but eventually he was able to explain that they came in reverence of the ancestors and sought to learn of them rather than desecrate the shrine. Eventually they were released on the promise that they never return to that sacred ground.

Falling back to the large settlement of BloodCove, the others were through with the adventuring life, the near death experience was enough to leave them ready to retreat home. It left the opposite impression on Lerith however, he could learn his limits and help them grow even beyond the things he can discover in the studies. The life of an explorer was what he was made for. That the others talked often of how he saved them from the tribe in the days before they were able to get a ship to return to Taldor could only help him in finding a new group of adventurers to make his way with. It seemed at last he was home.