Lyrena Miraki's page

Dervish Dance - When wielding a scimitar with one hand, you can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on melee attack and damage rolls.

Countersong (Su): At 1st level, a bard learns to counter magic effects that depend on sound (but not spells that have verbal components.) Each round of the countersong he makes a Perform (keyboard, percussion, wind, string, or sing) skill check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by a sonic or language-dependent magical attack may use the bard's Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the countersong is already under the effect of a non-instantaneous sonic or language-dependent magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it hears the countersong, but it must use the bard's Perform skill check result for the save. Countersong does not work on effects that don't allow saves. Countersong relies on audible components.

Distraction (Su): At 1st level, a bard can use his performance to counter magic effects that depend on sight. Each round of the Distraction, he makes a Perform (act, comedy, dance, or oratory) skill check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by an illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack may use the bard’s Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the Distraction is already under the effect of a non-instantaneous illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it sees the Distraction, but it must use the bard’s Perform check result for the save. Distraction does not work on effects that don’t allow saves. Distraction relies on visual components.

Fascinate (Su): At 1st level, a bard can use his performance to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with him. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear the bard, and capable of paying attention to him. The bard must also be able to see the creatures affected. The Distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. For every three levels a bard has attained beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with this ability.

Each creature within range receives a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the bard’s level + the bard’s Cha modifier) to negate the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and observes the performance for as long as the bard continues to maintain it. While fascinated, a target takes a –4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Perception checks. Any potential threat to the target allows the target to make a new saving throw against the effect. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect.

Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability. Fascinate relies on audible and visual components in order to function.

Inspire Courage (Su): A 1st level bard can use his performance to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to perceive the bard’s performance. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 5th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +4 at 17th level. Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability. inspire courage can use audible or visual components. The bard must choose which component to use when starting his performance.

Battle Dance (Su): Dervishes of dawn are trained in the use of the Perform skill, especially dance, to create magical effects on himself. This works like bardic performance, except that the performances grant double their normal bonuses, but these bonuses only affect him. He does not need to be able to see or hear his own performance. Battle dancing is treated as bardic performance for the purposes of feats, abilities, and effects that affect bardic performance, except that battle dancing does not benefit from the Lingering Performance feat or any other ability that allows a bardic performance to grant bonuses after it has ended. The benefits of battle dancing apply only when the bard is wearing light or no armor. Like bardic performance, battle dancing cannot be maintained at the same time as other performance abilities.

Starting a battle dance is a move action, but it can be maintained each round as a free action. Changing a battle dance from one effect to another requires the dervish to stop the previous performance and start the new one as a move action. Like a bard, a dervish of dawn's performance ends immediately if he is killed, paralyzed, stunned, knocked unconscious, or otherwise prevented from taking a free action each round. A dervish of dawn cannot perform more than one battle dance at a time.

At 10th level, the dervish can start a battle dance as a swift action instead of a move action.

When a dervish of dawn uses the inspire courage, inspire greatness, or inspire heroics bardic performance types as battle dances, these performance types only provide benefit to the dervish himself. All other types of bardic performance work normally (affecting the bard and his allies, or the bard’s enemies, as appropriate).

Lyrena was born in Qadria, in the city of Kelesh. She had a fairly normal childhood until she was 12, when her parents dissapeared when traveling as merchants while they left here with her grandmother. Soon after, her grandmother died, and with all of the family she knew of dead, she was on her own. For a few years, she stole to survive, eventually joining a group of bandits when she was 16. That was a big mistake for her. Soon after joining them, they beat her, stole everything she had, but before they could try anything else, a cloaked figure showed up and helped drive the bandits away before she passed out from her wounds, and from exhaustion. When she awoke, she found that it was a member of the Cult of the Dawnflower who had saved her, and taken her back to their home. Lyrena was very grateful to both the man and Sarenrae, and decided to join the Cult of the Dawnflower to attempt to make up everything she had done, and as a show of gratitude to the one who had saved her. For 4 years, she trained and became a dervish of the dawn, her natural skills as a Azata-blooded Aasimar making her excellent at the skills required for Dervishes of Dawn. However, after 4 years, she decided to leave the Cult to go north, looking for opportunity, and maybe to try and find her parents, who she last heard were heading to Ustalav. She stopped at many places over the course of three years, at one point saving the life of a man named Professor Lorrimor, as he was attacked by bandits while on an expedition, and they almost killed him before she arrived. He was grateful, and she accompanied him for a few weeks before heading off on her own again. A year later, she had made her way to Ustalav, and once heard news of his death, and her being requested at his funeral, she decided to head to Ravengro to be there, and see what awaited her next in her journey. (Sorry if its really bad, I'm not the best writer.)