About Mahzuzi al-WatiAppearance:
Mahzuzi resembles a small and fair-skinned Osirion man with large eyebrows and a beard, and upon careful inspection he appears to be surrounded by a nimbus of softly glowing golden light. His features are gnomelike, but he can also be seen to have qualities of a native outsider. He appears middle-aged for a gnome, but with a very childlike quality to his expression. He is dressed like a local, but there is something about his clothing that also appears a bit anachronistic. Not ancient, but maybe a century out of date. Personality:
Mahzuzi is good-natured and fun, very like a friendly child, and also like a child he is strangely unaware of many things that adults know from practical experience (like politics or how a job works), but quite knowledgeable about subjects that are typically outgrown after youth (like fairy tales or playing with toys). He is curious and generous, though he grows angry and implacable when faced with undead creatures or evil outsiders. He can sometimes be thoughtless or selfish, though he seems genuinely sorry afterward. When talking about history or examining complex mechanical devices, he almost seems to draw upon a deeper, older version of himself, as if he were accessing buried memories from long, long ago. For a time he becomes very quiet, very reserved, and very resolute. He loves puzzles and games, and views exploring the ancient tombs as a sort of entertaining challenge-- very much like a game between him and their architects. He doesn't seem too concerned with his own mortality, though he isn't especially reckless either.
(I've based his personality a bit on Michael Scott, from TV's The Office, as well as on other mischievous outsider children like Peter Pan.) Background:
Wati is an old and worn city that has just begun an exciting new enterprise. It was established more than six thousand years ago during the First Age of Osirion, but since then has become most associated with the necropolis that was built about four thousand years afterward. With the Ruby Prince's recent decree that its holy graves be respectfully opened to exploration and treasure recovery, Wati has become flooded with adventuresome foreigners and is experiencing a great economic boom. A sense of childlike hope and wonder fills the region, with everyone hoping to "strike it rich" by discovering something ancient and valuable or by winning a prime slot in the tomb lottery.
Like most civilized places in Golarion, the city of Wati has a guardian angel-- of a sort. Wati's genius loci is a celestial spirit that is dedicated to warding the living from the dead, protecting the dead from the living, and preserving the city's history and knowledge from time and neglect. Wati-- as good a name as any for the city's angel-- is an essential part of the city, and she can be found anywhere and everywhere within it. Like its breath or lifeblood, she cannot leave it. She is a watcher, and cannot manifest a physical body or affect the environment in any way, but she can subtly influence her inhabitants, much in the same way that a deity does. Of course, she has nothing like the divine power that any deity possesses, but once every few centuries she can cause something miraculous to occur. Mahzuzi is Wati's latest miracle, the first in many millennia. Born of the rush of hope and economic speculation, Mahzuzi is a literal child of the city. He knows it like a native, as if he had lived here for almost two centuries, but in fact he only fully came into existence when Khemet III issued his proclamation about Wati's necropolis earlier this year. He emerged wholly formed from his mother's womb, with only vague memories about what he has experienced through her since his conception. He doesn't give it much thought, but he imagines he is an orphan, and as far as he knows he has been living on the streets of Wati for years, though he could not tell you the particulars of anything he did before last month. Mahzuzi knows he has terrific luck-- as if some divine force is looking out for him-- and he has an exceptional talent for understanding mechanical devices like the traps that the ancient architects built to protect the tombs. He is also unusually gifted in his knowledge of history. This opportunity to explore the other half of the city seems to him like fate, like he was born to it. He also feels strangely loyal to Wati-- it is more than just his hometown, it is his home-- and he feels this quite deeply. With bubbling excitement and enthusiasm, Mahzuzi has visited all of the temples, markets, and taverns in the city in the hopes of meeting and befriending other adventurers who might be interested in forming a company. He even went so far as to register a group with the temple under the name "The Winds of Fortune," promising that there would be three or possibly four other adventurers to join him. Build Notes:
Mahzuzi is designed as a character who can do a bit of everything. Being a bard, he's very good at Knowledge rolls (and Pageant of the Peacock will let him make a Bluff check in place of any Intelligence-based skill when it is active), and being an Archaeologist he's got a lot of abilities involving trap finding and disabling-- he could easily serve as the party's rogue, or act as a backup rogue. His spells will be mostly support spells (heroism, haste), with a few tricks (bladed dash, dazzling blade). About Me:
I've been running and playing Pathfinder 1st Edition since 2010, and I've participated in PbP games for almost two years. I'm a native English speaker, and I've written professionally for several roleplaying game supplements published in the United States. Name: Mahzuzi al-Wati, Childlike Archaeologist
Age: 150 (middle-aged) Abilities: Str 8* (-1), Dex 16+2* (+4), Con 14* (+2), Int 11+1 (+1), Wis 9+1 (+0), Cha 15+2+1 (+4)
HP: 15/15 (2d8+2) AC: 17 (+4 DEX, +1 size, +2 armor) Initiative: +4 (+4 Dex) Speed: 30' (light armor) Size: Small Saves: Fortitude +2* / Reflex +7 / Will +3* (+4 vs death, +2 vs energy drain/negative energy/Necromancy spells and effects) BAB: +1 Weapons: masterwork dagger +7 (1d3-1, 19-20 x2); kunai +6 (1d3-1, x2) Race Traits: Azata-Blooded (+2 Dex, +2 Cha), Darkvision (60'), Deathless Spirit (resist 5 negative energy, no loss of hp with negative levels, +2 saves vs death/energy drain/negative energy/Necromancy), Immortal Spark (+2 Knowledge History, +2 saves vs death, cast lesser age resistance 1/day), Scion of Humanity (count as outsider and gnome) Favored Class Bonus: (Bard) 2 extra rounds of performance Traits: Fate's Favored (+1 luck bonuses), Trap Finder (+1 Disable Device, class skill, can disable magical traps) Feats: Weapon Finesse (L1) Skills: Acrobatics 1+7, Bluff 1+7, Climb 1+2, Diplomacy 1+7, Disable Device 2+9, Knowledge (arcana) 0+2, Knowledge (dungeoneering) 0+2, Knowledge (engineering) 0+2, Knowledge (history) 1+7, Knowledge (local) 1+5, Knowledge (nature) 0+2, Knowledge (nobility) 0+2, Knowledge (planes) 0+2, Knowledge (religion) 0+2, Linguistics 1+4, Perception 2+4, Perform (dance) 2+7, Use Magic Device 1+7 Languages: Ancient Osiriani, Celestial, Common Bard (Archaeologist) Abilities: archaeologist's luck (+1 luck bonus to attack/damage/saves/skills, start as swift action, 6+CHA rounds/day, 10/10 remaining), bardic knowledge (half level to all Knowledge skill checks, may make Knowledge checks untrained); clever explorer (half level to Disable Device, Perception), uncanny dodge Spells Known: (cantrips) dancing lights, detect magic, ghost sound, open/close, prestidigitation; (1st, 2/2+1 remaining) coin shot, dazzling blade, heightened awareness Equipment:
Inside belt pouch: 20 platinum, 15 gold, 10 silver, 10 copper |
