Malryk's page

AC 15, T 12, FF 12 (+2 Armor, +3 Dex)
CMD 13
Fort +0, Ref +5, Will +3

Melee: Dagger (1d3/1d4/19-20x2)
Ranged: Light crossbow+3 (1d6/1d8/x2/80ft) Dagger +3 (1d3/1d4/19-20/x2/10ft)
CMB +0

• Keen Scent: Your nose is as sensitive as that of a wild predator.

Prerequisites: Wis 13, half-orc or orc.
Benefit: You gain the scent special ability.

Scent
This extraordinary ability lets a creature detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.

A creature with the scent ability can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind, the range is 60 feet. If it is downwind, the range is 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at three times these ranges.

The creature detects another creature's presence but not its specific location. Noting the direction of the scent is a move action. If the creature moves within 5 feet (1 square) of the scent's source, the creature can pinpoint the area that the source occupies, even if it cannot be seen.

A creature with the Survival skill and the scent ability can follow tracks by smell, making a Survival check to find or follow a track. A creature with the scent ability can attempt to follow tracks using Survival untrained. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10. The DC increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry's odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Survival skill in regards to tracking. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.

Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights.

Water, particularly running water, ruins a trail for air-breathing creatures. Water-breathing creatures that have the scent ability, however, can use it in the water easily.

False, powerful odors can easily mask other scents. The presence of such an odor completely spoils the ability to properly detect or identify creatures, and the base Survival DC to track becomes 20 rather than 10.

• Weapon Finese: You are trained in using your agility in melee combat, as opposed to brute strength.

Benefit: With a light weapon, rapier, whip, or spiked chain made for a creature of your size category, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on attack rolls. If you carry a shield, its armor check penalty applies to your attack rolls.
Special: Natural weapons are considered light weapons.

• Outcast (Driven from town after town because of your heritage, you have become adept at living apart from others. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Survival skill checks, and Survival is always a class skill for you.)
•. Reactionary (You were bullied often as a child, but never quite developed an offensive response. Instead, you became adept at anticipating sudden attacks and reacting to danger quickly. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Initiative checks.)
• Bestial (The orc blood of some half-orcs manifests in the form of particularly prominent orc features, exacerbating their bestial appearances but improving their already keen senses. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks. This racial trait replaces the orc ferocity racial trait.)
• Scavenger (Some half-orcs eke out a leaving picking over the garbage heaps of society, and must learn to separate rare finds from the inevitable dross. Half-orcs with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks and on Perception checks to find hidden objects (including traps and secret doors), determine if food is spoiled, or identify a potion by taste. This racial trait replaces the intimidating racial trait.)

• Acrobatics +7
• Bluff +4
• Disable Device +8
• Disguise +4
• Knowledge (local) +6
• Knowledge (nature) +6
• Linguistics +6(background)
• Perception +9, +11 to find hidden objects, +12 find traps
• Profession(Cartograper) +7(background)
• Sense Motive +7
• Sleight of Hand +7
• Stealth +7
• Survival +8

Combat Gear
• Dagger x3
• Light Crossbow, 20 bolts
• Leather Armor
• Acid x2

Other Gear
• Backpack
• Candle x10
• Chalk x10
• Fish Hook x3
• Flask x2
• Flint & Steal
• Ink Vial (1oz)
• Ink Pen x2
• Paper Sheet x5
• Pouch, Belt x2
• Rations, Travel x10
• Rope, Silk (50’)
• Sewing Needle x2
• Waterskin
• Whetstone
• Antitoxin
• Thieves Tools
• Travelers Outfit x2

At first glance, Malryk seems natural part of the crowd and would likely go un-noticed by even the most observant travelers. He seems distracted as if he is looking at things very far away. It is as if he is watching some complex totality that absorbs most of his attention. Most would focus on his beastial orcish features and dismiss him as dumb brute. Few would realize how far his perception extended, how much he saw at a glance, how much he heard and knew.

I have arrived in Cassomir ahead of schedule. The trip was uneventful thus explaining my speedy travel. I have obtained employ with the local lumber yard as a servant assigned to the stable. As one might expect, I have been given the most menial tasks as befitting my mixed heritage. The patrons, especially those of privilege, pretend the servants do not exist. The more menial the servant, such as I, the more we are pointedly ignored. This has been to my advantage in pursuing the task you have set me to. I hope to have more information in my next correspondence.

Mal

Ps. As you can see, I have returned this letter in the lockbox that you provided me. Surely you can provide a better challenge for me with the next lock….

Malryk snorted as he sealed the letter and placed it in the small lockbox. He had feared he would never pick the lock on the box. His contact seemed to enjoy pushing his limits. It was in a kind fatherly way that was foreign to Malryk. Half-orcs didn’t have kind fathers or come to think of it kind mothers either. Malryk didn’t remember much of his parents but what he did remember was most definitely not kindness. Life in Ulgrin was difficult for everyone and deadly for a half breed like Malryk. In the early years, he survived by scavenging Ulgrin's garbage and filth. It was his mind that saved him from the brutal death most of the other scavenging children suffered. Ironically, that keen intellect likely inherited from his human parent was his advantage over the other orcs competing for survival.

He never looked back after leaving Ulgrin and hoped to never return. There was nothing for Malryk in all of the Hold of Belkzen. He wandered from town to settlement never welcomed and never staying long. As he traveled southwest, the dry desolate waste of Belkzen were left behind and replaced with more fertile lands. Humans replaced orcs but their attitudes were much the same. The humans were suspicious and sometime violently so, yet they were not as deadly ferocious as orcs. Both races took slaves and it was not yet decided which taskmasters were more cruel. But, some humans were actually kind. His contact was kind and Malryk owed him his freedom and likely his life. He suspected the Andoran was a member of the clandestine, Twilight Talons despite the repeated denials the secretive man offered. Despite meeting only a few times, Malryk considered the man as close of a family as he had ever known. His savior had provided him with guidance and letters of introduction over the years that lead from one contact to another. Whether it was learning a new language or drawing a map, Malryk approached each task with a stoic sense of duty.