About Narah.
For an example of roleplaying see the following thread!
Age: 76
Referance Image: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Secrets-of-the-Sea-338383394
Theme Song: Johnny Hollow (covering the Sisters of Mercy): Temple of Love [on Spotify] [on YouTube] Personality:
As a cleric Narah is usually calm and understanding, trying to see the truth beneath the surface. While she may be described as extroverted she is rarely obtrusive - she would think of that as being disgraceful. She prefers to communicate with small gestures and glances, rather than words. However, in those rare occasions she can have drastic mood swings, often triggered by seemingly innocent acts which are hard to predict. The subject of her fancy, her motivation changes every now and then, the only constant she has is that she's fiercly loyal to her friends, which included the late Professor Lorrimor. She is narcissistic and vain; any insult to her beauty or failure to acknowledge it can spark strong reactions and she is hesitant to get dirty in any way or do anything that qualifies as disgraceful in her own, particular view. Appearance:
Narah is a tall, lean woman with white, translucent hair which reacts unnaturally strong to even the slightest breaze, bright blue eyes and bluish white skin. She normally wears a blue tunic and a scale mail armor over it and a brown cloak over her back when she travels.
Whenever she acts as courtesan (and only then - she is keenly aware of what is appropriate and what is not) she wears a white translucent dress out of a single band of silk that leaves the arms free but reaches down to the floor and doesn't really hide anything but is folded in a way that the most intimate details just elude the look of the beholder, while inviting him to try. She always wears the holy symbol of Calistria around her neck, a disk with three daggers pointing to the outside. And she always wears a whip at her hip. 10-minute-background:
Step 1
1) Narah was born as a child of the temple in Katapesh, one of the last recently born sylphs in a female line of priestesses in which the blood of djinni used to run strong. 2) Her good and sometimes naive demeanor made her vulerable to the intriges and games for dominance in the temple. For a long time she tried to escape the grasp of the temple, but she was always tricked into turning back. 3) At some point in her later youth the high priestess of the temple, a former childhood friend, then secretly rival who posed as a friend,had a change of heart and released her from the ties of the temple, but encouraged her to finish her training as cleric among elves. 4) Narah travelled through Golarion several years, joined a Varisian travelling circus in Taldor, a band of rebels against a despotic king in the River Kingdoms. 5) While she had not consciously planned it, unconsciously she was still close to Calistria and her travels brought her to the borders of Kyonin where she met an elven priestess who concluded her training. 6) The event that lead to getting to know Professor Lorrimor was when she was abducted by cultists in Nidal and a devil tried to break her in their lair. Professor Lorrimor studied her and helped her heal many scars of that time. Step 2
2) Narah tries to promote to others the ideals and way of life of Calistria, which primarily means lust. 3) As someone who grew up with intrigues even though she's really a bad schemer herself, she is fiercly loyal to her friends. That included Professor Lorrimor and Kendra inherits that loyality. 4) She fights those who try to limit personal freedom, sometimes along the clergy of Desna, though her focus is slightly different. In camps of rebels she acts as prostitute as well as healer and counsellor. She rarely acts as combat support, but isn't above it if need be. 5) Despite her kind nature, she's a narcissist, through and through and not shy of admitting it. She loves to be adored. While she belongs to neutral deity in terms of good and evil, in her dreams she often takes the role of a radiant angel. Step 3
2) She inherited a bit of air elemental ancestry from both her mother and her father, that's why the trait became so strong in her. Her ancestor on her father's side, a great-great-great-grandfather, a djinni, still exists. She doesn't know of him, but he knows of her... but not where she is since she left the temple in Katapesh. Step 4
(Narah doesn't know her father and her mother died long ago of old age; both her parents were human, not sylph) Step 5
2) The sweetest memories she has Korik were curiously not the particularly intimate ones, but when he was throwing knives at her: He was a knive thrower in the travelling circus and she was his target, bound to a turning wheel. She will never forget the gleam in his eyes and how she just knew he would never hit her. 3) Another moment she remembers very fondly is when she first met Alana, stepping out of the forest Kyonin, backlit by the sinking sun. Even though Alana presented herself almost naked she maintained a dignity and grace that far surpassed Narah's own (which she is even willing to admit despite her narcissism) and, while the scene had been carefully set and chosen to be most impressive, there was a deep, elemental honesty in Alana's friendly smile. 4) Narah is relatively romantic for a Calistrian. Even though she is not personally interested engaging in a serious relationship (yet), she considers a sporty challange to set people up with each other. 5) She tries, if anyhow possible, to have a extended bath at every morning and is considerably more likely to have unexpected mood swings if she doesn't get it. However, given her lack of actual shame (as opposed to sense of grace - she's not blunt, but she does think of herself as outstanding beauty and likes to be seen), even a public well qualifies. Inventory:
Backpack Bedroll Belt Pouch Candle Chalk Courtesan Outfit Dagger Explorer's Outfit Flint & Steel Funeral Dress, Cotton Holy symbol, wooden Holy text Mess Kit Perfume Scale Mail Soap Spell Component Pouch Trail Rations Waterskin (Water) Whip Money: 35 gp, 8cp
Stats:
Narah
Female sylph cleric of Calistria 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide 156) CG Medium outsider (native) Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +2 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +1 Dex) hp 8 (1d8) Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +4 Resist electricity 5 -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 20 ft. Melee dagger +1 (1d4+1/19-20) and . . whip +1 (1d3+1 nonlethal) Special Attacks channel positive energy 5/day (DC 12, 1d6) Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +3) . . 5/day—bit of luck, dazing touch Sylph Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +3) . . 1/day—feather fall Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +3): . . 1st—bless, charm person{super}D{/super} (DC 13), obscuring mist . . 0 (at will)—detect magic, enhanced diplomacy, light . . D Domain spell; Domains Luck, Lust -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 12, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 14 Base Atk +0; CMB +1; CMD 13 Feats Combat Expertise Traits prehensile whip, subject of study Skills Diplomacy +6, Heal +6, Knowledge (religion) +6, Profession (courtesean) +6, Sense Motive +6 Languages Auran, Celestial, Common, Elven SQ aura, storm in the blood --------------------
Story:
The temple of Calistria in Katapesh stood proudly for centuries in the city. A place were everyone may let all there worries behind and taste pleasure for a few hours, or so it seems. The pride of the temple was the priests and priestesses touched by the elemental plain of air. Narah was such a girl, born to a temple prostitute, a child of the temple in the third generation. And since the blood of the djinn grew weaker in the lines of the Calistrians of Katapesh, she was the first for twenty years. She was the pride of the temple. And she was also meant, in disregard to the usual tenets of Calistria's clergy, to become a mother early, to strengthen the blood again.
In her childhood Narah didn't know anything but the otherworldly pleasures of the temple, but when she eventually grew up to be a youvenile - which took about fourty years since sylphs, humans touched by the plane of air, age considerably slower than humans, she became more and more rebellious. The temple started like a prison to her and the very blood that made her special also made her a creature that loves the sky and the wide open. A creature that fades if she's confined for too long in one place and cannot roam free. She rejected the fate that was meant for her, rejected continuing her studies and remained a virgin. Her childhood friends had become adults long before her and she got more and more isolated in the temple. Some of her former friends tried to maintain a certain degree of contact, but younger ones shunned her. Eventually she decided to run from the temple in order to pursue a life on her own. However, the harsh reality outside the temple struck her. She had had no idea what it actually means to survive outside the prison of bliss in which she was born. Nevertheless she followed her instincts, the call of the wind and tried to follow through, even if it turned out harder than anticipated, and leave Katapesh behind, following the call of the wind. Luck seemed to change in her favour when she met a charming young man on her travel to the north, who had the same direction and was willing to take her as company. Narah fell in love with him on first sight and they spent the night together in a little, yet comfortable inn. The other day she found the bed empty, her money and belongings were gone and before she could figure out what to do the door was kicked open and she was accused having participated in a theft the night before. She was thrown into prison without being given the chance to explain herself. That was when a Calistrian priestess from the temple of Katapesh turned up. Narah was given an ultimatum - either spent the rest of her life in a lousy cell, or come back to the temple. The priestess didn't hide the fact that it had all been a setup and that the young man she met was not a random con man into whom she ran by chance, but in fact a priest of Calistria´, with very intimate knowledge of her preferences, dreams and desires, who was specifically chosen for the task. For a while she remained in the temple, tried to make the best of the situation and suit her superiors. But the call in her blood was strong. She tried to several times to pursue a mundane profession, she apprenticed as tailor and baker. But either attempt failed, she was soon accused by her respective masters of laziness, theft, sever flaws, such as a ball gown that tore during the court event it was created for and soon after she was kicked out. Narah grew more and more desperate, but she had already learned a lot in the temple of Calistria and the days when she tried to protect her virginity and she was a stranger to lust were long over; in fact, whether or not she liked to admit it, she had an affinity for sharing pleasure with others. But she was still not ready to follow the dictate of the temple and be forced into a life she had never chosen. She became a prostitute on her own accord in the streets of Katapesh. At first it didn't go so bad, she even had a few regular customers, but she crossed with several high ranking and successful prostitutes in the city who weren't happy with the cute, physically young sylph poaching in their terrain. She tried to reach agreements and cooperate with others, but no one was willing to work with her. After the districts in which she worked got worse and worse she had to deal with drunken sailors and violent men and had to suffer more and more of the downside of her business. She gave up on trying to work independently, but the pimps she turned either shunned her as well, or tricked her and continued to abuse her themselves. She was coerced into a drug addiction and faded in the streets, disgusted by herself and the things she had to do just in order to prevail. The very same priest who had tricked her when she ran away for the first time, now a grown up man in his fourties, eventually found her hiding between garbage in the harbour region. He didn't say a thing when he picked her up, but only looked at her with deep concern. Then she fell asleep. When Narah woke up again she was clean, her hair was cut and still slightly damp and she was laying in a comfortable bed with velvet sheets in the temple. A fresh silken novice dress was put onto a chair for her. The hole scene seemed completely unreal to her and while her body was rested she was mentally exhausted beyond anger. She was brought to the high priestess, an elderly human woman who had been a friend of Narah as a child. Naphta examined Narah closely. Narah remained silent, her eyes wandered aimlessly along the walls. "This must end now." said the high priestess with her typical soft, yet completely irresistible voice, which was common among elder priestesses which didn't work as prostitutes any more, but had a completely understanding of human desires. "I hated you and you got what you deserved... that's what I always wanted to say. But now that I see you..." Naphta covered her eyes briefly. "You've always been better than me. More beautiful. Forever young. A heart of gold and talent for men that few of us possess. But you're also a fool. You never see it coming, so easily played. All your failures, all your bad luck, the little and the big things... it was all me. Like a djinni belongs into a bottle I trapped you and made sure I'd become the best of us. I learned intrigues through you. And still I wish I could be just like you." Naphta sighed, but didn't not turn her eyes from Narah, who in turn had difficulties looking straight at Naphta, even though she started to try. But Narah could see a wet gleam in Naphtas eyes. "I should have been the friend I faked to be. Even though you sometimes lack the coldness it takes, you could still have become the best of us. You could have taught this city what bliss really means. But you're not meant to be caged; and it's too late to turn back now, I can't teach you any more. I removed you from the clergy. You may stay in the temple if you like. But if you leave... take this letter." She pushed a piece of parchment over the table. It carried her signature and the seal of the temple. "It's a writ of passage. You can take a ship anywhere you like. But you should know, even though I may have failed you, there is another way. Calistria is not human in the end, and her clergy has more facets than you probably realize. I may have lost you, but should you go to Kyonin, I made sure the elves there well welcome you with open arms." It took Narah two weeks before she decided to travel. On the ship she was unable to believe that anything would ever change, but the wind in her hair soothed her and she was glad to feel it. When she arrived in Taldor her mood had already lifted and the spirit of adventure became alive in her again. She joined a Varisian circus and travelled north with it, posing as target for the knife thrower, who became her boyfriend for a while. Later she joined a band of rebels who opposed a despotic ruler in the River Kingdoms and helped them with her charm and diplomatic skills. She was surprised how easy and lovely life could without the repercussions of the Calistria's clergy and strangely that lead her to fall into the behavioural patterns of a priestess again. And for the first time she enjoyed it. She didn't know when she had decided to go there, she just found herself at the borders of Kyonin one day. It was late at that day and she was unsure how to progress into the lands of elves, where humans were usually tollerated at best. The last human village she had been to was two days behind her. But before she could enter the the denser part of the forest a fair, blonde elven maiden stepped out of it. She wore a silken dress, so thin that she might as well have been naked and was backlit by the sinking sun in the west. "Welcome, Narah." was all the woman said. Then she turned around and left, but cast an inviting glance over her shoulder. For a moment it felt to Narah as though she had just met Calistria incarnate, but she followed. Not because she had to, but because that was the life she wanted to live. Story, Part 2 (Subject of Study):
Two years back Narah's travels brought her to the northern forests of Nidal, where she joined a camp of rebels ran by the clergy of Desna.
At first the priests of Desna had sever reservations against a Calistrian prostitute and a priestess of the goddess of trickery, However, Narah didn't charge much and it turned out that the positive influence on the morale of the rebels vastly exceeded some minor dramas which might be linked to her. And apart from the obvious way, she also assisted couples with her counsel and wasn't shy about picking up arms and assisting the rebels in battle or with the healing afterwards. One night, at a celebration after a successful raid her eye fell on a particularly good looking, tanned and dark haired man. She could pin down his origin, but she though he might be Orisian. One exchanged look was enough for the two to figure out how they would be spending the night and after enjoying the party the two left together. But while Narah was still peeling out of her armor, she suddenly sensed a distinct smell that let her think of blood boiling over a coal fire and when she turned around she could only saw into a deep red with completely black eyes and long, massive horns. A massive, clawed hand grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground. When she regained consciousness she was in a dark underground cavern which looked by the making of the walls as though it was burned or decayed out of the forest ground. The air was thick and hot. She was naked, strapped to a cross. She could look down at herself, but it seemed she was wounded and had been abused. Cultists came to questioned her about the rebels. She tried to keep her lips sealed but the cultists were patient and devious and insanely effective in toying with her mind and trying all kinds of spells on her. The devil would come to her in regular intervals, whispering mockeries of her own faith into her ear while he used her in the most sadistic possible ways. Turning her own faith against her, he intended to use her for breeding. "Pray to your goddess, little sylph, pray!" Those words would echo forever in her mind. He described in detail how he would tear every single man "his bride" had ever touched apart until was on the verge of collapse. She eventually began to slip little details. But when she did, she realized that she wasn't telling them anything new, it was pure sadism that drove them. Something else must have distracted their attention for except for a single one guard. She was unable to think straight anymore and lost as she was she directed her prayer to Desna this one time. She had no idea whether Desna heard her or not, but she took a heart and managed to seduce the guard into releasing her, cast a charm spell on him and pushed him into an array of torture instruments. It had been a desperate move and she didn't really expect to survive, but death would have been more welcome than remaining prisoner. She returned to the camp, warned the rebels and collapsed. When she woke up her body had been healed, but she was unable to talk or do anything anymore. For a week she was hiding in a tent until a cleric of Desna came through to her and she confessed the entire story in detail. It took a couple more days in which she didn't want to talk to anyone but that one woman but eventually she found her spirits again. However, she couldn't stay in the place anymore. The priestess of Desna suggested Narah to visit an old associate of her, Dr. Lorrimor, to see whether the devils used some arcane tricks on which were beyond her skill.
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