About ParvanehCharacter Sheet:
Parvaneh
Female Human (Varisian) Cleric/Rogue (Varisian Pilgrim) 2 CG Medium Humanoid (human) Init +2; Senses Perception +8 (+9 vs. Traps) -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 Dex) hp 16 (2d8) Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +6 -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 40 ft. Melee Masterwork Starknife +4 (1d4/x3)(+1d6 Sneak) Special Attacks caravan bond (5 companions) Spell-Like Abilities Bit of Luck (6/day) Cleric (Varisian Pilgrim) Spells Prepared (CL 2): 1 (3/day) Expeditious Retreat, Protection from Evil, Bless, Cure Light Wounds 0 (at will) Detect Poison, Cure Minor Wounds (DC 13), Create Water, Guidance -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 10, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 14 Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 13 Feats Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Finesse Traits Foster Child (Ex), Starchild Skills Acrobatics +6 (+10 jump), Climb -1, Diplomacy +7, Escape Artist +1, Fly +1, Heal +8, Knowledge (geography) +7 (+8 to navigate underground in Varisia, +9 to navigate in the wilderness), Knowledge (religion) +5, Perception +8, Ride +1, Sense Motive +8, Stealth +1, Survival +5 (+9 to avoid getting lost if used with astrolabe, +7 to avoid becoming lost when using a Mapmaker's Kit as you travel, +6 to navigate in the wilderness in Varisia, +7 to navigate in the wilderness, +9 to avoid getting lost), Swim -1; Racial Modifiers starchild Languages Common, Varisian SQ aura, cleric channel positive energy 1d6 (5/day) (dc 13), domains (exploration, luck), door sight (6/day), spontaneous casting Other Gear Masterwork Chain shirt, Masterwork Starknife, Area map (Varisia), Astrolabe, Backpack, masterwork (empty), Bedroll, Blanket, winter, Cleric's kit, Grappling arrow, Harrow deck, Mapmaker's kit, Sextant, Signal whistle, Skeleton key, Thieves' tools, Traveler's dictionary (Varisia), 6 GP, 6 SP -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Area map (Varisia) A geographically relevant map grants a user a +1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks made to navigate in the wilderness. It also can be used to grant the same bonus on Knowledge (dungeoneering) checks made to navigate underground. Astrolabe +2 navigation Aura (Ex) The Cleric has an aura corresponding to his deity's alignment. Bit of Luck (6/day) (Sp) Target takes the higher of 2d20 for a d20 roll. Caravan Bond (5 companions) (Su) After a minute of group prayer, may use a domain-granted power on up to 5 travelling companions within 30 feet. Cleric (Varisian Pilgrim) Domain (Exploration) Associated Domain: Travel Cleric (Varisian Pilgrim) Domain (Luck) Granted Powers: You are infused with luck, and your mere presence can spread good fortune. Cleric Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (5/day) (DC 13) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect. Door Sight (6/day) (Su) By touching a door for 1 minute, use clairvoyance on the other side. Evasion (Ex) At 2nd level and higher, a rogue can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If she makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the rogue is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless rogue does not gain the benefit of evasion. Finesse Rogue A rogue that selects this talent gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat. Foster Child (Ex) +1 vs foes threatening Koya. Mapmaker's kit +2 Circumstance for Survival to avoid becoming lost. Point Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet. Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee. Sextant +4 Circumstance to navigate while above ground. Skeleton key Use a +10 Disable Device for one try to open a lock. Sneak Attack +1d6 Sneak Attack Damage Spontaneous Casting The Cleric can convert stored spells into Cure or Inflict spells. Starchild +4 survival to avoid becoming lost. Automatically determine north. Trapfinding A rogue adds 1/2 her level to Perception skill checks made to locate traps and to Disable Device skill checks (minimum +1). A rogue can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps. Background:
Several years ago, Madame Niska Mvashti was gathering wildflowers in the hills east of Sandpoint. It was a bright and sunny day in early summer, the time of year when bad crops are still redeemable before harvest season, when water flows freely in the rivers, and when travelers cross the Varisian expanse in droves. Whereas spring is a time of hope and renewal, summer is the celebration of that hope and renewal. At the top of the tallest hill, Niska Mvashti found a flower with violet petals that was as big as a cow. When she approached and knocked upon it with her walking stick, the flower bloomed, and suckling the sweet center was a baby with wheatgold hair and blue eyes as deep as the ocean. Madame Niska said a prayer of thanks to Desna, named the child Parvaneh and brought her home to Sandpoint.
At least, that was how Madame Niska Mvashti told the story to Parvaneh when she was a wild and imaginative girl. Few children in Sandpoint cared to spend hours of their day in the company of the ancient woman, and fewer still spoke to her as though she were of the same age, complicit in both the fantasies and the follies of youth. Niska's daughter Koya was of mixed feelings about how her mother had taken to the girl and vice versa; on the one hand, she scolded Niska for carrying on with such fanciful creation myths, once even telling her "but of course it will be me who has to tell her the truth in the end, after you're gone." On the other hand, Koya attributed Parvaneh's unconditional affection for Niska as the reason for her eking out just so many more years of her already long life. Parvaneh was brought up in the ways of the Desnan faith by both Koya and Niska, with Koya introducing her to the more modern tenets and practices of the faith and Niska sharing the oral liturgies, the tales of places that, even so far away from here are nonetheless touched by Desna, who has traveled all over and everywhere and left her mark indelibly in each land. "In some lands it is obvious, and in others, hidden behind layers of time and tragedy." She was also taught the mysteries of the Harrow Deck. Niska often spoke of their power as a voice for destiny. Parvaneh developed her own theories about the power of the cards... Wanderlust became more than just an affliction for Parvaneh. It became her way of life. Quick and lithe, she could easily elude the two older women on any given day and break free to explore the countryside. An adoptive brother, Sandru, often accompanied her on these excursions, if only to keep her from getting hurt or lost. More often than not, it was she who kept them from getting lost; when even Sandru could no longer tell the way back to Sandpoint, Parvaneh always seemed to know. The girl grew into a free-spirited young woman. It was only natural that her first love was her adoptive brother, Sandru, a constant companion since childhood. But after a brief romance, the two of them moved along, deciding that what familial ties they could claim to have mattered more than teenage attraction. (A revelation that Parvaneh often blamed on Koya's influence over Sandru, and Sandru blamed on Koya's influence over Parvaneh, when in reality it had been entirely their own decision.) She stole kisses from many boys in Sandpoint, and seemed a friend to everyone one of them...but in the grand scheme of things, little more. People took to calling her "Madame Butterfly" for the way she flitted from one caller to the next. The name stuck and to this day, people still call her by this nickname, though for a variety of others reasons, the symbol of her faith being one of them. By the time some began to whisper the word "tease" in regards to her, Parvaneh was already gone, having been swept off of her feet by a young Varisian nomad with dark curls and darker skin. He played the tambourine and wore leggings too short for his ankles and collected maps, and though after a year and a half of traveling with his family he swore in anger that she had always been more interested in his maps than she was in him, nothing could be further from the truth. "I am just as interested in you as I am in your maps," she said to him. "At least I used to be. Things are different now, but I'll always love you in a way I can't love anybody else." It was an observation that she learned in the years to come was true no matter whom she said it to. Each person in her life held some special meaning that no other person could replace, and after contemplating on this for some time, she attributed the same thing to each place. After a few years of wandering the Varisian countryside with various nomads, even spending a season with the Shoanti to the north, she returned home to Sandpoint. Neither Koya nor Niska could scold her, for in their own ways they understood. They simply gave thanks to Desna that the girl was still alive. With her newfound interest in geography and her experience traveling with caravans, she quickly found her place in Sandru's biannual or triannual caravan trails between Korvosa, Magnimar and Riddleport. Koya often accompanied them, when she wasn't staying at home worried about Niska. She acted as guide and cartographer, constantly updating maps of the region and on occasion finding new trails that had been carved out by the Varisian nomads (and sometimes getting them hopelessly off the beaten path in pursuit of them, only to eventually lead them back safely.) Parvaneh was content with this being her life. But everything changed the day the giants attacked, marching upon Sandpoint and throwing great boulders at her walls. On that fateful day, Parvaneh acted quickly to sound the alarm - a nimble runner with a loud mouth, she ran through the streets to warn people. In that critical hour, it was determined that some would stay behind and defend Sandpoint with a handful of adventurers who swore to defend their home, and that Parvaneh would lead those villagers unwilling or unable to fight to safety. And she did, spiriting them out of Sandpoint and towards the coastline and southwards into the lowlands where they could hunker down and hide. Before she left, Niska Mvashti gave her an old thing that had fallen behind a wardrobe years ago: a large ring with several daggerblades around it, surprisingly aerodynamic and deadly. She'd learned a little bit about knife-throwing when traveling with the Nomads, but this was an entirely new experience. It was during these two days away from town that Parvaneh was approached by a man as they hid in a sea cave. He was maybe twelve years older than her, aged handsomely but simple in expression. She knew him as the local postmaster, responsible for organizing the couriers who came and went from the village. He said that one of the villagers had fallen very ill and needed medication that was left behind in Sandpoint. "But also, she has something to tell you." Parvaneh went to her. The woman was thin and sickly. Parvaneh had never seen her before, but later learned why - she rarely exited her home, so wracked with illness was she. Fearing the sea cave's floor to be her deathbed, she confessed all to Parvaneh. "Forgive me. Please, forgive me before I die. Let me have some peace!" Parvaneh was confused until the postmaster explained. "Parvaneh, I know this is difficult to tell you. I'm not sure how else to put it to you now, but she is your mother. She's known about you for a long time, but was...too ashamed to say anything to you." "Why would she be ashamed? And how do you know this?" Parvaneh asked him. "Well...I can explain that later. But I know this because I'm the one who got her pregnant. I was young and stupid, just a boy, really." "Is that your way of saying you're my father?" The postmaster looked helpless. "I don't know how you can even call me that." Parvaneh led the people back to Sandpoint once a courier came to tell them the coast was clear. Though the village itself had a lot of rebuilding to undergo, it seemed Parvaneh's life did, too. Her mother survived and between her and her father she learned that she was an accident. Her father had been a curious twelve-year-old who physically matured quicker than his peers, and her mother an eighteen-year-old prostitute at the Pixie's Kitten for years. She was drunk, and he didn't know any better, and she was the result. Desperate, her mother gave her to Koya to raise with the request that she never have to know she was a mistake. After a sound scolding of the woman, Koya agreed. Years later, Parvaneh's mother came down with a terrible illness given to her by a man from Magnimar, an illness that ended her career and had many times nearly ended her life. Parvaneh came to know her mother and father after this, sometimes supped with them separately (they were by no means a couple and barely friendly to one another), but there was a surreality to it all. It defied her own mysterious image of her origins, one ingrained in her by Niska herself. She experienced some anger at the old, old woman for misleading her, and at Koya for being complicit in the lie all of these years. Some of Parvaneh's flair faded, and the natural color with which she lived her life drained. Then, a month before Niska died, she said something strange to Parvaneh. "Ask your mother and father about the butterflies." Her mind was going at that point, if not utterly gone. She chalked it up as nonsense until after Niska died. After the grief was gone, nostalgia set in, the desire to have the childhood back that she had so loved, the childhood Niska was a part of. She invited her father to her mother's house for a dinner that they could all sit down and have, one she said was a long time coming. At that dinner, more as an afterthought than anything else, she inquired about the butterflies. "How did you know about that?" her mother asked.
Now Parvaneh is on the verge of deciding what to do not only with this knowledge, but with the secret birthright Niska gave to her. Even when she thought all the magic had been ripped from her life, Niska held on to one last little secret, one that kept the old woman alive in Parvaneh's heart. It was in that moment of realization, the moment that she saw the work of Desna in her life that she had the courage to ask the goddess for her favor, and was granted Desna's blessings. People in Sandpoint would tell you that Parvaneh wouldn't harm a fly - unless that fly stole from her, hurt her, insulted her or broke her heart. Not afraid to speak her mind, even when it borders on the ridiculous and fanciful, Parvaneh has taken the years after the attack on Sandpoint to learn how to use Niska's old starknife, the chosen weapon of priestesses in her faith, a role she has only just recently adopted. |
