Raine a'Thiel's page

The a'Thiel name is not unknown in Kenabres, both as warriors and as strategic minds tasked with maintaining the city's defenses. The Taldan a'Thiels, a minor noble house (very minor~) answered the call of the First Crusade and sent some of their best and brightest sons and daughters north to help battle the demons; some of them stayed to help secure the border, and turn the small town of Kenabres into a defensive fortress. Those who stayed married other crusaders, and children were born to the line, creating a Kenabran branch that thought little of returning to Taldor. Through each successive crusade, there was always at least one a'Thiel present on the front lines, taking the battle to the demonic hordes with steel and valor, riding under the family's standard of a red hawk on a white field... and another a'Thiel whose shrewd mind was busy in the forges where siege engines are built.

But victories have become harder earned, in recent years, and the list of names of the valiant dead written in the family's copy of Iomedan holy writ has grown...

In the Fourth Crusade, the family was especially hard hit. Melara a'Thiel fell on the front lines, as well as her son Ryen, and her husband Artien was grievously injured-- an eye lost, a leg withered to demonic fire. But the true defeat of Artien's spirit came while he lay recovering in the temples and heard that Rodien-- an engineer rather than a direct combatant, escorting a ballista to the front lines-- had also perished in a demonic ambush. All that was left to Artien was the family's youngest child, Raine, only eight at the time.

Artien swore that his daughter would not perish under a demon's claws. He determined that she would live a safe life behind Kenabres's walls, and forbade her joining the Crusades. As Raine grew older, she had different ideas... but found her every attempt to join gently but firmly blocked by sergeants and lieutenants who knew her father, and who agreed, as a kindness to the aging cripple, to keep his daughter out of the field.

Artien tried to keep his daughter entirely in peaceable pursuits, vainly hoping that learning to paint and dance and weave might somehow protect her from the hard reality of life in Kenabres. Raine resisted. Ultimately, they settled on an unhappy compromise: Raine could study architecture, at least, if not the ways of war.

Despite her bitterness at being barred from contributing to the war efforts and carrying on the family's noble history, Raine discovered a passion for building, and buildings, as well. She came to love Kenabres not just as her home, but to appreciate the sight of its sweeping ramparts, the intricacy of the engineering by which supplies are brought up from the Sellen River, the genius of the layered mortar-and-stone designs that provide the bulwark walls with their massive strength. Raine has spent countless hours wandering the fortress city, and while she knows that some may think fortified Kenabres ugly-- that some may think graceful elven spires more attractive, or others praise the lines of the Starstone Cathedral in distant Absalom-- Raine herself finds the walls of her city beautiful. (And the back alleys, and the bridges, and the archways, and the plaza layout... etc., etc.)

Though Eldas, the empyreal lord who oversees architecture, is hardly widely worshiped, there is a shrine to him among the city's engineers, especially those in charge of seeing to the city's defenses. While Raine still prays to Iomedae and Desna both-- the Inheritor for courage, the Dreamer or Luck-- she has a particular soft spot in her heart for Eldas and Arqueros both. (Basically I see Raine as observing the general pantheon of the good-aligned gods, as opposed to considering herself a devotee of one particular one, but if for plot reasons we need a focus on one god, Raine is personally interested in Eldas. Though just right now she's offering a lot of prayers to Ragathiel too.)

Secretly, Raine has also tried to learn about war engines such as her brother designed. This has meant learning things her father would definitely not approve of: how to open the lock to her brother's bedroom for instance (which her father has kept undisturbed, almost as a shrine), and the ones on his desk as well.... how to step lightly down the back stair on her way to sneak out into the city... and how to disappear down an alley in the twinkling of an eye when 'adults' come looking. She also did convince at least one old Iomedan war-cleric to train her in the art of the bow, for Iomedans know that even walls do not guarantee safety. Raine learned a dozen hiding places in Kenabres where she might sit and sketch her favorite buildings.... or secretly practice her archery skills.

She grew to nineteen years old, dreaming of someday slaying demons and avenging her mother and her brothers.

But when the wardstones fell, Raine's first priority was not to fight with demons in the streets, but to get her crippled father to safety. Perhaps her life might have gone very differently-- perhaps she might have been among the handful of travelers who Terendelev protected as they fell into the earth. But instead, Raine hauled her father into one of the hiding places she knew, an old cellar, and guarded him during the initial demonic rampage, weeping with her helplessness as Kenabres-- her beloved Kenabres-- fell.

In the time since, Raine has remained in her city: no longer a safe fortress, but occupied territory. The front line has come to her, despite her father's wishes. Raine's knowledge of the city has served her well as she has picked her way through old tunnels and collapsed buildings, scavenging food, weapons, and supplies, and carefully avoiding the red eyes of demonic occupiers. Her father still lives-- more broken than ever by the city's collapse, lost to despair. Raine struggles to keep him safe and hidden, as well as herself. But her other goal is vengeance.

She has returned once to her family's old home, a fraught and perilous mission, but one that rewarded her with two old family heirlooms: the bow and quiver of arrows her mother had taken into battle, and a pair of enchanted goggles once worn by Rodien. Raine strikes down demons when she can: from a distance, from the shadows, picking off lone targets with her arrows before melting into the city's rubble once more. The arrows are red-fletched: it is not the same as riding under the banner of the red hawk on an open field, but it is what Raine can do. For as long as there are demons, there will be an a'Thiel to fight them... or so Raine swears.

Raine is wiry, of middling height, and has chin-length dark red hair, gray eyes, and a fine "resting-b!+ch" face. Her expressions flicker quickly across her face with little guile-- it's always easy to tell if she's angry, happy, sad... At one time, she enjoyed dressing in jewel tones, but the necessities of life in Kenabres these days merit dark colors, better suited to disappearing down an alley in. She dresses very practically now: sturdy boots and gloves, canvas trousers, scavenged leather armor that she tries to keep stitched together. She often will smear ash over her pale face as well, to keep a flash of fair skin from interrupting the shadows. She has not had a bath since Kenabres fell, and currently stinks of old sweat and blood and grunge. A well-made bow is slung over one shouler, and a quiver at her hip.

Raised on tales of the great threat of evil of the demons, Raine has from childhood dreamt of being a hero and vanquishing evil. Of course, it's very easy to form a romantic view of that simplistic way to go about 'heroism,' and to miss the quieter daily tests of one's integrity-- to chafe against a father's fears, for instance. But Raine's heart is good, even if she's young. She has a certain ingrained respect for law and order due to her upbringing in Kenabres (where survival has often hinged on whether or not people obey the dictates of Kenabres), but she is not fanatical about it, and she has also heard of the stories of the Third Crusade, and the excesses of law-followed-too-strictly-and-too-blindly. Therefore I place her in "neutral" on the law-chaos axis. Her inclinations are solidly good-aligned, but she does have a temper and a strong desire for vengeance right now, fueled by her recent trauma and the presumed death of most people in Kenabres she knows in her day-to-day-life. She would be somewhat hard-lined about 'redemption' -- especially if she felt the people to be redeemed had anything to do with the fall of Kenabres-- but she's capable of showing mercy, and would call on the memory of one of her brothers, a fundamentally gentle man, in such moments, to temper her own thirst for judgment.

Her personality prior to the fall of Kenabres was a young woman who was both driven but also somewhat immature, with a penchant for sarcasm and occasional flippancy. She's gotten much more grim over the last few weeks, due to circumstances, but ideally she'll heal towards being a wiser version of her old self: optimistic, determined, a pithy quip when times are dark.

Raine a'Thiel
Raine a'Thiel
Female human ranger (urban ranger) 9/Champion 2
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +19
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Defense
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AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+3 armor, +5 Dex)
hp 98 (9d10+29)
Fort +7 (See Twist Away), Ref +12, Will +5
Defensive Abilities evasion, hard to kill
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.; push through
Melee cold iron dagger +11/+6 (1d4+2/19-20) or
. . light mace +11/+6 (1d6+2)
Ranged +1 composite longbow +17/+12 (1d8+3/×3)
Special Attacks combat style (archery), favored enemies (evil outsiders +4, native outsiders +2), mythic power (7/day, surge +1d6)
Ranger (Urban Ranger) Spells Prepared (CL 6th; concentration +8)
. . 2nd—barkskin, protection from energy
. . 1st—gravity bow[APG] (2), resist energy
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 23, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 9
Base Atk +9; CMB +11; CMD 27
Feats Clustered Shots[UC], Deadly Aim, Manyshot, Nimble Moves, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot[M], Twist Away[ACG], Weapon Focus (longbow)
Traits abyssal eavesdropper, child of the crusades, scholar of the great beyond
Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb +8, Disable Device +23, Heal +6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (engineering) +2, Knowledge (geography) +6, Knowledge (local) +13, Knowledge (planes) +15, Linguistics +2, Perception +19, Profession (architect) +8, Ride +10, Spellcraft +5, Stealth +17, Survival +14, Swim +8
Languages Abyssal, Common, Dwarven
SQ amazing initiative, distant barrage[MA], endless hatred[MA], favored communities (Army Camp +4, Kenabres +2), hunter's bond (companions), oppressive expectations, pierce the darkness[MA], swift tracker, track +4, trapfinding +4, wild empathy +9
Combat Gear nexavaran steel arrows (50), potion of cure light wounds, scroll of cure light wounds, scroll of darkvision, darkvision; Other Gear elven chain +2, +1 composite longbow (+2 Str), arrows (40), blunt arrows[APG] (20), cold iron dagger, light mace, cracked mossy disk ioun stone, eyes of the eagle, ioun torch ioun stone[APG], belt pouch, blanket[APG], candle, chalk, earplugs[APG], family copy of the acts of iomedae, flint and steel, grappling hook, inkpen, masterwork backpack[APG], masterwork thieves' tools, mess kit[UE], silk rope (50 ft.), string or twine[APG], trail rations (2), wire saw[UE], wooden holy symbol of Eldas, 12 gp, 3 sp, 8 cp
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Special Abilities
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Amazing Initiative (1/round) (Ex) As a free action, use 1 power to gain an extra standard action (can't be used to cast a spell).
Clustered Shots Total damage from full-round ranged attacks before applying DR
Darkvision (120 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Deadly Aim -3/+6 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Distant Barrage (Ex) As a swift action, use 1 power for ranged att (+2 bonus, ignore cover/conceal & bypass all DR).
Endless Hatred (Ex) Use 1 power to ignore favored enemy DR for 1 rd and +2 to all FE bonues for 1 min.
Evasion (Ex) If succeed on Reflex save for half dam, take none instead.
Favored Community (Army Camp +4) (Ex) +4 to rolls when in army camp terrain.
Favored Community (Kenabres +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls when in kenabres terrain.
Favored Enemy (Evil Outsiders +4) (Ex) +4 to rolls vs. evil outsiders foes.
Favored Enemy (Native Outsiders +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs. native outsiders foes.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Hunter's Bond (Companions) (2 rounds) (Ex) As a move action, grant half favored enemy bonus to allies in 30 ft.
Manyshot You can shoot two arrows as the first attack of a full attack action.
Nimble Moves (5 ft/rd) Move through the listed amount of difficult terrain each rd as if it were normal terrain.
Oppressive Expectations When you fail a skill check -2 with that skill until you succeed or fail a different skill.
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.
Push Through (Ex) Not slowed by difficult terrain within a favored community, and may move through citizen's spaces as allies.
Rapid Shot [Mythic] Rapid shot allows 2 extra attacks, or 1 extra attack with no penalties.
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Swift Tracker (Ex) Tracking penalties when moving at normal speed or faster are reduced.
Track +4 Add the listed bonus to Survival checks made to track.
Trapfinding +4 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Twist Away When in light or no armor, may make Ref save instead of Fort, if red eff, avoid entirely.
Wild Empathy +9 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an animal, as if using Diplomacy.
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