Ravis Rogarvia's page

Born as the fifth son of Ravelm Rogarvia, Raevis never had much of a prospect of inheriting the throne. Still, as a part of the ruling house of the nation of Brevoy, he was an attractive spouse and a good pawn to forge stronger ties with for the weaker houses and outside countries. He was a proverbial carrot dangled in front of them for years, pushed this way and that by his father.

Perhaps predictably, and no doubt worsened by the gradually manifesting minor Aasimar blood of the freedom-loving Garuda outsiders, he started to despise the way choices were made for him – what he was allowed to study and not, who he was allowed to see, how much he should train and even what he could eat.

More and more he became a dissident, rebelling in the slightest ways of etiquette at first and more openly as his skill and confidence grew. He questioned the strict teachings of the Aldori swordlords, one of them his own teacher, refused to be betrothed to anyone and openly became involved with the church of Cayden Cailean – among commoners, no less! To say nothing of the time he actually discarded his dueling sword and took up the Taldan Falcata and STILL claimed himself a Swordlord!

Many a duel was fought over this slight, (often with his teacher, Lothar, standing in for him since ‘If you die, all those years I spent drilling a TINY bit of common sense into your skull would be wasted!’). Yet, somehow, even if the more experienced man didn’t jump in, he always seemed to win.

By the time he’d reached adulthood, his reputation among the court as a troublemaker was solidified. He was a rebel dreamer, more interested in philosophy and esoteric swordplay than anything else. Too honest to make good use of his wits, some claimed. Too much in love with a sickly childhood friend -Or even commoner? A dwarf from that last diplomatic visit to Brunderton?- and not enough sense of duty to put it aside for ‘the greater good’. Yet, for all his perceived flaws, he compensated with commoner popularity.

To the outside world, he could pull of the act of the lovable buffoon quite well. It was said that a visit from young Raevis with a bottle of good Andorran wine (or better, a keg of Dwarven ale) could solve any dispute. And there had been other incidents that subtly implied that he was more skilled at this house game, and perhaps enchanting magic, then he let on. Investments and undertakings of his enemies tended to mysteriously yet unfailingly meet utterly disastrous results. When confronted with this, he only ever gave his mysterious s@!%-eating grin, followed by a polite bow as was the custom.

For a while, things seemed to be working for him, and that his eccentric behavior became more accepted. Still, he knew deep down that something strange was happening in Brevoy. His father was becoming increasingly restless, withdrawing more and more into himself and away from Brevan high society. He was never truly focused whenever they still met.
Uncomfortable whispers surrounding his health started going around the castle. Or was it an affair? A slight? A coming war with this faction or another? Impending civil war between his sons for the throne?

All of the above at once?

But there was nothing – allegedly.

That didn’t make his father’s actions any less strange.

More and more, money from the treasury was spent on exclusive parties – normally never a priority. More and more gifts for expensive maitresses from this race or that, something his father hadn’t truly indulged in since his wife’s death to poison. Extremely expensive clothes and jewels for a normally reserved and frugal ruler.

Then, he started sending his sons away to different corners of the world on the vaguest of missions…. And Raevis knew he’d be next. He just didn’t expect how, or how severe his own dispatchment would be.

Perhaps it had been based on an excuse, when he’d rejected a courtship from a girl who by his very conservative estimates was *completely crazy*. This Barnoness Althea Thune had given him very bad vibes right from the start, and seeking to have all the Surtovas murdered on a family gathering and blaming it on a convenient third party, one her family had a regional dispute with, was not something he’d sign for anytime soon. No matter the material benefit would be.

But Honors were slighted, and the other party had put forth an Aldori Swordswoman named Jamandi Aldori.

It was slaughter. His teacher refused to stand in for him, and this opponent was far beyond any he’d faced before. So far, that even during the duel, he’d started to wonder just how many of them had LET him win, just because he was a prince, and realize that he wasn’t nearly as good as he thought he was.

He got crushed, and the final stroke of the swordlord cut deeply into his dominant right hand, which never fully recovered. It might have, with powerful enough magic, but such wasn’t offered to him anymore. Instead, he was brought before he father, claimed to be an embarrassment to the family, disowned and exiled from the court.

That was mere days before the Vanishing, when suddenly the entire rest of his family and their servants seemed to disappear into thin air. Perhaps, now exiled to the stolen lands below, the then sixteen year old Raevis, should have counted himself fortunate to have been exempted, but he’d been too busy trying to cope with suddenly losing everything, including the function of his swordhand.

But it was also a turning point for him, and as he found refuge in a small temple of Erastil, he’d slowly began trying to atone for his earlier cockiness and overconfidence, and being a better man. To pick himself up and learn how to fight again with his other arm.
He settled in a the small community of Erastilian settlers in southern Rostland under a fake name, and lived off the land as he took part in defending the forests and community from this threat or that as he grew older and regained his skill and will to fight.

While initially he held out some lingering ambition of eventually reclaiming his family’s heritage and lands, as he matured, he knew he’d never be able to achieve it and would just throw his life away, even if he could prove he was a surviving heir. Instead, he married a local huntress he’d fallen in love with, Elena, and life was simple, but good.

It became better, even, when the Stag Lord was dethroned and the ever-present bandit threat became less of an issue. Visiting the new capital city of Tamlyn and performing as a bard on the Crystalhue festival and enjoying the festivities with his new wife had been a real highlight in recent memory.

…Unfortunately, good things didn't last, and it wasn't long after he returned that he found his wife dead in the remains of their cottage. Taking a gamble, he attempts to track down his new liege with an offer of his services in return for help in his revenge tracking down the culprits and preferably killing them. It would be the end of anonimity, and the resurfance of a Rogarvian would be sure to make a lot of people VERY nervous.

But the options were limited, and it was time to cast the die...

Raevis is normally a more playful, but intelligent swordsman. As a foil to his younger more reckless self, he now prefers to carefully study which fights to pick and when, and only result to direct confrontation if there are no better ways to do it. An early life among the court and good teachers have taught him the values of flattering words, a smile and implied rewards for avoiding bloodshed.

Were these Court skills ever to fully resurface, such as if he ever regained a significant diplomatic potion, he would calculate how to present himself for the best results of each situation. A crushing first impression made a carefully managed negation easier, and thus the chances of the best result.

While the distance to a potential throne has grown extremely long, he still feels a genuine connection to the people of Brevoy and a sense of duty to protect them. To him, the drinks he once shared with his friends in the Local pub or temple of Cayden Cailean (usually after bribing the guards to let him go, or simply offering to take them with him and pay for their drinks) were more real and treasured than the days upon days of calculating what the Look noble X gave noble Y and what hidden agenda’s could be contained within.

In the past, he often took it upon himself to sabotage nobles who grew a bit too power-hungry for their own good. Not out of a sense of personal gain, but rather to spare the people as many bloody disputes as possible. To achieve this, he once worked on local connections with the merchant families and conglomerates of New Stetven to bring about financial ruin of these troublemakers.

Nothing drained your wallet faster than having your iron and copper trading rights revoked due to a ‘contractual error’, having the alternative shipments bought out before you could deliver on your customers, and having your imported exotic spices never arrive. Without money, there was no war. He found the average noble could care less of the possibility of hundreds of his serfs dying, but the prospect of losing money tended to scare them off. Funny, how that worked.

In the immediate future, he is still partly in mourning for his young wife's death and this will impact his mood to a more sober one, as well as being most of his immediate motivation to join the party.

At a first glance, he is an unusually handsome Human male in his mid-twenties with a well-trimmed beard and short, reddish hair. Closer inspection reveals that subtle flashes of light and impossible vibrant hues of red and black manifest in his eyes and seem to flicker this way and that. Which may, or may not, be the result of magic. His grin would never tell.

He wears a Falcata in a holster on his right, which is also the arm his buckler is strapped to. Longer observation reveals that he doesn’t use his right hand that much and vastly prefers his left for everything, but a pair of leather gloves hide the explanatory deep scar from view. (His injured right hand is also a RP explanation for having slightly below average strength as an ability score.)

He travels with a Horse named Shayenne, which he named after his first love from his previous life – a slightly older servant girl with faint elven heritage who was removed from the castle when it became clear the two of them were involved against status.

In combat, he prefers to unbalance or outright paralyze opponents with magic, then moves in to gracefully and precisely cut through their vital area's. He prefers deflecting attacks over outright parrying ones, relying on agility and guile over strength.

-Immediate goal: Find out who or what is responsible for the death of his wife and take revenge. Seek aid from the new Ruler to do this and prove himself to him first if necessary.

-Long term goal: Rebuild the influence of House Rogarvia, if a true opportunity arises, and potentially find out what happened to them/if any of them are still alive.

I picture this mostly as a gradually growing desire. It could start with definitively accept that being disowned was something his father did as an attempt to try and save him from the vanishing, rather than a punishment, something that Jamandi Aldori might have been in on, too. This would cause him to forgive his father’s actions, and then he will seek out revenge for whatever happened to his family, potentially also against those who took advantage of the situation when his family disappeared (such as house Surtova if the kingdom ever becomes hostile towards them).

On further plothooks:
-His major first and foremost potential plot hook is around his heritage from the disappeared Rogarvia family. He could technically be recognized by anyone who interacted with the Rogarvians in the past, to say nothing of how his family vanishing might be related to whatever BBEG in the story. He also has a negative past relationship with Baroness Thrune, who was an unnamed noble in an earlier writeup of the backstory but adapted for this campaign as a beautifully fitting plothook :)

-Raevis, despite being in his mid teens back then, was a bit of a womanizer during his Court stay and might have a bastard child of his own somewhere, which could come back to bite him in the ass when he least wants it to. Such as, perhaps, if his identity were revealed and he were to rise to an important post, primed to re-marry someone?

Ravis the Bard

Male aasimar (Scion of humanity, garuda-blooded) bard (court bard) 4/Falcata swashbuckler 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 56, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 81, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 7)

LG Medium outsider (native)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +9
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +1 shield)
hp 42 (5 HD; 4d8+1d10+12)

Fort +5, Ref +10, Will +6; +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependent, and sonic

Resist acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5

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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 falcata +9 (1d8+4/19-20/×3) or
. . cold iron spiked gauntlet +7 (1d4-1) or
. . dagger +7 (1d4-1/19-20) or
. . mwk cold iron falcata +9 (1d8+3/19-20/×3)

Ranged mwk longbow +8 (1d8-1/×3)
Special Attacks bardic performance 15 rounds/day (countersong, distraction, fascinate [DC 17], mockery -2, satire -1), deeds (dodging panache, opportune parry and riposte), panache (5).

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +10)
. . 1/day—Glitterdust (dc 17)

Bard (Court Bard) Spells Known (CL 4th; concentration +9)
. . 2nd (2/day)—heroism, hold person (DC 18)
. . 1st (5/day)—charm person (DC 17), grease, heightened awareness[ACG], hideous laughter (DC 17), cure light wounds.

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Statistics
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Str 9, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 20

Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats Slashing Grace[ACG], Spell Focus (enchantment), Weapon Focus (falcata), exotic weapon proficency: falcata.

Traits - Trait: magical lineage: Good Hope, Rostlander
Skills Diplomacy +17, Escape Artist +7, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (history) +11, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (nature) +5, Knowledge (nobility) +11, Knowledge (religion) +5, Linguistics +8, Perception +11, Perform (sing) +15, Sense motive +15, bluff +15, Stealth +11, Survival +3; Racial Modifiers +2 Diplomacy, +2 perform (sing).

Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Sylvan
SQ heraldic expertise +2, swashbuckler finesse, versatile performance (sing)
Other Gear mithral chain shirt, mithral buckler, +1 falcata[APG], cold iron spiked gauntlet, dagger, mwk cold iron falcata[APG], mwk longbow, cloak of resistance +1, headband of alluring charisma +2, heavy horse, 154 gp

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Special Abilities
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Bardic Performance (standard action, 15 rounds/day) Your performances can create magical effects.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).

Deeds

Energy Resistance, Acid (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Acid attacks.
Energy Resistance, Cold (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Energy Resistance, Electricity (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Electricity attacks.

Heraldic Expertise +2 (1/day) (Ex) You add half your bard level to Diplomacy, Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), and Knowledge (nobility) checks.

Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.

Slashing Grace (Falcata) Treat chosen weapon as 1-handed piercing weapon and can add Dex instead of Str to dam.

Spell Focus (Enchantment) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.

Swashbuckler Finesse Use Dex for att with light/1-hand pierce wep. Use Cha instead of Int for combat feat pre-reqs.

Versatile Performance (Singing) +13 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Sing skill for Bluff or Sense Motive checks

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Intended to be a pure caster bard (heavily focused on enchanting and thus crowd control) with some secondary melee ability. His bard song debuffs enemy attack and damage rolls and their saving throws against fear or enchant effects rather than the normal inspire courage. This helps him land the enchantment effects but also directly protects the party.

The archetype court bard also grants really good social abilities that suit the Grand Diplomat spot perfectly (IE he has good knowledge checks for local affairs, really high diplomacy, bluff and sense motive and can reroll diplomacy checks a few times per day. And if it somehow fails there's always enchanting magic :P) For kingdom management, he was thus tailor-made for that exact role. However, with 20 cha he can take any post that requires it and do well. 16 dex also makes him decent at spymaster and warden.

Also, parts of the build are easily interchangible. He could get disable device or other skills that are missing instead of some others so he could serve as both a scout and caster in the field.