About RaylaAge: 74
Group Property:
From http://paizo.com/campaigns/DMSalsaPresentsTheShadowQueen/gameplay&page= 9#441 Stats:
Rayla Female Angelkin Barbarian 1 CG Medium outsider (native) Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +3 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +5 Scale Mail) hp 14 (1d12+2) Fort +4, Ref +2, Will -1 Resist acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5 -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 30 ft. (Base 30, +10 Barbarian, -10 Armor) Melee greatsword +5 (2d6+4/19-20) Special Attacks rage (6 rounds/day) Aasimar Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +4) . . 1/day—alter self -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 14 Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 15 Feats Weapon Focus (greatsword) Traits planetar's vision Skills Acrobatics +2: 1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Dex, -4 Armor Climb +3: 1 Rank, +3 Class, +3 Strength, -4 Armor Heal: +1: -1 Wis, +2 Angelkin Intimidate +6: 1 Rank, +3 Class, +2 Cha Knowledge (planes) +5: 1 Rank, +2 Int, +2 Angelkin Perception +3: 1 Rank, +3 Class Skill, -1 Wis Ride +2: 1 Rank, +3 Class Skill, +2 Dex, -4 Armor Survival +3: 1 Rank, +3 Class Skill, -1 Wis Racial Modifiers +2 Knowledge (Planes), +2 Heal Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Sylvan SQ fast movement, tireless rage Other Gear greatsword, barbarian kit, scale mail, explorer's outfit, 39 gp -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only). 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. Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded. Planetar's Vision Critical hits ignore damage reduction of evil outsiders. Rage (6 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged. -------------------- Story
Beginnings:
Rayla was born in the small village Millriver in civilzed portions of the Windgras Plains. She appeared to be a perfectly normal plains girl for the first couple of days after her birth, but it soon became apparent that she aged considerably slower than normal humans do, and her first, blonde hair had a strangely metallic gleam. Over the years her skin a slight metallic sparkle, as though covered with gold dust, her nails look like they were of gold and the white in her eyes has a strange metallic shimmer as well.
Many years she was some kind of lucky charm for the people in her village and even though it was hard for her parents to have a daughter that aged slow, her family faired well. When she became 30 and still a little girl her slightly younger brother Ellvin took her into his own family. But an attack by the Falming Spear Horsemen took the village completely by surprise. The villagers could not get to safety in time. Ellvin, her brother, died he tried to protect his family and his little elder sister. But the devils of the Flaming Spear didn't kill her. They made her a slave - an aasimar child was an outstanding trophy, for the devils could use her to demonstrate the superiority of their own kin to themselves and all they wished to impress. Gladiator:
For long years Rayla was passed on from one master to the next within the tribe, as favour, reward or token of appreciation. As she grew up to be a lean, edgy juvenile one of her master wanted to see her scream and beg for her life for his entertainment and decided to use her in the arenas in the mountain halls, and thus demonstrate that he could effort to loose a valuable slave like her.
She was given an old, rusty sword, a few pieces of leather armor which were clearly not designed for someone of her physique and thrown into the pits. Rayla had never held a sword in her life before. But the image of her brother fighting and dying for her burned bright in her mind and she just gave in to all the rage and anger and fury she had accumulated; honoring the sacrifice of her brother by going down with nothing less. Yet she prevailed. After she had killed half a dozen hounds and a small bear, a gladiator whose name she never learned was sent to face her. The experienced gladiator took the exhausted little girl down without effort but he couldn't bring himself to kill the her, so he was killed in her stead and she was thrown into the cages of the arena. After that she was tried in the mountain arena more and more often. The nobles got a taste for watching the defiant little aasimar girl, knowing that her fate was ultimately sealed and she wouldn't survive for long. Every creature she repelled, every gladiator she fended would only make watching her be torn apart the sweeter. Despite all the years of oppression and the nights she cried into her sleep her mind remained relatively healthy, because it was in the darkest of nights, in the dreames that Talavin, the astral deva who was her great-great-great-grandfather, would appear and comfort and sooth her, made her hope of a better world, a destiny and believe in her own strength. And thus she kept believing and would never surrender. And so she kept winning, much to the surprise of devils, slavemasters and the audience she was there to entertain. Many of her fights were fought with the same celestial fury as as the very first one, but the image of her brother who inspired her at first was more and more replaced by the visage of the angel of which she was ultimately a part of. Every single time she killed another one who was just as innocent and hapless as she was, she would almost break. And every night she found a bit of peace in her sleep. Patron:
One of the more shrewd slave masters, Garlax the Younger, saw her potential and acquired her for a large sum of money, even though she was deemed uncontrollable and infamous for her breakout attempts. And neither was the lean girl particularly interesting to look at.
He took her out of the arenas, supplied her with food, clean, comfortable clothes, martial training, rudimentary education. She learned to cultivate the rage that drove her and use it more aimed to her advantage. He probably thought of himself as some kind of patron, but really treated her like a valuable racehorse which needed some investment to fully pay out. While she was still locked up tight and most of the time kept in chains, she flourished and with time she developed into a lush, attractive young woman and Garlax presented the best vixen in his cages with pride to competitors and friends. Eventually she was sent back into the arena. Not the small throughout the sulfur plains ones but large mountain hall arena, all across Cheliax, kept at bay with magical choke collar. She would only fight hopelessly inferior enemies for a time, for Garlax didn't want to take unnecessary risks with her. But she fought up her way through ranked battles. It was the forenight of a big championship battle and all the investment had payed out so far from Garlax's point of view. But only the best of the best would fight the other day and so her death seemed very likely. Garlax ordered her into his own bedroom, treating her like favoured pet. Guards in heavy armor and heavy chains restrained her at first and so she gave in for a moment, as the angel had whispered to her. But when the last of the guards was sent away, she snapped Garlax neck without a heartbeat of hesitation or a single word of comment. She unlocked her chains, grabbed a sword and ran. La Liberté:
But she didn't simply leave the place without ever looking back. No, she freed all the slaves and the beasts in their cages and lead them, dressed in nothing but the few scraps of chainmail into a bloody battle throughout the mountain hallways and then out in the large camps around it. Blood streamed in rivers over the granite rocks, skulls were trampled and cracked and even two or three of the feared hell knights fell during the battle.
Eventually the insurgents were driven apart into small groups and chased through the mountains, hardly fighting and more running for their lives. Most of them were slain, some probably escaped. During a fight on a slim mountain ledge Rayla stood her ground to buy the others time to escape. She could evade the blow of one hell knight's lance, but she was still thrown off the bridge into a river beneath the ledge. She couldn't remember what happened then, but when she woke up she found herself somewhere on an unpopulated portion of the riverside, still holding the mantle of the hell knight, at which she had tried to hold on to, in her hand. It was a ridiculously beautiful day for all the death for all the death occured during the night. But Rayla bathed in Sarenreas sweet embrace. Since then the black mantle became her hallmark, even though she burned the original one as soon as she managed to find a replacement. She became a mercinary and a highly efficient hunter of devils, but also of demons and a fierce opposer to slavery. Her most valuable position is a little black book in which she noted the names of all she slew in her time as a gladiator, so that their names would never be forgotten. While the insurgents were beaten, it took the Flaming Spear Forces forces two weeks to restore order and stop plundering and aggression in the camp. From that day on it was forbidden to ever train an Aasimar in the art of combat by the penalty of death of all current and future children, but the hopeless in the pits kept passing on idialized images of the hardly dressed warrior woman leading an army of gladiators into battle. Inspirations
Appearance:
The character idea is primarily inspired by an image of Luis Royo A Million Tears, so that's what she looks like. However, she does wear a top clad with armor scales and a loincloth under the mantle. Her belly remains free. The mantle is reinforced with additional armor scales. Aasimar Marks:
Her hair reflects light as though it was made of polished metal. Her skin is perfectly smooth and seems be powdered with gold dust, especially in direct sunlight. Water pearls of it as though from polished metal. The white in her eyes is absolutely perfect and a rather looking metallic than wet as well and her gold brown eyes seem to glow slightly from the inside. Her nails look like they were made of gold (even though they are still just horn). Personality and Quirks
Overview:
Rayla is very direct and aggressive with whatever she wants and she is literally shameless. That often makes one overlook how kind she actually is and how well she can listen or appreciate beauty. However, she will always repay kindness with kindness and is usually a jovial, friendly mate to anyone who treats her and the people around them fairly. Honesty is very mandatory to her; which has the unpleasant side effect that she doesn't always expect dishonesty and is sometimes easily fooled. Shamelessness:
Her overt display of sexuality is due to the fact that, as a gladiator her opportunities to be with men where limited and then it were most of the time fellow gladiators which she would have to face the other day. She sought comfort and an own bit of freedom in intimacy, and to her, there is some deep, soothing honesty in pure animal lust, which overshadows all the lies in the world. There was never any space for shame back then and a display of shame where none exists seems in a way dishonest to her. As an aasimar with such a prolongued life span she can effort such attitude, since she becomes fertile only once a year, and then she holds back. (On top of that she doesn't really need clothes to keep warm, because as an aasimar she never gets cold - she could bathe in mountain lake of fresh melt water without freezing.) Romantic:
She never engages in any romance, all her affairs are short termed, which raises the impression she was completely unromantic altogether. Actually she is full of dreams, even though she wouldn't admit it. As a creature touched by the planes, not only by her heritage but also by her dreams, that she thinks beyond the scope of her mortal life, dreams of truly immortal love and not just one "until death divorces you", and literally wishes for the touch of an angel. Whenever she hears someone telling a romantic tale she will silently listen with a smile, but not say a thing. She hardly admits that aspect to herself, let alone anyone else, because it seems somewhat childish to dream of an angel's love to her. However, in her darkest hours, she will pray to Shelyn. Freedom:
She is violently opposed to anyone and anything that somehow constraints the freedom of another, with the notable exception of marriage. Her experience as a slave, as a being that is possession and a pet at best, made her a fierce opposer of this. She has no problem with societies which are based on laws and ruled through, for as long as every person inside it has ultimately a choice of what they are. She also disdains affectionate and superficial behaviour. She will never do anything that would constitute adultery; should a married man approaches her she will remind him of his wife and try to get him to talk about her. Diet:
She's not vegetarian, but she prefers to not eat meat, given a choice, for her respect for the beasts and won't kill an animal unless absolutely necessary. Home Country
Windgras Plains:
Alignment: By tribe, overall N Government: No central government Population: 500,000 - Human 47%, Orc 28%, Tiefling 8%, Goblin 5%, Hobgoblin 3%, Others 9% Major Settlements: Hoovestone: 2800, Mointain Halls 12600, Meeting Ground 5300 Exports: Sulfur, Salt, Hides, Horses, Iron, Leather Imports: Dairy Products, Complex Tools The Wind Gras Plains are a vast, dangerous, but beautiful area beyond the great kingdoms. Wild horses and buffolos roam the land. The soil isn't particularly fertile and the weather at time unpredictable, but still some farmers settle there. Meeting Ground is a rock plateau in the middle of the plains and a strictly neutral ground for trade between the tribes and negotiation. It is protected by a knightly order, the Wardens, who are sworn to neutrality and composed of members of all orders. The Settlers & White Mare Tribe
The farmers do not farm many animals - it's considered a sacrilege to deliberately breed animals as opposed to let them roam free. Horses are exempt and the pride of the people however and while they are rarely kept in stables every adult is a rider. But there are some hills at which fine wine grows and a few valleys that give good crops, so that bread and potatos are pretty common in the tribe and it does not depend on food imports. Tilling the acres without much animal support and animal manure (even though a horse here and their might be used it's never driven to exhaustion) is hard work, but the farmers are proud of their achievements. The tribe and the settlers is traditionally governed by a circle of oracles, which is itself not nomadic anymore, but resides in Hoovestone. The architecture is pretty remarkable, as the houses are mostly built of long gras of the area, which was treated with several minerals makes for pretty suitable building blocks. It is lighter than wood but just as hard and doesn't decay as fast once carefully treated and can be shaped into any desired forms. It is possible to build houses of two or three stories of it. The Flaming Spear Tribe
Devil blood is strong in the tribe, not only in the people but also in the horses and hounds. The tribe is now ruled by a Pit Fiend and his two favoured Erinyes; that the devils themselves took over the rulership was not a sudden change but a slow process which took many decades and implications in the footnotes of many small contracts. None of the tribesmen would dream of questioning it, they are proud of their infernal powers. The tribesmen themselves are exclusively warriors, all work is done by slaves, including mining the Grey Cloak Mountains for Iron and Salt and the plains just below the feet of the mountains for sulfur. Women are treated as possession and while far above the slaves, their only duty is to please their men, have as many children as possible and at sometimes command and coordinate slaves. Since men throw themselves into battle and rarely reach their 30s year, in order to gain a reputation the number of women exceeds it's not uncommon for a man to have a small harem. The amount of warriors in the tribe is far from the biggest, but they are among the most feared warriors in the world, particularly their elite order, the hell knights.
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