About Reefclaw Kraol“Reefclaw” Kraol Str 20 (17+1 levelup+2 belt)
>>Story<< Baby Shark:
Sharks are not known to care much for their young. Born South of the Shackles to a wereshark mother and an unknown father, Kraol was the runt of his family, merely a gilled human where his brothers and sisters bore fins and fangs; picking at fruit and crabs on the beach when the other children combed through the mangrove roots for larger prey. But he had strength of limb and spirit that the others did not, and when, still a child, his siblings one by one began to consider him as the easiest prey in their small bay, a young Kraol fought back, jamming rocks and sticks into the others’ eyes and gills when they drew too close.
And when, after a decade, Kraol’s mother returned to gaze again upon her abandoned children, there was only Kraol, a child of powerful stance and hungry eyes, already covered in scars and carrying the teeth of his own brothers and sisters wound up in his wild hair. While the boy was no true lycanthrope, his mother was nevertheless impressed; and so she taught him the secret ways to turn his hands into fins and face into jaws, though he lacked the blood gifts to hold a fully-animal form at once. Together, they hunted up and down the Vanji river, Kraol scouting in silence for Mwangi villagers at play while his mother delivered the killing ambush. But the rivers of Mwangi held fisherman both naive and cautious, and eventually, Kraol and his mother were caught in trap-nets; while a frightened tribal shaman insisted on hacking his mother to pieces with glinting knives, the young shifter was instead bound and sold as a galley slave to a Chelish ship in a nearby port. Blood in the Water:
Kraol suffered for years at the hands of a Chelish lash; but he grew stronger, and calmer, breathing inner focus into what became a singular drive for revenge. And eventually, one moonless night, he snapped the chains around his legs and, rushing past soldiers to the galley’s deck, left overboard, dragging a screaming taskmaster with him.
And so Kraol was gone… until a week later, when two junior officers on watch disappeared from the deck of the ship. A week after that, a third one went missing, this time with a quick scream and a puddle of blood. But no matter where the galley sailed, the curse followed, and sailors disappeared from the deck one-by-one until she had no choice but to make port for more crew—at which point the captain declared the ship cursed, sold her to a salvage crew, and and promptly defected from his posting. But the shifter had had his first taste of revenge, and, curious, he followed to the docksides of the shackles, where he learned the sailors’ tongue, and heard their rumors. And so, at home more in the sea, he set out from the coast, searching in the deep water with his dark eyes and hunter’s instincts until he found a hidden sahuagin village. While at first mistrusted and attacked, Kraol’s skill and strength broke the fish-men’s spears, and, with a show of savagery, he was allowed to join the community. As a creature of shark’s blood, he was able to communicate simple telepathic concepts with the sahuagin, and soon came to be regarded as something of a religious figure, tasked with guarding the local shrine to Zon-Kuthon. Reefclaw:
Training with the priests and acolytes of Zon-Kuthon, Kraol perfected a monastic fighting style, impressing his teachers with a singular devotion to the art of combat. His ability to hit harder, faster, and more painfully with his bare hands than any set of sahuagin claws has earned him the nickname “Reefclaw,” even if he fought with a calm focus instead of spastic frenzy.
Still, village life under water was not what Kraol envisioned. Though the sahuagin led organized raids against nearby merfolk tribes and stray fishing boats, the organized war parties lacked a certain… simplicity of his childhood, the silent hunts under dark skies, the joy in a perfect ambush and a solitary kill. And so he set off, again, after years of devotion to the flensing god, to rededicate himself to the hunt. Reefclaw Kraol is a man of few possessions—he owns only what he can carry, magical trinkets and woven necklaces of bone and teeth, his many scars embellished with tattoos of hooks and claws. But he has begun to see the value of acquiring more—tools that might help him, and allies who he can feed his victims to rather than simply take orders from. A tribe that would let him hunt and kill for the art and beauty of it, rather than in service to a somewhat boring god of pain and torture. And so, though he is ill at ease on land, the tall, muscular, scarred warrior of the deeps has begun looking for a crew to join in other places. * * * >>Stuff<< Character Role:
-Unchained monks need very little work to become decent front-line tanks; so the flexibility in Kraol’s build has gone into inventive ways to send enemies flying across and off of ship’s decks
-In the water, as an effective grappler, he can tie enemies up and leave them to drow, or if he’s feeling feisty tear them apart with his bare hands -A skilled and patient hunter, can put his skills of stealth and perception to use -Extremely agile, able to quickly leap onto ships or sails for surprise and positioning Offense/Defense:
Offense:
Initiative +4, Speed 40’, Swim 30’ (sometimes) Rage 8 rounds/day Unarmed Strike +10/+10 (1d8+5)
Stunning Fist 5/day, DC 15 CMB (knockback kick) +10/+12 in water
Defense:
Equipment:
Belt of Str +2 (4k) Bracers of Armor +2 (4k) Robe of Infinite Twine (1k) Masterwork Kusarigama (312 gp) Armbands of the Brawler (500 gp) Masterwork Bone-Carving Tools (50 gp) Masterwork Butchery/Cooking Set (100 gp) 38 gp Traits, Feats, Class, Racial:
Traits: Shoreline Skirmisher (Racial; +2 to CMB when on sand/water) Orphaned (Social; +1 to Survival, class skill) Racial:
Feats:
Ki Powers:
Style Strikes:
VMC:
Skills:
25 points (Monk 20, Favored 5)
*Indicates Class Skill (Languages: Common, Aquan) *Acrobatics +15/+35 (5 ranks, +5 class, +0/+20 Ki)
Wishlist/Character plans:
Level 6: Improved Trip helps with maneuvers/flurries against big bad, while Hydraulic Torrent Qinggong Ki power will help with handling groups of enemies. Increased fast movement makes Knockback Kick far more powerful
Level 7: Fighter dip for Quick Bull Rush and Quick Drag allows kicking up to three enemies off a ship in one turn |
