Rhys Forgarson's page

Light Crossbow: An expertly-crafted weapon made of dark, polished teak. It bears no identifying marks of any kind save for its dark, rich color. There are slightly lighter portions on two parts of the butt where Rhys places his hand and rests it against his shoulder, evidence of its heavy use. It is very well-tended. He wears it holstered in a special sling on his left hip. Damage: 1d8 Cost: 30 gold pieces

Bolts: Heavy, barbed crossbow bolts that made of dark wood and tipped with black iron. Two bands are painted at the base of each bolt--one of a rich, dark hunter green, and the other of a gunmetal gray. Rhys carries them in a covered leather quiver at his right hip. Quaniity: 60 Cost: 6 gold pieces.

Scimitar: Oftentimes a slender, elegant weapon, Rhys had his scimitar custom-forged so it could stand up to the dual strains of hacking through both flesh and undergrowth. The blade is thicker, with less of a curve. The hilt is wrapped in tough leather hide, and a leather thong decorated with fangs and feathers dangles from the pommel. The wave-shaped blade has been decorated with Mwangi symbols of battle. Rhys wears it strapped vertically to his back. Damage: 1d6 - 1 Cost: 15 gold pieces

Leather Armor: This suit of light armor is faded and cracked with age. However, it is nowhere near obsolete. Kept well-oiled and patched, it fits Rhys' body like a second skin, and doesn't creak when he moves as new armor would. Parts of it have been rubbed with dark paint to help him hide in the dark jungle shadows, and there is a large claw-mark raked down the center of the leather breastplate. Rhys, thus far, refuses to have it mended since it doesn't interfere with the function of his armor. Armor Bonus: +2 Max Dex: +6 Armor Penalty: 0 Cost: 10 gold pieces

Backpack: A sturdy, well-traveled leather satchel used to store Rhys' gear. Cost: 2 gold pieces

Bedroll: For sleeping under the stars. Cost: 1 silver piece

Caltrops: Every stealthy warrior needs to make a quick getaway now and again. Cost: 1 gold piece

Chalk: Nine pieces of dusty beige chalk bound in a length of twine. Cost: 9 silver pieces

Grappling Hook: A four-pronged hook of iron with a loop for a length of rope. Cost: 1 gold piece.

Silk Rope: Fifty feet of silk rope that has been soaked in black dye to make it less visible. Cost: 10 gold pieces

Torches: Three simple lengths of wood wrapped in tallow-soaked cloth. Cost: 3 copper pieces

Violin: An elegant, if somewhat shabby violin that has seen heavy wear. It is nevertheless immaculately cared for, and Rhys studies it diligently. Its sound is undiminished by time, sonorous and lonely. Cost: 5 gold pieces

Whetstone: A simple block of gray stone used to sharpen blades and the tips of crossbow bolts. Cost: 2 copper pieces

Grappling Bolts: Five specialized crossbow bolts designed to be tied to lengths of silk rope and fired from a crossbow. When so used, they have a range increment of 30 feet and act as a grappling hook. The shafts of these bolts are painted jet-black, the same color as Rhys' rope. He carries them in a small, separate compartment of his quiver. Cost: 5 gold pieces

Climb: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained) - 1 (STR) = +3
Heal: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained) + 2 (WIS) = +6
Knowledge: Dungeoneering: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained) + 3 (INT) = +7
Knowledge: Geography: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained) + 3 (INT) = +7
Knowledge: Nature: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained) + 3 (INT) = +7
Perception: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained) + 2 (WIS) = +6
Perform (Strings): 1 (Rank) + 0 (CHA) = +1
Stealth: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained) + 4 (DEX) + 2 (Racial) = +10
Survival: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained) + 2 (WIS) = +6
Swim: 1 (Rank) + 3 (Trained) - 1 (STR) = +3

Point-Blank Shot: Rhys has trained extensively with light crossbows, becoming an expert marksman. As a result, he gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls and damage on targets within 30 feet.

Ranger's Focus: Once per day, Rhys can focus on a single enemy within line of sight as a swift action. That creature remains as his focus until it is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points or surrenders, or until Rhys designates a new focus, whichever occurs first. Rhys gains a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls against the target of his focus. This ability replaces Favored Enemy.

Track: Rhys adds half his level (minimum 1) to Survival checks made to follow or identify tracks.

Wild Empathy: Rhys can attempt to improve the attitude of an animal, making a d20 check with a bonus equal to his Guide level plus his Charisma bonus.

Skilled: Rhys gains a +2 Racial bonus to Bluff and Stealth checks.

Spell-Like Ability: Due to his demonic heritage, Rhys is capable of casting Darkness once per day as a spell-like ability. The caster level of this ability equals Rhys' character level.

Fiendish Resistance: Rhys' demonic ancestry has granted him cold resistance 5, electricity resistance 5 and fire resistance 5.

Boarded in the Mwangi Expanse: Rhys has acted as a trail guide and advisor for travelers in the Mwangi Expanse for many years. His knowledge of the jungle and its inhabitants grant him a +1 trait bonus on all Knowledge: Nature checks regarding the jungle. In addition, he is able to speak Polyglot.

Jungle Fighter: Fifty years of living in the humid jungles has taught Rhys a lot about fighting and movement. While in a jungle environment, his movement speed can never be brought below 10 feet per round by difficult terrain. This means he will always be able to take a five foot step without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Tattoo: While not a trait per sé, Rhys has a series of tattoos on each shoulder. Done in black ink, they seem to be balls of flame and spires of frost stylized into arcane patterns. The flames rest on the ball of each shoulder, visible when he wears a sleeveless shirt. The process of acquiring these tattoos cost ten gold pieces.

Rhys is a young man born of two world--those of the material plane, and the burning hells. He is the product of an insidious ritual by a Chelaxian noble family, a ritual to impregnate a young woman with a demon's seed, and thereby birth a ferocious demon-child who would be skilled in sorcery and merciless in his ambition, bringing the family to higher prestige. What they got nine months later, however, was a happy, wriggling baby boy. One with brick-red skin and sharpened fangs, yes, but a happy baby boy nonetheless.

The noble family--House von Gallica--raised the boy for two years, constantly watching him for some dormant power to rise within him. They were disappointed when, as an infant, he was more interested in putting his own foot in his mouth than displaying untamed arcane prowess and, as a toddler, was prone to getting into places he probably shouldn't have, rather than being awed when his parents tried to jump-start any latent abilities with displays of magical might.

When Rhys von Gallica displayed no hint of powerful sorcery, the head of the house called his warden to him. The warden, a lean, whiplike Human man by the name of Walker Forgarson, who tended to the noble's hunting lands, was asked to take the child far into the woods and leave him at the mercy of the animals. Walker bristled, but agreed.

He took the child deep into the woods as instructed, but didn't stop there. Walker left his gainful employment with House von Gallica, and adopted little Rhys as his own son.

Rhys grew into adolescence traveling the roads with Walker, who treated him no different than he might a Human child. However, Rhys grew to hate his skin, his fangs, his horn and his tail, for they marked him as something inhuman, something to be feared and shunned. When Rhys attempted to make friends with other children in the various towns he and his father traveled through, he was more often than not driven away with cruel taunts and thrown rocks. The rare occasions he was able to make friends always left a smile on his face, but as he grew he became lonely and introverted.

Finally, when Rhys was thirteen, he and Walker stopped in Bloodcove. Though the town was rough and lawless, Walker felt that a good living could be made here. The two of them spent weeks exploring the jungles and mapping them out, then hired themselves out as guides for travelers. Rhys found some measure of solace there in Bloodcove--in a town that seemed to attract the dregs of the jungle, a Tiefling boy didn't seem to attract too much attention.

Tragedy struck only two years later. Rhys fell into a gully and broke his ankle, only to find that during his tumble he had disrupted a deadfall. Tons upon tons of dead tree fell upon him, but suddenly Walker was there, scooping him up and throwing him to safety, only to be crushed himself. Left orphaned at the age of fifteen, Rhys felt the black weight of guilt settle on his heart.

Four years have passed since his father's untimely death, and Rhys has made a name for himself as a reliable--if somewhat surly--jungle guide. His life has become a slow routine, one that is just waiting to be broken by the clarion call of grand adventure.

While not extraordinarily good-looking, Rhys can nonetheless be considered handsome, if one can get past his obviously demonic physical features. His face and body have a slender, almost delicate quality that belie the experience of a lifetime on the road. His narrow jaw, almond-shaped eyes and slim nose combine to give him a somewhat exotic look not often found in Humans. His skin is a dark, brick-red from head to toe, and his eyes are a bracing shade of yellow. When angered or excited, his pupils become slitted like a cat's. His horns are somewhat larger than most Tieflings', but are recessed back in his hair, swelling out from his temples and pointing straight back along the curve of his head.

His hair is the color of charcoal, black as night, but with dark gray highlights when the light hits it right. Though Rhys takes great pains to hide it--wearing a concealing cloak and trying to keep it coiled--it is tough to miss the long, slender, nonprehensile tail. It reaches down past his ankles, curling up before it hits the ground on the rare occasions he extends it from under his cloak, and the tip tends to twitch when he's curious or intent, such as when he's stalking game. When he is truly angry, his tail tends to lash furiously back and forth.

Rhys tends to dress in dark colors, mostly in shades of hunter green, earth brown and gray. His close-fitting leather armor is almost always with him, strapped down with wide leather belts. He wears tough linen or woolen breeks, thick, bulky leather traveling boots with custom rubber soles to quiet his steps, and a fine gray tunic, the puffy sleeves of which are tied down to his arms by shabby lengths of rawhide. The first and second fingers on both of his tough brown leather gloves have been sliced away to make it easier for him to feel the tension on the trigger of his crossbow. Over all of this, he wears a sweeping wool cloak, the color of which is a jungle green so dark it's almost black. This, compared with a voluminous and shadow-casting hood, the long drape of his crow-colored hair and the broad strip of green cloth he often wears bound across the lower half of his face, gives him the distinct appearance of somebody who doesn't want to be remembered. And given his bloodline, it's not hard to see why.

Rhys is a young man who has yet to find out who he is or what he wants from the world. For all the demonic blood that races through his veins, he is a good person, and will usually go out of his way to help people. However, a lifetime of prejudice has left him withdrawn and slightly cold. He keeps himself hooded and masked around strangers, and doesn't talk anymore than is absolutely necessary until he is absolutely sure that he won't be attacked or mocked should he reveal himself fully. His voice is a scratchy, earthy baritone, with an exotic lilt that comes from talking around a mouthful of fangs.

He is currently missing the middle finger on his right hand.