Melaina was born in Sverspume to the tribe’s dark caller, a fact which brought no shortage of attention to the strange child, attention which quickly turned to rumors and whispers. The girl certainly wasn’t like her father, and many questioned whether she was really dark folk at all. And yet it was often said that the girl was capable of strange things, able to fool the mind with strange figments that never truly were, like a ghost of her father’s power, or perhaps something else…
As the years passed and the the young girl grew, the people grew no kinder towards her. Melaina had little use in their eyes, and they trusted her with even less, seeing her as an outlier, and as her strange powers grew, even a threat. Her tribes’ exclusion and in many cases contempt for her drove her towards independence over time. Melaina was no fool; she heard the whispers and rumors as well. It wasn’t hard to tell that she wasn’t wanted here. She took to sneaking away often, occasionally observing or speaking with the slave traders that passed through, or more often slipping into secluded sections of the caverns to practice with her magic, weaving the very shadows around her into her spells.
Eventually new rumors began to pass amongst the tribe, mutterings that their owb overlords were far from pleased. Melaina’s escapades were beginning to draw a new sort of attention. This only solidified the idea that Melaina was some sort of dangerous outsider, seemingly considered a threat by even the owbs due to her growing strength and independent spirit. Her father, who had never been loving to begin with, grew increasingly more distant, making sure harsher and harsher restrictions were put on her to keep her from trying anything. While the thought had crossed her mind before, Melaina had never made any actual attempts at fleeing Sverspume and her tribe. Now, it was clear that she needed to escape, and quickly.
She took the every little opportunity she could to slip away, going off to make deals and gather any useful supplies she could get her hands on for her escape into the tunnels of the Darklands. Eventually, as prepared as she ever expected to be, she slipped away one last time, turning herself invisible and planning to simply slip into the tunnels and never look back. But plans never do go the way they’re intended to, and Melaina was recaptured only just before making it to freedom. She was drug back, kept bound and gagged as her tribe debated what to do with the treacherous young woman. Eventually she was sold off in Sverspume’s massive slave trade, as quickly and quietly as possible, to the duergar. She was still alive, but whether it was really an act of mercy has yet to be seen.
Description:
Melaina is tall and slight, standing around five foot ten inches. Her skin tone ranges from a stony grey to a deep smoky shade, almost black at the extremities. Wrappings of rather dirty cloth and rags obscure some of her figure and features, though hints of her finer, more well defined features can still be seen. Long, pale hair falls past her shoulders, framing near black eyes.
Based upon first impression alone, Melaina comes across as relatively friendly and cooperative, albeit rather cynical. However, this is simply a mask. Melaina generally cares little for others, if only because she’s had no one in her life who’s been close to her, though she’s willing to work with them for her own benefit or simply out of necessity. She’s clever, willing and able to manipulate a situation to her own ends. Overall, she’s more selfish than she is malicious, as she’s only ever had herself to rely on.
Goals and Drives:
Melaina chafes under her punishment, primarily because it’s a constant reminder of her failure. Still seen as a lesser being, she’ll continue to seek freedom. She feels a certain need to prove herself from constantly being shunned, a desire to show that perhaps she is a threat after always being considered lesser in some way or another. And while she’ll likely never admit it, even to herself, part of her still hopes for some level of acceptance, even from a small group like an adventuring party, to prove to herself that she really is worth something more than the coin she was sold off for.
Crunch:
Melaina Tyrrell
Female Caligni Sorcerer (Wildblooded) 6
CN Humanoid (Dark Folk)
Init: +6 Senses: Darkvision 150 ft
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AC: 12 (12 Touch, 10 Flat-footed)
HP: 38
Fort: +5 Reflex: +5 Will: +7
Weaknesses: Light Sensitivity
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Speed: 30 feet
Melee: Dagger +3 (1d4/19-20)
Spells: (CL 6 [+1 in dim light], Concentration +11)
Cantrips: Detect Magic, Read Magic, Ghost Sound, Message, Mage Hand, Ray of Frost, Penumbra
1st (DC 16): Color Spray (DC 18), Silent Image (DC 18), Ray of Enfeeblement*, Mage Armor, Charm Person
2nd (DC 17): Invisibility, Darkvision*, Mirror Image
3rd (DC 18): Displacement
Bloodline: Umbral (Shadow)
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Str: 10 +0
Dex: 14 +2
Con: 14 +2
Int: 14 +2
Wis: 12 +1
Cha: 21 +5
BAB: +3 CMB: +0 CMD: 15
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Feats: Eschew Materials*, Spell Focus (Illusion), Tenebrous Spell, Greater Spell Focus (Illusion), Improved Initiative
Skills: Bluff +12, Diplomacy +12, Knowledge (Arcana) +13, Perception +7, Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft +13, Stealth +11
Traits: Trustworthy, Outcast’s Intuition (+1 CL vs Dispel)
Languages: Dark Folk, Undercommon, (one more)
Special:
Racial Features: Bonus Feat, Caller Kin (+2 Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft), Death Throes (DC 15), Darkvision 120 ft, Light Sensitivity
Class Features: Bloodline Arcana: Umbral; Bloodline Powers: Cloak of Shadows, +30ft Darkvision
Combat Gear: Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds x2, Scroll of Darkness, Scroll of Invisibility
Other Gear: Dagger, Bag of Holding (Type I), Headband of Alluring Charisma +2, Cloak of Resistance +1, Ring of Spell Knowledge (Type I - Magic Missile), bedroll, rope (50 feet), rations x8, waterskin, mess kit, pot, flint & steel, soap, blanket, 92 gp
Personally, I found it really fascinating to see the sheer variety of characters that people have created for this. Everyone seems to have a totally different angle that they took this from. Some people created characters who were normal people and have turned more towards evil as the world fell, while others made characters who likely never would've been great people unless the apocalypse had happened. I feel like the simple concept can lead to the creation of deeper and more interesting characters simply because it breaks the mold. You don't have the standard noble heroes or maniacal villains. There are greater evils that threaten to totally destroy what's left of the world, and lesser evils that are honestly doing good by standing against them. Even the idea that these nations are coming together to stop the demons of the Worldwound, something the traditional heroes in this world failed to do. It says a lot about the villains we've been striving to defeat in all these APs, doesn't it?
I'm also going to be really curious to see how the party interacts. There's more than likely going to be characters falling at totally opposite extremes who are going to have to work with each other. It should make for some very interesting roleplay, at the very least. Even if it's intimidating, I'm glad there's been this much interest. It's shown the huge number of possibilities, and whatever party of six gets picked is going to make for an amazing game.
Well, it's a bit rough around the edges, but here's my submission: Katya Elvanna, a Winter Witch who's a little less than loyal.
Backstory:
Katya probably should’ve considered herself lucky. She was born in the Frosthall district of Whitethrone to one of Queen Elvanna’s many daughters, placing her very near the top of the social and political ladder that the lesser Jadwiga spent their whole lives trying to climb. In the early years of her young life she wanted for little, enjoying the luxuries of upper class life in her nation’s capital under the guidance of her older sister, Alisa. Even then she showed a keen intellect and a certain amount of cunning in her early childhood escapades. Such things weren’t to last; they were Jadwiga Elvanna, after all, and there was a certain standard even young children would be held to. But her mother caught sight of her potential; such skills would be necessary to survive and thrive when she eventually began her magical training and truly joined the ranks of the Winter Witches. Katya was still rather naive, and while she knew something of the ruthless politics and power plays amongst the Jadwiga, she lacked any real understanding of them.
Alisa would change that. Her older sister began her training over a year before she did, and Alisa not only excelled in magic, but in politics, or politics as Irrisen knew them. She developed the cold, ruthless streak that seemed to define the Jadwiga, delighted in schemes and watching her plans come to fruition. At first Katya only felt the distance between herself and her sister, so she began to find ways to keep herself occupied. She discovered her love of books and stories, and she’d often stow away to read in the strange winter “garden” behind her home. The eternal winter wasn’t conducive to growing flowers of course, so the area was instead decorated by intricate ice sculptures and creations, along with a few green conifers that stood out against the snow.
Her family was perplexed by the childish naivety that Katya held onto in that year and a few odd months. The beginning of her own training would mark its end, as she was thrown into the harsh reality of life in Irrisen’s upper class. Much like her sister she was quick to learn magic, but struggled more with politics and plots that governed the Jadwiga. Once again this seemed inexplicable, after all the potential the younger girl had shown. Katya was perfectly capable, as it turned out, but she never found the kind of strange joy that her sister did in plotting other’s downfalls. After a short time she began to notice the attention her reluctance, or as her family and mentors saw it, her incompetence garnered. If she’d learned anything it was that one couldn’t afford to show any sort of weakness in Jadwiga society. The girl seemingly made a large amount of progress in a short amount of time, and while it helped alleviate her mother and mentors’ fears, it attracted a new kind of attention.
Family means little in the way of loyalty, and Katya’s “progress” changed Alisa’s view on her younger sister. Alisa began to see her as an actual threat instead of a strange little girl. It began small, Alisa plotting against her sister only to test her reactions, see how the other girl would fight back. To her surprise and confusion, Katya didn’t. While she would hold her own, the girl never once retaliated.
Confusion turned to anger and frustration. Alisa’s attacks became malicious as the young woman became more desperate to hold her sister down. She saw Katya as a potentially dangerous enemy, and she had no real understanding of her unusual sister. Katya excelled, and yet she never made use of her skills or seemed to seek anything for herself. When pressed she solved problems with alarming efficiency, but never showed exactly how she accomplished it. Alisa was convinced her sister had an underlying scheme, but with no knowledge of what it was she simply tried to break her. Katya found herself constantly being tested not by her mentors but by her sister. Every moment she had to be alert in case Alisa tried to make another move. She began to dread the sight of her sister’s raven, flying down the hallways or perched outside the windows. The last time she saw that bird darting around her she nearly lost her arctic fox, Esfir, who she considers her last real companion. Since then Katya has kept her very close if not at her side.
Truthfully, Katya likely would’ve posed little threat to her sister in the end. She lacked ambition; she sought no power for herself unlike the other Jadwiga. To her the infighting seemed pointless, and her family’s power had given her nothing. In fact it had left her detached from her parents and turned her sister against her. And she knew the end of Elvanna’s reign was fast approaching. Her family would soon lose most of their power when a new queen took the throne, and it would all be for nothing. Katya almost looked forward to the end of her grandmother’s rule. She hoped she could slip out of most of Irrisen’s politics, maybe rule over some small town and live out the rest of her life as detached as possible from the plotting and scheming.
As the end of Elvanna’s reign grew closer, Alisa’s onslaught actually subsided. Greater plans were being formed within the household. Her family was of course loyal to her grandmother, though it wasn’t so much true loyalty as their own selfish desire to retain power. Her mother and sister supported Elvanna’s rebellion against her mother, Baba Yaga, and the spread of the eternal winter throughout Golarion. The world outside was quickly falling into chaos, nations collapsing and being taken over by old foes. New threats were rising on the outside, old evils establishing empires, and Elvanna had every intention of making Irrisen into a major power under her immortal rule.
Katya’s apocalypse never really came until Elvanna succeeded in defeating Baba Yaga. Her possible escape had been cut off, leaving her trapped in the now forever ruling class of the Jadwiga Elvanna. Now a young woman and no longer a girl, she was forced to take the duties of any of Winter Witch, though none have seen it fit to grant her much responsibility. Her reluctance and growing disdain for Irrisen is becoming more and more clear, despite her continued attempts to play the part of a proper Jadwiga and Winter Witch. She knows that she’s walking a very fine line, and if any of the other Jadwiga discover her disloyalty there will likely be no escape. Some have begun to question what her intentions really are, and they’ve decided to give Katya one chance to prove her loyalty by accompanying Irrisen’s representative at the conference in Absalom to discuss the threat of the Worldwound, a long standing threat to Irrisen. Perhaps she could earn herself some respect or even a position of authority back in Whitethrone.
But Katya has no intentions of proving herself to the cruel queen or her descendents. She despises the ruthless politics and infighting that she returns home to whenever she has to leave to do the Winter Witch’s work. Her rivalry with her sister is quickly reaching its peak, and she knows that if she remains she’ll have to fight back if she expects to survive even a few more years. She fears that she’ll soon become completely trapped in Irrisen’s political web, entangled in all the Jadwiga’s plotting and forced to constantly plot herself for the rest of her life. This conference may be Katya’s one chance to escape Irrisen, and she intends to do just that.
Feats: Accursed Hex, Spell Focus (Enchantment), Spell Focus (Necromancy)
Skills: Diplomacy +8, Knowledge (Arcana) +10, Knowledge (Nature) +10, Knowledge (Planes) +10, Perception +4, Sense Motive +8, Spellcraft +10
Background Skills: Knowledge (Nobility) +7, Linguistics +10
Traits: Influence, Outcast’s Intuition
Languages: Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Elven, Hallit, Necril, Skald, Sylvan, Varisian
Special: Familiar (Arctic Fox), Ice Magic
Advancement: Resistance +1
Combat Gear: Scroll of Cure Moderate Wounds (2), Scroll of False Life, Scroll of See Invisibility
Other Gear: Masterwork Dagger, Pearl of Power (1st Level), Scroll Case, Witch’s Kit (Backpack, Bedroll, Belt Pouch, Candles [10], Chalk [10], Flint and Steel, Ink, Inkpen, Iron Pot, Mess Kit, Soap, Spell Component Pouch, Torches [10], Trail Rations [5], Waterskin), 76 gp
Familiar Spells:
0-level - All
1st-level - Cause Fear, Charm Person, Chill Touch, Command, Cure Light Wounds, Ear-Piercing Scream, Mage Armor, Ray of Enfeeblement, Snowball, Ventriloquism
2nd-level - Blindness/Deafness, Cure Moderate Wounds
Fluff Questions:
1) Katya stands at about 5'6". Like most Jadwiga her skin tone is very pale. Her hair is pure white and straight, falling over her shoulders. Also notable are her pale, clear blue eyes, though she looks more human than some other Jadwiga of her generation. She's by no means an exceptionally beautiful young woman (slightly over 23 years old), and she doesn't seek to draw attention to herself. Her clothing is rather simple for a Winter Witch, an icy blue dress which seems to change hue slightly depending on how the light catches and minimal jewelry.
2) She tends to be cautious and somewhat guarded, though she has an underlying sense of curiosity that occasionally shows itself. Generally she acts cold and uncaring in order to hold up her facade. Internally she does care for other people, but her past has given her few opportunities or reasons to develop meaningful relationships with others. She hopes that by leaving Irrisen she can also leave all of this behind and be able to be herself, though she's not sure she knows exactly what that means yet.
3) Whitethrone of Irrisen, and while she has traveled throughout the country, she's seen little of the outside world up to this point, learning most of what she does know from stories, reading, and word of mouth. That being said, Irrisen clearly had a large impact on her. (See Backstory)
4) Katya's skills have been developed during her training as a Winter Witch and out of necessity, through the conflict with her sister and Irrisen's politics in general, as well as her need to conceal and pursue her personal goals. She wouldn't have made these choices herself, probably changing as much as possible if she could, but her life has given her the tools necessary and has begun giving her opportunities to test herself.
5) Religion has never really come up in her life up to this point.
6) The past few years have been harsh. Elvanna remaining on the throne has kept Katya trapped in the life she had hoped (and still plans) to escape. It certainly wasn't the best time for her to become a full Winter Witch, especially as all her personal problems have also came to a head. Going out, Katya sees a world of greater and lesser evils, but also of potentially better people than the ones she's known. She hopes that something good can finally come out of her life after she's left, and do the world some good instead of help tear it down.
Adding to the spreadsheet now, and likely taking the Archmage mythic path.
