Satu Varis's page

Satu Varis
Female half-elf swashbuckler 2 (Advanced Player's Guide 83)
CG, Medium, Elf, Human, Humanoid
Heritage arctic elf, half-elf
Background songsinger in training
Perception +6; low-light vision
Languages Elven, Hallit
Skills Acrobatics +10, Athletics +6, Deception +6, Genealogy Lore +4, Intimidation +6, Performance +6, Stealth +8, Survival +4
Str 14 (+2), Dex 18 (+4), Con 12 (+1), Int 10 (+0), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 14 (+2)
Items leather armor, elven branched spear[LOGB], rapier, scorpion whip, starknife, throwing knife[LOGB]s (10), backpack, bedroll, chalks (10), flint and steel, rations (1 week)s (2), rope (foot)s (50), soap, torchs (5), waterskin, winter clothing, purse (10 gp, 3 sp, 9 cp)
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AC 19; Fort +5; Ref +10; Will +6
HP 30; Resistances cold 1
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Speed 25 feet
Melee [1] elven branched spear +8 (deadly d8, finesse, elf, reach 10 feet), Damage 1d6+2 P
Melee [1] rapier +8 (disarm, deadly d8, finesse), Damage 1d6+2 P
Melee [1] scorpion whip +8 (disarm, finesse, trip, reach 10 feet), Damage 1d4+2 S
Melee [1] starknife +8 (versatile S, thrown 20 ft., deadly d6, agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+2 P
Melee [1] throwing knife +8 (thrown 20 ft., agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+2 P
Ranged [1] starknife +8 (versatile S, thrown 20 ft., deadly d6, agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+2 P
Ranged [1] throwing knife +8 (thrown 20 ft., agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+2 P
Confident Finisher [1] (finisher, swashbuckler) You make an incredibly graceful attack, piercing your foe’s defenses. Make a Strike with a weapon or unarmed attack that would apply your precise strike damage, with the following failure effect.
Failure You deal half your precise strike damage to the target. This damage type is that of the weapon or unarmed attack you used for the Strike.
Ancestry Feats Elf Atavism
Class Feats Flying Blade[APG], Tumble Behind[APG]
Skill Feats Acrobatic Performer[APG], Fascinating Performance, Impressive Performance

Satus mother Saikku is an Ilverani elf who only joined the Broken Tusks some twenty years ago under mysterious circumstances.
Unusual for an Ilverani, she got lost during a particular heavy snowstorm in a heavy winter. Wandering through the snow, she had no orientation and was already afraid of starving or freezing to death.
In the middle of the storm she found some tracks, hard to follow, but still visible, of mammoths and followed them, hoping they would lead her somewhere.
And indead they did. On the second day a small human hunting party ambushed the mammoths.
It was a foolish undertaking, the humans had not thought it through, no strategy nor did they focus, so most of them were smashed and trampled by the now wild mammoths.
Only one of them had succeded in wounding a mammoth, a bit separated from the herd and Saikku thought this must be her chance, taking pitty in the lone hunter, but also seeing her way to survive.
She joined in with the hunt and helped bring down the mammoth.
Thus she met Haako and immediately they fell in love.
For Saikku, this was deep cutting experience. On one hand, she had found a way to survive and what she knew for love, on the other hand, it was love with a short-lived human which meant she would be cast out of her Ilverani tribe.
Yet she did not hesitate, sharing the spoils of the hunt they saved who could be saved of the hunting party and brought what they could carry back to the small gathering called Broken Tusk.
Surprisingly, there already were some other Ilverani elves, what made Saikku feel welcome and happy.

Only some moons later she was with child and eventually Satu was born into Saikkus new tribe, the Broken Tusk.

Although the Broken Tusk following was and is an open minded one, actively welcomning strangers and newcomers from everywhere, Satu grew up as one of a handful of children with a mixed heritage.
Seated in the middle of Ilverani elven culture she experienced from her mother, who fondly remembered and revered it, and her father’s more raw human culture, she had to make her own way.
From an early age on she liked stories, dancing, and performances, so it seemed only natural that Argakoa the Songsinger and leader of Otter house took her in as one of her pupils to become songsinger. Satu thrived on that and while she wasn't the best at lore always, she was good enough. With performances she really flourished though.

In the harsh reality of the Broken Tusks day to day living, everybody must contribute and stand their place. A difficult undertaking for Satu, who lacked in strength compared to others, but sadly had no magical talent or else whatsoever. While bullying isn’t a big thing in Broken Tusk culture, she was often at the receiving end of quarrels or pushed to the side, until one day she had an idea.
Her mother and father both had naturaly been teaching her different styles of combat with different weapons, but she just wasn’t very good weapons that relied on brute force, like most of her fathers did. Her mothers graceful and agile elven weapons were much more suited for her.
Watching the snowflakes in a storm dance around in beautiful circles but byte nastily on the skin not only from the cold, but also the force of wind, it came to her that she could combine her mothers teachings with what she learned from Argakoa.
So she weaved fighting and dancing together, moving around like a snowflake, using agile weapons like the light elven spear or a whip to strike hard, or juggling and throwing well balanced knives, all the while staying out of reach and dancing.
She was delighted by this new way of combat, which gave her the chance to proof herself, stand her ground and contribute something else to the tribe than only dancing and telling stories. Something very important to her since she wanted to contribute and be independent.
It also helped greatly against people like Pakano, who's uninvited advances she had to fend off more than once.