Celeste

Shannon Rhys's page

217 posts. Alias of Yossarin.


Full Name

Shannon Rhys

Race

Human (Chelaxian)

Classes/Levels

Bard (Chelish Diva) (HP 11/11 | AC 11 | T 11 | FF 10 | CMD 10 | F +0 | R +4 | W +4 | Init +1 | Per +6)

Gender

Male

Size

5'10"

Age

20

Alignment

CG

Deity

Shelyn

Location

Westcrown

Languages

Azlanti, Common, Draconic, Infernal, Varisian

Occupation

Contratenor Altus

Strength 7
Dexterity 8
Constitution 11
Intelligence 16
Wisdom 14
Charisma 18

About Shannon Rhys

Character Sheet:
Shannon Rhys
Male Human (Chelaxian) Bard (Chelish Diva) 2
CG Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 10 (+1 Dex)
hp 11 (2d8)
Fort +0, Ref +4, Will +4
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee Fangfile +2 (1d4-1/x3)
Ranged Light crossbow +2 (1d8/19-20/x2)
Special Attacks bardic performance (standard action) (13 rounds/da, bardic performance: countersong, bardic performance: distraction, bardic performance: fascinate (1 targets) (dc 15), bardic performance: inspire courage +1, prima donna
Bard (Chelish Diva) Spells Known (CL 2):
1 (3/day) Charm Person (DC 15), Eagle's Splendor (DC 15), Ear-Piercing Scream (DC 15)
0 (at will) Daze (DC 14), Detect Magic, Read Magic, Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound (DC 14)
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Statistics
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Str 8, Dex 12, Con 11, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 18
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 11
Feats Noble Scion of the Arts, Spellsong, Weapon Finesse
Traits Child of Infamy, Intense Artist (Perform [act], Perform [sing])
Skills Appraise +7, Bluff +11 (+12 in Westcrown), Craft (clothing) +6, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +10, Intimidate +9 (+10 in Westcrown), Knowledge (local) +8, Knowledge (nobility) +10, Linguistics +8, Perception +6, Perform (act) +11, Perform (comedy) +5, Perform (dance) +5, Perform (keyboard instruments) +5, Perform (oratory) +5, Perform (percussion instruments) +5, Perform (sing) +11, Perform (string instruments) +5, Perform (wind instruments) +5, Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft +7, Stealth +5, Use Magic Device +9
Languages Azlanti, Common, Draconic, Halfling, Infernal, Varisian
SQ famous +1 (westcrown), versatile performance abilities (singing)
Combat Gear Potion of cure light wounds (4); Other Gear Crossbow bolts (30), Fangfile, Light crossbow, Backpack, masterwork (14 @ 4 lbs), Blue book (Westcrown), Book of letters (Westcrown), Courtier's outfit, Decorative trim, Disguise kit (10 uses), Heritage book, Ink, black, Inkpen, Manacles, Paper (6), Perfume/cologne, Signal whistle, Signet ring, Stationery, 105 GP, 16 SP
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Special Abilities
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Bardic Performance (standard action) (13 rounds/day) Your performances can create magical effects.
Bardic Performance: Countersong (Su) Counter magical effects that depend on sound.
Bardic Performance: Distraction (Su) Counter magical effects that depend on sight.
Bardic Performance: Fascinate (1 targets) (DC 15) (Su) One or more creatures becomes fascinated with you.
Bardic Performance: Inspire Courage +1 (Su) Morale bonus on some saving throws, attack and damage rolls.
Famous +1 (Westcrown) With natives of selected region gain bonus to Bluff & Intimidate.
Intense Artist (Perform [act], Perform [sing]) Your devotion to Shelyn has caused you to delve more deeply into your art. You gain a +1 trait bonus on two Perform skills of your choice, and Perform is always a class skill for you.
Prima Donna (Ex) Spend additional round of bardic performance to gain augment other performances.
Spellsong Combine spellcasting and bardic performance
Versatile Performance (Singing) +11 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Sing skill for Bluff or Sense Motive checks

Background:

The Rhys family has long enjoyed the limelight of the Chelaxian Theater circuit. Under the previous golden age of Cheliax, before the death of Aroden and the rise of the Thrice-Damned House Thrune, they were famed for turning the traditional morality play into a form of high art, using the stage and the libretto to socially progressive ends. Those in the extended family who were not thespians or musicians themselves were composers, instrumentalists, wealthy patrons or simply enthusiasts in the arts. With the fall of Aroden and the rise of Asmodean worship, the theater became a sensational, marketable, propagandized and morally bankrupt instrument of the ruling class. And for the Rhys family, life began to imitate art.

It began with a matron of the Rhys family who committed adultery and ultimately left her husband for one of the first openly Asmodean noblemen. Then several cousins were accused of embezzling coin through low-rent street corner theaters and their doe-eyed patrons. Extravagance led to libertine living led to the family's crumbling foundations upon which Shannon was born.

His mother was a renowned operatic soprano and his father a marginally successful composer. As such, Shannon grew up in the grand opera houses and theaters of Korvosa, Magnamar, Egorian, and his family's traditional home, Westcrown, inspired and challenged to perform not only better than his contemporaries, but better than those who have come before. His first appearance on stage was in the Egorian Opera at the age of 7 in a production of Abrogail Ascendant, wherein he performed the haunting elegy sung by Abrogail I's childish handmaiden at her funeral (Abrogail I's role was played by none other than his mother). Shannon's soprano was so beautiful that a month later he was taken for a vacation to a family cottage in Avistan and castrated. Hence, he has possessed a coveted countertenor range.

But that is all that anyone covets of Shannon's life. His father died of syphilis only a few years after their summer stay in Avistan, and most recently Shannon's mother was arrested on charges of high treason and publicly beheaded after being implicated as a doyenne who prostituted her chorus girls to powerful nobles and traded in royal secrets. Now Shannon is in Westcrown, picking up the last remains of his household and on the cusp of deciding what to do with his life and his career. Though valued in the limelight of the theater, he is regarded as a laughable eunuch in the public sphere. But as he handles the remains of his family estate, he learns not only of his family's noble history, but of the noble history of Westcrown. It may be too late for his own masculinity, but perhaps Shannon can restore something of the ancient vigor of Westcrown if given the right opportunity...

Appearance:

Shannon carries with him the grace of the living theater. To him, there is very little difference between life on stage and life off stage. As such, he carries himself with a quiet poise and grace that rivals the shrill divas Egorian. He favors clothing that is more costume than comfort, for in his world, appearances matter and count for a great deal. It is not uncommon to find him dolled up and performing for an upscale private audience.

He bears his father's ruddy gold hair and his mother's piercing dark eyes, wide and enchanting, a feature he emphasizes with makeup and his somatic gesturing for enchantment spells. Having been maimed before puberty, his fame has remained slight and androgynous. When angered, he flushes an overdramatic crimson.

Fiodor Racon:

Fiodor and Shannon have been partners since a very young age. Fate introduced them in the form of a door to door peddler of vocatonic, a miraculous oil-based libation for the professional singer that warded against laryngitis, tonsilitis, nodules, cysts, adenoids, allergies, frogs in the throat and a panoply of maladies des cordes vocales. Although Shannon's dear mother drove the charlatan away with a scathing tirade usually reserved for the Third Act confrontation, the charlatan remained in the neighborhood to pitch his wondrous concoctions and creations which for all their miracle had never been heard of outside a few blocks in Westcrown.

As did his son, Fiodor.

Their friendship was the special kind shared by children without regard for social class. Fiodor introduced Shannon to skipping stones on the water, chasing stray cats through the streets, stomping on frogs and stealing his father's liquor to get sick drunk. Shannon, in return, invited Fiodor to play dress up with his extensive wardrobe of silk and lace, to sup on heavy cream between meals and in through the back door of many family soirees. Fiodor developed an intense love for music from his impressionable youth spent with Shannon. Shannon learned a certain character from Fiodor, a ruggedness that hardened his softer edges. His summer in Avistan was the first summer Shannon spent away from Fiodor; when he returned, something about their relationship had changed. Fiodor was over the cusp of puberty, already taking an interest in the changing of his seasons. At the insistence of his father, Shannon was focused only upon his career as a star of Chelaxian opera. His boyhood was gone in the flash of a scalpel.

Now returned to Westcrown, Shannon has been pleased to find Fiodor still living in the city. He is no longer welcome in his father's home, and every inquiry into the falling out is artfully dodged with big toothy smiles and jovial banter. Now Fiodor lives in a second floor room above a haberdashery owned by a kindly spinster who is too lonely to kick a young man out of what would otherwise be storage space for her storefront. As it turns out, Fiodor is a composer! Not a particularly grand one yet, as many of his compositions have been denied or ridiculed by local artists, but he has had some minor success in writing simple harpsichord tunes played as background noise during parties and writing a series of what he titles the "Libertine Librettos", bawdy two-acts meant for the alehouse rather than the opera house.

Now Fiodor writes for Shannon. Or wishes to. Shannon's access to the ear of the elite may be exactly what Fiodor needs to have his compositions heard, accepted, lauded, and profitably published. In exchange for Shannon's promotion, Fiodor lets Shannon take comfort in the knowledge that he has a good and trustworthy friend, a boon companion with whom he can wine, dine, and pretend to lead the life of a virile young man; he allows Shannon to treat him to the rich excesses of Westcrown high living for the sake of inspiration, for his music; he offers succor to his wounded friend by taking to bed those ladies so vapored by Shannon's voice, but left unsated by his inability to complete the performance.

All in all, it is a good and valuable friendship, one worthy of two boys of the darkening city of Westcrown.