Siival Grayling's page

Siival was born to human parents. He was left at the steps of a layman's house in the small village of Scrawny Crossing south of the Echo Wood in the western River Kingdoms His extremely pale skin and slight build were unusual, to say the least, and marked him as different from the other children. His only friend was Myrna, an equally disquieting youth in town, who had also been fostered by Eric Grayling. The two were inseparable, adventuring through town, on the river and throughout the surrounding hills and fields.

Their "father" taught them many skills, how to tumble and jump, to keep an eye out wherever they found themselves, how to tell stories and determine when others were telling them stories. Siival was adept at helping himself to objects off of other people and hiding and creeping. When Eric introduced him to sword fighting, his imagination lit on fire. He imagined himself a great swordsman with rapier in hand, wooing ladies and winning duels. He focused his efforts and while he became proficient with a great many weapons, the rapier became his weapon of choice. Never a strong lad, he learned how to strike with the epee to devastating effect, dealing more damage than seemed possible with such a slender blade.

Times were bad and living poor in Scrawny Crossing. Eric could find no work and lost everything. He was forced to take his charges and strike out into the forest, woods and river to find money. He ended up joining a gang of bandits who recognized his worth. Siival, with Myrna, tagged along, learning even more about how to travel through the forest unseen and unheard.

The gang realized that they had another advantage with Eric Grayling; his children. They could go into town and not draw attention to themselves with authorities. No one looked twice at two more ragamuffins. They could sneak loot into towns to sell to the gang's fences. As an added bonus, they were unskilled and inexperienced. They knew little and could tell even less about what they did know. If they hellknights or traveling paladin caught them, they were expendable; a win/win.

This worked well for several years, right up until they came into Scrawny Crossing one day. The town was empty. Not a soul to be found. The buildings were still there, but no one was left; not even corpses. They adolescents were scared. Though they now lived in the forest, Scrawny Crossing had been their home. They grabbed a small boat and fled downriver, taking the most recent haul with them.

Floating down the Sellen river, they rode the current all the way to Xer, in Razmiran, before they were stopped by a patrol. They claimed to be refugees from Scrawny Crossing whereupon they told the authorities all they knew about the situation there. When questioned, they quickly affirmed themselves as believers in the Iron Masked God and thanked the river patrol for their diligence and hard work in protecting the river from unbelievers. Praise Razmir!

Taken into Xer, they were left to their were taken into custody, for their own protection, where they were intended to be sent to a re-education camp for full indoctrination into the faith. Upon arriving at the station, they noticed a group of armed and armoured men and women arguing with the authorities. Inquiring about the disturbance, their guards said that those were Blue Basilisk mercenaries who were not Razmiri and were arguing about the taxes being levied upon them for the lack of faith. Striking upon an idea, Siival winked at Myrna and went about talking to the guards of their desire to help Razmiran. Perhaps if the heretics were to take on two other "non-believers" their taxes would be reduced and they could be on their way. Meanwhile Siival and Myrna would spy for their Razmiri masters, finding all there was to know about the mercenaries and give their report when they came back downriver. Giving the tale some spin, Siilval worded it as a suggestion which the guards could run with to their superiors.

The guards did just that and their superiors questioned the teenagers for several hours before being convinced that such a plan may have a chance of success. The upside gave them more information about a mercenary guild that was becoming more of a presence on the river and the downside was the possibility of losing what were likely two charlatans who had no faith in their god. They agreed and summoned the leader of the Blue Basilisks. Explaining that there was a way to earn a tax reduction by removing some of the undesirables from Razmiran, they were offered to take Siival and Myrna off of the authorities hands along with a handful of other recent immigrants with no marketable skills. Recognizing that she was being saddled with ne'er-do-wells, she grudgingly accepted and took the miscreants with her.

Once aboard the mercenary's ship, Siilval and Myrna explained their ploy to the merc leader. They told her of their knowledge of the area around the northern branch of the West Sellen River, of Scrawny Crossing, Mosswater and the Echo Wood. Appreciating their honesty and duplicity in equal measure, she allowed them to work with her mercenaries. In exchange for their guidance upriver, they would be offered positions within the mercenary company. They readily agreed.

Traveling upriver, they took the first major fork in the Sellen north. They passed Scrawny Crossing in the day and were approaching Mosswater after dark when their boat was beset by strange aquatic creatures. The mercenaries were hard pressed and the boat was heavily damaged below the water line. They were just able to get near the bank when it finally sank. Still fighting and forced into the shallows of the river to make a wading retreat to land, many died or were taken under. The few survivors who made it to the bank, ran for their lives in hopes that river creatures would not be able to chase them on land or would at least be slowed out of the water.

Come morning there were only a handful of Blue Basilisks to be found. Siival and Myrna had survived and the merc leader was impressed because she had herself seen them fighting for their lives the previous night. She questioned them about the type and nature of those creatures, but neither of them had ever seen such things before.

Luckily, they did know where they were. They were on the Crusader Road leading to Mosswater. By backtracking south, they were able to pick up the Valley Road and walk until they reached the fork leading southeast to Fort Inevitable. There they hoped to report the attack to the Hellknights and maybe even be able to rearm and resupply.

Breeze Kissed: Breezes seem to follow most sylphs wherever they go, but some sylphs are better able to control these winds than others. A sylph with this racial trait surrounds herself with swirling winds, gaining a +2 racial bonus to AC against non-magical ranged attacks. The sylph can calm or renew these winds as a swift action. Once per day, the sylph can channel this wind into a single gust, making a bull rush or trip combat maneuver attempt against one creature within 30 feet. Whether or not the attempt succeeds, the winds are exhausted and no longer provide a bonus to the sylph’s AC for 24 hours. This is a supernatural ability. This racial trait replaces air affinity.

Whispered Wind: Some sylphs are especially thin and wispy, as though they were made more of air than flesh. Sylphs with this racial trait gain a +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks. This racial trait replaces the sylph’s spell-like ability racial trait.

Derring-Do (Ex): At 1st level, a swashbuckler can spend 1 panache point when she makes an Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim check to roll 1d6 and add the result to the check. She can do this after she makes the check but before the result is revealed. If the result of the d6 roll is a natural 6, she rolls another 1d6 and adds it to the check. She can continue to do this as long as she rolls natural 6s, up to a number of times equal to her Dexterity modifier (minimum 1).

Dodging Panache (Ex): At 1st level, when an opponent attempts a melee attack against the swashbuckler, the swashbuckler can as an immediate action spend 1 panache point to move 5 feet; doing so grants the swashbuckler a dodge bonus to AC equal to her Charisma modif ier (minimum 0) against the triggering attack. This movement doesn’t negate the attack, which is still resolved as if the swashbuckler had not moved from the original square. This movement is not a 5-foot step; it provokes attacks of opportunity from creatures other than the one who triggered this deed. The swashbuckler can only perform this deed while wearing light or no armor, and while carrying no heavier than a light load.

Opportune Parry and Riposte (Ex): At 1st level, when an opponent makes a melee attack against the swashbuckler, she can spend 1 panache point and expend a use of an attack of opportunity to attempt to parry that attack. The swashbuckler makes an attack roll as if she were making an attack of opportunity; for each size category the attacking creature is larger than the swashbuckler, the swashbuckler takes a –2 penalty on this roll. If her result is greater than the attacking creature’s result, the creature’s attack automatically misses. The swashbuckler must declare the use of this ability after the creature’s attack is announced, but before its attack roll is made. Upon performing a successful parry and if she has at least 1 panache point, the swashbuckler can as an immediate action make an attack against the creature whose attack she parried, provided that creature is within her reach.