A beautiful, willowy figure, standing tall at 5'11" and weighing 120 lbs. Long black hair, long-pointed ears, almond-shaped emerald-green eyes, warm-ivory complexion; dresses in blue, green and brown tones.
Holds herself with regal and graceful bearing; giving just the right amount of emotion/personable-amiable demeanour to encourage/attract people. She has a cool, calculating head and practices a great deal of patience and tact/ic to get what she desires/seeks. She still possesses a level of Elven arrogance (it is not overbearing, but can be obvious at times), however does not instantly dismiss other races as lesser and unimportant. She is steady and reliable. Her trust must be earned and she is a consummate secret keeper. She relishes witty repartee (and a good laugh) and will meet a challenge head-on. She prefers subtle nuances and maneuverings to the bullish-obvious kind. Once you gain her trust and loyalty, you will have it for life.
Backstory:
Unlike many of the insular Elves of Kyonin, Siladhiel was not content in remaining solely among her own kind and shunning the lesser races and cultures. More than a century ago, her Spiresworn, rebellious father, Galvorn, undertook unsanctioned travel through the Elf gate which connected the Spire and distant Kyonin. He entered Iadara, the City of Mists, whereupon he met her mother, the beautiful Merileth, who haled from one of the villages of the Fierani Forest forbidden to strangers. They wed, and, with extraordinary good fortune. they bore a child - a moonkissed daughter they named Siladhiel.
The three forged a life among the Elves of Kyonin. Her father taught her the stories of old - histories of nations come and gone. His life on an island on the sea had been different to her mother's upbringing in the forest. He taught his daughter the Azlanti tongue and how to use a crossbow instead of the elegant longbows preferred by her mother's people. This did not deter her mother from raising her only child to revere Ketephys, The Hunter.
With her father's stories in mind and some of his rebellious temper in her blood, Siladhiel developed a burgeoning wanderlust; no longer content to live a quiet life but longing to travel beyond Kyonin and discover the lands and people across the realms. The humans intrigued her; for every now and again human druids would visit the forests and she would watch them. Her people seemed to intrigue the humans (wanting to know the Elves, learn from them and even mate with them) and Siladhiel wondered if she could utilise this fascination to her advantage.
Days after her 110th birthday, Siladhiel made up her mind to leave Kyonin. Seeking the thrill of new experiences, she left with the best of intentions. She wandered for the next five years - searching out the most useful humans - learning and emulating their way of life. At the age of 115, Siladhiel found herself in Taldor. Nobility held an attraction and she used her Elven charm to ingratiate herself among those with some level of authority or influence among the wealthy; no matter how small. Her initial introduction among the human Taldans was met with curiosity and covetousness. There were still some of the lowborns who held her in a different regard - with a sense of fear or trepidation - and she could use that to her advantage, as well. However, she did her best to curb their reluctance whenever she could.
So, Siladhiel established herself wholly in Oppara; learning Kelish, until she felt she was one of the Taldan born. Over the next five years, she settled into a life of patience and perseverance; watching courtly intrigues and power plays; learning whose ear she could bend with greater finesse. Siladhiel hoped to score an influential patron among the aristocracy to further her goals and ambitions. She believed she could do more for Taldor than most of the noble born humans; especially the boorish males who gained their right and position simply from an ancient primogeniture. Her cool, secretive smiles seemed to attract human men and some women and she gave small parts of herself, but never the whole; permitting the humans to believe she was in their thrall. At some point in her ambitions, Siladhiel came to realise she had grown quite fond of the Taldans and felt a kinship with their plight and progress.
It was during an excursion into the Verduran Forest that Siladhiel crossed paths with an abandoned hatchling hawk and she believed Ketephys, The Hunter, had gifted her the creature as a sign of his good favour. She named the hawk, Yara, and a bond swiftly developed between them - divine in nature - and the Elven magic in her blood began to manifest itself - just a little to begin with, and, this pleased Siladhiel. She practiced her magic and began honing her very nature and temperament under the watchful eye of Yara. Siladhiel wished for the betterment of Taldor and for more opportunities to present themselves to captivate the right lords and ladies. She was singularly focused and would exert herself more readily, if she had to, to achieve her goals and ambitions.
The Grand Day of Exaltation would soon be upon them and the excitement was palpable. People were flocking to the city to revel and feast and Siladhiel looked forward to the fireworks. There was, also, an underlying current of unrest/trepidation due to the upcoming vote to repeal the primogeniture. Siladhiel could not approve of an antiquated, laughable human succession law rewarding male heirs for simply being eldest/only sons at the expense of the equally deserving female familial counterparts. Something had to be done about it and swiftly.
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DEFENSE
-------------------- AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 armour, +2 dex)
hp 9 (1d8+0+1FCB)
Fort +3; Reflex +5; Will +3
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OFFENSE
-------------------- Speed 30ft
Melee Light Hammer +0 (1d4x2, B, can be thrown with 20ft range increment)
Ranged Light Xbow +2 (1d8, 19-20/x2, P) (add +1 to hit & damage for Point-Blank Shot)
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STATISTICS
-------------------- Str 10 (+0); Dex 15 (+2); Con 10 (+0); Int 12 (+1); Wis 15 (+2); Cha 13 (+1) (Ability Modifiers +2 DEX, +2 INT, -2 CON) BAB +0; CMB +0; CMD 12
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TRAITS
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• Cosmopolitan (Regional): Your exposure to many people and tongues has given you a particular facility for speech. Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Linguistics checks, and Linguistics becomes a class skill for you.
• Taldan Patriot (Campaign): You love your country, its history, and its people... even though they may not love you back. Whether you’re a bureaucrat, a minor noble, or a soldier, you want your community to be the best it can be and you channel that love into a position in service to the people of Taldor. You gain a +1 bonus on all Sense Motive and Knowledge (history) checks, and these skills are always class skills for you. In addition, once per day you can recall a specific fact about a Taldan noble’s personality quirks such as a hobby or pet peeve including information you would normally learn as a discovery check in social combat.
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FEATS
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• Point-Blank Shot (Combat): You are especially accurate when making ranged attacks against close targets. Benefit: You get a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at ranges of up to 30 feet.
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SKILLS 2+7=9
-------------------- BACKGROUND SKILLS (2/level):
• Handle Animal +5 (1 rank)
• Know. History +6 (1 rank, +1 campaign trait, now a class skill)
ADVENTURING SKILLS (6+1=7):
• Bluff +5 (1 rank)
• Diplomacy +5 (1 rank)
• Linguistics +6 (1 rank, +1 from Cosmopolitan trait, now class skill from trait)
• Perception +6 (1 rank)
• Sense Motive +7 (1 rank, +1 campaign trait)
• Spellcraft +5/+7 (1 rank, +2 to identify properties of magic items)
• Stealth +6 (1 rank)
LANGUAGES
Common, Elven, Azlanti, Draconic
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Gear & Equipment
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Starting play with an Explorer's Outfit worth 10 gp. (This set of clothes is for someone who never knows what to expect. It includes sturdy boots, leather breeches or a skirt, a belt, a shirt (perhaps with a vest or jacket), gloves, and a cloak. Rather than a leather skirt, a leather overtunic may be worn over a cloth skirt. The clothes have plenty of pockets (especially the cloak). The outfit also includes any extra accessories you might need, such as a scarf or a wide-brimmed hat.)
Weapons & Ammunition:
• Light Crossbow (35 gp, 4 lbs) (1d8 (medium) Critical 19-20/x2 Type piercing, Range Increment 80 ft. (projectile), Category ranged, Proficiency Simple.)
• 20x Crossbow bolts (2 gp, 2 lbs)
• Light Hammer (1 gp, 2 lbs) (Damage 1d4 (medium), Critical x2, Type bludgeoning, Range Increment 20 ft., Category light Proficiency martial, Weapon Groups hammers, thrown.)
Gear:
• Courtier's Outfit (30gp, 6 lbs) (This outfit includes fancy, tailored clothes in whatever fashion happens to be the current style in the courts of the nobles. Anyone trying to influence nobles or courtiers while wearing street dress will have a hard time of it (–2 penalty on Charisma-based skill checks to influence such individuals). If you wear this outfit without jewelry (costing an additional 50 gp), you look like an out-of-place commoner. As this outfit does not cost 10 gp or less, player characters can not choose this outfit for free when first beginning play.)
• Signet Ring (5 gp, - lbs)
• Masterwork Backpack (50 gp, 4 lbs.) (This backpack has numerous pockets for storing items that might be needed while adventuring. Hooks are included for attaching items such as canteens, pouches, or even a rolled-up blanket. It has padded bands that strap across the chest and the waist to distribute its weight more evenly. Like a common backpack, it can hold about 2 cubic feet of material in its main container. When wearing a masterwork backpack, treat your Strength score as +1 higher than normal when calculating your carrying capacity.)
• Kit, Mess (2 sp, 1 lbs) (This kit includes a plate, bowl, cup, fork, knife, and spoon, made of wood, horn, or tin. Each item has a handle or small hole, and can be tied together using the included leather cord.)
• Canteen (2 gp, 1 lbs)
• Flint & Steel (1 gp, - lbs)
• Belt Pouch (1 gp, 0.5 lbs)
• Spell Components Pouch (5 gp, 2 lbs)
• Grooming Kit (1 gp; 2 lbs.) (This pouch of toiletries includes a comb, scissors, a nail file, a sponge, a hairbrush, a miniature mirror, soap, a chewing stick, and tooth powder.)
• Blanket (5 sp, 3 lbs)
• Leather Falconry Gauntlet (for off hand) (10 gp, 1 lbs)
• Leather Harness to restrain Hawk in formal social situations/great halls (2 gp, 2 lbs)
• 2 days worth of Bird Feed (1 sp, 1 lbs)
• 2 days worth of Elven Trail Rations (4 gp, 2 lbs) (Elves favor soft trail bread made of oats mixed with other grains, berries, and nuts and sweetened with honey. They supplement this trail bread with dried fruits and nuts. If you are an elf who subsists on nothing but these rations for at least 1 week, you receive a +2 bonus on checks and saves that benefit from the Endurance feat. This benefit lasts until you eat a meal other than the rations or go for a full day without eating a day’s worth.)
Total Cost & Weight: 164 gp & 8 sp out of 170 gp (rolled, approx 6 gp left) & 41.5 lbs (medium load) (medium load, based on STR 11 (from MW backpack) Light Load: 38 lbs -, Medium Load: 39-76 lbs, Heavy Load: 77-115 lbs)
Racial Traits:
From RACE:
• Ability Score Modifiers: Elves are nimble, both in body and mind, but their form is frail. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, and –2 Constitution.
• Crossbow Training: (alternate racial trait) An elf with this trait can reload a light crossbow as a free action and a heavy crossbow as a move action, provided that she is proficient with the weapon. If she selects the Rapid Reload feat for a heavy crossbow, she can reload the weapon as a free action. This racial trait replaces Weapon Familiarity.
• Moonkissed: (alternate racial trait) Elves with this alternate racial trait gain a +1 racial bonus on saving throws. This replaces Elven Immunities and Keen Senses.
• Elven Magic: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance. In addition, elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft skill checks made to identify the properties of magic items.
• Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Class Features:
From CLASS:
• Nature Training (Ex): A hunter counts her total hunter level as both druid levels and ranger levels for the purpose of qualifying for feats, traits, and options that modify or improve an animal companion.
• Wild Empathy (Ex): A hunter can improve the initial attitude of an animal. This ability functions as a Diplomacy check to improve the attitude of a person. The hunter rolls 1d20 and adds her hunter level and her Charisma modifier(1d20+1+1) to determine the wild empathy check result. The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly. To use wild empathy, the hunter and the animal must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time. The hunter can also use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but she takes a –4 penalty on the check.
• Class Skills: A courtly hunter adds Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive to her list of class skills, instead of Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (nature), and Survival. This alters the hunter’s class skills.
• Courtly Companion: A courtly hunter’s animal companion was touched by either the fey or the nature spirits that form leshys and answer to commune with nature, granting it its own intelligence. The companion’s type changes to magical beast (augmented animal), but this doesn’t change any of its statistics and it counts as an animal, not as a magical beast, for the purposes of determining all effects, prerequisites, and so on. It does not learn tricks, but it does have an Intelligence score equal to that of a familiar belonging to a wizard of the courtly hunter’s hunter level. Levels in other classes that grant animal companions do not stack with levels of courtly hunter for the purpose of determining the abilities of her courtly companion. This ability alters animal companion.
• Refined Focus (Su): At 1st level, a hunter can take on the aspect of an animal as a swift action. She must select one type of animal to emulate, gaining a bonus or special ability based on the type of animal emulated and her hunter level. The hunter can use this ability for a number of minutes per day equal to her level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but must be spent in 1-minute increments. The hunter can emulate only one animal at a time. The hunter can also apply one of these aspects to her animal companion. Unlike with the hunter herself, there is no duration on the animal aspect applied to her animal companion. An aspect applied in this way does not count against the hunter’s minutes of duration per day—it remains in effect until the hunter changes it. The companion’s aspect can be the same aspect the hunter has taken on or a different one. The hunter can select or change the animal foci on both herself and her animal companion as part of the same swift action. A courtly hunter has access to a different set of animal aspects with her animal focus. She does not gain access to the bear, bull, frog, monkey, snake, stag, tiger, or wolf aspects. Instead, she gains access to the following aspects:
Beaver: The creature gains a +4 competence bonus on Craft checks. This bonus increases to +6 at 8th level and +8 at 15th level.
Chameleon: The creature gains a +4 competence bonus on Disguise checks. This bonus increases to +6 at 8th level and +8 at 15th level.
Eagle: The creature gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Charisma. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level and +6 at 15th level.
Fox: The creature gains a +4 competence bonus on Bluff checks. This bonus increases to +6 at 8th level and +8 at 15th level.
Frilled Lizard: The creature gains a +4 competence bonus on Intimidate checks. This bonus increases to +6 at 8th level and +8 at 15th level.
Octopus: The creature gains a +4 competence bonus on Escape Artist checks. This bonus increases to +6 at 8th level and +8 at 15th level.
Raccoon: The creature gains a +4 competence bonus on Sleight of Hand checks. This bonus increases to +6 at 8th level and +8 at 15th level.
Songbird: The creature gains a +4 competence bonus on Perform checks. This bonus increases to +6 at 8th level and +8 at 15th level.
This ability alters animal focus.
Courtly Companion: HAWK named Yara:
==== Bird Animal Companion
STARTING STATISTICS
Size Small; Speed 10 ft., fly 80 ft. (average); AC +1 natural armor; Attack bite (1d4), 2 talons (1d4); Ability Scores Str 10, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 6, Wis 14, Cha 6; Special Qualities low-light vision.
====
Hawk CR 1/3 (Young Female, named Yara)
N Small Magical Beast (Augmented Animal)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +14
DEFENSE AC 14, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +1 size, +1 Natural Armor)
hp 11 (2d8+2)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +2
SPECIAL ABILITIES
• Link (Ex): A hunter can handle her animal companion as a free action, or push it as a move action, even if she doesn’t have any ranks in the Handle Animal skill. The hunter gains a +4 circumstance bonus on all wild empathy checks and Handle Animal checks made regarding an animal companion.
• Share Spells (Ex): The hunter may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her animal companion (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. A hunter may cast spells on her animal companion even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the companion’s type (animal). Spells cast in this way must come from a class that grants an animal companion. This ability does not allow the animal to share abilities that are not spells, even if they function like spells.
• Intelligence: The Courtly Companion has the familiar’s Intelligence score.
ECOLOGY
Environment temperate forests
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure none
Falconers prize these majestic birds as trained hunting companions if raised from chicks and properly instructed.
