About Sofia CovanuPoint Buy:
Str 8(-2) Dex 12(2) Con 10(0) Int 14(5) Wis 16(10) Cha 16(10), +2 race Sofia Covanu
DEFENSE
OFFENSE
STATISTICS
SKILLS
Adventuring Skills:
Background Skills:
SPELLS
When Channeling archmage/hierophant:
EQUIPMENT:
Dagger x3, 6gp Quarterstaff Courtesan's outfit (free; well tailored dress, not flashy) Armored Coat, 50gp Masterwork Fortune-Teller's deck, 50gp Witch's Kit (better than the medium's kit from OA.), 21gp Grooming kit, 1gp GP: 10
ABILITIES:
Race, Human (Varisian): +2 any attrubite (Cha), Bonus Feat, +1 skill rank per level. Class, Medium:
Background:
Sofia Covanu was born in the back of a carriage, on a clear but moonless night, somewhere in Varisia. The third child and only daughter of a huntsman and a fortune-teller, she was born into a family that traveled Varisia and its neighbors with an entire caravan of traders and tramps. A veritable village of wagons ever on the move. Sofia’s early years were not that unusual, at least not for a Varisian girl. She was a tomboy with an overactive imagination, seen as something of a weirdo by the other children in the caravan. Sofia made up imaginary friends and held lengthy conversations with them, told tall tales of adventures that never happened, and hosted mock tea parties alone in the woods. She got along alright with her two older brothers and sometimes played with the children from other families in their group, but was equally comfortable lost in her own imagination. Their home may have had wheels, and their backyard was different every night, but it was family and it was home. But Sofia soon learned that sometimes a single event can change everything. One evening while the sun hung low, and the caravan had stopped to set camp somewhere in Ustalav, Sofia and some of the other children set out to play in the woods nearby. She was only eight, and while and some of the children trickled away back to camp, she and a dozen others around her age wandered a little to far into the wooded marsh -- drawn in by funny lights and dancing flames that glistened over the murky waters. An hour after sundown, half of the caravan was out searching the woods with torches and weapons. Only a few small bodies were found near the water’s edge; badly burned and eyes all missing. Sofia was found wandering the woods in shock a quarter-mile away, with a few scrapes and burns, and her own eyes gone -- burned right out of their sockets, only two darkened holes remained. The rest of the thirteen children were never found. In the weeks and months after the attack, everything had changed. Sofia and her family had to adjust to her sudden blindness, and the joyous atmosphere that once surrounded life in the caravan was gone forever. Her mother rarely stopped crying, while her father grew angry with whatever thing had harmed his daughter. What little Sofia recalled from the attack seemed like gibberish; a giant worm full of eyes and fire…more like a nightmare or her imagination than an actual creature. Grief and sorrow eroded some of the tight bonds within the caravan. Sofia needed help to do anything, and the other families seemed to shun or resent her for surviving while their own children perished. It didn’t help that most believed she’d made up the source of the massacre. Some families left, others -- including her own -- fractured. Months later, after her family had stopped in a small town while the remnants of the caravan moved on without them, Sofia met one of the kindest people she would ever know: Professor Petros Lorrimor. Professor Lorrimor was interested in examining Sofia, and learning more about what she had been through. He was kind enough to put her and her family up in his own home for the next few months, and even encouraged his own daughter to socialize with her and help her get around. His treatments and hypnotherapy were as gentle as possible. Lorrimor was eventually able to bring out the details her mind had suppressed and gave name to the creature that caused so much ruin and loss: Azgenzak. An aberrant horror that rarely left survivors like her, and matched her description perfectly. Sofia’s father and oldest brother left the moment they had learned Sophia’s monster was real; set out to slay the azgenzak that blinded her and killed so many other children. Whatever happened, Sophia has not heard from them since. Professor Lorrimor had one more gift for Sofia -- putting her in contact with a cult of Vildeis worshippers; one of the few faiths adept at helping the blind. Sofia’s mother and youngest brother sought out Lorrimor’s lead, and brought her to the care of the unusual cult. She and the remains of her family spent the next few years with the Vildeis worshippers. They helped her learn to cope without sight -- just like their patron angel, Vildeis, herself -- using sound and touch to navigate the world around her. Getting around became easy enough, and Sofia found plenty of things she could do and enjoy without the need for sight. The sounds of birds, the smell of rain, listening to music and stories. Some nights her brother would read to her, and she began to learn some parts of her mother’s trade -- palmistry, cold reading, and the like. Professor Lorrimor kept in touch over the years, and with a little help she was able to pen her own letters back. As Sofia came into her mid teens, a package from the Professor arrived. A letter with some odd details and stacks of papers regarding some of her hypnosis sessions; copies of their transcripts, and phrenology notes. Lorrimor wrote about a third eye, and his conclusion that she had opened hers a handful of times in her youth. He had felt it would have been too much to get into at her age, back when she was under his care, but having heard of her progress he had decided it was time to let her know everything. It was possible some of her childhood imagination stemmed from real astral entities, spirits, or psychically charged sites she had visited. Along with the letters was a short list of psychics, medium, and other contacts Lorrimor knew. Once again Sofia’s life turned to travel; this time with her mother and brother, one of the Vildeis clerics, and the occasion toughs or adventurers they traveled with for a while. Sofia visited many of Lorrimor’s contacts, went to sacred sites of power, and began to get a grasp on her third eye and what it could do. She learned the power seances, how to draw out spirits and astral entities, commune and even share her mind with them. Sofia became a gifted but inexperienced Medium. In time Sofia and her friends and family had a handful of adventures; though her mother fell ill on the road. They stopped for a time in the rural outskirts of Caliphas, where her mother chose to retire; and her brother chose to settle down and start a family with their long time cleric friend. Sofia was unsure if she wished to stay or resume traveling with others, but the arrival of another letter -- this time from Professor Lorrimor’s daughter, Kendra. The choice was made for her. Sofia set out on the road to Ravengro, throwing in with other travelers of and on along the way. Only instead of adventure, she was going to mourn the man who had changed her life so much...
Appearance/Personality:
Sofia is a pretty young woman, standing a little short at 5’3”, and just a hair overweight. Her skin is a shade fairer than most varisians, and her hair full and dark. She often wears a diaphanous veil or blindfold to cover her eyes; not out of vanity, but to avoid making others uncomfortable. Few people care to see the blackened, burned-out sockets beneath. She favors comfortable dresses in drab colors, made with some quality, accented with cheap jewelry of common metals and colored glass. While traveling, she dons a heavy armored coat over her clothes and walks with a sturdy staff. Sofia can seem mercurial to some. Though always friendly, talkative, and kind; the spirits she channels leave a mark on her personality that isn’t hard to notice. At times scholarly, sometimes shifty, and often highly spiritual and devout. She manages to get around quite well on her own, but is accustomed to others trying to help, and usually is not too prideful to ask when she needs a hand.
Horror points:
Fears: Sofia is mildly afraid of fire, and moreso fire-creatures, due to the event that caused her blindness. Candles and lanterns don’t bother her, a torches and camp- or hearthfires make her uneasy. She makes excuses to avoid any bonfire, pyre, or other large (but controlled) blaze. Uncontrolled fires, fire magic, and fire creatures seriously frighten her. In addition, Sofia would be terrified of being completely alone! But that fear is tempered by the fact that she usually has a channeled spirit of some kind to keep her company. Goal: To find her place in the world, to explore her abilities, and to find some reason to continue traveling rather than settling down with what’s left of her family. Reputation: Among some Varisian caravans the story of her encounter with the azgenzak is still told, and still evolving. Usually dubbed ”the massacre in the marsh”, some tellings focus on the children’s deaths and don’t even name her as the lone survivor. Others blame different monsters, or cast her as a raving lunatic who was never the same after the attack, or even hint that she was somehow to blame. If news has gotten around that she’s since developed real spiritual powers, it may have been integrated into versions that cast her as the villain, or a burnt-eyed soul-stealing monster. Friends/Family: Sofia has traveled with dozens of others, and occasionally meets someone on the road that she already knows. Her strongest bonds are with her family, however. She still has her mother, her brother, and her sister-in-law; she may even be an aunt by now. She assumes her father and eldest brother are dead, but they might still be out there somewhere. She is familiar with Kendra Lorrimor, but only knew her in person for the few months she was under the Professor’s care. I tried to be vague with her family, and didn’t name any of them to make them easier to integrate. If I do get accepted, I can name them and flesh them out if you prefer. Home: Sofia lives with her brother on the outskirts of Caliphas. Signature Item: Her fortune-teller’s cards. The masterwork set was made for her with lacquered wooden plates, with divots, bumps, and engravings that she can read by touch. Problem: Sofia is thirsty for more adventures and to explore the world and her abilities simultaneously. But she is pressured by loved ones to settle down, and told that the road is no place for a blind girl to travel alone. They understood the circumstances of Lorrimor’s funeral and the reading of his will, but she knows they expect her to return home and stay there when it is over. Secret: Sofia knows she is dealing with some dangerous forces as a Medium, but heavily downplays the risks. She has felt herself slipping away when the spirits influence her, but hasn’t lost total control yet. She worries her dabbling may eventually make her the monster that stories have already made her out to be. Reason to be brave: She remembers the massacre in the marsh very well, along with the terror she felt, the screams of the other children, and the way the entire event tore the caravan apart. Even without sight she’s stronger and powerful now; the need to step up, protect others, and prevent more trauma will give her strength.
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