Sophia Reinhart's page

Personality
Sophia carries herself with the bearing and poise expected of a minor noble. While her parents don't have titles, they are well within the upper crust of society, and she was taught proper ettiquite as a child. In her days at the Ballet before leaving for Danor, she was known by her friends as a warm and cheerful sort. Her personality since returning from Danor is significantly more somber and withdrawn. While such a personality would have been a drawback when she was a member of the Royal Ballet, it is barely noticable among the other professors of the Martial Sciences at Banhaman Academy.

The loss of Anya in Danor and the emotional turmoil that has accompanied it has driven her to focus her energies on her studies. While she still visits a few close friends from time to time, she feels little desire to socialize anymore. In fact, the offer of a joint position at the RHC and Banhaman Academy provided a perfect opportunity to increase her work load to further distract her.

Story

Born the only daughter of a retired Colonel and a renowned Opera Singer, Sophia was raised from birth to follow in her mother's footsteps. As early as six she was enrolled in ballet and singing classes, and was classically trained on various instruments. Her childhood, like all those raised in the upper classes, consisted of private lessons on various subjects, including the afforementined arts, and socializing at the various parties her mother and father threw. When she became a teenager, her impressive natural talent in singing and dancing had earned her a place at the Royal Academy of the Arts in Slate. As was expected of her, she entered the Academy and had great success while there. Her abilities attracted the attention of a recruiter for the Royal Ballet, and when she graduated she was offered a position there immediately.

Having finished school and started at the Ballet, Sophia moved out on her own. She spent her time practicing or out partying with the other performers, and became good friends with many of them. After a few years, however, Sophia found herself bored with her profession. While she enjoyed performing, she found the regimen tiring and longed for something more exciting. On a whim she decided to start taking fencing lessons, something her father had given her a brief introduction to when she was a child. She took to it quickly, finding the combat exhilarating. At the lessons she met Anya, a half-elf from Flint who was trying to gain entry to Jierre Sciens d'Arms in Danor to study the Martial Sciences. The two became close in the following six months, and when Anya was accepted to study, Sophia talked her father into calling in some favors so she could study there as well. When Sophia was accepted as well, Sophia's friends at the Ballet threw the two of them a farewell party to see them off.

After arriving in Danor, Anya and Sophia devoted themselves to their studies, both physical and mental. While of the professors were skeptical, especially of Sophia and her background in the arts, the two earned their place in the class. By the end of the first year the two were vying for the top spot in the class, displacing the former number one student, a tiefling named Jorai. In their time alone, the two girls spent time duelling each other, and began experimenting with various new duelling techniques. It was in one of these duels, when the two were more playing around than fighting seriously, that Sophia first concieved of the battle dance. After a few attempts that went poorly, Sophia figured out how to make it work in combat, and she and Anya began developing the style seriously. Due to the experimental and novel nature of the combat style, the two practiced entirely in secret. Together they developed the techniques in general, each adding their own stylistic elements in combat.

In their third year at the school, when Sophia's preliminary exam came around, she demonstrated the style for the first time to devastating effect on Jorai. The humiliation he suffered at her hands earned his enemity, and he vowed that day to get revenge on her. Both her dissertation on the topic and Anya's were accepted, and the two were widely acclaimed by the faculty as up and coming researchers in the field. When time came to defend their dissertations, Sophia again demonstrated her techique flawlessly, defeating several opponents using the battle dance. When Anya's defense came up she was similarly efficient in dispatching her foes, but as she finished, sheathing her sword, a man rushed out of the crowd of onlookers, stabbing her in the back with a dagger. Sophia rushed to Anya's aid as others pulled the man off her, and Sophia held Anya as they waited for a priest to come aid them. Unfortunately for Anya the dagger had been coated with a virulent poison; by the time help arrived, she had already passed away in Sophia's arms. Completely lost, Sophia sat there with Anya well after they'd pronounced her dead, cradling her until they came to carry her to the morgue.

Both she and Anya had been offered tenure-track positions at Banhaman Academy, making them the youngest in Risur to have been granted a Professorship. Instead of making plans for an apartment she now had to deal with arranging Anya's burial and writing a letter to her parents informing them of the news. In the meantime the local investigators had managed to tie the man who had murdered Anya to Jorai. Jorai had apparently offered the poor man an exorbitant sum for his family in exchange for the service. Unfortunately by the time the investigators had found that connection, the tiefling had gone to ground.

In the aftermath Sophia returned to Slate where she took up her position at the Academy. She found solace in her studies, her combat style being the last link she had to Anya. She focused exclusively on her work from then on, and within two years managed to achieve tenure, again setting a record for the youngest full Professor in the Academy's history. Looking for a means to get more field experience for her research, Sophia talked to her father who, after consulting with various of his contacts, directed her to approach the RHC. After a brief back and forth with the RHC, it agreed to create a joint position the Academy and RHC, allowing her to continue her research while becoming an active member of the Constabulary.

Plot Hook
Jorai the Tiefling vanished after successfully arranging the murder of Anya. Jorai remains a fugitive and may still be motivated to take further revenge on Sophia. While Sophia is not interested in vengeance, she would not turn down an opportunity to see him jailed, and she still watches over her shoulder so as not to be caught offguard if he ever returns.

Female Aasimar (Musetouched) Bard(Dawnflower Dervish)|Swashbuckler 1
NG Medium Outsider (native)

Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4

Defense
AC 17, Touch 15, Flat-footed 12 [2 armor + 5 dex]
HP 11/11
Fort +1, Ref +7, Will +2
SR 6/Evil

Offense
Speed 30 ft.

Melee Rapier +7 (1d6 + 5, 18-20/x2)
Mods Fencer (+1 vs AoO), Battle Dance: Courage (+2 hit/dam)

Special Attacks
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1):
1/day -- glitterdust

Spells Known
1st (3/day) - tap inner beauty, saving finale
0th (at will) - dancing lights, mage hand, mending, prestidigitation

Statistics
Str 10, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 20
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 14

Feats (theme) Martial Scientist, (class) Swashbuckler's Finesse, (class) Dervish Dance, Weapon Focus (Rapier)
Racial Traits Exalted Resistance, Scion of Humanity
Traits Fencer, Bard of the Society
Drawback
Skills Acrobatics +5, Appraise +4, Bluff +5, Diplomacy +7, Know(History) +7, Know(Local) +7, Know(Nobility) +7, Linguistics +8, Perception +4, Perform (Dance) +11, Perform (Oratory) +11, Perform (Act) +11, Spellcraft +8, Stealth +9, Use Magic Device +9 Racial Modifiers +2 Perform, +2 Diplomacy
Languages Primordial, Common; +4
SQ
Limited Use Bardic Performance (9/9), Panache (5/5)

Combat Gear Rapier, Leather Armor
Other Gear Fighter's Kit
Treasure None

Special Abilities (Race)

Special Abilities (Swashbuckler)
Panache (Ex): Gain Panache points equal to your Cha mod. Killing or Crit'ing a target generates 1 panache, not exceeding your maximum.
Opportune Parry (Ex): (1 pp, AoO) Make attack roll vs opponent's attack, -2 for each size category larger the opponent is. If attack roll is greater than attacker's roll, the enemy's attack misses. (min. pp 1, 0 pp, imm. act.) After successfully parrying, attack enemy whose attack was blocked.

Special Abilities (Bard)
Bardic Performance: (12 rnds/day, std act.)
Countersong (Su): Counter sound-based spells with song. Allies within 30' may use perform check instead of saving throw.
Distraction (Su): Counter visual (figment/pattern) spells. Allies within 30' may use perform check instead of saving throw.
Fascinate (Su): (Will DC 16) Cause creatures within 90' to become fascinated (-4 skill checks including perception).
Inspire Courage (Su): +1 morale sv vs Charm and Fear, +1 competence bonus to hit/dam.
Battle Dance: (as Bardic Performance, mv. act.) inspire courage, inspire greatness, and inspire heroics affect self only and bonuses are doubled.

Gear Abilities

Melee Rapier [+7 (+1 BAB + 5 dex + 1 Wp Focus; 1d6 + 5 (5 dex), 18-20/x2]

1: +1 skill