About Talia Khavortorovhuman Brevic female skald 6
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AC 22 , Touch 13, Flat footed 20, (10 +7 armor +2 shield +2 dex, +1 deflection)
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Spd 30 ft
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Str 18 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 14 Wis 10 Cha 15
Feats:
Traits:
Skills 63 (24 base + 6 human + 12 background + 12 int +6 feat + 3 favored class)
Acrobatics +8 (3 ranks, 3 class, 2 dex)
Languages common, draconic, hallit, skald SQ: Bonus Feat; Focused Learner; Favored Class (3 skill, 3 human); Bardic Knowledge +3, Inspired Rage (+2 Str/Con, +2 Will, -1 AC), Raging Song 15 rounds/day, Cantrips, Versatile Performance (oratory), Well-versed, Rage Power x2 (TBD, TBD), Song of Marching, Uncanny Dodge, Spell Kenning 1/day, Song of Strength -------------
0 (6; ∞/day; DC 12) - Detect Magic, Know Direction, Light, Message, Prestidigitation, Read Magic
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Mithral breastplate (attuned +1) (4200gp, 15#), Caldobolg, Claymore (attuned +1 bastard sword, 50 gp, 6#), MW sling (300gp, 0#), Bard’s kit (41gp, 33.5#)
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Light load: 100# Medium Load: 101-200# Heavy Load: 201-300# Total load: #74.50 -------------
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Item 5598.3 GP Total -------------
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Act One: Brevoy Talia watched from the west side of the stage as the final scene of The Tender Heart came to a close, the brother-sister queen and king couple, hanging from twin rope nooses, entwined in a deathly embrace, a transparent analogy to the sibling Surtovas to anyone with a basic understanding of Brevic politics. Behind the hanging actors, there lowered a painted backdrop of the landmarks of Brevoy, all in ruins. Talia cast Ghost Sound and concentrated on swirling the sounds of conflict around the theater-goers - wails of anger and horror, the clanging of weapons, and the sobbing of children. During the play's opening week in Restov, a city with much anti-Surtova sentiment, the crowd sat in stunned silence at the performance’s closure, slowly raising to their feet and clapping as the message of the work sunk in. Here in New Stetven, the news of this satire from the south's arrival in town had stacked attendance to the rafters, but the last scene brought no clapping - just theatergoers sitting in stunned silence, trying to figure out how to respond to this attack on the Surtova family. Perched in the east balcony was Noleski Surtova, whispering in the ear of his councilor, seated in the row before the king. The two women in the balcony really caught Talia's attention, however. To the king's right, Talia's own half-sister, Elanna, sat staring at the balcony's floor, terribly uncomfortable. To the king's right, with a vantage-point allowing for their gazes to meet, the king's sister, Natalya, stared directly at Talia. Her look could only be interpreted as pure, unbridled, white-hot hatred. Perhaps I shouldn't have brought The Tender Heart to New Stetven after all. Talia quickly backed out of sight. Act Two: The River Kingdoms Coming... Act Three: The Land of the Linnorm Kings Talia slams her tankard on the table, ale sloshing over the side and onto the well-worn wooden top, another ring to be made as her tankard sits, one ring upon thousands, evidence of nights good and bad, lives lived over the years this tavern, The Winter’s Gale, has stood, a stout stone building older than some of the nations to the south. Talia stands, wobbling a little, her head in that lovely space before one tips too far into the cups, the perfect space to tell a story in, and she’d been working diligently these last few months, on an ode to her friend Wulfgar, and it was just shaping up enough to be tested in front of a crowd. She opens her mouth to claim the stage when the door to the tavern opens and slams against the wall, bringing with it a gust of cold air, the last chilly throes of winter’s eve. Talia scowls in annoyance as heads turn, but she lets that feeling slip away as easily as the ale has gone down -- Kristtór Hallmundur -- a man almost as large as Wulfgar, and one that dwarfs her dead friend in reputation. ”Vallenhal!” he yells, voice cracked with age and sea, and Talia, like the proverbial fish of so many of the northerners’ tales, was instantly hooked. Hallmundur would need a skald to create a saga of his greatest journey yet, and no one - in Asleifar at least - was as skilled with a tale as she. =============
Bastard: Talia Khavortorov is the bastard daughter of the deceased Lord Alfred Lebeda and the third daughter of a minor noblewoman from Restov, Svetlana Khavortorov - now the Lady Svetlana Orlov via marriage – an open secret known by anyone who knows anything about the intrigues of Brevic nobility. Noble: Talia's position in a family of minor nobility and the affections of her father guaranteed Talia a childhood free of any wants, despite her bastard status, and she was raised in court as any other lady, with a focus on etiquette and the arts. Even as a young child, Talia showed a real ability for the arts, creating and acting in her own plays. Upon adolescence, the young woman attended Restov's finest Bardic College, where she attained high marks, with an aptitude particularly with drama and magic. The young lady also took to the dueling style common among the Rostlanders, although as she aged Talia spent more time perfecting the style with a bardiche than the more commonly used sword. In addition, the young noble's time at college and at court afforded Talia a sense of purpose and assurance that translated well into social situations. Playwright: Talia worked in and around the Restov arts scene, acting in small productions. As tensions between Rostland and Issia continued to escalate, the young noblewoman was drawn to comment on them, a fertile time which gave birth to The Tender Heart, a rough if enthusiastic play satirizing the excesses of Surtova rule and the risk of civil war. The play was warmly received in Restov - warmly enough that Talia decided to take it to the seat of Surtova power in Brevoy’s capital, New Stetven. Cancelled: At the play's conclusion that first night in New Stetven, the look that Natalya Surtova gave Talia told the young playwright all she needed to know. Talia left first thing in the morning for home, while The Tender Heart's run was cancelled, and the Acoustic Nightmares Playhouse shuttered. Within a month, the leads of Talia's play were found dead, hanged in an apparent lovelorn suicide pact, and the playhouse burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances. Talia may have suffered a terrible fate as well, were it not for her noble (if bastard) status. Before the week was over, Talia was long gone from Brevoy, headed south into the Stolen Lands at the behest of her mother, with the hopes of keeping young Talia alive and the dreams of expanding House Khavortorov’s ambitions. Kingmaker: Talia traveled the Stolen Lands at the side of another Brevic noble, a young scoundrel distantly related to the Surtovas. Together with a ragtag group of adventurers, they explored the untamed wilds, and then… tamed them. With the death of a would-be bandit king, the adventurers secured the Stolen Lands, and a fledgeling kingdom awaited as an award. Bridesmaid: The kingdom was not be Talia’s. The Surtova scion was given the throne, and while Talia served for a while in his court, they both knew it would be a matter of time before she moved on. Caldabog: That time came with the death of her friend, Wulfgar. One of the adventurers that tamed the Stolen Lands, a Kellid of immense size and one good eye, Wulfgar was Talia’s closest friend and confidant. They were in many ways opposites; Wulfgar being lowborn, a Gorumite priest, almost comically tall and ugly. He lost his life to a dire crocodile that capsized the boat they were traveling on. Talia blames herself - she was piloting the boat and didn’t see the beast until it was too late. Talia took his sword, a claymore named Caldabog (mechanically, her attuned +1 bastard sword) and has used it ever since, a fitting tribute to her Gorumite best friend. The Lands of the Linnorm Kings: With Wulfgar gone, the chore of helping rule a kingdom turned to a chore, and every hall she turned down, every street in the newly founded capital seemed to bear an unwanted memory. Talia ended her service to the Surtova and made her way back north. She couldn’t return home of course - the nobles of Brevoy have long memories and nurse grudges as well as anyone in Golarian - so she went to the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. For her part, she likes the Lands. The weather is agreeable, and the people, while less bloodthirsty than her folk, are still mighty warriors, good seamen, and excellent storytellers. She’s spent a pleasant few months in and around Asleifar, spending down her savings, telling stories, and practicing with Caldabog. The pain of Wulfgar’s death is fading as spring approaches; it is time to start something new. ==============
Gone are the youthful ideations of idealism and self-grandiosity, replaced, as Talia approaches middle age, with pragmatism and empathy. Like many Brevics, Talia is concerned with ideas of honor. She tries to behave honorably in her dealings with others; telling truths, even when they are hard to hear, and she has a difficult time letting go of slights. Talia’s childhood in a minor noble family has given her the skills to navigate social situations. Though she no longer cares for the trappings of the high society, she can function there, and she is comfortable with people more lowborn, able to use a tale or a favor to engender good will. Her vocabulary is - fitting for a writer - expansive, and she can be quite verbose when needed. She is - while not devout - an Abadarian as well, having never given up the faith that she was raised with. =============
Talia has the red hair and pale skin common to those from House Khavortorov. Her green eyes are her most striking feature, and they are used to very expressive effect when the young noblewoman acts. Of average height, Talia uses her oratory skills to change how she presents herself based upon the situation at hand, using stances, voice projection, and such to make herself appear more intimidating, lowborn, or demure, for example. In her youth, Talia was quite beautiful, though now approaching middle age her looks have weathered with her time spent on the trail. Crow’s feet have found purchase at the corners of her eyes, her forehead is creased from constant thought. She is tan and lean, with a wiry physique that belies her strength. |
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