Wealth 29 gp
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Special Abilities
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Gentle Rest (6/day) (Sp) Melee touch attack staggers target for 1 rd.
Inquisitor Domain (Repose) Granted Powers: You see death not as something to be feared, but as a final rest and reward for a life well spent. The taint of undeath is a mockery of what you hold dear.
Judgement (1/day) (Su) Variable bonuses increase as the combat continues.
Monster Lore +3 (Ex) +3 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Undead Slayer +1 weapon damage vs. undead.
Warrior Priest +2 on concentration checks when casting defensively or grappling.
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Description
Tariq is an osirian native, with dark bronze skin and a shaved head. His body is lean and hard, and sports several pale scars. He wears leather lamellar armor, carries a longspear and has a morning star hanging from a loop in his belt. Around his neck hangs the spiral symbol of Pharasma.
Background
The dead never held any fear for Tariq. The son of one of Wati's many embalmers, Tariq often watched his father at work, listening to him explain how the rites he was performing helped the souls of the deceased make it safely to Pharasma's Boneyard, where the Lady of the Graves herself would sit in judgment of them. Death was not a punishment, but a natural reward at the end of each mortals predetermined fate, his father taught him. And once the soul had departed, the flesh and bones that remained should be treated with the proper respect.
From his bedroom window, Tariq could see the spiral of Pharasma painted on the walls of the necropolis, and like so many other Wati youths, he was drawn to the thrill of the dead city. Frequently, he and his brothers and cousins would scale the walls, daring each other to explore the abandoned streets. Even though he was the youngest of the group, he was never afraid, because to him, the dead in the sealed tombs were no different from the ones in his fathers workshop.
On one of these excursions, they cut across the roof of a sealed building, when some of the worn tiles gave way and several of the boys tumbled into the room below. From the roof, Tariq, only 12 years old at the time, watched his two cousins below suddenly surrounded by skeletal remains shambling forward, intent on tearing the frightened boys to pieces. The sight of the dead, held in unlife by unholy energy, enraged Tariq. Strangely, the plight of his kin worried him only slightly, but these undead monsters were an insult to everything he believed in. While the other boys on the roof fled in terror, Tariq grabbed a slab of stone and leapt down amidst the skeletons, smashing away at the animated bones with cold fury. When a patrol of pharasmin guards arrived, they found all three boys alive. Tariq was bleeding heavily from a dozen wounds, but every one of the undead had fallen to his wild blows.
As he lay at home recovering, one of the pharasmin soldiers came by. Introducing himself as Maresh, he explained that he belonged to a part of Pharasma's church called The Voices of the Spire. This group was tasked with the destruction of the undead, and if Tariq wished, he could come to the temple and train to become one of them. His family accepted, and in the following years, Tariq dedicated himself to his training, eager to once again face the undead and purge them from the world of the living.
Now, it has been almost two years since his training was complete, and from his patrols atop the walls, he stares down into the necropolis with the knowledge that a multitude of undead hide among the sealed buildings. With the prospect of the dead city being opened up to exploration, he knows with certainty that his goddess intends for him to join the search, and carry out her will.
Motivations and goals
Tariq is driven by his faith and his convictions. He firmly believes that all mortals are bound by the fate given them by Pharasma, and that death will find each at the right moment. To him, exploring the ruins of the necropolis is a holy duty, and he is confident his goddess will guide him along the right path.
