Giant Slayer Your family's village was plundered by giants in the wilds of Varisia, leaving nothing but a smoldering ruin. After the destruction of your village, your family trained for combat against giants to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again. Since hearing of giants mobilizing throughout the countryside, you ventured to Sandpoint to help the town prepare for a possible incursion. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff, Perception, and Sense Motive checks and +1 trait bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls against creatures of the giant subtype.
Humanoid (Goblinoid) (Ex) You gain a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks when using these skills against goblinoids. Likewise, you get a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against such creatures. You may make Knowledge Skill checks untrained to identify such creatures.
Magical Knack (Ranger) You were raised, either wholly or in part, by a magical creature, either after it found you abandoned in the woods or because your parents often left you in the care of a magical minion. This constant exposure to magic has made its mysteries easy for you to understand, even when you turn your mind to other devotions and tasks. Your caster level in Ranger gains a +2 trait bonus as long as this bonus doesn't raise your caster level above your current Hit Dice.
Track (Ex) You gain +1 to Survival checks made to follow tracks.
Wild Empathy (Ex) You can improve the attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person. You roll 1d20+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, you and the animal must be within 30 feet of one another under normal circumstances. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute, but as with influencing people, it might take more or less time. You can use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but you take a -4 penalty on the check.
Background:
Theron was born in a small, quiet hamlet in a rather remote part of Varisia. He and his twin sister Adara had a fairly typical upbringing for most of their early childhood. At about nine or ten, though, life as he knew it came crashing down around him. A roving group of giants descended upon the village, taking what they could and torching the rest, killing indiscriminately all the while. While Theron managed to escape with his father, his mother and sister were not as fortunate. His mother was cut down during the attack, and his sister became separated from him during the chaos and vanished. Adara’s body was never found during the aftermath, and for a long time Theron held out hope that Adara had made it to safety somewhere, somehow. As the years went by, though, that hope dwindled to almost nothing.
For years after the destruction of their village, Theron and his father flitted from caravan to caravan, settlement to settlement, spending extended periods of time living in the Varisian wilderness. Theron’s father made it his purpose in life to teach his son not only how to survive, but how to fight. He became obsessed with learning how to kill giants and prevent a repeat of what happened to their family, and every bit of knowledge he found he passed on to his son. This obsession changed him, though, and his behavior would at times confuse Theron. He would often disappear for days at a time, even weeks, leaving Theron to fend for himself wherever he was, be it in a town or at a campsite at the edge of a forest.
And so it was that Theron Istral spent his adolescence, wandering Varisia. Years later, upon reaching the age of adulthood, he was gifted a kapenia by his father. Shortly thereafter he disappeared once more, only this time he didn’t come back. Theron attempted to track his father, but to no avail. He was simply gone. Without any other options, Theron continued with his current lifestyle living on the fringes of civilization. He would hunt and explore, sell goods when money was needed, and aid travelers braving the dangers of the Varisian wilderness when the opportunity arose. In recent months rumors had begun circulating through the countryside of giants on the move again. Eager to help whoever he can against something like that, Theron made his way to the town of Sandpoint, offering his services in whatever capacity would be most useful.
Appearance and Personality:
Theron is a fairly typical young Varisian man in physical appearance. He has bronzed skin, brown hair that hangs down just above his shoulders, and dark, intense eyes. A bit taller than average, Theron is lean and nimble in his bearing and movements. His clothing is different from the usual Varisian fare, though. He generally shuns bright, flashy colors and ostentation in favor of a rough mix of darker greens and browns, even when not moving through the countryside. His reserved demeanor matches his attire. A lifetime of drifting around the edge of civilization has made Theron a distant and rough around the edges. Still, he's friendly enough -- or at least tries to be -- even if at times he comes across as a bit odd. Scars from childhood continue to haunt him, and he does hold a deep hatred and resentment toward giants and giantkind.
Bot Me!:
In combat, Theron will tend to stay at a distance and take shots with his longbow whenever possible. If pressed, though, he's not afraid to draw his sword and engage in melee combat. Theron is aware that this is not his strong suit, and will try to maneuver himself so that he is not put at a disadvantage in this way.
