About Tobias JohansenTobias Johansen
Prerequisite: Animal companion class feature or familiar class feature. Benefit: At the start of the day, you can choose to
Civilization offers comforts, yet some always long for the wild places of the world. Such is the case with Tobias. Born to an ex-member of the Ulfen Guard and an Opparan leatherworker, he grew up learning his mother’s trade, learning how to work cured leather into finished products – gloves, packs, belts. It was slow and tedious, as he was a restless child and bored easily, but he took to it well enough, eventually finding joy in the act of crafting. When his father had time, he taught him the way of the sword, teaching him to fight, the importance of covering his allies. While he never expected his son to have to use such lessons, the boy enjoyed them – though he often got into trouble. After all, his mock-fights with other youths sometimes became just a little too real, forcing him to learn to talk his way out of trouble. Though working with cow and goat leather was fine, as he grew older, Tobias’ imagination was captured by the more unusual hides his mother worked from time to time – badger, wolf, and bear. Once, even the hide of a crocodile, fashioned into a pair of tall boots for a particularly eccentric nobleman. These great beasts enraptured the young Tobias, and at sixteen, he decided he had to leave Oppara and find such beasts for himself. The journey from home didn’t go as well as his youthful imagination had fancied. He found himself waylaid by bandits, savaged by a wolverine, and chased out of a hamlet after a dalliance with the miller’s daughter. He was bloody, broke, and starving when he limped into the Border Woods, and was on the verge of collapse when he stumbled across a wolf eating its kill. The predator stared him down, and Tobias stared back, locking eyes with it. I’m dreaming, he thought. I’ve died, and I’ve found the creature to take me to the Boneyard. But the hunger in his belly was real, so he took a step toward the dead deer, then another, until he sank to his knees beside it – and the wolf. To his surprise, the wolf moved aside, allowing him access to the fresh meat. He ate hungrily, not caring who he was sharing it with, not caring where he’d been, only caring about surviving for this little while longer. When he at last finished, wiping the blood from his mouth, he chanced a look at the wolf, which stared back, unblinking, for what seemed like minutes. Then it turned, and walked away. Tobias allowed himself a sigh of relief, before he realized the creature had stopped, and was looking back at him expectantly. Curiosity overtook self-preservation, and he clambered to his feet and followed. The wolf led him first to a small stream, where he slaked his thirst and washed the blood from his face, then to the hollow of a fallen tree, where he slept, still wondering what strange fate had befallen him. When he woke, the wolf was still there, ready to share a rabbit. After the strange breakfast, he followed the predator again, to the edge of the woods – to the town of Heldren. There he collapsed, exhausted from his ordeal. When he woke, he was in the temple of Erastil – just in time to hear Elder Natharen Safander telling Argus Goldtooth for presumably the nth time that leeches weren’t going to do any good. Mercifully, there were no leeches involved in his recovery, though it was a while before his limp smoothed out. As the weeks wore on, he was left to wonder whether his encounter with the wolf was just the delirious imaginings of a starved mind. Eventually, needing to earn coin, he headed back into the Border Woods – wiser, and better-prepared. Heading out for a day or two at a time, he learned the wilds, their secrets, and their denizens. Each night he spent sleeping under the stars was another night strengthening what felt like a natural connection to the land – as if he’d always been meant to be there. He heard whispers in the soil, the stone, and the life that steeped the place. And after several weeks, he found the wolf again. That it was the same creature was undeniable – a young male, with lopsided ears, a brindle coat, and a scar on his muzzle. Only this time, he was bleeding heavily from a bite wound in his throat. Hesitantly, Tobias approached; the wolf slunk back, ears flat against his skull, staring at him. Eventually, his fingers touched flesh; a spark of white magic leapt between wolf and man, a sudden spike in his heartbeat sending him scrambling backwards – yet when he dared look back at the wolf, the ragged wound was closing before his eyes. When he finally climbed to his feet and continued walking, this time, it was the wolf who followed him. He couldn’t shake the creature. When he set up camp, it sat across the fire from him, watching. When he woke, the wolf was next to him, sleeping soundly. And when he hunted, the wolf was next to him, dragging prey to the ground for him to finish quickly. Tobias spent three weeks in the woods that time, with the wolf – whom he named Kaveri, or ‘friend’ in his father’s tongue – always with him. He learned to harness the strange magic that grew within him – learned to find his way through the woods, to create light, to draw water from thin air. He learned how to harness the spirits of the wild, drawing them into Kaveri, granting his friend extraordinary strength, or the ability to recover from his wounds effortlessly. And he learned how to awaken the primal heart of the beast, and how to hunt as one with his friend. When he returned to Heldren, it was with Kaveri at his side. He stayed just long enough to trade hides and furs for supplies, before leaving again, his friend in tow. Tobias and Kaveri have been a regular feature in Heldren for five years now. The children love seeing the extraordinarily patient wolf, and Vivialla and Tessarea are grateful for what he brings. Occasionally, the pair stay at the Silver Stoat for a night, snoozing by the fire and leaving by morning, but unless the weather is particularly inclement, wolf and man alike prefer the outdoors. “Sure, the winters are cold,” Tobias tends to shrug, if asked, “but there’s nothing quite like a bed of pine needles under your bones and the stars over your head.” Tobias stands at five feet, nine inches tall, with his father's brilliant blue eyes and strong shoulders, and his mother's thick black hair and full lips. He's handsome in a wild sort of way, with a strong jawline, typically Ulfen brow, and a slightly crooked nose from an old break. His hair hangs straight, reaching just past his shoulders, worn in two braids on either side of his face with the rest pulled into a messy pony-tail at the base of his skull. Weeks at a stretch in the woods also leave him with a scruffy beard and moustache - he usually visits Argus to have everything neatened while he's in town, when he can be bothered, that is. He has a lean figure, well-muscled but not bulky, honed by a rough lifestyle rather than endless weapon drills and military training. He has more than his share of scars, on almost every part of his body - scars from his prey, from other predators, and from too-rough play-fights with Kaveri. The worst include the deep puncture scars of a wolf bite on his right forearm, the ragged slash marks of bear claws over his heart, and a savage mess of scar tissue covering half of his left leg, from the wolverine attack that nearly claimed it. Unfortunately for his pride, he bruises easily, and usually sports a few in varying stages from his outdoorsy life, primarily on his ribs and upper back. Tobias dresses for his environment, wearing layers of green, brown, and grey clothing that help him blend in with the woods he now calls home. In winter, he wears more layers; in summer, fewer, though he never neglects his armour in case of other predators. The armour is several pieces of thick hides taken from other woodland denizens - his favourite part being his fur-lined boots and bracers from the bear that gave him his chest-scars. He keeps teeth and claws from his favourite kills woven into his belt, and has a pair of soft deerskin gloves he wears at almost all times. Tobias is a friendly man, if somewhat aloof at times. His long stretches in the woods have given him some odd habits - for example, he doesn't think twice about his modesty when bathing or changing, as he doesn't spend much time around people. He also tends to act almost like an animal in some respects, such as freezing at a small sound, slinking low to the ground when attempting a stealthy approach, or growling menacingly when threatened. Despite this, he knows he's very much human, speaking in perfect Common with the barest hint of his father's Ulfen accent, politely and respectfully. His voice is surprisingly soft for one so rough, as he's used to making as little noise as possible, and he tends to use his hands to convey simple messages if possible, as he's managed to teach Kaveri some such things. He's used to living rough, and doesn't complain about sleeping on a floor or eating hard biscuits for dinner, though he'll supplement his meals with game and wild fruits if possible. He also tends to smell like smoke, wood, and wolf, though he makes a point of bathing when he can. He does enjoy human company, despite his solitary lifestyle - after all, wolves are pack animals - though he values Kaveri above any person. Tobias is a watchful person, usually scanning his environment for signs of movement or danger. When on watch, or to keep warm, he drinks hot coffee to stave off fatigue. And he likes to spar, to keep his skills up, usually with his lupine friend. In affairs of the heart, Tobias tries to be sweet, but he's a more direct, primal person at heart, showing his affection through protective behaviour such as interposition and general fussing. If he's fond of someone, romantically or platonically, he makes sure they know, and he's fiercely loyal to those he cares about. Kaveri is an adult male wolf, with a heavy brindled coat, a white belly and paws, lopsided ears, and a scar on his muzzle. His eyes are a rich chocolate brown, and he wears bags on his flanks similar to saddlebags, which Tobias fills with sundries when he carries his hides and furs back to Heldren. His coat is warm and sleek, his figure healthy, and he seems to shine with vibrant life - a result of the spirits Tobias binds to him each morning. Much like his companion, Kaveri is a loyal beast, quick to leap to the defense of a friend or ally, and never complaining about living rough. Intelligent for a wolf, he also seems to know when Tobias is embarrassing himself, usually nudging him out of such foolish behaviours. 3rd-party spells:
TAN HIDE
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