Vamir Stareyes's page

Countersong (Su): At 1st level, a bard learns to counter magic effects that depend on sound (but not spells that have verbal components.) Each round of the countersong he makes a Perform (keyboard, percussion, wind, string, or sing) skill check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by a sonic or language-dependent magical attack may use the bard’s Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the countersong is already under the effect of a non-instantaneous sonic or language-dependent magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it hears the countersong, but it must use the bard’s Perform skill check result for the save. Countersong does not work on effects that don’t allow saves. Countersong relies on audible components.

Distraction (Su): At 1st level, a bard can use his performance to counter magic effects that depend on sight. Each round of the Distraction, he makes a Perform (act, comedy, dance, or oratory) skill check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by an illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack may use the bard’s Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the Distraction is already under the effect of a non-instantaneous illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it sees the Distraction, but it must use the bard’s Perform check result for the save. Distraction does not work on effects that don’t allow saves. Distraction relies on visual components.

Inspire Courage (Su): A 1st level bard can use his performance to inspire courage in his allies (including himself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to perceive the bard’s performance. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 5th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +4 at 17th level. Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability. inspire courage can use audible or visual components. The bard must choose which component to use when starting his performance.

Limning Verse (Su): At 1st level, the argent voice can sing a song that causes fiends to glow with an aura of silvery light. Outsiders with the evil subtype within 10 feet of the argent voice are affected as per faerie fire. At 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the range of this ability increases by 10 feet, to a maximum of 60 feet at 20th level. Any defense that prevents the detection of alignment or evil also prevents limning verse from outlining a creature.

Inspire Competence (Su): A bard of 3rd level or higher can use his performance to help an ally succeed at a task. The ally must be within 30 feet and able to see and hear the bard. The ally gets a +2 competence bonus on skill checks with a particular skill as long as she continues to hear the bard’s performance. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels the bard has attained beyond 3rd (+3 at 7th, +4 at 11th, +5 at 15th, and +6 at 19th).

Height: 5'9" Weight: 115 lb. Eyes: Solid Amber Hair: Blond
Vamir possesses all of the beauty and grace associated with elvenkind, though he is perhaps not always able to leverage it fully to his own purposes. He is slender, and long of limb. Often, his lips are curved in a smile, though there are times when the smile falls and he becomes quite grave.

With solid amber eyes and seven inch long ears, it is impossible to mistake Vamir as anything other than an elf - at least when he's not disguised. He favors clothing that are gentle colors, such as sky blue, or pale green, but when sneaking about - as he is sometimes forced to do - he wears darker greens more somber colors.

Born in 4587 in Kintargo to a couple of elven expatriates from the Mierani Forest in Varisia, Vamiranian Stareyes is one of those unfortunate elves known as the Forlorn, though for all that he generally seems upbeat and outgoing. Ithelien and Kyrona Stareyes had left their home half a century before their son’s birth, and had settled quite happily in Kintargo, where they were performers of excellent caliber, often performing at the opera and even in taverns. Vamir’s early childhood was filled with music, dance, and magic - both of the arcane sort, and of the sort any child that idolizes their parents might be.

Alas, he only spent two decades with his parents before the god of humanity, Aroden, died and sent the nation of Cheliax into chaos. Cheliax as a whole dissolved into civil war, and his parents, admiring their human neighbors’ drive for freedom and change, joined the organization known as the Silver Ravens, fighting to help keep Kintargo free of the diabolists of Thrune and, indeed, all other factions that wanted to claim their adopted city. For his part, Vamir was entrusted to a young, childless, human couple - barely three decades his senior - by the names of Alexite and Valeria Crispin, both of whom had put on performances with his parents in the past.

Ithelien and Kyrona, in the decade that followed, tried to be at home as often as they could, but their duties to the Silver Ravens often called them away. They nevertheless had time to teach him some of the songs of the elven people, as well as the basics of what it was to be an elf. Further, as things seemed to be getting worse in the chaos of the Age of Lost Omens, Kyrona taught her son a mysterious melody, not quite akin to the rest that he had learned. It lacked lyrics, but she said to use it when any devils came to be nearby him. It would protect him in some way, supposedly. To this day, Vamir treasures all the melodies taught to him by his elven parents, but the one Kyrona taught him is especially near and dear to his heart.

This education could not last, however. In 4617, when Vamir was merely thirty years old and only eleven years after Cheliax had fallen into its civil war, Ithelien and Kyrona both perished in a battle against a devil-reinforced Thrune force. When the news arrived in Kintargo alongside their bodies, and Kyrona's beautiful and beloved bow, both Alexite and Valeria positively forbade Vamir from trying to join with the Silver Ravens to get revenge, or complete their tasks, or any reason whatsoever - at least until he was an adult.

Thus, Vamir stayed with the Crispin family, gradually becoming something of an adopted son to them. He studied music with them, and they encouraged his interest in song and performance, believing it to be what his parents would have wanted for him. In truth, they were also desperate to try to wrest some meaning from the loss of their national patron deity and the ongoing mad war with devil-worshippers, of all things, and Vamir’s ongoing education was as good a meaning as any to find. Vamir found himself truly enjoying music, and gradually was able to let go of any vengeful desires over the next two decades.

But this was not to last. In 4636, Valeria died of old age, and her husband soon followed after her into death, within a couple years. Within a few months of Alexite’s death, Vamir decided that enough was enough. He knew he had to fight for what was right, even if he wasn’t actually a full adult yet. He was over half a century old! Older than most of the people already in the Silver Ravens. So he went searching for the mysterious group. For several weeks he found no signs of them, until one day he was stopped by a humble-looking halfling priestess, who turned out to be a member of the Silver Ravens. When he expressed his desire to join them in their fight against the diabolists, she gently told him that he was too young - he was one of the people that the Ravens were fighting to protect.

Vamir was deeply disappointed, but turned his mind to survival first and foremost. Taking to the streets of Jarvis End, he began singing, quite literally, for his suppers, and trying his best to ignore the continuing weight on his mind of both his elven and human parents’ deaths. 

In the end, it was for the best that he did not join the Silver Ravens, for within a mere couple years of his attempt to do so, House Thrune won the Chelish Civil War, and the Silver Ravens retreated into hiding. Vamir was incredibly disappointed with what had happened to the city that was the only home he’d ever known, but he could not leave - it was his home, after all, and he would not abandon it until the dream his parents fought for was real.

Thirty years went by, and Vamir entered his adolescence as he studied, sang, and generally tried to lie low - even if House Thrune had won, Kintargo remained a fiercely independent city, and there was room enough for him to exist in relative freedom. He began to work at the opera off and on, in addition to performing in inns and taverns, and he remained in Jarvis End, where both his sets of parents had lived.

When he was seventy-three, he first met Imperia Fullonna, a young human dancer who performed for his songs fairly frequently. At twenty-three, she was vivacious, energetic, and cheerful, even in the face of the tyranny of diabolist rule. She and Vamir began performing together, with a fair amount of frequency, and Vamir developed something of a crush on her. But elves live slower than humans in many ways, and he was not assertive - waiting for nearly five years before he began his awkward, adolescent probing into whether or not she’d be interested in him. As it turned out, she was already seeing someone - Pellius, a humble baker, but incredibly kind.

Vamir watched gloomily as she wed Pellius within the decade, and the two had several children - by which point Imperia had stopped performing with him. Once again, Vamir was reminded of how swiftly life seemed to happen around him, as their children grew to adulthood before he did.

Vamir spent his nineties in something of a fugue state, just doing barely enough to stay alive as Kintargo seemed to shift and change so rapidly about him that he could barely keep track of who was whom. Then, one night, just as he was about to go to bed, he heard a distant, beautiful song, and a butterfly floated in through his window. As it landed upon his forehead, he was struck with inspiration. Yes, humans lived so swiftly that it was hard to keep up with them. Yes, he had seen more of his friends and acquaintances grow old and die than almost any humans in the city had… but they left behind a legacy - one that he could carry with him into the future. Thanking Desna silently, Vamir resolved to get out and live his life, rather than simply letting it pass by.

For the next three decades, Vamir exploded onto the scene, singing and speaking, teaching and living life as best he could. He reengaged himself in the opera, though his roles remained mostly minor there, and became more active in the artists’ community than he had ever been before.

Just this past year, however, things changed, and changed dramatically, as Barzillai Thrune came and began issuing tyrannical edicts. Everything about this change chafed at Vamir, especially the closure of the opera house, and he also began hearing rumors about the Silver Ravens rising again. This time, he reasoned with a hint of dark humor, he was a full adult, and would join them in truth.

Vamir is rather more cheerful than the typical Forlorn elf at first glance, and though his cheer is unforced, it does hide some truly dark despair at times. Having lived a century and a score of years among humanity, the grandchildren of the children he played with as a child are adults now, and it weighs on him in many ways.

Vamir is friendly, cheerful, and open much of the time, but he keeps a level of emotional distance from most short-lived races, such as humans, even though he does care deeply about those he considers friends. It’s just that the pain of losing those friends, inevitably, to their own swift lives, is dreadful to bear.

Vamir cherishes the memory of both of his sets of parents, proudly bearing his elven mother’s bow into battle and performing songs that his human father composed. He carries their legacy with him wherever he goes, and is proud to provide the people with his unique legacy.

These are all of the associates and friends that Vamir has made in Kintargo at this time.
Imperia Fullona - Once Vamir’s crush, the now-elderly Imperia remains a friend of his to this day, and though he already is preparing for her death in the near future, he is more focused on enjoying the time he has with her now.

Pellius - A baker living in Old Kintargo, he is Imperia’s husband, and the father of their three children. Like his wife, he has already become elderly, and their first grandchild was just born recently.

Veran Calixtes - A young man that Vamir met at the opera after his return to that esteemed place, Veran is now in his forties, and a professional gem crafter. Vamir often went to him when the opera was in need of especially valuable costumes.