Vanessa Stronghart's page

Vanessa was glad to step off the boat from Bloodcove. As she surveyed her surroundings on the dock, she hoped that her time in Sasserine would fare better. It wasn’t like she had much of a choice. Her funds for her mission of mercy were running dangerously low. Things were to a point now that she would have to risk doing unsavory things if she had to leave town in a hurry…just like back in Bloodcove. As she began walking forward, her mind couldn’t help but lament over such a lawless city and its desire to stay that way.
Wooden docks soon gave away to cobblestone road with the occasional horse-drawn wagon passing by. The captain was kind enough to listen to her questions about Sasserine during the trip. He even gave her a “tourist map” saying that should help her get oriented. As she withdrew the map from her backpack and began to unravel it, she felt a strong sense of blunder wash over her. The map itself looked like it could’ve been drawn by a child. To even further complicate matters, there were markings on the map with lewd titles for what she could only imagine were bars and brothel houses.

Annoyed for being so trusting towards an obviously perverse sea dog, she decided to head towards the least provocative sounding of places, The Fuzzy Clam. Vanessa had to ask a local on the street for better directions to the establishment. Eventually she finally found the place and went inside. However it wasn’t long before she wished she hadn’t. The place wasn’t busy save for two men, one passed out over the bar, the other obviously drunk and not far behind. The barkeep himself had slicked back black hair and that sort of smile that screamed con artist. The place itself wasn’t all that inspiring to look at save for a stage that featured two walkways. Each had brass poles from floor to ceiling. Vanessa wondered what those were for.

“Iomadae why…?” Vanessa thought to herself.

Trying to be nonchalant about the situation, she strode over to the bar and took a seat at a reasonable distance away from the two men at the bar. The barkeep, clearly bored with his current, unresponsive customers, was quick to move towards Vanessa.

“Well, well, well…” the barkeep said while slowly sizing her up, “What can I get you, sweetheart?”

Vanessa shuttered underneath her armor. His voice even sounded scummy. “Turpentine tea will be fine, but I’m more interested in information.”

“Information, eh?” the barkeep asked quizzingly while beginning to gather the things needed to brew coffee, “What kind of information?”

“Well, it’s just that I’m new in town and I’m looking for work,” replied Vanessa.

“Yeah, figured you were a merc. You’re at the wrong part of the world for all the armor you’re wearing. Most of the merc jobs usually involve protecting boats that are stupid enough to get close to the Shackles. I suppose if you’re desperate for work, you could always work here. I’m always looking for new…talent.”

Vanessa was already feeling awkward being here. Now she was completely uncomfortable. Vanessa was trying her best not to show it behind her smile. As she began her response, two large men carrying a small crate came in through the back behind the barkeep. Not even paying attention to the surroundings, one of the men blurted out, “Hey boss, the new shiver supply is here so we can get back to slingin’ it.”

The barkeep shot his goon a spiteful glare. One of the customers, previously thought to have been passed out drunk, came alert with a fervor. “Oh please, gimme gimme gimme! I’ve been feening for nearly a week and I can’t take it anymore! I’ll pay any cost, please, I need it!” Vanessa couldn’t see the barkeep’s face with his back turned to her. It was noticeably upset by the scene caused in front of a complete stranger.

“Uh, I think I better go.” Vanessa stated as she stood up from her seat.

The barkeep knew that this could go south way too fast. “W-Wait a minute!” exclaimed the barkeep, desperate to diffuse the situation. “Look, maybe we can work something out, eh? I know some people that could use a new swordarm. Let me just—“

Vanessa cut him off mid-sentence, “If they are friends of yours, then definitely not.” As she turned to walk away, she felt a blunt force strike her across her face. She could feel herself falling backward, land on something solid only to give way to her continued tumble onto the floor. She could feel the side of her face start to swell as blood began to trickle from the side of her mouth. As Vanessa stood up, she wondered how those two burly men got behind her at the door. No matter now, she knew she was going to have to fight her way out of here.

“Iomadae guide my hand.”

The two carriers had clubs in their hands. Vanessa noticed that the barkeep had pulled out a knife and was coming over the bar. The other two men that were at the bar, gone. Presumably they made good on their escape. Vanessa drew her sword, wishing she had time for her shield as well. Her attackers would not allow her the chance as the two men came charging in. Vanessa dodged to the left narrowly avoiding a club strike and parried a club attack on her right.

The biggest thing that concerned her at the moment was where that scumbag of a barkeep was going with that chef’s knife. Fighting two men at once made scanning the room difficult, yet she couldn’t find the man. Left with little choice and not wanting to be stuck against 3-to-1 odds, Vanessa stepped forward after her parry and delivered a decisive forehand strike across his chest. The attacker let out a blood curdling cry as he fell backward. Vanessa knew that the strike wasn’t fatal, or at least she hoped.

Then it hit. A sharp pain flared intensely into her side underneath the armor plating. Vanessa looked behind her to catch a glimpse of the barkeep with a sinister grin of his face as he withdrew the knife from Vanessa’s kidneys. The pain she received sent shockwaves through her body has the blade withdrew leaving only its deadly mark. She felt herself coughing up blood as it also oozed out from her wound. The pain was crippling, begging her to just curl up and give in. She barely stumbled out of the way of another club strike as she moved to the side, clutching her wound.

Vanessa felt her heart flutter and a familiar presence began to swell inside her, traversing from her core through her available arm and concentrated into her hand. Her attackers’ expressions turned from that of expected triumph to sudden distain in nearly an instant. Vanessa was no longer bleeding profusely onto the floor. Underneath her armor, the wound had completely closed leaving no evidence of it ever happening at all.

“Go. Let justice be done.”

Vanessa could feel an unnatural presence push her forward. She didn’t have to say anything as she knew what it meant. Righteous indignation had come for these wicked men and Vanessa was the vehicle to deliver it. With a swift downward stroke, her sanctified blade connected with flesh passing through it to muscle and bone of that of the barkeep. The man crumpled in an unconscious heap onto the floor without as much as a whisper.

Vanessa turned her attention to the only attacker left, who had quickly surmised he did not want the prospect of dealing with a holy warrior and was already in the process of fleeing the scene. His escape was stopped short by the city watch as they made a timely entrance at the door. Order was restored afterwards, lengthy interrogations notwithstanding. Ultimately, Vanessa was cleared of any wrongdoing and given a pat on her back plus a small monetary reward for bringing an end to a growing operation of illegal drug trafficking.

The irritating thing about this whole mess was that she didn’t want to get involved in it at all. Vanessa was just content with leaving it be. As a survivor of Mendev, she had already seen enough death in her teens at the hands of demons and devils that were wrought into the world. She joined up with Iomadae’s cause protect the innocent more than to extract any vengeance. With that crisis over, she’d been traveling the world providing what aid she could. Vanessa felt that Iomadae had brought her here as an important detour to do just that. Now that it was over, she was ready to move on and had the funds to do so.

That is until a message from a local dignitary came knocking on her door…

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Standing at roughly 5'10" and 140lbs, Vanessa is a slender, athletic woman with auburn colored hair and warm, chocolate colored eyes. She's usually wearing armor, which she keeps well maintained every night before going to bed.

Despite some of her more zealous peers and veterans of the Fifth Mendevian Crusade, Vanessa is gentle and kind preferring her role to be that of a missionary of mercy, protection, and salvation. She desperately wants to believe that anyone can be redeemed and may go to great lengths to attempt such goals. However, if left with no other choice, she will do what she must.

She is kind to everyone she meets and tries her best to meet the world head on with a smile. She has a soft spot for those in need, especially children as she was an orphan herself. Vanessa can be abit of an airhead at times but she always means well by her demeanor to everyone she interacts with.

Vanessa Stronghart
Female half-elf paladin (oath of vengeance, warrior of the holy light) 1/warpriest of Iomedae 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 60, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 118, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 60)
LG Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 10, flat-footed 18 (+6 armor, +2 shield)
hp 13 (1d10+3)
Fort +5, Ref +0, Will +5; +2 vs. enchantments
Immune sleep
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee dagger +5 (1d4+4/19-20) or
. . longsword +6 (1d8+4/19-20)
Special Attacks blessings 3/day, sacred weapon (1d6, 1 rounds/day), smite evil 1/day (+3 attack and AC, +1 damage)
Paladin Spell-Like Abilities (CL 0th; concentration +3)
. . At will—detect evil
Warpriest Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +4)
. . 1st—divine favor, protection from evil
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, light, read magic
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 16
Base Atk +1; CMB +5; CMD 15
Feats Suspicious Eye, Orator[ACG], Skill Focus (Linguistics), Weapon Focus (longsword)
Traits elven reflexes, weathered emissary
Skills Acrobatics -6 (-10 to jump), Knowledge (religion) +4, Linguistics +8, Perception +6, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +4, Survival +4; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven
SQ blessings (good: battle companion, holy strike, war: battle lust, war mind), elf blood
Other Gear breastplate, heavy steel shield, dagger, longsword, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, hemp rope (50 ft.), pot, soap, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, wooden holy symbol of Iomadae, 52 gp
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Special Abilities
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Blessings (3/day) (Su) Pool of power used to activate Blessing abilities.
Detect Evil (At will) (Sp) You can use detect evil at will (as the spell).
Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Orator Use Ling in place of Bluff to tell falsehood, Diplo to change attitude or Intim to for cooperation.
Sacred Weapon (1 rounds/day) (Su) As a swift action, grant weapon enhancement bonus or certain powers.
Smite Evil (1/day) (Su) +3 to hit, +1 to damage, +3 deflection bonus to AC when used.