About Vano MartoffDescription:
Vano is a tall and somber middle-aged man whose thick black hair and beard are shot with silver. His skin is light for a Varisian, and totemic serpent tattoos cover his body. The sight of one of these, a skeletal ouroboros inked on his throat, makes Vano feel unsettled and ashamed, though he cannot remember why. In his worn but well-mended traveling clothes, Vano could be taken for an ordinary caravan tinker or trader. But when he dons his ceremonial mantle of hardened bear hide, he is unmistakably a druid of the oldest ways. Wearing the hide gives him a sense of comfort and belonging, though he flinches a little from its old stains of charcoal, woad, and blood. Vano speaks hesitantly, and walks with his head cast down. There is little confidence in the way he carries his large frame. Background:
Vano Martoff believes he is cursed. Nothing else makes sense. Why should he remember the names of stars and the constellations they form, but not where he learned them, or who taught him? Why should he feel such warm familiarity and fierce loyalty to his constrictor companion Luneca, but have no idea how they met, or why the patterns of scales on her back are tattooed on his hands? It must be a curse. He must have angered a, a...someone. Something. Something is angry at him, that much he can remember. Can't he? He has a few jumbled memories that he thinks are more than dreams--the memories of a child. An angry man, shouting at him about the stones, the stones. He's written on the standing stones with chalk. What of it? There are old words carved all over the stones. The angry man's eyes are wide, his face red, spittle flies from his shouting mouth and spatters Vano's face just before his hand slaps it. A naked woman, her hairy parts startling. She's rising from the river, dripping wet. She's covered with black butterflies and violet flowers. She laughs when she sees Vano in the bushes, and he runs, ashamed. A rabbit in a snare. A valley wreathed in mist. Wrapping ribbons around a pole. Shivering as snow falls by a campfire. Slipping down a rocky slope, blood on his palms. Stripping the silk from an ear of corn, finding beetles writhing inside. Each memory fragment is fraught with old emotion, but none of them tell him who he is. Since his memories have failed him, Vano grasps at any hint of his identity. He speaks Varisian with a slight Hallit accent that other Ustalavics say is peculiar to the palatinate of Vieland, far to the northwest of Versex. His tattoos are all in the same style, perhaps the work of a single artist. His hair and beard and nails are long, but recently groomed. He has calloused feet from much walking, calloused hands from much manual labor. He knows how to set bones and brew tea to ease a fever. He knows exactly how and when to feed Luneca, how to keep her warm, how to save her shed skin for...something. In a place deeper than memory, the old magic coils inside him, primal, instinctual. He can call animals, raise plants, produce water and flame. He is a druid, a druid to his bones. He can feel the life of the world flowing in ley lines near and far. But nearer still, he feels things not meant to be in the world--unnatural things, cruel things, things that could drive a man mad. Vano Martoff believes he is cursed. Not mad. Please, let him not be mad.
Likes:
Stargazing. Naps. Hot springs. Folk music. Being listened to. Dislikes:
City folk who shave but don't wash properly. Formal social events. Not knowing why the hem of his ceremonial hide is stiff with dried blood. Quirks:
Insists despite all evidence that Luneca constantly does funny, charming things. Speaks for the snake in a silly voice when he thinks no one is listening. Phobias:
Numerophobia. Has mild anxiety about counting change and other simple math tasks. Having to think about large numbers is worse, a brush with an existential dread. Worst of all is complicated geometry, charts and signs and angles that make him think that maybe the lines of the world aren't as straight as they seem, and something might be hiding between here and there. Also, he really doesn't like the idea that he might be crazy. Writing Samples:
Basic Stats:
STR 14 (+2) DEX 14 (+2) CON 14 (+2) INT 10 (0) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 10 (0) AL: N
Defenses:
AC: 16, Touch: 12, Flat-footed: 14 CMD: 14 Fort: +2, Ref: +2, Will: +5 Offense & Weapons:
Scythe (whetted) +2/20 x4/1d6+4 Sling +0/20 x2/1d4+2 Unarmed Strike +2/20 x2/1d3+2 Racial Abilities:
Skills: Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level. Eye for Talent: Humans have great intuition for hidden potential. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Sense Motive checks. In addition, when they acquire an animal companion, bonded mount, cohort, or familiar, that creature gains a +2 bonus to one ability score of the character's choice. This racial trait replaces the bonus feat trait. Feats:
Spell Focus (Conjuration): Increase the DC of Conjuration spells you cast by 1. Traits:
Sensitive Mind: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise, Perception, and Sense Motive checks, and Appraise is a class skill for you. In addition, once per week you can use the Psychometry occult skill unlock. Serpentine Squeeze: You gain a +1 trait bonus on combat maneuver checks to grapple a foe, as well as a +1 trait bonus to your CMD whenever an opponent tries to grapple you. Class Features:
Nature Bond: The constrictor snake Luneca. Spirit Sense: A menhir savant can detect the presence of undead; fey; outsiders; and astral, ethereal, or incorporeal creatures. This ability functions like detect undead, and the druid detects all of these creatures rather than trying to detect one kind. Spontaneous Casting: A druid can channel stored spell energy into summoning spells that she hasn’t prepared ahead of time. She can “lose” a prepared spell in order to cast any summon nature’s ally spell of the same level or lower. Skills:
[4 (druid) + 1 (human) + 2 (background)] x 1 (lvl) = 7 ranks Appraise* +5 (1 rank + 3 class + 1 trait)
Gear:
Hide Armor (15g) Scythe, Cold Iron (36g) Sling (free) Alchemical Silver Sling bullets [10] (2g) Explorer's outfit Spell component pouch (5 gp) Pathfinder’s Kit (12g) Bedroll Belt pouch Blanket Clay mug Dagger Fishhook (2) Flint and steel Sewing needle Signal whistle 50 feet of string 50 feet of thread Waterskin Week's worth of trail rations Whetstone Spells:
Spell DC: 13 + spell level Slots:
Orisons:
Level 1:
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