Zsófia Dobós's page

Step 1 (Write 5 background and concept elements that you feel are important to your image of the character. These can be a concept overview, a list of important life events, a physical description, a personality profile...whatever you need to get an image in your mind. 5 is just a minimum...more elements are encouraged!)

• 1. Zsófia is a brash, swashbuckling pirate's daughter raised in Restov by a priestess of Shelyn to become a dashing and dangerous young noblewoman.
  
• 2. She applied for the Aldori dueling academy but was apparently rejected without an interview, and consequently resents them.
  
• 3. She perfected her swordfighting as a bravo in private and street fencing clubs, where she enjoyed embarrassing hotheaded noblemen who underestimated her.
  
• 4. Though for many years she thought that her father was a simple trader, he is actually a notorious pirate with ties to the royal family, and she was unknowingly raised to be the perfect heiress, to take back the Stolen Lands for her family when the time is right.
  
• 5. She is quite pious and devoted to her patron goddess Shelyn.
  
• 6. She instinctively distrusts faerie creatures, though she is not quite sure why.
  

Step 2 (List at least two goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.)

• 1. Zsófia holds petty grudges, and has decided the Aldori swordlords are her sworn enemy. She would dearly like to embarrass them by demonstrating she is better than all of them.
  
• 2. I'd like for her to eventually gain the attention of her goddess through her actions, and receive her blessing.

Step 3 (List at least two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!)

• 1. Zsófia's father Vali Dobós was a pawn in a political game between Rostland and Issia; for years he has been the heir to the Stolen Lands, and House Surtova has held him hidden until they were ready to use him. However, he resented this treatment, and instead used his privilege to become a wealthy pirate, by essentially blackmailing the royal family with embarrassment to keep himself from facing consequences.
  
• 2. Zsófia's father believes that her mother was a Taldane priestess of Shelyn, because she looked so much like popular depictions of the goddess. It troubles him that she basically came to him for about a year and a day, just long enough to seduce him and have a baby. There are stories of goddesses doing that, especially ones that meddle in human affairs like Shelyn is reputed to do. In fact, Zsófia's mother was actually a faerie who adopted the appearance of the goddess, but who wanted to meddle in human affairs just the same. Zsófia doesn't know this, but perhaps because of her religious upbringing and her father's suspicions she has always distrusted the fey.

Step 4 (Describe at least three people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.)

• 1. Captain Vali Dobós is one of the most active pirates on the Lake of Mists and Veils, though these days he only makes one or two voyages a year and spends the rest of the time traveling Brevoy in disguise-- or rather, not in disguise, as his pirate costume is over-the-top and memorable, but not at all what he really looks like. He keeps an eye on his daughter, though he is careful that she doesn't know how closely.
  
• 2. Moldov is a hotshot bravo who ran a street dueling club in Rostov for many years. He took his defeats at Zsófia's hand with grace, and first coined her nickname "Prima." When she left the city for her estate, she told him where she was going and said he would always have a place in her court should he desire it.
  
• 3. Jamandi Aldori is the head of the Aldori Swordlords. Now in her fifties, she has worked hard to ensure that her dueling record remains unbroken. She instructed the porters to turn away Zsófia from the academy, and is aware of Zsófia's grudge, but so far she does not believe her to be a threat to their organization.

Step 5 (Describe three memories, mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.)

• 1. Zsófia can't resist gloating over a fallen opponent, nor can she help mocking them while they are dueling. The banter is most of the fun.
  
• 2. Zsófia is always seeking attention; dressing flamboyantly, decorating her horse with ribbons, singing as she walks, speaking loudly, dancing as she fights, drawing with a flourish.
  
• 3. Every night before she goes to bed, and before every meal, Zsófia recites a short prayer to Shelyn.

Zsófia grew up in what she always thought was a special school for gifted and talented girls in Restov. Her guardian, Sister Hannah, was a priestess of Shelyn, and she looked after Zsófia and twenty others in her tiny temple, all of them children of minor nobles or wealthy burghers. Zsófia had no idea who her mother was, but she did see her father from time to time as he stopped in to visit her while on his travels. He was a ship captain in the north, and he was always bringing her exquisitely-made presents that he acquired while working his trade. She thought she heard the Sister Hannah say once that her mother was from Taldor, so she always imagines her as a beautiful princess with purple eyes and blond hair.

Perhaps her favorite gift she ever received from her father was an intricately carved wooden sword that was shaped like the dueling swords of the Aldori swordlords. She played with it for her whole childhood, until it almost became an extension of her arm. The temple school had a strong artistic bent, and Zsófia incorporated the sword into everything she did: when she danced she waved it and clacked it against the floor, and when she sang she punctuated her words with it like a conductor's baton. Her father was impressed when next he visited; his eyes glimmered and Zsófia was so proud.

When she was sixteen years old, he brought her an actual dueling sword, a true work of art, and cautioned her on the importance of her practicing with it, so that nothing she did while holding was ever an accident. She was growing into the perfect young noblewoman, he said: accomplished at culture and grace, but also agile and sharp, and this sword was all of these things. She must become the sword, and let the sword represent her. With great dedication she devoted herself to this task, anxious to please her father again.

Soon Zsófia came of age, and her father asked her what she wanted to do. He had put aside money for her, and she could do whatever she wanted with it. He would buy her a house in the city if she wanted to practice a trade, or she could travel. Timidly, she asked if she could come join his ship's crew and learn to be a sailor, and he frowned. She quickly changed the subject and suggested that she would like to study at the Aldori academy instead, if she was good enough to gain admission. This also surprised him, but he enthusiastically smiled.

Zsófia applied immediately to join the school of the great Aldori swordlords, and while she waited to be called she joined a smaller dueling school-- more of a club, really-- to perfect her art. It was run by a rebellious young street bravo named Moldov, who believed that to win a duel one had to employ unorthodox methods, methods that traditional duelists did not like. As the only woman in their dueling circle, Zsófia received a lot of notice, and found she liked embarrassing hotheaded proud young men who underestimated her abilities. And like she did when she was young, she developed her own style of fighting, where she would dance while she fought, and she found that there was a kind of divine magic in her steps, almost like a prayer.

Each day she would stop by the academy and ask about the status of her application, but for some reason the porters always put her off. Zsófia was not used to being ignored; she had a loud voice and specifically dressed flamboyantly to gain attention, after all. Yet for more than a year she could not get an audience, and finally she complained to her father in a letter. The next time he visited, he had bought her a title. She was now a baroness of a small estate somewhere in the Stolen Lands, willed to her by a Brevic noble family that had died without issue.

If "Zsófia" was unpalatable to the swordlords, "Lady Zsófia" did no better. It seemed the Aldori family did not want to teach her for some reason. Hurt and angry, the new baroness threw herself into her dueling club with renewed vigor, and decided to embrace the term "bravo." She commissioned a specially-tailored dueling costume, with a plumed hat, long cape, and ruffled sleeves. Her reputation spread quickly, especially her hatred for Aldori swordlords, with whom she was especially brutal when dueling, cutting as deeply with her words as her blade. They began to call her "Prima Sophia," like Prima Donna, and joked that she was the queen of the bravos.

Eventually she grew bored with the Restov dueling scene, and became curious about her estate. She decided to prepare for an expedition into the Stolen Lands to visit and take possession of her lands, and learned that the king was sponsoring expeditions into the wilderness to combat the bandits. She hired teachers to go over with her some of the skills she would need to travel in the wild, and she purchased equipment she would need to make the journey. Finally she wrote to her father to let him know her plans, so that he could come to say goodbye.

When he arrived, he said that he thought she was old enough to hear the truth. He was not just a simple ship's captain, but in fact an infamous pirate. And that wasn't all, he was also the final descendant of the noble line that claimed title to all of the Stolen Lands, not just a small estate within them as he had said before. Because of her father's illegal activities, his good friend King Surtova had been forced to place a bounty on his head and could not acknowledge his title-- but certainly his daughter Zsófia Dobós would be able to claim the kingdom in her own name.

With documents proving her lineage, Zsófia made her way to New Stetven and an audience with the king. She charmed the herald into announcing her to the court as "Prima Zsófia Dobós," and to her great delight it was clear from the whispers and raised voices that the Swordlords in attendance knew who she was. The king proposed that he could affirm her ancestral claim to lands in the River Kingdoms, but that since large parts of the territory were now under the authority of an independent duchy called Greenwatch, she would have to make her overtures to them. Prima Dobós agreed. It was whispered in the court that King Surtova was pleased to be able to send a representative to the new kingdom who did not owe her allegiance to the Swordlords, and that they had an understanding that would help assuage the king's doubts that Greenwatch was only an ally to Rostland, not Brevoy as a whole.

Armed with her royal blessing, Zsófia has arranged to join a company of soldiers and foreign mercenaries hired by Greenwatch to investigate the threat of a massing army near Tazlford. Once her service is completed, her plan is to arrive in Elkwatch and offer her assistance to the Greenwatch High Council. Once she has proven herself capable and trustworthy she intends to then breach the matter of her title and holdings. If, while she is helping the council, she can get a sense of the layout and culture of the new kingdom and especially her barony (the Narlmarches, as it is apparently called) and its seat at Candlemere, so much the better. The more she knows about these lands she intends to make-- at least in part-- her own, the stronger her claim upon them will be.

Zsófia looks to be in her late twenties, still young for a human, with blonde hair dyed red and blue sticking out below her wide-brimmed plumed hat. She wears a luxurious blue cape, weighted at the base, over exquisitely-made leather armor and boots, both laced with blue ribbons. At her hip is a finely-crafted Aldori dueling sword with an oversized hilt. She has a rich, high and cultured voice, and wears pleasant-smelling rose perfume. She looks fit and perfectly at ease in her surroundings, buzzing with wiry and gleeful prowess.

Zsófia is ambitious, curious, flamboyant, and rebelliously proud. She is generally kind and merciful, though she does find it fun to embarrass people who underestimate or oppose her. She believes the Stolen Lands are hers by birthright, and she will show everyone that disagrees that she is worthy. She is usually high-spirited and optimistic, and not very sneaky. She often sings while she travels and also while she fights. Because of her upbringing she is surprisingly pious, and she honors Shelyn with prayers before meals and before bed. She loves jokes and witty humor, and especially loves mocking her enemies.

“Angelic Vessel” is an acquired template that can be added to any living non-evil creature that does not have the outsider or undead type. Additionally, the creature must agree of their own free will to the angelic possession of its body (hereafter referred to as the base creature). The creature retains all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Challenge Rating: CR +1 (Dapsara)

Alignment: Any non-evil.

Type: A dapsaran angelic vessel gains the good subtype.

Armor Class: An angelic vessel gains a deflection bonus to its AC equal to its Charisma bonus (minimum +0).

Defensive Abilities: An angelic vessel gains a +4 sacred bonus on saves vs. poison and petrification; acid and cold resistance 20, DR 5/evil; and a spell resistance equal to 11 + the base creature's total HD.

Weaknesses: An angelic vessel gains the following weakness.

Spell Vulnerability (Ex)
Certain powerful spells have special additional effects against angelic vessels.

An angelic vessel subjected to a dismissal or dispel good spell must succeed on a Will saving throw or lose all modification bestowed by this template for a number of rounds equal to the opponent's caster level.

An angelic vessel subjected to a banishment spell must succeed as on a Will save or lose the template. A banished angel does not leave its vessel with a dying burst (see below), but rather the angel is sent back to its plane of origin. The angel cannot attempt to inhabit the same creature for a year and a day.

The angelic vessel gets a +4 sacred bonus on these saves.

Attacks: An angelic vessel has the weapon proficiencies of both the base creature and the angel (angels are usually proficient with all simple and martial weapons).

Special Attacks: An angelic vessel gains the following special attacks.

Dying Burst (Su)
If an angelic vessel dies, the angel within it is released in a burst of holy light as it returns to its home plane. The light is identical to the effects of a holy word spell but with a range of 60 feet. The angel is considered as being on their home plane for this effect, and thus banishes all nongood extraplanar creatures within range of the dying burst. The caster level for the dying burst is equal to the caster level of the specific angel. The save DC is Charisma-based, using the vessel's total Hit Dice.

Sacred Attacks (Su)
Each of an angelic vessel's melee attacks with a natural or manufactured weapon deals +1d6 points of extra damage to a creature of evil alignment. All of its natural and manufactured weapons are treated as magic and good-aligned for overcoming damage reduction.

Sacred Smite (Su)
As a swift action an angelic vessel can make a smite attack vs. an evil creature. The angelic vessel adds its Charisma modifier (if any) to its attack and damage. This damage is doubled if the foe has the evil subtype.

If the creature struck is an evil outsider, or is possessed or inhabited by an evil creature (such as having the demon-possessed template), the smite acts as a banishment spell (CL equals the angelic vessel's total HD). A sacred smite must be declared before an attack. If the angelic vessel misses on its attack, it uses up that use of sacred smite for the day. An angelic vessel can use sacred smite 1 + 1/5 HD times per day.

Spell-like Abilities: A dapsaran angelic vessel gains detect evil as a spell-like ability usable at will. Additionally, an angelic vessel gains further spell-like abilities, depending on the kind of angel inhabiting it. The creature uses its total Hit Dice or caster level, whichever is higher, as the caster level for its spell-like abilities. Save DCs are based on the vessel's Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, whichever is highest.

Dapsaran angelic vessels receive remove fear, usable 3/day, and gallant inspiration, usable 1/day.

Abilities: An angelic vessel gains the mental ability scores (Int, Wis, and Cha) of the inhabiting angel if it is greater than the base creature's scores.

Skills: An angelic vessel does not gain additional skill points from the application of this template but does possess all racial skill bonuses of both the base creature and the angel. Additionally, the vessel gains the number of ranks the angel has in its Craft and Knowledge skills as a competence bonus to those same skills. Any Knowledge or Craft skills that are class skills for the angel are also class skills for the vessel and can be used untrained by the vessel.

Feats: An angelic vessel gains all of the angel's non-combat feats (including weapon and armor proficiencies) including those granted by any classes the angel possesses as bonus feats if the vessel satisfies the feat's prerequisites (if any). This includes those that grant bonuses to saves, but does not include feats that improve physical ability scores (Str, Dex, and Con) or hit points (such as Toughness).

Languages: An angelic vessel can speak all of the languages known by both the base creature and angel and gains the truespeech ability.

Special Qualities: An angelic vessel gains the following.

Angelic Inhabitation (Su)
An angelic vessel is inhabited by a specific angel. The angel is in full physical and mental control of the vessel. While in control, the angel and base creature are in constant two-way telepathic communication, and it often consults with the vessel's mind to gain information or keep the vessel placated.

An angel can release its control over the vessel at will whereupon the base creature assumes control. The angel, however, can reassert control at any time. The vessel can attempt to resist this via a Will save vs. as DC of 20 plus the inhabiting angel's Charisma or Wisdom modifier (whichever is higher). If successful, the vessel remains in control for a number of rounds equal the amount the roll exceeded the DC (minimum 1). After this time, the angel tries to assert control again.

While in its vessel, the angel cannot cast its spells, and it does not have access to any of its supernatural, spell-like, or extraordinary abilities—other than those granted by this template. While it cannot cast its own spells, an angel can use any spells known by the vessel if the vessel is capable of casting spells. If the vessel's spellcasting is from a divine source that opposes or is not aligned with the forces the angel serves, the vessel loses the ability to cast those spells while it is inhabited. The inhabiting angel cannot be directly targeted by any spell or effect (Except as described under spell vulnerability), but it can be detected normally by divination spells.

Damage that harms the vessel does not harm the inhabiting angel. If the vessel dies, the angel is released in a burst of holy light as it returns to its plane of origin (see Dying Burst).

The angel can exit its vessel at any time as a standard action. When it does so, it appears in the nearest available open space. The vessel is stunned for 1d6 rounds after the angel exits and loses all features of the template until the angel rejoins the vessel. The angel can reenter its vessel as a standard action as long they are within 10 feet of each other and without the need for the base creature's permission. If the angel and vessel are separated for more than a day, the base creature loses the template but may become a vessel again to the same angel without any delay.

At least at first, I think Zsófia would be the best fit for Marshal. She could also make a good Councilor, but she'd prefer to wait until after she's gotten her barony more established so that she can start spending less time away from the capital. Grand Diplomat is a narrow possibility, but I think she's more likely than others to stir up trouble with their neighbors if she were serving that role.