About Adakos TelthanStat Block:
Adakos Telthan
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Magic Items handy haversack, bracers of falcon's aim, magical ring, +1 composite longbow (+1 Str)
Writing Kit: blotter (0.2 lb), ink, black, inkpen (2), journal, knife for cutting quills into pens (0.5 lb), pen nibs, pigment for making ink (0.2 lb), ruler, small (0.1 lb), vial
Divine Magic Rings of Battleborn
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-------------------- Horse, light - Summer
-------------------- Nix
Background:
Adakos was born in Haven, his father a captain in the city militia. His mother died early in his life, so he remembers nothing of her beyond a few clouded images from his childhood. His father dreamed that his son would one day take on his duties as defender of the people. Unfortunately, Adakos had different plans. Early on he knew that, beyond anything else, he wanted to be a bard, a singer of tales and a performer. Despite his father’s best efforts to make the boy a soldier, Adakos applied to the Bard’s College as soon as he was old enough. This is when he found out that his father had been right about one thing: Adakos was, in fact, a terrible singer. When the college rejected him, it left a void in his soul. He then set about filling this void with alcohol and pesh, the latter of which he became severely addicted to. Adakos quickly discovered that pesh was an expensive habit, and reluctantly agreed to sign on under his father’s command in the local militia. He was 19 years old at the time. During his service, he learned basic combat skills, swordplay, and some general strategy and tactics. He made money on the side half-finishing odd-jobs around the town, and accepting literally any bribe that was offered to him (so long as it didn’t require too much work). Adakos was almost caught several times doing this, but his status as the captain's son discouraged any investigation against him. He never gave up on his dream though, and he practiced singing and performing alone in his room every night (but only on the rare occasions when he wasn’t blacked out at the local tavern). This was the cause of much disagreement with his father over the years, as the captain wanted Adakos to focus that energy in to his swordsmanship. Or, if nothing else, to stop drinking himself into a coma so often. At age 21, Adakos met a beautiful young woman at the town market one day. Despite his countless flaws, she inexplicably fell in love with him. Shortly after, she informed Adakos that she believed herself to be pregnant. For reasons completely unrelated to this (or so he would have you believe), Adakos then decided that to become a man, he needed to make a journey alone to see the four corners of the empire, not knowing if or when he would ever return. His father respected his decision (relieved to not have to witness his son drinking himself to death or be an inept father to the child), and gave him his best sword and horse for the journey. Adakos lost the horse less than a week later. Among other things, Adakos was terrible at tying knots. Continuing the journey on foot, Adakos chose his first destination to be the Sunter. However, due to some poor directions from a mean-spirited farmer, he soon found himself beyond the known realms, far to the north. The people there, not known for their hospitality or fondness of southerners, took Adakos prisoner and sentenced him to public beheading. By chance, however, a guard found Adakos' lute while searching his belongings, and showed it to the village Jarl. The Jarl assumed Adakos to be a bard, and gave him a chance to live. If Adakos could entertain the Jarl for the evening, his life would be spared. He played his best for the Jarl, and sang only slightly out of tune with his lute playing. The Jarl found the song to be mediocre and the singing to be horrendous, but something about the desperate display touched his frigid heart. He declared that Adakos would stay as a guest in the Jarl's court until he could perform the traditional song of winter, along with the accompanying lyrics. The song of winter was a fairly simple song, and the lyrics consist primarily of simple rhymes and short words. Despite this, Adakos took a full three weeks to learn it. This was not helped by the abundance of face-smashingly strong alcohol available within the village. Compounding the issue even further, Adakos discovered that the pesh trade had not found its way this far north yet, and he suffered wracking withdrawals throughout his stay. But against all odds, Adakos learned the song, and performed for the Jarl at a great feast. The Jarl found the song and singing to be adequate, and granted Adakos his freedom, mostly because he pitied the man for being so hopeless. Once out of the north, Adakos made a note on his map to never return to the frozen hellhole again. He continued his journey south to Broaklesh, where he encountered a band of traveling minstrels along the way. After more or less begging to join them, the troupe accepted him into their ranks and set forth towards their destination. Once there he ruined many a performance with his lack of talent and his general aversion to hard work. Deciding that Adakos had no place among the minstrels, they robbed him in the night and headed toward their next destination, leaving Adakos in a ditch on the side of the road, drunk and penniless. Adakos saw this as a wake-up call (the first of several – see a pattern here?), and vowed that he would regain his wealth and continue his journey. He swore that from then on, he would be a hard, honest worker. Unfortunately, this vow lasted all of a day before he realized that he really just did not have it in him. And so for the next year he lived in a room at the Strangled Mare, doing odd jobs around the city to pay for rent and booze. Being too lazy to any real work, it seemed that Adakos would spend the rest of his days living in that room above the tavern. But he was content. He didn't have a child to raise, and drinks were always just a walk down the stairs away. As fate would have it, Adakos fell in with several other regulars at the tavern and was accepted into their circle. Working for the local underground, the group had a tendency to petty crime, and there Adakos finally found something he was adapt at. He was actually a fair thief, and had an extremely sharp eye for details, and because of those talents he rose through the ranks quickly. He swore off alcohol and drugs, mostly due to a few instances where the effects of each caused him to nearly get arrested during jobs. If it wasn’t for the whole crime thing you’d have thought his life had turned a corner. Then, the best thing that could have possibly happen to him occurred, he was caught on a job and arrested. He spent the next two years in prison, with nothing but time to reflect on his life. He ran out on a woman who loved him, left a child without a father, lied to nearly everyone he met, accomplished no feats of real note, allowed himself to be controlled by drugs and alcohol, and preyed on the weak and helpless through countless acts of criminal mischief. He felt that his very life was without worth, and with the occupation of so much of the realm by the forces of evil, he saw a glimmer of a chance to try and right so many of the wrongs he had committed. He would begin a crusade, a crusade against evil. He would train, and work, and cast off his slothful ways. He would change, but this time he meant it. When Adakos was finally released he gathered his belongings and immediately left the city, not looking back. His plan was to head south, return home, and discuss his plans with his father, who had always been the strongest role model in his life. He hoped that the man who had tried so hard to set him on the right path as a youth would have some sort of advice for him as a man. As he neared the city and travelled through the outlying areas he spotted a woman fleeing from a hellish figure, and in her arms was a small child. Images of his past filed his mind, and of the woman and child he left behind. He felt himself steel against the threat, and flew towards the scene in pursuit. The woman crossed into a ruined building, an ancient church that had long fallen into disrepair. Quick on her heels the creature followed, and Adakos sprinted after them. As he caught up and crossed the threshold he saw the woman cornered, the devil raising its foul claws towards her. Adakos reached to the quiver at his side and quickly sent several arrows spiraling towards the monster, the fading rays of the sun shimmering across their silvered surface. The arrows struck home, one after another, and the devil turned its attention towards the archer and quickly spun, charging towards him. Thinking his life forfeit, Adakos did not waver, and continued to fire arrow after arrow at the creature. As it closed in his final arrow struck home, hitting the vile thing squarely in the eye and the hellspawn crashed to the ground. The woman, frightened out of her wits, scurried off into the early evening, leaving Adakos alone in the ruined church with only his thoughts and the corpse of the devil, his arrows protruding from it at every angle. Then without warning he heard a sound from ahead, and was startled to find a section of the stone floor had begun to sink into the earth. Curious he moved forward to examine the strange occurrence and found a rough stair of earth and rock leading down into darkness. Pulling a torch from his pack which always remained magically lit he descended into the passageway below the church and into the unknown. He soon found himself engulfed in a strange mist which clung to him and almost seemed to push him forward. When the mist parted he found himself standing in his childhood home, his father seated at the dining table and a woman in a chair near the hearth, a small bundle in her arms. Memories flooded into him as he realized that somehow he was looking upon himself, a scene from his early childhood not long after his birth. The child cooed and smiled at the woman, who was more beautiful that he remembered. He felt a sudden sense of joy and loss, and his body was wracked with strange emotions that he had never allowed to bother him. In the middle of the room was a feature he did not recall in his childhood home, a stone altar which seemed strangely out of place. His senses were drawn to the stone and he moved forward, almost unaware of the forces guiding him. On top of the altar was a coiled snake, a viper, poisonous he recalled. He found himself reaching for the viper, and as his hand neared the reptile he spotted a small ring on the altar, surrounded by its coiled body. His hand shot forward and he grabbed at the trinket, his fingers closing around it as he quickly withdrew his hand. It was warm to the touch, a reassuring and pleasant feeling. Not really knowing what to make of the scene he fled back through the mist towards the surface. There he gently slid the ring over his finger and stared out into the night. His whole life had been without meaning or purpose. It was time to change that… Strengths:
Adakos is a good listener, so long as he’s sober. He is a fantastic archer and it is one of the few skills that comes naturally to him. He’s also decent with a sword. Not great, mind you, but he knows which end is for stabbing. He is very adept with his hands and his fingers are nimble and steady, giving him a strong aptitude for skills requiring control and precision. He can even cook to a certain extent when pressed hard enough or left with no other options. He’s rubbish at gambling. He can play the lute reasonably, but that’s rarely gotten him anything past a free drink or two. Most importantly, Adakos is lucky…usually. Weaknesses:
Burning, crushing, impalement, you name it. Adakos is, by most descriptions, an average half-elf. The remaining descriptions would call him a below-average half-elf. He gets sometimes confused easily. He has had a tendency in the past to wake up in random places with an earth-shattering hangover, not remembering how he got there. He’s terrified of anything with more than four legs and is not overly fond of open water. He is a man who has suffered from many vices and many sins, and they haunt his thoughts and dreams on a regular basis. Appearance:
Adakos has an appearance that could initially be mistaken as muscular, but closer inspection reveals that he’s honestly just a lanky lad in fluffy clothes. At 5’6”, he is shorter than most, and doesn’t cut a very impressive figure. Adakos prides himself on his appearance, which can only be described as not so bad as to sour milk, but off-putting enough to keep him from getting any discounts at a brothel. Despite that he tries to keep himself immaculate condition and frequently obsesses over grooming. He is typically seen wearing layers of overly dark clothing, not because it’s particularly stylish, but because he simply doesn’t have any sense of fashion whatsoever. Personality:
Adakos is generally a nice guy. He’s recovering from alcoholism and a crippling pesh addiction, but past that he’s not terrible to be around. While he can be overly sociable around just about anyone, he tends to draw inward at times for almost no reason. Adakos will pursue something he truly wants past the point of insanity, but has had a habit in the past of half-assing anything else. In a team setting, he typically considers himself to be more of a “brains guy”, preferring to create plans than to actually carry them out. Unfortunately, his plans usually range anywhere from ill-conceived to downright terrible. He fancies himself to be deep and artistic, and while that may even be true, he’s terrible at expressing it. The simplest reason for this is that he is not very good at any form of art, despite his dreams. He's somewhat of an obsessive packrat and has a tendency to collect and carry around the most useless items imaginable. This foible, however, has actually served him well in the past as random situations have popped up where some strange and meaningless item proved itself useful. Hey, you never know when you might need a bit of twine! So mind your own business! Adakos is not a fighter by nature, but when pressed his skill is very apparent. He's fonder of talking his way out of danger than killing. That's not to say he has anything against a good slaughter, mind you; it's just a lot of effort, and Adakos realizes that he'd be on the losing end in most circumstances. To further complicate the matter he’s not all that great of talking his way out of danger either. So the whole thing is pretty hopeless. However, when it comes to battling the legions of sin all bets are off and he is a fury on the battlefield. He just can’t seem to figure out why. The recent acquisition of a mysterious ring has Adakos questioning everything. |
