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My Pathfinder Society group is preparing to play Frozen Fingers of Midnight at our next gathering. After seeing a brief summary of the plot, noting that the character of interest had come from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, I continued perusing my copy of "Gods and Magic". Having been pondering a dwarf character, I was a bit interested to find that the Lands of the Linnorm Kings are a center of worship for Torag himself. This in mind, I was wondering, for character development- how might a character travel from such a faraway place to Absalom- and why?
Do any of you have characters from such foreign regions? Like the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, or anywhere else? How do you figure out what they're doing in Absalom, and how they got from A to B?
I do love faith-based characters, and was considering a Dwarven Cleric (perhaps Paladin) of Torag, or maybe even a minor dwarven deity, though that might make things even more complicated. This will be a level one character as well, if that makes any difference.
So- how do you get them there? What makes them hop on ship (or trek the equally perilous land route) to get to Absalom?
Or should I simply tell my group to meet me there? :P
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For most uflen its gold or to just get away form all the ice its kind of a bleak place. Now for the travel part i would bet it would be by ship because uflen are some of the best sailors around. I know you were talking about a dwarf but i have two uflen characters form The Lands of the Linnorm Kings a lvl 12 male fighter named Olaf the Joyous and a 3/1 female life oracle/barbarian named Sigrun.
Now for how they got to Absalom
Olaf was sent to school in Taldor to learn there customs and ways of fighting so hes a 13int fighter with 60 skill points that uses a falcata and a buckler, its a little odd for a uflen in general, after his training he joined the PFS to see what els was out there and kill it or drink with it.
Sigrun i never really thought much about what her background would be or way she joined the PFS.
For your guy you could just be living there as a pathfinder and were asked to help a group from headquarters find there way around. Its just a rp idea but if you go with it you should speak skald its the main language of the land.
I hope some of that was useful and not just my mindless rambling.
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Huh. Learn something new every night. That is a useful tidbit of information, Neil. And your suggestions are useful as well, Olaf, since dwarves and ulfen seem to mix in those lands.
I was also considering just making him a city dwarf that knows he has ancestry back there, and is therefore especially interested in the venture. Though, I suppose the question now is what made him want to join the society? A simple missionary wouldn't easily get involved in the shadow politics of the Society Factions..
Lord, an Inner Sea World Guide would be great about now.. >.<
My faction is pretty much set in stone as Andoran, as none of the others really seem to go well with a cleric of Torag.
Kind of imagining a historian character by now... still. I'll just have to see.
Any other suggestions? :)
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Well, the PFS is definitely the place for a historian to go to for documentation and exploration of sites.
And a dwarven cleric would find them to be one of the best ways to go seeking places and objects linked to past dwarven glory.
Also, remember that your character was not necessarily part of a faction when they joined the Society. The vast majority of Society agents have nothing to do with the shadow war. It's just a remarkable coincidence that you will keep getting sent on missions with agents who do ;)
Enjoy Frozen Fingers. It's one of my favourites, but I'm hardly without bias :)
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For another route, a character that I made for a Homegame was born in the Land of the Linnorm Kings because his mother, from Cheliax, was a diabolical student of The First World and she had previously travelled waaay up north to find an entrance (or something) that is famously there. And while there she gave birth to my PC who, after his childhood, moved back down south.
So your PC could have a parent or grandparent or something from the south that he learns about and decides to go for that reason.
(I just wanted a PC with a Viking dad and a Chelish mom.)
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Hmm... a day before game-day, and I'm still not set on a character! :P
I also kind of wish the minor Dwarven Gods were more open to clergy, but the way G&M paints it, you'd be pretty much unheard of. I need to stay away from the destructive cleric build as well, since I already have one of those. So basically, looking for a healing cleric, with perhaps a tie to the Land of the Linnorm Kings, or neighboring region. Also, obviously, needs a decent background, to be able to be in Absalom...
So, here are some basic ideas for clerics I have as of now:
Dwarf Cleric of Torag- short, sweet, and to the point. Being from the LotLK, I figured I would kind of mark him as different than the usual "dwarf in robes" cleric. This may go with the historian idea, but for some reason, the land seems ill suited to historians. Still, Kalsgard may have what I need.
Half-Orc Cleric of Minderhal- This is exactly the idea I was hoping to avoid, but I like the deity a little too much for my own good. LN alignment, with a background originating in either the eastern LotLK, or even make the full jump to Realm of the Mammoth Lords. Also- how likely is an orc or half-orc to worship a giant god? I would think this is reasonable- giants are big and smash things. Orcs would like them, whether they actually got along or not.
As an alternative to the latter would be a Half-Orc cleric of Fandarra. This would allow me to make the healing role I might need to play. But still, it seems more difficult to explain just why exactly these barbaric characters would come to Absalom, especially to a place where such deities are... if not taboo, then simply unheard of.
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.....needs a decent background, to be able to be in Absalom...
Absalom is easy to work into a story, as it's world renowned. I see it as well known as Coronet or Mos Eisley is to Star Wars. People could get there if they hitch enough rides.
Dwarf Cleric of Torag ..... This may go with the historian idea, but for some reason, the land seems ill suited to historians. Still, Kalsgard may have what I need.
I have a halfling inquisitor whose concept is a written language expert and archivist on a number of subjects. He's taking two levels of Archivist Bard. There are plenty of historians, not to mention the Pathfinder Chronicler prestige class. Someone had to start the rumors and legends of Mwangi and Ustalav somehow. :)
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I play an ulfen from the Land of the Linnorn Kings. He is a cleric of Asmodeus and the Osirion Faction. Seriously.
He was the eldest son of a chieftain but when Asmodeus called to him he found that the very chaotic nature of the Linnorn Lands was unbearable. He attempted to reform his village, to provide clear, concise laws that applied to everyone, but tradition and fear of change was against him.
He was considering the possibility of contacting the local monarch and requesting aid in reforming the village when his father was approached by a pair of Osirion representatives. They sought fine mercenaries and had come to Linnorn for the best. The father saw a way to get rid of his annoying son and assigned him to the foreigners.
So he obeyed his father's mandate. While it was very much opposed to his wishes the young man was bound to obey his father's commands, as per the rule of law he so clung to.
So he voyaged south. In his adventures he met Chelaxians and their embracement of Asmodeus was attractive. He found a people dear to his very heart. But he found the many elements of evil that had infiltrated the culture to be repulsive. While his deity was evil, it was the absolute rule of law that he was drawn to, not the immorality.
So his affiliation has remained with Osirion, partly out of duty and honor, but also as a rejection of the evil that Cheliax has embraced. So he finds himself a man torn into thirds. A barbarian form the north, that worships an evil deity of law, working for a more tolerant faction whose own tenets do not follow his own.
He has struck out into the the world alone seeking something he can belong to and identify with, but ultimately he is isolated.
Venture-Lieutenant, Arizona—Tucson
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I envisioned that in the northern lands, the firstborn son generally inherits his father's entire estate (as happened in Earth's Scandinavian regions). This prevents farms and other property from being broken into progressively smaller pieces, but produces a bumper crop of disinherited younger sons, eager to travel and find their place in the world. In Medieval Europe, this contributed to the Anglo-Saxon migrations and drove the Viking raids.