i desided to make an epic backstory.
here's the part I'm submitting. for the recruitment.
** spoiler omitted **
BTW: any who also have the stolen fury trait... I'd like to discuss the details of the ritual... seeing that it could have been the same ritual for both of us :)
@Darya Flamekissed
@Dragz Titanhammer
@Melets get together on that ritual, do we just want to throw out ideas, skype it, or email volley?
PM works best for me.
Alright, this is Ouachitonian's submission.
Loyalties:
Ragathiel
His Paladin's Code
Purification(that is, purifying Golarion of evil outsiders)
Description:
Uriel is of around average height for an Aasimar, perhaps slightly on the thin side. He has hair the color of copper, trimmed short to fit under his helmet. His eyes are gold-irised, his skin tan. He wears armor of gold-tinted steel and crimson leather, and carries his (mortal) grandfather's bastard sword in a scabbard on his back, Its crimson wing-shaped crossguards the only adornment on an otherwise plain sword, its blade of unnaturally cool gray metal.
Uriel comes from an ancient lineage of aasimar, one so old its origins are, to most, lost to the mists of time. Within the family, it has always been said that they are directly descended from Ragathiel himself (or "Grandfather Ragathiel, as they refer to him privately). Indeed, their lineage is said to be so ancient that their family was once composed of Tieflings(or Ifrits. Accounts vary among relatives.) But after Ragathiel's ascension to the Celestial ranks, they were (so they say) transformed into angelkin. Uriel is loyal to "Grandfather Ragathiel" above all else, and will quickly, if not boisterously, proclaim such at any opportunity. His family has a long history of fighting in Ragathiel's name, a tradition that brought Uriel's grandfather to Mendev and the nascent Worldwound decades ago. The Mendevian Crusades have since claimed the lives of his grandfather, aunt, and several cousins, all of which has only strengthened his resolve to rid Golarion of Demonic filth. It is a loyalty he has had for as long as he could remember. Shrines and temples of the General of Vengeance have always been the places he was most comfortable, and relatives say he has talked of taking up the holy mantle of Paladin practically since he could walk. He swore his Paladin's vows on his grandfather's blade at 20 years of age, and has added further oaths of vengeance and the annihilation of demons in the years since. He stands ready and eager to strike at the Abyss's legions. Secretly, he fully expects to die in this war, but so long as he dies a martyr in service to his holy ancestor, he sees no reason to fear his mortal end.
Well, that was longer than I'd intended.
After reading the players guide, wiki's Mendev and kenabes, I am thinking of starting him off as unchained rogue that finds faith during the AP. He would go into warpriest, championing his diety's cause...alrhough the oracle route works too...hmmm...
....still pondering...
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i desided to make an epic backstory.
here's the part I'm submitting. for the recruitment.
** spoiler omitted **
BTW: any who also have the stolen fury trait... I'd like to discuss the details of the ritual... seeing that it could have been the same ritual for both of us :)
@Darya Flamekissed
@Dragz Titanhammer
@Melets get together on that ritual, do we just want to throw out ideas, skype it, or email volley?
how about we just... i don't know... perhaps just PM each other here on Paizo
then when finished we post the results here, although firekissed has a great explanation for the others...
plus if we just throw out ideas, we'll fill the recuitment up with our conversation :P
Haha!
Seeker oracle with metal mystery and tongues curse (celestial).
He is an unknowing tool of a god....now which one?...he will pretend to be a paly of iomedea...
He is an apprentice blacksmith: good with metals...he doesnt understand his "gifts" only that he must hide them or be burned for a witch...
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i think the whole "mythic" deal with Dragz is that it was seeded with the dark ritual. He was never really special before that, other than being a tough half-orc. perhaps one of the others who where in the ritual bled some mythic energy into it, turning the rest of us mythic as well. or perhaps the ritual was to steal the mythic power from an already mythic character and use us a ritual sacrifice in order to grant a demon mythic powers... just tossing out ideas :)
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Would it be alright to play a tielfing paladin of Shelyn, who is the godling daughter of Shelyn?
She's from Jalmeray, so she knows Vudrani, but also she was raised by a half-elven paladin, so she knows Elven too. However, the problem is she'll only get one bonus language. Would it be alright to have two, even though that's one more than she should get, please?
Also, and this will determine if I'll be playing this character, as I plan to take the Squire feat when I reach level 4:
** spoiler omitted **...
Sorry. I did miss this one. And, that first one is a doozy. It's a bit of a stretch but it is not impossible. As for the additional language, I'd have to say no.
Since I don't have the Knights of the Inner Sea book I have never seen this feat before. I am cool with it if you are. The thing is that the demons will attack the weakest first, and that does include the possibility of possession. It -might- happen in the first module but it will happen in the second. That feat could end up like a Monty-Python-esque running joke as you continue to seek out squires to fill it. Personally, I think it will be a great feat!
here is an aplicant that i made for an old WOR campaign, but was never picked.
teifling witch, who hides the fact she's a witch from most people, but only wants to do good.
People might find her being a tiefling the more disturbing fact about her. However, witch burning is part of Kenbres history but it's remembered more as an 'oops' thing if I recall correctly. Plus, it's a tiny, almost minuscule, detail.
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yeah, but witches are hated in more than just Kenbres. adds more onto the fact that people dislike her because she's not only a teifling with horns, a prehensile tail, sharp teeth, and a set of hooves in place of feet. she's also a witch... just a tiny, almost minuscule, detail among her obvious traits. it's a habit.
taking whatever measures they deem necessary to keep Kenabres free of demonic corruption and possession. The prevalence of the witch hunters has waned somewhat in the years since the Fourth Crusade, but they remain at the ready to respond to any demonic threats that may arise—whether real or imagined.
oh, and it's not an "oops" thing, just more of a "we didn't know that, and this one realy is a witch"
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yeah, but witches are hated in more than just Kenbres. adds more onto the fact that people dislike her because she's not only a teifling with horns, a prehensile tail, sharp teeth, and a set of hooves in place of feet. she's also a witch... just a tiny, almost minuscule, detail among her obvious traits. it's a habit.
** spoiler omitted **
oh, and it's not an "oops" thing, just more of a "we didn't know that, and this one realy is a witch"
wouldn't most of the characters attempt to slay you as a witch though?
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not if i'm the one casting cure light wounds on them! besides, she is feigning to be a wizard. she'll rarely cast divine spells unless needed.
so unless the characters are uber-righteous jerks who kill anyone with the word witch associated with their name, class, or race then i shouldn't have a problem.
witches can act like a wizard too!
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*uber-rightous-jerks*
Are you sure you want to play wrath of the rightous? Cause that sounds like whats happening here, like 5 characters for paladin, 3 preists of LG/NG gods, and its a GOOD campaign
LG is neithr smart, stupid, or nice. And you don't have to just worry about the PC's you kinda need to worry about EVERY SINGLE NPC what with your appearance and all?
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sorry, i like evil. just how i am. i can never make a truly good character. so if my character happens to kill someone that didn't need to be killed... that's probably because she/he was doing the right thing. just because you think you're good, doesn't mean you actually are.
P.S.: I mean righteous as in self-righteous.
i desided to make an epic backstory.
here's the part I'm submitting. for the recruitment.
** spoiler omitted **
BTW: any who also have the stolen fury trait... I'd like to discuss the details of the ritual... seeing that it could have been the same ritual for both of us :)
@Darya Flamekissed
@Dragz Titanhammer
@Melets get together on that ritual, do we just want to throw out ideas, skype it, or email volley?
PM or email is fine for me.
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I'm changing my submission from the tiefling sorcerer to a halfling urban barbarian idea I already had for WotR. The idea is more fleshed out in my mind, I just need to type it in.
I vote for background skills. I'd be spending points into a flavor skill anyway.
...
P.S.: I mean righteous as in self-righteous.
The difference between righteous and self-righteous is what I was getting at, yeah. I could write you an essay on the nature of true good vs. cultural labels, but I don't think this is the thread for it.
not if i'm the one casting cure light wounds on them! besides, she is feigning to be a wizard. she'll rarely cast divine spells unless needed.
so unless the characters are uber-righteous jerks who kill anyone with the word witch associated with their name, class, or race then i shouldn't have a problem.
witches can act like a wizard too!
Just my 2 cp, but I'm totally with you on this one. Moreover, I don't think the word 'witch' as mentioned in the quoted text stands necessarily for 'someone who has taken a level in the Witch class', but is to be taken in its old-fashioned meaning of 'practitioner of the dark arts, particularly in association with demonic/diabolic influences'.
Sometimes we forgot the names of the various classes are just labels attached to them for easier perusal in a handbook. IMHO, your character is just a magic user, and I can't see an IC rationale for someone to attack her simply because his spellcraft check has just detected her CLW as arcane in nature.
As for her appearance,
At one time tieflings were distrusted and shunned, but now some of the fiend-blooded fight alongside aasimars while defending Mendev or striking against the horrors of the Worldwound. Many tiefling crusaders claim that their blood makes them the best suited to fighting demons, and they also have defenses that help them shrug off some of the demons' deadliest attacks.
So I'd posit there's at least a modicum of acceptance, enough for her looks not to have her attacked on sight.
Charsheet incoming!
I'm almost done statting up my application. I just have one more question: what's your policy on bonus languages for aasimars? May we choose from languages like humans (or dwarves, elves, halflings, etc.) or do we have to choose the bonus languages the book has given for aasimars?
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... yeah...Ithiwen...
i guess that's right. but in-game they also still refer to the classes as their proper terms, save for fighter and cleric. they get called warrior and preist. wizards get called mage occasionaly, and rouges are never called that, rather they are thieves. however, shaman, oracles, sorcerers, and most other Archtype classes are refered to by their "labels"...
but you are right, i'm just a mage...
MattZ here with my preliminary submission. I'll have a background up soon
Witches don't cast divine spells though. Their cures are arcane.
Character sheet is up, working on the background. Looks like I'm the only one who picked Chance Encounter, huh?
... yeah...Ithiwen...
i guess that's right. but in-game they also still refer to the classes as their proper terms, save for fighter and cleric. they get called warrior and preist. wizards get called mage occasionaly, and rouges are never called that, rather they are thieves. however, shaman, oracles, sorcerers, and most other Archtype classes are refered to by their "labels"...
but you are right, i'm just a mage...
IME, I found out it mostly depends on play styles. I've had GMs who considered referring to oneself in game by one's class as heavily meta-gamey and immersion breaking (the usual example was: do you consider yourself an expert?). Other times, in which the demarcation between IC and OOC interactions was more nuanced, it was perfectly fine and even preferred for conciseness' sake. Still, there's such a granularity in the number of possible builds in Pathfinder that I find it hard to believe concepts such as rigidly defined classes manage to filter all the way down to the game setting ;) I think that was mostly a 2nd Edition legacy issue.
Witches don't cast divine spells though. Their cures are arcane.
Just like bards ;)
Nope, Dragoncat picked it too. :)
Speaking of which, here's his submission: Alexa Dorne, an emberkin aasimar, trained by the Templars of Kenabres as a scout & spy!
This is Dorian Grey's submission, although it is still a work in progress.
Here is Mjolbeard's submission. Still need to put her stats in the alias, but here's the background info you requested in the OP.
Combat - Armor Expert. Iomenna was basically born in full plate, not that she currently owns her own set, but she knows what she's looking for.
Faith - Principled. Because nothing is worse than a barbarian getting compelled to go after her buddies.
Social - Unintentional Linguist. Gotta learn the languages somehow!
2. Family, especially her parents.
3. The Church of Iomedae
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The bigger concern would be once you're past a certain level you'll actually ping on detect evil. Which at the wrong time could be catastrophic
The bigger concern would be once you're past a certain level you'll actually ping on detect evil. Which at the wrong time could be catastrophic
You mean because she's a tiefling? (if you're referring to something completely different, apologies, I'm a bit sleep-deprived at the moment so it's plenty possible I'm missing something obvious :) )
Well, depending on the way you interpret the 'aligned' part in 'aligned outsider' in the spell's description (either as a subtype or as 'having an actual alignment'), I believe she would register the same way as everybody else (her subtype being just 'native') or actually even as a good outsider (her alignment being NG). IMHO obviously, native outsiders are actually one of the many grey areas of Pathfinder ;)
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teifling witch, who hides the fact she's a witch from most people, but only wants to do good.
A pretty big issue with this trope is that the characters in an adventuring party need to know each others' abilities in order to function effectively as a team, and they quickly become quite dependent on one another for survival. What you describe here is fairly close to the trope of hiding a rather significant secret from others.
While we only role-play a few hours of their lives, our characters are with each other 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the bulk of their adventuring career. They will talk to each other during travel and downtime, become intimately familiar with one another, learn everything about them from what they like to eat to what translates OOC as the game mechanics of their class. It will take months to reach the point, but eventually it will come out that she has been masquerading as something she is not. You're going to have issues where characters have come to expect that you are capable of certain things, only to learn that you aren't. They will ask you to do something that you can't. They will get even more suspicious when you manifest abilities that you shouldn't. They will wonder what it is you are hiding, and then they will confront you.
This is going to be a pretty significant deception or betrayal IC, and it will lead to a loss of trust. If the other party members can't trust you because you aren't honest about something as fundamental as who you are, then how can they adventure with you? Especially in an AP that pits good against evil rather starkly, and dishonesty and deception are likely to be attributed to agents of the abyss.
It's not a bad trope, and it has it's place as a plot device, but even in literature when secrets like this are revealed there tend to be repercussions. Just blowing it off IC and assuming that everyone would be fine with it would not be honest RP.
I'm not saying I wouldn't participate in a campaign where I knew something like this was coming, but everyone in it from the GM to all the players would have to absolutely be on the same page with it being a major plot point in the adventure, and also be OK with the possibility that you or another member of the party might leave as a result.
well... i meant it mostly towards NPC... obviously anyone who spends alot of time with her will know she's a witch, or at least think she's a strange bard.
If all the characters have known each other for most of their lives prior to the start of the AP, then this would work. The characters would have a reason to cover for you, even when it presented a risk to their own safety, and I think the less-flexible classes such as the paladin could get also behind it if they saw this as steps along the path towards redemption...which is obviously a major theme in this AP. So, yeah, this could work. It would have to be contingent on everyone else agreeing to the shared backstory, IMHO. YMMV.
There's certainly nothing wrong with starting an adventuring party that consists of characters that have known each other for a long, long time; if anything, that sort of history just makes the game richer and lets you skip the "so, tell me about yourself" small talk. Most backgrounds can easily be modified so that characters overlap. But there might be a few where the backgrounds just aren't compatible and the other person is not willing to change.
I'd be willing to do it. I like the challenge it presents.
If all the characters have known each other for most of their lives prior to the start of the AP, then this would work. The characters would have a reason to cover for you, even when it presented a risk to their own safety, and I think the less-flexible classes such as the paladin could get also behind it if they saw this as steps along the path towards redemption...which is obviously a major theme in this AP. So, yeah, this could work. It would have to be contingent on everyone else agreeing to the shared backstory, IMHO. YMMV.
There's certainly nothing wrong with starting an adventuring party that consists of characters that have known each other for a long, long time; if anything, that sort of history just makes the game richer and lets you skip the "so, tell me about yourself" small talk. Most backgrounds can easily be modified so that characters overlap. But there might be a few where the backgrounds just aren't compatible and the other person is not willing to change.
I'd be willing to do it. I like the challenge it presents.
Agreed! Seems like it would actually be a good addition to the party in terms of RP to have someone who's not so undoubtedly LG in everything they do.
I also noticed a run on palys, thats why mine is "faking" it. He wants to hide from any possible witch trials...lol.
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that's why i made this character... i wanted to be a not-so-righteous character in a righteous world. Although i'm just as dedicated as everyone else when it comes to doing good... I just go about it differently. i do what is right no matter the law, but i do not rebel or conform. it's a whole, "eye of the beholder" thing (although i'd avoid the gaze of a beholder if i where a real mage :P)
As a DM i do miss using beholders...lol.
Merlin is NG. He isnt concerned with law or chaos just being good...and not burned!
I think I misread the whole liking to play evil thing as her being evil which would be a bad idea in a squad of pally's. I blame it on 2 hours' sleep.
Yeah, I have really come around to this idea, especially if there were to be an established, shared history and strong friendships or relationships among the characters. It would be a powerful storytelling device, and justify a lot of what needed to be justified without creating intra-party conflict.
Our current tabletop group is running Jade Regent right now. We just started it and it has quickly become my absolute favorite AP. The reason for that, I think, is that the setup for it pretty much forces many or most of the characters to have had years of history together before the AP started. Many have been friends growing up.
These close ties completely changed the dynamics of the game in a very positive way.
I heartily concur. It makes the joining process so much smoother, and allows to easily justify coordination in combat from the very start.
Plus it can make for some very interesting dynamics straight out of the box. I thought of making Ithilwen an evil drow who was betrayed by her own race and left as a plaything for the demons, and then found help in the most unexpected place when a mysterious stranger led her out of the worlwound. She would play under the rules for redemption and would be looking for sponsors ;)
Luckily, Merlin__unknowly as of yet--works for the goddess of redemption...
I'd be willing to overlap too, but I think we'd need a clearer picture of who the party is to coordinate backgrounds.
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well, a lot of the traits take into account multiple people with the same trait.with Dragz, i was thinking if anyone was also in the ritual the mythic powers of one of the participants possible bled into the ritual and made it fail. then we just keep bumping into each other until we become friends... it's a nice idea.
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Siobhan Sable wandering into contention :)
After being rescued as a baby Siobhan has been brought up in Kenabres by a pair of devoted Sarenrites. As a half-drow she has faced many challenges in the city and works hard to demonstrate her worth in the eyes of the citizens and the crusades. Often to be found wandering the streets or walls at night with her eyes fixed firmly on the heavens Siobhan views her powers as a gift from Desna and as proof that anyone can be redeemed.
Traits:
Touched by Divinity (Campaign)
Reactionary (Combat)
Wanderlust (Social)
Redeemer (Faith)
Alignment:
CG (some big potential for interaction with redemption rules as well, both as a sponsor and as a way of proving herself to others who judge her based on her appearance)
Loyalties (in order of significance)
1. Desna, Milani, the rest of the good pantheon.
2. Jiora, Kellor and their teachings that a person is defined by their actions and convictions rather than their appearance.
3. The Crusade.
The stars in the sky illuminate below,
The light is the sign that love will guide you home
The stars in the sky illuminate below
If the world were to die, the light would guide you
Angels and Airwaves.
-Step 1: Write at least 5 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.
1. Siobhan was rescued as a child by a band of mercenaries from a small drow raiding party encountered near the Darklands.
2. Although the mercenaries freed all the drow-captives, none were willing to claim the newborn as their own. Since she was little more than a baby the mercenaries, in particular a cleric of Sarenrae named Jiora who was travelling with the party, decided to adopt the small child as their own.
3. Her distinctly drow-like colouring has been a source of much bullying in Kenabres although Siobhan has always sought to repay all such acts with acts of kindness and charity to demonstrate her ‘redemption’.
4. Despite Jiora and Kellor bringing her up in the faith of Sarenrae Siobhan has always been more drawn to Desna. Even as a child she was often found wandering the camps after dark, gaze fixed on the stars or following a particularly beautiful butterfly. Her fascination with beautiful things extends to roses and is symptomatic of an affinity she feels for Milani, another half-elf who understands the effects of persecution and the importance of redemption.
5. Siobhan looks like a typical drow. She has the dark skin and trademark pale hair of that race. The only significant difference lies in her eyes which are a startlingly vivid blue with a dark pupil. Siobhan is also extremely thin. This lends delicacy to her facial features, but the rest of her body is almost too thin, even for an elf. This condition manifested at the same time as her spellcasting powers and Siobhan’s adopted parents fear that the two are somehow linked.
-Step 2: List at least 2 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.
6. Siobhan wants to out-grow her heritage. She hopes that by committing some great act of heroism or kindness that she will be able to prove she is not a ‘dark-elf’ and vindicate herself and her parents in the eyes of the Crusade.
7. In particular she harbours secret hopes of earning a Medal of Valour from Queen Galfrey. She admires the centuries old queen greatly and believes that being recognised by the queen for services to the crusade would be the thing she needs to not be known for the colour of her skin.
8. As a player I want to role-play a character who has genuine difficulty being an adventurer. This will hopefully occur on two fronts – firstly the challenge of being good and proving it, particularly in the face of provocation. Secondly will be the challenge of mercy. As a firm believer in redemption Siobhan will have great difficulty with killing people, unless they are demonstrably and irredeemably evil. Roleplaying a character with firm beliefs of this sort would be a great challenge for me and one I’m keen to explore.
-Step 3: List at least 2 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.
9. (Known) Siobhan is a chosen vessel of Desna and draws her spellcasting directly from Desna’s heavens.
10. (Unknown) Much of the bullying and taunting Siobhan has put up with over the years has been at the instigation of Thestora, a Baphomet cultist who has been trying to engineer Siobhan’s fall from grace to dishearten the Church of Sarenrae and deny the crusade a potentially potent healer.
-Step 4: Describe at least 3 people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile.
11. Jiora and Kellor Jhaltera: Siobhan's adopted parents, Jiora and Kellor were key members of the Blazing Sun mercenaries, a group of Sarenrite mercenaries. They settled in Kenabres with their new daughter and have raised her with love and kindness, a living tribute to Sarenrae’s doctrine of forgiveness.
12. Zekar 'the Breaker': As a boy Zekar wanted nothing more than to following the footsteps of his father, a mercenary renowned for effectiveness and brutality. Because of this he rapidly gathered a band of other boys to him and became a very effective and unpleasant bully. Siobhan was, for many years, his favourite target until he joined his father’s company aged 17. Almost a decade later Siobhan had been cornered in the street by three drunken mercenaries whose intentions, although addled by drink, were not wholly sociable. A much changed Zekar, older and deeply affected by the things he had seen in the Worldwound, intervened and sent the mercs packing before escorting Siobhan home. A few days later he came to her house and spent some hours with her apologizing and talking about his experiences over the intervening decade. The two have since remained close friends and Zekar is the example Siobhan draws strength from when she has to remember the goodness in every heart – no matter how unpleasant or dark the person seems.
13. Thestora: a cultist of Baphomet who has long resided in Kenabres, Thestora despises Jiora, Kellor and worshippers of the good-aligned gods generally and hoped to drive them into despair by sabotaging the redemption of their daughter. Thestora has conducted a long running campaign of whispers and lies against the Jhaltera’s, portraying them as dilettantes and unconcerned about the city as a whole. Although Jiora and Kellor take these rumours in their stride Thestora has, indirectly, been the source of much misery throughout Siobhan’s life.
-Step 5: Describe at least 3 mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
14. Siobhan considers cleanliness to be a vital part of daily living and washes twice a day in clean water when she can get it.
15. She always carries sheets of parchment and is fond of folding them into elaborate shapes, or doodling pictures of the sky across their backs.
16. She has an instinctive thrifty streak, picked up as a young child living in a mercenary band and much of her clothing is neatly patched and re-hemmed.
17. Despite her upbringing Siobhan has never been comfortable with bad language and even mild profanities can cause her to blush, although her dark colouring means that this is, thankfully, not obvious.
I'm happy to integrate backgrounds with others if anyone is interested in doing so :D Always fun to create group stories - Siobhan has grown up in Kenabres so plenty of opportunity to have bumped into some of you!
Made a couple of tweaks to my character's background. Now I'm happy with her as she is. :)
Background added, statblock adjusted