The idea of shared backgrounds ARE pretty interesting...I'd open my self to that as well if someone wants, have a freind that doesn't like Kuro's unconcern with his safety amd recklessness would be a cool hook the more I think about it.
Actually, Sara would probably encourage the behavior and not think of the consequences. Not the sharpness knife in the drawer.
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Actually, Sara would probably encourage the behavior and not think of the consequences. Not the sharpness knife in the drawer.
Haha! That doesn't sound bad at all!
Edit: I added a short story about Kuro's first attempt to free some slaves and also changed one of the trait names to better fit his mind set.
Writing this was allot of fun, so I think I'll end up doing more
Kuro 'Archer' Emiya
Infiltrator/1
Int +3 Senses perception +6
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Defense
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Defense Score 13 Flat-Footed 10
WP 28 VP 8 DR 2/Armor
Fort +4 Ref +4 Will +2
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Offense
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Speed 30ft
Melee Machete +3(1d6+2)(19+)
Melee Machete +3(1d6+2)(19+)
Melee
Ranged Longbow, +1 composite +4(1d8+1)(x3)
Special Favored Enemy (Human)+2
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Statistics
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Str 14 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 11 Wis 13 Cha 7
Base Atk +1
CMB +4
CMD 16
Feats Precise Shot, Two weapon Fighting
Skills Craft(Cooking) +4, Climb +6, Knowledge (Geography)(Nature) +4, Perception +6, Spellcraft +4, Survival +6, Stealth +7, Stealth +7
Traits Idiot Savant(Magical Knack) Altered Perception(Indomitable faith)
Drawbacks Overprotective
Racial Traits talented
Languages Common
Combat Gear leather armor, machete(2), composite long-bow +1
Other Gear 6 gold, 3 silver, bedroll, blanket, small tent, fishing net, silk rope (50 feet), Masterwork Backpack, chicken(10),
Oregano(2), Garlic(2), Potatoes(10),
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Special Abilities
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Favored Enemy (Ex)
At 1st level, a ranger selects a creature type from the ranger favored enemies table. He gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against creatures of his selected type. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them. A ranger may make Knowledge skill checks untrained when attempting to identify these creatures.
At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the ranger may select an additional favored enemy. In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one favored enemy (including the one just selected, if so desired) increases by +2.
If the ranger chooses humanoids or outsiders as a favored enemy, he must also choose an associated subtype, as indicated on the table below. (Note that there are other types of humanoid to choose from—those called out specifically on the table below are merely the most common.) If a specific creature falls into more than one category of favored enemy, the ranger's bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher
Track (Ex)
A ranger adds half his level (minimum 1) to Survival skill checks made to follow tracks.
Wild Empathy (Ex)
A ranger can improve the initial attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check to improve the attitude of a person (see Using Skills). The ranger rolls 1d20 and adds his ranger level and his Charisma bonus to determine the wild empathy check result. The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly.
To use wild empathy, the ranger and the animal must be within 30 feet of one another under normal visibility conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute, but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time.
The ranger can also use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but he takes a –4 penalty on the check
Kuro was born in southern Katapesh, away from the dry and anarchic north. Raised in a small port town called Fuyuki, a city of people who migrated from Tien, Kuro was constantly surrounded by injustice. Whether it was the stalls that would cheat each other for a few more coppers, or the slavers/drug dealers who would prowl the night, it didn't matter as there was always something. He was okay with it, it never really bothered him as he was just a kid, being taught that this was all normal.
But it change quickly one day, too quickly.
A fire, great and all consuming, broke out when he was 8. The flames rolled over buildings and streets, trapping and burning everyone. All around were the screams of the tormented, cursed smoke rising to the skies as the hell on earth manifested. No matter how high was the screams or how heartfelt were the tears.
It was all meaningless, the fire consumes all. Except for a white haired boy, walking amongst carnage.
With every step he took a part of him was lost. Memories and everything he ever did was gone with each thud of his foot, his first day of school, gone like it was never there, his seventh birthday, his first crush, his mother telling him stories of heroes long gone, every ounce of self-worth burned to a crisp by the time he reached the center of his once cheerful neighborhood, but even so he refused to die.
He had no memory of what was happening, that was consumed by the fire.
He no longer felt anything about the hell around him, his emotions were already devoured. He only had hope left, but soon enough that was also extinguished.
His unwavering will had nothing more to sacrifice to him, but he continued his trek. Soon however, he missed a step and fell on the now barren ground, the rain chose that exact moment to start.
As he gazed to the sky above him, he couldn't feel anything, he couldn't think anything and he couldn't BE anything, but just as his life was about to end, in the place of the sky now was the face of a crying and smiling man. As the young boy stared at his overjoyed face, only one thought surfaced.
"... I wonder if I can be as happy as him someday..."
That man was Kisturugi Emiya, a Inquisitor from Andoran, his face was filled with tears, he was so happy.
It was because he saved him, he was so happy because he saved him....
He wants to smile like that.
Kisturugi nursed him back to health and adopted him as his own, raising him and teaching him the wonders of mage craft...not that Kuro was any good. Kuro was told he was absolutely terrible at it...but through pure stubborness and stupidity, he promised he could do it.
5 years later, Kisturugi succumbed to a terminal disease. As he laid there dieing, Kuro promised to uphold and accomplish the dream Kitsurugi could never do.
To become a true hero of justice. To help and save everyone, even if he knew it was impossible.
And after that, Kisturugi died, and Kuro left the rebuilt Fuyuki, traveling and searching for people to save.
For he is Kuro Emiya, a Sword that saves.
Kuro appears as a man in his late 20's with a muscular build. Kuro has white lightly messy hair, gray eyes and tanned skin colour. His eyes are slightly narrowed, showing his Tien descent.
Due to the trauma he suffered during the great fire, Kuro has a constant emptiness in his personality and suffers from tremendous survivor's guilt. He feels that, as the only survivor, it is unfair to the deceased to prioritize his own needs before those of others. He has a distorted sense of values where he only finds self-worth from helping people without any compensation, feeling that the very act “helping people” is its own reward. He believes it is highly unfair that some people survive and others do not. When it comes down to receiving an injury or even giving up his life to help someone, he will do it without a second thought. The people who see this side of him are often very worried and attempt to correct his behavior, though they are unable to change his opinions.
Besides that, he enjoys cooking and cleaning, especially for other people. Its kinda easy to take advantage of his kindness, and he know it but makes no effort to change it.
When he's out and about, he goes by the name Archer, he's freed a bit of slaves, so he thought it safer that nobody knows his name.
A Gnoll stops her patrol around her camp exterior, muzzle raised into the air as she sniffs....
"...Smells like chicken... the Gnoll mumbles, moving away from the camp and through some bushes.
Once the bushes are cleared, she sees it. A campfire, still going on, with a spit roasting 3 pounds of chicken on it.
The Gnoll squeals in excitement, then going over on all fours and sliding on her knees over to the chicken, like a child.
Unbeknownst to her, a red cloaked figure slowly walks behind her, unsheathing a Machete....
The Gnoll sinks her teeth into the meat of the deliciously seasoned chicken, yipping lowly in delight. The figure raises the Machete and gets ready to bring it down on the creature.
...but he hesitates. The Gnoll, ever unaware, continues to eat the great cooking that was just 'left here'.
....slowly the figure lowers his blade and silently sighs, raising it again and slamming the blade against the Gnolls head, knocking it out. The Gnoll falls to the floor unconscious, and the figure drops his hood, showing his large shock of white hair, grey eyes' and dark tanned skin.
He grimaces, grabbing the Gnolls legs and dragging her off into some bushes before looking towards the Gnoll camp...
He pulls out a poorly drawn picture with what seems to be a human child with the name Sarasha and a message.
"Please save my mommy! The bad dog men took her!" the message also talks about the reward.
Kuro sighs, the desert is a very hard place to track anything down, but somehow...he did it. Glancing back at the unconscious Gnoll, he remembers that he doesn't have all day.
Sheathing his Machete, he starts to silently stalk to the Gnoll camp, pressing himself to the edge as he circles the palisade walls, looming for the best point of entry.
Seeing no other option, Kuro latches onto the palisade wall and climbs, vaulting over it and landing inside the camp and ducking into some bushes. The Gnolls laze about the camp, fighting, eating, and laughing....all around, a normal camp atmosphere.
He narrows his eyes, looking around the camp and trying his best to search for the place they keep the prisoners. Eventually, his eyes find a large wagon ment to carry animals. Through the Bars, he see's a multitude of Gnomes and Halflings, a few Humans as Well.
'bingo' he thinks, stalking closer as the hyena-men laugh and joke with their brethren. He moves closer and closer, heart beginning to pump harder and harder. Sadly, in his tunnel vision he steps on a branch, causing a large snap.
He silently curses as it gains the attention of a nearby sitting Gnoll. Kuro watches apprehensively as the man beast draws closer and closer, instinctivly stilling his breathing, pulling his clock tighter against himself.
But a rock soon hits it in the head, causing it to tell and turn to glare at the offender, another Gnoll who is cackling in amusement. Turning, it charges at the laughing Hyena and begins
a small brawl which the other occupents eagerly crowd around.
Kuro lets out a sigh of relief, this is definitely a stroke of luck....
Either way, he moves quickly behind a building, then ducks behind the carriage. The occupants see him, the children seem excited, but the adults quickly silence them before looking at him in apprehension and hope.
He nods, offering a smile to the people....it doesn't seem to help.
Regardless, he starts slinking away, towards where the biggest makeshift tent is, the Key should be there..
---------------------------
His hunch was right, it WAS there...at least, a unknown key was...
But thats niether here or there right now.
He's staring down a...big Gnoll...its probably the leader if its size was anything to go by...
He ducks under another swing of the Gnolls Greatsword, the wind displaced by the weapon buffering against his face.
'This is not good....!' he says in his mind, jumping over the Gnolls cot which offers no resistance to the blade, shattering it.
It only makes the pack leader more angry, his attacks get stronger and more ferocious, Kuro can only do so much dodging and deflecting untill he's caught.
The greatsword strikes against his chest, cutting into his leather armor and digging into his flesh. Kuro stays silent, but his teeth are grit so tightly they might crack. The pain is very real....
But it also grants a opportunity.
As soon as the blood leaves his body, he grabs a handful, slamming it into the gnolls nose and eye's, blinding it and driving it into a blood frenzy at the sense overload. As it starts swinging at random, Kuro kicks off the desk and hops on the leaders back before driving his Black and White Machete into the Gnoll's shoulders.
They peirce down, severing tendons and peircing arteries. Kuro immediately silences the beasts roar of pain. By stuffing his arm into its sharp teeth filled mouth. The Gnoll bites down hard on his arm, easily piercing the leather and flesh.
Kuro silences his own scream by sinking his own teeth into the Gnolls shoulder, Holding on tightly. After a few more seconds, the Gnoll starts getting slower, its bleeding to much....
It starts trying to get to its breathren, but Kuro immediately pulls the White Machete, affectionately named Kanshou, out of the beasts shoulders and stabs it into the Gnoll back, right into the heart.
The struggles stop, and the Gnoll leader dies, its jaw slacking on his arm which he immediately pulls from its dead mouth.
Kuro pants raggedly, watching the blood pool aroung the beasts body, uncaring of his own viscious wounds....
He leans down and uses his good arm to close the beast eyes, wishing it good passage onto the afterlife as everyone deserves.
He has to hurry up....they'll smell the blood soon...god he's hurting....
Shakily, he reaches into his pack and pulls out a set of bandages. taking his shirt off and haphhazerdly wrapping his arm and chest, he bites his lips to silence his pain filled groans. The bandages are quickly staining red.
Moving through the pain, he wipes Kanshou off on the broken cot, before hurredly making his way back to the slave cart.
The slaves look alarmed at how wounded he is, some of them covering the kids eyes.
He's thankful that they do so, no need for them to see this. He hears the howls and yips of the Gnolls become alarmed, seems they found there leader, as the entire camp starts converging at the end of camp....
...which means he probably has enough time.
Quickly, he jams the key into the slot and lo and behold, the door opens.
"...Quickly! Go! There's a wagon of supplies in the underbrush of the Savannah...go there and get out!"
The slaves stare stupified, before pilling out of the cage and running out of the camp and into the Savannah.
.....he doesn't go with them....which some people notice.
"S-Sir! Come on!" a woman yells to him
Kuro only shakes his head
"....If some one doesn't distract them, they'll end up rounding you all up again..."
The woman turns white, looking torn, along with a few other of the slaves.
He shakes his head and motions them to get going. Reluctantly, the former slaves turn and run after there fellow escapees.
Satisfied that it's just him, he walks to the gate into the camp. Facing inward, he draws Kanshou, then his other Machete, a twin of Kanshou except it is black, Bakuya. He steels himself, fingers digging into the leather handles of the short blades. His chewed up arm screams in protest at the action, as if reminding him that he is wounded.
He doesn't turn, he stays where he is, resolute to buy as much time as he can, he wants to be a hero, more then anything. His body screams at him, begging to run and not fight. The screams only increase as the first Gnoll comes into sight, running at him with a great axe.
"Kisturugi...are you watching me right now...?"
He quick steps forward, surprising the Gnoll, running it through with both Machetes. He kicks the body off of his blades with some hesitation, clearly still uncomfortable with taking a sentient life.
"Are you proud of me...?"
The Gnolls start comming in droves, one after the other, first thing that happens is he gets smacked by a bo staff....everything after that is fuzzy.
"...I am the bone of my sword...
Flashes of red and white, screaming, yelling, pain.
"...Steel is my body and fire is my blood..."
He can't feel anything, he thinks He's on his back. There's armored feet running to and fro. His mind continues to recite the Aria of blades that Kitsurugi taught him.
"...Unaware of loss, Nor aware of gain..."
The sun is fading...or is it that he's dieing....?
"...I have overcome countless battlefields...mental and physical...."
It's getting dark now......he hopes that the slaves got away...
"...Not even once retreating, not even once being victorious..."
......
"...Thus, my life needs no meaning.
This body is made of infinite swords."
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Kuro would awake a couple days later in the care of Seranrae clerics and paladins. Apparently they were already on route to destroy that particular Gnoll camp, it had kidnapped one of there own to sell on the market as a slave.
He was then chewed out for being a reckless idiot; the word for word response of the strong willed cleric that apparently healed him.
So....all in all....mission successful?
Fate//pathfinder, I see.
Does he get kicked around by a twintailed tsundere girl?
This is Ouachitonian, presenting Hunter, late of a Druidic village called Burning Sands. Well, until his old gnoll tribe (who'd exiled him years before for blasphemy) came calling and ate them all. Now he makes a living as a two-bit mercenary, but he's always training to kill his own people. He doesn't hate gnolls, but he hates what Lamashtu has done to them, and he knows that they could be so much more if freed from her shackles. Which will probably require killing a lot of them.
Hunter is a Ranger (FE: Gnoll, obviously) with the Cinderwalker archetype. He's spent a lot of time in volcanic regions of the Brazen Peaks. He's going Natural Weapon style; took the racial Snapping Jaws feat at L1. Until he get claws trough Aspect of the Beast at L2, he'll use his trusty old falchion. Evil gnolls will feel his wrath. He also has a fair number of skill points, and will, of course, gets spells at L4 and be able to start contributing to healing and the like then.
I almost went Shifter. I've been wanting to try it out. Bu there's just no aspect that seemed right for a gnoll. Bull is great mechanically, but I couldn't make it make sense in character. Wolf, eh, maybe. Hyenas aren't actually canines. They're more closely related to cats, but Tiger seemed like the wrong direction. There needs to be a Hyena aspect, darn it!
I have a question!
Since Weapon Finesse is free now under the feat tax rules, is an unchained rogue's level 1 Finesse Training getting traded out for something like Weapon Focus with the finesse weapon type? I assume level 3 would remain unchanged.
Missed the feat taxes somehow. Changed out Sara's weapon finesse for fey foundling. Will keep the info on my profile up to date for reference.
Would Suli's be allowed? I'm looking at doing an Elementalist Shifter and since they have contact with all the elements that would be a much better fit than any of the genietouched races.
If not I might go for a gnoll - Ouachitonian, would you be up for combined background if I do? Litter-mates maybe?
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This sort of took a weird turn, but I like where it ended up so WHY NOT TRY IT. Also, I am assuming Finesse Training trades out for weapon focus at present, if this gets changed then I'll update accordingly, of course.
CG Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +4; Perception +7
Defense
AC 14; Touch 14; Flat-Footed 10; (+4 dex)
DR 2/armor
VP: 8 (1d8)
WP: 24
Fort +1 (0 base+1 con)
Ref +6 (2 base+4 dex)
Will +0 (0 base+0 wis)
Offense
Speed 30 ft
Space 5ft; Reach 5ft
Melee
Sap +4 (d6 nonlethal), crit x2, B
Dagger +5 (d4), melee, crit 19-20/x2, P or S
TWF Dagger +3/+3 (d4), melee, crit 19-20/x2, P or S
Ranged
Shortbow +4 (d6), range 60ft, crit x3, P
Dagger +5 (d4), range 10ft, crit 19-20/x2, P or S
Special Attacks
Sneak Attack +1d6
Skills
10/level+2 background
Acrobatics +8 (1 rank+3 trained+4 dex)
Disable Device +8 (1 rank+3 trained+4 dex)
Escape Artist +8 (1 rank+3 trained+4 dex)
Perception +7 (1 rank+3 trained+3 focus)
Stealth +10 (1 rank+3 trained+4 dex+2 racial)
Climb +4 (1 rank+3 trained)
Survival +5 (1 rank+3 trained+1 trait)
Knowledge (Local) +6 (1 rank+3 trained +2 int)
Spellcraft +7 (1 rank+3 trained+2 int+1 trait)
Bluff +3 (1 rank+3 trained-1 cha)
Background:
Sleight of Hand +10 (1 rank+3 trained+4 dex+2 racial)
Appraise +6 (1 rank+3 trained+2 int)
+1 Perception/Disable Device vs traps
+4 survival in an urban or underground environment
-4 bluff vs indifferent or friendlier attitude
Statistics
Str 10 0
Dex 18 +4
Con 12 +1
Int 14 +2
Wis 10 0
Cha 8 -1
Base Atk +0; CMB +4; CMD 14
Feats
1 Two-Weapon Fighting
FS Skill Focus (Perception)
B Weapon Focus (Light Blades)
Traits
Orphaned (You grew up separated from your birth parents, and had to learn to watch out for yourself.)
(+1 Survival, Survival is a class skill)
Magic Rogue (Being a thief in Katapesh, it paid to know who was casting an Alarm spell and who was just faking it. You learned to tell the difference)
(+1 Spellcraft, Spellcraft is a class skill)
Guilty Fraud (You received something through trickery that you did not deserve, and your guilt for the misdeed distracts you from dangers around you.)
(You take a –4 penalty on Bluff checks against creatures with an attitude toward you of indifferent or better.)
Racial Modifiers
Focused Study (1st, 8th, 16th)
Heart of the Slums (+2 Stealth/Sleight of Hand, +4 on Survival checks in urban and underground settings. In addition, roll twice when saving against disease, taking the better roll.)
Languages: Common, Infernal, Katapeshi
Class abilities:
(1/6 bonus rogue talent)
Sneak Attack +1d6
Finesse Training (Weapon focus (Light Blades))
Trapfinding +1
Gear
Combat Gear: Caltrops, Dagger (8), Arrows (10), Silver-Blanched Arrows (10), Smokestick (2), Spring-loaded Wrist Sheath (2, each holding a dagger)
Other Gear: Silver Weapon Blanch (5), Shortbow, Sap, Leather Armor, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, chalk (10), flint and steel, grappling hook, iron pot, mess kit, a mirror, pitons (10), 50 ft rope, soap, thieves’ tools, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), waterskin, 50 ft silk rope, 5 grappling arrows, 1 vial ink, journal, inkpen (2), pickpocket's outfit, silk red cloak with worth 10 gp (currently somewhat faded, tattered, and in two halves), holy symbol (her butterfly dagger sheath is a symbol of Desna) 3.8 gp
The thief is a kindhearted girl who makes a point to be upbeat and optimistic, since she feels like being kind to others will let them be kind to others in turn, and she takes her responsibilities seriously. She's not without her secretive side, though. She's frequently vague when people ask about her past, often laughing it off with a joke or mentioning how it doesn't really matter what anyone's past is--only where they're going in the future, 'and my future is as bright as the sun in the sky!' Her lack of experience makes her frequently naive and she sometimes gets herself into trouble out of a sense of impulsiveness, but despite her questionable decision-making skills and somewhat frequent foot-in-mouth moments she's always doing her best to make new friends and help people.
She has more than a few superstitions as well, being a somewhat eccentric follower of Desna who believes that staring at the sky and talking to it about your problems at night will help you come to some proper answers. She also believes that the higher you are, the better Desna can hear you and that whenever it rains, somewhere inside the rain someone is having the worst day of their life. Despite her faith in her goddess, she's never learned to use a starknife and she's never actually traveled... just thought about it a few times. Her real love is the night sky.
In reality, he doesn't exist. The mantle of the Divine Thief is tied to nothing more than a simple cloak with a well-made diagram of a lock's tumblers stitched into the lapel, one which was held by the original man--a burglar who made a name for himself by stealing a potent artifact right out from under the noses of the Pactmasters in the early days of Katapesh. In order to incite fear in them, he left a note in which he declared himself the Divine Thief Eon, for he was eternal and would not end his work until the age of man died. He passed on what he knew, alongside the cloak, to a successor. They did the same, and over time the legend changed and twisted to what it is today, but a set of three simple rules were kept secret from all but the highest echelons of thiefdom, the sorts who could hope to compete for the title of the divine.
1: The owner of the divine mantle is the Divine Thief, Eon, and their actions are the actions of that same Divine Thief. So long as the mantle remains, Eon is eternal.
2: Only the one who steals the divine mantle from the previous Divine Thief shall become the new Divine Thief. Blood shall not be shed in this competition. In this, Eon shall forever remain the pinnacle of the art of thievery.
3: In order to allow for both rules to be followed without bloodshed, the mantle is not to be worn while the Divine Thief is performing a burglary. If Eon is caught, he was never Eon. If the cloak is found, the there is a new Divine Thief as soon as the theft is discovered. Thus, the mantle can never be found on the Divine Thief as he acts and the cycle may continue forever.
There are a great many stories of those who held or aspired to hold the divine mantle and become the Divine Thief Eon, but this latest story is that of a nameless girl left an orphan on the streets of Katapesh.
The thief girl who became Weiss who became the Divine Thief Eon never had a family, or even a name. Her first memory is of hunger, and her second memory is of begging for food on the streets of Katapesh. She isn't sure, but she's pretty sure she'd been doing it every day before then, and a lot of the days afterwards. As a Vudrani, her peculiar hair and eye color made her an Asprishya, or 'untouchable,' to her people and she learned to tell Vudrani from others at a glance by their hateful stares on her. Unfortunately, begging didn't ever manage to sate the rumbling in her stomach and the girl had to learn to scavenge for herself. Desperation led to her finding out that her fingers were deft and her mind was sharp, able to pick out which targets had pocket change they wouldn't miss if she happened to borrow a few gold. She was nobody special, so she was able to become another face in the crowd and exist as a nameless, faceless no one. Whenever anyone asked for her name, she'd slowly shake her head and then wink at them before running away through a crowd.
Possessing a fascination with literature and the luxury of literacy, the girl learned to use her deftness to intuit her way through picking locks in order to enter bookstores in the middle of the night and puzzle over the tomes to determine what they meant. She was caught several times, fined on some occasions, and without money set to work as a slave for months at a time until she paid it off--she just thanked her lucky stars that she wasn't found to be a thief since she never intended to take the books, leaving all the commerce involved completely intact. While doing her stints as a slave girl (and responding to whatever name she was given), she wound up pestering anyone she could find whenever she had a break to help her learn the letters of the books she found so interesting--and as it turned out her sharp mind made her an exceedingly quick study. After her fourth two-month stint as a slave to pay off such a fine, she'd mastered reading in Common. She learned other languages on her own, having also learned how to take enough care that she avoided being caught.
Just reading the books of others wasn't enough for her. She wanted to make enough money to own her own books, and a place where she could keep them. She thought up a plan to become a guide for people from out of town--who better to know Katapesh than a girl who had seen the city in and out, and knew every vendor and every secret shortcut or escape route? The only problem was that she needed a name.
The girl thought about it for days on end, until she saw a man selling a beautiful mythril dagger at the bazaar to a trader she was somewhat familiar with. The blade shone in the sun and sparkled with the same color that her hair did, and there was a single ruby set in the pommel. He called the blade 'Weiss,' a word that at once seemed to her both memorable and distinctly foreign sounding, giving a certain mystique that she liked.
It'd do. The girl became Weiss, and Weiss carved out a very small business for herself as a guide, while still occasionally using the homes of the rich or the careless as impromptu libraries, and the hidey-holes of the city as impromptu homes or else to avoid the wrath of the guilds, which she didn't have the money to join.
Everything changed one day when a man bolted past her in the street in a brilliant red cloak.
Weiss followed him. She wasn't sure why, but she followed him through the twists and the turns of Katapesh's streets, until he was cornered in an alley by a man who looked to be a pactbroker's enforcer. She hid behind a pot and watched as the man tried to jump up a wall, but was bisected by a greatsword as the cloak that he wore was torn and rent in twain. The enforcer muttered something about 'good riddance to thieves,' and she instinctively winced as he walked away with the man's bag and weaponry.
She ran to the half-a-man who had been sliced and offered him a drink of water--the only thing she could think to help end his suffering, and he looked at her with dim eyes as he told her a story. He told her of the Divine Mantle, and its history, of the three rules and their meaning.
Eon told her to steal it from him, so that the cycle could remain unbroken.
Weiss protested. He insisted, saying that it was better if it went to someone who knew its worth than someone who may never take it off or might sell it to a pawn broker who could ship it to Desna-knows-where. In the end, Weiss swore, and the man died with a small smile on his face. She stole the cloak from his corpse, and after cleaning it off as best she could she took to wearing it. No one seemed to notice the mantle on her, that she could tell, but just to be safe she never took it off. Suddenly, she had a legacy to live up to.
Suddenly, she felt very small, and very incomplete.
She followed the rules properly, only removing the cloak once as an act of desperation as she went to multiple shops in the bazaar and took various items from them--not a lot from any one person, and only what she would need to consider herself prepared to challenge herself and grow. At each place, she left the Divine Thief's signature E mark, even though she was prepared for her time as the 'demigod' to end as soon as she was done.
As luck would have it, however, she returned to find the cloak unstolen. Locate object spells, in the past the great equalizer against those who would play the mantle's game, could no longer properly locate the cloak since its form had been changed. Legend lore gave nothing, and even attempts to Speak with Dead on the corpse had resulted in nothing. By sheer luck, Weiss had managed to evade detection and the results of the inevitable Legend Lore would be weeks away from completion (and a vexing riddle, as that spell always is).
With her thieving of what she needed done, she hasn't taken the cloak off since. The current Divine Thief believes that the power was given to her so that she could someday become a phantom who could take from those who would abuse their riches and power, to give to those who needed help. However, she's aware of her shortcomings. She wants to adventure to broaden her horizons, and having heard of the mission to reclaim and rebuild Kelmarane, it seemed as good a place as any to start the process of becoming a worthy successor to the title that she honestly hadn't earned.
@Trinam
Love the Eon cloak idea.
Thanks very much! Feel free to use it if you like, ofc. Ideas are meant to be shared.
Just saying Azzerix, really like you're character, sounds like someone who'd be really fun to have bantor with.
Many thanks! That is my goal with him, to have him be the quirky little sidekick type. I was initially gonna make him a lasso Magus who was trying to earn his freedom, looking for exotic animals to have on his ranch, and talk with a thick southern drawl. A self described "good ol' Darklands boy".
And then my friend introduced me to Deekin Scalesinger and I couldn't not make him like that little nut.
Yikes, I forgot the feat tax rules too! Ark'al has been updated.
In case we're allowed multiple entries: Khanoor
Alright, went back over Sara's background some now that I have a day off, and added some stuff. The most recent will stay on my profile of course, but here's the background again.
Background
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Born to an aging wizard in the middle of a desert, Sara never knew her mother growing up. Her father would tell her that a forest suddenly appeared around his tower one day, and that was how he met her mother, a dryad. The forest disappeared the next day, and only to reappear momentarily later on to leave her behind on the doorstep. Her strange appearance lends credance to that fact that fey blood does in fact run through her.
As a child, Sara lived alone with her father, isolated in a solitary tower. Her father, Vardenail, was a former member of a Varisian caravan, but was banished from the pack for 'some silly little thing' as he put it. Preferring being alone anyway, he left in search of more knowledge and spellcraft. After a lifetime of travel, he settled down in a decrepit tower a league from Katapesh. And there he remained, spending all his time on research.
Vardenail was a man of intellect, enjoying the company of books more than people. Stern and emotionless most of the time, Sara was taught to read and cast simple magic early on. Curious and quick-witted, Sara quickly grew bored of pouring over the same books over and over, though, and it wasn't long before she sought for other things to occupy her time. After she began playing an old lute hidden away in a box, her father finally sent her away before her boundless energy and antics would distract him any further from his studies.
Sent to become a librarian at the closest city, Katapesh, Sara ignored the order after seeing a man displaying his talent with a rapier. Just seeing the rapier seemed to call out to her, and she immediately went to the man after his show to ask him to teach her. Of course, her father was against martial weapons of any kind, but the man, a Garundi duelist named Jaware, agreed even before she pulled out the book fund her father had given her.
Jaware taught her how to fight with the rapier, and even took her along on his bodyguarding jobs in Katapesh. Quick and eager, Sara even began to mix in her spellcasting that she had learned from her father into her fighting style. After she had finished learning, Jaware gave her the very rapier that had caught her eye before, along with the name 'Akina'. The rapier fit her hand almost as if it was hand for it, and has been at her side constantly since.
During her learning period with Jaware, she met a regular client of his, a Keleshite named Ormizd al'Khismia. A book merchant, he was the first she went to ask questions from then on. He began to address her as Sara al'Desna, to which he responded to her questions by teaching her of Desna, the diety he worshiped.
After learning all she could from her teacher, Sara decided to set a new goal. Finding the wandering forest her father spoke of. Her attention once more turned to studies, this time of the fey. She desired to find her mother and finally get some real answers to her heritage.
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Personality
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Sara often reflects the fey through her personality. Whimsical and quick to change, Sara is open and friendly to most. Her curiosity and lack of control has gotten her in more than one pickle, though. Common sense isn't so common for her, despite her book learning.
When it comes to social situations, though, Sara finds that she can read others like a book naturally, possibly a power rising from her fey origins. Sara does not anger easily, yet is quick to pass up forgiving and just simply forget whatever had angered her. The quickest way to anger her, though, is to touch her tail without permission.
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Description
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Sara mostly resembles a human, the race of her father. With pale skin and long brown hair, his Varisian roots continue on in her, despite the local appearance.
However, the fey blood of her mother comes out in the form of a large, bushy tail with fox-like ears on her head. The ends of her hair and tail are green, and her skin has yet to have a spot of imperfection.
These traits all often lead to the wrong kind of attention, so Sara usually wears a cloak, both for disguise and protection in the desert climate.
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Five-Minute Background
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1) Human with fey blood and aspects, such as a tail and animal ears.
Father is a solitary wizard with little attachment between them.
Has a lot of curiousity and energy.
While intelligent, she isn't very wise about the world from her early years with her father.
Quite sociable and easygoing, with a tendency to forget the few grudges she makes.
2) Seeks to find her mother and ask quite a lot of questions, most of them starting with WHY. (Character's Desire)
Would be cool for the 'wandering forest' that Sara seeks to be related to the storyline somehow. (No clue how the AP goes. Going in blind.) (Player's Desire)
3) Sara knows that she has fey blood running through her, but she doesn't know that the rapier that seemed to call out to her is actually an ancient weapon of the fey that began to react to her presence.
4) Vardenail - Father - Born to a wandering Varisian caravan, Vardenail had no interest in the traditions of his people, and his attitude and actions eventually got him kicked out. Preferring to be alone anyway, Vardenail took this opportunity to seek out more knowledge, and soon found his first love: wizardry.
After dedicating many years of his life to magic, Vardenail decided to create a place of contemplation and study for himself, and took over a ruined tower near Katapesh. It was during his time here that a mysterious forest suddenly appeared around the tower. Such a dramatic event pulled him from his books, and down in the forest he met the most beautiful woman he had ever met. And not just a woman, but a dryad.
After one night of passion, Vardenail later faced the consequences of this when his child was left on his doorstep, a young girl with a bushy, brown tail. Never the fatherly type, Vardenail mostly left the girl to her own devices except to teach her magic. When she finally became an adult and seemed to be losing interest in learning magic and just be all-around quiet, Vardenail sent her to Katapesh with some gold to become a librarian, and maybe to even bring back some rare books on desert magic that those Garundi seemed to hold so dear. He lost contact with her afterward, and hasn't bothered to try contacting her either.
Jaware - Instructor - A fencing expert in the large city of Katapesh, Jaware made his living escorting the many merchants around town, using more as a precaution than from actual need. When the young, foreign, fox-tailed girl approached him with such hopeful and aspiring eyes, he couldn't say no to her request to learn. The pouch of gold she called a 'book fund' helped a bit, too, of course.
He was glad that he took on the spirited girl, though. She learned quickly, and even showed him a few tricks when she began to mix her magical arts in the dance of the rapier. By the time he had taught her the arts, he already felt like she was his adopted daughter of sorts, and gave her the pet name 'Akina', after his passed sister.
Ormizd al'Khismia - Merchant - A book collector and seller, Ormizd's paranoid misgivings of the city of Katapesh made him a regular of Jaware's services, despite the fact that he was never set upon within the city limits. During his time in Katapesh, Ormizd met Jaware's first pupil, a young girl he referred to as 'Akina'. The bright-eyed and curious girl helped Ormizd with his constant paranoia, and her knowledge of books and Varisian culture opened up their many conversations since.
During her studies of the Fey, Ormizd has tried to help her out as much as he can, and has even found himself searching for books on such during his trades. He even gave her his own nickname, al'Desna, meaning daughter of Desna for her constant curiosity and boundless energy. This sparked interested in Desna, and so Ormizd even began to teach her of the diety he followed, the Black Monarch.
5) Sara loves dancing and music, despite currently having two left feet. Her constant fiddling with an old lute has paid off, though, and she can now play a few upbeat melodies.
Sara's large tail requires quite a lot of brushing, and she uses her time while studying her spellbook to make sure to keep it nice and clean. She hates when anything gets on her tail, and touching her tail without permission is perhaps the greatest offense you could offer her.
Sara can often tell if someone is lying by simply looking into their eyes. She does not know how, but even from a young age she had this intuition, and she believes it may stem from her fey blood.
Aaaand here's my third entry: Alim Akil
Dotting, thinking a keleshite paladin of sarenrae
I wouldn't mind a shared background. Only trouble is, mine is kinda specific. So unless someone is associated with the Society, those options are a bit limited...
Azzerix my good sir, have you heard the good news of our lord and pilferer the Divine Thief, Eon?
Happy Holidays. Sorry about the absence, but it was bound to happen.
I may extend this another week, depending on how this week goes.
As for Suli, I'm going to say no.
As for being a Jeweler, there is always time for some downtime, but the campaign doesn't revolve around it.
.
Okay so I’ve had a read
I don’t really wanna do called shots.
Vigor, wounds, and DR for Armor seems alright, although it seems like you end up with generally squishier characters to me. Particularly it seems like unless you’re playing a class that can actually generate there own DR you’re always gonna have pretty low DR.
Also what happens to deflection bonus? To that go on your like Dex + sheild Armor or as another source of DR?
I’d be willing to try though. Seems like a lot of work to re-work all the creatures stat blocks in the AP.
As for my character I want to make a human shifter named James Cernus whose MO would be turning into a stag to overrun people.
I’ll post a link to a myth weaver sheet and a short bio for him later. :)
Here is the sheet, haven't done wounds, vigor and his optional rules AC yet because obviously it doesn't fit the sheet nicely.
popped the 1/Armor DR in because that isn't exactly difficult.
Haven't done starting equipment beyond armor yet or wealth.
Figure I'll do all that if you decide to take James.
As for his character.
James spends most of his time living out in the wilds of the Katapesh Savanas, this is not to say he is un-used to humanoid interaction, on the contrary he is quite familiar. Moving to the wilds in his youth after watching his father fall the vises of the "civilized" world. James still keeps in touch with his mother, though infrequently.
Rather he prefers to spend his time among nature, where there rules, though not immediately apparent at least make sense to James.
He would probably spend little time among other humanoids were it not for his loyalty to his mother, which serves as an anchor to for James to the lands of Katapesh.
James is quite sole among humans, generally cautious but also generous and kind natured. He counts among his friends few humanoids for now at least, were he to find people he considered friends he would likely be fiercely loyal to them.
Brief bio. I only recently theory crafted the character and I'd like to expand him more through character interaction in game than right him a novel here.
If anyone has a character history they think they could mesh with James so as to facilitate the characters having history before the game begins I'd love to chat with you about it.
Here is my submission. (Mostly Human) Oread Possessed Shaman.
Very interested in this AP. Curious how the Optional rules work out too. I have not included them in my profile, because I was not sure the final decision on which ones will be used. I can updated the character to include them if I get picked.
I wanted to provide a bit of healing options to the choices out there. So he has the Life Spirit.
Landus looks like a bulky, taller halfing, or a shorter human. Either way he is only 4'4". He is still rather thin for an Oread, but he is dense, weighing almost 170 lbs. Looking mostly human to most people. Though he does seem to have a strange sheen or reflection quality to his skin at times.
He is pretty quiet, sometimes caught mumbling to himself or to his small desert rat (Dib the Jerboa).
Born to an isolated village in the deserts of Katapesh. At an early age his family got caught in a sandstorm and he got separated. Waking up covered in sands and being beat down by the sun he managed to survive long enough to start losing his will to live.
Late at night, when the weather finally cooled he sat out and tried to commune with the spirits he had always heard about from his parents. One night a small Jerboa hopped up to him. He took this as a sign from the spirits. As his spirit was broken down, he opened himself up for guidance.
That is when a spirit spoke to him. It asked him to make a deal, share his body and it will help him get out of the desert. Finally having someone to talk to, Ladus agreed. The spirit Lightsong entered his body. Their spirits mingled together, now joined.
Lightsong had knowledge of other plains and of the natural world around them. Lightsong also brought with it the boon to let Ladus cast magics. With their combined effort they escaped the desert.
With their help they made their way to Katapesh, a much larger city than Ladus had ever seen, but Lightsong did not seem worried.
My backstory is somewhat forgiving. It only covers childhood till he arrived in Katapesh. I would love to intermingle our backstories a bit. So if there is anyone who is in the city that wants to join up with a 74 year old desert oread/human-looking! I assume I have been in the desert for a pretty long time, but I am not going to go for the full 'wild child' trope. I want him to have some time in the city to explain his Charisma. Though his lower Intelligence comes from being raised by the desert. He probably relies on his spirit for real world experience. I want to add to his story after he arrived in Katapesh, but I wanted to see if I can join it up with someone else who is picked.
I would also be up for fleshing out anything I have done further. I just wanted to get this submitted before the deadline.
I think imma pull out. Lost the desire to play James.
I am very much interested in playing! I should have a character done sometime soon-ish.
Indeed. That was as terrible as I expected.
So I've been following this debating if I should apply and I had some inspiration to play an interesting character so I may try.
The basic idea is this. A halfling slave in Katapesh is freed by a benevolent master (ideally another PC), and taught to meditate and seek inner peace. As a free halfling, he spends his time in the market, taking a path counter to the typical halfling/orphan types and instead of stealing, actually works legitimately for several of the vendors as a gopher/messenger.
I'd at least need another PC to take the attached drawback for. Mechanically, he's a halfling monk that uses Bodyguard to keep his friends safe. Personality-wise, he's a boisterous and trusting little halfling that likes to laugh and make friends, and who gets very excited when his friends succeed at basically anything.
There's obviously a lot of room to flesh this out and I will if you're open to having me.
:)
Sara, my character, would be willing to, and it feels like the personality would mesh well with hers, as she probably wouldn't stand the sight of slavery going on (until she realized how much each one cost after buying one's freedom). If you're interested, shoot me a PM.
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Kuro would also be interested, I feel like the attached drawback works well with the overprotective drawback that I chose. He can be one of the few slaves he saved on his raids of the 3 different Gnoll camps he attacked.
There would be a lot of room for banter and growth i think, as Kuro is probably going to put himself in danger many many times over the course of this adventure as his self preservation sense is horribly skewed.
I have been a bit nervous bumping this thread up again, but I wanted to jump in with a bit more info about my character.
I went and found Dark Markets, a Guide to Katapesh, as well as the Players guide to the AP. I read through them a bit and came up with some continuing story for my Character. My previous story was from childhood till arrival in Katapesh. Now this is his time (2-3 years) in the city itself.
Apon entering Katapesh, Lightsong help direct Ladus to The Grand Coliseum. Not to fight, or even to watch, but to help out any compatants that sustained injuries. Lightsong urged Ladus to provide assistance wherever he could.
Between the major boughts, Ladus would enjoy watching the ruk games. THey seemed much better, in his eyes, to the bloody fights that were regularlly fought in the coliseum. What both Ladus and Lightsong hated the most was when they would bring out animals to fight.
Ladus would provide healing whenver he could. He would also provide as many goodberries to the poor or Pesh adicts around the area. Not needing any real supply of food or water for himself, his day to day activities became routine, until one of the guilds saw him, and requested his exclusive assistance for their team.
Turns out this guild was the Aspis Consortium, who wanted their ruk team to have the best edge. Ladus, and lightsong, had issues with only being helpful to a select few. Their abilities should be spread to the masses, everyone deserves health and prosperity, not just the select few. He turned them down, and tried to continue his activies just as he had before. Not really aware that he now has eyes watching him.
Soon after Aspis Consortium tried approached him, claiming that by not healing and providing boons to their team, it is as good as Destruction of Property. Ladus, not having any idea what laws he may or may not have commited, ran. He escaped into the Twilight Gate. Finding the Pathfinder Society Lodge. They took him in.
He would help injured agents, and stay low. He never fully joined, but they kept him around, and safe, becoming a fixture of the Lodge for over a year. His upbeat, but somewhat scattered, demeanor fitting in well with the Pathfinders.
If any of this can be altered to mix well with other characters, I would love to do that. If I do get picked, I would love to intertwine my story a bit with other picked PCs. If it makes sense.
This AP sounds really fun to me. I am pretty active with my posts, so you should not have to worry about the 1 post a day limit. Just wanted to expand my story a bit and express how interested I am. Thanks again for running this!
And now we wait. Best of luck, all ya'll.
Same to you! I am guilty of refreshing the page a "few" times over the weekend.
Good luck to everyone!
So, uh...
Hate to ask, but is this recruitment dead? It's been a week since the GM closed recruitment, and the hell week they referred to might honestly have killed their drive. No communication or anything.
I'm worried. :\
I tried PMing the GM, but there has been no response.
I am also worried, I was pretty excited about this AP.
Oh well, I plan on keeping an eye on this thread and hope for the best.
Just realized I posted as my DM profile. Last post was me. It was too late to edit the original post.