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I was mulling over this exemplar for a while. I had a rough idea in my head, but I needed to sit down and think about it for a while to make it all work with the Exemplar class. I still say the Exemplar needs an unarmored build option. But, for now, here is what I came up with:
Mournful Leishil, Male Elf Exemplar
(From Jinin)
Leishil was born nearly three centuries agao in Jinin. Records from the time are spotty, but by some means or another, Jinin was orphaned at a monastery dedicated to Irori before he was even old enough to walk. Growing up amongst the monks of Irori, Leishil became immersed in their ways, dedicating himself to perfecting swordsmanship as both a form of meditation, and as a way to see the perfection in all things. He journeyed the land for a while, trying to take in all of the lessons he could learn, and trying to understand his own path to perfection so that he could enlighten others like Irori.
Finally, after almost two centuries of study, practice, meditation, and swordplay, Leishil could feel that he was approaching something monumental. Quelling his ego, and taking lessons from those who had come before, Leishil revisited his childhood temple, and began to meditate, sensing that this was the last step on his path to enlightenment.
It is said that Leishil mediated in his room in the temple without moving, eating, or drinking for over a hundred days as his spirit began to surpass his mind and broach enlightenment. For his part, Leishil sat, almost forgetting his body, as he began to untangle cosmic riddles and reach cosmic truths in the deepest states of mediation. He was almost there, he could feel it. His ego, his senses of self, his mortal body was stripping away as he glimpsed the golden radience of true understanding.
Leishil was suddenly jolted awake by the smell of blood and ash. He found himself, back in his body, int he middle of a ritual circle as it was being finished. Before he could react, he saw the several hooded men with unholy symbols of Sifkesh-a cult with which he had once quarreled, finish their ritual. And then-darkness.
Leishil awoke in the burned-out husk of the temple. As he stood, he felt . . . different. He tried to reach for his weapons and armor but found his movements weak, uncoordinated, unskilled. What's worse, he couldn't seem to recall any of the past lessons over the years. Somehow, the Sifkesh ritual had done something to him.
Over the course of the next few months, gradually, Leishil discovered what had happened. The Sifkesh cultists-devoted to their god who wished to undermine all other religions, had heard tell of his eminent rise to enlightenment, and had surmised this would be a great boon to Irori worshipers everywhere, and greatly help his religion. They had done worse than kill him, they had injected doubt into Irori's congregation that enlightenment was possible. In order to undermine Irori, they had somehow done a ritual that obliterated his experiences. He remembered what he had done, but it was as if he was blocked from learning anything from the past, and was forced to re-learn everything. But that small spark, that glimpse of enlightenment he had seen right before the ritual took effect, that could not be erased. That was true divinity, beyond the touch of mortal magic. He still had that spark, though he knew not how to get back to that place again.
And so Leishil took off again. He does not know if he has enough time left on Golarion to re-learn enlightenment, but he knows he must confront the Sifkesh cultists. If he is to achieve enlightenment, he has to stop them from doing the ritual again. He also has to stop them from doing what they have done to anyone else.
As Leishil journeys, he has learned that he can allow others to glimpse just the tiniest hint of enlightenment, and show how that potential was ripped away, which almost never fails to bring a tear to the eye of anyone, earning him the monicker, 'the mournful.'
Mournful Leishil (level 4)
Male Elf Exemplar, Perception (t)+7 (+2 to detect undetected creatures)(+1 if body invested)
Medium Elf Humanoid
AC: 21 (23 vs. ranged attacks if body invested) HP: 54
Speed: 35 (45 when divine spark in sandals)
Fort (e)+10, Ref: +10, Will(e) +9
Background: Wandering Preacher (Irori)
Heritage: Whisper Elf
Ancestry Feat: Elven Weapon Familiarity
Skills: Acrobatics +10, Athletics (e) +10, Religion +7, Survival +7, Irori Lore +6, Sifkesh Lore (e)+8
Str+2 Dex +4 Con+2 Int+0 Wis+1 Chr+0
Class Feats: Vow of Mortal Defiance, Claim Initiate Domain (Guided Introspection),
Class Features: Ikons (Gaze sharp as steel (body), Gleaming Blade (weapon), Thousand League Sandals (worn))
Class DC: 20
Focus Points: 1
Melee Attack: Elven Curved Blade: +11(2d8+2, or 2d8+2+4 if divine spark invested)
Ranged Longbow: GakGung +10 (1d6+1)
Skill Feats: Pilgram's Token (from Background), Additional Lore (Sifkesh Lore), Powerful Leap
Equipment: +1 Striking Elven Curved Blade, Leather Lamallar, Holy Symbol of Irori, Holy texts on meditation and enlightenment, Adventurer's pack,