Name:Voodoo Danger Samuelson Race: Human Gender: Male Age: 29 Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Classes: Rogue 1/Swash 3/Rogue 5/Swordsage 1
Personality: Brave and curious, but cautious and trepidatious in dangerous environments. Polite but to the point. Sometimes philosophical and open for debate when it comes to major decisions. Serious but knows when to lighten up and let loose.
Description: Dressed in leather pants with a red sash tied to his waist and a short sword strapped to his belt. A glint of a finely woven chain shirt peeks out from beneath his leather vest and overcoat. His shoulder length black hair is tied back in a leather thong and a red bandanna that compliments his striking green eyes. His face is angular and stark but ultimately unremarkable. His most notable feature is the long coil of spiked chain that is wrapped neatly around his torso.
Character Traits: Left handed. Twirls an exotic platinum coin around his fingers on his right hand. Talks quietly. Typically has a serious drawn expression on his face. Continuously chews on ginger and licorice roots.
Character Flaws: Far sighted; wears spectacles when searching for traps and viewing things up close. His hands shake and he squints when searching or examining. Missing ring finger on his left hand (lost it after gambling, presumably the ring went with the finger...).
Background: Voodoo comes from a long line of mages who have varied in the arcane arts for the most part throughout the years. Voodoo however, was not gifted in such a way. Either that or he was too stubborn and foolhardy to give a damn about studying books about magic. He dabbled and played with some of the various wands and scrolls that he acquired from his fathers study, often causing disastrous effects.
His sticky fingers landed him in a great deal of trouble in his home village and over the years his father began to run out of excuses for his son. So, on his 18th birthday, Voodoo was forced to leave the sanctuary of his village in the deep woods.
Although the years he spent on his own were harsh, Voodoo never lost his playful nature. Ever the prankster, he would meet up with random parties of adventurers and convince them that somehow they had left without him. Sometimes it didn't work, but for the most part he had relative success. So it was that he traveled for years with different bands of traveling adventurers seeking glory and fame. His talents came in quite handy over the years as the groups came across the inevitable lock that needed picking and the trap that needed to be avoided.
Voodoo had a crass and cynical side to him that he kept to himself for the most part. No one is really sure where it came from, but it is most certainly there. On one occasion, the band of adventurers he was with had taken down a group of assassins. They had captured one alive and were interrogating him, but he was resisting quite well. Voodoo put a stop to that right then and there let me tell you. He pulled out a dagger and sliced off the man's ear, letting him know that he wasn't fooling around when he asked his next series of questions. The man talked, of course. Most people would under the circumstances. Needless to say, the rest of the group was a little taken aback not so much that he did it, but the casualness that he did it with. It was like it was second nature to him. Like he didn't care one way or another. Voodoo never said a word about it and continued to be his jovial self after the incident was over.
As is the case with most adventures, they all come to an end at some point. That particular one ended rather well and Voodoo made out well enough to have a good solid month on the town. He lived carefree and happy go lucky for a time, that is, until he began gambling. Three Dragon Ante was his game of choice, and he played it well. A little too well from the looks of things. Voodoo had sat down at the table with a hard fellow by the name of Drake. Now Drake was the kind of fellow that people simply lost to in order to save their hides. He would often join games that had already started and roughed up anyone who tried to leave the table. Well, Voodoo didn't care. He put up no fuss and let the brute join in the game. By this late an hour, Voodoo had racked up quite a bundle of cash and people were already beginning to wonder how he was doing it. The fact was that because of the number of players, they were playing with a double deck. This made things a little easier for Voodoo to work his magic, if you catch my drift.
Drake is not the ripest cherry in the bunch, in fact, it would be safe to say he was just plain stupid. Of course no one would dare say that about him because they'd wind up beaten to a pulp and hanging from a tree soon enough. Anyways, Voodoo continued to play the game and his luck ran hotter than oil on a fire. As Drake's pile of gold began to dwindle down to almost nothing, he began to get angry and suspicious. And so, he accused Voodoo of being a rotten cheat. As any rogue with half a brain would do, Voodoo immediately contested and dropped the cards that were up his sleeve down into his boots before he was frisked. Drake didn't care. He challenged Voodoo to some sort of wrestling match that Voodoo had a snowball's chance in hell of winning, so he bolted. He grabbed what coin he could and slipped out the door before anyone could catch him.
The rogue clambered up onto the rooftops and hopped across the buildings trying to stay out of sight. That was when he saw the coach leaving town. A pretty young lass was just hopping into her coach and heading across the border. This was his chance. He made his way down off the rooftops and made a b-line for the carriage and hopped inside. He was greeted by a yelp and a slap on the head by a purse, but he managed to calm the lass down soon enough. Once he had her calmed, he explained the situation and offered her a small amount of gold in exchange for a ride out of town. She agreed and actually seemed to be quite taken by Voodoo and the whole idea of aiding someone on the run.
After a lengthy tryst in the back of the coach, they arrived at the borderlands and Voodoo gave his thanks and set off to find his next adventure. After a few days trek, he happened upon an odd group consisting of four humans a dwarf and a warforged. Despite the odd nature of the group, Voodoo approached them and began to introduce himself…
Those days were long gone now, and Voodoo had been on his own for several years now, spending his garnered wealth and earning anew in the taverns of Asylum’s deepest holes of life. Voodoo had a penchant for gambling, to be sure, and a thirst for alcohol to match. In a tavern called Gren’s Gorge, Voodoo had already drunk himself silly and had been gambling all night. He had been doing quite well for himself, but his luck was about to change. There was a house rule in Gren’s Gorge: no cheating. That was basically the only house rule that mattered; failure to comply meant expulsion, or worse. Often times, it was left to the tavern patrons to decide the fate of someone stacking the deck, or planting cards, and more often than not, the punishment was more severe than a simple expulsion from the bar. It usually ended up in a sound beating and, depending on the severity of the crime, could even lead to an honest lynching.
Well, fortunately for Voodoo, his gambling group had dwindled down to a single fellow, one by the name of Captain Emphemius d'Lyrandar. He was a sly fellow, and caught on rather quickly to Voodoo’s inebriated attempts at sleight of hand. Next thing Voodoo knew, he heard the all too familiar click of a loaded hand crossbow under the table, which could only be assumed was aimed at his belly.
”Put the cards on the table and pass over the gold. You’ve gotten sloppy, Voodoo. You should really learn to control your drink while gambling. It seems to have a detrimental impact on your abilities, which, I might add, are quite impressive until now. I’ve been watching you take these fool patrons for all they’re worth, but I’ll not have you takin me gold like a sod.
“Now, I don’t aim to kill you, nor do I aim to turn you in. What I would like to do is offer you a job. I could use someone with your talents on my ship and so could my crew. I’ll pay you a fair wage and you can have an even share of the take of anything we come across, but if I find you stealing from me or the crew, it’ll be a painful day in your life…
“So,” he continued, ”Do we have an accord? Or would you like to consider the alternatives of having me change my mind?” Voodoo kept a straight face and nodded as he dropped his cards on the table and announced, ”Well, you lucky dog, well played! Well played.” He pushed his sizeable pile of gold over to Captain Emphemius and smiled. ”You bet your ass we have an accord. When do I start?”
Some time later, after a fruitful but brief career with the Captain and crew, Voodoo was struck with the horror of his new friend being murdered before his very eyes. He saw the heroic sacrifice of his newfound friend and a tear spilled from his eye.
And then it happened. The dreadful betrayal of the crew, which brought death upon many hit Voodoo with a storm of rage. He managed to escape the assault and fled to his underground connections of old. He took to drinking and gambling like a fish to water in an effort to drown out the loss of his friends and the Captain who had become as close to a father figure as he had known in years. Indeed, Captain Emphemius d'Lyrandar was a good man and had become a mentor for Voodoo in more ways than one. He had learned a semblance of honor and social code that he never really knew existed. For most of his life he had been left to fend for himself since his family shunned him for lack of the arcane aptitude. Yes, it was truly a loss that would be long felt for Voodoo.
After the remaining crew decided to go their separate ways, Voodoo took comfort in finding his old friends and acquaintances among the underground culture scene of the bustling life of Asylum. He spent most of his time underground slumming it up with the best of them. He took odd jobs, reallocating funds and goods and spreading them out amongst the guild he once belonged to; The Hand. His forays lasted some six years until he resurfaced one day and found a fancy tavern, well, as fancy as they get in the slums of Asylum. There he was presented with a most welcome meeting: the barbarian Jonathon Luck. He strode over to his long lost friend and held out a grimy hand and grasped the warforged’s large metallic hand, then pulled him in for a hug. ”Ah, Jonathan, how have you been? Long time no see, eh? So tell me, what have you been up to these past years?” He motioned Jonothan to sit at a vacant table and requisitioned a waitress to garnish them with a few ales that he was surely to drink on his own, knowing full well that the barbarian had no desire for the taste of alchohol.
They sat and talked well into the night and began plotting their comeback to the life of adventure in the great city of Asylum…
And so it was that Voodoo found himself sitting at the tavern facing off with a dwarf named Mazo over yet another pint of ale...
Quote:
Originally Posted by BraveSirRobin
“Aye, this assignment will be dangerous, I can promise you that.” states the old dwarf sitting across from you at a large oaken table. A long pipe rests at the corner of his mouth, which he puffs on occasionally causing a small cloud of smoke over his head. Mazo was the steward of the dwarven forge known as the Anvil here in the frontier city of Asylum. He had heard of you and your talents from a mutual friend and had sought you out for a special mission. From all accounts the dwarf was a straight shooter and an honest businessman, a rarity in this town. “Then again, danger is nothing new to this city or to you, from what I hear.”
Voodoo sat back in his chair, producing a pipe of his own and pulled out a small leather pouch that was tied to his neck and buried within his tunic. After packing the sweet smelling weed into his pipe, Voodoo produced a match and struck it alight across the rough surface of the table and put the flame to the tobacco. "No, no it's not I am afraid. But go on..."
Quote:
Originally Posted by BraveSirRobin
Asylum was a hustling and bustling city of merchants and traders juxtaposed against the background of dangerous wilderness and mountains overrun by the Horde. It was the sole safe haven on a critical trade route on the Hell’s River, which meant plenty of riches to be had for those brave or foolhardy enough to attempt the route.
“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you about all the raids we’ve been suffering from.” Continued Mazo. “More and more shipments are being lost on a daily basis. Stocks of food and medicine are at dangerous levels and things seem to be getting worse.” Raids were an ordinary part of life in the frontier town but it certainly seemed like their frequency had increased, even against those well equipped and manned. Normally, a well-armed boat would be able to fight off the attacks of disorganized orc tribes or a hungry creature. Lately, however, the attacks have been much better planned and executed resulting in total losses of men and valuables.
“The Master of the Anvil, Gragham Ironbeard, has taken an active roll in making sure this does not continue. We think that traitors within our very own walls are organizing these raids and selling out their own shipments in order to profit from both ends. And that isn’t the worst of it. We think that Vranq and his Horde minions are the ones behind it all and this isn’t the only part of his plan.” Vranq, of course, was the newest Bugbear warlord attempting to organize the various tribes of orcs, goblins and other vile creatures that infested the nearby Soulbreak Mountains, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished in decades.
The dwarf leans in and lowers his voice as if he is revealing something important. “At this very moment Master Ironbeard is attempting to expose these traitors and open up the supply routes once again. But it won’t end there. He is committed to finding out Vranq’s connection to all of this and what other plans he might be forming against us. This is where you come in. We need people of unusual talent and experience to help us. People that are used to a challenge and are looking for the opportunity that it may bring. You’d answer directly to Master Ironbeard and take your fair share of any spoils. You’ll room here with us and we can take care of any smithing you may need. And we expect that you stay on until the job is done. This isn’t some sort of day to day contract. You have to be in it for the long haul or not at all. Those be our terms. Are you in?”
Mazo takes another long drag of his pipe as he awaits your answer.
Voodoo kept a steady face while the dwarf spoke his tale of Vranq and the raids. When it came to the end, when the terms were finally laid out, Voodoo blew out a hefty puff of pungent smoke and leaned back in his chair, resting his boots up on the table. "Aye, I'm in. But I've a few conditions of my own. Firstly, I'll need a new hat." He then looks down at his boots and brushes some dirt and dust from his well worn leather pants and said, "And a new set of leathers as well..."
He took another long thoughtful draw from his simple bone pipe and continued speaking as he let out the smoke. "I'll take no less than ten gold per week. That plus the clothing and you've got yourself a deal," he finished with a wink and a smile.
*Note: Jonothan is expendable and could be replaced with a PC as a joint background attempt or as an NPC. Or he could simply be left behind. I don't mind either way as he is not a necessary element in playing this character.
Questions for Voodoo
1. State your name for the record.
2. How did you become involved in this investigation?
3. What were the series of events that led to the capture of a man named Keeg?
4. Is it true that Keeg was held captive and under the direct control and influence of Gragham Ironbeard before being brought into custody by Walthas Kang.
Voodoo took a long moment as the council began their inquiry of him. "Please state your name for the record."
"Ahem," he began slowly after taking a long drink of water. He reached into his vest and pulled out his ever trusty pipe and loaded it with tobbac, producing a tindertwig to set it alight. Soon, tufts of smoke rose languidly from the pipe and floated gently from his mouth. "My name, for the record, is Voodoo Samuelson. I am one season shy of my thirtieth year and I was born and raised in Divendale. I am five and three quarter hands tall and weight approximately a hundred and eighty-five stones." He took another puff on his pipe and sat back in his chair, resting his feet up on the table.
The council members continued their inquiry, asking, "How did you get involved in this investigation?"
Another puff of smoke and Voodoo replied, "Well, it began late one night at a tavern. I was playing cards and doing quite well, I might add, but the odds were against me that night and an old acquaintence of mine called me on a rather good hand; a little too good if you follow my meaning. Well, he let things slide on account of I gave him his money back and then he offered me a job. Said there was a bloke in town who needed some help. An old dwarf the name of Mazo, so I was told. I said I was in the market for some work and we agreed to meet this Mazo fellow on the next evening...
"The short of it is that this Mazo fellow told me this tale of corruption within the town inner workings and offered me compensation should I agree to help out. Well, after some negotiations were made and other arrangements agreed upon I settled on a price and was given a place to stay and introduced to a few fellows who would be working alongside me.
"Our first assignment was to investigate this house under the assumption that it was rumored to be the safe house for a fellow named Keeg. Well, we all went out and began searching the place and I went around back to check things out. That's when I noticed the rope dangling from the back window of the third story. I made a quick decision to take action and climbed in, only to find a few gobblers and a man lurking about in the hallway. Well, I knew something bad was afoot so I jumped in the window and started swinging my trusty chain. All of a sudden they all turned into these crazy creatures called Barghests. If you don't know what those are, let me tell you they are anything but fun to play with. It took some doing, but I managed to take them down, with a bit of help from my new companions that is...
"The trouble was, when we were done with the Barghest, we went into the room that was suspected to be Keeg's only to find that he had climbed out the window to safety and disappeared. Well, I searched the place and found a fancy mask so we returned to talk to Mazo about what went on. Together we questioned the man who had been leading the Gobblers-turned-Barghest and decided that the mask was a key to a larger puzzle; that Keeg was hiding out at the theatre.
"Well, we wasted no time in going to the theatre and, sure enough, we discovered Keeg and his daughter in the basement planning an escape. Well, his daughter didn't seem to know what was going on, bless her soul. What a looker she is! Keeg managed to run away so I gathered up his daughter and tried to lead her to safety. Unfortunately, when we made it out on to the stage there were several goons waiting for us. My companions managed to hide away Keeg and lead him out of the building unnoticed, but that left me and Katia to fend for ourselves. So, with a bit of quick thinking and fast maneuvering, we were able to evade the goons and make it back to the dressing room to safety. I told the manager of the theatre that there were people looking to kill us all and he raised enough panic for us all to escape unharmed.
"And that's about the size of it. Any other questions or am I free to go?"
The council snuffled and then asked yet another question. "Is it true that Keeg was held captive and under the direct control and influence of Gragham Ironbeard before being brought into custody by Walthas Kang."
Voodoo took another drag from his pipe, then tapped the bowl in dismay as he realized that its contents had dwindled to naught but smoldered embers, then replied, "I really didn't pay much attention to this last part of the goings on. Some folks came and left, but mostly Keeg was kept under lock and key. I spent some time with Katia and did some shopping with my reward money, among other things, so I really couldn't tell you what went on after we captured Keeg.
"Now, if you have no further questions of me, there's a mighty fine bonnie lass who needs some attention and looking after..."
Stuffa
Stuffa is a tobacco that is chemically treated and rolled into small cigarettes called “twigs”, which can be quickly
smoked in several strong drags. The drug has become quite popular with young nobles that smoke it for the
feelings of confidence and euphoria that it creates, as well as sharpening the wit. Smoking a second does while the
first dose is still in effect increases the effect DC by 5 and thus increases the likelihood of it taking effect.
Addiction Level: Low
Price per dose: 50gps
Alchemical DC: 20
Method of dosage: Smoked
Effect DC: 15
Initial Effect: The user receives a +4 alchemical bonus to charisma for 15 minutes. Multiple fails do not stack.
47
Secondary Effect: The general feeling of ease and confidence also slows the user’s reaction times resulting in a -2 to
dexterity and a reduction in movement rate by 5’ for 1hour. Multiple fails stack
Side Effect: The user has a feeling of great confidence and euphoria.
Overdose: None
Voodoo probably would have gone back to check on what was his name, Mazo? The one we returned the hot actress to. Gosh, been a while but I think that was his name. Well, would have gone back to scope that place out. If it was crawling with the fuzz, he would have disappeared and gotten lost for a while, probably stopping by Divendale to make sure that his old friend Kuni the singer was doing alright on his way out of town. Along the way he continued his personal training as a (gaining 1 level as rogue with +1 Sneak Attack)rogue and then stumbled upon someone or a group of someones in River City who challenged him to a battle of sorts. He had few to no options so he stood his ground, but they Swordsage Martial Maneuversmoved like he had never seen before. While he was confident he could have bested them, there were too many and he was in foreign land, so he conceded.
They tied him up to a chair and questioned him, much like the Inquisitor had. Reminded of the Inquisitor, Voodoo answered in half truths that danced around the issue but still satisfied the requirements of the questions. This irritated them, so they lightlytortured Voodoo for a while, but he was resilient to their methods. The questioning began again and Voodoo continued as he had before, his remarkable intelligence allowing him to remember his answers even under duress and continue to lead them astray on a path of half truths and not-quite-lies.
Frustrated but not quite sure of how to proceed, the group decided to hold onto the slippery rogue for a while. During his captivity he watched them sparring and after a while began chiding them, telling them that they were doing it wrong, particularly to one with a spiked chain. The individual came over to Voodoo and challenged him on his assertions and when he responded, "Tell you what, you teach me how to dance around like you do, and I'll teach you how to use a chain properly, deal?"
The person pulled off their hooded cloth mask to reveal a beautiful elfin female face, the owner of which said, "Sure. You show me yours and I'll show you mine." Voodoo replied, "I haven't heard that line in a long time, but I'll take you up on it! Just untie me then and let's get started..." She did and they started. It was awkward for the both of them at first. Well, it was awkward for a while, but after about a week or so, they had grown more comfortable with each others fighting techniques and had begun the process of dual training, with him teaching her the fine arts of finessing the chain and with her beginning to teach him the secrets of the martial adept.
Together they Shadow Jauntdanced through shadows, went through the motions of tripping battle dummies and finishing off with an attack once they've fallen. She taught him how to Shadow Garrotegather shadows and throw them at other creatures to injure or kill them. Voodoo shared his knowledge of the rogue's ability to sneak attack a foe and she responded by teaching him how to combine their knowledge of shadows and sneak attacks to create a new Assassin Stancevision that enabled him to search for weak points on his enemies by searching for the shadows between plates of armor, which enhanced his accuracy and subsequently increased his sneak attack damage.
They had been training together for over a week and Voodoo's personality and attention to detail seemed to have won her over. Her name was Ambrosia. She told him late one night that she was named after an elixir of immortality, one that the gods and mortals had quarreled over for centuries. She went on to explain that just one taste of Ambrosia was said to give one life everlasting. And with such a gift, one must be responsible with whom she shares it with, but she must also be generous with those she does decide to share for one will never know if they are truly immortal until they die, so it is best to consume a healthy serving on a regular basis... And then the dialogue trailed off into, well...
05-21-2008, 12:56 AM
