Name:Darius Dar Baden Class: Fighter Alignment: Lawful Neutral Religion: The Sovereign Host (Dol Arrah) Age: 28 Region of Origin: Rekkenmark, Karrnath
Darius Dar Baden is the third son of the noble House Baden, one of the finest families in Rekkenmark. Patrons of the arts with extensive investments in property, their scions were raised in luxury and privilege. Even the Last War did not touch Darius in his early years, with the defenses of Rekkenmark deterring raids and sieges. When he came of age, as the third son Darius had few choices. His eldest brother was the natural air, the middle child gone to the Priests of Vol, leaving soldiering the expected result. Never one to disobey the wishes of his family, Darius dutifully enrolled in the Rekkenmark Academy after a nominal stint in the city garrison. Though he was not the strongest student or the best swordsman, he proved an able rider and a consummate strategist. In the instructional wargames run by the university, Darius was always the quickest to pick up on the rules and exploits. Though not the top of his class, Darius was highly placed and expected to go far.
Darius was given the rank of Lieutenant and sent south, to the Talenta Plains. Though the halfling natives had begun their underground movement of unification, much of the territory was still claimed by Karrnath and Cyre. In these wide open spaces, the shambling legions of undead that Karrnath relied on were useless. Any reasonably mounted force could run circles around a unit on foot, bleeding them the entire time. Darius saw the potential, and was soon given dispensation by his colonel to form a mounted raiding force, trained and equipped similar to the Valenar raiders to the south. He consulted with loyal halfling tribes and even made overtures to the plains elves, though the isolationist Valenar rebuffed him. By the Day of Mourning, Darius had a fit, streamlined unit at his disposal, veterans of many running battles.
On that fateful day, Darius and his riders were remarkably close to the event. Scouting Cyran settlements on the Talentan side of of the Cyre River, Darius saw the sky beyond the river burn with a pure white light, before a rushing gray fog obscured the border. Holding his position, Darius heard from his infiltrators of the horrors that could be found on the other side of the river. Approaching the militia officers and elders of the settlements, Darius offered them protection in return for fealty to Karrnath. Most refused, unable to fathom the great change that had occurred. Though forced to slaughter those who raised arms against him and his men, Darius otherwise left the settlements untouched. In time, many changed their minds as the impact of the Mourning began to take hold. Others fled, seeking sanctuary elsewhere. Darius's superiors were not entirely pleased with the need to protect these vulnerable settlements, so close to the mysterious Mournland. But when Valenar raiders came screaming around the eastern shores of Lake Cyre, the Cyrans stood their ground alongside the soldiers.
For the next several years, Darius defended what was now "his" territory, promoted to Captain and ordered to deal with this situation of his own making. Though poorly supplied by high command, somehow Darius kept the area relatively secure from Valenar elves and militant halfling tribes alike. When the Treaty of Thronehold was signed, Darius was discharged from the army, as Karrnath chose to emphasize its low-cost storage of undead legions over active units. Darius returned to Rekkenmark, where he gave a poorly-attended lecture series on the tactics and methods of the Talenta Plains. A few months later, he was invited to Sharn for a guest lecture, and found himself caught up in a most interesting adventure....
Darius is not the grim fellow that most people imagine Karrnathi to be. In fact he can be rather cheerful at most times, in a reserved and aristocratic sort of way. Unfortunately, his well-known bloodline has given him something of an air of superiority, that while useful as a commanding officer, can be grating to others. His calm demeanor portrays every incident as a mere inconvenience, and any obstacle can be overcome with sufficient planning, determination, and good family connections.
In terms of mechanics, I considered using the Roughrider archetype of Fighter, but I thought it might be better to diversify so his bonuses aren't so dependent on having a mount. Somewhat hard to take a horse into the sewers of Sharn, after all. But I might do it anyway, depending on what sort of adventures people might expect/like to see/get hinted at by the DM after the initial one.
Three Goals: Defend the honor of House Baden, defend the territorial claims of Karrnath to the south, and find some way to bring greater fortune or reputation to his family. Allied Monsters: Halfling dinosaurs, Karrnathi undead Enemy Monsters: Madborn, drow Allied Nation: The Talenta Enemy Nation: Valenar Secret of The Setting: What caused the Day or Mourning? (an oldy but a goody)
Last edited by GrimDarkOtter; Aug 20th, 2012 at 11:54 PM.
Name:Savrin Caldemore Race: Wildhunt Shifter Class: Ranger Alignment: Chaotic Good Gender: Male
Appearance: A hulking brute of a man, Savrin has hair the colour of autumn leaves—and he's quite hairy (or furry) all over, with shaggy sideburns and long arm hair. He tends to prowl rather than walk, and his ugly mug (covered in a number of scars, with a crooked nose and mysterious burn wounds) with glowing amber eyes tends to scare off people before he has a chance to get a word in. His fingernails are generally overgrown and sharp, and his teeth almost all end in jagged points. Savrin wears a thick leather vest that leaves his arms bare, and he eschews footwear whenever possible. Around his neck hangs a tiny blue dragonshard affixed to a leather chain, claimed from an enemy soldier in the Last War. His pointed ears are both pierced twice through the lobe with tiny silver bands.
Personality: Though rather intimidating at first glance, Savrin is surprisingly gentle, although he loses himself when battle becomes an inevitability. He enjoys small things (especially halflings and children), cute things (see previous), and things that smell nice; he has an especially strong sense of smell, and the reek of cities and other filthy places tends to make him irate and grumpy. He has a sharp eye and dextrous hands, traits that caught the eye of his former military commander and got him tossed into an archery squad. His time served in the army makes him rather obedient to orders granted by authority, but Savrin obeys only those who he feels deserve his respect. Savrin's time in the army taught him that most people are fundamentally good at heart, and that very little in this world is more important than camaraderie. He'll do anything to protect those he trusts, no matter the cost to himself; that explains the numerous scars he's picked up all over his body. His time in Cyre also impressed upon him an appreciation of art and beauty, although the Day of Mourning has given him an instinctive distrust and fear of magic.
Background: Savrin was born to a family of nomadic shifters; they travelled all the way from the plains of Talenta to the depths of the Eldeen Reaches, never satisfied to stay in one place for more than a few days. What Savrin only discovered later is that they were not simply struck by eternal wanderlust, or of some desire to escape the worst of the Last War... they were on the run. His family hid a weretiger refugee from the time of the Silver Flame purges, and the entire group were terrified to see what would happen if the secret about his great-grandfather ever got out. Savrin was never able to understand why such devastation of his ancestors occurred; he loathes the Silver Flame as a result. Ultimately, though, his childhood was a warm and happy one.
The family were travelling through Cyre when everything went pear-shaped. An ambush attack was launched when they happened to be in the area, and the family suddenly found themselves amidst the chaos and crossfire of a full-scale battle. Savrin got lost from his family, stumbling into a Cyran soldier's trench in his attempts to flee. The young shifter's sobbing and weeping saved him from being killed on sight, but nonetheless, all subsequent attempts after the battle to locate his family were fruitless. The military commander, a man named Larren, decided out of the kindness of his heart to take the shifter in, at least temporarily. Savrin made himself useful helping out about the battlefield, using his keen sense of smell to scout and locate enemies. In time, he was taught the tricks of archery, and was officially welcomed into the ranks of the Cyran army. Savrin was with the Cyran army for almost a decade; he saw horrors that no young boy should ever see, and grew up quickly, but he also experienced the mateship that comes from serving in the trenches together, and came to love his new adopted family.
The Day of Mourning brought all that to a screeching halt. How Savrin survived the blast of arcane magic, he has no idea, and wishes to never loom upon the events of that day to find out. One moment, he and his squadron were out scouting; the next, there was a wave of heat, and light, and destruction, and pain everywhere. The land around him withered and died; some of his compatriots were destroyed in an instant, while the rest screamed and wailed and fled. Savrin, too, ran for his life, running until he could handle it no more, and then running some more. After god knows how long, he stumbled upon a Brelish outpost; he was not the only Cyran refugee there, either. He remained there for some time, his trauma sending him mute for half a year; eventually, he was moved to the developing refugee camp at New Cyre, and the events of the world unfolded around him.
For the four years since Cyre's destruction, Savrin has occasionally aimlessly wandered, occasionally served as mercenary or muscle, and occasionally simply drowned himself in taverns and pubs around Breland. Recently, though, Savrin has decided that he can't simply ignore reality anymore. He has decided to take action, and make his own goals and motives in life. For the first time, Savrin had to take charge of his world.
Three goals your character has
1. Learn the whereabouts of his family, if they ever survived for all these years.
2. Investigate the Day of Mourning, why it occurred, and how to make sure it never happens again.
3. Re-establish Cyre as a true nation.
Two types of monsters you would like to see as allies
1. Lycanthropes, because, well, duh.
2. Dragons, because I really like the Chamber and the Draconic Prophecy.
Two types of monsters you would like to see as enemies
1. Rakshasa and other fiends, because they are so evil and sneaky and cool.
2. Quori, see 'evil and sneaky and cool' above.
One organization/group/nation you would like to have friendly relations with
1. Cyran refugees and Prince Oargev. I like the idea of solving the mystery of the Mournlands.
One organization/group/nation you would like to have unfriendly relations with
1. The Silver Flame. Bloody uptight jerks.
One secret of the setting you would like to explore
1. What happened on the Day of Mourning, exactly?
I'm unlikely to use very much outside of the Eberron books and Pathfinder books, purely because I strongly dislike a lot of 3.5e splat. That, and I don't think PF needs it.
Archetypes: Shapeshifter and Skirmisher (both from APG). Would you consider letting me taking Shifter feats as part of the natural weapon style (or replacing some of the choices even)?
I'll also be taking the Shifter Ranger substitution levels in RoE pp. 128-129.
Though I'll have the Natural Attacks combat style, I'm planning to focus on archery; the shapeshifting will just allow me to wade into melee if I need to.
My "flavour" for Savrin is a tiger; would you consider letting me take a big cat animal companion at 4th level? Otherwise I'll take the small cat and just flavour it as a smaller tiger.
As he goes up in levels, he's going to become more and more like a weretiger in appearance. I'll be taking Form of the Bear and Form of the Cat shifter's blessings in the Shapeshifter archetype to represent both the strength and the nimbleness of a tiger.
I may take the Weretouched Master PrC from ECS pp. 85-87, but I think the Shapeshifter archetype does a good enough job at mimicking the same effects.
__________________ Getting over the flu and busy with university work--sorry for the slow posting as of late!
All of civilisation waits unknowing on the shore, blissfully ignorant of what the Savage Tide is about to bring in...
Although Juniper may be pretty she has never really used this to her advantage, her self confidence amongst other people is nothing compared to how she feels exploring the darker more dangerous parts of the world. When trying to express a point she of stammers and stumbles over her words, speaks in a mumble and often backs down when confronted.
On top of her alchemical training she also inherited her fathers tendency to obsess occasionally to her detriment. One thing which she didn't get from her father were her obsessions of exploring forgotten dungeons. That comes instead from a longing she has somewhere deep down to find out as much as she can about the past.
Born in Sharn, Juniper never really knew her mother. Her father had always been pretty vague on the subject, but Juniper had learned, was that her mother contracted a progressive disease after her birth. She died when Juniper, their only child, was just over two years old. The money that was spent on treatments had all but ruined the family, so her father threw himself back into his work. He was an alchemist, mostly of the classic variety. He would sit in his lab day and night mixing his chemicals for tindertwigs and liquid ice, supplying a few low tier shops in Sharn with his regular deliveries. Working away the debts that had built up and in a way working away the pain of his wife's death meant that Juniper practically never saw her father outside of the lab.
A child left to her own mischief growing up in Sharn, especially on the lower levels could have been quite dangerous. She was often mistaken for a war-orphan or an urchin and had she not a warm bed to sleep in at night things may have turned out very different for her. Though as things stood she picked up the usual street skills without getting caught up in the gang wars going on down there. The lack of a mother in her life, perhaps effected her even more than she will ever realise. It was always her parents plan that her mother, whom was always the more social of the two should teach Juniper the societal paths of life. Things like Halfling traditions and hospitality, social graces and storytelling were never really passed along to the girl.
Her late teens were Juniper's making years. The war effort was in it's prime and by this time she had explored most of the reachable areas of the cogs. Her knowledge of the unseen level of Sharn was getting her guide jobs with the house Cannith technicians as a guide. The house unboubtably noticed her talents, not only as a guide but as an independant crafter and when a spot opened up on one of thier exploritory expeditions she was drafted. Juniper was whisked away, via airship, to the city of stormreach. Where she joined a team assembled to finding ancient warforged artifacts in order to accelerate Cannith's own research. She fortunatly both avoided being drafted by the Brellish military and a large portion of the war in this way.
Her return to Khorvaire, since the war was a tearful one. In her absence her father had come to truly realise how much he relied on her. She has since been turning down most job offers that remove her from home for more than a week. Instead she has been working again in her father's lab, making up for the years that she spent on another continent.
Goals:
- Wants to make a brighter future for her immediate family, which means her father. Though he wouldn't accept charity, she would probably go about this by helping him set up a better alchemist's lab and using her own reputation to further the businesses name.
- After working for House Cannith, she acquired a taste for true dungeoneering. She has found she truly enjoys breaking into lost ruins and discovering the secrets they hold. She would like to explore this as a career option.
- Something she wants, but on a subconscious level perhaps, is to discover somthing of her heritage as a halfling. Most halflings see Juniper like a sort of short half-elf as she is right now.
Allies:
- She has found many of the Xen'dricese Drow to be unexpectantly good allies. Though so many of them seem to be possessed with the mentality of the warrior or hunter or whatever, the more peaceful communities respect her talents and have provided her with much valuable support in the past.
- Kobolds have a predisposition to the fiddily crafts and her father had a couple of them working for him as lab assistants. She learned a couple of her trapcrafting tricks from them (when her father wasn't looking) and has always been able to get along with them despite their flinchy nature
Enemies:
- The undead and golems are common foes for any dungeon delver to encounter. Juniper has run into so many of these she has developed a special brand of explosives that she carries with her at all times.
-((not sure about a second, giants seem a tad cliche seeing as how much Xen'dric theming she already has))
Friendly Group:
- House Cannith has obviously been a big influence in Juniper's life so far and it would probably be advantageous for both parties that the relationship continues. She has however neglected her ties to the various Brellish groups that might help her with her goals, using the Houses to evade military service certainly did her no favours, even if it wasn't planned that way.
Hostile Group:
- The Sharn Syndicate is certainly a little bitter about how our halfling seems to have shot up the social ladder. When she was a young thing left to her own devices in the city, her propensity towards mischief drew her to peers that had talents of a more criminal leaning. Many of the friends she made hanging about on and under the gangways of Sharn-city have grown up to find themselves nestled in criminal organisations, and jealousy can be an ugly emotion in the minds of such people.
Secrets of Eberron:
- The idea of Cyre, the Mourning (to Mournlands) and the Lord of Blades are massive elements to Eberron, part of what draws people into the setting and outside of fighting the Lord of Blades in DnD online, I've never had a chance to really explore anything else about those elements. Of course half of who Juniper is, is all about digging up lost history.
Last edited by Bushwhacked; Dec 28th, 2011 at 09:29 PM.
Dec 20th, 2011, 03:07 AM
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