Character Name: Maja Tallstag
Alignment: Lawful Good
Sex: Female
Race: Variant Human
Variant Human Feat: Lucky
Class: Mystic
Mystic Order: Ordered of the Awakened
Quirks: I never consume alcohol. I always wear a specific piece of clothing.
Age: 18
Background: Guild Artisan
Guild Business: Cartographer
Personality Traits: If someone is in trouble, I'm always ready to lend help. Nothing can shake my optimistic attitude.
Ideal: Fairness. No one should get preferential treatment before the law, and no one is above the law. (Lawful)
Bond: I wish my childhood sweetheart had come with me to pursue my destiny.
Flaw: The people who knew me when I was young know my shameful secret, so I can never go home again.
Appearance
At first sight, it became clear that the girl at the table in the corner didn't belong to this sailors' waterhole. As much as she was out of place here, she didn't seem to feel uncomfortable though. While the regular guests were sitting sunk down in front of their ale-filled tankards, the pale woman had her back straight, sipping at what looked and smelled like hot fruit tea. She was about in her late teens. Long, soft ash blonde hair framed her oval-shaped face. Her skin was flawless and didn't show any signs of hard labor under the open sky.
With her right hand, the young lady grabbed her mug to take another sip. Her slender fingers were clean aside from a few ink stains in different colors on her thumb and middle finger. As she raised the mug to her mouth, she warmed her hands at the cup filled with the hot tea.
After the girl had emptied the mug, she stood up and walked to the bar counter with her head held high to pay for the beverage. She was not a small woman at about five feet and nine inches. She wore a figure-accentuating violet shoulder-free dress under a worn studded leather armor. If she was here to book a passage on one of the many boats going North, she must have decamped over-hastily, for otherwise, she would have dressed in something more suitable for a long sea journey.
History
Maja's parents are cartographers in Amphail, a village a three days' ride north of Waterdeep. She has a brother who is two years younger than her. Her parents are conservative people far from being rich, but they made sure that their children got the best education they could afford. Naturally, Maja and her brother were trained in the cartographer's business as well.
Already as a child, Maja has been extraordinarily brilliant. While her parents delighted in having such a brilliant daughter, they didn't know the reason for Maja's keen mind: The girl was a mutant, psionic powers were slumbering inside her mind.
At the age of six, her psionic powers manifested for the first time. Inadvertently, Maja set the family's barn ablaze when uncontrolled psionic energy caused a fiery detonation. Later, she couldn't explain to her parents what had happened. They assumed that this was a particular foolish prank of their daughter. Since then, Maja's supernatural powers grew, and she slowly began to understand how to wield her psionic powers to control the minds of others. However, Maja didn't dare talk to anyone about the "witchcraft", which she couldn't explain. She tried to push her manifesting talent to the back of her mind as much as possible. She knew she had the ability to take over the minds of others, but she also knew how wrong it would be if she deprived others of their free will.
In her teens, Maja dated Darvin Songsteel, a lovely lad of the neighborhood. He quickly fell in love with her. Maja was in seventh heaven. The young pair even began to sleep together. Maja's parents didn't know, and her daughter would have never told them as they had a somewhat conservative opinion about unmarried sex. The girl was feeling guilty, although she knew deep inside that she wasn't doing something wrong.
One day, Maja entrusted herself to her boyfriend and told him about her dormant psionic powers, which she hadn't asked for and which she would get rid of the sooner, the better. Much to her horror, that was too much for poor Darvin, however. The young lad couldn't cope with her mind-controlling powers and began to call her a witch that had made a pact with foul entities straight from hell. Their dispute escalated and resulted in her parents finding out her relationship to Darvin and about her lost virginity.
Ashamed of what she was and what she had done, Maja took the few belongings she had, including the red heart-shaped pendant, Darvin had gifted her, and ran away from her parents' home, hoping that she would bring no more shame about them. The young woman gave away all her savings, headed to Waterdeep and booked a not too expensive passage whose destination was Baldur's Gate. Maja planned to join the cartographer's guild in this metropolis and to try her luck there.
Maja wants nothing more than being reunited with her parents and Darvin, her love she has left behind in Amphail. However, she will have to overcome her shame first. Unknown to her, a few weeks after Maja had left Amphail, Darvin began to feel very bad about having broken off with Maja. He struck out on his own to find his lost love. He has found out which passage Maja took. He has been visiting several ports along the Sword Coast in search of any sign of the ship that seemed to have gone up in smoke.
Maja's parents have no ideas where she went. At first, they thought that she would get in touch with their guild in Baldur's Gate as the family had some contacts there. However, all that the guild masters could tell them was that Maja didn't go to Baldur's Gate. They would like nothing better than condoning Maja's misconduct.
Personality
Maja was born under a lucky star. Her luck is proverbial in the town of her birth and may be one reason why she seems to be always in a good mood. She is outgoing and cheerful, trying to help those who are in need. The girl has a large circle of friends, but only very few close ones.
Although her parents were staunchly conservative, they had always treated Maja fairly. Possibly due to that, Maja had developed a strong sense of justice already as a young girl. In her childhood, by chance, Maja once observed the town's most influential jeweler, Stedd Amblecrown, as he was acquiring casting molds to counterfeit coins. The young girl ran to the town watch and reported what she had seen. The merchant was caught in the act and sent to prison. If Maja has an enemy for life, it is him.
Apart from herself, Darvin is the only one who knows about her psionic powers. She fears that her powers will someday corrupt her. Maja still remembers the fear of herself she felt when her powers uncontrollably manifested for the first time. She will never forget the smell of the fire and smoke in the burning barn. Fearing that she may lose control of her powers once more, she has decided not to consume any alcohol.
One day, Maja may have an encounter with someone who could become her spiritual guide and influence her in her religious beliefs.
Role-Playing Sample
It was already dark when Maja was heading home. The teenaged girl had been visiting the local library and had forgotten the time.
"Pretty lass, would you lend me a helping hand?"
Maja turned around and looked into the back alley to her left from where the hoarse voice had come. A man in simple clothes, whose flaxen hair already showed the first grey streaks, was lying on the doorsteps of an unremarkable house. The girl came nearer. The man must have fallen. He was holding his right leg, his face twisted with pain. Apparently, he wasn't able to get up.
"Wait, I'm giving you a leg up," Maja said to him. "Do you live here?"
The man nodded. "Thank you, young lady! You are the first who didn't just pass by."
Reaching out to him, the lass helped him pulling himself up on his healthy leg. Leaning on her, the man pointed to the key he was wearing on a chain around his neck. "Tomorrow, that will go off all right," he said. "Just help me inside, please, so that I can slump on my sofa."
Maja took the key and turned it in the front door's lock. As she depressed the door handle, the man suddenly started moving. In the blink of an eye, all his frailness had gone. Brutally, he shoved the girl forward as he pressed into his home. With a kick, he slammed the door shut behind him. Maja fell to the floor. Her facial expression changed from disbelief to speechless terror as the man launched himself on her.
"I have been casting a covetous eye on you since weeks," the man whispered with ill-concealed lust in her ear and rolled her over onto her back. Maja wanted to scream but she couldn't. Wildly, he forced apart her legs. Her skirt slid up, and he lied down on her with his full weight. The girl closed her eyes. Either, the inevitable would happen to her, or she would have to use her psionic powers one last time.
Mustering all the will she had, Maja focused her mind and reached telepathically into his mind. A psychic thrust set his brain cells on fire. The man cried out in pain and loosened the grip on the girl just enough so that she was able to weasel out of her unpleasant position on the cold floor. Before he was able to react, Maja was already running out of the house.
This night, for a long time, Maja couldn't find any sleep. She was sitting upright in her bed at home. Again and again, the horrible scene in the man's house was crossing her mind. She knew that she had been forced to break her vow not to use her psychic abilities anymore and that it wasn't her fault. But she would like nothing better than to talk to her parents about what had happened. Still, she feared they wouldn't understand or, worse, would be appalled by her, so she kept her secret.
Stat Block
Maja Tallstag LG Female human mystic 1
Armor Class 13 Hit Points 10/10 Speed 30 ft
Str 11 Dex 13 Con 15 Int 18 Wis 13 Cha 18
Saving throws Wis +6, Cha +4
Skills Deception +6, Insight +3, Intimidation +6, Investigation +6, Perception +3, Persuasion +6, Stealth +3
Senses passive Perception 13 Languages Celestial, Common, Elvish
Psionics (DC 14, +6) Talents mind thrust Disciplines (4 psi) mantle of awe , psychic disruption , telepathic contact
Spear +2 (1d6/1d8 piercing) Crossbow, light +3 (1d8+1 piercing)
Last edited by Disaster Master; Sep 18th, 2018 at 03:24 PM .