Character 28 - Grixxizt Wavecrest

A seaborn Kobold with a force of will and a personality to match his agility and hardiness. Left to die at birth, later to become a follower of the god Gozreh. This and other rolls hint at what our little Kobold might be. However, mine is not the only opinion that matters; read on and see what I came up with and then comment on what you might have done differently.

Although I mostly deal in story, I have mentioned before that rules are also an important aspect of the game.  With this character in particular, the rules are going to help us tell our story. There are a lot of things we’re gonna need to talk about but the first is class. With the Left For Dead circumstances of birth and the 14 charisma Oracle seemed the way to go. Oracle of Waves with the Elementalist archetype. Sadly none of the curses from Paizo fit my thematic idea so we’re going to go 3PP and use Tripod Machine’s Chilled curse.

Next, as you’ll see, dragons play a major role in the background so I’m going to switch out Darkvision, Light Sensitivity, Natural Armor, and Crafty for the Day Raider, Dragon-Scaled and Wyrm Crowned alternate racial traits. The traits Seafarer—which gives a bonus to Knowledge Nature and Geography when at sea and a bonus to swimming, and Blood of Dragons—which adds a +1 perception bonus, both fit the thematics.

At first level the Kobold only Dragon Aspect feat will be chosen because it fits our little dragon man, and later on he’ll have to take Skill Focus (Perception) so that he can eventually take the Eldritch Heritage line of feats to really bring out his essence of the wyrm. But what kind would he be? For that you’ll need to follow the story and I’d need to ask for some GM approval because it’s not a common dragon.

Grixxizt Wavecrest

The Clipped Albatross has always been considered an odd ship sailing as sometimes pirate, sometimes merchant and, occasionally as privateer for a country in need. But it’s not just that it takes on whatever job it can, it’s the fact that its crew is, in a word, diverse. The captain is Half-Orc whose land of origin has been lost to time and his own unwillingness to divulge his secrets. The first mate is a Catfolk from Jalmeray whose morning meditations atop the mainsail usually spooks new crew. A Gnoll from Katapesh, a Tian Tengu, and of course a small family of Kobolds make the Clipped Albatross’ crew a wonder at any port.

Grixxizt is the middle child born to the Kobold family, or not quite born. His mother is a rigger and his father the cook. The little dragon came into the world during one of the worst storms the ship ever had to weather. Between the constant swells flooding even the lower decks and the wind tossing the ship all over the choppy seas, Grixxizt’s birth was harsh and one he didn’t survive. The stillborn child couldn’t be saved and during the continuing storm was given a burial at sea.

Two days later when the seas calmed and the skies opened to the sun, a call from the crow’s nest sent the crew into a flurry of activity. The lookout claims to have seen some kind of bluish green scaled creature starboard side. When the crew came rushing to take a look what they found as a living breathing baby kobold; all blue and green-scaled with a neck-frill, crying on the deck of the ship. Grixxizt’s mother recognized her child immediately and cried tears of joy.

Being an oddity occasionally made the Clipped Albotross a target as well, especially to slavers. Odd creatures that were good at seafaring could fetch quite a bit of gold. The ship was attacked by slavers bearing the yellow sails of the Okeno, and the Gnoll bosun and Grixxizt were both taken in the ensuing melee. The crew tracked the slavers down in the port city of Okeno and eventually bought the safe return of their crew. Still Grixxizt had to suffer a few months under the thumb of the slavers and the bad taste has never left his mouth.

Grixxizt had always had problems with the chill weather. As he grew it seemed that it took more and more to keep him warm. He would spend much of his days on the deck of the ship basking in the sun, but even then he would complain of the cold. Luckily sailing mostly on the Garund side of the inner sea and down as far as Jalmeray in the Obari Ocean means he never had to suffer through the harsh winters of the oddly misnamed Steaming Sea.

The Clipped Albatross’ travels and occasional use as a passenger vessel meant that young Grixxizt met varied and interesting people. One of those who traveled with the ship twice a year from Sothis in Osirian to Niswan in Jalmeray was a scholar and an astronomer. Although the Clipped Albatross only ever saw him for these trips he was known to have traveled far and wide, and the seaborn Kobold was always enamored of his stories. The ship may have seen many ports of call but Grixxizt knew little of the lands that did not touch the sea and this spurred his imagination.

When Grixxizt hit his first molting cycle and shed his old skin, the new brighter sea-green color of his scales also brought some new talents. It started simply as the ability to see through the morning mists and fog as well as suddenly being able to cast a few minor spells. This came with the effect of a slowed metabolism as his body began to freeze faster, which made him react slower and feel sapped of strength. The crew took it as a sign that the child was touched by Gozreh, as Besmara has never been known for any kindness, and set aside a small shrine in the hold to keep the god of wind and waves appeased.

Travel also brought many chances for competition. Trading along the inner sea can be a treacherous proposition and not just because of the seas or pirates. Many the merchant is less scrupulous than even the most hardened buccaneer. When you’ve been burned so many times it’s hard to keep a good outlook of any trader. Grixxizt was always hyper defensive of his ship and crew, and one too many times they lost out on good cargo runs. 

The kobold, taking after his dragon-side, became jealous of one of these traders who bested his crew and publicly made claims about the man’s taste in companionship. It was in the heat of the moment and shamed the trader but Grixxizt couldn’t even stand himself for having said them. The seaborn dragonkin retracted his statements the next day and begged forgiveness from the Clipped Albatross’ rival. To this day Grixxizt makes sure he keeps his temper and follows the laws of the land, or sea.

As the young kobold matures he takes on more and more the color and adornment of a dragon. After much research on the neck frills and the spines he has since grown, he believes he has been touched somehow by one of the great primal brine dragons, to whom he owes his life. For now he continues to travel the seas with his family on the Clipped Albatross, but he hopes that one day he will learn why he was saved and what purpose he was chosen by Gozreh.

And there goes our little seafaring dragonkin, born without a chance but given great power and possible intense responsibility in return for an actual shot at life. Maybe Grixxizt will end up as an NPC in one of your games aboard a ship not unlike the Clipped Albatross. And don’t forget to let us know what you would have done with the stats that became Grixxizt Wavecrest.

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