Character 81 - Akara

This week’s random rolls took me quite some time to hammer out. I had the idea of the story I wanted in my head but I needed to see if I could find the mechanics to marry to it. Finding ways to get the longspear usable with monk abilities like flurry was a huge pain. Luckily crowdsourcing helped me figure it out.

I already had a base of knowledge to build off on the society of the kasatha as I’d done my own write up of them. So even without much written in the canon of the race there was enough to influence where I went. So now I happily present to you the culmination of these random tidbits with my kasatha monk.

Akara

In the intervening time since the Rain of Stars a handful of kasatha have emerged from their stasis chambers and found a home on Golarion, mostly in Numeria. However, it wasn’t until the Iron Gods, in particular Hellion the Lord of Rust, made their presence known and adventurers opened other pods that more of these creatures came to Avistan.

Although Numeria is in large a barren waste, it is a very dangerous place. Not all of the kasatha who emerged opted to stay. When the Technic League and others began hunting down these alien life forms, a group of three small families led by one tribal matriarch set to the east. They crossed out of Numeria, through the more civilized lands of Brevoy, and into the secluded wilderness of Iobaria. This is where Akara was born.

The small tribe established their own village, something far afield from their nomadic ways on the desert planet. But this is not their planet. Like most of the other inhabitants – even the humans – the kasatha were insular. They would occasional don complete body coverings and trade is some of the larger towns.  Because of this isolation Akara saw naught but other of her own people for her time growing up.

Akara’s favored aunt was just coming into her own and heading out on her Tempering, a wandering rite of passage, as she was coming into her early childhood. When she left Akara’s relative gave her a small pendant that she said would protect her. Her aunt would return every few years but the wandering spirit had gripped her while she traveled, although she did always return with the most interesting tales.

Settling had never been part of the kasatha way of life. Eventually all the perils that come from groups living in close proximity with each other and not moving plagued to the kasatha village, just on a smaller scale. The family of the Iliak clan had been the group’s leader on their travels and they felt that they should continue to be in charge once they settled. Although their attempt were rebuked, the Iliaks still tried methods of control through fear and intimidation.

Akara spent much of her childhood watching her family or another get pushed around by the Iliaks and this was something she always hated. When one of the younger Ilaik boys – just a little older than her - fell in love with a girl from one of the lower families, Akara used this information to humiliate the boy, and his family. She always felt bad for the girl but her disgust of the Iliak family would often let her overcome those feelings.

As the young kasatha grew older it was nearing her time for her own tempering. Only one more year before she could go out on her own and see the world as her aunt was still doing. In her excited Akarabegan taking bigger risks. Could she jump that span? Climb that tree? Outrun that bear? This was her way of testing the world around her, but in the end it was also one risk to many.

Akara came crashing to the ground after an errant swing of a branch from her favorite tree. She landed on her back and hit her head on a rock. Her adventures would have soon been over, except that the neck piece her aunt had given her began to glow. The metal crumbled to dust, and just as quickly as the damage was done it was healed.

On the day of her own tempering her aunt returned, much changed. She still retained her wanderlust but her demeanor was calmer. After the ceremony to send Akara off into the world her aunt said that she would travel with her for a while, that she wanted to introduce her to someone.  Once her bags were packed the younger kastha made her way off into the world with her long time mentor and confidant.

In the wilds of IobariaAkara met her aunt’s mentor, an old human with a long white beard and a stony demeanor. He had travel from a far off land, forever separated from his love because of their families. In his travels he settled in this uncivilized land because he was able to communicate with the spirits much like his patron Tsukiyo.

Akara spent years training with her aunt’s sensei. Often with her relation when she wasn’t away, she learned the finer points of using the longspear and tempering her own spirit. When their teacher passed a mere six years into the young kasatha’s training the two returned to their village.

Although Akara loved home she had a wandering spirit much like her aunt. Unlike her aunt however, she found it hard to leave again. When the aunt didn’t return after two years Akara finally broke down and set her sights on finding her favored relation. Taking little more than her spear and some food the kasatha set forth into the great world on her search.

Where did you take the background of your kasatha? What class did she choose? How did she come to follow a Tian deity? Which family member was her childhood influence? Where did she receive her magical gift from?

Bringing these characters to life is a second full-time job. A pledge of as little as one dollar a month on Patreon or a one-time donation to my paypal can help keep the lights on while I concentrate on producing new content for you.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media; please join us on Facebook,  Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

The character illustration was created by the fine artist Luis Perez. You can find him on Twitter, Tumblr, and on Instagram at luisperezart. 

Character 75 - Kavem Roughtcut

Svirfneblin are known to be intense and emotional. This week’s random rolls meant I had to figure out how to work the character’s background to include following an emotionally tame deity. The high dex and wisdom opened up quite a few options and for a while I was torn between monk and warpriest with the sacred fist archetype. Eventually though, I chose monk because I worked his failure at channeling a deity into the story. So here I present to you the tale of out deep gnome.

Kavem Roughtcut

The Svirfneblin live a secluded life below the surface of Golarion where they take it upon themselves to defend those above from the insidious evils below. Even though they tend to fear most other races they still try to keep everything from the dark fey of the Court of Ether, to the demon worshipping drow from seeing their evil plans come to fruition. Their strong connection to the first world can be both boon and bane to them, but they soldier forward as they always have and always will.

Kavem was the only child born to his parents and like most of his kind he was erratic and over emotional growing up. Although his parents were merely farmers in the fungus fields the young deep gnome always thought he was destined for more. He would take every unnecessary risk to try and prove himself and even though he succeeded as often as he failed he never managed to put his name on everyone’s lips.

One of his failures were his attempts to make it into the priesthood of Nivi Rhombodazzle. The boy tried anything to lie, cheat, or steal his way into the hearts of the clerics. But the tricksters of the Grey Polychrome could see right through him, even without their magics. To this day Kevam denies these attempts, leaving them in a forgotten part of his mind.

The deep gnomes would make constant forays into the world outside the walls of the Svirfneblin city. It was here that he found his first mentor. The teacher was a lone deep gnome who roamed the caverns to take the fight to their enemies instead of just waiting and watching. He taught Kevam of all the perils of the lands surrounding their home; how to track the invisible duergar, stay hidden from the sharp eyes of the drow, and resist the call of the dark fey of the Court of Ether. Kevam wished to one day be like this man.

During one particularly rash stunt when he came across a lone duergar – one of the many hated enemies of his people – he died. The lost grey dwarf although injured had enough in him to slay the young Svirfneblin before fleeing further into the lightless caverns. If it wasn’t for a roaming monk exploring the area he would have stayed dead. But the wanderer managed to bring Kavem back from wherever his soul had wandered.

Kavem had been shaken to his core. The deep gnomes drive to be the best turned into a deep and almost debilitating sense of self-doubt. The monk took the young man in and tried to nurse both his body and his soul back to health. Kevam’s new life began in the Abbey of Thoughtfulness.

The abbey held the clergy of one of the Empyreal Lords. The powerful archon known as Ghenshau had spoken to the hearts of some of Kevam’s people. These were souls who remembered the placid and idyllic life of the first world. They learned to follow their connection to the first world back, past their erratic emotions and to the carefree nature of their past.

Kevam began to study under the monks to learn to center himself and move beyond his self-doubt. Although some of the brothers were blessed with the divine spark of Ghenshau becoming his sacred fist or enlightened warrior, others like Kevam did not. For the first time in his life though the deep gnome didn’t want more, he was satisfied at the simplicity of just being himself.

Did my interpretation match yours? What class did your Svirfneblin choose? Who was his hunter mentor? What caused him to try and manipulate a spellcaster? Why did he choose Ghenshau as a patron? How did he die?

Bringing these characters to life is a second full-time job. A pledge of as little as one dollar a month on Patreon or a one-time donation to my paypal can help keep the lights on while I concentrate on producing new content for you.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media; please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

Character 20 - Froark Deathtouch, Grippli Monk

A grippli whose entire life has been linked to death; the background for this Monday’s random rolls sees a deathless frogman take shape. The stats were pretty clear to me. The incredibly high Dex and good Wis meant one thing to me: monk. And the thing is, as I noted I chose monk and added to the auto generator on archives of nethys so it pumped out the roll on that monk table for me. And I’ll be damned if it didn’t fit with the rest of the theme of death. So check out the rolls from Monday here  and check out the addition of the monk chart roll.

Monk Training: [Spirit Teacher] Your martial training is both physical and metaphysical in nature, allowing you to unlock a higher state of consciousness that allows you to draw on the wisdom and power of long-dead masters.

Which added this as a possible trait choice:

(Trait) Spirit Sense

Froark Deathtouched

Death has followed Froark since before he was born. Before the young gripli could be birthed his mother died of a wasting disease that had been plaguing the tribe. She was laid to rest with the other disease victims and because he had not yet made it into the world Froark was left for dead. A few days later when one of the other tribesmen fell to the sickness the corpse carriers found the newborn Froark crying among the bodies of the dead in the plague pit.

His traumatic entry into the world was not the only time death would be nearly visited upon Froark. While still a young tad the tribe came into conflict with a tribe of boggards looking to expand their territory. Froark’s people were for the most part non-violent and the initial attacks on the tribe caught them unaware. In one of the early assaults Froark was struck down by a mighty blow from one of the Boggards’ mace.  For a moment he was dead, even remembering passing into the boneyard of Pharasma, but the lady of graves whispered “not yet” and sent him back.

His own death was not the only link to Pharasma’s realm. After his near-death the world seemed very different to the blossoming Grippli. When he had questions his people would sometimes see him talk to himself. What the others were unaware of was that Froark’s mother had been allowed to return as a ghost. She would only manifest for her son but she helped guide him into manhood. Upon his 16th birthday though, she passed from this world, the time granted her by the Lady of Graves over, but her influence would always be felt by Froark.

The death-touched youth found it hard to make friends, but he did have one other young boy he considered as such. Friendly spirits were not the only beings that Froark had contact with; many things not of this plane sought to work through the boy and one such spirit was filled with anger and rage. The malevolent being pushed Froark into taunting his friend into combat and then—possessed by the entity—beating him soundly, embarrassing him in front of the tribe. Ashamed Froark fled into the swamp to escape his own shame.

Try as he might, he couldn’t flee his fate—which may very well be what saved him. In the swamp Froark met another Grippli, or what he thought was a Grippli. The hermit found him pushing back against the world and offered to teach him a way to center his mind and body. Over the course of a few years, just Froark and the hermit, the young Grippli was taught the ways of unarmed combat. He learned to make his mind and body one and gained the ability to force out the voices he didn’t want.

But eventually their time together was over and the hermit said he taught Froark all he could, but he had one wish of him. He explained that he was not truly a Grippli, at least not anymore. He was a monk in the service of Iomedea and fought in the crusades against the worldwound. He had fallen in battle but for some unknown reason he was not allowed to pass into the realm of his Patron. When he made his way back to Golarion he was trapped in this form, incorporeal and unable to affect the world. He was also no longer near the Worldwound, but nearby his home village where his granddaughter still lived.

With promises to his master that he would travel to the Worldwound and find the reason he was not allowed to rest Froark left the swamp. Instead of going home he headed to the village of the fallen crusader’s granddaughter. When he met the young woman the two fell in love, and for once fate dealt him a fair hand. The two were wed in a short amount of time, and Froark told his new wife of his training and of her grandfather. He told her that although their marriage was fresh he must still fulfil his promise and travel to the Worldwound to attempt to set her ancestor to rest.

So there you have it, a tragic figure with a relatively happy ending. He still has his mission but he gets the girl and has learned to focus his power. If you enjoyed the growth for Froark from random roles to full on character then consider becoming a patron of the CRB here. Also remember to follow us on twitter @SimonSezCRB, this weekend I will be tweeting from a fan con in Boston, Arisia. And don’t miss a beat, head to the side bar and sign up for email notification, be one of the first to know when a new posting hits the CRB. This is especially good if you’re finding the CRB on reddit as I can only post to a given reddit once a week.