Character 63 - Agra Vos

This week  we have a lawful good hobgoblin from a plane other than prime material, now residing in the River Kingdoms. A reincarnated soul, there was a lot to think about when trying to piece together this character. Choosing a class is always the hardest part, because it will color how you fill in the missing pieces of information. This week is the first time that I’ve made a character that uses an occult class. In this case a spiritualist with the fractured mind archetype. So let’s see how that works out.

Agra Vos

Illustration by Luis Perez

Agra may have been born in the River Kingdoms but her home is in the kingdom of Heaven.  This is not the first life Agra has had and at this point she’s not sure if it will be her last. In her current mortal form she is the hobgoblin known as Agra, born to two outcasts who relocated to the chaotically free River Kingdoms. Her father had long since put down his sword and began the life of a farmer.

Growing up outside of the regiment didn’t mean she wasn’t subject to the strict military nature most hobgoblins face. Her father kept her and her younger sister on a tight schedule around the farm. No time for dillydallying or horseplay. Keeping the farm going was of the utmost importance and it required discipline.

When Arga was eight she began to have very vivid dreams. These night visions showed her glorious battle against demons and devils, protecting people from rampaging monsters, and even standing at the gate to Heaven. The dreams were soon followed by voices in her head during the day time as well. She thought she was going insane and her parents didn’t know what to do.

Although the River Kingdoms are open to everyone who can forge their own way that doesn’t mean everyone is accepting of others. Being the only hobgoblin family in their immediate region meant that the Vos’ were subject to much ridicule and some outright racism. This took the form of bullying from the local kids for Agra, which escalated as her condition got worse and worse.

At thirteen the dreams turned into all out voices. A soft spoken woman would tell her daily that ‘he would come.’ Concerned for her own well-being Agra locked herself in her room and didn’t come out for a month.  Her parents didn’t know what to do and her father was becoming agitated. Exactly one month after her thirteenth birthday there was a knock on the door of the family’s small farm house.

When her little sister opened the door there was a man. He was resplendent in finely polished armor with a purple and gold template. The Vos family had always feared some overzealous fanatic would come for them just for being hobgoblins and here was such a man. Agra’s father stood firm, but the man was not here to kill, he was here to talk.

The man’s name was Erdrin and he was indeed a paladin, but he wasn’t the overzealous religious type, even if his stern demeanor made it seem so. He was a defender of the people and an itinerant warrior. But most of all he claimed he was a reincarnation of the guide for the soul that was now Agra. He claimed that the two had reincarnated over and over, servants of the Empyreal Lord Arqueros and each would find the new body for the essence of the other after they died and guide them back to the fullness of understanding.

Erdrin sat and spoke with Agra; he stayed with the family for a fortnight. Apparently something had happened that never had before. Somewhere in Agra’s psyche the core soul that was reincarnated became somewhat of a separate entity. The voice in her head was the core of her soul and it could speak to her. It even gave her power. It also remembered Erdrin in all his incarnations, so it urged Agra to go with him.

So Agra left home becoming an itinerant like Erdrin, she began to learn of her past. Using her connection to her own soul she was even able to push a form of that consciousness out as an entity all its own. Her abilities slowly grew. Although she wasn’t a combatant as were most of her past incarnations, she did have superb control of her own fractured mind and could use this to psychically affect the world.

A life on the road was not always easy. Agra had to learn the hard way that not all people are as benevolent as she and her mentor was. Then a small village was apparently under attack by a group of kobold. They begged the duo to protect their village. Agra was determined to prove that even though her people often perpetrated evils she was not so inclined.

Agra hunted the Kobold alone and drove them from their warren. The creatures managed to flee but she destroyed their home. As it turns out though the kobolds had performed no wrong, except to make their home where a vein of silver had been found. Agra’s religious desire to defend the weak and helpless turned about to actually disenfranchise the actual weak and helpless. A lesson she would always regret and never forget.

After five years of travel the unthinkable happened. Erdrin died. Killed in combat as befits his station by a rampaging troll, the paladin’s spark left his body. His soul would dwell for a time in heaven and then be reincarnated. Agra would have to search out his new host but it wouldn't be until that new incarnation reached maturity that she would find him. For now she waits, a decade or more of time to be alone and reflect.

As these bits of information take form we find Agra Vos, but what form did your creation take.. What class do these stats and background coalesce into in your mind? From what plane did your hobgoblin come? How did she come to worship The Golden Bulwark?

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