Maria

[minerva]

Maria
Class: Fighter/Rogue 5/15
Alignment: LE
Race: Human
Age 20ish
Deity: None


There was nothing in Maria*s early childhood that marked her as being different. She was born to Atticus and Gillian, farmers and small time traders on the coast of Dregar. She was the eldest, followed quickly by a younger brother Jules. Her parents were good people. They said the right prayers to the right gods at the right times. They paid their tithes and taxes and tried to do right by others. If they had any failings it was that they doted on their young family.
Maria was, from the time of a toddler, a pretty child. The dark skin and hair of the coastal peoples combined with eyes like dark pools gave her a face that few could say no to. Her parents worked tirelessly so that she and her brother would want for nothing. The more they offered the more she absorbed. Of her brother, Maria was tolerant. He had his uses. His quiet introspective nature made him the perfect patsy for Maria*s schemes. She had been there the day the sculpture of Ilsare, her mother*s favorite, had been broken. It took little to convince the gullible Jules that should their mother discover it was he that shattered the precious object that there would be no doubt that she would sell him in the market just like they did excess chickens and pigs. Jules never had to know that the sculpture only shattered because it was already broken from her own curious examination. That information was for Maria only. The mere threats were plenty to have the lad confess to anything she wished him too; within reason. For even at the tender age of ten, Maria had an innate understanding of human nature and the order of things. The ox might be strong, but it was also stupid. The family dog lived at the beck and call of a master. It was the intelligent cat that was fed the cream and rewarded for its ingenuity.

If one could liken Maria to an animal it most certainly would be a cat. Quick on her feet and with her wits and able to wriggle out of the tightest situation: that was Maria.
Things changed for her though just shortly before her eleventh birthday. The skies darkened and never again did the sun shine in her known days. Her mother also announced that winter that there would be a new addition to the family. Maria and Jules were to have a new brother or sister. This of course did not sit well with Maria. She smiled quietly and said the right words to her mother but inwardly she seethed. How dare she? Jules could be tolerated and made useful, but another meant sharing even more and she could not have that. Maria schemed as the skies stayed dark that winter. It was colder than anyone had ever known before and the chill did not lift as spring was supposed to come. The baby was born just before what should have been the planting festival. Gillain was quite proud of her new son and how her daughter was such a responsible sister. She told all the women of the village how Maria cared for Perth as if he was her own. It came as such a shock to the community when the three month old infant was found dead in his cradle. It was such a shame. Crib death was so unpredictable and to happen to such a good mother like Gillian. She and little Maria must be so devastated.
The peril of the land soon over shadowed the family*s loss. The cold air and lack of light proved dismal for harvests. The community had at least been fortunate to have prepared for the occasional bad crop year as farming communities are apt to do. Those first years of darkness were bad, but they could have been far worse. It was just horrible though that Atticus and Gillian could not seem to shake the curse of crib death. Then, Prunilla be blessed that another infant Cristan was born and seemed healthy enough to make it past the critical four months milestone.
Maria was not overly happy that baby Cristen was so hale and healthy. Perth had been a weak baby. She watched as the infant had struggled on it stomach, watched with curiosity as it turned blue. She did nothing to help the child, but neither did she lay a finger on it to kill it. The strong survived. Perth must not have been strong enough. Breaking a figurine or nicking true from her father*s stores was one thing, but killing her baby brother, as much as she resented him, would have been stupid. The risk simply was not worth it. No infant was worth her death. That would have been the ox or dog thing to do; the cat had to be much smarter.
It was the cat ears that first heard the words of the slavers in the market. Slavers were always about now a days. Tough times often meant that slaves were easier to come by. Was it not the natural order of things that the strong survive? This slaver with loose lips though was different. Most were looking for strong backs or pretty faces to ship to the markets abroad. This one was looking for children. Seems a nobleman in someplace called Katherian had a taste for children and would pay a handsome bounty for them. Maria the cat saw her cream. She could see the cold hand of poverty closing in on the community. Most of those with any wealth had left the area. Those fools like her parents stayed out of some misplaced sense of loyalty. Their stupidity would likely lead to her starvation. She saw her opportunity.
By this time Maria was fifteen going on twenty five. She was no naive farm girl.
She made her plan. Suffice it to say that those who deal in children are not the most honorable of folk. Using her wits and her wiles, Maria managed to secure passage on the brigand*s ship. She also made a deal with the captain for the commodity of one adolescent boy and a prize infant child should she be allowed to join his crew for the voyage.
The plans were set. Little mother Maria, was diligent in the care of her little sister. That eve was warm, even for the darkness. She convinced her parents that they needed some time to rest and that she would take Jules and the baby to the orchard to see if she might find some berries or fruit wild growing in the bush. She said her parents worked too hard and deserved sometime to themselves. As a gift from their daughter, a treasured treat. She had found a bottle of elderberry wine in the cellar and offered it to them to relax as she took care of her brother and sister.
The bottle of course was laced with a sleeping draught. Maria sent Jules with Cristen to the barn, while she scavenged everything of value from the house while their parents slept.
She never looked back as she barred the house door and closed the shutters. It was the natural order after all. The strong do what they must to survive. Jules and Cristen would have their chance to survive. She would have hers. Her parents could have other children, they were still of able years. In the end, Maria did what she set out to do. She sold her brother and her sister to the slavers. They were excess baggage in her life, but she made sure as best she could during the voyage that they were reasonably treated, even caring for Cristen herself until handing the child over to the nanny on the pier. The girl was after all her sister, she would survive.
For five years Maria stayed upon the crew of the ship. Her looks and her cat instincts served the crew well. It was hard to say no to Maria. But the crew of a bounty slaver is not the pastoral life of a farm girl. The kitten cat learned well as she matured. The sailors may have seemed an undisciplined lot, but that was only to the untrained eye. There was order in the ranks and rules were unwritten, but rules there were. In early days Maria found herself on the wrong side of some of those rules and they proved to be very useful if not humiliating and painful lessons. The foolish and weak perish, but they also let the rules rule them. Those who are smart and worthy, they use the rules to their own ends, staying within the boundaries but furthering one*s cause. The strong survive.
Maria not only gained respect for some of her shipmates but also gained their respect as well. She was not one to be crossed, but she could be counted on. He word held the sea*s honor and she upheld the sailor*s codes. After five years aboard ship she honed her reflexes among the rigging. Her small quick stature made her a natural with the light and flexible rapier. She even became adept at wielding two blades at a time, should the need arise. She was not as physically strong as some of her male shipmates, but her lack of muscle did not mean she lacked the concentration needed to weild her blade to decisive killing strike. Her time at sea had matured her body, but also her helped to focus the discipline of her mind. The ship's armory was hard pressed to find a shirt of mail small enough and shapely enough to fit her, but she perservered in showing her doubting compatriots that she could not only match skills in a fight, she could beat their oxen minds with her panther one.
Maria needed more. She had no desire to be a sea captain. Katherian held no interest, but then one day on a port of call to a place called Vehl she felt the need for a change. She saw a pen of oxen. She saw that the sea did not offer her a future, but the stupidity of these oxen that roamed the streets just might. It was worth a shot. She strode down the earth and cobble streets with a sea swagger, her blade sheathed at her side and a cool grin on her face. All she needed was to learn what the rules were...After all was it not the natural order of things?




//Player since Nov 2005 and have a level 24 character -> meet the evil requirements.
I am submitting her as Lawful Evil as Maria has her own sense of law and order and does work from within that framework. She has a sense of honor and a sense of duty even if they are a bit twisted. She is selfish and self centered which pulls toward NE but I think I can play her better as cold calculating LE. Let me know which way you think she leans as this is my first attempt at outright evil.

[darkstorme]

Hi Minerva!

A nice Lawful Evil submission. The image of Maria dispassionately watching her infant brother die is a chilling and effective one, and her subsequent sale of her siblings to the slavers is cold, but made believable by the previous inhuman amorality she displayed. (Though, I must admit, I find it odd that someone of your profession would ascribe such amorality to a cat! )

The one thing I don't see is support for the level split. I can see that she trained in combat, but it still sounds like rogue combat, dodging, weaving, and making attacks lightly armoured and with a dextrous weapon, rather than the disciplined but unequivocal attacks of a fighter.

I will ask that this be reviewed by the GMs for an evil application, and you can change the split or add support as you see fit.

Thanks!

Edit: In reviewing your submission, you appear to have six characters already. Is one of them permed or deleted?

[minerva]

Character approvals--> check the time stamps, Eve was listed for deletion prior to Maria being submitted.

I have to content that fighting skills are not entirely brawny strength in a tin can. Yes she is much more dexterity based than the average tin can fighter, but I can see her use of a fighter's skills in her style as well. Piece added in red to highlite this.
I had thought of taking her the duelist route, but to be brutally honest, with writing, Gm'ing and wanting to enjoy playing, I have no intererst in keeping a CDT for her and I know the team is swamped for CDQs.

[darkstorme]

Hi again.

Eve was still listed in your "characters" tab, hence my confusion.

While fighting skills are not brawny strength in a tin can, I draw my reference here:

Originally Posted by NWN and Layo Handbooks

Fighters can be many things, from soldiers to criminal enforcers. Some see adventure as a way to get rich, while others use their skills to protect the innocent. Fighters have the best all-around fighting capabilities of the PC classes, and they are trained to use all standard weapons and armor.
A fighter’s rigorous martial training grants him many bonus feats as he progresses, and high-level fighters have access to special melee maneuvers and exotic weapons not available to any other character.

(emphasis mine.)

A bit of familiarity with a rapier, or even two-weapon fighting, doesn't (with this description in mind) cover the substantial training that comes with being a fighter - represented by a fighter's starting proficiency with all armour and shields. While a fighter may not necessarily be the biggest, most brutish of individuals (they're not a barbarian, after all), training only in light weapons sounds very much the part of the rogue.

That being said, the addition of her training in mail makes the fighter class fall within the realm of possibility. That, with the GM approval, means..

Your character has been approved.

Server address is west.layonara.com
Password is layoplayer

Some final notes on character creation:

• Please note that racial adjustments for players with subraces are skin based and thus get applied after getting in game.
• Only two ability scores can be less than 10 and only one can be less than 8 after racial adjustments
• Brownies, when selecting a head, the head you choose on the halfling selection will correspond to that numbered head for elves (for example, clicking right 6 times on the head selection during character creation will take the 6th head when clicking right on the elf creation)
• Half-giants and ogres, please ask for a GM (type /dm Anyone here?) if you would like to change to a custom skin.

I did, however, feel that "not all fighters need be brawny, armour-plated tanks" needed a bit of clarification/refutation. Have fun in game!