New Character Submission - Ogzughimmal

[lonnarin]

Character: Ogzug'himmal
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Classes: Rogue/Wizard
Race: Tiefling
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral



Biography:

Bioware Name: karma_virus
Full name: Ogzug'himmal
Birthday (age): 26
Place of birth: Audria
Gender: male
Race: Human
Sub-race: Tiefling
Classes: Necromancer(15)/Rogue(5)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Deity: None, he feels gods are just powerful beings unworthy of worship

Languages known:+5 Int Modifier: Dwarven, Elven, *Infernal, Gnomish, Halfling

Looks: He looks like a desert tribesman with tanned skin and dark brown hair, the equivalent of arabian descent per the setting. His tiefling features are pronounced as snake-like, with a forked tongue, vertical slitted eyes and fangs, with heavy tattoos of ancient symbols covering his body.
Eye color: Green & black with vertical slitted snake-like pupils
Hair color: Dark Brown
Skin color: dark tanned
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 170lbs
Tattoos: many, most of which depict ancient symbols of life and death typically used for funeral preparations
Distinguishing marks: tattoos, snake-like eyes, tongue and fangs, an uneasy aura of coldness around him... doesn't blink, ever

Personality: While he isn't outright vindictive against other people, he is fairly detached, cold and impersonable to them. He doesn't "connect" with people and often just uses them as a means to a goal. He is greedy to a point, and rarely does he ever do anything for anyone without promise of payment. He has little regard for laws, as they are just quasi-moral constructs of tyrannical governments.

Loves: Ancient artifacts, crypts, tomb-raiding, new spells, the dead, stealing
Hates: Paladins, charity, ignorance, the uneducated, people who fear undeath, being told what to do, torture, laws, government
Fears: Paladins, holy water, celestials, dying without some measure of insurance towards immortality or an afterlife
Goals in life: to gather all knowledge that is hidden and deamed unfit for mortal eyes, to transcend into undeath via mummification, to be rich beyond his wildest dreams

Background

Raised by the mad archaeologist Mabussar Al-Himmal in the deep deserts of Audria, Ogzughimmal was trained for a life of dubious malice and thievery, and a yearning thirst for knowledge and arcane power. Mabussar begot Ogzughimmal via a concubine he owned in his late 90s, feeling the sands of time running out for him and his work undone. Truly, he knew this birth would be fatal for her, as within his blood burned the tainted lineage of devil-spawn. It was whispered that Al-Himmal's ancient ancestors were notorious conjurers of fiends, and crossbred their bloodlines with those that they summoned to gain Not entirely certain of what kinds of fiends were involved, it is certain that their bloodline favors the features of the snakelike mariliths... all descendants of the Al-Himmal family bear striking resemblances to snake-kind.

Ogzughimmal learned early in life to stay on his toes. His father Mabussar would often set traps for the boy and chide him for failing to spot the obvious signs for them, and would cruelly use negative energy and curses to strike the child should he forget the lessons of his arcane studies. Indeed, he was little older than 5 when the traps set for him would be fatal, and all the fear of undeath was stricken from him when at this young age, he was forced to spend a week trapped in a tomb of passive undead his father had conjured to scare him. As it turned out, Ogzug wasn't the first of the mad Mabussar's children, simply the only one to have survived past the age of 12. With such a cruel father, it was no wonder that he would later in life develop such an utter loathing for authority and nebulous moral compass.

Of equal importance to the training of the arcane and thievery was a heavy regiment of ancient lore, history, geography and languages of the main cultures of interest. Among them, Ogzughimmal was forced to learn Elven, Halfling, Gnomish and Dwarven for mercantile purposes, for what use is a tomb-raider if he cannot even speak to the clients he would sell his wares to? *Also learned was infernal, which was of utmost importance as these were immortal beings with vast and ancient knowledge that could be summoned and interrogated. It should come as no suprise, seeing that Mabussar and all the Himmals before him were rumored as dread diabolicists, dealing with devils in their mad quests for knowledge.* (int 20 +5 after subrace boost)

It should also be noted that his father forbade him the study of divination, which he claimed to be a fool's school of magic, since most often these "truths" learned were simply lies sprung from malignant outsiders. Mabussar's own father before him had fallen victim to divination, having relied too heavily on its powers and accepting the often cryptic and paradoxical informatin at face value. Mabussar was determined that his own son would instead rely on his own wits and learning for truth... for what use is truth if it is not found and tested with rational and informed inquiry? divination, he felt, had no inherent truth, and that it was little more than misguided faith in the twisting lies of outsiders.

Instead, far better he felt would it be for Ogzughimmal to focus on Necromancy, the study of the dead and interaction of lost souls. If one is to understand the significance of ancient artifacts, he postulated, then it is imperative to study the culture it sprang from and its people. What better way then to rip the sleeping dead asunder the command of Necromancy, and force the dead to utter its dark secrets directly? Besides, most of the tombs they raided were mostly filled with the undead, and by understanding their making, one can bring their unmaking all the easier.

Father and son travelled the desert many long years, studying and looting what they would find from the desert tombs of Audria. It was on Ogzug's 26th birthday that his weary and shriveled father bade him to come to his side. Laying on his death bed, old age had finally taken its toll and he was dying. He did not seem to fear death, "Death is only the beginning" he said... and told his son to keep searching where he had failed... to find a way to not only cheat death but to control it as well. Ogzughimmal was furious to find that all of his fathers' wealth had been squandered in his last years, traded for faulty information of digs and lost to the incompetence of his senility. Armed with but a few meager spells and his archaeological training, Ogzughimmal set out to the shore to find a boat which would take him to the lands of Mistone... for he heard tales of many extremely gullible and greedy-minded "adventurers" who he might hire...

[Dorganath]

I'm not going to comment on the approval or denial of this character, though I do want to mention that I'm not sure whether or not this character's name will conflict with the name of your avatar when you were a GM here. The database still collects info about GM avatars as it does for PCs.

I'm honestly not sure whether or not any of the old information from your GM avatar will cause issues with your character. I'm just saying you might want to consider a slight name change.

Just a heads up that

[lonnarin]

Would it work if I added a space after the name? I was thinking either doing that or in the worst case scenerio spelling it Ogzug'himmal.

[Dorganath]

Speaking to personal preference, I'd rather you did the latter. I think it's less prone to error (i.e. human error) down the line, should anything need to be adjusted.

[lonnarin]

Thanks, I updated the name in the bio and form submission so that when the approver updates the list, it wont get mixed up.

Just for giggles, I'll add a bit of lineage info...

Malik Shumayl- A power-hungry merchant from over a millenia ago who could sire no heir and was obsessed with the prospect of immortality. He foolishly delved into conjuration as a means to summon fiends to crossbreed his bloodline in hopes that in being able to study themselves, so that his children would unlock the secret of immortality held by outsiders. He begot 3 children, Abu Samad, Adham Amid and Thaqib Shihab, all three of them monstrous half-demons and scourges of the desert. Shunned from Audria, they resided deep in the desert tombs and surrounded themselves with monstrous tribes and fiends.

It was then that they took on the surname "Himmal" which meant "of the realm of stars" or "sky". This was meant as a double meaning, as the stars represented the summoning circles used to conjure their demonic allies, and the sky to indicate an otherworldly lineage. Those in the lineage who spelled their names Al-Himmal did so to separate themselves from the family. Those who added it directly into their names did so as a gesture to imply that they were not just "of" the bloodline, but that they were all of their ancestors incarnate. Truly this was not the case, but the Himmals were known for their megalomania.

Abu Samad Al-Himmal- Was effectively a half-demon and a tyrannical despot who slaughtered all of his brothers and made camp deep in a tomb within the desert. Eventually due to his infighting weakening his house he was overthrown by the tribes of Audria, his body publicly desecrated and strewn across the desert sands. A powerful necromancer, it was said that when his head was decapitated from his body and piked for all to see, it sprang back to life to taunt the tribesmen with threats that he would return. They summarily decimated it to the best of their ability so that all that was left was shattered shards of bone and gore. These pieces and his body were scattered as far apart as they possibly could so that they could never be reunited.

Abdhayat Al-Himmal- the only non-wizard of the lineage, was actually an aeridenite cleric who tried unsuccesfully to remove the curse of his blood. He was murdered by a mob stirred by his son Malashadi for the knowledge of his grandfather, which Abdhayat had forbidden the study of.

Malashadi Al-Himmal- a speaker of tongues and enchanter who was notorious for having two trained/enchanted malar panthers at his side. Met his end when a beholder's anti-magic cone dispelled his control over his hungry and ill-treated pets.

Dread Basim Al-Himmal- a wicked slave-trader and merchant caravan runner who even enslaved his own son Abdabu'himmal, who wound up slaying him during a city raid and throwing his riches into the streets.

Abdabu Al-Himmal- committed fratricide and set out into the desert to avoid justice. Taken in by desert raiders and stormed Audria many a time. Particularly targeted slaver caravans like his father's. Was considered both a thief by the city and a liberator by the desert tribesmen in his day.

Stern'himmal- diviner/astrologist who foretold his own doom and consequently set himself up for his own prophecy while driven mad by paranoia. It was his folly which caused Mabussar to forbid Ogzug the study of divination.

Mabussar Al-Himmal- died of old age from longevity potion failure, squandered and sold most of his ancient knowledge in youth, only able to teach Ogzughimmal the basics of lore and magic that he managed to remember.

Ogzug'himmal: Born Thousands of years after Malik, Ogzug is the last of his line and eager to surpass all before him.

[Rowana]

Hello Lonn,

I like the detail that you have gone into with this one. First I want to let you know, we do not grant Infernal ears on submission but you are perfectly welcome to work at the RP of learning it IG.

Originally Posted by minerva

Languages available are:
Available Ears: Elven, Halfling, Dwarven, Dark Elf, Gnomish, Thieves' Cant, Wemic, Animal, Brownie, Underwater, Sign Language, Orc, Goblin, Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Draconic and Florane (T'oleflor)

Some of these will not be granted on submission but must be learned in-game due to their rarity (Draconic, Florane, extra-planar languages, animal ear if not automatically received as class ability), and other uncommon ones need an extensive explanation of how the character came to learn the language.

Races receive their specific ear on creation. Dark elves receive both the elf and Dark Elf ear. Sea Elves get the elf and underwater ear. Druids and rangers start with the animal ear, while rogues start with the ability to use thieves cant. Half elves will be able to understand the elven language but the biography and intelligence must support the ability to speak it.
These default ears do not count against your bonus languages.

Languages may also be learned in game from other players. They cannot be leaned from familiars or NPCs, and after creation, your character journal must reflect the learning of the language to have it approved. Approval after initial creation involves submitting a request and a link to your character journal as well as the support testimony of your tutors.

Also knowing the world the character happens to live in is very important in order to play the character. Take some time to study the world history, timeline, map, deities, etc when making the character. It's all just going to help you.

Also "the aura of coldness around him" you may attempt to RP (just for his general weirdness) but there will be no actual aura of course.

As long as we are good on those two points, I don't see any other issues here.

~row

[lonnarin]

Understood on the infernal earl. I'll have to pester Ozy for help learning that one . Meanwhile I'll leave the extra language slot open for when he gets suitable training for it.

Understood on the aura too. There is not an actual magical aura around him, just that's the feeling people get from his demeanor. He seems socially detached and unable to fathom human emotion, like somebody with severe anti-social personality disorder. Just trying to describe the nature of his -2 tiefling charisma modifier.

[Rowana]

Sounds good then. 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.

Enjoy him!