New Character Submission - Elder

[Spike]

Character: Elder
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Class: Ranger
Race: Human
Alignment: True Neutral
Deity: Corath


Biography:

I guess you could say they called him Elder as a joke.
In a family of eleven children a twelfth was unlikely, especially considering that his parents were not young anymore. So when he was conceived, their youngest and last child, they called him Elder. That is were the story should have ended, but unfortunately it didn't.

Though they were good people they lived in the shadow of Arnax and the shadow of the Mad God.
Their small hamlet near the city had a acolyte of the Father of Death in residence, tending the spiritual needs of the village. Not a cruel woman, she held herself aloof from the villagers preferring to lock herself away in her cabin to pursue her studies. Those were dark times, plague and famine ran rampant throughout the land, destroying whole communities in one go. So it is unfair to judge them on their faith, as in uncertain times Corath offered protection for his followers. Elder stood apart from his family however as he possessed a grim fascination with death. He was forever pestering the priestess with questions of the Mad God. Such behaviour was discouraged by his parents, though they we subtle so as to not attract unwanted attention. Fortunately they needn't have worried as the priestess rebuked his questions with short one word answers. Eventually however she relented and began to teach the curious child small tidbits of lore and history. Elder treasured this knowledge, keeping it to himself at her request as it separated him from his playmates. So time passed and Elder's parents began to grow more worried and frustrated as he grew unresponsive and sullen towards their questions regrading what the priestess was teaching. Soon he even began to grow a little power being able to heal minor scratches and stop insects in mid-flight.

But time changes everything as to change is the music which both life and death dance to. Though Bloodstone was defeated his taint was not yet lifted from the land. Demons still plagued the edges of civilization, dragging people into the night to fulfil their twisted desires.

********************

He ran.

His legs blurred as he ran across the grassy planes to the north of Arnax, away from the nightmare, away from death. They had come during the night, some were elegant expanses of muscle and sinew, others grossly disfigured slabs of living tissue, all were dark shapes highlighted against the cold, emotionless light of the moon. He ran now as to stop was by far the more difficult task. Yet no matter how hard of how fast he ran he was unable to escape the images that had burned into his retina. At just eleven years old he had witnessed more than any adult could have stood without loosing their sanity. He ran.

Eventually his energy failed and he collapsed in the shadow of a great oak tree. Hugging his knees to his chest for warmth his mind remained blank from shock and fatigue. Feebly he tried to conjure a little ware light for warmth and comfort like Mistress had taught him, but any power he had possessed had been severed from his god and was now gone. The Sanctuary he had cast to escape had been his most powerful spell and had destroyed his magical strength. She had no doubt fled as well, as much of a coward as he was. He shivered and hugged himself tighter, his thin clothes offered little protection against the harsh wind. He pulled himself further forward under the leafy canopy of the great oak tree. There was a small hollow between two of the moss covered roots and it was here that he finally curled up and drifted into a fitful sleep, exhaustion outweighing fear. For the first time in his life he was truly alone, no family, no mentor, no god.

********************

His eyes cracked open, the light of the dawn causing his pupils to contract. Freedom was a strange thing here out in the wilds. For seven years now he had tended old farmer Gerald's goats, keeping them high up in the hills so their winter hair would grow strong and thick for their spring shearing. It was an act of charity to an orphan who had lost everything but refused to give up, to let him wonder the plains lost in his own thoughts free from the constrains of everyday life, just so long as in the end he brought the goats safely home. He yawned, stretched and picked up his quarterstaff from where he had left it to lie the previous night. A score of amber eyes watched him thoughtfully as he began to whistle and drive the animals forward. For he had made up his mind, he could no longer stay here.

But shock made him stop in his tracks. There was one missing. Normally a herdsman would abandon lost livestock to their fate due to the harsh landscape, but Elder had developed a bond with these simple though sometimes irritating creatures. Quickly he scouted around and there, yes, hoof prints leading away. Fallen branches formed a crude inclosure to hold the rest of the herd, he hoped he wouldn't be long. Swiftly north he ran, there a clump of chewed grass, here a mark in the soil and there something which made him stop in his tracks. Warm blood glistened on dead grass with a stink of sulphur still drifting in the air. There was no point in continuing now but it was almost as if his fear drove him on as there was no doubting the fate of the goat now. Onwards he ran. There was no need to stop and check the trail, the stench of death that has never truly left his nostrils since that fateful night drifted on the wind, guiding him forward. Suddenly his journey came to an end as there, crouching on its kill the abomination lurked. His fear gave him strength as a charged forward, his quarterstaff swinging. To fall now would have been a humiliating end. To have survived that night yet be caught out by this minor demon brought tears of shame to his eyes. Its long raking claws scoured his body with scars as he tried to grab its twisted face. His skin burnt at its touch but still he fought on. Finally through sheer chance he managed to trip it up, causing it to crack its head open a rocky outcrop.

He sat there for a long time, the dead goat to one side, the fallen demon to the other. Even as he sat there the world moved on. A vulture landed close by and after surveying Elder with grave eyes, proceeded to eat its kill from the goats carcase. Soon other small mammals crept forward to have their share. It was good, he thought, that this death provided life for so many others. So the natural balance remained, he contemplated, when the outsider was removed. He picked up his now splintered quarterstaff and headed back the way he had come. The demonic corpse remained untouched.

After returning the remaining animals to their owner he gathered up his few belongings, hand me downs from the kind villagers who had found him so long ago, and headed home. Or to what was left of it.

Here on the plains he was entirely alone. The vastness and emptiness made him appreciate how unimportant he truly was, yet it was not a bad feeling. More like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Here all was change from life into death, and from death life. A sense of peace entered him that he had not felt since before 'it' had happened. He began to sprint cross the prairie, long strides that caused the grass behind to ripple like waves. A cool breeze chilled the sweat on his forehead as he ran onwards. Shortly afterwards a deer leaped from a nearby cluster of trees and after a millisecond of communication, joined him for a few minutes before veering off into the distance in search of its brethren. Panting, he halted. The sun had passed its pinnacle and was now descending below the horizon, illuminating everything in an orange light. Gently he lowered his head to the ground, his cloak was his pillow and the endless sky his roof.

Morning dawned accompanied by the rumblings of his stomach in protest to lack of food. He yawned, sighed and scouted around for nourishment. A small rabbit scuffled around not to far away in search of its own breakfast, but he did not call its name. He sighed at his empty stomach and began to trudge forward, the energy of the previous day gone. Seven years had passed living out here in the wilds. Though he had returned to civilization for supplies and when the harvest had to be brought in, he had remained primarily alone with only the goats for company, surviving off his instincts and survival skills learned over time.

He stalked through the decaying charred wood and tumbled stone with a careful air. The place was barley recognizable now, just a pile of decaying ruins. Finally he stumbled upon that which he searched for. A broken axe blade, his fathers, and near the tip of a long curved talon. He had seen his father try to fend off the creature for a heartbeat before being disembowelled. But his first and last stroke had produced this, a single chip of talon. He bent over now and picked it up, feeling its shapes in his hand. The fear he had once felt was replace now with a rage so utterly consuming that he had to crouch on the ground to regain his breath. But now was not the time. He could not stay here, but one day he would return and revenge would be had. Corath would be pleased he thought. It was true what the priestess had said, what the Mad God taught. His emotions gave him strength. He chuckled to himself. It had been so long since he had thought of his god, or any for that matter. But this homecoming had awakened old memories and a rage so consuming it gnawed at his soul.

********************

The road south twisted and winded out of sight. Stars disappeared one by one as cloud cover drifted overhead. Elder walked resolutely forward, his eyes firmly fixed on the distance. Something didn't feel right to him. His skill with nature had grown to a point where he could sense a disturbance in the flow of life around him. There, a grey shape moving swiftly from cover to cover, in front a blur that disappeared in the newly formed mist. A howl to the rear made him jump. There behind him was one who radiated resentment, but not at him. The other wolves where circling him now, but the one to the rear was just staring at the others. Slowly he turned around to meet it face to face. Its ear was badly chewed up and its muzzle badly scratched but the resentment was unmistakable. Its yellow eyes glowered at the one who possessed dominance, the alpha male. Subtly he positioned himself as an ally to the mauled one, all the while the growls of the others reminded him that time was running short. It moved its face slowly round to regard him and made one short motion with its head.

The battle was swift and brutal. The first wolf dived at the leaders throat in an attempt to tear it out. Elder made a sweeping motion with his repaired quarterstaff catching the remaing two off guard. Two more swift motions broke both their necks before the knew what was happening. Quickly he turned and saw the last two tear into each other viciously. Both were now heavily bleeding and wouldn't last long, the advantage of surprise gained by the first was enough to cause the damage needed to matter. Smiling grimly to himself he walked away, muttering a quick prayer to Corath in thanks. The corrupter was indeed an apt name.

Soon the city of Arnax came into view. The were always seeking oarsman there.

[jrizz]

this is under discussion

[jrizz]

First thing we need to look at is the support in the submission for the requested class.

1. Add some more about how he came to discover/learn his natural/ranger skills

[Spike]

Edited, I've been away for awhile so I'm kinda out the swing of things so be patient with me .

[jrizz]

np Spike as long as you are patient with us

Can you explain how you will utilize the plethora of ranger skills with this PC? Please give some detail to the areas of animal empathy, animal ear, and spells.

[Spike]

Well first off I would like to refer you to this thread which gave me the idea for the character:

http://forums.layonara.com/corath/11...orathites.html

As for how I plan to play him? That gets a bit complicated. Well to begin with he dose not consider himself a ranger. That would most likely come later with time and RP as he has been in solitude for a while so he is unaware of what his class is. Skills like animal empathy and animal ear will not be used in till he understands what they are through interaction with other player Rangers and Druids. Though animal empathy might be used sparingly in non combat situations as he dose have a natural way with animals. Spells would be a similar story as they come from nature and not from his god. But since he dose not receive spells till a later level that would give me plenty of time to RP the development of his connection with nature. As for the animal companion, this would follow the same guidelines as the spells. The whole Corath thing I have tried to explain that in the Bio. I have always seen Corath as the god of death in that his domain is in the act itself, not the state, as the soul mother is the one who...eats the souls? *shrugs*. So Corath dose have his place in nature like when the hawk swoops on its pray.

Now to explain why this class suits the character. The hawk thing I just said sums it up pretty well. The whole hunter aspect of the ranger is what this character is about, particularly Demons/Outsiders. As such hunting and tracking are his strong points, with such feats like Bane of enemies on the list for epic levels (if I ever get there ). He also has quite a Druidic personality in that he sees the world as a constant movement of change, life to death, dark to light, good to evil etc. But in the end there is balance between to two as they need each other to exist. This of course may change over time especially if the other corathites have anything to do with it. But for now he's TN.

I hope that clears things up a little. By the way thanks for the quick response .

[jrizz]

We think that perhaps you have misinterpreted the Lore on Corath so here is some information to help clear it up a bit:

Corath is about creating whatever one wants of all the creatures in the world, all beings are yours to mold and make them serve you. Saying he is about controlling death is to limit him. He is about corrupting, changing or manipulating any and all living things, either into shapes not their own, or into undead.

The hawk hunts for food, not for the power it obtains from it's prey or the control it has over its [the prey's] life.


What effects do you see this information as having over your story?

As this is a very out of the box submission it is indeed taking a while to workout if it is viable. The team will always look at a submission to see where it can possible go and to make sure that the assumptions made in the submission are in line with lore where lore is concerned.

[Spike]

Originally Posted by jrizz

He is about corrupting, changing or manipulating any and all living things, either into shapes not their own, or into undead.

Hmm interesting, I think what you have said here applies to the character himself. Originally a normal person he has changed into a something that lets hate rule his life, unable to let go. He is the one who has been corrupted. Its this tenant of faith that is the basis of the character "Let hatred and malice feed your fury".

You are right though that I have misinterpreted the lore but I don't see this as a huge issue, the basics of the character remain the same. "The ranger focuses his skills and training on a specific enemy—a type of creature he bears a vengeful grudge against and hunts above all others", this is what for me the character and class is about. I could see that its his natural skills that remain the problem though. The way I see it is that he uses this skill to his advantage in achieving his own goals, not being under the same obligation as a druid.

[jrizz]

If hatred and malice fuel this PC then were do you see the balance for the TN alignment?

May or May not keep his word.
May or May not lie to or cheat anyone.
May or May not attack and kill an unarmed foe.
May or May not Use, hurt and kill an innocent without a second thought or for pleasure.
May or May not Use torture for pleasure and information.
Will not kill for sheer pleasure.
Unlikely to help someone only to kill or rob him.
May or May not work well within a group (Depends on if the group maintains a balanced view).
May or May not follow the ways of honour, authority, and self-discipline.
Associate mostly with other Neutral alignments.
May or May not betray friends.

This is not a choice list, really it is situationally dependent. What I mean is that you should not look at this list and make choices about how your PC is based on it but use it for each situation to decide what to do. And balance out things as you go. So, for lying and cheating he will lie sometimes and tell the truth sometimes. What I am getting at is that for the TN PC none of the above situations are absolute. If a PC always or never acts in some way for a good chunk of the above situations then he/she is not TN.


I completely get the favored enemy part. And by his story I am sure that demons will be high on the list

[jrizz]

Originally Posted by Spike

Hmm interesting, I think what you have said here applies to the character himself. Originally a normal person he has changed into a something that lets hate rule his life, unable to let go. He is the one who has been corrupted. Its this tenant of faith that is the basis of the character "Let hatred and malice feed your fury".

You are right though that I have misinterpreted the lore but I don't see this as a huge issue, the basics of the character remain the same. "The ranger focuses his skills and training on a specific enemy—a type of creature he bears a vengeful grudge against and hunts above all others", this is what for me the character and class is about. I could see that its his natural skills that remain the problem though. The way I see it is that he uses this skill to his advantage in achieving his own goals, not being under the same obligation as a druid.

The misinterpretation lies in seeing coraths hand in nature when it comes to life and death. Life and death are natural changes the changes that Corath would seek would be to twist nature into something unnatural. So how does that fit with the natural aspects of this character?

[Spike]

I guess you could say that his TN alignment comes from his hate. Like you said its all about the situation in question. His goal is to destroy outsiders, and to achieve this he is capable of both good and bad deeds. An example would be joining up with a good aligned party to destroy a demon, or aligning with a group or corathites to destroy a rival demonic sorcerer.

Of course I see this changing over time, as his actions become more conceited in achieving his goal so to will his alignment start to fall down the scale. But in the beginning his still retains a lot of that sense of balance gained when he herded goats across the plains. As you can see he is quite a confused character mentally with his original, almost druidic view on life clashing with a lust for revenge.

[jrizz]

Still this question:

Originally Posted by jrizz

The misinterpretation lies in seeing coraths hand in nature when it comes to life and death. Life and death are natural changes the changes that Corath would seek would be to twist nature into something unnatural. So how does that fit with the natural aspects of this character?

[Spike]

Just going to have a think about that one, I'm away for the next few days so I won't get a chance to post again for awhile.

[Spike]

Originally Posted by jrizz

He is about corrupting, changing or manipulating any and all living things, either into shapes not their own, or into undead.

I think there is a link here from what you said earlier. The example I'm thinking of here is a virus (another being ivy). Something which corrupts its host to suit its needs, changing them from their original form. This is where I see a link between Corath and nature though the difference lies in that a virus dose what it dose because of what it is. A human on the other hand has the choice to do this.

So I have this in mind when it comes to the character. Like I mentioned before he is not under the same obligation as a druid, so he can manipulate nature to his advantage (like a virus), being influenced by Corath, in order to achieve his objectives.

[jrizz]

Yes a mutation would fit with Corath but not a natural occurring one because that could be a form of evolution. Corath would seek to twist and control nature into something unnatural. And this is where there is a break in your story. Not that we are saying a ranger of Corath could not work but your approach to that is at issue. There is no way to find the hand of Corath in naturally occurring events.

[Spike]

Ok, edited the bio. Thanks Jrizz and Acacea for the help. In regard to the four points you and made in going to answer them here to clear things up.

1) Favoured enemy = Outsider (no surprises there )

2) Associated terrain = grasslands

3) Spell abilities (not gained in till 6th level) = see below.

4) AE and other woodland skills = Abilities learned whilst herding goats for seven years alone on the flatlands. He had to fend for himself and gained a connection with nature to fill the gap left by his god, a faith which he later regains and remembers when returning home.

I know this is a difficult character so thanks for all the help .