Post/Author/DateTime	Post
PH3NOmenon 08-21-05, 07:11 AM	Hello good folks, i created a character and a background story for him, but i struggle a bit with his alignment and his skill assignments. To keep this post at an acceptable length i'll put his description, background and stats in seperate spoilerboxes. I present to you: Samuel L Osterveld Description Should you encounter Samuel in the local tavern when he's out of his tattered scalemail armor, you would mistake him for a mere stableboy. The only peculiar thing about his appearance is the scar that runs from his hairline down to his chin, barely missing his right eye. His tall, well-built stature is the living testament to his farmer heritage while his keen blue eyes shows a curiosity and zest for life that is otherwise absent from the commoners. His light brown hair is held in a ponytail which gives him the look of someone who really tries to look clean and nice but fails because a lack of money and time. Did you ever see a workhorse that tries its best to be a a prime stud? Lengthy Background Sam's home village just barely qualifies for that definition, four farms and a small church make up the entire community. Samuel was the only child to the Osterveld family. His early life consisted of rigid routine: work in the stables during the week, go to church on sunday and spend the rest of the day in the chruch-school. While other children resent such routine and try to get out of their responsibilities to play, Samuel actually enjoyed this. He never fussed when his father told him to muck out the stables or when his mother asked him to help milk their cow. Wether he was so obedient because he didn't know better or because he realised at an early age that the obedient children play almost just as much as the naughty ones while being punished a whole lot less remains undecided. Sometimes the town was visited by a passing bard that would tell legends and tales of times long past and heroes too great to be forgotten. Such times were like festivals for the town and all four families would gather at the Osterveld farm and listen in wonder to what their esteemed guest would share with them. When the tales came to an end in the wee hours of the night all listeners would nod off to dream heavy and relaxing dreams, except for one. The little farmboy would listen to every last word the bard spoke and even long after everyone found thier slumber he would still marvel at the heroic feats the hero in the tale had performed. There was only one bard that visited the town on a rather regular basis, a stunningly attractive female elf named Silvana. One night after one of her performances when he yet again couldn't get to sleep because of the vibrant images that played in his mind, Sam got out of his bed and went for a drink of water. The graceful elven bard still sat by the fire humming a forlorn melody while gazing into the flames and sipping of the mug of watered down wine the farmers had provided. When she noticed the young boy standing at the edge of the room she beckoned him to come closer. The memory of that night was burned into the young boy's mind. Sitting on her lap, lost in her deep hazel eyes she told him of a man she once loved and the adventures and hardships they both had endured together. More than fifty years she had managed to keep her grief to herself but now it rushed out with an unstoppable force, decades of fierce, unbrideled and passionate love poured into the small and fragile vessel sitting in her lap. He did not so much hear the words the beauty spoke to him as relive the moments alongside of her. These moments kindeled within him a fire that yearned for love and screamed for greatness but as the story progressed and the love was shattered by the cruel hand of fate so too did it shatter the very essence of the young child. As tears softly began to run down Silvanas cheecks she continued her tale in a solemn voice and the boy was shaken to his core. The utter, perfect bliss that had filled him was ripped from the center of his soul as violently as it had come. The silent pain that this elf had carried for over half a decade was shared between the both of them but the child could not cope with the raw despair that now filled the hole where just moments ago existed nothing but pure joy. Samuel collapsed from sheer sorrow, the wide range of emotions he had experienced proved too intense for him to handle. Silvana softly bore him back to his bed where she laid down beside him and let her gaze rest on the face of the boy in her arms as she fell asleep. It seemed like Time itself had listened to the tale with great respect, for the hours the two had spent together felt like an lifetime in the memory of young Sam. The event had changed him, his actions now held a purpose, a goal that exceeded the simple farmlife. He loved Silvana. He realised that from the first moment he had laid eyes on her, he had loved her. But now that he was aware of the pain she bore with her, he wanted to do everything in his might to make her happy again. He needed to fill the void he had felt in both Silvanas heart and in his own. He would become a hero greater than any before him, he would undo evil plots, amass great wealth, people would look up to him... more importantly, Silvana would be proud of him. It was this sense of purpose that infused the boy with a certain zeal. When the chrildren of the families reenacted the heroic tales they had heard, he wielded his wooden sword with so much blind and desperate effort that it didn't go unnoticed. He had struck a boy of the Goudenaar family down, causing a serious headwound. As all farmwork halted and everyone gathered in a panic around the wounded boy, Sam stood silently at the edge of all the ruckus. He didn't mean to hurt his playmate, he hadn't meant for this to happen! With all possible haste the priest of Pelor that gave the weekly service was summoned from the nearest town and had he arrived but a few moments later the boy would not have made it. Pelor was praised loudly when the boy reopened his eyes and the psalms that sunday seemed louder than before. Through the entire ordeal Samuel had stood there rigidly, his wooden sword still in hand. He fully realised what he had done and Samuel expected to be punished but nobody talked to him until late that night. When his father came to his room in the attic, tears filled the eyes of the boy but to his amazement his father wasn't mad. The change in his behavior hadn't gone unnoticed and his father told him that starting next week an old friend would come to town every week and that this man would be a guide on the path he had already chosen. This is how he came to meet Tordek Xorlosch, a dwarven warrior that apprently holds some relation to the Osterveld family. Every monday for several years Tordek would come to the village and school Sam in the martial arts. He quickly identified the boy as a talented fighter and tailored a fighting style for him that best suited his keen senses and desire to keep his loved ones from harm. Tordek also introduced somewhat of a mean streak into his eager student by pushing him to his limits during his training. "No fighter should be courteous or polite on a battlefield, all that mattters is that the cause to fight is just and the result of the fight is favorable", he would say. It was a rare moment indeed when you caught Sam not ardently working on something, be it his fighting skills or his farmwork. In these moments he would be silently yearning for the next time Silvana would come to the village. When she finally did come their eyes frequently held each others gaze during her performance, it seemed to our would-be hero that she too had developed something more than a fondness for him. And so the routine returned to his life: train with Tordek on monday, work in the stables during the week, go to church on sunday and spend the rest of the day in the chruch-school. Years passed and he grew both in stature and prowess. When he came to the age of 16 and he had reached adulthood he impatiently waited for Silvana to come to town, wanting to ask her to take him along on her journeys so that he could prove his worth to her and show him his love. For a moment Silvana was struck speechless, the eyes of the young man were wide with hope and excitement but she had different plans. It was with a heavy voice that she denied him his request, telling him she had to do one last thing before the two of them could start their own legend alongside of eachother. She said she did not know how long it would take or even if she would survive the journey but that she had no other choice. Samuel looked at her as she walked out of the village. He couldn't understand why she wouldn't let him be with her. He contemplated following her anyway, besides her warning but decided against this. No good would come of it, he knew this. He was weak. The flames that had been kindeled in that unforgettable night had died down. No matter how hard he had trained and how much he had improved, it wasn't enough for her. A spark of anger entered his mind. How dare she deny him what he so desperately sought for! How dare she belittle him like this! With renewed ferocity the the fire in his heart rose to unequalled peaks. It roared and consumed all that he knew, all that felt and was. He called out to her in a proud voice: "You WILL come back to me Silvana! And when you do I'll be a hero far greater than any you have ever known!" She didn't look back. She didn't look back because she didn't want him to see the tears in her eyes. The next day, when he was packing up his meager belongings his father once again came to him. With a word he laid down a package bound in cloth before him. As Sam unwrapped the package it revealed an old and tattered suit of scalemail armor. Sam knew that for the price of this one suit of armor his father could have bought several cows that would have made the future of the farm much more secure. The two looked at each other and without saying so much as a single word they embraced one another. He would repay his debt to his family more than tenfold even though he knew that it was given without any afterthought. As he stepped outside Tordek was waiting for him. "My debt has not yet been fully repaid but i see that you have made up your mind about this.", he spoke, "Here, these will do until you can find some weapons with a bit more class." The dwarf handed him an old and slightly rusted flail and a guisarme that seemed to come straight from the weaponsmith. A smile crept on the lips of the dwarf, "You'll do fine young lad, you'll do fine." When Samuel noticed that the entire village had come to see him off, he blushed. He looked one last time at his friends and family before he set his sights on the horizon and began his journey. The silence that hung over the scene was heavy but warm and comforting. As he passed the small church he saw the village priest holding a shield which bore the mark of Saint Cuthbert. "Take this, my son. It will keep you safe on your travels and remind you of that which you have learned here over the years." As he strapped the shield to his back the priest held out a small wooden symbol, a handcarved image of Pelor. "Your reasons may be somewhat selfish, but remember: Those that serve the greater good are more fondly remembered than those who just serve themselves." Samuel couldn't hold back a big grin but he hung the symbol around his neck with great care and thanked the priest. "Watch over the town father, keep them all safe." he said and he turned his back on his childhood. Great things lay in store for him. Stats Lawful Neutral Human fighter STR 12 DEX 14 CON 12 INT 13 WIS 8 CHA 14 Skills, 4 ranks in intimidate and Handle Animal, 0.5 rank in knowlege(local) for the legends and 0.5 rank in religeon for the sundayschool. 1 rank in ride, swim, jump and climb. There we are, comments are appreciated. Keep in mind english is only my second language though, so should you find odd grammatical things in my texts, please point them out!
aleshandre 08-21-05, 10:31 AM	Grammar I only saw one, but it seems more a matter of tastes to me than actual violation of english syntax, so don't worry about it. I thought his background (admittedly the only thing I read) was well structured and I can see that although his reason for embarking on his quest to become a great warrior was motivated by selfishness, his desire to become a hero in the first place and his intentions to help those who need it and relieve opression are good. Eventually I can see the character forgetting the anger he felt the day he left and thinking of his love only with fondness and perhaps alittle guilt for his last words to her. He may even forget the desire for glory, once he tastes the sweetness of helping others.
Morka 08-22-05, 11:39 AM	Great background. There is one little detail that bug me. Your character is LN, and he attended every lesson about Pelor and didn't find it annoying. If it has been lessons about St-Cuthbert or a deity with a LN point of view, he would have drink all the words. But a LN children would become bore of hearing tales about Sun and Goodness.
PH3NOmenon 08-22-05, 02:02 PM	Grammar I only saw one, but it seems more a matter of tastes to me than actual violation of english syntax, so don't worry about it. Would you mind pointing it out to me anyways? :) About the future of the character: That depends on the DM really: while i see it as a definate possibility to gravitate towards good if the rewards are right and he learns that "doing good is its own reward", there's also the possibility that he gets swindeled out of his fame and fortune a couple of times so he'll turn bitter and be firmly set in the Lawful Neutral or 'god forbid' adopt an evil stance to gain power at all costs. There is one little detail that bug me. Your character is LN, and he attended every lesson about Pelor and didn't find it annoying. If it has been lessons about St-Cuthbert or a deity with a LN point of view, he would have drink all the words. But a LN children would become bore of hearing tales about Sun and Goodness. Well, even though the priest was one that serves Pelor, i doubt he talks solely of the Sungod. The sundayschool is very basic, aimed at 6 yearolds so to speak. They talked about all gods, their followers and planes and such. Also, don't forget the character is lawful, he could have hated it like hell, he was told to be a good boy and attend the classes so he will. Lets just say he wasn't particularly fond of all the honeysoaked goodness Pelor preached but he sure loved it when the retribution part came in. Thanks for the comments! I'd like to hear more!
aleshandre 08-22-05, 09:50 PM	Now I can't even find the one gramatical error that I saw before. I did notice several typos, but even experts in English do that anyway and there were fewer than most people I've seen who's first language isn't english and several people who's is.
Fithero 08-24-05, 07:07 AM	That is an awsome character PH3NOmenon, i love the background story you made for him. It covered all the important areas and motivations for the character (i felt so anyway). I would really be interested in hearing how this character plays. (Mainly because i have never played a LN character....or any Lawfull character for that matter :P ) Later