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JulesCARV 12-08-06, 08:31 PM

This is a bit of a munchkiny character, but that doesn't mean he can't have a good background: basically, the idea behind this build is to be an NE human sorcerer 6/mage of the arcane order 4/ur-priest 2/mystic theurge 8, and start at middle or old age, since this character is rather mental-attribute dependent. Lichdom might be a long-term objective, especially if I go for low constitution (thanks to the long-term effects of the Order of the Emerald Claw's poisoning attempt). I'm just wondering about how this concept would work. I don't actually have a game to use it in at the moment, but I'll post it here anyway. Why not, y'know? Berthold was born in the midst of the Last War. He was raised by his family to be a fierce Karrn nationalist and a devout worshipper of the Blood of Vol. He eventually became a cleric of the Blood of Vol, helping to fight against the followers of the false claimants to Galifar's throne, heal Karrnath's wounded and animating undead to aid Karrnath's military. Yet as the war went on, he found that his faith in the Blood of Vol was becoming increasingly shaky. The Blood of Vol promised immortality at some point, yet the final battle between the Blood of Vol and the Sovereigns of Death always seemed to be "soon," an apocalypse that was always imminent, but never came. Worse, the Church seemed to view Karrnath more as a resource to be harvested than an ally to help. As the Blood of Vol focused on expanding its own power, while letting its contributions to Karrnath's fighting force languish, Berthold began to resent being sent on missions to strongarm Karrnathi followers of the Sovereign Host and the Silver Flame into converting when he could have been on the front, fighting against Brelish and Cyreans. In addition, being a powerful cleric within the church, he saw the connections between the terrorists in the Order of the Emerald Claw and the official, legal Blood of Vol. The final blow, however, came with the Treaty of Thronehold. Berthold, a fervent believer in King Kaius III's right to rule all of Galifar, was bitterly disappointed by the treaty, particularly the recognition of the independence of former parts of Karrnath such as the Mror Holds. The Blood of Vol, however, seemed to view the peace as an oppurtunity to expand its power into other nations without being regarded as agents of Karrnath, and seemed indifferent to the loss of Karrnathi land. He attempted to cling to his faith in the Blood of Vol, but found that he no longer possessed it. His holy symbol was nothing but a mass of worthless silver. His meditations brought him not even the simplest of orisons. He could not command the negative energy that once made undead cower before him in awe. Berthold nonetheless remembered a bit of magic from his training as a cleric. He knew how to wield verbal and somatic components. He was adept at spellcraft. He began to try to wield magic without faith or prayer. He found that he could cast a few spells, but they were much weaker than the magic he had commanded as a cleric. He had been reduced from a mighty cleric to little more than a magewright. Berthold cried bitterly, for his lost power, for his homeland's misfortunes in the terrible war and the terrible peace that followed, for his lost faith, and drank heavily. The next day, drunk and bleary-eyed, he announced to the clergy of the Blood of Vol that he could no longer serve them. Although many in the Blood of Vol did not wield divine magic (i.e., expert-priests), Berthold knew that his loss of power would not go unremarked. Moreover, his disillusionment with the Blood of Vol rebelled against the idea of him continuing to serve them when they had betrayed him and his nation. Berthold spent the next week in a drunken stupor, fearing that he would spend the rest of his life as a common magewright, but the Order of the Emerald Claw, angry at his apostasy, intervened. A week after he renounced the Blood of Vol, an Emerald Claw assassin poisoned his beer by dissolving burnt othur fumes into it. He was severely sickened by the poison, but survived, although it is likely that he will never recover some of the damage the poison did to him. After recovery, he found a new, savage determination to win revenge against the Order of the Emerald Claw, against the Blood of Vol, against all of the lying religions, and to redeem Karrnath's honor and sovereignty, restore King Kaius III's royal authority, and to regain the power over life and death he had once wielded. This time, he would lean on no faith as a crutch.