Post/Author/DateTime	Post
GreatWhale 01-25-04, 11:08 PM	I will be creating a lizardman cleric of Io who evenutally becomes a dracolye (10 lvls) and a bit of a divine agent (whatevers left). So far, I'm going to use the background of my really old, pre Draconomicon character like this. Just to let you know, I will be starting as an ECL 5...thus I am a level 4 cleric currently. ---[Begin Description]--- Shiv Vargas has always felt to be more than a savage. As such, he tried to make his lizardman tribe to leave their xenophobic roots to accept other gods. As a youth, he had many dreams where a dragon, never the same colour but always the same voice, told him to realize his destiny. Due to his odd beliefs, he took a voluntary exile to find a way to have his tribe realize the presence of the gods. During his trip out of the Black Marsh, he found a book with strage markings on it. After finding a nearby town, he got a learned sage to translate the work. After discovering that it was a holy text of Io, Shiv was intrigued. He pursued the study of Draconic, and thus studied the book. During his readings, everything became clearer. The images that attended him in sleep were visions of Io, pushing him to discover his ancient draconic lineage. He experienced a religious awakening, and has thus taken up the mission of spreading the word of Io, whose devout following has dwindled to numbers that barely allow Io to exist through belief. After the awakening, he attempted to return to the Black Marshes, only to be assailed by undead, more specifically the corpses of his fallen tribesman. Shiv was disgusted by this, and saught out the animator of these abominations. It was discovered that the creators were none other than The Bleak Academy. Thus, Shiv has taken up a second calling: the destruction of undead, whereever it may be found. In combat, he often employs the items of mages (Magic Domain) to empower his lethal claws and fangs. Also, a type of fish lives in the Black Marshes that has a paralytic poison injected through its spines; Shiv's tribe depend on these as a food source, and thus he is immune to their poison. Shiv often uses this poison on his claws, or more often eats one shortly before combat to increase the potentcy of his bite. Shiv is large for his kind, being 6'10" and weighing 278 lbs. His scales are a pale grey to better camoflauge in the marshy wastelands, with a crimson and purple fin on the back of his neck (look in 3.0 Monster Manual to see what I mean). He is dressed in the clerical vestements of Io, with the multiple colours therin causing some outlandish behaviour in bystanders. He wears his holy symbol with pride, possessing a signet ring with the same signal, a metal multicoloured circle. He also has a belt which holds trophies from triumphs, a practice from his tribe that refuses to leave his unconsious, no matter how much time he spends away from his tribe. Among his collection can be found vials of zombie dust, the claw of a ghast, the head of an imp, and the ringed hand of a flesh golem. During a mission with some other adventurers to stop the Bleak Academy, he met a high-ranking member, who arrived to finish the party off after they thwarted one of his subordinates several times. He was about to be slain when an erupting cascade of light erupted from Shiv's holy symbol as it shattered and its pieces pierced the ground below. A column or shimmering colour fell from the sky on the party as they were trafficked away. They appeared in a foggy, insubstantial place. In front of Shiv sat a dragon similar to a both a prismatic and chaos dragon, but without their obvious madness and joy, respectively. The dragon introduced himself as Io, and explained his reason for saving the party. It seems that he must maintain his believers, for they grow small in number. As most clerics know, a god's power depends on faith; without faith, a god can cease to exist. Thus, Shiv and the party were sent on their way, transported back to where they had disappeared, where a collection of robes lay where the great necromancer once stood. Also, in Shiv's right hand was a symbol of Io made completely from opal, a myriad of colours radiating magic (Greater Holy Symbol). As they continued their quest, Shiv vowed to place a shrine of Io at that very place. The broken symbol served as a religious beacon from which the glamerous shrine (Shiv paid 6000gp out of his own pocket for its build, not bad for a level 5)sits, the shards of the symbol suspended in Io's claw, seperate pieces in sight, a single symbol in faith. ---[End Description]--- So, what do you think? Any suggestions, flames, hate mail, praises, or thoughts welcome. Cookies are also welcomed. However, thievery is morally wrong and thus evil. So, you evil people, and you know who you are, can steal this idea if you want as long as you don't live near me. Or know me. (j/k)
SoulLord 01-28-04, 01:17 PM	Interesting just some food for tought do lizardman know who their parents are? if they do what is a tipical lizardman family like? did he have lots of brothers and sisters? were alll of them turned to undeath? how about nearby tribes? did he visit them? did he ever leave his village at all? any trials of passage ha had to take while at the tribe? SoulLord
GreatWhale 01-28-04, 08:20 PM	Thanks. A lot of that had never crossed my mind. Well, since my DM is letting me adapt the lizardman lifestyle, since it's not very in-depth in the Monster Manual, here goes: Lizardman Family: In more nomadic tribes of lizardfolk, they operate like many lesser reptiles by laying their eggs in a secluded are and leave them to fend for themselves. However, if a single area has been settled, the tribe lives in a small number of huts, one entire family living in a hut, with a mating couple moving to the female's hut. Youth are not allowed to leave the settlement without an adult, and thus youth scramble to become adults to explore the swamp. The eldest of each hut convene daily to decide on matters of the tribe, including coming of age, taking care of the dead, and deciding if the tribe must move, if necessary. Thus, should many members of a family die, the oldest in the family becomes the elder. Often, a family consists of one or two grandparents, many parents, and a large number of children. However, this is not always the case. For example, Shiv's family, (that is grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, and cousins) excluding his older sister and two very young brothers, were wiped out by undead, and thus turned. Thus, Shiv's older sister is now the elder of the Vargas family, although only the equivalent of an older teenager in human terms. Lizardman Settlements: There are no nearby tribes in the Black Marshes, due to how poor the environment provides, excluding the familiar poison fish. There are some nearby tribes along the rivers leading to *insert main city name here*, but Shiv has never visited them, feeling that they will think the same as his tribe. He feels that he could best accomplish his goal from his own tribe first. However, after his spiritual awakening, he ventured into human lands to study, wishing to become more learned in the ways of the world, having lived his childhood in a xenophobic tribe. Thus, he studied many long years, gaining great deals of knowledge of both arcane and divine lore, he set out upon the world with his newfound knowledge for a way to convince his tribe. Rites of Passage: In the Teyhthr'ii Tribe, of which Shiv is a member, there are two rites of passage: One is given at the age of six years, to discover the skills at which the youth has the greatest aptitude. The child is then trained in that discipline for two years, after which the child is given a second aptitude test to see if talent was missed. However, the greatest rite of passage is the Giftbringing, occuring at the age of 16 years. This tests the ingenuity, adaptability, and cunning of the individual. Each of the elders, excluding that youth's elder, decide on a gift to be recieved that is within 5 miles of the village. The youth's elder is then told the list, and the youth may ask two questions about the item to each elder. The youth has as many days as there are elders, and may ask two questions a day to their own elder of the gifts. These gifts are often following this list: an object to gain through physical power (e.g. the skin of an animal), an object to gain from another family (e.g. their main room rug), an object to gain from a non-human nearby (e.g. the helmet of a human lving at the outskirts) an object to find in the swamp (e.g. a live poisonfish) and an object owned by the youth in question (e.g. a favorite toy of the youth). Should a youth fail, they must wait until the next full moon to attempt it again. As one would expect, often a youth may remain so for several years before obtaining status as an adult. As for Shiv, he achieved adulthood on the second try, by asking a friend to listen to the elders while they decide on the gifts. However, the friend did not hear the last gift: the object from Shiv himself. Shiv, realizing that the elders would pay attention for spies next time, decided to give away all of his possessions but one toy, and then present it to the elders. The elders, knowing this was not the object they had agreed on, asked Shiv why he thought this was the object that they wanted from him, he replied that since it was the only object of his that he had left (lizardfolk see clothing as a hinderance during hunting and playing games), it had to be the object. The elders, although amazed, had no choice but to accept the gift and give him the title of adult. After he became an adult, he used his catches from hunting and gathering to barter back his possessions, finally having enough to leave the village after six months. Well, how's that? If anyone has any more questions or comments, feel free to do so. And no matter what the question, if it's relevant, it'll help my character development, so feel free to ask.