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zephyrmage42 12-12-05, 10:57 AM

set in Eberron, this is a character I am starting after my last got splattered against the walls by a troll =(. This cloaked female appears relaxed, yet well trained muscles wait like coiled springs. She wears armor made from black leaves that move with her, seeming to offer no protection at all. Her shield and scimitar are both wooden, though the sword has a dark bronze sheen. She carries only a small pack besides these. Her body is covered in large tattoo of interweaving lines, seemingly at random. Her feline face, piercing eyes and jet black hair bear a striking resemblance to the head of the black panther than pears around her cloak. Child of Lammania Laura of the Eagle’s Claw clan was born on the first of Dravago, 968 YK, under a strange sign, according to the dying village mystic. The moon of Lammania was high in the sky, and bright. The forest around them was darker than normal, and some took this for an evil omen. The mystic simply smiled and said, “Here is one who will understand.” Growing up, Laura was different than the shifters around her. Her clan was a small group of about 20 other shifters, who mostly went about things as a good shifter would. Laura enjoyed the games and the hunting, but was always more reserved. She seemed to have a knack for reading others, which some of the other shifters found unsettling. Also, while many of the other shifters used their powers quite frequently, Laura never had much desire to do this, after seeing the highly emotional state that many entered. Some seemed to almost lose control, and control was Laura’s goal. In 987 YK, when Laura was just 17, the clan was approached by a scout of the Sisters of Sora Kell. They had just formed their nation in the west of Breland, and were looking for scouts. They promised that any who joined would be well rewarded, and given assignments and pay reflecting their unique skills. The tribe was skeptical at first, but eventually they were swayed. Almost all of the tribe went to war. Laura did not. She urged caution in a passionate speech before the clan, but it was not to be. After the clan left its home, Laura simply packed her belongings and started walking east, toward the rising sun. The Journey yet to come Laura journeyed for the next nine years. She traveled all over Khorvaire, simply existing, tuning in to nature, as she did as a child. She was distressed by the prejudice she faced in many places because of her heritage. It wasn’t often outright hatred, but the sight of her wild hair and feline features and grace often made mothers pull their children closer. Laura wished she could show that she was in control of herself, and would never snap into bestial fury like some of her kinsmen. Around the end of the Last War, she was beginning to tire of having no place to return to. She was intrigued when she saw an advertisement for a group of shifters in Sharn that were going to set out to form a community in Q’barra, where they could live in the wilderness and forge their own destinies. Laura signed on with them, and left a few weeks after the Treaty of Thronehold was signed. Life in Q’barra was happy, if difficult for the new clan. They certainly faced some hardships, but the village they had created in the jungle began to flourish, as even the most city bound of the shifters tapped into his heritage. There was little fighting, though the native lizardmen attempted some minor skirmishes. By the end of their 6th month there, the village began to settle into a routine, and some of the women showed signs of bringing the first new shifters to the clan. The Beast within Peace, however, was not going to last forever for the little community. One night the lizardmen upped the conflict, sending a whole raiding party into the village. The shifters were taken by surprise, and pushed back. Laura was awakened as the lizardmen drew close. She had seen fighting and been in the games of her people before, but never had she seen an enemy come at her and her friends with nothing but murder on its mind. Her beast roared into life as she flew into the enemy with her companions. Laura’s latent fighting ability turned out to be quite impressive, and though the shifters suffered a few casualties, the lizardmen were shocked by the ferocity that these shifters could show when their clan was targeted in such away, and the lizardmen retreated. Walks with the Night The end of the battle did not calm Laura. She still raged, in an inner struggle with her two natures. It looked like the fight would kill her, as she ran in jerking fashion, like someone possessed. She eventually collapsed, and the clan took her to her home and had someone stay with her. She was unconscious for 4 full days, taking only the water that was trickled down her throat. On the night of the fourth day, she awoke, got up and started to walk out the door, silently. Her companion stopped her at the door, asking what was going on. Laura simply replied, “She calls.” With that, she went into the forest. Laura walked back into the village on a dark night six months from when she walked out. She had changed, looking much lithe, like a coiled spring in all her movements, and her eyes seemed to dance with hidden knowledge. She was also followed by a black panther, a creature feared by the shifters. “This is Krav’elan, which means ‘claws of the moon’. The rest of the shifters seemed lost for words, till one finally said, “Laura, we all thought you were dead, or gone mad.” “My name is not Laura anymore, it is Lara’sharann, but you may call me Lara. I have not gone mad. I have been… training. I walked into the forest to calm my beast within, as I had always done in the past, but in my deepest meditation I saw that that was not the answer any more than giving in to sheer abandon was. Instead I meditated for almost two weeks, and when I awoke I had ceased to be two people, instead I have attained what the rest of you have always had, though my understanding of nature may be more profound.” Lara said this last bit with a warm smile, and asked if they could finish her tale over a meal. As they sat down, one of her old friends asked what she had done after her awakening, if that had only been two weeks. “I was very weak when I awoke. It was deep night, and one of the first things I saw was an ancient lizardman, crouched in front of me, watching. He had a knife in one hand and food in the other. He spoke to me, and at first I did not understand his words. He raised the knife, and told him to stop, though the sounds I made seemed foreign. With this, he drew back the knife and gave me the food. He told me, ‘You were marked at birth, and now you must be trained. Stay here, and I will return. The words I speak to you are in our secret language, Druidic.’ “He returned in the morning with more food, and explained that I had appeared to be one with the forest when he had found me, which is why he had not immediately killed me. What he suspected, I had confirmed when I awoke. I have the calling of the moonspeaker, the druid, the one-with-nature, and the spiritual leader of our people. He trained me for the next 5 months. He was a powerful druid, and a wise man among his people. He did not kill me, he explained, because the calling of our kind transcends race. I learned how to join with the forest, commune with nature, and harness its power into my spells. I learned how to heal and how to destroy. I have had these abilities since birth, but I suppressed them as I suppressed my true nature. My experience, my knowledge awakens more powers in me. On the last night of my training a panther came out of the forest at my call. He became Krav’elan. My teacher then gave me my new name, which means ‘Walks with the Night’ in our secret tongue. We made a deal that night, a bargain of peace between our people. The lizardmen will no longer attack us here. I will remain here for a little while longer. I command the powers of nature, and I will help this village prosper.” And so she did. Lara stayed for the next six months, sharing her wisdom and powers with her shifters. The lizardmen kept their end of the deal, and the shifters didn’t infringe anymore on their territory. One of the young shifters showed much promise in learning the ways that Lara was teaching the community. His name was Harr, and Lara told him how to contact the old lizardman to continue his training when Lara left. Early in 997YK, Lara knew it was time to leave the community. With the war over and the world finally settling down, Lara knew that there was much to learn. Her ambition was to journey into the rest of Khorvaire to learn through experience, the philosophy she taught her village. Over the last year she has been traveling, and selling her services when need be. <<>> Physically, Lara is like many of her race. She is a little taller than a human, weighing about 140 pounds. She is lean, lithe, and powerful. Her black hair leads many to note a resemblance between Lara and Krav’elan. She has tattoos covering a good deal of her arms and legs, mostly simple black interweaving lines. To her kind the tattoos signify her as a moonspeaker, and they were done by another shifter when Lara journeyed back to the Eldeen Reaches. His name was Tarn, and he was the ancient leader of a large community in the deep forest who Lara longs to visit again. Behind her dark blue eyes lies wisdom greater than her years. Lara has seen much of life in her years of wandering. She has a knack for reading others. Learning through experience is her philosophy, and the force of nature her god. She has little time for academics. Like most of her race she is highly self-reliant, and values strength, seeing weakness in dependence (though she does not view the shifters that she acts as mystic for as being weak). She has a tendency to be aloof, and occasionally temperamental. She is most often blunt, and has little use for lies or those who would use them. She sees nature as a balance, and usually does not want to tip the balance too far, though an excess of evil would do more harm than good, and so often strays to good more than evil. Her honor is very important to her, and she will fiercely protect her name. She views oppression of the weak as a cardinal sin. Though the weakness of the oppressed should be corrected, she believes that people should have choice in everything, and removal of this choice is a higher sin than weakness. <Mechanics> Lara is currently a Druid 5, with the shifter sub level at 5, removing wildshape and giving her more shiftings per day. I also will be recieving a few bonus shifter feats, at 5 and 8, to compensate for the fact that losing wildshape is a big hit. These bonus feats won't count towards the shifts/day or duration though. She has the Longstrider trait, to match her feline nature. Feats are longstrider elite, Shifter Instincts, Extra Trait (beasthide). Future shifter feats include Beasthide elite and both shifter defense feats. At my current level, my AC while shifting will be 24 (more with barkskin, as I also have a braid of spellstrike). Offensively, Spikes (Complete Divine) gives my bronzewood scimitar more than a little punch. I plan on taking the moonspeaker prestige class, which is one of hte reasons giving up wild shape progression doesnt bother me much. Thanks for the input!