Saturday, October 11, 2008

Back into the fold once more...

So tomorrow is our first DnD game.  Set in the world of Golarion (Pathfinder RPG, 3.5 DnD).  We should have 5 players, though one guy may miss this first game... I believe right now the character break down is Barbarian, Fighter(archer type), Rogue, Bard, and Cleric.  I am playing the Cleric.  This will be my first major foray into this class.. and I am looking forward to it... it should be different.  So here's some world history and some background for my character.

(italicized text is taken right from the campaign setting.  Which you can find here at Paizo.)

There are several distinct human "races" in Golarion; the one I chose is Varisian.  The easiest way to describe them is... gypsies.  They are nomadic, artistic, and carry a bad reputation.  Wanderers and nomads, Varisians travel the land in caravans, stopping only to put on their shows.  Show Varisians use their gregarious natures and dark good looks to swindle unfortunate marks; it is these few scalawags who give the Varisian people a bad name. Most other people respect the Varisians for their ancient traditions and vast knowledge, but distrust their motives. They often dress in colorful clothes, wear lots of jewelry, and are adorned by intricate tattoos.  They often follow the god Desna, the god of the stars, but pay homage to many of the realms gods often seeing them as angels who serve Desna.  They are at times (rare) born with "birth tattoos", birth marks but not in the normal sense. These birth tattoos bear little resemblance to conventional birthmarks. Most are extremely elaborate and multicolored...Varisians believe that birth tattoos indicate a profound destiny awaiting the marked child.
  
Jal Chavali.  My character is a cleric of Sarenrae, The Dawnflower, the Healing Flame, the Everlight.  She is a Neutral Good god, and the ancient enemy of Rovagug, The Rough Beast, God of wrath and distaster.  Her Domains and spheres of influence are: Fire, Sun, Good, Healing, Glory - goddess of the sun, redemption, honesty, healing.  Her clergy are known for being very gentle and kind, but such kindness vanishes when the church is stirred to action against evil that cannot be redeemed-- at such times, Sarenrae's clerics become dervishes, dancing among foes whilst allowing their scimitars to give their opponents final redemption." ... Swordplay, particularly with the scimitar, is held to be a form of art with her followers...  Religious art depicts the sun goddess as a strong woman with bronze skin and a mane of dancing flame.  While one hand holds the light of the sun, the other grasps a scimitar, so that she might smite those who do not change their ways.  The book has pictures of her clerics and they remind me a lot of  high level Blue Mages in FFXI (with all their gear on)(in appearance only, though not wearing blue, more whites/golds).  Anyway, I started out with Martial Weapon Prof: Scimitar as one of my feats.. to eventually build on the swordsmanship side of my clerical duties...  I took the Sun and Glory domains. Glory is new in Pathfinder, makes you better at Turn Undead and, holy crap, Holy Sword (from the paladin spell list) as 5th level domain spell... that will certainly help my scimitar skills...

Here is my write up on his background.

Jal was born into a varied and elaborate caravan of Varisians.  The Chavali clan was known for being widley travelled, and encompassing a wide array of professions and ideals.  Most deities were paid homage by the caravan, Desna for guidance in the evenings, Sarenrae for guidance during the day, and others when it was convenient or appropriate.  It was startling when Jal was born with a prominent "Birth Tattoo" of a sun, directly over his heart.  The elders of the caravan were never quite sure how to fully interpret its meaning, and left it up to his immediate family.  Jal's father, a very well travelled man, felt it was a sign of his purpose, that the Dawnflower had chosen him.  His mother, was less sure, feeling Desna was always meant to guide her and her family.  As time passed Jal learned what he could of all the gods, paying close attention to the stories of Sarenrae (at his father's urging). During his early teenage years the Chavali caravan, joined up with some other clans/caravans for a great festival, an exchange of stories/ideas/goods/people/bodily fluids among the caravans and this is where Jal's purpose was revealed to him.  The festival included a great many dances, elaborate and complex affairs that often held great prophetic wisdom to the families and ran from sunrise to sunset, and often into the night.  It was in this dance that he saw his fate revealed to him...  Many female dancers encircled a lone male dancer, and swirling scarves of yellow and crimson spiraled and danced in the air...Upon completion of the festival he departed the caravan to seek out a temple where he could truly understand his purpose.  The priests attending the small temple saw the his coming as a sign, and welcomed him in.. teaching him the ways of the Dawnflower, and instructing his in the ways of the sword.  He returned to his family when he deemed himself ready, and informed them of his new path... his mother remained distant and upset, feeling he had forsaken his bloodline and Desna.. but his father gave him his blessing.  Jal choose to then head out on his own once again to seek out the deeds Sarenrae had selected him to do... he chose to travel west as the sun travels across the sky.. eventually hitting the coast and having to change direction, he encountered many other travelers, all heading to Sandpoint for the upcoming festival.  He felt starting yet another journey with a festival was a good omen...

I am kind of playing him as conflicted somewhat.. culturally, he is veering from the societal worship of the Varisian people... following a different god than the norm, which has created a rift in his family.  But he feels his fate is to serve Sarenrae so he holds nothing back...

I will update after the game, maybe Monday night..

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Glad to see you're playing D&D again, but no 4e?!?

Chaosturtle said...

Cool write up K man! Sounds really cool, and you seem to have your concept down pretty good. I liked morning stars better as weapons for sun gods, but i think i see what they were trying to do with the scimitar thing. anyways, good luck on your first adventure! and heal! heal! HEAL!

Pondrepof said...

Lokipan: If it were up to me we'd be playing 4e... I'd love to "put it through its paces" but alas.. I am just a lowly player in this campaign.

turtle: Thx.. it always takes me a few adventures to really get into the character...so I haven't quite gotten a hold of it yet.. I think I cast one Heal spell during the first game... the rest of the time I was flailing about wildly with my scimitar...