Talas Burden
Male Human Duskblade 5
CG medium humanoid
Senses: Spot +0, Listen +0
Init: +2 (+2 Dex)
Languages: Common, Goblin, Elven
Region of Origin: Breland
Exp: 13350
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AC: 20, touch 12, flat-footed 18; (+6 armor, +2 shield, , +2 dex,)
Hit Points: 42
Action Points: 0
Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +4;
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Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares) or 30 ft. unarmored, 74/230 carried medium load
Melee: +1 Flail +9 bludgeoning (1d8+4/x2) or light pick +8 piercing (1d4+3/x4) or dagger +8 slashing/piercing (1d4+3/19-20)
Ranged: longbow +7 piercing (1d8/x3) or dagger +7 piercing/slashing (1d4+3/19-20)
Space: 5 ft. Reach: 5 ft.
Base Atk: +5 Grapple: +8
Atk Options: Disarm: +15 w/flail, Arcane Channeling
Combat Feats: Improved Disarm, Combat Expertise
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Arcane Attunement: Can use Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Flare, Ghost Sounds, and Read Magic. Castable 5/day
Armored Mage: Can ignore ASF for light and medium armor and light shields.
Arcane Channelingl: As a standard action, Talas can channel a touch spell with a melee attack, no AoO, and spell must be able to be cast as a standard action.
Quick Cast (1/day): Once per day a spell with a normal casting time of one standard action can be cast as a swift action.
Duskblade Spells Known CL: 5
2nd – Dimension Hop
1st – Resist Energy, Shocking Grasp, Ray of Enfeeblement, True strike, Chill Touch
0th - Disrupt Undead, Touch of Fatigue, Acid splash, Ray of frost
Spells per day: (6/6/3) DC: 12+spell level
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Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8
Feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm, Somatic Weaponry, Combat casting(bonus from Duskblade)
Skills: Concentration +10 [8 ranks](+14 when casting on the defensive), Knowledge(Arcana) +10 [8 ranks], Knowledge(Religion) +10 [8 ranks], Knowledge(Nature) +10 [8 ranks], Knowledge (Planes) [8 ranks]
Possessions: +1 Displacement Chainmail(1/day Displacement 5rds)(-gp, 40lb),+1 flail(2308gp, 5lb), Longbow(75gp, 3lb), Dagger(2gp, 1lb), Light pick(4gp, 3lb), Arrows(20)(1gp, 1lb), light wooden shield+1(1151gp, 1lb), Restful Crystal(500gp,-lb, MIC), 2 Fountainhead arrows(612gp, -lb, MIC), , 3 potions of cure light wounds(200gp, -lb), Backpack(2gp, 2lb), Bedroll(.1gp, 5lb), 2 Belt pouches(2gp, 1lb), 50' of silk rope(10gp, 5lb), spell component pouch(5gp, 2lb), waterskin(1gp, 4lb), Everburning torch(110gp, 1lb), 2 potions of enlarge person(100gp, -lb), 3 Scrolls of True strike(100gp, -lb), 2 Scrolls of See invisibility(300gp, -lb), 2 Scroll of Scorching Ray(300gp, -lb), Platinum Ring(focus for shield other, 50gp)15pp, 16gp, 9sp
[sblock=appearance]While his twin is tall and willowy, Talas is tall and muscular. Talas's black hair is kept short and his eyes are a vibrant green. He only takes off his family's armor when he bathes. A small wood shield hangs on his right arm, and a shining flail is held in his left. His belt has several loops to hold his belt pouches his potions and scrolls. Although he was the firstborn, he nevertheless looks to his brother for leadership, albeit grudgingly.[/sblock]
[sblock=personality]Cocky and sure of himself, Talas holds arcane magic above all other forms of magic. He is constantly reminding his twin that his art is superior. Although he looks like a warrior(and he is)Talas is not shy to spout off random bits of knowledge, whether it be about the creatures they face in battle or just a specific type of tree in the forest. On the outside all appears normal, but Talas is plagued by doubts of his worth. Being raised with The Silver Flame in their lives, Talas and his twin were to follow the edicts of the Church. However, when Talas talent in the art of the arcane began to materialize, he left the ways of the Church behind him. That fact makes him guilty for his brother became a powerful priest of The Flame, like their Mother. Talas wonders what fate has in store for him, why two people that look so alike can be so different.[/sblock]
[sblock=background]Talas and Cholas were born identical twins, children to a priestess of The Silver Flame and a great warrior. The priestess handed the twins to their mother, each nestled into their mother’s shoulder. “The Flame burns bright in both of them, but more strong in one of them.”
Their mother, dark-haired and beautiful, looked at the priestess-midwife and smiled. “We shall love them both the same.”
* * * * * * *
The children seemed to grow quickly. Cholas the younger of the two, had many friends, and was a natural leader. He sought the wisdom of The Flame from a young age. Talas was quite different. As the older son, and heir to the Burden name, he spent much time with his father, training in the martial aspects of life. If something were to happen to their father, Talas was expected to be the father figure, and be able to work. The martial exercises helped Talas grow strong, much stronger than his church favoring brother.
Their father was hard on Talas, berating his failures and barely recognizing his successes. This caused the older twin to withdraw from making friendships, for if his loving father couldn’t find anything right with the boy, how could his peers?
Talas excelled in school, the boy’s favorite topics included the stories of monsters and creatures that the Church kept on record. Talas excelled in the areas of religion and arcane arts as well as other topics. He neglected the more boring topics of history though, often skipping class to join in father in his strict training.
The family lived in a rural keep in Northern Breland, a gift long ago from services done for The Silver Flame. On day when the boys were near coming of age, Talas was given a gift. It was a beautiful set of chain mail, one of great magical power. It was handed down from generation to generation in the Burden family. The young man, was much smaller than his father, and Talas was sad that he had received the armor so soon. He would have to wait to wear it. Talas’s father insisted he try it on, and to Talas’s amazement it tightened around his form, to fit snugly and confortably.
* * * * * * *
Talas and his father were sparring one day, in the fields outside their home. The constant work has strengthened the man even further, and he was getting better at dueling with his father. The boy was smart and used to this to recognize patterns in his father’s technique, Talas was getting closer and closer to besting him in their duels. All of a sudden a man stepped from between the reeds. He was huge, standing a head taller than his father. He was shirtless and dark-skinned, a large flail held in his calloused hands. Talas recognized him from his father’s stories. The of the barbarians from The Demon Wastes. He approached without hostility, but the pair of Burden’s held their weapons at the ready still. Strangers were few in this area.
The stranger seeing the nervousness of the father and son, placed his flail on the ground and spoke. “I have been tracking a group of goblins in the area. They are far from their home, and I need a place to stay.” The man had been watching the two from the field for some time and knew that the boy had much talent, much more than his father could realize, talent that spanned centuries. The heavily muscled man continued. “I wish to use your home as a base of operations for a time. A month perhaps. I have gold to pay as well as other things. He pulled valuable pieces of crystal from a pouch at his waist. Golden and beautiful, they were powerful Siberys dragonshards. If that is not enough, I am skilled in combat, I can help to train the boy. The Burden elder narrowed his eyes at the stranger, then looked to his son.
Talas was in awe of the man, he was hugely muscular with broad shoulders and in the peak of physical condition. His trunk was criss-crossed by scars, this man must be a mighty warrior to survive so many blows. He nodded eagerly at his father. The stranger approached his father and they shook on the deal, Talas noticed a green mark covering the strangers back. The color was faded and the back was heavily scarred, that Talas could only make out a pair of wings.
* * * * * * *
The next morning the strange warrior introduced himself to Talas as Yortran. In the mornings Yortran continued his observing of the goblins, during the evening when Yortran’s vision was poor, he trained Talas in the lit courtyard of the keep. Although Yortran fought unarmored, he was able to deftly defend against Talas’ by keeping his flail moving defensively and then counterstriking back. Talas learned much from this style of fighting and adopted it as his own. He even took a one handed variety of the flail as his favorite weapon. Talas was a quick learner and was soon skilled with the defensive style of combat, that with a flick of his wrist he could disarm, his father even. Yortran saw the intelligence in the young man and how quick of a learner he was. He began to encourage the side in Talas that only he could see. Magic was in his blood, and Yortran began to coax it out, first it was only small rays of cold, enough to cause numbness and pain, but the wounds would heal in a day. Soon after, Talas learned a spell that gave him insight to where Yortran’s blocking flail would be. After casting the spell he could easily make it past Yortran’s guard.
* * * * * * *
“Talas wake up quickly!” It was Cholas, armor and weapon on him put on obviously in a hurry. “Goblin’s march towards the keep. We must go!”
The twins fled, down a secret passage in the keep that lead to a nearby river. Many of the servants were already there, along with their parents and Yortran. They had all boarded several small rafts that they kept for such an emergency. They drifted downriver for several days, until finally coming near a small town. Without much of anything left, the family established a small house and took jobs around town.
Everything went kind of back to normal, the twins(more Cholas) had made friends with a pretty, petite serving girl in the local inn. She seemed harmless enough. Not soon after they started getting reports from the militia that a goblin scouting party had been seen in the woods lately. The town needed help, so they sent the twins, and the girl(they were the most able-bodied people in the small town not already entrenched in important jobs or defensive measures), to Sharn. The three traveled to Sharn, and in doing so passed through a forest. Constantly they felt like they were being watched, and it was Alexa that spotted the source of the feeling. A shifter had been tailing them for several days, and he seemed harmless enough, just curious. When the trio left the woods, the shifter didn’t follow so they paid it no more heed. When arriving in Sharn, they were amazed by the towers and magic were common in the city. They spent hours wandering the dizzying heights, until they found The Church of the Silver Flame in they city. This was their best bet for help, but before they could enter, a strange hooded man cut in front of them.
He seemed crazy, but he said he had a guild and they that would defeat the darkness that plagued the world. Where the remainder of his guild was, he could not say, but he did say they would be joining them soon. He asked the trio if they would like to join his guild. The trio agreed, but only if they could gather their forces and return to their small town to defend from the goblins. The strange hooded man agreed and that he would meet them outside town that afternoon. That afternoon, after gathering supplies for the trip home, and the Church momentarily forgotten, they left town. They found the crazed man yelling about stopping the eternal darkenss from swallowing the world bit by bit. He was alone.
“Where is your guild?!” Talas said, angry that they have been duped.
The strange man replied rather convincingly, “They are meeting us outside a few days away.” The trio was convinced by the strange man and journeyed off, towards home.
Now that that group was nearly complete, they went onward. They reached the forest where the shifter lurked. They initially wanted to go around it, not wanting to anger the feral one. That would not be the case, two score goblins were camped, blocking the way around the forest. The crazed man, who had eventually introduced himself as Drekhad, had to be bodily restrained to keep from going after the goblins, which he called “small ribbons of blackness that will tie and suffocate you with their numbers.”
After they calmed him down, they took the only way possible, back through the forest. Once again, the shifter followed him, and when the twins warned Drekhad of the shifter and that he meant no harm, Drekhad stopped in his tracks, yelling at the top of his lungs for the shifter to emerge and join the guild to stop the encroaching goblins. Amazingly the shifter stepped from the undergrowth and did agree to accompany them on their journey. The twins shared a bewildered glance at this, but simply shrugged it off.
They returned to their home without other incident and explained the number of goblins to the town leaders. The leaders admired their courage in this leg of their journey and he appointed them to lead the militia in the assault of the goblin camp.
They struck from cover on the edge of the forest, that was Bregan, the shifter’s idea. Arrows rained down from the militia as well as Bregan and Cholas. A black ray from Talas sapped the leader’s strength. Drekhad gave a blood curdling scream as he charged the front line of disorganized goblins. Talas and Alexa followed soon after, cleaving through line after line of goblins. Drekhad inspired them to great feats, more than could have done on their own. The arrow fire slowed as the militia followed behind, cutting down any who tried to flee. Cholas followed behind his brother, picking off goblins with his bow, and healing those few militia members that were wounded. Alexa fought with her curved kukri, spinning and fighting like a dancer, inspiring the rest of the group to fight harder and harder and she cut down foes. When they had finally slain all the goblins, the group returned to the town victorious. During the celebration, Yortran pulled Talas aside.
"You are one of us, I know it, so you must listen closely. The fiends are coming from Khyber, you must be ready to defeat them. I have done my part and set the gears in motion that will let you see who you really are. You will meet one, similar to me, with the tatoo like I have. They will tell you more of your destiny, until then I bid you to awaken the Flame inside you and burn bright once more." Yortran's cryptic comments left Talas feeling confused. He was sure of his abilities and of the arcane magic that he commanded. But of The Flame? He had always neglected his respects to The Church of the Silver Flame that his mothe and brother adored. Surely this could not be The Flame that Yortran spoke of.
They left soon after, feeling the glory was addicting, as was all the treasure they had recovered from the marauding goblins. This was not to be the last of their adventures together….[/sblock]
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