G'day,
My idea of The Apartments is sort of dungeon like, although the adversaries would be various street gangs. Do you know the movie
The Warriors? That movie could happen in The Apartments. There are hundreds of gangs/factions/cults/cabals etc operating in there plus a bevvy of treasure hunters. These organisations are based along racial, political, cultural, religious, fun, and plain old survival lines. The Apartments are very fluid with old gangs dieing off and new ones forming constantly. The gangs are always fighting.
Not all the gangs are looking for the 'holy grail' and not all inhabitants of The Apartments are gang members. The Wayfinders are nomadic, they live a life running from the gangs and treasure hunters. They are not an organisation but are the refuse of the spires who are forced to flee or die. They are called the Wayfinders as they always seem to find a new, unexplored section of The Apartments. It's as though the buildings are making new tunnels, staircases, rooms, arches, bridges etc to assist the flight of the Wayfinders.
There are several neutral areas in the spires where entrepeuners have set up operations, everything from flea markets to the black market. Almost anything (except that damn artifact) can be found somewhere in The Apartments. The trick is finding where it is being sold.
Hound belonged to one of these groups, albeit an unusual one. I haven't fully worked out the details of the group but here is a basic overview. I can expand on the group or keep it as a sketch (as per the below) for you to colour - let me know what way you want to jump here (if any way).
Hound lost his parents, both Wayfinders, at an early age. Fortuitiously for him the first 'people' to wander past the weeping child who sat beside the bodies of his parents were not frenetic nor were they ritualistic, in fact they weren't even hungry. They were a posse of 3 ghouls. The small child, knowing no better, stood and waited. The ghouls, Grym, Gryme, and Grynn, were amazed that the boy had not run screaming from them, he was too young to realise the predicament he was in (and being elven he was immune to their paralytic touch). The ghouls, being not foolish and quite intelligent, decided that they could use the small child. They named him Hound because of the way he trailed after them. The ghouls were careful to ensure that they sheltered their 'child' from the more base, violent, reprehensbile side of their nature. The ghouls tutored the boy, taught him how to survive and introduced him to some of the more questionable talents that he uses in his investigations today. Eventually though the gig was up. Hound discovered their true nature and only just made it away from them alive. In fact if not for the actions of Gryme, who had spent the most time teaching Hound, he would surely have been killed.
Hound supposes that the reason so many of his cases end up being paranormal is becaue of his unusual upbringing, maybe somehow his sould resonates to the pulse of the supernatural
I'm hoping that, because of his background, you would allow him to take the feat Requiem from Libirs Mortis when he qualifies. This feat basically allows his bardic abilities to work against undead (normally immune to mind affecting fx). I also might take Sacred Vitality if that's cool, another feat from Libris Mortis that fits his story, it gives a +2 bonus on saves vs undead attacks.
Cheers
Daz
