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[RAVENLOFT] Grand Conjunction PCs
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<blockquote data-quote="Hawken" data-source="post: 1911969" data-attributes="member: 23619"><p>Benara's Background:</p><p>Born in the village of Krezk in the Barovian countryside, Benara lived a quiet childhood of study. Neither of her parents wanted her to be just someone’s wife, making babies and cleaning house. They saw a spark in her eyes, they knew there would be more to her life than family and a never ending cycle of chores. She was raised a sheltered life with the majority of the folk her family knew believing her to be simple-minded. The chores she performed were few and that misbelief about her mind kept virtually all men and any curious boys from pursuing her. In actuality, she was taught to read, to write, to use her mind and think for herself. Whenever possible, her parents would purchase books from the mysterious Vistani caravans that would pass through and give these books for her to learn. </p><p></p><p>It took a long time, fifteen years, but when her parents saved enough money, they paid the gypsies to take them safely through the fog-shrouded borders of Barovia and from there they trekked to Dementlieu and bought a home and got Benara admitted to the university in Port-A-Lucine. Having never fully believed all the tales of zombies and vampires that were all too common in Barovia, Benara pursued a course of study that would reveal to her that such creatures did exist. A guest of the university, a doctor Rudolph Van Richten even gave a lecture there shortly after completing a treatise he had written on vampires. The doctor was so sure of himself, so confident of the results of his research that any doubts Benara had of their existence vanished immediately. She became infatuated with the doctor, thirsting for the knowledge he possessed and she tried to talk with him and assist him wherever she could when she wasn’t studying. </p><p></p><p>Benara, however, was not entirely truthful with the doctor and had misled him into thinking she had lived on her own and her parents had been dead for some years now. When he spoke of heading north, to Darkon, to research a new book on liches, she was able to convince him to allow her to accompany him. Not wanting her education to be wasted though, she also asked the doctor to speak to the university administrators about transferring her records and admitting her to the university in Il Aluk, the capital city of Darkon. </p><p></p><p>At seventeen, she was one of the youngest students in Il Aluk. Another student, Gilos, was coming along quite well in his magical studies and recognized a potential in Benara. Secretly he trained her when she wasn’t taking classes or studying. She saw Van Richten less and less often as he immersed himself in his work. This was for her own protection he said, as he did not want harm to come to her from enemies that may seek to stop him. Though only minor cantrips, Benara learned magic easily, and found that it stayed within her. Unlike Gilos, she never had to study and never forgot the magic she learned, and this gradually gnawed at the wizard who became jealous and resentful. </p><p></p><p>Gilos was a member of a secret group called the Kargatane, killers that sought more and more power through magic and the supernatural to become members of the Kargat. Some of the Kargatane were attached to Kargat handlers and Gilos’s group was no exception. Their handler was a vampire hailing from Tepest, named Fian McGinnil, who also happened to be one of Benara’s professors. Fian was aware of Benara’s innate talent for magic, recognizing that it was strengthened through her song and dance and knew her for what she was. He slew his petty Kargatane lackeys for their ignorance when they had brought her to their ‘lair’, not even giving them time to explain their motives or beg for mercy. He flaunted his vampiric powers in front of Benara who was so shocked by her near murder at the hands of a fellow student that it was child’s play for Fian to dominate her will with his own. Over the next year, she was shown secrets she wished she had never learned. He took her to different libraries, showed her books few living beings had the fortune or misfortune to read, taught her things that were lost to history, that only an immortal who experienced them in ages past would know. </p><p></p><p>He not once fed from her nor allowed her to feed from him. She was not food for him, but an engaging prodigy that wanted to learn for the sake of learning. He had evaded the notice of her patron, Van Richten, and at first was surprised at her close association with the monster hunter, but came to enjoy the irony of the situation. He decided, wisely, that to act against Van Richten or even Benara would draw undue attention his way, so he kept her safe, ensured her studies went without problem and saw she was advanced through her degree. </p><p></p><p>Only months after she had entered Darkon had the land’s memory-stealing powers come into effect. She remembered nothing of her previous life in Barovia, of her parents, of moving to Dementlieu. It was nothing more real than a foggy dream from a lifetime ago. As far as she knew, she had always lived in Darkon, had lost her parents when she was younger and came to meet Dr. Van Richten when he arrived in Darkon to learn more about liches. </p><p>Her false memories ended the moment she crossed the Darkon border. Gypsies, the same Vistani that ferried her and her family out of Barovia, came and took her in broad daylight from a secluded section of the university library where she was quietly researching a distant land known as Souragne. Some foreign traveler had mentioned how the land reminded him of a place “down south”. He could’ve been interested in Benara but her studies were too important and his compliments went unnoticed but for saying she would make for a stunning “southern belle”. He was gone before she could ask him to explain what a “southern belle” was, but that and other comments had piqued her curiosity. The Vistani rushed her out of Darkon and the clutches of her vampire ‘teacher’ and when she regained all her past memories, Fian’s powers over her mind fled too, causing her to remember all the things he did to her. There had always been some horribly fascinating allure about vampires, an embodiment of dark, carnal desire and Fian was no exception. He had used his powers to make her forget how he took her virginity, used her, debased her in every possible way and not always alone or privately. </p><p></p><p>This terrible knowledge is what kept her from rejoining her family in Dementlieu. Instead, holding the Vistani to their word to take her “home”, she persuaded them to return her to her original home of Barovia. The raunie, the eldest female and leader, of the gypsies, did not like the way Benara had twisted their oath to her parents, but could appreciate her cunning and understood her reasons as well. She was returned to Barovia, deposited just inside the mist-shrouded border. Benara made her way to Krezk and sought out the clergy of the Morninglord for succor. She took to their teachings, finding comfort and solace in the Morninglord’s message of hope and redemption. Knowing she could not regain her innocence, she took to the teachings in hope of regaining her purity. That effort was stymied by her morbid fascination with what was done to her, repulsed by her deeds, but at the same time curious. The thirst for knowledge had always burned within her and this turn of events horrified her but she came to accept it as a part of her and continued listening to the teachings and even approached the priests about becoming a cleric herself. They turned her away, claiming she was not yet ready and told her that she would know when it would be time for her to claim the mantle of priesthood.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hawken, post: 1911969, member: 23619"] Benara's Background: Born in the village of Krezk in the Barovian countryside, Benara lived a quiet childhood of study. Neither of her parents wanted her to be just someone’s wife, making babies and cleaning house. They saw a spark in her eyes, they knew there would be more to her life than family and a never ending cycle of chores. She was raised a sheltered life with the majority of the folk her family knew believing her to be simple-minded. The chores she performed were few and that misbelief about her mind kept virtually all men and any curious boys from pursuing her. In actuality, she was taught to read, to write, to use her mind and think for herself. Whenever possible, her parents would purchase books from the mysterious Vistani caravans that would pass through and give these books for her to learn. It took a long time, fifteen years, but when her parents saved enough money, they paid the gypsies to take them safely through the fog-shrouded borders of Barovia and from there they trekked to Dementlieu and bought a home and got Benara admitted to the university in Port-A-Lucine. Having never fully believed all the tales of zombies and vampires that were all too common in Barovia, Benara pursued a course of study that would reveal to her that such creatures did exist. A guest of the university, a doctor Rudolph Van Richten even gave a lecture there shortly after completing a treatise he had written on vampires. The doctor was so sure of himself, so confident of the results of his research that any doubts Benara had of their existence vanished immediately. She became infatuated with the doctor, thirsting for the knowledge he possessed and she tried to talk with him and assist him wherever she could when she wasn’t studying. Benara, however, was not entirely truthful with the doctor and had misled him into thinking she had lived on her own and her parents had been dead for some years now. When he spoke of heading north, to Darkon, to research a new book on liches, she was able to convince him to allow her to accompany him. Not wanting her education to be wasted though, she also asked the doctor to speak to the university administrators about transferring her records and admitting her to the university in Il Aluk, the capital city of Darkon. At seventeen, she was one of the youngest students in Il Aluk. Another student, Gilos, was coming along quite well in his magical studies and recognized a potential in Benara. Secretly he trained her when she wasn’t taking classes or studying. She saw Van Richten less and less often as he immersed himself in his work. This was for her own protection he said, as he did not want harm to come to her from enemies that may seek to stop him. Though only minor cantrips, Benara learned magic easily, and found that it stayed within her. Unlike Gilos, she never had to study and never forgot the magic she learned, and this gradually gnawed at the wizard who became jealous and resentful. Gilos was a member of a secret group called the Kargatane, killers that sought more and more power through magic and the supernatural to become members of the Kargat. Some of the Kargatane were attached to Kargat handlers and Gilos’s group was no exception. Their handler was a vampire hailing from Tepest, named Fian McGinnil, who also happened to be one of Benara’s professors. Fian was aware of Benara’s innate talent for magic, recognizing that it was strengthened through her song and dance and knew her for what she was. He slew his petty Kargatane lackeys for their ignorance when they had brought her to their ‘lair’, not even giving them time to explain their motives or beg for mercy. He flaunted his vampiric powers in front of Benara who was so shocked by her near murder at the hands of a fellow student that it was child’s play for Fian to dominate her will with his own. Over the next year, she was shown secrets she wished she had never learned. He took her to different libraries, showed her books few living beings had the fortune or misfortune to read, taught her things that were lost to history, that only an immortal who experienced them in ages past would know. He not once fed from her nor allowed her to feed from him. She was not food for him, but an engaging prodigy that wanted to learn for the sake of learning. He had evaded the notice of her patron, Van Richten, and at first was surprised at her close association with the monster hunter, but came to enjoy the irony of the situation. He decided, wisely, that to act against Van Richten or even Benara would draw undue attention his way, so he kept her safe, ensured her studies went without problem and saw she was advanced through her degree. Only months after she had entered Darkon had the land’s memory-stealing powers come into effect. She remembered nothing of her previous life in Barovia, of her parents, of moving to Dementlieu. It was nothing more real than a foggy dream from a lifetime ago. As far as she knew, she had always lived in Darkon, had lost her parents when she was younger and came to meet Dr. Van Richten when he arrived in Darkon to learn more about liches. Her false memories ended the moment she crossed the Darkon border. Gypsies, the same Vistani that ferried her and her family out of Barovia, came and took her in broad daylight from a secluded section of the university library where she was quietly researching a distant land known as Souragne. Some foreign traveler had mentioned how the land reminded him of a place “down south”. He could’ve been interested in Benara but her studies were too important and his compliments went unnoticed but for saying she would make for a stunning “southern belle”. He was gone before she could ask him to explain what a “southern belle” was, but that and other comments had piqued her curiosity. The Vistani rushed her out of Darkon and the clutches of her vampire ‘teacher’ and when she regained all her past memories, Fian’s powers over her mind fled too, causing her to remember all the things he did to her. There had always been some horribly fascinating allure about vampires, an embodiment of dark, carnal desire and Fian was no exception. He had used his powers to make her forget how he took her virginity, used her, debased her in every possible way and not always alone or privately. This terrible knowledge is what kept her from rejoining her family in Dementlieu. Instead, holding the Vistani to their word to take her “home”, she persuaded them to return her to her original home of Barovia. The raunie, the eldest female and leader, of the gypsies, did not like the way Benara had twisted their oath to her parents, but could appreciate her cunning and understood her reasons as well. She was returned to Barovia, deposited just inside the mist-shrouded border. Benara made her way to Krezk and sought out the clergy of the Morninglord for succor. She took to their teachings, finding comfort and solace in the Morninglord’s message of hope and redemption. Knowing she could not regain her innocence, she took to the teachings in hope of regaining her purity. That effort was stymied by her morbid fascination with what was done to her, repulsed by her deeds, but at the same time curious. The thirst for knowledge had always burned within her and this turn of events horrified her but she came to accept it as a part of her and continued listening to the teachings and even approached the priests about becoming a cleric herself. They turned her away, claiming she was not yet ready and told her that she would know when it would be time for her to claim the mantle of priesthood. [/QUOTE]
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