Alright, I think I'm pretty much done with Sarenax. I think I've got the mechanics how I want them, but of course the backstory can be tweaked to fit the other party members in.
Cabana - does the tie-in with Orelal sound good? So you're building a new tower then?
Oni, I can't think of a particularly good tie-in for Kylek, other than both participating in Orelal's fortification rituals. That will at least mean that the two have met. Also, I find your vision of Kylek very interesting. He has some elements of how I was envisioning Sarenax - like the deep rumbling voice - and some completely opposite - like coloring and temperament.
Having a pure white dragonborn and a pure black dragonborn makes for an interesting picture, especially since both of them are huge. Kylek more so (I suppose he's allowed to be massive, since he's a demigod
), but Sarenax is still really, really big too. For now, at least. I'm thinking as he becomes more Darklordy he'll keep his height and frame, but become leaner, even a little emaciated towards the end.
It's looking like we have no shortage of muscle in the group, though. Kylek and Anostor both have 26 Str (silly ED bonuses), and Sarenax has 24. Depending on what renau builds, we just might have the Mostly Monstrously Muscled Crew
Covaithe - I have a couple more questions. Would it be reasonable to assume that the Raven Queen speaks to Sarenax occassionally, in some fashion? Not face-to-face in Letherna, but perhaps through an avatar or exarch, or as a disembodied voice? I've left the communication between RQ and Sarenax vague enough in his backstory that it could be audible communication or something more subtle, but I just want to know for reference. I'm also thinking that Sarenax might be aiming to become an exarch of the Raven Queen, if she thinks him worthy. Serving her is his purpose in life (and after, he hopes), regardless. You can play with that (or not) as you like.
Anyway, comments on the sheet and backstory are welcome.
[sblock=Sarenax]
Saranax the Reaper
Fear not. Death comes to all, and I am merely Death's emissary. The Raven Queen has decreed your time has come, thus I have come. I am the Reaper.
Male Dragonborn Cleric/Angelic Avenger/Darklord 21
Experience 175,000/210,000
Initiative +13;
Senses Passive Insight 30, Passive Perception 25
HP 142;
Bloodied 71;
Healing Surge 37;
Surges Per Day 11; see
Blood and Radiance
AC 37;
Fort 34,
Ref 33,
Will 33; see
Cloak of Displacement, Dragonborn Greaves
Aura see
Astral Vibrance
Speed 6 (8 while bloodied)
Action Points 1
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At Wills
Jagged Fullblade +5(standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+27 vs AC; 2d12+17 damage, high crit 19-20.
Distance Javelin +3(standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
Range 15/30; +24 vs AC; 2d6+10 damage.
Righteous Brand (standard; at-will) ✦ Divine, Weapon
+27 vs AC; 2d12+17 damage, and one ally within 5 squares of you gains a +7 bonus to melee attack rolls against the target until the end of your turn.
Priest's Shield (standard; at-will) ✦ Divine, Weapon
+27 vs. AC; 2d12+17 damage, and you and one adjacent ally gain a +1 bonus to AC until the end of your next turn.
Encounters
Strengthen the Faithful (standard; encounter) ✦ Divine, Healing, Weapon
+27 vs AC; 2d12+17 damage, and you and each ally adjacent to the target can spend a healing surge and regain hit points equal to their surge value +7, and one healing recipient regains an extra 1d6 hit points.
Astral Wave (standard; encounter) ✦ Divine, Implement, Radiant
Burst 8, Enemies only; +20 vs Will; 2d8+8 raidant damage.
Inspiring Strike (standard; encounter) ✦ Divine, Healing, Weapon
+27 vs AC; 2d12+17 damage, and you or one ally within 5 squares regains 22+1d6 hit points.
Blinding Light (standard; encounter) ✦ Divine, Radiant, Weapon
+27 vs AC; 2d12+17 radiant damage, and the target is blinded until the end of your next turn.
[sblock=Reserve Maneuver]
Arc of the Righteous (standard; encounter) ✦ Divine, Lightning, Weapon
+27 vs AC; 2d12+17 lightning damage. Make a secondary attack.
Secondary Target: One creature within 3 squares of you; +27 vs. AC; 1d12+17 lightning damage.[/sblock]
Dailies
Divine Power (standard; daily) ✦ Divine, Healing, Radiant, Weapon
Burst 2, Enemies you can see; +27 vs AC; 2d12+17 radiant damage, and you push the target 1 square. Effect: Until the end of the encounter, you gain regeneration 5, and you and each ally within the burst gain a +2 power bonus to AC.
Holy Spark (standard; daily) ✦ Divine, Lightning, Weapon
+27 vs Will; 2d12+17 damage, and ongoing 10 lightning damage (save ends). While this power's ongoing damage is in effect, any ally of the target that starts its turn within 3 squares of the target takes 2d10+8 lightning damage. Miss: Half damage, no ongoing damage.
Indomitable Spirit (standard; daily) ✦ Divine, Healing, Weapon
+27 vs. AC; 3d12+17 damage. Miss: Half damage. Effect: you and each ally within 5 squares of you regain hit points as if you had each spent a healing surge plus an additional 5 hit points, and one healing recipient regains an extra 1d6 hit points.
Angel Ascendant (standard; daily) ✦ Divine, Weapon
+27 vs AC; 5d12+17 damage. Effect: you gain a speed of fly 6 (hover) until the end of the encounter.
Utilities
Channel Divinity: Turn Undead (standard; encounter) ✦ Divine, Implement, Radiant
Burst 2; Undead only; +20 vs Will; 5d10+8 raidant damage, and you push the target 5 squares. The target is immobilized until the end of your next turn. Miss: Half damage, and the target is not pushed or immobilized.
Channel Divinity: Divine Fortune (free; encounter) ✦ Divine
Effect: You gain a +1 bonus to your next attack roll or saving throw before the end of your next turn.
Channel Divinity: Raven Queen's Blessing (free; encounter) ✦ Divine, Healing
Ranged 10; Trigger: your ally drops an enemy within range to 0 hit points or fewer. Effect: you or an ally within 5 squares of the enemy can spend a healing surge.
Healing Word (minor; encounter) ✦ Divine, Healing
Burst 15, you or an ally; Effect: the target can spend a healing surge and regain an additional 5d6+5+1d6 hit points.
Special: you can use this power three times per encounter.
Student of the Sword (free; encounter) ✦
Effect: Add a +1 bonus to the next attack roll you make with a two-handed weapon. Whether the attack hits or misses, you mark the target until the end of your next turn.
Bless (standard; daily) ✦ Divine
Burst 20, you and each ally in burst; Effect: Until the end of the encounter, all targets gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls.
Bastion of Health (minor; encounter) ✦ Divine, Healing
Ranged 10, you or an ally; Effect: the target can spend a healing surge and heal their surge value +7+1d6 hit points.
Mass Cure Light Wounds (standard; daily) ✦ Divine
Burst 5, you and each ally in burst; Effect: The targets regain hit points equal to their surge value +7 hit points, and one target regains 1d6 extra hit points.
Angelic Presence(minor; daily) ✦ Divine, Fear
Effect: Enemies gain a -2 penalty to attack rolls against you until the end of the encounter or until you are bloodied.
Divine Armor (standard; daily) ✦ Divine, Healing
Burst 3, you and each ally in burst; Effect: You gain a +2 power bonus to AC, and all targets gain resist 5 to all damage until the end of the encounter.
Racial
Dragon Breath (minor; encounter) ✦ Cold
Blast 3; +23 vs Ref; 3d6+2 cold damage.
Items
Jagged Fullblade +5
Critical: Ongoing 20 damage (save ends).
Property: This weapon scores a critical hit on a 19 or 20.
Impostor's Nagascale +5
Property: +1 Fortitude.
Power (At-Will ✦ Polymorph): Minor Action. You can transform this armor into a normal-looking set of clothes. While in clothes form, the armor does not provide an armor bonus, but neither does it impose an armor check penalty or speed reduction. You can add this armor's enhancement bonus to any Bluff check made to attempt to disguise your appearance. You can change this armor back into its true form as a minor action.
Cloak of Displacement +4
Property: Each encounter, you gain a +2 item bonus to AC and Reflex until an attack hits you.
Power (Daily ✦ Teleportation): Immediate Interrupt. Use this power when you would be hit with a melee or ranged attack. The attacker must reroll the attack, using the second result even if it's lower. If the attacker misses you, you can teleport 1 square.
Black Feather of the Raven Queen +3
Critical: +3d6 col damage
Power (Daily ✦ Cold): Free Action. Use this power when you reduce a target to 0 hit points or fewer with an attack using this holy symbol. One creature within 5 squares of the target takes 2 cold damage and is immobilized (save ends).
Cord of Divine Favor
Power (Encounter ✦ Healing): Free Action. Use this power when you use
healing word on an ally or use another power that grants an ally the use of a healing surge. You can spend a healing surge as well and regain hit points equal to your healing surge value.
Dragonborn Greaves
Property: While you are bloodied, gain a +2 item bonus to speed and a +1 item bonus to your AC and Reflex defenses.
Gloves of the Healer (Paragon)
Property: When you use a power that has the healing keyword, one target regains an extra 1d6 hit points.
Power (Daily ✦ Healing): Standard Action. Spend a healing surge. An adjacent ally regains hit points equal to the value of the healing surge you lost.
Distance Javelin +3
Critical: None.
Property: Increase the weapon's normal range by 5 squares and the long range by 10 squares.
Handy Haversack
Property: This backpack can hold up to 1000 lbs in weight or 100 cubic feet in volume, but it always weighs only 1 pound. Drawing an item from a
handy haversack is a minor action.
Starlight Goggles
Property: Gain low-light vision.
Iron Armbands of Power (heroic)
Property: Gain a +2 item bonus to melee damage rolls.
Ruby Scabbard
Property: This scabbard resizes to fit any light blade or heavy blade. You can draw a weapon from this scabbard as part of the same action used to make an attack with that weapon.
Power (Encounter): Free Action. Use this power when you attack with the weapon most recently sheathed in the scabbard. Gain a +1 power bonus to the next damage roll you make with that weapon before the end of your next turn. The weapon must have been sheathed in the scabbard within the past 24 hours to regain this power.
Potion of Vitality
Power (Consumable ✦ Healing): Minor Action. Drink the potion and spend a healing surge. Instead of the hit points you would normally regain, you regain 25 hit points and make one saving throw against an effect that a save can end.
Dragonborn Fury
When you’re bloodied, you gain a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls.
Healer's Lore
When you grant healing with one of your cleric powers that has the healing keyword, add your Wisdom modifier to the hit points the recipient receives.
Angelic Action
When you spend an action point to take an extra action, you also gain a +4 bonus to attack rolls until the start of your next turn.
Astral Vibrance
When a bloodied enemy is within 5 squares of you at the start of its turn, it takes 2 radiant damage.
Weapon Training
You gain proficiency with the fullblade.
Blood and Radiance
An enemy that bloodies you with an attack is outlined in holy radiance, granting CA to you and your allies until the end of the enemy's next turn.
Stand in Two Worlds
Once per day, you can use either Planar Portal or Shadow Walk without expending components. If you use Planar Portal, you much travel to the Shadowfell, or to the natural world if you are already in the Shadowfell.
Restful Healing
After you take a short rest or an extended rest, any healing power you use before your next encounter restores the maximum number of hit points possible.
Uncanny Dodge
Enemies do not gain the normal +2 bonus to attack rolls against you when they have combat advantage. Any other benefits derived from combat advantage still apply
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Alignment Unaligned;
Languages Common, Draconic
Str 24 (+7)[+17]
Dex 16 (+3)[+13]
Wis 20 (+5)[+15]
Con 15 (+2)[+12]
Int 10 (+0)[+10]
Cha 14 (+2)[+12]
Acrobatics +13,
Arcana +15*,
Athletics +17,
Bluff +12 (+17 for disguises),
Diplomacy +12,
Dungeoneering +15,
Endurance +11,
Heal +20*,
History +12,
Insight +20*,
Intimidate +19*,
Nature +15,
Perception +15,
Religion +17*,
Stealth +18*,
Streetwise +12,
Thievery +13
* Trained Skill; Background: Birth: Cursed: +2 Religion.
Feats: Toughness, Ritual Caster, Weapon Focus (Heavy Blades), Armor Proficiency (Scale), Skill Training (Stealth), Student of the Sword (Intimidate; two-handed), Raven Queen's Blessing, Restful Healing, Durable, Armor Specialization (Scale), Reserve Maneuver (Arc of the Righteous), Uncanny Dodge, Epic Reflexes, Robust Defenses.
Gear
Jagged Fullblade +5, Impostor's Nagascale +5, Cloak of Displacement +4, Black Feather of the Raven Queen +3, Cord of Divine Favor, Gloves of the Healer (paragon), Dragonborn Greaves, Distance Javelin +3, Handy Haversack, Starlight Goggles, Iron Armbands of Power (heroic), Ruby Scabbard, Potion of Vitality x2, Ritual Book x2, Everburning Torch x2, Adventurer's Kit (minus backpack), Alchemical Reagents (3000 gp), Mystic Salves (500 gp), Rare Herbs (1500 gp), Sanctified Incense (5000 gp).
63 pp, 80 gp
Rituals
Gentle Repose, Comprehend Language, Brew Potion, Make Whole, Endure Elements, Eye of Alarm, Last Sight Vision, Preservation, Water Walk, Enchant Magic Item, Hand of Fate, Transfer Enchantment, Magic Circle, Cure Disease, Discern Lies, Disenchant Magic Item, Leomund's Secret Chest, Sending, Speak with Dead, Wyvern Watch, Linked Portal, Raise Dead, Remove Affliction, Shadow Passage, Status, Consult Mystic Sages, Shadow Walk, Waterborn, Consult Oracle, Far Sending
Background
Chapel of the Reaper's Harvest - a grand cathedral resting on the crown of a hill in the midst of a forest in the Shadowfell. Composed of towering buttresses, dark stained-glass windows, and bleak granite, the cathedral's chilling appearance is enhanced by the gnarled trees and swirling mists of the forest, the ever-present black thunderheads and their sky-splitting bursts of lightning, and, of course, the stream of shrieking, recently claimed souls flowing down around the cathedral's bell tower and onwards towards Lethera, the Raven Queen's icy realm.
The Chapel's bell tolls, an eerily deep and dissonant note shaking the mightiest trees of the forest and the very earth, a sonic manifestation of the inescapable advance of death. Someone stumbles out of the forest's mist; a man. His head whips to and fro, terrified, looking for the nightmare which has chased him here. It emerges from the mists behind him - a death knight, advancing slowly on the lone man. The great oak doors of the Chapel, bleached with age and weather, slowly groan open of their own accord as a shadowed figure steps through and walks towards the death knight. The man runs towards the figure - the first living thing he has seen in hours of terror - but stops short. The figure is much larger than he thought, towering over him, towering over even the profane undead pursuing him. The soaring height of the cathedral made it seem smaller. The figure comes into focus as it walks past the man without a glance. It's a dragonborn, larger than any the man has seen before, and every inch of him covered in black, making it impossible to tell where the armor stops and the scales begin. The massive dragonborn walks straight towards the death knight, both moving calmly.
"You have chosen the wrong domain to intrude upon today, undead," he declares, his voice imitating the bell's toll as much as any mortal voice had a right to. The death knight's eternal grin is emphasized by an intensifying glow in its eyes as it replies by charging across the intervening distance and slicing straight through Sarenax's belly ... or so it seems. As soon as the stroke is made, it's clear he wasn't standing where the sword passed. He reaches behind his shoulder and whips forward a long wooden handle with a length of metal running parallel back down the wood. As he draws the wooden handle back as if to strike, the metal snaps out perpendicular to the handle, showing that it's an enormous scythe. Sarenax strikes at the death knight with lightning speed, the scythe's blade sounding like it tears the air apart instead of singing through it. A short battle ensues, both combatants ignoring the distraught man on the sidelines who has slumped to his knees, agape at the might of the two being clashing before him. Soon it becomes apparent that Sarenax has the upper hand, and as the earth-rattling bell tolls again his scythe divides the death knight's head and right arm from its body in one air-rending stroke. The pieces of its body fall to the ground, lifeless once more.
Once the undead monstrosity has fallen, Sarenax turns to the man and stands the scythe blade up, holding it with one hand.
"You are lost," he states, still with the same dreadful weight. The man barely nods, mouth agape, gratitude showing clearly on his face.
"Worry not. If She has brought you here, there is but one place you are meant to go," he says, though there is no comfort in his cold tone. He brings the scythe down to hold in both hands again.
"You are overburdened for your journey, my child," he thunders. The blade glints icy blue as he draws the scythe to the side, the same movement as when he was about to strike at the death knight.
"Your body is not needed where you are going. Relay the Reaper's to the Raven Queen."
The man scrabbles his hands in the cold, moist dirt, fumbling over himself as he tries to make his legs work together to stand, or run, or crawl, or anything to get away from this saviour turned destroyer.
"N-n-n-no!" the man tries to scream, but it comes out a hoarse whisper.
How pathetic, so afraid of death, Sarenax thinks.
"P-p-please, I don-" The man is cut short as the scythe flashes again, shoulder to hip, and there is a soft thump as the right half of the man's torso hits the ground, followed by a second thump as his left half and legs slump to the earth. An ethereal, blue-white specter flies from the corpse up into the air, joining the stream of similar spirits swirling around the bell tower and away, towards Lethera.
"Blessed Queen, watch over these souls," he intones as he watches the cloud of shrieking souls.
Breaking from his reverie, Sarenax cleans and stows his scythe, then walks back through the great doors as they groan closed behind him. Climbing the stairs with a measured pace, he stands on the balcony facing the altar at the front of the Chapel of the Reaper's Harvest. Unmoving, he stands as a sentinel over this conduit of souls, waiting for the next intruder or hapless wanderer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upon his birth, his black scales marked Sarenax as different from the rest of his small tribe. The tribe was superstitious and the elders pronounced him 'cursed', then left him on a rock to die so the curse wouldn't spread to the rest of the tribe. In a way, the tribal elders were right - the black scales marked Sarenax as a future chosen servant of the Raven Queen. The Dark Lady guided one of her followers to the place where the wyrmling Sarenax lie, and this man and his brothers raised Sarenax in the ways of the Raven Queen. His raising was fairly unremarkable, as was the beginning of his service to his Queen. He became a traveling priest and partook of many adventures, sending their adversaries into his Dark Lady's hands in return for keeping his companions out of them.
As he grew in power, his Queen's mark upon his life became more and more apparent. He became a trusted servant, undying in his loyalty and surpassing in his ability to carry out his duty. The Raven Queen led him to increasingly more difficult and important tasks as his power grew, causing him to continue to grow into her power and her fold. Many lives have been felled by Sarenax, or by blades guided by his blessings. Of note, the blue dragon Arunassil, the Demon King of Thanor, and the death giant Ruskvold, recently residing in an abandoned cathedral in the Shadowfell through which many souls passed on the way to the Raven Queen.
The Raven Queen had sent Sarenax after Ruskvold because the death giant was feeding upon the souls passing through the cathedral. As a reward for the victory the Raven Queen granted Sarenax lordship over the cathedral, naming it the Chapel of the Reaper's Harvest and charging him with the duty of guarding this waypoint from any future attacks on the souls passing through it. To aid in this task, her Dark Majesty planted a seed of her power over the Shadowfell within Sarenax. This seed has begun manifesting in Sarenax, though he has yet to tap its true power.
After nearly a decade of watchfulness at the Chapel of the Reaper's Harvest and away from adventuring, the Raven Queen brought his old companion Orelal, or "Massacre" as most call him, to an abandoned tower near the Chapel. Sarenax helped the wizard fortify the tower, but then saw or heard nothing of him in the two years since. The mighty dragonborn wondered at this, but was unbothered. Orelal constituted no threat to the Chapel or the souls passing through it, therefore it mattered not.
Even more recently, dreams have troubled the dragonborn. Mere dreams! The simple idea of dreams troubling him has been just as worrying as the portents in the dreams themselves. Sarenax the Reaper - the dragonborn saved from death to become the servant of death, the last sight of so many dying upon the blade of his scythe, denizen of the world of shadows and death, surrounded by the ever-shrieking souls of the recently dead, troubled by dreams?! The very thought was ludicrous, and yet it was true. The most recent dream finally drove Sarenax to discover the source and meaning of them. He decided his old companion's solitude had gone on long enough. It was time to meet the old eladrin once more, and if his keen intellect or oracular abilities could not reveal the meaning of the dreams he would continue seeking until the matter was resolved. Dreams would trouble the Reaper no more.
Personality and Appearance
Height: 6'9"
Weight: 395 lbs.
Sarenax is an imposing dragonborn, larger than most of his kind and wrapped in heavy cords of muscle. His jet black coloration has no variation, even his teeth and talons are the same shade of black. The only areas of different colour are his purple irises, which have recently begun to glow enough to be seen in a dim room, but only when he wills it. A suit of similarly jet black scale mail exaggerates his already large frame, and a heavy cloak with jagged edges perpetually flies behind and around him, defying the wind (or lack of it). A deadly scythe rests in a sheathe over his shoulder - the magical weapon can fold where the blade meets the haft, allowing it to be sheathed similarly to a greatsword - with a sleek javelin in another sheathe next to it. The scythe's black blade shines an icy blue when the light hits at the right angle and bears the inscription "Reaper's Edge" in Draconic, and seems to slice apart the very air when swung.
Sarenax is cold and uncaring, like his Queen and her icy domain. When given a task by her Dark Majesty, he implacably pursues it until completion no matter what the task entails. He equally favors subtlety and straightforward approaches, using whichever he deems most appropriate to the situation at hand. Rare is any emotional display (some would say the Reaper has no emotions to display), though he continually preaches with a certain calm assurance when in battle. It is said that he views blood-soaked battlefields as his pulpit and those who feel the bite of his scythe as his congregation. Few are those who have heard more than one of his 'sermons'.
[/sblock]
[sblock=ministats]
Sarenax the Reaper- Male Dragonborn Cleric 21
Initiative: +13, Passive Perception: 25, Passive Insight: 30
AC:37, Fort:34, Reflex:33, Will:33 -- Speed:6 (8 when bloodied)
HP:142/142, Bloodied:71, Surge Value:37, Surges left:11/11
Action Points: 1
Powers -
Righteous Brand
Priest's Shield
Strengthen the Faithful
Astral Wave
Inspiring Strike
Blinding Light
Bastion of Health
Channel Divinity
Healing Word 1 2 3
Dragon Breath
Student of the Sword
Second Wind
Divine Power
Holy Spark
Indomitable Spirit
Angel Ascendant
Bless
Mass Cure Light Wounds
Angelic Presence
Divine Armor
Cord of Divine Favor
Ruby Scabbard
Cloak of Displacement
Black Feather of the Raven Queen
Gloves of the Healer
Conditions:
Full character sheet[/sblock]
(I love Pratchett 
