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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shayuri" data-source="post: 6898808" data-attributes="member: 4936">EilessaNeutral Good Human Cleric of Light 8[sblock=Description]Eilessa isn't the stuff of heroes to look at. She could pass for the farmer's pretty daughter from the neighbor's land. Mousy blonde-brown hair, wide eyes, cheeks with just a hint of roundness to them, and what seems like a permanent smile etched onto her lips. Physically she's unimposing, even in armor, with a willowy, slight build. The strength of her will far outshines the strength of her arms though, and those who spend even a short time with her can feel this about her.[/sblock][sblock=Background]Background: It has been some time now, since Eilessa found the old temple.She was little more than a child, fleeing into the marshes when her parents fought. She took a wrong turn though and lost the path. For what felt like days (though was perhaps only an hour or two) she searched for a way home to no avail. Turning her face to the sky, she remembered her father once mentioning that men on ships used them to steer across the sea, when there was no land to guide them. Not really understanding how that could be, but with the simple mind of youth, she begged the stars to help her.And one did.A tiny pinprick of light, like swamp gas, only...different...came from the gloom ahead. Warm and yellow, brighter than a firefly and far more serene in its movement, it was a mystery that immediately captured Eilessa's curiosity despite her desperation. She got up off the muddy ground and cautiously approached, but it withdrew as she did.Then Eilessa paused, for she'd heard...as everyone had...tales of lights in the swamp, luring people to their doom. This felt different though. And she hadn't been able to find the way herself. Following this light might be the final act of her young life, or it might save her. The light paused and offered nothing of its nature to her. The decision to take that leap of faith or not was hers.As she took a step towards it again, the light seemed to brighten, ever so slightly. They traveled on.In the deep swamp, where the trees were massive and gnarled, rising out of the bog like petrified tentacles of some unimaginable beast, Eilessa followed the light to a place she was sure no one had been in ages...if ever. Yet there were signs that people had once lived here. Here a rotted roof poked out of brackish water and mud. There the top of what might have been a street lamp jutted forth.And there, where the light paused, were great cut stones, like she imagined would be used for a castle or other huge thing, stacked atop one another, making a squarish pyramidal shape that rose out of the swamp...blocked from view by thick tangles of trees all around it. The mote of light ascended the old structure, illuminating stones weathered and cracked and overgrown with moss and lichen. The stairs up were treacherous and crumbling, but Eilessa followed still. To the narrow peak.It was open there, though she saw signs it might have once been covered by a door or something, now long since rotted away. The light passed through that opening into the utter darkness within. And Eilessa hesitated.First...how could she go down there without falling? Second, and possibly more important, how could she get back OUT again? There hadn't been a door in at the bottom. She suspected it was probably covered by mud and dirt, like most of the rest of whatever village this had been. The swamps had risen, and half-swallowed everything. Maybe that was why no one lived here now. Third, it was dark down there. It was far too easy to see in her mind's eyes the snakes and bugs and bats and...a whole menagerie of horrible things lurking in that pit, waiting for warm meat to fall in their trap.Was this the doom the swamp light was guiding her to? It didn't look like salvation, that was for certain.The light paused again, as if waiting.Eilessa withdrew from the opening and quickly picked her way back down to the swamp outside.The light waited. It had waited a long time. It would continue to wait as long as necessary.At the top of the pyramid then, Eilessa re-appeared. She started tying the armful of vines she'd harvested from the hoary trees around the old temple to what stones at the top still seemed fairly strong. When it was as good as she could make it, she dropped the vines down the hole, and started climbing down with the thoughtless confidence and agility of the young.Though she didn't see it, the light brightened a little more. It paced her as she descended, and dimly lit up the dusty stone floor where she touched down. For a moment the girl looked around, her fear dissipating almost immediately as she took in the size of this place. She couldn't see far from that tiny mote of light, but something about how sound returned to her made the space feel vast.They walked together now, across that stone floor, the light and Eilessa. Eventually they found a wall. On the wall were strange glyphs she'd never seen the like of before, and murals depicting men and women in a different time. They told a story...and with that light showing the way, Eilessa began to follow that story as it unwound around the walls of this ancient place.It was a lot to take in, and her head was still spinning with it when she found herself walking away from the last panel, back towards the center of the temple, not far from where she'd climbed down. The floor was raised there, and a little farther in was an altar of stone that had most likely been polished and smooth at one time, with gold inlay and relief now overgrown with muck and grit. Behind the altar rose another wall...a small one, not one of the temple's structural walls. It formed a sort of backdrop to the altar. It was overgrown as well, but Eilessa started brushing and pulling away the obscuring decayed plants.She revealed a symbol, a disk in two halves. The top half was of gold, with lines radiating from it. The bottom was dark, with pinpricks of gold in it, like the night sky. She'd seen that image before, though with less detail, in the murals around the temple. Seeing it here sent shivers down her spine though. Not fear-shivers. More like the shivers you felt when you were around old Vassa's weird alchemy set with the lightning rods that buzzed and crackled. There was something in the air here. A gathering force.With the intuition of a child, she turned to look at the mote of light that had led her here...and saw that it had grown. It showed a tiny disk now, about the size of a thumb, and as she watched that disk shimmered and imitated the symbol looming over the altar. The golden top, and the starfield bottom."It's you," she said, feeling a sense of abject wonder fall over her. "This...is you."The light once again brightened, this time noticeably. Eilessa felt a sudden, savage burst of hope wash through her, over her. It was her hope, but it was also the hope of another. They could help one another. Together, they could be great.Eilessa spent the night in that old temple, exploring it and discovering what remained. The light led her to reliquaries, but the scrolls were dust by then. The words on the stone glyphs were just pictures to her. There was one thing she did find that was of use though. One of the rooms off through a dingy corridor to the side had a skeleton in it dressed in the tattered remnants of what had probably once been very impressive clothing. Despite the turning of the years though, the metal gloves it had worn were still pristine, if caked in dust. And they clutched a weapon...a mace made to look as if the head was a stylized starburst or sun. A gold-colored sphere with spikes of the same shade radiating out from it. Despite her reluctance to touch the old bones, Eilessa took these things. The light wanted her to. She could feel it more clearly now. It wasn't quite a voice, but a sort of instinct.The next morning she awoke and continued her explorations, emboldened by being able to see more clearly, at least when near the center. But at noon the light brought her back to that center, where her vine hung down and the old altar rose on its dais. Impatiently she followed, even though she'd already BEEN there and wanted to see NEW things...But she stopped short quickly on seeing something rare. The sun had slipped momentarily out from behind the usual thick clouds that choked the day, and was shining down through the hole in the roof onto the altar. It made the gold in the stone light up, and little slivers of golden light spray around the huge chamber, painting stars all around the inside.Almost overcome at the sight, Eilessa went to the altar and dropped to her knees. Her head rested against the old stone, and she heard. The voice, tiny and still, coming as if from her own heart. It told her what to do. That was all. It was, she knew, her decision to do it or not. It promised no reward, threatened no retribution...it was a guide. A shepherd to the lost. Those who followed did of their own will. So it was, so it would be, for days without end.Eilessa stayed there for some time. The god did not speak again, but she thought long about what it had said. She gathered what she could from the old temple. There had been some gold and silver...there was no question about theft. None lived who might lay claim to it but one, and he had all but commanded her to take it. She would need it. Weighed down, she might have had trouble climbing back out...but when she wormed her tiny hands into the metal gloves, they gently clamped down around her fingers and palms despite being much larger...and they gripped with strength far beyond that of a little girl. The sun was quickly covered again as Eilessa emerged back on the surface, but she barely noticed. The sun lived in her now, and she would never know darkness again.Hermit- Discovery: I have discovered an old god of the stars and sun.- Personality: Exuberant- Personality: Compassionate- Ideal: I will bring people to know my god through example and by the sharing of his gifts.- Bond: I love meeting new people; opportunities to hear about new places, and to spread my message.- Flaw: I believe the best of people; this could make me vulnerable.[/sblock][sblock=Stats]Str 8 (19)Dex 14Con 16Int 10Wis 20Cha 14HP 67AC 18 (14 + 2 dex + 2 shield)Prof Bonus +3Init +2Exp: 0Race-------Human- +1 to Wis and Cha- Bonus Feat- Bonus Skill proficiencyClass-------ClericSpellcastingChannel Divinity (2/rest)- Turn Undead- Radiance of the Dawn (2d10+8 radiant damage within 30')Destroy Undead (CR1)Divine Domain: Light- Spells:    Light    Burning Hands    Faerie Fire    Flaming Sphere    Scorching Ray    Fireball    Daylight    Guardian of Faith    Wall of FireWarding Light: Cause attacker you can see within 30' to atk you at disad 5/long rest as reactionPotent Spellcasting (+ wismod to cantrip damage)Proficiencies--------------Weapons: SimpleArmor: Light, Medium, ShieldsTools: Herbalism Kit Saves: Wisdom, CharismaFeats------1 Wis +1, Cha +14 Elemental Adept (Fire)8 Wisdom +2Skills-------Perception +8Persuasion +5Insight +8Religion +3Medicine +8Languages----------Common, CelestialSpellcastingSpell attack +8, Difficulty 16Spell Slots:1 - 4; 2 - 3; 3 - 3; 4 - 2Spell Prepared (13)0 - Guidence, Thaumaturgy, Sacred Flame, Spare the dying, Light1 - Bless, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Healing Word, Shield of Faith2 - Lesser Restoration, Spiritual Weapon, Silence3 - Dispel Magic, Protection from Energy, Spirit Guardians4 - Banishment, Freedom of MovementEquipment-------------Cash: 200gpWeapons--------Mace of Disruption, +7 atk, 1d6+4 dmg (+2d6 radiant to undead and fiends)Light Crossbow, +5 atk, 1d8+2 dmgArmor------Scale Mail, AC 14 + Dex (up to 2), disad on stealth, 45lbsShield, AC +2Gear-----Explorer Pack- Backpack- Bedroll- Mess Kit- Tinderbox- 10 torches- Rations (10)- Rope (50')- WaterskinHoly SymbolScroll caseHerbalism KitSpell Component PouchMAGICRares- Mace of DisruptionUncommons- Gauntlets of Ogre PowerConsumables[/sblock]</blockquote>

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