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Message: <blockquote data-quote="humble minion" data-source="post: 1175475" data-attributes="member: 5948">I've got no idea whether I've missed the submission deadline or not.  Damn timezones messing with my head...--------------------------------Pedro Mondragon - Medium-sized humanoid (Human)Aristocrat 3, Fighter 2Str 14Dex 10Con 15 (including stat increase at 4th level)Int 14Wis 12Cha 12Lawful GoodAC: 15 touch 10, flat-footed 15Attacks: melee +7 adamantine greatclub 1d10+3Hit points: 10 + 2d8+4 + 2d10+4 (38 hp)Fortitude +6, Reflex +1, Will +4Feats: Endurance, Diehard, Power Attack, Improved Sunder, Skill Focus (Knowledge(nobility and royalty))Skills: Diplomacy +6, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (history) +8, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +13, Knowledge (military strategy and tactics) +6, Profession (miner) +2, Ride +4, Sense Motive +6Equipment: Adamantine-sheathed walking staff (counts as greatclub) 3005gp, +1 glamered mithril chain shirt 4950gp, 2x potion of cure light wounds 100gp, 2x potion of shield of faith +2 100gp, Silver holy symbol 25gp, masterwork calligraphers tools 55gp, scroll case + 50 sheets parchment 2gp, 2x alchemical antitoxin 100gp, 3x book 45gp, high quality signet ring 500gp, scholars outfit (free), 138 goldPedro Mondragon was once the heir to the Mondragon lands, the hot, rugged territory bordering the southern wastelands.  He enjoyed the luxury and all the privileges of a noble lifestyle, until the In-Ammani raiders swept in from the desert in unprecedented numbers and besieged Mondragazzo, the ancient fortress, capital, and home of the Mondragons.  As the brutal, two-year siege dragged on, the spoilt, arrogant young blood grew into a man.  He dealt with arguments over the dwindling food and water supplies in the place of his frail father Diego, he warily co-operated with Don Ramirro, the royal sorceror and scion of his family's oldest rivals, and he took his turn on the walls, clad in heavy steel for days at a time, sending assaulting In-Ammani tribesmen toppling back down their scaling ladders with crushing greatsword blows.Yet it was politics, not force of arms, that finally laid Mondragazzo low.  Through magical communication, Don Ramirro negotiated the surrender of the fortress on behalf of the far-off king, in exchange for territorial concessions elsewhere.  With the Royal Guard contingent leaving, the Mondragons would never have been able to hold out by themselves, and withdrew reluctantly, vowing to return.  But the true, secret nature of Don Ramirro's deal soon became apparent.  In addition to the fall of the fortress that had so long defied them, the In-Ammani were to be pacified with vengeance upon the people of that fortress.  Pedro, Diego, their entire family, and all their closest allies and retainers were quietly drugged and bound, and shipped off to labour in the iron mines of the deep desert.  Pedro later calculated that he was a mine slave for almost four years.  Diego, frail and elderly, died early.  Many of Mondragazzo's subjects, lacking the physical conditioning that Pedro's noble upbringing had entitled him to, followed their lord into death before a raid by a paladinic order against the mines freed the slaves unexpectedly.  The majority of the freed miners, shattered by their experiences, chose to make lives of their own far away from any Mondragons.  Pedro was going to join them before Garcia de Mala, a young paladin he had known in his youth, recognised the battered noble and returned to him his father's signet ring, long since given up for lost, recovered from the body of the mine overseer.  Not previously a religious man, Pedro took this as a sign that duty still awaited him.  Once the paladins had treated his fever, fed him, and healed the worst of the flogging scars that marred his back and the smelter burns on his limbs, he set off on the long trek back to the capital where he had spent so much time as a youth.Now, Pedro lives in the Royal Court, an heir without an inheritance, a lord without lands.  He is effectively penniless since all the treasures of Mondragazzo were plundered by the In-Annami, and gets by on aristocratic charity and a certain amount of board and bond from those nobles who will risk hiring him as a tutor to their children in matters of state.  The king recognises him as the lord of the 'lost lands' of Mondragazzo, and gives him sympathy but little else.  Pedro still does not know if this cool, unhelpful reception is a sign of royal complicity in the betrayal of the Mondragons or a mere tacit acknowledgement of the power of the Ramirros.  While the wizard has not acted directly against him, Pedro has many times been forced to defend himself in seemingly frivolous duels against men of the new type, nobles from the cities and merchant guilds rather than the borderlands, who use rapier and flintlock in preference to sword and armour, who hold money and style above duty and righteousness.  Yet even though Pedro's injuries from the mines do not allow him to bear the weight of plate armour, when it becomes necessary he can still swing a heavy walking staff in much the same way he used to wield as a Mondragazzan greatsword.  To the amusement of the court gossips and the humiliation of more than a few of the capital's dandies and would-be swashbucklers, the half-crippled schoolteacher has left a trail of shattered rapiers, broken bones and even crushed skulls among the more mercenary young blades of the capital...Pedro is only 27, but his lined face and halting movements make him look older, especially when combined with the muted, scholarly brown robes he favours.  His experiences have developed in him a keen sense of how corrupt and duplicitous that life at court can be, and he holds a hidden, powerful contempt for those nobles who do not live up to his ideals of duty and honour.  He measures his words and actions with great caution, wary of provoking either the king or Don Ramirro into noticing him once more.  While perhaps one day he will recover from his ordeal sufficiently to seek justice, at the moment he is content to live a peaceful life as a scholar, with the possibility of passing on his ideals to a new generation his most immediate goal.Pedro is not an adventurer and will rarely seek out combat - in fact, he will avoid it using all the diplomatic wiles that his sense of honour will allow.  If forced to fight he will drink a shield of faith potion first, then attempt to sunder the weapons of each of his opponents in turn before attacking them directly.  While he will not hesitate to kill if the situation requires it, he is very conscious of the political enemies he might make through killing the spoilt children of the wealthy and powerful, and will often settle for dealing out a humiliating beating and a lesson instead.</blockquote>

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