Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Davies" data-source="post: 8913487" data-attributes="member: 30538">Alharund<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-wJkFzpJ/0/6c031475/S/d1x35xl-6e190dd7-90bf-4fac-9786-94a502710352-S.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Three are the stereotypical traits of the wood elves of Elphaim, and to an extent of all elves. They are all skilled magic-wielders. Utterly false, even absurd -- sorcerous abilities are not given to every member of any of the peoples of the world. They are all brilliant archers. While it is a given that every elf has learned to string the bow and to let fly, the accuracy with which they do so varies from person to person, and the hunters of Elphaim are more prone to use spears in their chase than the bow in any event. They are all merry and cheerful, gamboling about in the woods in a never-ending celebration of -- Oh, no, no, no. This one really irritates those of their kindred who strive for a stern and serious demeanor.Alharund, a wandering soldier of fortune currently employed by the Republic of Tohrukin to train their archers, is one such stern and serious elf who has grown quite irritated with the stereotypes. That he is an amazing archer would seem to reinforce one of them, but he will strive to disabuse anyone of the notion that his skills, acquired through long training and hard work, are any sort of "natural talent". As he is also a private individual, he will not often speak of the sorrow that these skills have brought him.In his youth, roughly a century past, an orphaned Alharund was given into the care of one of the masters of the ancient art of yakha, a meditative discipline that used archery as a metaphor for the development of a focused mind. He applied himself to his lessons, and soon developed the mentality that his master sought, in which he no longer depended on his imperfect bow or untrustworthy hand to strike the targets before him. Pleased with his development, his master declared that Alharund would now move on to the next phase of yakha, in which the bow itself was set aside.That was where the problem started. The young elf had not realized that he was supposed to eventually let go of the bow, rather than use it for its ostensible purpose. That purpose was deeply tied to a desire he had hidden in his heart all this time, the desire to hunt the beastfolk that had orphaned him decades before. His master, frustrated to realize that he had failed to purge Alharund of such base and worldly desires, warned him that he was setting out on a road that led only to a meaningless death, but the archer refused to hear anything of it. So he left his master and eventually his homeland.Unfortunately, he was soon to find that only in Elphaim were beastfolk considered monsters to be slain out of hand. In the lands beyond the forest, they were as often honest citizens as they were raiders and bandits, and Alharund ended up spending more than one night in the stocks after he assaulted an innocent bystander. He has never quite gotten past his suspicion of their kind, but generally just tries to avoid them in his current life. His personal goal is to advance his skill at shooting until it becomes perfect and he achieves the sort of enlightenment that his master insisted could only be found if he stopped using a physical bow instead of the arrows of the mind. He is certain that he can eventually do this, and would welcome the opportunity to test himself against unusual threats -- or mundane ones that happened to be beastfolk.It seems likely that his master was right, and Alharund is walking a path that leads nowhere. But perhaps his master did not know as much as he thought, even if he was an Ascendant of Mind posing as a mortal ...Alharund -- PL 7Abilities:STR 2 | STA 2 | AGL 4 | DEX 3 | FGT 4 | INT 2 | AWE 6 | PRE 2Powers:"Aim With the Eye, Shoot With The Mind": Enhanced Advantage 1 (Benefit [make Ranged Combat: Bow checks with Awareness]) - 1 pointRanger: Movement 2 (safe-fall, sure-footed); Speed 2 - 6 pointsWood Elven Gifts: Immunity 3 (aging, disease, need for sleep); Regeneration 2; Senses 1 (low-light vision) - 6 pointsAdvantages:Defensive Roll 2, Equipment 2, Evasion, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (bow) 2, Improved Initiative, Move-by Action, Quick Draw, Trance, Ultimate Aim.Equipment:Sword (Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical), Bow (Ranged Damage 3), and 3 points of equipment as needed.Skills:Acrobatics 3 (+7), Athletics 6 (+8), Close Combat: Sword 3 (+7), Deception 4 (+6), Expertise: Magic 4 (+6)*, Expertise: Philosophy 6 (+8), Perception 4 (+10), Ranged Combat: Bow 5 (+11), Stealth 5 (+9), Treatment 4 (+6).* INT-based.Offense:Initiative +8Unarmed +4 (close Damage 2)Sword +7 (Close Damage 5, Crit 19-20)Bow +11 (Ranged Damage 3, Crit 18-20)Defense:Dodge 7, Parry 7, Fortitude 4, Toughness 7/2, Will 8Totals:Abilities 50 + Powers 13 + Advantages 12 + Skills 22 + Defenses 10 = 107 pointsOffensive PL: 7Defensive PL: 7Resistance PL: 6Skill PL: 5Complications:Self-Improvement--Motivation. Hatred (beastfolk.) Tactical Preference (seeks the high ground.)</blockquote>

Verification