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

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Braydz" data-source="post: 4386926" data-attributes="member: 72815">BarastavThe Torino waited patiently in their alcoves to either side of the torch-lit hallway. Barastav could hear the herd of running footsteps coming towards them and the bloody cries of gore-hungry men not far enough behind, and his Core burned hotter with the promise of battle. As the last of the royal train passed each alcove, the Torino guardsmen stepped out and formed phalanxes across the hallway until the enemy faced four lines of earth-hard warriors that would not flinch to spill their hot life on the cool granite floors. Barastav stood ready with his brothers, eyes trained on the line ahead of him. The clash of blades on scale-plate armor rang out from the first line, and Barastav gripped his spear tighter. Battlecries roared from the second line, and Barastav braced his stance. Wails of desperate, maddened humans seeped from the other side of the third line, and Barastav gritted his teeth.An explosion punched a hole in the third line and the Captain of the fourth, Barastav's line, ordered a charge to crush the foe between their ranks. The melee was cramped. Spears were cast aside when the Torino lost the advantage of formation to close with their enemies, and many a torch was extinguished with the spray of a traitor's slit throat. When not a born soul drew breath in the hallway, only Barastav stood. He rushed to the side of his captain, a worn and honorable warrior, and tried to help him stand. The old monolith shoved the young officer away and sat himself up against the wall. "I'm dying," he grated."No, Sir. You just need rest. Your Core is as the forge-fire at the heart of the world, and will not wink out so easily." Barastav knelt by his captain and attempted to patch his cracks with what cloth was handy, but again was pushed away by the old soldier."Listen to me, Guardsman. The tunnel the royal family took, it leads to a secret dock in Aginald's Wake, a cave north of here on the Twining River. Go there quickly and meet them. We saw battle here tonight, so I fear that all our fellows are dead, Torino and flesh alike. Go to Aginald's Wake. Continue our vigil. Protect-" The eyes of the crumbling battle-stone guttered momentarily and he shook, a defiant crag, with the effort of speech. "Protect, the Family..." he ground out as his eyes faded, and his Core ceased its burning.***Barastav made his way as quickly as he could to the river and followed it to the north, searching for a cave. He found it and entered, found the dock with the boat still moored and waited there. And waited. He saw the sunrise make the water at the cave mouth glow, and saw the moonlight make it glitter while he waited. He searched out the tunnel that the royal train would have used, and followed it back to the palace but found no trace of them. He dared not stay there though, for the usurper's forces now held the castle and would have captured and destroyed him on sight.He was just a soldier, though doubted that even his captain, had he survived, would know where the royal safehouse was. Assuming there was such a place... So he wandered, searching for any sign of the royal family, battling the usurper's men and other brigands when the opportunity presented itself, looking to regain his purpose in life. He wandered until every secret and safe place in the realm had been made known to him, every rocky outcrop and lush, green gulley that could house what was left of the fugitive royal line. When he had done this and found no trace of his charges he fell on his knees and prayed to Moradin, the Great Smith of Life, for guidance. That night, as Barastav sat still at bedrock and awaited a sign a rain began, a heavy rain laden with wind and lightning, and in the thunder Barastav made out a voice that made the earth shake and his Core flare.IN ITS TIME, THE MOUNTAIN SHALL MOVE.Confident in the message of He Who Makes, Barastav sought out a cave in the hill range east of his homeland, and set down to await his time to move.Character Sheet[sblock]Barastav; Torino (Warforged) Fighter 1, XP: 0Stat.s (Standard Array)Strength 14 (+2)Dexterity 10Constitution 15 (+2)Intelligence 14 (+2)Wisdom 16 (+3)Charisma 11AC: 19; Fortitude 14, Reflex 12[14], Will 14HP: 30 (Bloodied: 15); Healing Surge: 7 (x 11)Action Points: 1Racial Features-Size: Medium, Speed: 6[5] squares, Vision: Normal-Construct: You have the construct keyword, so you are considered to be a construct for effects that relate to that keyword.-Living Construct: As a living construct, you have the following traits.* You can us attached components and embedded components made for warforged.* You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe, but this doesn’t render you immune to any effect.* Rather than sleep, warforged spend 4 hours refraining from any strenuous activity. You need to spend 4 hours in this state to gain the same benefits other races gain from taking a 6-hour extended rest. While resting in this low-exertion state, you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.* When reduced to 0 hit points, you are less likely to die. When you make a death saving throw, you can take the better of your die roll or 10. You still die at the normal negative hit point total.-Warforged Mind: You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Will defense.-Warforged Resolve: You can use Warforged Resolve as an encounter power.*-Know the Blood: As a crafted guardsman to the royal line of Lacerda, the Torino is able to determine those of the royal line automatically by sight.Class Features-Armor Proficiency: Cloth, Leather, Hide, Chainmail, Scale mail; Light & Heavy Shield-Weapon Proficiency: Simple & Military Melee, Simple & Military Ranged-Combat Challenge (Mark target of a melee attack and make melee basic attacks as immediate interrupts on Marked enemies when target shifts or attacks another target)-Combat Superiority (Wisdom modifier as a bonus to OAs, and target stops moving)-Weapon Talent: One-Handed (+1 to attack rolls with one-handed weapons)SkillsArcana +7, Athletics +7[+5], Endurance +9[+7], Intimidate +7; Passive Perception: 13, Passive Insight: 13Feats-Arcane Initiate (trained in Arcana, 1st level Wizard At-Will attack power as Encounter power)PowersAt-Will:Cleave (Stan., 1 creature, Str vs. AC; Hit: 1W+Str dmg., Str dmg. to another adjacent enemy)Tide of Iron (Stan., 1 creature, Str vs. AC; Hit: 1W+Str dmg., push target 1 sq. if less than or equal to one size larger, may shift into cleared space)Encounter:Covering Attack (Stan., 1 creature, Str vs. AC; Hit: 2W+Str dmg., ally adjacent to target can shift 2 sq.)Magic Missile (Stan., Rng 20, 1 creature, Int vs. Reflex; Hit: 2d4+Int Force dmg., Special: Ranged Basic attack)Warforged Resolve (Minor, Personal; Gain 3+half-lvl. temporary HP, if bloodied heal 3+half-lvl. additional HP)Daily:Comeback Strike (Stan., 1 creature, Str vs. AC; Hit: 2W+Str dmg., can spend a Healing Surge)EquipmentScale Mail (AC +7, Spd -1), Heavy Shield (AC & Reflex +2, Check -2), Battleaxe (+2, 1d10; Axe, Versatile), Longspear (+2, 1d10; Polearm, Spear, 2-handed, Reach); Chevron of a Royal Janissary (jewelry, 20 gp)Basic AttacksBattleaxe: +5 vs. AC, 1d10+2 [1d10+3]Longspear: +4 vs. AC, 1d10+2; Reach 2Magic Missile: +2 vs. Refelx, 2d4+2 (Force); Range 20[/sblock]Other[sblock]Barastav stands about 6'3" or just over two meters. He was crafted to be a beautiful warrior with flesh of forged clay and a heart of fire, a sign of power in addition to being a martial force. He wears a "fish-tail" saari wrap made of silk for pants and calf-length leather boots. His armor consists of a long gold-colored scale mail vest, ornate bracers and greaves and a chain coif with a circlet. His war-battered shield still bears the coat of arms of the true Lacerdan royal family. His axe is sheathed on his back, often with his shield fastened over it. He stands erect and proud, and instinctively adopts military postures (attention, parade rest, etc.). All of his equipment is of exquisite design and craftsmanship, but has clearly seen better days."Know the Blood" is a fluff power, important to the story-line maybe at some point but not really useful.The "Arcane Initiate" Feat is to reflect the magic potential of a being made of crater-clay. It isn't training in the arcane for this character as much as having a visceral, intuitive understanding of magical things and one cool trick. I figure that Torino crafted to be royal guards probably often had a little extra mojo put into them.I have a lot of ideas for this character story-wise. For his entire existence he has defined himself by his role, his givern purpose. But what if he had a chance to and was encouraged to come out of that? To "be his own person"? At the moment, even with the message he received (and that can totally be taken out) he still views himself as a failure. During the coup he was successful in safe-guarding the royal family's retreat, but since that moment hasn't been able to fulfill his last orders given to him by a respected and honored superior, orders that sum up his purpose and goal in existing. So his climb to personal redemption could be a lot of fun, in addition to his climb to self-determination and "personhood."I also see him as a great excuse to improve my writing for action scenes, especially fights. My biggest influence in this regard has been the poem Beowulf, and I really wanna work on using that style well.Not sure about Paragon Paths or anything like that yet. I might take a few more of the multi-class Feats, but wouldn't want to fully multi-class him at Paragon Tier.[/sblock]EDITS[sblock]EDIT: Fixed 'Tide of Iron' description, swapped Greatsword for Battleaxe, and fixed his attire a little bit.EDIT: Cleaned up the fiction some, added a Reflex value when wielding a Shield, added stat. block for basic attacks. Just polishing things up, really.EDIT 7-21: Cleaned up fiction. "Rings" that "rang out" are bad writing.[/sblock]</blockquote>

Verification