"'Why? Why do you do this to yourself?' she asked as he wiped his face with a wet cloth, cleaning the dried blood of his enemies from his brow.
His eyes dropped, and his voice grew silent. 'Because the gods know my sins, lady,' he replied, 'and every day I live is another punishment for my crimes.'"
-excerpted from the novel "Exile" by Alustair Albrecht.
Calain Alucard, “The Exile”- Male Human Wizard 9, Chaotic Neutral
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 10
Hit Points: 43
Armor Class: 12
BAB: +4
Fort: +4
Ref: +3
Will: +9
Skills
Concentration 12 +13
Knowledge (arcana) 12 +17
Knowledge (religion) 5 +10
Knowledge (history) 10 +15
Spellcraft 12 +17
Scry 12 +17
Craft (carpentry) 4 +9
Profession (farmer) 2 +5
Sense Motive 4 +7
Alchemy 5 +10
Spot 4 +7
Feats
Scribe Scroll
Spellcasting Prodigy
Improved Initiative
Craft Wand
Brew Potion
Craft Wondrous Item
Empower Spell
Gear
In Masterwork Potion Belt
Potion of Endurance x2
Potion of Invisibility
Potion of Alter Self
Potion of Heroism
In Masterwork Scroll Organizer
Scroll of Identify x2
Scroll of Feather Fall
Scroll of Mirror Image
Scroll of Haste x2
Scroll of Teleport
Scroll of Mage Armor x2
On Belt
Wand of Detect Magic
Wand of Light
Dagger
On Back
Heward’s Handy Haversack
Azuth’s Blessed Book w/ Waterproof Slipcase
Explorer’s Outfit
Traveller’s Outfit
Black Robes
Quarterstaff
Boots of Speed
Bracers of Armor +2
9553 Gold Pieces
Spells Per Day: 4/6/6/4/3/2
Spells Known:
0- All PHB
1- Shield, Mage Armor, Identify, Charm Person, Sleep, Change Self, Color Spray, Silent Image, Magic Missile, Feather Fall, Shelgarn’s Persistent Blade
2- Create Magic Tattoo, Aganazzar’s Scorcher, Death Armor, Invisibility, Endurance, Bull’s Strength, Minor Image, Mirror Image, Alter Self, Knock
3- Scintillating Sphere, Lightning Bolt, Dispel Magic, Haste, Fly, Tongues, Major Image, Summon Monster III, Suggestion, Reverse Arrows, Mestil’s Acid Breath
4- Tirumael’s Energy Spheres, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Stoneskin, Scrying, Detect Scrying, Polymorph Other, Wall of Ice, Enervation, Evard’s Black Tentacles
5- Teleport, Firebrand, Ball Lightning, Darksoul (R&R II), Kiss of the Vampire
Spells Currently Memorized
0- Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Prestidigitation x2
1- Magic Missile x2, Shield, Color Spray, Sleep, Shelgarn’s Persistent Blade
2- Aganazzar’s Scorcher x2, Death Armor, Mirror Image, Knock, Create Magic Tattoo
3- Scintillating Sphere, Dispel Magic, Haste, Suggestion
4- Stoneskin, Evard’s Black Tentacles, Minor Globe of Invulnerability
5- Ball Lightning, Darksoul
Occupation: Itinerant mage-cum-problem solver.
Personality: Cold, distant, and eminently ruthless, Calain makes it a point to keep to himself. He has little real compassion, instead relying on his all-consuming sense of penitence. Calain feels that it is his responsibility to make up for something horrible he did in his past. He views every minute of life as some sort of twisted divine punishment for his actions, and lives accordingly. He holds nothing but loathing for those who would take lives of innocents (although "innocent" is subjective, to him), and seeks to destroy those who "do evil." In a way, this applies to himself, and deep down, he wants to die.
Appearance: A man of short stature and slight build with a frighteningly pale complexion and long, platinum blond hair, Calain casts a deathly image. His eyes, a dull gray, are piercing and filled with a quiet rage. He keeps his hair tied back into a ponytail with a small clasp of polished bone. Two puncture-wound scars sit on opposite sides of his back, and a Draconic sigil is carved into the inside of his right forearm. The character translates to "murderer." He commonly dresses in robes of solid black, with a dark blue trim.
Calain was born to a simple Northern farming family in 1354, during the peak of the Time of Troubles. His mother, formerly believed to be barren, died during childbirth, and his father took the loss particularly hard. He cursed the child, rearing him to be little more than a slave. The boy was kept in a shed outside of the main house, given a few tools, and made to fend for himself while he did work for his father for most of his childhood. He showed an exceptional intelligence, and after he managed to break the lock on the shed, frequently snuck into town to steal books from the local sage. There, in the solitude and dim light of his shed, he would read of far off places and dream of leaving.
When he was disobedient in the slightest, he was beaten. When he was ten years old, Calain finally got a hold of a knife and threatened his father, who dared him to stab him in a drunken stupor. Calain obliged, and he was finally vindicated, with no real possessions of his own and no one to care for him.
He went to town and turned up at the door of the sage, Colwell, with all of the books he had stolen throughout the years. Colwell was forgiving, and took the boy in with his other apprentice, a girl of Calain's age named Theresa.
These were the happiest years of Calain's life. Colwell was a wizard of some small skill, and after several years of service, he began teaching the children a bit of the art. Calain's interest was instantaneously piqued- the thrill of power running through his very veins was an alien yet comforting feel to him, and he was a quick learner. By the end of a period of several months, he was already casting minor cantrips and helping out in Colwell's research. Theresa could not match Calain's skill, but performed well. By this point, the two were adolescents, and Calain began developing feelings for Theresa. By the time he was seventeen, he began professing his love for her, and doing anything he could to impress her. Theresa repeatedly turned him down. She said he was like her brother, and could never think of him in that way. For months, he pursued her relentlessly, until one night he found her kissing the son of the town's hereditary baron.
Calain, a fledgling wizard, suffered a flashback to the rejection of his father, and snapped. With an insane fury, he strangled the boy to death and set fire to the house, leaving Theresa locked in a broom closet. Colwell was asleep in his room, and the two had no chance to escape.
By the time the townsfolk had realized what had happened, Calain had already come to his senses and had collapsed into a quivering heap before the inferno. Blood on his hands was all the evidence they needed to accuse this social pariah of a boy, and with pitchforks and torches, they assaulted him.
He fled in terror, but before he could reach the end of the ravine that ran alongside the town, a mounted archer put two crossbow bolts into his back and he fell thirty feet into the cold water below, swept away by the swift current.
He was picked up, dead, a mile down the river by a wandering priest of Ilmater, who found it in his heart to beseech his god that this boy live. His prayers were answered through his spells, and Calain awakened, his eyes blank and instantly filled with tears as his spirit clawed its way back for death.
Calain never spoke beyond the affirmation of his gratitude and the pledge of two years of labor to the man and his monastery. He spent those two years as a silent, able worker to the Ilmater priesthood, and as he continued his magical studies, the philosophy sank in.
Penitence. Accept the suffering of others as your own, and let it purify you.
When he was nineteen, he left the monastery after carving the rune "murderer" into his arm, a constant reminder of what he is. He now seeks redemption for his sins any way he can. He wanders the land, seeking out bandits and raiders, or evil humanoids, and he kills them, without remorse, without pity. Ending his own life is the easy way out. He will continue to seek his penance until the gods choose to end his punishment and let him die...
Now, he has gained moderate infamy in the North, as his story has been published as the first novel of the bard Alustair Albrecht of Silverymoon.