Lal Qalandar, of the Purple Lands
Barbarian
Background: Hermit
Level: 11
XP: 0
Race: Human (Standard)
Alignment: Chaotic Good
[Sblock=rolls]
Stat rolls (unmodified) : 4D6.HIGH(3) = [3, 1, 6, 3] = 12
4D6.HIGH(3) = [3, 5, 1, 5] = 13
4D6.HIGH(3) = [1, 1, 4, 2] = 7
4D6.HIGH(3) = [1, 1, 2, 4] = 7
4D6.HIGH(3) = [5, 2, 6, 5] = 16
4D6.HIGH(3) = [1, 4, 5, 3] = 12
[/sblock]
[sblock=character sheet] Abilities:
Str: 20 (+5),
Dex: 14 (+2),
Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 8 (-1),
Wis: 13 (+1),
Cha: 8 (-1)
AC: 17 (scale armor, dex, cloak)
Initiative: +2 (advantage)
Speed: 40
HP: 104 (12 + 7*10 + 11*2)
Hit Dice: 11d12
Proficiency Bonus: 4
Passive Perception: 15
OFFENCE:
Great axe +2: +11 to hit, 1d12+7 damage (when raging: 1d12+10)
Hand axe: +9 to hit, 1d6+5 damage (when raging: 1d6+8 if in melee)
Javelins: +9 to hit, 1d6 +5 damage
SAVES (* = proficiency)
* Strength +9
Dexterity: +2 (advantage if can see source)
* Constitution: +6
Intelligence: -1
Wisdom: +1
Charisma: -1
SKILLS (*=proficiency)
* Acrobatics: +6
Animal Handling: +1
Arcana: -1
*Athletics: +9
Deception: -1
History: -1
Insight: +1
Intimidation: -1
Investigation: -1
*Medicine: +5
Nature: -1
*Perception: +5
* Performance: +3
Persuasion: -1
*Religion: +3
Sleight of Hand: +2
Stealth: +2
Survival: +1
PROFICIENCIES AND LANGUAGES
Tools: herbalist's kit (hermit)
Language: Midani,
Sovereign-eze, Yellow City Trade Tongue, Parbati, a bit of Lamarakhi
Weapons: simple, martial
Armor: light, medium, shields
FEATURES AND TRAITS:
Barbarian Features:
Rage (4/day, +3 damage)
Unarmored defense
Relentless Attack
Danger Sense
Ability Score Improvement: +1 to all (Human), level 4, level 8
Extra Attack
Fast Movement
Feral Instinct
Brutal Critical
Relentless Rage
Sword Dancing (well, axe dancing) (dervish)
Bladed pirouette (dervish)
Dance of death (dervish)
Display weapon prowess (dervish)
Hermit feature: Discovery: One with the Universe
FEATS:
None at this time[/sblock]
[sblock=appearance & Personality]Height: 5'6"
Weight 190 lbs
Hair: Salt and pepper and wavy
Eyes: dark brown
Skin: brown
Age: 55
Lal Qalandar is somewhat short but wide shouldered and barrel chested and moves confidently despite his bulk and age. He has an easy smile and friendly disposition. His skin is a dark brown, tanned by his years in the sun. He has long, graying hair that is starting to thin that he keeps under his turban, and his face is bearded. He wears crimson robes, old but sturdy boots, and the pelt of some large animal to keep himself warm. He also wears a long necklace of wooden prayer beads. Beside his long hafted axe (which he calls a "tabar"), he always caries with him an ornate wooden begging bowl, which he uses to collect alms.
Life of Seclusion: Lal retreated from society following a plague that killed most of his village
Personality trait: Lal believes that the universe is one, and that all that happens is interconnected
Ideal: Self knowledge: if you know yourself, you know the universe
Bond: I entered seclusion because I loved someone I couldn't have. The road is now my home.
Flaw: I am dogmatic in my thoughts and philosophy
Heroforge link:
https://www.heroforge.com/load_share=55440[/sblock]
[Sblock=Equipment]Traveler's clothes
Great Axe +2, the axe of sorrow
Winter blanket
Bag of Holding
Pelt of elven friendship (cloak of protect.)
Ring of the wavewalker (water walking)
hand axe 2X
Javelin 10X
dagger
scale Armor
Herbalist kit
Prayer beads, engraved
Beggar's bowl
backpack
bedroll
Mess kit and tea pot
tinder box
Waterskin X 10 (collection, full)
Cheap wine bottle X9 (of 10)
Diary with 7 pages missing
knife
wetstone
Sack, 5, empty
Sack, full of curios and cheap toys from abroad (for the children)
Chalk (2 pieces)
3 brick of tea of the third quality (used to be 4)
bucket X2
Rations X 20 (from 30)
100 feet of rope
10 torches
10 oil flask
crowbar
Tent, 2 person
shovel
50 pounds of animal forage
MONEY: 1 gp, 8 sp, 6 cp
Lal is quite poor, but has accumulated a lot of stuff over the years, mostly "just in case" supplies he keeps in his bag of holding. While some trips are with well stocked caravans, experience has taught him he cannot rely on that, and thus keeps ample food, water and other things with him. He also has a few petty vices in which he occasionally indulges and thus keeps the materials at hand[/sblock]
[sblock=magical item notes]
Pelt of elven friendship: This cloak of protection is made the skin of a great cat that was terrorizing a village and that Lal realize was simply old and feeble and unable to hunt - Lal put it out of its misery "gently" and kept the skin. After he helped a group of elven druid deal with an undead problem, the elven druids, grateful for his help, enchanted the cloak as a reward.
Axe of Sorrow: This great axe is of unusual design and is named due to the utterly regrettable way it came into existence. A powerful noble and an influential holy-man had been clashing in one of the Oligarchies at the foot of the Mountains of the moon. The noble, fed up, gave the holy man a very large sum of silver so that he could go build a temple *off* his lands. The holy man, feeling he might do more good somewhere else anyway, agreed. His cult not being particularly war like, he hired a group of sell-swords (including Lal) to protect the cult on its trip/quest to build a new temple.
Alas, the noble acted with malice. The silver had been stolen from an exiled clan of dwarves. He informed them that the cult had their silver, and the clan, enraged, attacked the cult's camp at night. The battle was terrible - the dwarves were outnumbered and desperate, but better warriors than the cultist. Lal entered in a fierce battle with their king and broke the shaft of the king's axe, shattering his own tabar in the process. Lal finally killed the dwarven king by throwing him down to rocks beneath, which broke the resolve of the remaining dwarves and stopped the fighting. But it was too late, as the holy man had also been killed. The survivors of the battle realized that they had all been betrayed by the noble, and joined in a campaign against him, using the silver to hire a mercenary army and depose him. Lal struck the final blow.
Lal, with the help of one of the few dwarven survivors, repaired the king's axe by replacing its the shaft with the holy man's wooden staff, which was of the appropriate length and made of a very strong wood, thus replacing his tabar. The axe is very dear to him and he will not willingly part from it.
Ring of the wavewalkerThis thick silver ring is the only visible piece of valuable jewelry Lal wears, the rest being pretty inexpensive religious paraphernalia. It was crafted by the Slugmen of the Yellow City, and purchased by Lal for a significant sum. Lal was initially a bit dubious of the item, but has become fond of it over the years.
Bag of holdingThis magical item was found during one of Lal's many adventures, and is of unknown origins. The bag of holding is mostly used to carry bulky supplies, such as a dozen water skin to cross desert. It also has a sack that is filled with cheap curios, toys, pine cones, petty coins etc - wondrous items to enchant children and baffle scholars.[/sblock]
[Sblock=Background] Lal Qalandar is from a far away land, across the sea from Al Quadim. Following harsh disappointments in early life, Lal retreated from the day to day world and entered a long period of meditation and fasting with a group of ascetics, leaving everything behind, even his name (Lal Qalandar means "Ruby-colored wandering holy man" - a title he eventually acquired after his red robes and lifestyle).
One day, Lal, following an intense session of meditation, suddenly perceived his deep connection to the Universe. All was interconnected. Himself, that ant roaming on his meager piece of bread, his dead relatives and long lost love, his fellow monks, that rock over there, were all one with the universe. Individuality was but an illusion.
Lal Qalandar suddenly felt that the austere practices of his fellows were stifling. He was meant to live in the Universe, to fully embrace it. He wanted to preach. He wanted to help others - was that not the Universe healing itself? He also wanted to fight injustice - was that not the Universe purifying itself? Lal abandoned the group of monk and started a life of wandering - sustaining himself through petty jobs, preaching, helping the less fortunate, protecting travelers from brigands and living on the road. He took upon himself the mantle of the Dervishe - the mendicant wanderer. Through his trials and tribulation he found that his connection to the Universe deepened, and that in times of great danger he could reach a sort of spiritual ecstasy, able to wade in battle without fear, easily warding off blows and dealing terrible ones in return.
On a sea voyage, a freak storm blew the ship he was on far away, and he and a few survivors reached a distance place, known as the Sovereign Lands, to the astonishment of everyone. There Lal faced undead and worse and became a hero of sorts. After a few years of tribulations, he embarked on another sea voyage, and again following a freak storm, Lal found himself back home in the Purple lands.
He was initially glad to be back, but the return was not a pleasant one. After a disastrous incident in which a ruthless noble manipulated events to get a renegade dwarven clan to destroy a religious cult Lal was trying to assist, Lal felt the need to leave. He had come to understand that sea voyages had a tendency to carry him far away, powered by a potent Fate... but he didn't feel like endangering the lives of sailors. So using most of the gold he had left, he purchased a magical ring from a slugman in the Yellow City, one that allowed him to walk over water. After gathering supplies, Lal left the Purple Lands on foot to cross the ocean, perhaps to never return...[/sblock]
[sblock=local travels]Upon arrival, Lal spent some times in Qudra, in part to learn the language an the local culture. The local authorities were initially concerned with his rather unusual arrival, but after some time concluded he was harmless.
After spending a few seasons there, he traveled south, as he had heard of the great desert mosque, where he met the Dome Dancers. He spent over a year there, discussing, dancing and fighting with the Dome Dancers, where he gained a reputation as both a fierce fighter and an eccentric. He gained an appreciation for the the ways of the desert tribes. However, after the 3rd raid vs the savage people, Lal became disillusioned and left the cult behind.
The next caravan that headed south, Lal joined. He spent several years traveling up and down roads, helping guard caravans for a small feel. This is where he would have met Matthan's character. He did the run between Tajar and Akota, the genie's caravans, from Qudra to to Magrib, ect... but all this time avoiding sea travel, as he feared being swepped away on another mysterious storm.
However, on one day he realized that he could see the city of Saraq across the Suq Bay, and decided to cross the bay on foot (seriously, look at the map it's like 5-8 miles across). This trip gathered a fair bit of attention, and by the time Lal reached Huzuz, words of the "wavewalker" had preceded him. Lal enjoyed the attention for a season or two and the magnificence of the city, but it did not last (low charisma alas). However, Lal heard of the Dancing Dwarves of the Al-Akara mountains, and decided go to pay them a visit. It is at this point that Lal "vanished" from the map, and it was concluded that he had perished on the trip. However, his disappearance was due to a mishap with a genie lamp. Fortunately, after a year or so Lal re-emerged near Tanjar, none the worse for wear...[/sblock]
[sblock=contacts and friends]- Captain Reis AlGhuri, a Mamluk of Qudra. 10 years ago when Lal Qalendar first came to these lands, AlGhuri, a mere sergeant at the time, interviewed Lal and declared him harmless. Over the years Lal has seen Reis climb the ranks and become more and more important. Still, whenever he is in town he visits for a pitcher of wine. Reis appreciates these visits as Lal is a good source of information regarding events in the south, and has good stories.
-Husam (Matthan's character). Husam and Lal fought side by side twice - once repelling the giant scorpion army of the mad wizard Al-Qadir, and the second time vs an evil cult, the Serpent Brethren.
- Vizier Umayl Al-Magrebi, an alchemist and Vizer of middling importance in the court of the Caliph, in Huzuz. He hosted Lal during his stay in the city of Delights. Umayl thought that Lal's stories were fascinating, but that he was too coarse for the court of the Caliph. He is the one that told Lal about the Dancing Dwarves of the Al-Akara mountains, and he is worried that he inadvertently sent Lal to his death. He is currently working on a book - Tales of the Purple Lands - and he would dearly love to meet Lal again to firm up a few chapters.
- Mansur, of the Desert Dome. A mystic of the Dome Dancers, he and Lal meditated, spared and fought together. He is the one Lal announced his departure one morning, and Mansur was sad to see him go. They haven't seen each other in a number of years.
- the entire staff of the caravanserai at the Hamid Oasis. A frequent stopping point for Lal, he knows the owner, Mehmed, quite well and is welcome.
- Akbar Al-Badu, Caravan master. This merchant has been doing the Tajar-Akota run for over 20 years, and Lal has worked for him about a dozen time. He will accept Lal as part of a caravan in an instant. 6 years ago Lal fought off almost single-handedly a small pack of desert trolls that were tearing into the caravan - his defiant stance allowed the rest of the defenders to rally and push back the monster.[/sblock]
