The 5 Kingdoms Forum

This is the thread to post your character names, builds, backgrounds, and bios.  We are starting in Mercan, so be sure to write what brought you there.  If there is anything you want to keep confidential, just email it to me.

Backstory:
Katja is a female half-orc sellsword/crypt raider/bounty hunter from a small village near the town of Malbar.  Her mother was an orc and her father a human; they mined tin for a small operation in the mountains.  Both parents survived the Kami invasion during the Great War, but Katja's two sisters (Senuni and Grada) did not.  When the Malbar Cohort called to arms, Katja joined up as a skirmisher, fighting in a few battles before the war ended.  Rather than return home to go work the mines, she moved to the newly independent city-state of Bardoon to try her hand at being a sellsword.

Since she was orcish, she had to resort to taking less desirable jobs.  She spent some time raiding villages that had been sacked by the Kami invasion, finding baubles and trinkets of value for unscrupulous merchants to resell.  She was then hired by a priest of Chatalize who rightly believed that the Oni invasion may have awoken the residents of the crypts and tombs of Barloz.  They fought undead in the Alyrran Forest for the better part of a year before the priest was slain.  She picked up a few more odd jobs, mostly working as an enforcer for the criminal underground, before unintentionally collecting a bounty for one of the Bardoon undersheriffs.  She worked for the undersheriff collecting bounties, fugitives and tax evaders, while still picking up loan debts for the crime families of Bardoon.  One of the crime families put a marker up on her for breaking up a trafficking ring, so she left the city to find work elsewhere.

She has been working out of Mercan for several months.  It was here that she met the raven Crebain.  He had hired her for a small job of protecting shipments coming from Kambala.  It was from Crebain that Katja discovered poetry.  He paid her well, and treated her with civility, unlike many of her former employers, but it was his poetry that kept her taking the jobs. Crebain completed the project he was working on in Mercan, and returned to Eregant, leaving Katja with a small book of Eregeant verse.  Katja has remained in Mercan looking for work.

Build:
Half-Orc UA Ranger
Stats: Str > Con = Wis > Dex > Cha > Int
Skills: Insight, Intimidate, Investigation, Religion, Stealth, Survival
Languages: Western, Orc, Dark Tongue, Abyssal
Fighting Style: Defense
Conclave: Deepstalker
Background: Haunted

• Harrowing Event: An oni took my sisters one cold, dark night, and I was unable to stop it.
• Personality Trait: I like to read and memorize poetry. It keeps me calm and brings me fleeting moments of happiness.
• Ideal: Change is the only constant.
• Bond: I keep my thoughts and discoveries in a journal. My journal is my legacy.
• Flaw: I feel no compassion for the dead and I drink too much.
• Trinket: A small mirror that shows a much older version of the viewer.

Characteristics:
Katja is a melee specialist who prefers ambush and tricks to a fair fight, but once a fight has begun she can be a bit reckless.  She resorts to ranged combat only when melee is untenable.  Outside of combat, she avoids social interaction, but has a good read on people.  If she has to interact, she is dominant and posturing.

Katja stands just over 6 feet tall, with a tough, muscular build.  Her eyes are a yellowish-brown, her skin is olive toned, and she keeps most of her coal black hair shaved except for a tight set of braids pulled back into a high knot. (See attached drawing from Jeff).  She is gruff and terse... except when reciting poetry, which she prefers to recite in Elvish.  She doesn't dislike the company of others, but tends to keep to herself about personal matters.

Katja has little interest in the gods, but has been known to mutter a prayer to Kern the Hunter or Brandt the Accuser.  She even sees her own divine magic as simple tricks, skills she has picked up, rather than drawing on any sort of mystical force or being.

Ultimately, Katja desires two things: meaning and beauty.  She has always existed in a world renown for its beauty and refinement.  The College in Perdaith is the envy of all the Kingdoms. The dress, music, dance, food and culture of Barloz are the standard of refinement throughout the West.  Katja has never been any of those things.  Further, her parentage has brought her little inclusion, and less respect.  Between the loss of her sisters, the horrors of the war against the Kami, and the ruthless underworld she was relegated to work for, Katja sees little hope in the world.  Her only glimmer is through the words written by others.  She hopes to find meaning and beauty, if not on a grand scale, then for herself.

I got bored at work and built another character.  Just in case Katja dies off or something, I guess.  Or someone can use him.  Whatever. Here's Geldren.

Background:
Geldren is second in line to the baronetcy of Sir Gelhedor, his father, after his eldest brother, Pendroke.  Both Sir Gelhedor and Pendroke serve within the Aligindel army, the baronet as a knight-captain and the son as a field marshal.  With little interest in the baronetcy, or in the workings of the military, Geldren was sent to college in the capital city.  It was there that Geldren found his love of fables, histories and religious texts; chief among his interests were the cults of the gods and the tribal religions of those outside polite society.

It was in his sixth year of study that Geldren would have his life changed forever.  Using some of his father's money, he was able to procure an ancient text from Murmanityed, which was said to contain first hand accounts of Naduumian rituals and worship practices that had not been seen or practiced for thousands of years.  Opening this book, however, gave Geldren more than simply knowledge of ancient practices; it connected him deeply to the arcane rituals used by the Naduumian elves.  He saw impossible things.  He felt intangible things.  Time ceased and the world dissolved.

For a while, Geldren thought this was simply a dream, but he noticed that he was not only hearing the thoughts of those around him, but they would hear his too.  Whispers haunted his mind, and vivid nightmares dominated his sleep.  It was not long after that he realized that magic came simpler to him than to some of his peers.  That written words, no matter the language, were always intelligible to him.  He worked hard to keep this newfound skill (or was it a burden?) hidden, and was compelled to return home at the end of the season.

Restless in the family manor, Geldren sought permission to return to Aligindel to "broaden his horizons".  By this time, he knew that he had been granted a gift, and he was not going to squander it on himself.  He had picked up a few tricks, both magic and mundane, to convince those he met to see his way.  Geldren set out to the city to right many of the wrongs that he saw there.  He wandered the city streets for the better part of a year, convincing pickpockets to become craftsmen, prostitutes to become actors, drug peddlers to become barbers.  He would also drop in on parties for the rich and convince them to give lavishly to the poor.  He loved the change that he saw being made, but he grew to hate the city.  It was the city itself, he believed, that corrupted these people.  The servants of his father's estate were never so debauched, and even the the farmers of the nearby countryside were more wholesome than these.

His attempts to convince the lowly to higher station were not always successful, however, and Geldren had to fight his way out of more than a few scraps.  It was his failed attempts at converting the highborn that lead him to flee Aligindel for Barloz.  His distaste for the city took him through Bardoon and Perdaith.  It was the rebuilding efforts in Mercan that lead him to the city.  Good can be done as new stones are laid.

Build:
Variant Human Warlock
Stats: Cha > Int = Dex > Wis > Con > Str
Skills: Arcana, Deception, Insight, History, Nature, Perception, Persuasion, Religion (2 Warlock, 2 Haunted, 1 Human, 3 Skilled feat)
Languages: Western, Deep Speech
Patron: Great Old One
Pact Boon: Pact of the Tome
Background: Haunted

• Harrowing Event: You opened an eldritch tome and saw things unfit for a sane mind. You burned the book, but its words and images are burned into your psyche.
• Personality Trait: I spend money freely and live life to the fullest, knowing that tomorrow I might die.
• Ideal: I try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. 
• Bond: I would sacrifice my life and my soul to protect the innocent
• Flaw: I have certain rituals that I must follow every day. I can never break them
• Trinket: A necklace formed of the interlinked holy symbols of a dozen deities.

Characteristics:
Geldren avoids combat whenever possible; when it is not possible, he prefers to blast his enemies with magic at considerable range.  Outside of combat, he thrives on social interaction, where he is friendly and complimentary, often trying to win people over to his side.  He is not above using deception or magic to get what he thinks is best.

Geldren stands a bit over 5'7", with a slender build.  His eyes are a greyish-blue, his skin is pale, and his sandy blond hair is kept long and well styled.  He sports a neatly groomed goatee that is slightly darker than his hair. He is formal in his speech with everyone, no matter their station, being respectful even to the lowest of the low.  He smells the faintest bit of jasmine at all times.  He wears fine clothes, but not ostentatious ones; good fabric, not fancy design, bring him joy.  He spends his money freely, both on himself and on others.

Though deeply invested in culture and religion, Geldren is not very religious himself, nominally adhering to the tenets of Kath, as his family has done for generations.  Geldren's world exists largely in his own head, with the "real world" simply being one way to look at things.  He is intellectual, and desires to hear all kinds of worldviews, but often only so that he can better rebut them.

Geldren wishes the best for all people, even if they do not wish the best for themselves.  Rather, Geldren wishes what he thinks is best on all people, even if they disagree with him.  He is firm in his convictions on what a "proper" life is, and will seek to convert as many as he can to it.  (A "proper" life is one that is quiet, pastoral, intellectually stimulating, surrounded by loved ones, and generous to a fault.)  He speaks fondly of the fresh air, open skies, tilled soil and green grass of the countryside, and speaks poorly of the cramped, foul, dirty and dangerous cities.  He wishes to see all men "saved" from urban life.

Austin - 2
Everyone else - 0

Davin the Black
Neutral Good Dwarf
Fighter
-Two weapon fighting style
-Champion Archetype
Skills: Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Perception
Background:  Soldier

As he came of age, Davin won the honor of being the standard bearer of Clan Blackore of Gurdin Tagor.  A short time later the Thane of Gurdin Tagor made the decision to assist the kingdoms in the war against Manath.  Gurdin Tagor entered the war late, but were instrumental in the final battles.  Davin was the only soldier of Clan Blackore to live through the war.  Upon the army's return, the Thane declared Clan Blackore dead.  The few remaining members were absorbed into other clans where they had familial ties.  Davin decided to leave Gurdin Tagor rather than try to fit in with a new clan.

Davin initially went to Tranoc.  He joined the local militia group known as the Brute Squad.  They mainly protected caravans or helped the smaller villages with defenses.  Davin soon grew weary of Tranoc, not because of the work but because Tranoc's proximity to Gurdin Tagor.  He would often meet dwarves from the hold in the city.  Such meetings were always uncomfortable.  Other dwarves would deride him for using the Blackore name when the clan was no more. Many dwarves felt Davin had turned his back on his people.  Davin decided to adapt the moniker "the Black" to honor his clan without riling the anger of his kinsmen.

Davin soon decided to leave.  He worked as security for caravans to get passage to Salynndra.  He then bounced around Salynndra, Tamlynd, Bardoon, and Perdaith, mainly taking jobs guarding goods for various merchants.  He was offered jobs several times by underworld figures but could not bear what would be asked of him. He has just finished a contract escorting a caravan from Perdaith to Mercan.

Davin is tall for a dwarf at 4'8". He has long brown hair and beard, often worn in braids. His preferred weapons are axes and hammers.

Do you guys want to find your own Roll20 icons?  You can google search or here's a pinterest board with roll20 icons.

This seems about as close as I'm going to get for a token, without commissioning something from Jeff.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e9/32/91/e9329170ac852ad421392205a24e1899.jpg

This is the best one I could find.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/7c/c7/aa/7cc7aa6b6fd0d30b2ab78eabcd44c94e.jpg



 

Shawn-
Everyone else's tokens are an overhead shot (Mark sent me one also).  I'll try to find you a dwarf in that configuration.

I can't find anything remotely like my character.

Davin has the Soldier background, he was the Standard Bearer for the Blackore Clan.

Trait:  I've lost too many friends and I'm slow to make new ones

Ideal:  Greater Good. Our lot is to lay down our lives in defense of others

Bonds:   Those who fight beside me are those worth dying for

Flaw:  I have little respect for anyone who is not a proven warrior