Continuing our expansion of the Crown Campaign Setting, Corey was good enough to stat up Solis Emberheart - one of the minor characters from his soon-to-be-released novella, The Bonds That Bind Us, and who is also featured in our exclusive online series, Axiomatic Anarchy!
In typical Corey fashion, we asked him for a single write-up and he provided us with far, far more! More's the better, however; we think that all of you will enjoy the additional content as well!
Solis Emberheart Lumilon Bard 7/Loresinger3/Cleric1* HD: 8d6+1d8: 37hp Speed: 30ft/x4 Initiative: +3 BAB/Grapple: +7/+8 AC: 18 (+3 dex, +5 armor) Flat: 15 Touch: 13 Abilities: Str 12 Dex 16 Con 10 Int 16 Wis 20 Cha 22 Atk: +10 Wyrdwane (+3 Shardsoul/Redeemer mithral dagger)* [1d6+4dmg 19-20/x2] Feats: Investigator, Spell Focus(Divination), Wealth of Knowledge(Crown), Psalm** Skills: Bluff +19, Concentrate +4, Decipher Script +14, Diplomacy +19, Gather Information +18, Listen +9, Move Silently +8, Perform(sing) +19, Search +9, Sense Motive +18, Spot +9 Lore(crown): Arcana +17, Art +13, Architecture +10, Dragons +7, History +17, Legends +17, Local +9, Planes +17, Religion +17
Class Abilities: (Bard) Bardic music, bardic knowledge, countersong, fascinate, inspire courage +1, Inspire competence, Suggestion; (Loresinger) Loresinging, lore of the land, Music Instrument, Sense History; (Cleric) Turn Undead
History: Damillreon Ultareth was a studious lumilon born with a gift: He could sing like a deva. Second to this amazing gift was his wanderlust. He spent much of his time wandering around Crown, listening to bards and mages alike. His inquisitive nature soon drew him to quest for the House of Lyr and the fabled role of Loresinger.
During the trials, the youth's resillent spirit kept him enduring when cunning and skill were not enough. Damillreon gained the prestigious role of loresinger and returned to Crown in search of Tal Vorglath's secrets. There he met his fateful end, perishing in a conflict of wills with the Sage Whisper of a Cleric. Through mysterious means the wraith and bard's souls melded and became a new being. The new entity returned to the gates of Lyr wearing a crimson tabard and incarnadine brooch, its uncut ruby simmering with an internal flame. He called himself Solis Emberheart.
Solis soon rose higher among his fellows with his mystical knowledge of things arcane and ancient. His stance was more reverent than joyful Damillreon, yet one might say echoes of the boy's laughter could be seen in Solis' emerald irises. However, Emberheart's ability to build rapport with people and solve conflict removed any potential quarrels. Thus, the later entrance of his bardic dire badger and aide, Ghrellion Tundric, came as only another curiosity among the Hall's limitless intrigue. The loresinger spends much of his time away, whether in Crown's bowels or in some unknown chamber of the Hall of Lyre. Some whisper he walks with the love of a forgotten goddess woven into his heart.
Familiar: Ghrellion Tundric (Awakened Dire Badger) Hit Dice: 3d8+15 (28 hp)+4d6+16: 56hp Initiative: +3 Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), burrow 10 ft. Armor Class: 16 (+3 Dex, +3 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 13 Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+7 Attack: Claw +7 melee (1d4+2) Full Attack: 2 claws +7 melee (1d4+2) and bite +1 melee (1d6+1) Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Rage Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent Saves: Fort +8, Ref +10, Will +8 Abilities: Str 14, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 16 Skills: Decipher Script +8, Gather Info +12, Perform(Oratory) +10, Perform(Strings) +8, Listen +6, Spot +6, Search +3, Lore: History +8, Nobility +8, Nature +8, Religion +8, Arcana +5, Geography +5 Feats: Alertness, Toughness, Track(B), Investigator, Spell Focus(Divination) Environment: Hall of Lyr Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 7 Advancement: 4-9 HD (Large) Level Adjustment: +2
Ghrellion is 5'7" feet in length and weighs 337 pounds.
Combat Ghrellion usually keeps his head cool until someone manages to stab him. Once that happens, he dives into his ancestral rage, wading in with claws and fangs.
Rage (Ex) A dire badger that takes damage in combat flies into a berserk rage on its next turn, clawing and biting madly until either it or its opponent is dead. It gains +4 Strength, +4 Constitution, and -2 AC. The creature cannot end its rage voluntarily, unless Ghrellion makes a DC 14 will save.
Solis acquired Ghrellion when he liberated a grove (and its rare stash of druidic tomes) from a cruel blighter. Though Ghrellion was filled with bitterness and hurt from the druid's malevolence, Solis perceived a spirit of gentleness and curiosity beneath the acerbic temper. The loresinger brought the dire badger to the Hall of Lyr, where the awakened creature fell in love with the rustle of pages and gliss of harps. Ghrellion, now a seasoned bard with a toned adventuring physique, serves as Solis' personal aide at Lyr, researching various things for Solis and for curiosity's sake itself.
Wyrdwane (+3 Shardsoul/Redeemer** mithral dagger): Crafted for the use of the High Clerics long ago, Wyrdwane (pronounced "Vyrdvane") ended many lives on the altars of the enigmatic priests. The blade endows its wielder with fragments of knowledge from each slain figure and is rumored to allow a person the chance to live again--at a cost. The dagger changed hands when a loresinger entered the crypts of Tal Vorglath to return speaking unheard knowledge and languages long forgotten. Some would say he learned more than bargained, but the loresinger, the last known wielder, disappeared into anonymity.
Wyrdwane grants a plus +5 in any lore skill the slain person had most ranks in; this is an inherent bonus, as their memories drain into the wielder. the bearer must make a DC 20 will save or take a -2 drain to Int as a result of the forced infusion, sometimes thinking the memories are his own. +3 CL 15th slay living, raise dead
Shardsoul: The High Clerics scribed this enchantment during their pinnacle. This property was imbued into sacrificial blades, focusing on the connection between blood and life. The enchantment drinks in the lifeblood of the victim, imbibing a part of the person's essence with the sanguine ichor, but only if the blow is fatal. The knowledge (+5 bonus from victim's highest ranked lore) if the wielder surrenders some of his own life in exchange (-2 Con). +2 bonus. CL 12th, slay living
Redeemer: A rare theurgical ability, Redeemer was developed by a Cleric to spare his son's life. Altering the Shardsoul enchantment, the priest inscribed an unwritten condition into the spell, allowing the blade to soak in all the being's blood and soul. The soul can stay within the blade indefinitely (even with the Shardsoul enchantment active), but the wielder and the soul gains the knowledge. To release the spirit, the blade must be stabbed into a body's heart (even if its the first corpse of the soul) and the spirit seeks to escape into the new host. +3 bonus; synergy. Shardsoul. CL 15th, raise dead
Y'lvas oil: Developed, by the elves during their long exile from their homes in the frozen North, this oil can sustain a man for weeks on one vial. However, unlike elven bread, the liquid also clears the body of toxins, though it takes a long period of rest to work effectively. This property has saved many an adventurer who has traveled the treacherous gorges between the frozen wastes and Crown. Eight hours sleep for three days, with constant imbibing of y'lvas oil, will enact like remove disease. The person cannot do anything during the day, however, which limits his activities to the confines of a bed. 1,296 gp. Craft(Alchemy) 10 ranks.
Bardic Tome: Gifts of the House of Lyr to loresingers of a certain rank, these leather books allow the bard to focus his mind on a subject so he can better scribe a lay or tale. Once a week, the bearer can sing a secret verse to draw the benefits of the following from the book: legend lore, identify, commune
While these potent aids usually take considerable time, the wielder of the tome feels his mind split into separate consciences to intake each spell's information in the same sequence. This can be disorienting, even damaging; the bearer must make a DC 22 will save or suffer a severe migraine (-4 int damage. This heals at the rate of 1 pt per day), losing any information he might have gained. A natural one results in insanity as his mind breaks into splintered personalities. The bardic tomes are only intelligible to their owner, as they act under the effect of illusory script and secret page. To ensure total secrecy, the crafters also implanted explosive runes and sepia's sigils, which become active on command. 148,500 gp. CL 14th. illusory script, secret page, explosive runes, sepia's sigils, Legend Lore, Identify, Commune
Emberheart: This crimson brooch is an hierloom of the Emberheart family. The clasp is an uncut ruby, with a smoldering radiance lurking inside. With a touch and thought, the ashen glow flares into the burning consistency of torchlight.
In actuality, the Emberheart household is a formality, connected by purpose instead of bloodline. Some Clerics of old foresaw the coming downfall and sought to prepare for the day when the ignorant and curious would delve into their dark halls. Thus, the Order of Embers, or "Emberhearts", crafted various clues for the seekers to follow. Any who bore the emblem of the incarnadine brooch carries not only light to guide them in darkness, but a key to the cardinal truths. However, few of the present could understand the trinket's true nature, and many have passed down generations without becoming more than magical lanterns for surface eyes. CL 5th. continual flame
New Feat Psalm (Divine) Prerequisite: Able to turn/rebuke undead Effect: Expend turn check and gain its effetive HD as bonus to next loresinger or bardic class skill check instead. Lady Purity Demigod/Lesser power Domains: Knowledge, Travel Granted Power: Remove Blight (Once per month)
Calling upon Her Lady's grace, the caster imparts her purity and holiness into the subject. This functions like remove disease and cure moderate wounds, except that the subject is overwhelmed with the essence of purity. They take a -2 against any diplomacy check to sway them from neutral alignment, or -4 if they are evil.
An entity decreed myth by most--well, the "most" who know about her. However, they are few. Indeed, only the loresingers truly know the secrets entwined in her identity. There is rumors among their quiet halls that a minute few worship her. The 'singers deny this occurrence as foolish. Yet, a ballad about a lady fair and pure can sometimes be heard echoing softly in the Halls of Lyre.
All tomes record her servants as seekers, courters, and bards. There may be enough argument that this is what generated a portion of the Hall of Lyr's fame. Anything in the rare and oblique texts about her hint to a woman of grace and elegance, granting men the gift of song and verse. Thus, her priests were known to travel abroad, seeking Her Lady's presence in the subtle nuances of life and beauty. Now, her true name is forgotten and she is simple referred to as Lady Purity in the sketchy tomes of the 'singers. Perhaps she was an entity under the Five, or simply an independent being; alas, only the vague songs about pure beauty unsullied remain.
Solis Emberheart learned of her presence at his genesis. Images of an alabaster maiden, eyes full of tears and mouth full of mirth, drew him into a corona of peace as Damillreon and the Sage Whisper were torn asunder and reformed. He cannot recall how long he spent in her presence, but the duration does not alter the fact that he found himself in awe of Her Lady. He awoke in an alcove, adorned in the crimson tabard and brooch, where he discovered the former bard's gear and the Cleric's single artifact: A mithral dagger. He constantly walks the barren halls of the High Cleric's courts, seeking her in the subliminal energy that hums in each wall of Tal Vorglath.
