Damondred Karthas

[treehouse]

Name: Damondred Karthas
Race: Human
Class: Warlock 5
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Height/Weight: 5"11' 150 Ibs
XP: ?

Str: 8 (-1)
Dex: 14 (+1)
Con: 12 (+1)
Int: 12 (+1)
Wis: 7 (-2)
Cha: 19 (+4) (+1 at level 4)

Hit Points
Total:24 (6+5+4+2+2+5[con])
Current: 24
Temporary:

Saves
Fort +7 (1+1Con+1resist+4luck)
Ref +4 (1+2Dex+1resist)
Will +3 (4-2Wis+1resist)

BAB +2
Melee +1
Ranged +4

Weapons
Weapon.....................WAB...........Damage... .Crit..............Range
Dagger.....................[+1]..........[1d4-1]....[19–20/x2]........[10ft]
Eldritch Blast.............[+5 rtouch]...[3d6]......[x2]..............[60ft no inc.]

AC: 16 = 10 + 4(Armour) + 2(Dex)
vs. Touch = 12
Flat Footed = 14
Armour Penalty = -1

Perception
Spot -2, Listen -2, Search +1, Sense Motive -2
Darkvision 60 ft., see invisibility (constant)

Languages:
Common
Abyssal

Feats:
Human - Point Blank Shot
1st - Precise Shot
3rd - Weapon Focus (ranged touch)

Skills
Tot - Name....................................Stat[ranks+mod+misc]
+ 01 - Balance.................................DEX [ 0.0 + 2 - 1]
+ 13 - Bluff...................................CHA [ 9.0 + 4 + 0]
- 02 - Climb...................................STR [ 0.0 - 1 - 1]
+ 10 - Concentration...........................CON [ 9.0 + 1 + 0]
+ 01 - Escape Artist...........................DEX [ 0.0 + 2 - 1]
- 02 - Jump....................................STR [ 0.0 - 1 - 1]
+ 10 - Knowledge (planes)......................INT [ 9.0 + 1 + 0]
+ 10 - Spellcraft..............................INT [ 9.0 + 1 + 0]
+ 03 - Swim....................................STR [ 0.0 - 1 - 2]
+ 13 - Use Magic Device........................CHA [ 9.0 + 4 + 0]

Equipment

Weapons
Dagger (1lb)
Wand of ray of enfeeblement (48 charges) (750g)
Wand of cure light wounds (19 charges) (750g)

Armour
Chain shirt MW(325lb)
Vest of resistance +1 (1000g)
Hat of disguise (1800g)

Gear
Pouch, belt (0.5lb)
Traveler’s outfit (5lb)



//Money
//Pp:
//Gp: 200g
//Sp:
//Cp:

Class Features
Warlock 1: Eldritch blast 1d6
Warlock 2: Detect magic at will
Warlock 3: DR 1 / cold iron, eldritch blast 2d6
Warlock 4: Deceive item (take 10 on Use Magic Device checks anytime)
Warlock 5: Eldritch blast 3d6


Invocations Known

Least

Dark One's Own Luck - add Charisma bonus to one type of saves as a luck bonus (lasts 24 hours; by default it will be on Fort)

See the Unseen - see invisibility and darkvision 60 ft. combo, lasts 24 hours

Earthen Grasp - as spell (p. 104 of Complete Arcane)

[treehouse]

Appearance & Personality

Damondred stands a little over six feet tall and is rail-thin. He has black hair and dark eyes which contrast his pale complexion rather nicely. He would probably be considered handsome if he didn't have a constant sneer marring his face. He favors dark colors for clothing, preferably with skull or blood motifs.

He is usually disguised now that he is a wanted criminal, prefering rags, greasy hair and a scarred face that doesn't show off his good looks too much.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ca_gallery/85424.jpg

(yes it's the stock warlock picture in Complete Arcane...it fits how I pictured him, sue me)

Background

I cannot remember the places of my youth. I cannot recall what it is to be warm. Mercy and humanity are beyond reasoning.

I am beyond salvation.


Damondred Karthas was born nearly three decades ago in a nameless coastal hamlet. His father was a highly successful fisherman and his mother was a respected herbalist and midwife. Karthas' birth name was Caedon, given to him by his mother moments before she succumbed to the strange illness that she had suffered all throughout the pregnancy. His father grew to blame the boy for the death of his wife, and the rest of the village eventually joined him. Caedon wasn't a 'normal' boy by any stretch of the word. He was handsome (some would say beautiful), with unmarred ivory skin, dark, tousled hair and bright eyes that reminded those who saw him of the mythical seraphim who once ruled the skies and are now depicted in countless cathedrals across the known world. He even had a certain presence about him, an indefinable something that marked him apart from the other lads of the village.

The disappearances began when he was around six.

No one was ever able to definitively prove that little Caedon had been behind the dark menace that plagued the area for ten years. Yet it always seemed that people who harmed, threatened or merely annoyed the angel-faced boy were the ones to disappear one night, only to be found days or weeks later in the woods that surrounded the village on three sides. The bodies had usually been picked over pretty well by wildlife at this point, though the healer who had replaced Caedon's mother could often see bruises around the neck indicating strangulation, or weird burn marks right over vital organs. Nothing that a six-year old (or seven-year old, or eleven-year old, or thirteen-year old...the murders went on for many years) could inflict. Caedon was never seen to perform any strange acts. He took up his father's craft with what seemed like genuine enthusiasm, though occasionally someone would notice that he might not be enjoying himself as much as he let on.

Eventually (and far too late), anger outweighed terror, and the surviving villagers rallied one evening to drive Caedon out of the village (or kill him if he resisted). He was fifteen now, a man in truth by their estimation. Caedon was not surprised to see his father among the mob's ranks, though it may have been one of the few times in his early life that he ever experienced real grief. He fled from the pitchforks and torches without uttering a word in his own defense.

A young man calling himself Damondred Karthas entered Edinway proper six months later. He immediately sought out the magewrights, displaying a flurry of arcane tricks that convinced them he had the 'knack'. He took up residence in their guild hall immediately and began applying his odd set of skills to various projects. He did not take up an apprenticeship or make many friends (really, any friends). He was there for three years. Gradually, his colleagues began to realize that something was not quite right about the way he practiced the art. He could activate dweomers with ease, and produce a few sinister effects at will (a skill he did not display openly), but he had no use for a spellbook, and didn't seem be drawing his power from any existing ley lines.

The first few people who made inquiries into his mysterious techniques died in their sleep. A formal investigation began, but the magus-wen who showed up at his living quarters to arrest him found that it had been vacated. Hours later, several devices were discovered to have disappeared from the Archives.

Karthas was now a wanted man, but that suited him just fine. He had a murderous streak a mile long and the various adventuring crews who sought him out to collect the bounty made great target practice. He found a broken, abandoned tower on a tiny island right off the coast of Bashir and made the place his home. He would frequently make excursions to the mainland in search of items of power, mundane supplies or even prey, if his tower hadn't been attacked in a while.

Years passed. Karthas was content with his wretched, depraved lifestyle for a little while, but that was not destined to last. His (now restored) island tower slowly felt less like a fortress and more like a prison. 'Visitations' from reckless adventurers became few and far between as the reputation of the place became truly bleak, and the warlock realized that he actually missed the attempts on his life. As his face was too well-known on the mainland for him to wander freely, they were the only thing that passed for social interaction.

Karthas realized that he was lonely, of all things, and loneliness was gradually slipping into a sort of maddening depression. In an effort to distract himself from this absurd emotional awakening, he picked up some old arcane projects (ideas stolen from the Magewrights, mainly) and began pouring all of his energy and creativity into solving them. He ran into barriers rather quickly. Though he understood the theories quite well, he was simply unable to replicate the elementary cantrips and trigger spells that his former peers were able to perform with ease. He had always known that his innate powers were somehow different, and he had met others on Bashir and Hollowfaust who seemed to understand the technique, but he had always assumed that the differences were entirely positive.

This all led to a disturbing sort of self-awareness as Karthas came to terms with two cruel facts. First, he was living a shallow, empty life devoid of any real meaning, and he seemed destined to die alone and friendless on this cold fucking rock. Second, he was slowly losing his mind, and he wasn't convinced that this was an entirely natural occurence. During his study of his own powers and their grating limitations, it started with an intense feeling of paranoia. Every dark corner of the tiny island seemed to be brimming with unseen eyes, watching him and sending shivers down his spine. Then he began hearing the voices. Worse was when he began responding to them, learning that they had names and even ambitions. A part of him coldly reasoned that they were all facets of his own person, but it became harder every day to make that distinguishment.

He fled the island, hoping that a change of scenery would help. During an earlier excursion he had 'acquired' a circlet etched with minor illusory dweomers which allowed him to change his appearance at will, and he used it to adopt a variety of bizarre personas as he moved from village to village. When he surrounded himself with people (even people he didn't know, which was pretty much everyone) it was harder to hear the voices, and he slowly began to regain control of his fragmented mind. He started to believe that he might be able to sustain himself permanently as a vagabond.

Before he could slip back into old habits, though, things suddenly got a lot worse. The voices were back, and louder. The eyes were everywhere, this time accompanied by full-blown hallucinations that followed him wherever he went. His disguises became harder to maintain as he constantly flinched and screamed from the monstrosities that only he could see. He fled his new haunts, making a straight line for Edinway. It had all become too much; he would turn himself into the Magewrights, and they would hopefully execute him. Death would be sweet release after all this.

Edinway was not the way he left it, though.

(TO DO: detail The Covenant in a separate post)