About KalistrineBackground:
Kalistrine was always considered odd. She had a strange way of looking at things, and a sullen demeanor that brought trouble. Then there was her appearance. Pale, regardless of how much time she spent in the sun, and dark wiry hair, but it was her eyes that were the most striking. One was dark brown, almost black, like those of other Varisians, but the other was a pale green. She often struck others as not quite right. She grew up with a poor family but received no familial warmth from them. Kalistrine was left to her own devices by her brothers and sisters, and used as a drudge by her parents. Few in her village doubted that she was a foundling. He parents never denied it either, but never admitted she was not theirs. The truth was that she was left by a kindly-looking woman who claimed that her husband had died of a fever in the vicinity of the Mushfens and could no longer care for her baby. The woman paid the family to take Kalistrine in, and suggested that she would one day return to reclaim her child. Kalistrine's adoptive parents gave the woman's promise not another thought and spent the money she gave them while leaving Kalistrine to be neglected for years.
Kalistrine, who started off puny and sickly, began to quickly outgrow this tendency at a young age. She became bigger and stronger than all the other girls - and some of the boys. She had a tendency to scratch the other children with her nails when fighting and became quite adept at deterring bullies who didn't fancy nasty gashes. As she established some autonomy, she gained in confidence and in belligerence. Soon she was taking over as the primary bully among her siblings and peers. Her father stood for none of this, however, and beat her occasionally when she was insolent or defiant. Never a pretty girl, she took to using intimidation to get what she wanted from others, boys included.
The grim lair of the Hags was a bower of twisted roots, covered by lichens and woven throughout with horrible fetishes of bones and sticks. At the center was a cauldron of ancient make, more a part of the blighted ground. The Hags bound Kalistrine with roots and set about their work of preparing the ritual to convert her into a Hag like them. Kalistrine screamed and screamed, but that merely caused her Aunties to laugh. They tore her clothes off and anointed her with horrible substances, forced drugged elixirs down her throat and burned herbal incenses that clouded her mind. When all was prepared, Black Mag, Kalistrine's true mother, began the terrible curse that was to make her an Annis Hag. By then, Kalistrine was almost completely addled by the preperatory concoctions, but she found room for one emotion - Fear. She could feel her nails hardening into cruel, razor sharp claws, her skin beginning to harden, her limbs growing strong like twisted iron. But then something happened. Kalistrine saw a flash of fire and heard screams from her Aunties. There was a horrifying sound of tearing flesh and cracking bone. Images of visages even more gruesome and appalling than those of her mother and aunties swam in her eyes. A burning pain began to clear the fog from her mind, and when she gained a moment of clarity, a visage of wrath appeared before her. With the head of a terrible carrion bird, the being eyed Kalistrine with the intent of tearing out her belly and leaving her to die a horrible death, but something stopped it. Instead, it traced a claw across her forehead and face. Wracked with burning agony that penetrated into her very mind, Kalistrine screamed and passed out. Some time later, she awoke to a scene of carnage. Still bound in place where her mother and aunties had placed her, she beheld the lair of the Hags strewn with blood and gore. The cauldron at the center of the hollow had been wrenched free, and no sign but the unidentifiable globs of flesh and splintered bone. Moreover, Kalistrine felt a burning pain in her head. She struggled against her bonds, and after some time, the pain became so great, she succumbed to it, but instead of passing out again, she was overcome with a towering rage. Her fury was so great that she was able to pry herself free, haul herself out of the hollow and into the swamp. She crawled and staggered North until she reached the edge of the mire, where she was discovered at the edge of a camp of caravan guards. They were alarmed by the naked, gore and mud-caked thing with the burning eyes, but one of them stepped forward and somehow saw the child beneath. When Kalistrine next awoke, she was in a tent, wrapped in linens, with a soothing balm being applied to her face. Gazing down at her with great compassion was the face of a beautiful young Chelaxian woman. Kalistrine began to cry, and the woman, who introduced herself as Portia, comforted her. The pain in her mind remained, though her cuts and scratches had been tended to. Kalistrine healed under the ministrations of Portia, and emerged from the tent into the camp, where she was subjected to the horrified stares of the women and children of a Varisian caravan. She walked to the edge of the water where she went to dip her hands in, only to find the claws on her fingers remained. She hadn't imagined that. Then she leaned forward to look at her face to see the jagged scars that marred her face. Seemingly with no pattern, they nevertheless invoked in her a cold horror, and then a slowly growing anger. Portia found her as she turned on the staring Varisians, covering her head and shoulders with a shawl and taking her back to the tent before Kalistrine could cause any harm, or be hurt in turn by the nomads. Portia packed up and left on horseback with Kalistrine before the Varisian men returned from hunting, and made her way towards Magnimar where the girl's appearance would attract less attention. Life for Kalistrine in Magnimar was better. She was indeed accepted more readily. Though she was still very unusual, the stares of the people were more jaded and less supersitious, as long as she stayed out of the Varisian areas. Portia's business often took her away, but the steady care and affection she gave to Kalistrine softened her belligerence and muted the rage that still burned within her. There were instances of her temper getting the better of her, and she quickly became a pariah among the children of the neighborhood. She fell in, however with a small band of Tiefling children, who instead of being put off by her claw-like nails and scars, bore similar marks of cursed parentage and so felt kinship with her. They drew her into some questionable pursuits among the markets and docks of the city, but Portia managed to keep her out of danger for the most part. Kalistrine grew into an imposing young woman, strong, tall, and still hot-tempered. That pain in her mind was always on the verge of driving her into a fury. By the time she was sixteen, she grew interested in the martial ways of the warriors and soldiers she saw in the city, and Portia indulged her by getting her training. Her instructors, however, were displeased with her progress - she was too reckless, too violent. One time, she took a blow to the head durring sparring and nearly beat a fellow student to death with a training sword, her anger taking over and granting her a furious strength that allowed her to batter down the defenses of the boy who opposed her. She was thrown out of several fighting schools, but picked up a smattering of skills that helped her develop her own style. Portia was at a loss as to what to do with her, but through her caravaner contacts, she managed to get a job with a merchant by the name of Luco Rutario. Kalistrine was off on her first job as a caravan guard at eighteen. This is where she met Sandru for the first time. The older man's presence, patience and tolerance of her temper and defensiveness allowed her to relax. She took to the wilderness immediately, and though she had not the patience or seriousness of mind to truly excel, she learned some few tricks of getting by in the wild. She grew to love her first experience on the trail, and the cameraderie and tolerance of Sandru and the other guards allowed her to come out of her shell. She grew enamored of one particular man, a Half-Orc named Ombur, who the others considered ugly, but to Kalistrine, he bore the burden of his birth with such grace, a burden she bore herself with considerably less acceptance, that he inspired in her feelings she had thought never to share. They began a short relationship. She was heartbroken when she was forced to part with him as their jobs took them in opposite directions, and they promised to reunite when their paths crossed again in Korvosa the next year. Kalistrine returned to Magnimar with a feeling of peace she had never experienced before. But when she went to find Portia at their home, she instead found a note. "Please forgive me, Trina." it began. "But I must leave. Forget me. You have taken your first steps on a path to a better life. Follow it. I will always love you, but please don't think of me anymore. I have left you what little I could to help you on your way. You may continue to live in the home we shared. It pains me that I could not say goodbye properly. Your friend always, Portia."
Relationships:
Friend: Sandru
Rival: Ameiko Sandru: 7 (friend/romance)
Traits, Feats:
Traits: Caravan Guard (+1 Survival, Survival a class skill), Birthmark (+2 vs Enchantment and Compulsion)
Feats: Intimidating Prowess, Power Attack Stat Block:
Kalistrine
Female Changeling Barbarian (Scarred Rager) 4 CN Medium Humanoid (Changeling) XP 11099 Init: +0, Perception: +5, Darkvision 60ft ------------------------ Defense ------------------------ AC 19 (+6 Armor, +2 Shield, +1 Nat), touch 10, flat-footed 19 HP 56 (4d12+8 +4 Favored Class) Fort +6, Ref +1, Will +1 (+3 vs Charm and Compulsion) ------------------------ Offense ------------------------ Speed: 30ft Melee: Battleaxe +7 (1d8+4, 20/x3), Dagger +7 (1d4+4, 19-20/x2), 2 Claws +7 (1d4+4, 20/x2) and Gore +7 (1d8+4, 20/x2), +1 Adamantine Ranseur +8 (2d4+6) Ranged: Shortbow +4 (1d6/x3), Chakram +4 (1d8+3, 20/x2), Dagger +4 (1d4+3, 19-20/x2) Special: Rage (12 rounds/day, +4 Str, Con, -2 AC, +2 Will), Lesser Fiend Totem (Gain 1d8 Gore attack when raging), Tolerance (May reroll save 1 round later on any effect that causes nauseated, sickened, fatigued or exhausted that allows a save), Scarification (May ignore 1 point of Bleed damage per round), Power Attack (-2 Attack, +4 Damage), Elemental Rage (Swift action, 1/rage, Attacks deal +1d6 energy damage, type chosen at time of use, for 1 round) ------------------------ Statistics ------------------------ Str 17, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14 Base Attack: +4, CMB +7, CMD 17 Feats: Intimidating Prowess, Power Attack Traits: Caravan Guard, Birthmark Skills: Acrobatics +6, Climb +8, Intimidate +13, Perception +6, Survival +6, Swim +8 Skills:
Acrobatics +6, Climb +8, Intimidate +13, Perception +6, Survival +6, Swim +8 Gear:
2933gp 5sp 5cp
Studded Leather Armor (25), MW Breastplate (350/30), Heavy Wooden Shield (7), +1 Adamantine Ranseur, MW Ranseur (-/12), Battleaxe (10), 3 Chakram (3), Dagger (2), Shortbow (25), 20 Arrows (1), Bedroll (1s), Backpack (2), Winter Blanket (5s), Fishhook (1s), Flint & Steel (1), Cold Weather Outfit (8), Grappling Hook (1), Belt Pouch (1), Hemp Rope (50ft, 1), Sack (1s), Shovel (2), Tent (10), 2 Torches (2c), Waterskin (1), Whetstone (2c), 4 Trail Rations (2), String (50ft, 1c), Signal Horn (1), 2 Tindertwigs (2), Potion of Cure Light Wounds, Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds Status:
Rage used: 0/12
HP 46/56 (54/64) Loot Tracking:
Silk Gown |