ARMITAGE SHANKS

from REIGN:The Line

Dr. Armitage Shanks, Spellbane

DUTY: help the sick and wounded.
CRAVING: beat on sorcerers.
MISSION: make ambassadorial contact with Truills.

Stats and Skills

Body 3

• Athletics 2
  
• Fight 3
  
• Parry 1
  
• Vigor 1
  

Charm 2

• Fascinate 3
  

Command 3

• Inspire 3
  
• Intimidate 2
  

Coordination 2

• Climb 2
  
• Dodge 1
  
• Ride 1
  

Knowledge 3

• Counterspell 5
  
• Heal 2+Expert
  
• Language (Uldish) 0+Master
  
• Lore 2
  
• Sorcery 1
  
• Student of Agriculture 1
  

Sense 2

• Eerie 1 --> 0+MD (6 XP)
  

Advantages

Spells 1: (from Upunzi, First Year 121)

• Closesight (MD in scrutinize)
  
• Mind's Eye, Clarified (temporary perfect recall)
  

Advantage: Animal Companion 3: Puck: exceptionally vicious dog (+2 Fight, +2 Dodge), with Lassie-like intelligence (Reign 40).
Advantage: Possession 3: magic Stone Seal stone (4 minutes to place, but creates reusable unpassable lock, as per First Year 114)
Advantage: Status 4 (The Spellbane, the disgraced Doctor to the Soldier's Guild, now the Ambassador of Rauk's Gift; who has not heard of the Armitage Shanks?) (4XP)

History and Biography

4x1 Physician
1x4 Raided an Ancient Temple
1x5 Incident in the Woods
3x8 Enforcer
2x10 Cultivator Functionary

Armitage Shanks grew up in Uld, his membership in his Guild of Soldiers --that rare gift to a boy that guarantees a straightforward life-- was inherited from an Uncle (2x10). Because he had talent, he apprenticed to Dr. Vardell, learned the trade himself, and practiced the art for his Brothers and Sisters when it was needed. And it was often needed. Because this was the time, years ago now (the youngest of you weren't even alive then), that the Guildwars began (4x1). And so Armitage was there when the Silversmiths army held the city captive; and he took up arms when the Holy Orchestra attacked during the Lonely Silence; and he was operating alongside her when an assassin sorcerer attacked and killed Dr Vardell before disappearing back into the smoke.

Armitage inherited the title from her (each guild only has a single doctor), but he is not as diligent as Vardell was. He learned to get his hands dirty, and, in time, he discovered that beyond medicine were other pleasures. He found delight in the art of storytelling, and in the science of boxing. You might think that he had lost his focus, and that the guild would now suffer intolerably with its senior medical officer enjoying the ring as much as he had once enjoyed serving others as they convalesced (3x8). The truth was, Armitage had found a new interest. And that interest became a consuming passion.

Finding Vardell's killer had been relatively straightforward -- he was barely beyond the Truill border -- and Armitage made sure that he felt intense physical pain. For a long time. He'd stop, nurse him to health, and begin again. That was Armitage at his worst, and he doesn't like to admit that he went too far. But he did. The event did however point him to the whole brotherhood of assassins, hidden in the Sunless Plain, and that was when Dr Armitage Shanks became the Spellbane. Journeying alone, Armitage went hunting for their lair (1x5). In that land of darkness, he learned how to smell the magic. Now, it seems, there is nothing arcane that can hide from his senses. When he's drunk he'll tell you that he can taste sorcery in the air. It took a long time (indeed, the guild has since contracted the services of another medic, who better deserves the title of Doctor) but eventually he found the lair and raided it (1x4).

The Guildwars ended, and Truill killers were not used again after Armitage returned. Travelling on foot, an oversized Truill wolfhound trailing behind him and exhibiting fierce loyalty. The creature's coat is terribly scarred, and one ear has been torn away, but it defers to Armitage in everything, and in return he talks to it more comfortably than he does to many. How they met on the Sunless Plains is not a story Armitage Shanks shares lightly. Armitage also keeps a trophy of sorts from that time he spent alone (or perhaps it is a reminder): a small smooth stone, apparently worthless granite, which he keeps in his pocket.

Dr. Shanks now hunts sorcerers when his guild, or another, hires him. He has learned to pull their spells out of the air, and for that he is best known. He can still tell a good story, and can still mend your wounds, and will even go a few rounds in the ring in a friendly, combatative spirit. But there are those who never see that side of him; for them, his name is only ever a threat.