Arlaan

Arlaan, Dwarf Defender

Arlaan Abarakolor

Background

On Mithral

An ancient saying claims that mithral belongs to the Kandruns alone. When the fey arrived in the mountains, they were changed to suit the needs of the Kaldruns. Only when the dwarves were made worthy through hardship and hard work were they entrusted with its secrets. Because of this, every item made of mithral is seen as holy - set aside and reserved for the purposes of the Kaldruns and it's children, the dwarves.

Mithral has ever been the dwarves' most closely-guarded secret, passed on from father to son for centuries. It is said that even if it is lost, the mountain will give the secret to a new generation, in order to manifest the greatest blessing it can give.

Recently, the secret of mithral has been stolen by enemies of the dwarves and the Kaldruns.

Arlaan

Arlaan was born very small and given a name that means "worthless wet rubble." (Ossyllargh) He was a member of the Thedron clan, from the village of Mahan near Calador.

Five years ago (Note: just a guess - GM should review) some travelers came through Mahan, claiming to be in search of the "King of the Dwarves."

Arlaan was one of many in a town who helped the mithralthief. Once the secret was stolen by outsiders, the Kaldruns themselves cursed many who helped the thief. In a dream, deep in a cavern depth, Arlaan saw a dream of himself being thrown from the mountains into the Northlands. He took on a hideous shape, like a deformed giant-man, naked all over, hands the size of ore carts. In his shame, he lashed out against armies of rodent-like swarming orcs. He thrashed against their ropes and barbs, ever growing, his fists becoming like siege rams on arms, until he travelled to a completely alien place, like nothing he'd ever imagined. There, he found a silver child of pure dwarven beauty, glowing. He picked up the child, which he gave the name "Mithral". Though it burned him to touch the child, Arlaan scooped it up in his oversized mitt and carried him to safety in the mountains again.

Many others in his village had dreams and were cursed in various ways. They called this curse Thutel Dorsargh (curse of the mountain's disdain). Arlaan chose to escape when other dwarves arrived and began imprisoning the cursed ones. Many were marked as criminals, but because Arlaan left and his curse had not yet become apparent, he escaped without being officially cast out. He doesn't know if anyone implicated him or not. He stopped in few settlements, until word got out about escaped traitors, cursed by the Kaldruns. In the wilderness he went, where he found the bear.

He left his people, and while in the winderness, he saved a bear cub from a mountain puma. The cub's mother was a talking bear (dire bear, or "Awakened" bear). She taught him how to fight, and taught him of his own value to others. She have him his new name, which means, "boulder of the wild's strength" (Arlaan Abarakolor)

10 questions

• Describe what your hero's glorious death might be.
  • Standing guard in a narrow pass, his bulk filling the gap from side to side, facing a legion of orcs who suddenly feel small staring up at the face of a dwarf the size of a house. The mounting piles of orcs at his feet after having fought for many hours, he eventually falls to exhaustion as his allies sieze the advantage they now enjoy, having lost but one against a decimated army of orc and legate.

• Describe what your hero's worst fated death at the hands of [the ENEMY] might be.
  • Enslaved by minions of the Shadow, he serves alongside trolls and ogres as a living machine, forever pushing a grinding stone. His beard stubble never getting long enough to notice before it is burned off, and the sores under his heavy manacles perpetually bleeding, he eventually gives in the the despair that grips all who fall under the thumb of the Shadow and ends his own life under the weight of the grinding stone.

• What is the worst thing [the Shadow] could do to your hero? (this could include things done to loved ones)
  • Crush his spirit through enslavement. Convince him somehow of the worthlessness that his own family instilled within him as a child.

• Describe a victory that your hero would like to have against [the Shadow].
  • To return one of the greatest mirrors to nature, or to know that the dwarven people's defenses will always hold against the Shadow.

• What action would your hero never do? (meaning type of action "like burn a village down", NOT a general idea like "give in to the shadow")
  • Have sex with a man.
  • Crush the spirit of a child.

• What would cause your hero to break down to sadness or fear?
  • Enslavement and powerlessness.

• What do you hope your hero's honorific would be?
  • "Irreplacable" or "the Grizzly-Father"

• What would it take for your hero to turn traitor? (these can result from bribe or blackmail)
  • Most likely, trickery. Or, if he was convinced that all those he trusted had betrayed him.

• PLAYER: What's your favorite monster or NPCs to fight?!!
  • Anything intelligent enough to use tactics and have great swag. Except vampires - they suck. Goblins are always fun, since they're almost people, and not so monstrous that there are no laughs to be had.

• PLAYER: What do you most enjoy about RPGs & D&D? (meaning battling monsters, solving puzzles, political roleplaying, etc..?)
  • Kevin :) Okay, with less sucking up... I love working toward having a great story to tell. Building interesting twists in the history of the characters that comes together in the end to be really intriguing. Many times, this comes through killing bad guys, which I love. Especially if I get to keep their stuff and get rich. Not so big on the puzzles.

3x3

Contacts

• Tiede Ciuchtu - Tiede is a snow elf tracker who's lived in the northlands at large for several decades. Tiede is exceptionally skilled at keeping her tracks hidden and avoiding drawing attention to herself. She trailed Arlaan for nearly an arc as he wandered aimlessly in the wilderness. During a particularly rough time for him, Tiede left some food with him while he slept. Curious about it, Arlaan spent the next few days trying to track down the source of the gift. Tiede eventually introduced herself to him, and they formed a basic friendship. They spent about two weeks together, her showing him some basics about how to survive in the Northlands. Tiede remained guarded during their time together, and rarely got close enough for the unusually large dwarf to touch her. She is generally untrusting toward everyone, elves included, and wastes no time in killing those she determines to be an enemy, or even a threat. Tiede knew that Arlaan was incapable of hurting her as long as she kept her distance, and so enjoyed spending some time with someone that didn't pose a direct threat. Tiede continues to think of Arlaan as being a nice enough man, and fascinating for his unusual size and situation in life. Arlaan never quite warmed up to her as much, but respected and appreciated her help and company. Because of how interesting he is to her, Tiede may have motivation enough in the future to spend time with him again, and to help him out if he needs it. Other Thoughts: I envision her as being highly intelligent, but course and clumsy in how she deals with people. Not unattractive, but her Charisma is low because she simply doesn't understand how to interact. She is capable of travelling on foot for days without rest, and without leaving enough of a trail for her to be tracked by non-magical means. Perhaps she's an Elven Raider? She has absolutely no compunction about killing (especially orcs and those who serve the Shadow) but does so only when she is sure that it is necessary. She will calculate and examine a situation, her prey, or a person for long periods of time if necessary, in order to determine the best way to kill them (should the need arise) and whether the risk is acceptable if she involves herself. Because of this, she has an extreme level of confidence in her deductions, which have been anylized to the Nth degree - this and her cold detachment makes it difficult for others to tolerate her friendly involvement for long.
• Kunkel Stonebraker - Kunkel is a highly skilled dwarf carpenter who lived close to Arlaan when he was a boy. Kunkel was in a caravan carrying three families, one of which was his own. They were ferrying the supplies necessary to build three houses for them when they arrived in a new location, their intention being to start a new settlement in the hills to the east. An orc raiding party slaughtered everyone in the caravan and carried off the supplies. Only Kunkel survived, and just barely. He eventually made his way back to his original home and regained his health. His family killed and his home taken over by another family, he had nothing to live for and no where to do it. He left, heading east, claiming that he would build a ship and sail the coastline of Aryth, seeing the world. He has the skills necessary to build the ship, and may have succeeded eventually. If so, he could be anywhere now. He is a friendly enough dwarf, though now has a dark sadness about him whenever he thinks of his past. He is the type who would remarry and start over, if given the chance. Arlaan was still young when last they saw each other, but Kunkel's for dwarves, especially old friends, would be enough to give him reason to help Arlaan, if asked. Kunkel is tremendously brave and has an adventurer's spirit. He lead the group that set off to start a new settlement, and he thought little of heading off alone with no more of a plan than "I'll build a boat," though he'd never had a boat or built one (this may have involed a lot of trial and error, but he probably had some plans with him). It's just as likely that he became a pirate as it is that he found a woman, then settled on an island that no one's ever seen before, braving the wilds like a conquistador.
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Allies

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Enemies

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Covenant Items

Arlaan's old covenant items Note from Bill: I'm going to try to replace what I'd done before with brief idea generators, rather than something with depth in flavor or structure.

Dark Blade of Dakuel

This is a large scimitar made of a strange metal, impossible for anyone to identify (it's adamantine from Pelluria, a metal that isn't found in Eredane). It has a particularly thin, dark blade, and though it looks to be almost the size and design of a falchion, it can be used as a scimitar. At the base of the crossbar is the clear inscription "Dakuel Fine Steels" in Courtier. There are rumors that it has a slightly smaller twin, both of which were used by a fabled Sarcosan ruler. He used them to slay a king and conquor that region, then used in his older years as a marauding invader of Eredane. By the time the Dornish and Sarcosan kingdoms were at peace, both swords were lost.

The Paw Club

This looks like an old, rusty iron belaying pin, the top of which is shaped like an ape's paw. It has a wrapped handle and can easily serve as a club, if used as a weapon. It was once a simple belaying pin used on the ship The North Scanapo, which was a common sight off the shores (and in the ports) of southern Erenland about 230 years ago. The crew was beset by a mysterious creature no one had ever seen before, and could not be identified, while attempting to investigate rumors of a small island chain far from the east coast of Eredane. The creature was not large, but it was vicious and slaughtered most of the crew. One of the humble crewmen felled the beast with this pin, but how he was able to do so remained a mystery, as most weapons did nothing against it. With a skeleton crew (in one case this was literal) The North Scanapo made it to Asmadar, where it sank. The crewman who used the Paw Club made it to shore as the sole survivor of the crew, and felt strangely compelled to deliver the pin to a mysterious man (somewhere). Once this was accomplished, a minor mishap resulted in his death and the belaying pin was never seen again.

Lion-Faced Mask

This is a mask with the face and mane of a lion. It has a long fur mane that is made to drape over the back of the wearer's head, regardless of (and not interfering with) what is normally worn on the head. Some orcs found it once in the base of a large mountain, and once it was donned, turned the wearer into a gargantuan beast. Others attempted to wear it after the death of the crushed giant (there wasn't enough space) and found that it had a different result for every wearer (generally very beneficial), but each had a burning desire to seek out a particular sword. While wearing the mask, the secrets of this sword are known, but cannot be communicated to others - after the mask is removed only the knowledge of the desire for the sword is remembered.

Equipment

Carried wealth

30 vp worth of hides, tools, crude art, and food (6 days).

Arms

• farmer's ropes
• a large bone club (1d8, range 10 ft., 6 lbs.)
• 2 light hammers (used mainly for throwing)
• a sling and 20 bullets
• mostly dressed in crude leathers - he is used to living in the wilderness

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Midnight: North & South Portal
Midnight: the Shadow Killers player Bill