As our Pathfinder group gears up for the second session we've been doing more work on our back stories. I really enjoy writing, and do it just for fun, so fleshing out my characters backstory has been a joy. There are several sources I have pulled from and been inspired by, so do let me know in the comments if you spot them. :)
Here are two short stories (of three so far) that link together, so despite writing them separately i'll just publish both. Not only do they flesh out my rogue, but also thread in more material for the GM to pick up on and play with. They also tie in with how our party meets up, and introduce actual place names within the world of Greyhawk, which we never really discussed in detail.
Quick recap:
- Silver, the rogue, was given a pendant as a youth that belonged to a father he never really knew.
- Whilst conning a wealthy Duchess in Safeton he discovers her late husband had a similar pendant.
- All she knew was that her late husband had many secrets which he unfortunately took with him to his grave.
- The pendant was one of three that were rumored to form some type of map when placed together. To where or what she did not know. (And neither does our party)
Okay, on with the my Rogues Tales...
A Worthy Cause
The lady let out another desperate sob, and blew hard into her monogrammed silk handkerchief. The man sitting opposite her shuffled uncomfortably in the plush high chair. He so hated woman crying, and just wanted to get the facts down so he could get on with his job.
The lady finally composed herself somewhat, helped by a whiff from a petite antique box she had pulled from her purse. Some kind of smelling salts one would imagine, noted the man.
"Well you see he was just so irrsestable, and after my husband passed away I got so awfully lonely in the evenings. Just me in this big old house, with all these priceless cold things. They don't keep your heart warm, I tell you. " The man nodded and did his best to raise a sympathetic expression.
"I see, so how did you meet?" He asked, and hovered his pen over note paper with an ornate letterhead.
"Cards. I just love cards, despite being so dreadful at them. I often throw parties and have a few fellow gamblers over. I don' t recall how he even got in, as i'm very selective who I invite, but he was so charming that I must have overlooked it"
The man almost visibly started to twitch, and really wanted to just get up and leave, but then felt the weight of the coin purse in his pocket.
"I see, so despite not knowing him or how he got into your party, you decided to let him stay a few nights. Is that correct?"
"Well yes, when you put it like that. But you must understand I thought I was doing a good deed. We chatted for hours, specially when he told me about the cause. "
The man perked up, finally something. " Oh yes? and what cause was that?"
"Oh my goodness, it was so heart breaking you see. He told me how his father is a king. but is a wicked man that was doing great harm to his kingdom and it's people. It was his princely duty to fund the secret resistance movement, but couldn't use his own wealth to do so for fear of his father knowing." She dabbed her puffy eyes, and looked wistfully out the huge gold framed window.
The man rose from his chair, his fine black leather armor creaked a little as he did so. His entourage of guards stiffened to attention, and he casually waved his hand for them to relax. His hawkish face housed intense wise eyes, with a steely will behind them. Running fingers through his short grey hair he began to pace the room.
"Well, sadly you are not the first to be taken in by this confidence trickster. I presume he showed you forged documents affirming his status?"
The lady beckoned her maid over, and pulled several sheets of paper from a gold tray. She glanced at them again, sighed, and handed them to the man. Who studied them, licked the ink, then nodded to one of his men.
"You don't understand, it's not about the money, I have plenty of that. I was just, well…very much in love. I am a fool for the exotic types, him being half elf and all. "
"Yes well, this half breed must be brought to justice, and believe me I am closing the noose. Now, you said a painting was stolen too?"
The lady blew into the hanky again, and then pointed to a blank space on her wall, that had clearly once displayed a painting. "Yes, for some bizarre reason he took the painting of my deceased husband. It was done a few months before the fateful incident with that boar. It has no value really, but he did show interest in the pendent my husband was wearing "
The man, flicked back through several pages in his notes, showed the lady a sketch, and she nodded.
"That's interesting" he said. "Very interesting indeed"
"My husband was into all sorts i'm sure, the brute was never around to see to a ladies needs, always at that club house of his."
"Yes, well, he was a law abiding citizen who paid his taxes. I'm sure he was due privacy with his own time" Said the man, as he gave the signal to his guards it was time to leave. 'Now, who was the last to see him leave?"
"Mary, my maid" She hurried Mary over, who was a pretty lil thing with a twinkle in her eye.
The man glared at her intensely. "Which way did this villain go Mary?"
"Oh, well, it was dark see, but the moon was full that night. So i'm best be sure it was westward the gentleman headed. in full flight no less."
There was the smallest smile on Marys face, and a moment where she seemed to be recalling a fond memory of sorts. But the man missed it as he was busy tracing a finger over a map.
Then he was gone, muttering rushed words of assurance to the Duchess as he left. Who once again broke out into uncontrollable sobbing. Mary just smiled to herself, and gentled patted the lady on her shoulder.
'It's okay miss, i'll make some tea shall I…"
The Woman
Silver woke up mostly naked, and tied to a tree. He noted that he had been in far worse situations, but the pounding headache refused to let him remember them. The morning sunlight pierced through the tree tops of the Welkwoods with enthusiastic vibrancy, which made the half elf squint and groan even more. The rope was incredibly strong, its bonds tied with expertise and gusto. Elvish rope he sighed, not impossible for a man of his slippery skills, but it would take a while. He started to wriggle but his body ached with a few bruises and cuts. It had been a very eventful night indeed.
Fumbling through the dense mental fog, he tried to gather the pieces and recall the night before. A beautiful but cunning smile flashed into his head. He hair as red as a blazing inferno, and eyes that sparkled with mischief. Ah yes. The woman. It was all coming back now…
Silver had left Safeton behind him, and abandoned the Duchess job in order to pursue the traveling collector she had sold her late husbands pendant too. What little he had gathered indicated the collector might be heading to Verbobonc. That meant navigating the Welkwoods, which was treacherous even for someone adept at keeping to shadows. He was also carrying a hefty amount of gold, and a few choice valuables leveraged from the Duchess. Imperative that he avoid trouble then.
He recalled the broken wagon and a woman seemingly in distress. This bandit trick was so old, but still he was on his own and couldn't take it lightly. So he had called their bluff, and offered to trade a tantalizing piece of information for safe passage. Usually that kind of exchange worked, even with lowly bandits. But then an arrow grazed his shoulder and he dived for cover. Flashbacks of the brawl flickered in his head with jarring intensity, as he acrobatically avoided rusted blades and delivered swift strikes in return. His ribs remembered the surprise of a hefty boot connecting with them, and being surrounded. Then the whistling sound. What was that again?
Oh right, yes, the throwing knives from the darkness. Thrown with such sublime accuracy that the bandits didn't realize half their number was dead within a few heart beats. Then she was there. A crimson hurricane with sparkling rapiers that glittered and danced in the moonlight. It was a work of art, a mesmerizing ballet of blades. Then it was over. And a name blazed in his mind.
Mary.
"Mary?, the maid for the Duchess?" SIlver recalled the confusion for a second time, as well as the romp in the peach orchard. But she looked so different now with her hair down, and wrapped in skintight black leather.
"It's not Mary. But thank you for ruining months of planning with that clumsy scheme of yours. I suffered so many nights listening to her whine about being lonely. Then you come in with your cheek bones and frilly words." She said while wiping her blades on a bandits shirt.
"You have no idea do you? How deep the rabbit hole goes? Well, I figured since you ruined my master piece that it's only right for you to see to a woman's needs. "
"I thought I did that.." He quipped.
She smiled. Then continued. "I presume you still have the painting, and the gold? Appears I did just save you from a most unpleasant evening with frisky bandits, so by my accounts you owe me quite a bit."
"I had those bandits exactly where i wanted them, and besides, I left the Duchess with far more valuable trinkets that would be just dandy for a pretty little thing like you. No?" He said, knowing full well she had the better of him with a blade.
She chuckled to her self, and replied with a honeyed tone. "Very well, how about you give me the painting and i'll fill in the blanks that torment you so? You do want to know the full story do you not?" Whether she was bluffing or not, she had tracked him from Safeton and just saved his life. The woman certainly had some grand plan, and although he hated to admit it, he wanted to know what it was. He was also still in shock at not seeing through her disguise as Mary the innocent maid.
"Over a drink? I took a little souvenir from the cellar before I departed, to keep a girl warm at night. It's not like I was getting a good reference anyway." She slipped a flask from her pocket, and tossed it to Silver. Who took a sniff to confirm it's vintage then slugged down a warming gulp. It had been a long night, and the edge needed to be taken off it.
"Oh! I'm somewhat surprised. I figured you wouldn't fall for that at all. There you go disappointing a girl…again"
Silver suddenly realized the trees were moving, and the ground was spinning under him. Then the cold hard dirt was rubbing against his face, and all his limbs were numb.
"I meant what I said, I will tell you over a drink. I just didn't mean this exact drink" She whispered, then removed the rolled up painting and bag of gold. Opening the canvas she ignored the artwork on the front, and turned it over to reveal several symbols written in a long forgotten language. That was the last thing Silver saw before the fog consumed him and he blacked out.
And so here he was. A half elf, a tree and lots of questions. Oh she was good, and he had to push aside any notion of being attracted to that. I mean, she left him tied to a tree with no clothes. He never got her name, so decided on Scarlet for now.Then his train of thought was disturbed by muttering and a clinking sound.
He turned his head to see a figure ambling through the trees. Wearing a long brown leather over coat, with numerous bottles and flasks clinking around a belt. What appeared to be a giant mushroom in his hands was being thoroughly investigated. Silver had to shout several times to break his concentration as the man almost walked straight by.
He finally looked up, somewhat startled, then raised an eyebrow upon seeing Silvers predicament for the first time.
"Good sir, I understand this may seem out of the ordinary, but I can be of great assistance in guiding you through the Welkwoods. If you would be so kind as to untether me from this tree we can be on our way. But where are my manors, I'm Mithrildir Moonrunner, freinds call me Silver"
The man paused for a moment as if working out some long equation in his head, then stashed the mushroom in his pocket and spoke.
"Silas Theodore Hieronymus Bolan. Alchemist. I'm going to Verbobonc"
"Well what a coincidence" Silver grinned...
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