Tiamat5774 5 Headed Dracohydra Karma: 80/23 1117 Posts
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Welcome our newest player Celediel - Tenacity Valence
Kerrick Valence was a scholar and preacher of Helm who married his sweetheart, Alidora Starsill, and settled down in Eveningstar. He was minor nobility, just enough to have land entitlement to live comfortably, and barely enough to feed and clothe the large family they would soon raise.
The couple raised seven children, all daughters, and named them after what Kerrick deemed highly-prized virtues.
Purity, the eldest, Chastity, Sanctity, Tenacity, Modesty, Humility, and Verity, the youngest, enjoyed a peaceful
childhood with instruction from local experts in varying fields of study. Most of the girls excelled in the practice
of magic, either arcane or divine, while Tenacity was the only one to show an innate tactical sense and incredible
strength of both mind and body. Early on, a significant portion of her lessons were spent with town guardsmen and
local footsoldiers home on leave. Tales of battle filled the dreams and imaginings of the impressionable youth and
gave her much context for her father's faith. She learned that not only were there real horrors of war, but that
there was real good to be achieved and actual consequences for lapses of vigilance.
Her favorite instructor, and the one she spent the most time with, was a soldier named Sharrow Sedlec, who had retired to Eveningstar after a life of campaigning. He took a shine to the bright-eyed youth who was always so eager to be regaled with more reminiscing or learn drills with a bronze practice sword and shield.
Her sisters didn't understand the affinity she had for the ways of war but she didn't mind having this one thing to herself. In a small house with a family of nine, not to mention a few friendly tressym, one did not get much privacy otherwise. She loved being around and meeting good people ever since, as it reminded her of the feeling around that dinner table growing up.
The conversation around that dinner table was an opportunity for everyone to share and reflect on the events of the day. One dinner was overshadowed by concerned talk of a pair of village boys that had taken Modesty's lunch on her first day of schooling. Tenacity was, of course, outspoken on behalf of retribution and making sure that these boys knew never to mess with a sister of hers. Their father, on the other hand, told her to be calm and that he would find out who they were and then
settle the matter with their parents.
The next day, Tenacity played truant and followed Modesty, waiting to observe who would dare place such pressure on her
little sister. The sneaking paid off when she had an opportunity to rush up and blindside the bullies, two years younger but almost her size. She knocked the first one down in the initial charge and quickly flattened the second one with a decisive punch to the face and knee to the groin. No one messed with a Valence again.
"You ought not to have done that, little one," Sharrow counseled the next day, as Tenacity struggled to remain seated with her sore bottom on the wooden chair by the practice dummies.
"But they were beating up Mo'sty!"
"I didn't say your intentions weren't correct, Tenacity, but honor doesn't allow for behavior like that. You must never take advantage of someone who is defenseless. As defenders, we must become superior to those opportunists that prey on the weak and we must show that virtue through our actions. To fight dirty would be to dirty yourself and your own reputation."
Sedlec's lesson on the etiquette of challenges followed, and it would be one of the last lessons he gave her. The muster to retake Arabel inspired him to return to the glory of battle in the capacity of adviser. Before he left, he made it clear to her that her lessons would continue whether he was teaching them or not.
He was right. She learned that the cost of an individual's life, when purchasing freedom for others, can be well worth it. He left several of his possessions to her in the absence of any living relatives. A shield, his special knapsack, and a ring: all items he had used in the service. She learned that sometimes people in need need only a little comfort or support, instead of having all their problems fixed for them, when Tenacity's own vigilance and over-protectiveness of Modesty resulted in Modesty's being the only Valence that didn't pursue greatness in service and protection of others. Modesty would have been an exemplary bard, gifted with a beautiful voice, but sought safety in marriage and a steady home life, for which
Tenacity always blamed herself.
Tenacity feared not measuring up when the great accounting came and dreaded the thought of harm coming to her sisters. She searched for ways to strengthen herself and learn more about the world itself before hovering around them like a
defensive matron.
With the gifts imparted by her mentor, she set out on a personal quest to fix things that truly were in need. Justice meted out for stolen lunches on a grander scale, but balanced against the self-reliance of the downtrodden. While it sundered Tenacity's heart to leave her home behind even as her sisters left for their own reasons, she took solace in the fact that her journey would protect that life for others and that, maybe someday, she would get to retire here to enjoy some fine wine and strawberry pie in the long summer afternoons as well.
An encounter with a lone evil fey at a fairy circle resulted in her obtaining a rod of grievous wounds and deciding to purchase a cold iron longsword.
Tenacity Valence
LG, Human, Knight 5
Initiative: 5 (1 dex, 4 Imp. Init.)
BAB: 5
AC: 18 =10+ Armor 5 + Shield 2 + Dex modifier 1
Touch AC:11 Flat Footed AC: 15
HP: 5d12 +20 ( 65)
STR: 18
DEX: 12
CON: 18 (17 +1 at lvl 4. I think this adheres to the rules of no more than two 18s at creation. This comes to 55 total with 5 for Complete Warrior, if I understand correctly.)
INT: 14
WIS: 16
CHA: 18
FORT: 1+4=5
REF: 1+1=2
WILL: 4+3=7
Grapple: 9 = BAB 5+STR Mod 4
Weapons
Shield, Large Steel, Spiked, Bashing: +10, 1d10+5, x2
Longsword, Cold Iron: +10, 1d8+4, 19-20/x2
Lance, MW: +10, 1d8+4, x3
Armor
Breastplate, MW: 5 AC, Dex 3, -3, 20ft.
Shield, Large Steel: 2 AC, -1
Special--Knight:
1: Fighting Challenge +1
knight's challenge (6/day)
knight's code
2: Mounted Combat
shield block +1
3: Bulwark of Defense
4: Armor Mastery (medium)
test of mettle
5: Bonus feat (Diehard)
vigilant defender
Racial
1 extra feat at level 1
4 extra skill points at level 1 and 1 extra at each additional level
Feats
Endurance (PHB): sleep in light/medium armor without fatigue, +4 to certain saves.
Improved Initiative (bonus feat, human, PHB): +4 Initiative
Mounted Combat (bonus feat, knight, PHB): ride check to avoid a hit to mount once per round.
Defensive Strike (lvl 3, CW97): during total defense action, if opponent misses, make an attack on them next round at +4
Diehard (bonus feat, knight, PHB): automatically stabilize at negative HP, perform standard actions without unconsciousness
Skills
Climb 3
Handle Animal 8
Intimidate 8
Jump 3
Knowledge (nobility/royalty) 8
Ride 8 +2 synergy from Handle Animal
Swim 3
Description:
Tenacity has reddish-brown hair kept in an immaculate braid, green eyes, and a light complexion. Her tabard, pennant, and all gear bear her family crest on a dark blue field. Her armor has a brassy sheen and she rides a dapple grey warhorse. She is barely 22 and carries herself with as much poise and confidence as she can muster. She favors form-fitting clothing and armor so that nothing will snag or fall out of place. With a high collar, full sleeves, and gloves, she shows no skin below the chin.
Posted on 2009-04-28 at 07:15:08.
Edited on 2010-09-13 at 02:07:48 by Tiamat5774
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