| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Xysma |
Posted - 05 Jul 2005 : 15:54:53
We are starting a new campaign in Chessenta this week, and I have been working on my character's history. I thought I'd post it for anyone who's interested. Feel free to make any comments or suggestions.
Carrow “Crow” Brayth
Carrow Brayth was born in Cimbar in 1350 DR to Rand and Danys Brayth. Rand Brayth was a working-class merchant who struggled to make a living for his family. An ill-fated “partnership” with Blain Tenfold left Rand with nothing. Shortly after losing his business, Rand learned that Danys was pregnant with their second child. Faced with another mouth to feed, in 1354 Rand took work as a dockhand to make ends meet. After the birth of his daughter Scylla, Rand became increasingly despondent over his situation. Miserable with his life, and obsessed with the betrayal that led him to poverty, Rand turned to drink, eventually leaving his family in 1361 to work on a merchant ship sailing from Cimbar to Selgaunt. A year after he set sail, Danys had heard nothing from Rand, believing him dead, told her two children the terrible news. Carrow was heartbroken, but more importantly, he was determined not to work himself to death as his father had. With his father gone, Carrow was left to care for his mother and his young sister. Carrow took to the streets, surviving on his wits rather than the back-breaking labor that had destroyed his father. Carrow found that he was a decent thief, and managed to provide a comfortable living for is mother and sister. Carrow was taken in by an upstart thieves’ guild in Cimbar, and became known as simply “Crow.”
The sixteen year-old Crow thought he had found his life’s calling until the day he stole from the wrong ship. While working the docks, Crow slipped into a merchant ship and lifted several hundred gold pieces from the cargo hold. The “merchant ship” turned out to be the Umberlee’s Fate, captained by the infamous pirate Flint Ganzalee. Crow was caught on his way off the ship and faced certain death at the hands of the pirates. It was at this point that Crow learned of his father’s true fate. The “merchant ship” that his father had sailed with was in fact the Umberlee’s Fate and his father was alive and well, working as one of the mates aboard the Fate. Rand bargained with Flint for his son’s life, and Flint agreed that Crow could work off his debt by sailing with the crew of the Fate. After making arrangements with one of the dock workers to deliver a message to his mother, Crow set sail the following day to begin his life as a pirate.
The skills that Crow had learned on the streets of Cimbar served him well, and soon he was well respected among the crew, although the anger he felt toward his father for abandoning his family kept father and son apart. Crow honed his fighting during the many ship-to-ship battles that are part of a pirate’s life. Crow became deadly with his cutlass, and learned to be as good a sailor as he was a fighter. Once he had repaid his debt to Captain Flint, Crow was free to go, but he stayed on as part of the crew of the Fate. His newfound freedom allowed him to take shore leave whenever the Fate was in dock, and he relished his hard won freedom. Each time the Fate docked in Cimbar, Crow would visit his mother and give her a portion of his share of whatever the crew had stolen during its voyage. Crow never told her of his father’s true fate, preferring to let her believe that he had died trying to provide for her and his children.
In Flamerule 1369, the Fate was attacked by a rival band of pirates and barely managed to escape intact. Many of her crew was killed, including Crow’s father. It was during this battle that Crow lost his left hand and eye, but gained his magical cutlass “Azerlan.” As fate would have it, Crow ended up in melee combat with a large half-orc wielding a softly glowing cutlass. Crow managed to dodge the first attack, but stumbled against the ship’s railing. Crow watched in amazement as the cutlass cut completely through his wrist and the railing, sending his hand into the murky depths. Crow then narrowly avoided a blow aimed for his neck, and the half-orc’s cutlass claimed Crow’s eye rather than his life. Thinking Crow had been defeated, the half-orc turned to face a new enemy, but this was his last mistake. Crow took this opportunity to shove his cutlass through the half-orc’s back, piercing his lung. Crow then picked up the magical cutlass and decapitated the half-orc before collapsing on the deck next to his foe.
By the time the Fate limped into dock, there was nothing the clerics could do to restore his hand or his eye, so Crow sought out a wizard who was capable of creating grafts. Crow learned of a man named Kylan Dunstar, a wizard who had sailed with pirate ships throughout his career, but had recently retired. Kylan had become an expert in creating magical grafts, to replace missing limbs and other body parts lost at sea. The wizard replaced Crow’s hand with an enchanted hook laced with alchemical silver. Crow’s eye was replaced with a magical graft known as the Mutineer’s Eye. The smooth black glass eye would not restore Crow’s vision, but it would make him a more formidable opponent in battle, by helping him more easily find his enemies’ weak spots.
Back in good health and spirits, Crow set out to discover the meaning of the script he had found engraved on his newly acquired cutlass. “Azerlan” was the word engraved on the blade of the cutlass, and a visit to Amman Loshka, a local Deneirrath priest, provided Crow with the translation. Amman surmised that this was in fact the name of the weapon itself, composed of “Acer” which was an old Chessentan word meaning “sharp” that had fallen out of use in the early to mid 1200s. The second element of the name came from another old Chessentan word, “lamna” which could be loosely translated as “edge.” Based on these findings, the cutlass was assumed to be around 150 years old, of Chessentan origin, and its name means “Sharp Edge.” Crow then went back the Kylan, to have the cutlass examined for any magical properties. Kylan confirmed that the cutlass was magically enhanced, but that its most important feature was the material from which it was made. Kylan informed Crow that the cutlass had been forged from adamantine, which he explained was arguably the hardest metal known to man. This explained the heaviness of the blade, and the ease with which it sliced through Crow’s wrist and the ship’s railing.
Crow continued to sail with Captain Flint for the next several years, fighting and pillaging ships across the Sea of Fallen Stars and making a name for himself as a pirate to be feared. While docked in the Pirate Isles, assassins killed Captain Flint and most of his crew. Thanos Blackiron, who was rumored to be the one responsible for the attack in the Pirate Isles, as well as the attack that claimed Crow’s father commandeered the Fate. Crow snuck out of the pirate isles as a stowaway on the Cyric’s Truth, and managed to make his way back to Cimbar. Since his return to Cimbar, Crow has been laying low, waiting to take his revenge on Thanos Blackiron. Crow has been hiring himself out as a mercenary, working with many adventurers and pirates that frequent Cimbar. Crow also keeps contact with the few others survivors from the Umberlee’s Fate. Crow still takes care of his mother and sister, although his sister, now 19 years old, seems to be following in her brother’s footsteps. Using her beauty and charm, Scylla has already become a quite successful thief. Of course, it also helps that her brother is the infamous pirate Crow, a fact that Scylla often uses to her advantage.
|
|
|
