Character: Pery Clearlight, Warlock (Hexblade), Dead Rat Deserter

Here's another character app for a game that fizzled before it get started.  I really like this one.  I'd just read Erik Scott de Bie's Shadowbane at the time I wrote this, and used that book to frame his background.  The game was to be set in the Neverwinter 4e campaign setting, and I think would have been a lot of fun.  I may hang onto him and submit him for the next Forgotten Realms game I see that seems to have promise.

And yes, I know, another character who has lost his parents.  But when you're born in Luskan and fall into the Dead Rats, that's almost a given, isn't it?

Name: Pery Clearlight
Gender: Male
Race: Halfling
Class: Warlock (Hexblade: Fey Pact)
Theme: Dead Rat Deserter
Role: Striker

Physical Description and Personality: Small, even by Halfling standards, Pery stands just shy of four feet tall, with a mop of dark brown hair that he keeps tucked under his trademark green checkered cap. Nevertheless, he exudes a combination of delightful charisma and bravado that many find charming. While his language betrays his upbringing on the chaotic streets of Luskan, and his blue eyes tell of an eventful life, he nevertheless manages to portray himself as pleasant and, when circumstances allow, almost happy-go-lucky individual.

Background: Pery was born on the streets of Luskan. He doesn't know much about his parents. He has blurry memories of his mother from early in his childhood--one night, she just didn't come home--and he knows nothing of his father. From an early age, he had to make his own way. Even his last name is his own design--he borrowed it, as he'd "borrowed" many things in his life--from a temple dedicated to Tymora in southeast Luskan.

If one is to survive on the streets of Luskan as a child, one has little better prospects than to fall in with one of the local street gangs. For Pery, that was the Dead Rats. By age 10, he was scrubbing the floors at the Drowned Rat Tavern, and by his late teens he'd graduated to the role of a minor thug within the gang. His days were filled with the usual: extortion, theft, bullying, and so on.

He continued to move up through the ranks, and his prowess with his words and blade eventually caught the eye of Toytere: King Toy, the captain of the Dead Rats. In a ceremony in the dead of night, Toytere infected Pery with lycanthropy, granting him admission into the inner circle of the gang--an honor shared by only 20 others.

Gang life wore on Pery, though. While he enjoyed the mayhem and intrigue that went with the job, the brutal reality of the enterprise was a poor match for his sensibilities. He'd pulled himself up by his bootstraps with no small help from Lady Luck. But his duties to the gang required that he erase the limited opportunities of others.

One night, Pery was ordered to conduct an assassination. It would be his first, and success would undoubtedly raise his stock even further within the gang. Nevertheless, the target was guilty of little more than the loss of a small treasure when he was ambushed while serving as a courier. When Pery arrived at his target's house, the man, his wife, and his children were eating what passed as dinner. Pery just couldn't do it. Instead, he helped the family escape from town in the dead of night. Just as they were about to clear the walls, a group of Dead Rats jumped them. Pery held them off long enough for the family to flee--they were headed north toward Ten Towns--but the halfling was overmatched.

It's hard to explain what happened next. One moment, he was diving back, fleeing from the Dead Rats' enforcer as she spun her horrible axe toward his skull. The next, he was on his back in the snow. It was summertime in Luskan, so he knew that something unexpected had happened. Furthermore, as he sat up, he saw no signs of his former allies; just a cold, vibrant, frost-covered forest.

What happened next? That's something that Pery doesn't talk much about. It is clear that he entered into a pact with a powerful entity of some sort in that forest. And with that pact, he received a new set of powers, including a rapier covered in frost that he can summon into his hand at will, humming and quivering with energy. With those powers, of course, came equally powerful commitments.

After the deal was made, his patron returned him to Faerun, though fortunately a bit further to the south, near Port Llast. From there, he made his way to Neverwinter, joined an adventuring guild, and had begun to carve out a minor niche for himself as someone who could get things done. It was in this capacity that he received the summons from Belias Grigor, requesting his aide in an act of community service.

Character: Taric Lansing, Undead Hunter Warpriest

It's been a while since I posted one of these (or anything else) around here.  But I've put together a few more character applications since the last one I posted, several of which were for games that never went anywhere.  Here's one.  I kind of dig this guy, and would still like to play him at some point.  It seems like no one wants to play clerics in 4e now that there are so many other options for healer-style characters, but I see a lot of possibilities with this guy.  He is modeled a bit after my priest of Tyr that I played in Tiberius's fantastic Maimed God's Saga.

Name: Taric Lansing
Class: Cleric (Warpriest), Sun Domain (Pelor).
Race: Half-Elf
Alignment: Lawful Good
Age: 34

Appearance/Personality:

A half-elf, Taric possesses the prominent, strong brow and dark eyes of his of his noble human father, as well as the striking cheekbones of his elven mother.  In battle, he wears a suit of polished scale armor, and wields a longsword along with a shield embossed with the six-pointed Sun of Pelor.  His enemies would see him as a beacon of terrible light, annihilating enemies with his glowing sword while channeling divine energy aide to his allies.

For all his wrath, Taric is an amicable and engaging companion.  The arrogance that might come with his noble upbringing is tempered heavily by the recognition that he has no official place in what he considers his family.  Taric is a man who takes Pelor's teachings to heart, and is a generous friend to those who need his help.

His crusade against undead, however, has become an obsession in recent years.  While he serves as required by his superiors in the church, he believes that Pelor has commanded him to dedicate his life to purging the scurge of undead from the world.  In truth, he rarely seems satisfied in other pursuits.


Background:

Taric is the son of Edmond Lansing, the human noble lord of Lansing Keep.  The Lansings have a proud and rich tradition, and are known as benevolent, responsible leaders with an impeccable reputation for responsibility.  It was surprising, then, when Taric was introduced, for his mother was not Edmond's wife, Lady Cassandra Lansing.  Rather, she was an elven commoner by the name of Calya Casernia.

While many men might shirk from their duty, Edmond accepted the boy into his family and raised Taric as his third son.  The boy proved up to the task; despite never being completely accepted by his half-brothers and their mother, he took to the Lansing family traditions well.  He displayed tremendous skill in weapon instruction, and from an early age also demonstrated a remarkably close relationship with Pelor.

As he came of age, it became clear that the boy needed a place in the world.  As a bastard child, he was not eligible for a lordship.  Given the boy's relationship with Pelor, Edmond turned to the church, and it was with the clergy that Taric found his home.

Taric proved to be a tremendous asset to the church.  While the disciples of Pelor seek to bring kindness and compassion to those who suffer, they stand tall against evil.  And this is where Taric made his mark.  His combination of martial skill and his close connection with Pelor allowed him to be a powerful weapon against those who opposed the church violently.  Through the years, he has specialized in combating undead, which he views as the antithesis to Pelor's holy light.  When the people of Marin appealed to the church of Pelor for assistance in their time of need, speaking of strange creatures kidnapping victims in the night, Taric seemed a clear choice for the job.