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gaeleth:people:sam

Sam 'Demonslayer'

Character concept by Diego da Silva, all rights reserved.

Ove'Raj of Demosthene

Date of Birth: Unknown, although he was believed to be in his mid-twenties during the War of the Undead.

Current Status: Summer, 1331 Avard. Ove'Raj Sam continues a guerrilla war against one of the nearby demon-controlled principalities, traveling throughout the region either in battle or attending to the needs of his people. One of Sam's foremost sea-captains is the pirate Kelmok Nightstrider, also known as 'Black Captain Kelly'. He also has a sorceress and druidess under his command known as Kerri – a strange creature known as a ticata.

Appearance

A merchant of Vridara once described Sam as 'a big man, black as night, wearin black clothes – an lookin like he was a statue cut from the blackest basalt'. At six-foot-five and 395 pounds, Sam is a large, well-built man with skin the color of black ink. His coal-black eyes sparkle with an inner fire around a classic Alekdan nose (narrow and arched). Sam had hair of raven color, but after attaining considerable power, his elemental powers manifested some more, causing his skin to harden and likewise his body hair to fall out. Something about his ebon skin and finely chiseled features tickles the subconscious, but few can tell his muscles and skin sharp-edged and rock-hard. His dark complexion hides the hard edges of his body, and the marbled black appearance of his skin. Dressed further in black leathers, hides, and scales, Sam is, indeed, 'cut from the blackest basalt'.

Sam's greatest possession is a masterwork greatsword that he constructed himself, then later infused with magic by the hand of a druidic white dragon named Tangala. Sam named the sword Anima, meaning 'soul' in one of the tongues of the Principalities. Stitched onto the fur and leather sheath of Anima are two mini sheaths containing day and night rods. He wears a magical, midnight black chain shirt with magical defensive characteristics, a small enchanted buckler, and fine dark clothing of leather. He carries on his body an old whetstone and waterskin. On his necklace is a wooden flute created by his friend Oorl. He wears dark enchanted boots, and a treasure's worth of magical items that enhance his powers considerably. Sam also has come into the care of a donkey, named Albert, which carries for Sam his rations, a fine rug and a lump of Mithril ore.

Sam, by Diego DaSilva; image used with permission, copyright 2005.

Background

Sam was born in the Alekdan Principalities to Togrom Devilscare, a self-styled Pirate Prince of considerable power. Sam's father was a pit fighter for the pirate prince, and earned him a considerable amount of money over the years. Born into slavery, Sam knew no other life than the fights in the pits, and surviving at the whim of the princes. When he was of age, Sam entered the pits himself, and began to earn a reputation as a fierce warrior and a shrewd tactician.

Togrom Devilscare, like many of the Pirate Princes, wanted to have a financial edge in the pits. His house mage, well hidden from the Inquisition, had discovered one of the old ways to summon elementals. Working off that knowledge, the mage researched a way to bond elemental powers to living bodies, thus granting a mortal man inhuman powers. There were risks, however, and experimentation killed the first six slaves the mage tried his arts upon. Togrom wanted an up-and-coming pit fighter of his to receive the benefits of the elemental merging, so that his sudden prowess could be attributed to 'extensive training'. Sam was taken out of the pits for close to a month, and then forcibly bonded with an earth elemental's spirit. The strong pit slave survived the process, though it altered him in subtle ways.

Togrom was ecstatic with his new slave, and quickly ordered him back into the pits. Sam won round after round, not really understanding the changes wrought in him. He felt stronger, but that was all he knew. Over the next few months, he slowly grew in height and weight, and his features began to take on their current, chiseled look.

Togrom Devilscare, meanwhile, had irked one of his contemporaries. In an overnight raid, the principality of Devilscare was destroyed. In the chaos that ensued, Sam found himself wisely fleeing from the region. Spending what money he had to purchase a berth on the Sea Hound, Sam sailed northwest, to Sandar. In Sandar, the Sea Hound took on a passenger that gave Sam the willies. The vessel sailed through the Western Maelstrom, and then north through the eerie Sea of Kiriath to Koobrick Island in Vridara. After a brief stop there, the Hound stopped in Lamental, Vridara, where Sam disembarked.

Exchanging the steel coins of the principalities for the triangular chits of the Vridaran Empire, Sam cautiously set out to earn a living as best he could – as a mercenary. Sam became bodyguard to a mage escaping Vridara, and traveled the breadth of the Halgiran continent, all the way to Rakore, some 7500 miles away by land. Over the course of the journey, Sam learned considerably more about battle and combat, came to appreciate mages, and became a powerful tactical and strategic thinker. He traveled a considerable distance with Faeradd Bunuckle, Phoenix Rising, and maintains a long-distance friendship with them by letter.

During a stop in the Mule Mountains, Sam met the white dragon known as Tangala'asaleph, leader of the Hoar Frost Clan. Tangala and the clan chief Wooden Door helped open Sam's eyes to the powers of nature itself, and helped him become more in tune with the changes that were overcoming him.

Sam also encountered a goblin calling himself Oorl somewhere in the Laekenala Jungle. The goblin and the gladiator became fast friends, and have been together ever since.

Once in Rakore, Sam was rewarded richly for his hard work, and formed a secret political alliance with some of the movers and shakers of that kingdom. Armed with funds and volunteers, Sam returned to the Alekdan Principalities and carved out a principality for himself quite quickly.

Character

Sam's outlook on life, in general, has changed over the course of his cold adventuring days. As his powers of being an outsider manifests itself slowly, Sam began to experience changes in his combat oriented mind. At first, Sam would have weighed his situation as to make better battle plans, but as he became one with the infinitely patient earth, Sam started to become battle itself. What would have taken him a couple of seconds to figure out before hand began to take merely an instant to him. His voice had become the deepest it had ever been and his stark negro skin had an almost total cut look to it. Also, what was once straight black hair had fallen out, as his skin became stoic stone.

Sam has three focuses to master in life: the earth, the steel, the soul.

Sam speaks the Common tongue, Ogran, Elven, Pit Cant, Druidic, Goblin, and Dwarven.

3E Stats

Male Half Earth Elemental, 8th-Level Fighter / 3rd-Level Weaponmaster
STR 22, DEX 14, CON 18, INT 14, WIS 10, CHA 10
HP 119, Fort +11, Refl +7, Will +3
Alignment CG
AC 27, Init +2
Skills: Climb +9, Craft (weaponsmith) +16, Intimidate +8, Jump +22, Knowledge (arcana, geography, nature, nobility and royalty, the planes) +3, Ride +8, Swim +9.
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Expertise, Improved Critical (Greatswords), Power Attack, Whirlwind Attack, Weapon Focus (greatsword), Weapon Specialization (greatsword), Superior Weapon Focus (Greatsword).
Abilities: Elemental; magic stones, soften earth to stone, stone shape, spike stones, wall of stone, stone skin; all at 1/day. Weaponmaster; ki damage 1/day/level, increased multiplier 1/day, superior Weapon Focus (greatsword).

Anima: Leveled Greatsword with the following abilities; Keen, Spellstoring, +2 enhancement. Inactive abilities are +3 enhancement and Vorpal. See DRAGON MAGAZINE#289 for leveled item rules.

gaeleth/people/sam.txt · Last modified: 2021/09/28 15:49 (external edit)