Oreni Erthuo

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Personality

Oreni wants make it to the top. He aspires to move up in society so that he can someday change society. In other words he might abide by a law that he doesn't agree with so that someday he can be in a position to rewrite that law. He has the poise and elegance of his noble family. He can easily attend a gathering of high class important townsfolk, but he is just as likely to buy lunch for a homeless child when people are not looking. Essentially he is a nice person who realizes that he may have play some hardball in order to someday help better his society.

Appearance

Fairly tall for a Shoal elf, Oreni has white hair and dark eyes.

History

Affiliations

Oreni is a member of House Erthuo but he disagrees with the family's stance of staying out of things. This is due to an encounter with a human child in the market place while his family was doing business there. This child was very clearly abused and beaten on a regular basis. Although he told his parents they told him that it was not their concern. Since then Oreni has believed that turning your eyes away from evil doings doesn't make them go away. He knows that the child he met wound up beaten to death several months later. It made a small headline in the papers.

As a guildsman in the Delver's Guild, Oreni has access to guild information, library, maproom and waystations. He also gains a 10% discount at Ebbert's Outfitters.

Although not officially a member, Oreni has a number of contacts in the Sage's Guild and occasionally visits their headquarters as a guest.

A small owl named ??? acts as Oreni's familiar.

Associations

Some of the people Oreni knows knows are:

  • Cordelia Erthuo, Oreni's grandmother, was obsessed with increasing the purity of elvish blood within House Erthuo. Although she was human herself, she married an elf and gave birth to five half-elf children. Some in the house whisper that she gave birth to at least three human children as well, but had them killed shortly after they were born. Though now dead, Corelia's will was set up to provide financial incentives for her children to marry elves, which Oreni's father Otan did.
  • Otan Erthuo never particularly liked the elven part of his blood, perhaps a reaction against his mother's zeal for their culture, but married a full elf anyway. There is very little secret within the family that he married for money, both from his inheritance and his bride, while his bride married him to ally her own family with House Erthuo. Otan spends most of his time in the gambling dens and brothels of Oldtown.
  • Soledad Erthuo, Oreni's sister is his main point of contact with his family. While she has the same elf mother and half-elf father that Oreni does, unlike Oreni she was born with only half-elven blood, a source of disappointment to their parents. Keeping with their "you must make your own way" style of child-rearing, her parents provided even less help to her than they gave to Oreni. She has taken a number of jobs to further fund her studies as a wizard. She is a barmaid in the Pointy Hat, an Oldtown bar catering to arcane clientèle. Recently, she became one of the performers at the Shadow Theater, an Oldtown theater that tells stories with magically generated shadows and effects.
  • Zaria Silmarwen Ertho, born into a rich family in the city of Phinothae, Zaria was sent to Ptolus to cement an alliance with an equally prominent family there. She eventually settled on House Erthuo, as its neutral stance would prevent the Silmarwen family from getting pulled into Ptolus politics. She married Otan Erthuo largely out of convenience, but has proven to be a solid asset to the Erthuo family, moreso than her husband. Her strong desire for the house to remain out of politics cause a great deal of friction with Oreni, and they rarely talk. Zaria owns and resides in one of the best houses in the Emerald Hill section of Midtown.
  • Dulson Faber, one of the city's better known sages, lives in the Rivergate District, in a house known as the "Three-Horned Goat", after a sign that hangs over the door. Oreni had a polite, if not exactly cordial, dinner with Faber, his wife Rose and their three children in the house, after tracking down a book of Faber's that went missing. Oreni isn't exactly sure who stole the book originally, but suspects Rose might have secretly sold it for extra money.
  • Hirus & Sholum Feek run the Bull and Bear Armory in Delver's Square. They forged Oreni's rapier and consider him a good customer. Their clerk, sixteen-year-old Iltumar Shon idolizes all the "real" adventurers that come into the shop, including Oreni.
  • Alninai Silvertree is personal assistant to Doraedian Mythlord, a powerful cleric who runs Iridithil's Home, an elves-only retreat/resort/temple in Emerald Hill. Alninai manages the Wind's Mystery, the main inn and pub in the resort. Oreni does not know her well, but she went out of her way to be nice to him when, as an adolescent, he was dragged to the resort for a week by his mother. At the time Oreni had a bit of a crush on her.
  • Therad Stone, a human sage, provided one of the few sympathetic ears for Ornei's disagreements with his family's neutrality. A common guest at Erthuo parties, Therad can talk at length on many subjects. As a pure researcher, Therad occasionally asks Oreni to do some footwork for him. Therad often visits the Sage's Guildhall in Oldtown, but lives in a private home in the Nobles' Quarter. Therad cannot work magic, but taught Oreni much of what he knows of sorcery.
  • Myraeth Tuneweaver, a male shoal elf runs Myraeth's Oddities Delver Square, the place to buy and sell second hand magic items in Ptolus (although not weapons and armor, nor any newly created items). He is extremely popular with adventurers and knows most of them by name. His inventory changes constantly.
  • Ireale Tesimal, a half-elf, is one of Oreni's neighbors. Something of a busybody, Oreni does not know her that well, but she constantly is trying to set him up with one of her daughters. It was Ireale that informed Oreni about Kellisan Faymar and his ogres.

Rumors

  • Gerris Hin, now dead, is one of the most famous sages who ever lived. His studies documented the existence of a buried city beneath the current city of Ptolus that was built thousands of years ago.
  • Some sort of deal or negotiation may be going on between Oreni's family and House Sadar, based on rumors Soledad heard in the Shadow Theater.
  • At least one of the members of the Sage's Guild is member of the Inverted Pyramid, a secretive group guild of powerful spellcasters originally made famous by its clashes with the Church of Lothian. Now that the Church has softened its stance against magic, antagonism between them has cooled. The guild is thought to take its name from an inverted pyramid floating over Oldtown, though since this building is invisible, few know where it is.
  • The sages Oreni knows occasionally mention rumors of an "ice madness" in Midtown. A number of mid- to high-power wizards and sorcerers are said to be succumbing to a strange madness that grips them with the need to become colder and colder. Ultimately they kill themselves with spells of cold and ice.
  • Though some claim the Dreaming Apothecary is a myth, Oreni knows it exists, selling magic items made to order. Therad Stone has sent Oreni to Danbury's in Delvers Square to get a special token that Therad somehow used to contact them to commission a wand.

Future Advancement

Some possibilities for future advancement. This is not an exhaustive list.

The obvious choices for Oreni's next level are to continue in either warrior or sorcerer. These would provide:

  • Fighter 3: +1 BAB, +1 Reflex save, +1 Will save, +1d10 hp, +4 skill points.
  • Sorcerer 4: +1 BAB, +1 Will save, +1d4 hp, +4 skill points, learn additional cantrip and one 2nd level arcane spell, cast one additional 1st level and three 2nd level spells per day. May choose to "unlearn" one cantrip and learn another.

There are a few prestige classes that lend themselves to the figher/sorcerer combination:

  • The Eldritch Knight. Taking levels in this class requires the ability to cast 3rd-level arcane spells, so he cannot take this class yet. Levels in this class are sort of a mix of fighter and sorcerer benefits, adding some extra hit points (d6's) and faster BAB and save progression, along with spellcasting increases. This would allow him to simultaneously become a better fighter and sorcerer faster, but sacrifices the (substantial) advantage of bonus fighter feats and provides fewer hit points on average than alternating levels of fighter and sorcerer would.
  • The Spellsword uses a different approach, using a slower spell progression, but gaining good attack, save and hit point progression and feats for reduced arcane failure (allowing use of heavier armor without interfering with spellcasting) and the ability to charge weapons with spells, so that they detonate on successful hits. Gaining another level or sorcerer would give Oreni the prereqs needed for this prestige class.

All characters gain a feat every three levels. Since hist next level will make his total character level (CL) 6, he gets a new feat of her choice. His next such feat will come at CL 9. Note that some feats are on a special list of bonus fighter feats. These are feats that fighters can get for free, one each two levels. While you can pick a feat from this list, this is a (relatively rare) opportunity to select a feat not on that list. Some of the feats you have the prerequisites for are (there are, of course, others):

  • Oreni has the Mobility feat, which allows him to gain +4 AC against attacks of opportunity caused by his own movement. In retrospect, and on seeing how Oreni is played, Oreni probably should have taken a different feat instead of this one. Les will allow Oreni to swap another feat for Mobility if desired.
  • Oreni took the Combat Expertise feat as one of his bonus fighter feats. In retrospect, and on seeing how Oreni is played, Oreni probably should have taken a different feat instead. Les will allow Oreni to swap another bonus fighter feat for Combat Expertise if desired.
  • As a fighter, Oreni gained the ability to use medium and heavy armor, as well as tower shields at first level. Retroactively applying the "alternate class features" from Complete Mage, Les would allow Oreni to swap these proficiencies for the Armored Mage ability, if desired. This allows you to ignore arcane failure chance when casting spells with a level equal to or less than your fighter level +1, when in light armor and shields. Note that the Spellsword prestige class requires proficiency in medium and heavy armor, so this option should not be taken if Oreni wants to become a Spellsword.
  • Retroactively applying the "alternate class features" from Complete Mage, Les would allow Oreni to swap one of your highest level sorcerer spells for the Stalwart Sorcerer ability, if desired. This gives you two additional hit points per level of sorcerer. When you gain a new sorcerer level, you gain two more hit points, and sacrifice one of you highest level spells, but get back a previous spell you sacrificed. For example, at 5th level, you reduce your 2nd-level spells known from two to one but you gain the previously unavailable 1st-level spell (increasing your 1st-level spells known from three to four).
  • Practiced Spellcaster: Count up to four levels of fighter when figuring out spell effects based on level.
  • Reach Spell: Cast spells that require touch attacks can be cast from up to 30 ft. away.
  • Insightful: Use detect magic, detect secret doors, and read magic as spelllike abilities 1/day.
  • Weapon Focus (touch spell): Gain +1 to attack rolls with touch spells.
  • Wandstrike (requires four ranks of Use Magic Device): Make a touch attack with a wand to deal 1d6 damage, simultaneously activating the wand on the target.
  • Somatic Weaponry (requires five ranks of Concentration): Use in-hand weapons to trace the somatic requirements of spells, instead of needing the fingers of a free hand.
  • Craft Wondrous Item: Certain "miscellaneous" magic items (e.g. amulets, cloaks, belts, etc.) are called "wondrous items". Each of these has prerequisites for creating it (usually a spell you must know and a caster level requirement). Because, as a sorcerer, your spell selection is limited, this feat won't be as useful to you as it would be to a wizard (though you can use scrolls for the requisite spells).
  • Battle Caster: This feat, which allows you to ignore arcane spell failure from up to medium armor, requires that you have the ability to ignore arcane spell failure from wearing light armor. To do this, you would have to take the Armored Mage option, above; however, taking the Armored Mage option means giving up the ability to actually use medium armor, so if you took this feat, you'd need another feat to buy back the ability to use medium armor. You could do this with one of your fighter bonus feats.

In spending the skill points gained on her next level, some of the choices detailed above may force his limited skill points to be spent in certain ways. He might also consider at least one rank of Use Magic Device, so access magical items he could not normally use (like cleric scrolls).

Oreni will now have a bit of money. Being both a fighter and a sorcerer, both gear and magic will drain your funds. Some possibilities:

  • Defensive items like rings of protection (+1 2,000gp, +2 8,000gp, +3 18,000gp), bracers of armor (+1 1,000gp, +2 4,000gp, +3 9,000gp) or amulets of natural armor (same as ring).
  • Better mithral armor. If he decides to keep medium and heavy armor proficiencies, getting mithral versions of this type of armor will have less of an impact on arcane spell failure.
  • Magical weapons. Oreni can use a wide variety of weapons, so has a lot of choices here.
  • Oreni can use scrolls of any spells on the Sorcerer spell list, so picking up some of these would expand his spell repertoire. He can use other scrolls with a successful Use Magic Device check.
  • Similarly, he can use wands containing any spells on the Sorcerer spell list. He can use other wands with a successful Use Magic Device check.

By the way, a touch spell that deals damage can score a critical hit just as a weapon can. Remind Les of that if he forgets.

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