Tomak, son of Cassander
Tomak, Son of Cassander, 5th Level LN Male Mul Gladiator, (S20 D18 C18 I15 W14 C11), Age: 20, Height: 6'5", Weight: 295lbs, XPs: 20,441
Campaign: Dark Sun - Sun and Stars Campaign
Treasure Page: Tomak's Treasure Page
Contents
- 1 Balican Social Rank, Class and Tribal Affiliations
- 2 Summary
- 3 Family
- 4 Background
- 5 Adventures
- 6 Equipment, Items, and Magic
- 7 Wild Talents
- 8 The Hetaireia of the Free Gladiators, the Nathonian
Balican Social Rank, Class and Tribal Affiliations
Social Class: Hippeis (knight)
Birth Rank: Demiurgi (artisan)
Tribe: Navia
Phyle (Sub-Tribe): Nalthion
Trittys: Coastal Nalthion
Deme (Clan): Arxestayn
- Demarch: Lokrys the Sailmaker (half-elf)
Fraternity: The Potters and Artisans of Arxestayn
- President: Mnenides
Hetaireia/Club: The Free Gladiators
Tomak's Legal Status: While still in the womb, Tomak's maternal grandfather Ardavan the Potter formally adopted Tomak. At 18 years old, when Tomak went before the deme assembly of Arxestayn for the dokimasia or scrutiny for citizenship and manhood, it was Ardavan who formally presented Tomak to the assembly as his son. Tomak passed the dokimasia due to Ardavan's influence, and was thus enrolled in the deme's records as a citizen, which in turn automatically made him a citizen of the city. This unusual method of citizenship may eventually prove troublesome for Tomak should he aspire to public office, because upon election many presumptive magistrates-elect automatically must go before another scrutiny of qualifications including a review of good family and citizenship, but this time by the Ekklesia followed by a jury review. Called the Twilight Scrutiny and the Star Court respectively, it is common practice for political enemies to dredge up accusations of bastardy and any other arguments of citizenship irregularities at these reviews, at which point the matter becomes a point of opinion among the people, which can be swayed.
Summary
Tomak was born on the Free Year of Tyr -1, the 19th of Dominary, the 24th Year of the 190th King's Age, the Year of Friend's Vengeance. He was born to then captain Cassander of House Rees, and his mother Amphia, who did not long survive his birth. The son of a freedman on his father's side, through his mother, Tomak is a third generation scion of Anaxander of House Lythanane a once famous but now fallen noble family of Balic.
Tomak is, unlike his father, a born citizen of the city-state of Balic, which is an unusual situation for a mul. As per his father's designs, this makes Tomak eligible for civic and military offices of state.
An avid fan of the arena, called the Criterion in Balic, Cassander took note of his son's admiration, and on his 14th birthday enrolled Tomak at the Gladiatorial School of House Jarko, considered by many the finest gladiatorial school in all the Seven Cities.
Tomak has recently graduated from the gladiatorial school, but has long known that his father does not wish for his son to his waste his life in the arena. Rather, Tomak suspects that his father wishes to make use of his noble heritage in some fashion.
In the last few months, the undemocratic mercantile triumvirate that has ruled Balic for almost ten years has recently collapsed due to seizing of the city by the arch-gladiator Xal'gren, an anti-slavery champion. One of the great ruling merchant houses, House Tomblador, has fallen, and House Wavir, which early allied with Xal'gren, is ascendant. House Rees, to which Cassander is loyal and serves as their under-admiral and senior agent, is in a precarious situation, and will almost certainly soon require action.
Tomak's future is now uncertain, and he may soon rise to the heights, or fall to the dust. The decision will be his.
Family
Father: Cassander of House Rees
Cassander, born Urgus, was born free in an unknown dwarven village somewhere far to the south of the Estuary of the Forked Tongue, in Year 75 of the 188th King's Age, the Year of Silt' Defiance (Free Year -104). When Urgus was eight, in the Year of Wind's Defiance, his village was raided and destroyed by the Black Fleet of Balic under the command of the powerful Navarch Lord Gramedes Basilsaurius. The survivors were herded upon the slave ships, most of them destined for a monstrous doom. Lord Basilsaurius personally decided who was doomed and who would live, and so upon reaching the great port city of Balic, Urgus was sold. He was sold to a silt schooner captain belonging to House Rees, one of the great mercantile dynasties of Balic. Intended to become a shipfloater, a psionicist capable of floating ships above the silt, Urgus was instructed in the Way of the Unseen and became a shipfloater's apprentice. Urgus however was rebellious, and for many years admired and wished become an able seaman. After a near disaster when he was upon the floater's dome, the captain punished Urgus, and then condemned the young slave to serve in the ship mess and other lowly tasks. Eventually, the captain retired, and Urgus managed to become a seaman apprentice upon the decks. After nearly single-handedly saving the schooner during a silt storm, Urgus was hailed by the Balican captain and largely freeman crew, and was renamed by them Cassander, after a legendary Balican hero. Urgus has called himself Cassander ever since.
Eventually, after some forty years of service, Cassander's ship was too old to continue on the silt, and was cannibalized. Although still in a state of slavery, Cassander was promoted to an able seaman and sent to a large brigantine called the White Sail. Sailing farther and longer than ever before, the White Sail was the finest ship in the House Rees fleet, and upon it Cassander proved himself time and again. After another twenty years Cassander became boatswain and even the temporary Third Mate. Finally, convinced of his competence and loyalty, Cassander was freed by his masters at House Rees. On other vessels, in the status of an indentured servant, he was placed in quick succession as 2nd and then 1st Mate, and then finally was granted his first ship, a large sloop, as captain, at which time he was released from servitude and became a freedman of House Rees. After several years of that, having proved himself a shrewd merchant as well as expert ship captain, Cassander was given his choice of ships within the Rees fleet. He chose the White Sail.
For the past two decades Cassander has served House Rees as captain of the White Sail. With the ship Cassander has traveled to the very depths of the Silt Sea, and has earned the loyalty of a famous and powerful crew. Although often very risky, Cassander's mercantile adventures and voyages have proved over the long term to be very bountiful to House Rees, adding ever further to that great House's wealth. In the aftermath of sudden absence of Androponis, the immortal Dictator of Balic, Cassander's loyalty proved pivotal when he convinced several other important House Rees captains to remain loyal to their patrons and not to side with the military powers that were attempting to take over the city. Shortly thereafter Cassander was made a senior agent for House Rees, and oversaw many different ships and mercantile activities. He has also become a trusted member of House Rees' inner circle.
Still acting as captain of the White Sail, a position he has held since Free Year -1, the 24th Year of the 190th King's Age, the Year of Friend's Vengeance, in recent years Cassander has become one of the most respected ship captains of Balic. A dwarf of some wealth and reputation, his century of sailing is unmatched, and a fair number of ship captains, merchants and adventurers owe Cassander for their own positions and success.
Cassander Under the Mercantile Triumvriate of Balic
In Free Year 10, or the Year of Friend's Agitation, the sudden disappearance of the Dictator Androponis created mass civil instability until in the end the three great merchant dynasties of the city, House Wavir, House Tomblador and House Rees, seized control of the government and divided the city into three parts for themselves. They also all but ended the democracy.
The merchant dynasties also seized political control of the military, including the large Balican navy, and rotated the ten admiralties and navarchy amongst captains loyal or under service to themselves. As a former slave, Cassander could not assume an admiralty directly, but in Free Year 15 Cassander was named an under-admiral or vice-admiral for the first time, and in many ways became the House Rees admiral of its part of the navy in all but name. With the wealth and influence he accumulated, Cassander purchased the White Sail from House Rees so that he could operate it independently, in addition to other investments. In Free Year 17, Cassander was given personal command of the Dictator, one of the Balican capital ships, a command in addition to his vice-admiralty.
Cassander Under the Military Dictatorship of Xal'gren the Free General and the Silencer of Bodach
In Free Year 19, the army of Xal'gren, in alliance with House Wavir, seized control of Balic and ended the rule of the Three Dynasties. House Tomblador had fought against the approach of Xal'gren and was forced to flee the city, and although House Rees had not actively fought Xal'gren, they had not been favorable to him either, for Xal'gren intended to follow the example of the city-state of Tyr and free all the slaves. Lady Essen, the matriarch of House Rees, schemed to cause the fall of Xal'gren before the mighty ex-gladiator could fully root himself in Balic and reinstall the democracy.
To do this, Lady Essen commanded Cassander to assist her agents in retrieving the fabled Silencer of Bodach, an extremely powerful two-handed sword of red metal from the ancient world that had recently resurfaced out of obscurity. Lady Essen believed that possessing the sword and wielding its symbolic and magical power would catapult herself and her son Polydamus to the rulership of the city.
Understanding the great importance of the assignment and the grave secrecy required to carry it out, Cassander turned to blood to ensure success.
Legal Status of Cassander
After becoming freedman of House Rees, Cassander fell into the status of a metic, or permanent alien with legal residence in the city-status, which granted him certain legal rights and privileges above those of a simple alien in the city. However, upon his marriage with Amphia, Cassander's father-in-law Ardavan advocated and soon achieved at the Ekklesia proxenus status for Cassander, this being decreed by a majority vote from the Ekklesia in full session. "Proxeny over the Silt Sea" gave Cassander certain wide-ranging powers and rights as a "friend of Balic", granting him the ability to act as a kind of ambassadorial officer of Balic during Cassander's far-flung voyages. As a proxenus Cassander is thus entitled to look after Balican rights and citizens while abroad. Being awarded proxeny in Balic is lifelong grant. Often citizenship is awarded with proxeny, but despite his strong recent marriage and reputation, due to Cassander's freedman status, this was thought improper by the Ekklesia. The awarding of proxeny was considered the next highest honor for which Cassander could hope.
Despite being a proxenus, Cassander is still subject, as is any metic, to the legal oversight of the Oraculum in the case that he is to be tried by a jury for criminal or civil action, all of which is overseen by the Polemarch himself.
Mother: Amphia, daughter of Ardavan the Potter
As a dwarf and a slave, Cassander had long felt his exclusion from the ruling class and even the normal citizenry of Balic. As a member of House Rees, Cassander was bound by the Merchant Code, and could never hold civic or military office in Balic. Nonetheless, upon returning with riches from his first year as captain of the White Sail, Cassander's deep ambition began to manifest in pursuit of a human wife.
Cassander chose to pursue Amphia, the humble daughter of Ardavan the Potter, who was a much respected but poor citizen of Balic. Amphia was young and exceptionally healthy, as was her father, but Amphia was also the daughter of Lythae, who was herself the daughter of Anaxander of House Lythanane, a famous leader amongst the nobles of the city who in the previous King's Age had led an attempted rebellion against Androponis. The rebellion was nearly successful, but in the end failed, and Anaxander was forced to flee to the desert to escape. For some decades Anaxander and his followers lived as brigands in the desert. As an old man, Anaxander returned with a large army to the Balican peninsula and attempted to cross the Tharian Hills into the city-state proper. Anaxander was assassinated however by agents of Androponis, and the rest of his army was defeated by Androponis himself while still pressed against the west side of the Tharian Hills. The survivors were enslaved. Ardavan the Potter, a famous and respected voice in the Ecclesia or People's Assembly at that time, purchased the young daughter of Anaxander in defiance of the Dictator of Balic, and quickly freed her, and eventually married her.
The daughter of Ardavan and Lythae was a difficult prospect for Cassander, for Amphia was a scion of the defunct House Lythane and symbol of resistance and even rebellion for the freedom faction in the Ecclesia and Boule Council of Balic. Cassander however eventually prevailed with Ardavan, and Cassander won Amphia in marriage.
Relationships Between Cassander and Tomak
Cassander has always demonstrated great care and attention towards his only son Tomak, but Tomak may feel that he has often been more of an investment to his father than a son.
Background
Birth
Cassander's marriage to Amphia was especially difficult because it is well known that human women have high chance of dying during giving birth to a mul. To help assuage that concern, Cassander promised Ardavan the Potter that he would provide his daughter with the very best of clerical care during Amphia's pregnancy and birth. Cassander stayed true to this promise. When the time for her birth came, Cassander took Amphia aboard a silt schooner equipped with every comfort, but chose as midwife a mysterious out-boarder silt cleric from deep within the Silt Sea. A dwarfess herself named Archul, she used her magic to try and keep Amphia alive. Despite this effort, Amphia nevertheless died, and in a rage Cassander threw Archul off the bow and into the silt she worshiped. Nonetheless, Cassander's son survived, and possessed the rare aspect of being silt-born. Previously having paid reverence to the silt, after his wife's death Cassander rebuked the silt spirits and instead turned to worship of the solid earth, even naming his son "Tomak", meaning in dwarven a pillar of rock amidst the silt.
Childhood
As Cassander was frequently gone, Tomak was often left in the city for long portions of time with his grandfather Ardavan, whose wisdom carried him above the racism most humans have for muls, and who therefore cared for his young grandson. Tomak was educated in the civic virtues by his grandfather, but due to racism against muls it was early understood that Tomak would not be able to enter the Templarate, the elite brotherhood of knights who still served Androponis loyally and who had made up the core of the civil and military bureaucracy of Balic since time immemorial.
Tomak was nonetheless raised as a child of a gentleman. Cassander paid for Tomak's early schooling in philosophy and rhetoric, and took him on many shorter silt voyages, where Tomak learned the basics of being a sailor on the Silt Sea. It was on such short adventures in the silt, speeding along on the White Sail, that Tomak first felt the awesome power of the Silt Sea course through him, and heard the first whispers of the great spirit that filled sea for as far as his eye could see. On one such outing, overjoyed at crashing through the frozen waves of silt, Tomak even displayed the ability the sea through the thick silt in the air as if it were a clear day, and with the power of the silt coursing through him, he needed no silt veil, but could breathe unaffected by the powdery loess.
Amazed, the crew of the White Sail declared Tomak a true son of Cassander, the greatest pilot in Balic, and in awe called him empowered with the spirit of the ukoven, a semi-mythic race of elemental yet human-like beings Cassander had reached in the far south of the Silt Sea, and who possessed powers of endurance and the elements such as what Tomak displayed. In truth, many of the sailors remembered the rituals of the silt priestess Archul, and Cassander's care to dedicate his son to the silt, and began to imagine that the Silt had taken Tomak's mother as sacrifice to grant the powerful blessings exhibited by the young mul.
Tomak and A'ket'k
Although still a young boy, among those who took special notice of Tomak's skills was the then Able Seaman and second shipfloater of the White Sail, A'ket'k, which means in thri-kreen, "He Fights to the End of the Silt". A thri-kreen warrior and practitioner of the Way, A'ket'k was also a cleric of the Silt. A strange creature, for thri-kreen usually have a strong aversion to the silt, A'ket'k, Cassander had found A'ket'k in the very deep silt. The thri-kreen had killed several crew members of the White Sail when they had disembarked on the thri-kreen's strange and forbidden sacred island. After this, when Cassander had planned to seek vengeance for these deaths by sending a stronger party into the island, a great storm in the silt arose that would have sunk any other ship. Captain Cassander however fought through the storm, and afterwards, as if greatly impressed, A'ket'k wordlessly volunteered to join the crew of the White Sail. A'ket'k has served Cassander loyally ever since, and is in the eyes of Cassander and Balic an indentured servant of Cassander, and bound to him for life.
Years later, seeing the power of the son of Cassander, A'ket'k suddenly grew very interested in Tomak, and would spend many hours with him along silt shoals and beaches, wading through the stuff, for only the two could easily breathe in such dusty places. A'ket'k told Tomak of the spirits of the silt that the thri-kreen believed granted Tomak's powers, and said that one day the Silt Sea would rise to engulf Balic and then eventually all the world. The evil thri-kreen counseled Tomak to leave the company of his father and come with him back to the deep silt sea and come before the Old Man of the Sea, who alone could give Tomak powers over the silt such as A'ket'k possessed.
Cassander, having rebuked the silt upon his wife's death, learned of A'ket'k's attention and involvement with his son, and commanded it to cease. A'ket'k did not follow Cassander when he was later made an under-admiral for House Rees, but instead remained upon the White Sail, a ship which has since become personally owned by Cassander. A'ket'k eventually became 2nd Mate aboard the White Sail, and was even one of the few survivors who escaped the destruction of the ship by the army of the Seven Tembos. Tomak likely believes that A'ket'k has remained at Balic these last many years in the hopes of taking Tomak across the silt to come before the Old Man of the Sea, and has become quite old for a thri-kreen by waiting for such a long time. Tomak likely has some loyalty to A'ket'k because of his great patience and seeming loyalty to him.
Tomak's Civic Education
Perhaps concerned and disturbed by his son's supernatural link to the Silt Sea which he now saw as an enemy instead of an ally, Cassander took his son from training upon the silt to the traditional civic education of a Balican gentleman. Encouraged by his open-minded grandfather, Cassander enrolled Tomak as a student of an esteemed rhetorician, and gave him increased time with his wise grandfather Ardavan the Potter, who shared with him much of the rich oral history of Balic, and taught him much of the political system and democracy of Balic. Although Ardavan and those around him were high minded and accepting of Tomak, the young mul would have nonetheless encountered considerable racism from other youths and more bigoted adults, who believed that in an ideal world a mul would have no place within the Balican democracy. During this time, at his grandfather's insistence, Tomak was also taken to the Cerebran, the psionic academy of Balic, where he was assessed for potential with the Way of the Unseen. Although he was assessed to lack potential with the Way of the Unseen in a formal sense, his incredible Will was unlocked by psionic masters paid by Cassander for their discretion. Although not skilled enough to continue a formal psionic education at the Cerebran, the masters there did teach him how to use his powers reliably, and how to defend his mind with the awesome powers with which he had been born.
By the time Tomak was twelve, Cassander seemed to be preparing his son for service to House Rees as a merchant, which would have forced Tomak to renounce his citizenship, but Cassander was to surprise his son. Long having been awed by stories of the great Rikus of Tyr, a mul champion gladiator who had slain its sorcerer-king and become a general and hero of the first Free City on Athas, at around this time Tomak began asking his father and grandfather to take him to the Criterion to watch the gladiatorial games. Wishing to live vicariously through them, Tomak cheered for the mul champions of the arena, for there in the arena the mul was not scorned, but was cheered and even loved, as long as he won. Eventually, Tomak began asking to go to the arena as often as possible. At last, one day when he was 13, after declaring his desire to actually be a gladiator like the other muls down in the pit, Cassander surprised his son by enrolling Tomak in the most prestigious gladiatorial school in the Seven Cities, House Jarko.
Tomak at the Gladiatorial School of House Jarko
Tomak had been spoiled as a child, and displayed little interest in sports or the martial arts. Were it not that he were a mul, he might have even been considered soft.
The breaking of this softness was perhaps what in part motivated Cassander to enroll his son in the gladiatorial school. Gladiatorial training was considered to be reserved for slaves, or the very desperate, adventurous, or foolish, and enrollment by a citizen of Balic was certain to produce a harsh social stigma, but nonetheless Tomak began there on his 14th birthday. His father brought Tomak to the House Jarko school himself, and gave his son a speech regarding Tomak's long hero-worship of Rikus, the champion of the Tyrian arena, the slayer of King Kalak, the general of the army of Tyr, and the most famous mul and gladiator in all the Seven Cities. Now, his father said, Tomak might learn what it is to be a gladiator, and become strong and disciplined as was Rikus.
The training at House Jarko was very challenging, but especially for the enrolled free citizens, it was rarely overly cruel and brutalizing as were many other gladiatorial programs. Pushed to his physical limits, Tomak enjoyed days of reprieve and return visits to his grandfather and father. He was well-fed, massaged, and received ample rest, but was also trained in almost every weapon by some of the finest weapon masters in all the Seven Cities.
For four years Tomak underwent the challenging training regimen offered by House Jarko. He was schooled by masters of hand-to-hand combat, and developed a host of martial skills and a warrior mentality that could be replicated by very few others on Athas. The only free mul to be in training there, he quickly became the target of Varnag Deho, a former slave of Gulgan descent and former champion of the Criterion who had risen to become the senior-most instructor at the school. The old man was quick but evil, delighting in the disgrace and physical pain of Tomak whenever he could provide it. Tomak nearly left the school because of the man towards the end of his second year, but Cassander's uncharacteristic harsh warnings prevented it. While at the school, Tomak also met Ktandeo, an older human student who was already a great swordsman and warrior, but who was undergoing the school's training to master every weapon and every other skill known by gladiators. The kind and charismatic words of Ktandeo protected Tomak for a time while at the school, and Ktandeo personally saved Tomak's life when he was nearly murdered by the jealous enslaved muls at the school.
Tomak endured the reprimands for privilege he received from his instructors and the enslaved students. He became friends with certain of the free students who had joined the School of Jarko in the pursuit of fortune and fame. Eventually, Tomak became a senior student at the school, receiving the approval of the training masters and passing the great gauntlet of tests that led to his graduation. Unfortunately Tomak's grandfather Ardavan did not see this graduation, for the old man died of natural causes a few short days before the ceremony.
Tomak Takes the Ephebic Oath: Two Years as a Citizen-Cadet
Upon graduating from the gladiatorial school, Tomak soon stood before his deme, the local council of free citizens for his neighborhood and maternal clan. Schooled as he was by his popular grandfather, the elders of the deme were harsh but fair in their questioning of Tomak's legitimacy and right of citizenship. Although Tomak once again encountered racism before many of his fellow clansmen, the deme in the end approved of Tomak's request to formally enter adulthood and pursue the citizenship, for the elders remembered the young mul's grandfather, and enough at least reluctantly agreed that the half-breed had worthily answered their questions and conducted himself well in life thus far.
With many other youths from all classes throughout the city, Tomak soon took the Ephebic Oath before the Ekklesiasterion at the city center, thereby swearing his loyalty to Balic, the democracy, and to the customs and magistrates of the city. Thereafter Tomak embarked upon the mandatory two-year military service in which all free Balican youths must participate, becoming for this time a citizen cadet. Months of training were followed by many more months of patrolling the great Balican peninsula, but thanks in part to his dwarven ancestry and to his gladiatorial training the military service was relatively easy. Due to further racism from the citizen officers of his sub-tribe Navia, when the time came Tomak was denied the opportunity to become an officer cadet, even though Tomak merited this because his father was of the knightly class economically and because he far surpassed almost every other cadet in military exercises. Hearing of this, Cassander, who not being a citizen could not appeal to the government, appealed to House Rees, which used its influence to have Tomak enrolled as an officer cadet during the last six months of his service. When Tomak completed his obligation, Tomak was listed as a citizen of the officer class under the rolls of his deme, although there were elders within the phyle of Navia who swore they would never allow a mul to be elected as anything more than a subaltern.
After finishing his mandatory military service and becoming a full citizen of Balic with the right to speak before the Ekklesia or Assembly of the People, Tomak has had several months of respite to enjoy as a young gentlemen. As a gift, his father purchased an expensive membership for Tomak at the House of Jarko's gladiatorial gymnasium for freemen adjacent to the Criterion. Tomak has also been granted more constant access to his father of late, and is learning much about House Rees and affairs of the great merchant dynasty. Recently however, the army of Xal'gren has come to Balic...
Adventures
The Free City of Balic, and Cassander Tasks His Son to Retrieve the Silencer of Bodach
Fearful of mass riots by the recently freed slaves and worse, Cassander has commanded his only son Tomak to remain outside the city at the House Jarko gladiatorial training compound across the Estuary of the Forked Tongue, where it is believed to be safer there. It was not long however before the fearsome Isenetrix, a steel-masked warrior and lieutenant to Xal'gren, appeared with a strong force and emancipated the slaves of House Jarko. Impressed by Isenetrix and his fanatical desert warrior followers, it is at this time that Tomak experiences Xal'gren's emancipatory army, and the effects of all the slave gladiators and other servant slaves being released.
Some weeks after this, the White Sail picked up Tomak and brought he and several gladiator companions back to Balic proper. There, aboard the Dictator, the House Rees capital ship, Tomak was brought before his father, the House Rees under-admiral. Speaking with great gravity, Tomak was trusted with information regarding the Silencer of Bodach, and that Tomak was commanded by his father to seize the sword from the exiled Tyrian templar who carried it.
Tomak and his companions encountered the templar, but were also beset by other strangers in the city who were after the sword. In the end, Tomak proved victorious, and fled with the sword to a small village just outside the city proper, where Tomak placed the blade into a box and upon his father's telepathic orders, flung it into the Silt Sea, where it would be retrieved by his father later.
Tomak and the Fall of Cassander and House Rees
The Silencer was coveted by remnants of the templars still loyal to the missing Androponis, mysterious elves from the desert, and probably worse, and Tomak throwing the Silencer into the silt when he did probably saved his life. Tomak returned to the city, and boarded the Dictator. There his father privately shared with him that after retrieving the Silencer, they would sail back to the harbor and to the House Rees palace in Balic. There Cassander would present Tomak to Lady Essen of Rees as a descendant of Anaxander, and as the Sword Bearer of House Rees who could fight at the forefront of the House Rees army against Xal'gren and any who would stand against Lady Essen.
Unfortunately, this was not to be. The White Sail was sent ahead of the far larger and slower Dictator to retrieve the sword from the silt, and succeeded in doing this, but immediately afterwards the White Sail was attacked by fire and wind magic of great power, and boarded by marauders who seemed to appear out of the silt itself. Being to deep of keel, the Dictator was unable to help in the melee, and Cassander and Tomak watched as the prized White Sail sank and the war band who took it fled into the interior of the Balican peninsula.
When the Dictator returned to the Balican harbor and Lady Essen heard of Cassander's failure, she immediately relieved him of his command of the Dictator, his under-admiralship, and his active access to House Rees accounts and agents. Disgraced, Cassander's loyal followers told him that Lady Essen was calling the petty armies of the nobles still loyal to her, and preparing to march through the peninsula to meet the marauders who took the Silencer and take it from them in turn.
Desperate to resume his position within House Rees, Cassander and his agents concocted a plot to poison the House Rees admiral, Mnaster, at which point, being in need, he expected Lady Essen would reluctantly reinstate him.
Current Whereabouts and Activities of Tomak
Tomak was sent by his father with the army of House Rolt, a dwarven noble family, to support the army of House Rees being assembled at the southern part of the Balican peninsula. Tomak has gone before the official head of the House Rees army, Lady Essen's son Polydamus, and pledged his support to the warlike prince. Tomak has marched with them for several days, as the Rees army expands as it pulls the military support of the local noble estates that it passes.
Tomak and the House Rees army met with the another House Rees force at the Balican town of Abynon on the 25th of Octavus, and from there moved north along the Tharian Hills as it approached the lands of House Basilsaurius, which had recently been seized by the marauders possessing the Silencer of Bodach. On the 28th, the confident House Rees army sealed off the valley that held the House Basilsaurius lands, and forwarded its troops against the marauders who had taken the sword. Marching with House Rolt under the Rees banner, Tomak would have been in this engagement.
Unfortunately for House Rees, once again the marauders, who called their small army the Seven Tembos, were underestimated. Their leader summoned a squadron of fire elementals at the mouth of the canyon, and sent the elementals after the Rees army. The farms, orchards and fields caught on fire, and there was great loss of life. The House Rees army broke up in terror, and when the smoke cleared, Tomak was but another footsoldier trying to get back to the city.
Equipment, Items, and Magic
Templar Scorio of Tyr's Bone Ring
Ring of Protection +3
A dead white and gray ring with dark Tyrian-type runes cut into it. The ring was taken from the dead finger of Scorio, a refugee templar of Tyr who carried the Silencer of Bodach.
Templar Scorio of Tyr's Black Cane
Made of very black and polished ebony, the cane has a candle curve on its top, into which are carved blood red Tyrian runes. Near the top of the pole portion of the cane a thin line of solid gold has been poured, which itself is engraved with runes. The cane seems resistant to damage, burs or marks. The cane was taken from the slain templar Scorio.
Templar Scorio of Tyr's Boots of Levitation
At will, the dusty black-brown boots can make its wearer levitate into the air. The boots magically fit very snug, are durable, comfortable and breathable, and even provide a certain coolness or warmth for the wearer's feet as the environment demands. The boots otherwise appear quite mundane.
Powers:
As with other magical boots, these soft boots expand or contract to fit giant to halfling-sized feet. Boots of levitation enable the wearer to ascend or descend vertically, at will. The speed of ascent/descent is 20 feet per round, with no limitation on duration.
The amount of weight the boots can levitate is randomly determined in 14-pound increments by rolling 1d20 and adding the result to a base of 280 pounds (i.e., a given pair of boots can levitate from 294 to 560 pounds of weight). Thus, an ogre could wear such boots, but its weight would be too great to levitate. (See the 2nd-level wizard spell, levitation.)
Wild Talents
Strength of the Land
Constitution Score: MAC 4
Initial Cost: 10
Maintenance Cost: 7/round
Range: 10 yards
Preparation Time : 0
Area of Effect: individual
Prerequisite: lend health, share strength
This power lets the psionicist tap into the strength of the local spirit of the land, lending that strength temporarily to one other creature. The affected creature gains 25 "phantom" hit points (the next 25 points of damage taken come off these rather than its own hit points); a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls, regardless of the weapon used; and an automatic 25% magic resistance. These benefits remain in effect until the psionicist ceases maintenance. There is always the danger of arousing the spirit itself, especially if its strength is being used for destruction of its domain. The base chance of having to explain oneself to the local spirit of the land is 5%. The DM may modify this chance according to the situation. The encounter itself should be roleplayed.
Power Score: The effects last five rounds after maintenance is cut off.
1: The land has been recently defiled, and has no strength to lend. Initial cost is still spent.
Heightened Senses
Constitution Score: MAC 10
Initial Cost: 3
Maintenance Cost: 1/round
Range: 0
Preparation Time: 0
Area of Effect: personal
Prerequisite: none
By means of this devotion the psionicist sharpens all five of his normal senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. This has several effects, which are described below. The DM may allow additional applications as he sees fit. First, the character has a good chance to notice thieves who are hiding in shadows or moving silently. The thief's skill chance is halved when someone with heightened senses is observing him. Even if the thief is already hidden, he must roll again when a character with heightened senses enters the picture. Second, the psionicist can track someone like a bloodhound. He must make an intelligence check every turn to stay on the trail or recover the trail if it is lost. His movement rate when tracking is 6. The trail can be no more than 24 hours old.
Third, the psionicist's ranges for hearing and seeing are tripled. He can, for example, identify a person (in daylight) at a range of 400 yards. Fourth, the character can taste poisons or other impurities in quantities that are much too small to cause any harm. Fifth, the character can identify almost anything by touch. He can, for example, tell two gold pieces from each other after having previously handled just one of them. He can also tell if something has been handled in the last five minutes simply by handling it himself.
Power Score: One of the heightened senses (chosen randomly) stays with the psionicist for a full day.
20: 0ne of the psionicist's five senses is lost for 1d12 hours.
Lend Health
Constitution Score: MAC 9
Initial Cost: 4
Maintenance Cost: na
Range: touch
Preparation Time: 0
Area of Effect: individual
Prerequisites: none
Lend health is a power of healing. The psionicist who makes a successful power check can transfer his own hit points to someone else he is touching. Each hit point transferred heals one point of damage. The character can transfer as many points as he wants to in a single round.
If the psionicist tries to transfer hit points when he has fewer than five remaining, he must make another power check. If this fails, he cannot transfer the points. In any case, he cannot transfer hit points if he has only one remaining.
The beneficiary of this power can never exceed his normal, healthy total of hit points.
Power Score: Every point drained from the psionicist heals two hit points in the beneficiary.
20: The psionicist suffers all the wounds which his target currently has. No one is healed.
Constitution Score: MAC 6
Initial Cost: 5
Maintenance Cost: 2/round
Range: touch
Preparation Time: 0
Area of Effect: individual
Prerequisites: none
The psionicist can effectively lend his physical Strength to another character. The psionicist sacrifices two of his own Strength points (ability points, not PSPs) for every single point the recipient gains. This transfer remains in effect until the psionicist stops paying the devotion's maintenance cost; then all points return in one round. If the recipient is killed before the psionicist gets his Strength points back, the psionicist's Strength score is permanently reduced.
If the psionicist's die roll is a 1, he must expend three points for each point his pal gains, instead of two for one.
Power Score: The point transfer is 1:1.
20: The psionicist loses one Strength point for a day. If he fails a save vs., paralyzation, the loss is permanent.
The Hetaireia of the Free Gladiators, the Nathonian
President of the Hetaireia: Tyro, a mul gladiator of Gulgan descent recently freed from House Tomblador
Gladiatorial Candidates for Mentorship and Service
Note: A relationship with these young gladiators would be best formed by making them an official henchman. This would involve a longer process of gaining the acceptance and trust of the parent/guardian
Nagrion: mul blind-fighter gladiator, 17 years old, characteristics: compact strength, lean, dexterous, serious, quiet
The mul son of Nulgate the Dead, a former slave dwarf gladiator blind-fighter specialist. Nagrion was born to Nulgate's former mistress, a templar, whom Nulgate killed during the retribution against the templars when it was discovered they had lost their king's magic in Free Year 10. Nagrion and his son were owned by the state after this murder, and have only recently been freed by the verdict of the dictator Xal'gren. Nulgate has inherited the estate of the templar mistress and Nagrion's mother who loved him, and whom he killed. The dwarf is thus a freed gladiator of means. Nagrion is a quiet but serious young mul of about 17 years of age. He studies gladiatorial fighting with a specialty in blind-fighting with his father at the Nathonian.
Bronos: half-giant child (15 years old); characteristics: kindhearted, simple, loyal to his mother
The half-giant son of Agnola, a half-giantess freed gladiator who now serves as a bodyguard to Lady Rees. Bronos is the second child of Agnola, whose father is the former royal gladiator Megathos, who is currently considered the greatest half-giant gladiator of Balic, although Agnola and her children now have nothing to do with Megathos. Bronos has an elder sister, Drothoclea, who promises to become an incredibly powerful gladiatorially trained warrior under her mother's tutelage. Bronos himself is still quite young, perhaps with the mind of a human nine year old. Bronos has received only limited gladiatorial training thus far from his mother.
Ronkad: mul, 8 years old; characteristics: immensely strong for his age, quiet, cruel-faced
The eldest offspring of Meridian the Silent, the Steel Dwarf. Meridian appeared in Balic nearly ten years ago, supposedly with an assortment of steel weapons and armor, some of which he still possesses and fights with today. He used the steel to buy himself a large estate outside the city proper, and filled it with an assortment of human female slaves. Meridian entered the Criterion as a free gladiator, and brought his steel weapons and armor with him. With these steel arms Meridian had many victories in the arena, and is currently the most feared dwarven gladiator in the city. Meridian has sold many of his mul children into slavery. Meridian is known for his brutality and his cruelty, and is soon to be brought to trial for murder at the Oraculum for a match to the death in the arena. Meridian's eldest son is Ronkad, and although only eight years old, he is already quite powerful, but is cruel and silent like his dark dwarven father.
