Eshera Kebral

Kat Hawke by Raen-art

Name:  Eshera Kebral
Age:  18
Race:  Human
Height:  5,7
Weight:  140 lbs
Eye Color:  Hazel
Hair Color:  Dark brown
Languages:  Common
Class: (Virtuous Bravo) Paladin/Slayer
Alignment:  Lawful Good  
Deity:  Iomedae


Stats:
Ability Scores:
Strength:  12 (+1 Modifier)
Dexterity:  18 (+4 Modifier)
Constitution:  14 (+2 Modifier)
Intelligence:  10 (+0 Modifier)
Wisdom:  8 (-1 Modifier)
Charisma:  16 (+3 Modifier)

Defense:
AC:  18 Total / 14 Touch / 14 Flatfooted
HP:  12
Fortitude Save:  +4
Reflex Save:  +6
Will Save:  +1


Offense:
Initiative:  +5 (+4 Dex, +1 Trait)
BAB:  +1
Melee Attack Bonus:  +2
Longsword attack bonus:  +6       (+4 dex, +1 feat, +1 BAB)
Ranged Attack Bonus:  +5
CMB:  2
CMD:  16

Weapon Attacks:
Longsword: 1d8+4 / 19-20 2x / Slashing, melee.
Longbow, composite: 1d8 / x3 / 110 ft / Piercing, ranged.
Handaxe: 1d6+1 / x3 / Slashing, melee.
Dagger: 1d4+1 / 19-20 x2 / Piercing or slashing, melee.

Special:  +1 trait bonus on weapon damage rolls during any surprise round in which you act.
Special: +1 bonus on weapon attack + damage against studied target.

Skills:
Trained
Acrobatics: 8 or 5 (+4 dex, +1 rank, +3 class skill, -3 AC penalty check)
Diplomacy: 7 (+3 cha, +1 rank, +3 class skill)
Craft (armour): 4 (+0 int, +1 rank, +3 class skill)
Disable Device: 5 or 2 (+4 dex, +1 rank, -3 AC penalty check)
Handle Animal: 7 (+3 char, +1 rank, +3 class skill)
Knowledge (local): 4 (+0 int, +1 rank, +3 class skill)
Knowledge (religion): 4 (+0 int, +1 rank, +3 class skill)
Ride: 8 or 5 (+4 dex, +1 rank, +3 class skill, -3 AC penalty check)
Stealth: 8 or 5 (+4 dex, +1 rank, +3 class skill, -3 AC penalty check)

Untrained/Usable
Appraise:  0 (+0 int)
Bluff:  3 (+3 cha)
Climb:  1 or -2 (+1 str, -3 AC penalty check)
Craft:  0 (+0 int)
Disguise:  3 (+3 cha)
Escape artist:  4 or 1 (+4 dex, -3 AC penalty check)
Fly:  4 or 1 (+4 dex, -3 AC penalty check)
Heal:  -1 (-1 wis)
Intimidate:  3 (+3 cha)
Perception:  -1 (-1 wis)
Perform:  3 (+3 cha)
Sense motive:  -1 (-1 wis)
Survival:  -1 (-1 wis)
Survival, track:  0 (-1 wis, +1 class feature)
Swim:  1 or -2 (+1 str, -3 AC penalty check)


Traits
Child of the Crusade: Once a day, reroll a failed saving throw against an effect created by a demon that would possess or incapacitate me mentally.
Ambush training: +1 trait bonus on initiative checks, +1 trait bonus on weapon damage rolls during any surprise round in which you act.

Feats
Weapon focus, longsword: +1 bonus on attack rolls
Slashing grace, longsword: using it one-handed, treat it as a one-handed piercing melee weapon for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon. Can add dex modifier instead of str modifier to weapon’s damage.

Silver Scale:
Three times daily, its holder is able to use a standard action to cast align weapon, causing her weapon to act as either a good or lawful aligned weapon. This alignment allows the weapon to bypass enemies’ damage reduction against Good or Lawful damage.

Class Features
Bravo’s Finesse:
Can use Dexterity modifier instead of Strength modifier on attack rolls with light or one-handed piercing melee weapons (carrying a shield = apply armour check penalty to attack roll). Can use Charisma in place of Intelligence to meet prerequisites of combat feats. This ability counts as having the Weapon Finesse feat for the purpose of meeting feat prerequisites.

Aura of good: The power of a paladin’s aura of good (see the detect good spell) is equal to her paladin level.

Detect evil:
At will, can use detect evil as the spell. As a move action, can concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet and determine if it is evil, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, the paladin does not detect evil in any other object or individual within range.

Smite evil: 1/day, cha bonus to attack rolls + damage against evil target until target is dead.
As a swift action, the paladin chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is evil, the paladin adds her Cha bonus (if any) to her attack rolls and adds her paladin level to all damage rolls made against the target of her smite. If the target of smite evil is an outsider with the evil subtype, an evil-aligned dragon, or an undead creature, the bonus to damage on the first successful attack increases to 2 points of damage per level the paladin possesses. Regardless of the target, smite evil attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess. The smite evil effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the paladin rests and regains her uses of this ability.

Studied Target:
Move action, study an opponent he can see. Gain +1 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against that opponent, and +1 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against it. The DCs of slayer class abilities against that opponent increase by 1. The bonuses remain in effect until either the opponent is dead or the slayer studies a new target. If a slayer deals sneak attack damage to a target, can study that target as an immediate action, allowing him to apply the bonuses against that target (including to the normal weapon damage roll).

Track: Add 1/2 slayer level (minimum 1) to Survival skill checks made to follow tracks.



Spells
Replaced by Panache and Deeds (at level 4)

Personality
Eshera can be rather quiet for long periods, but usually doesn’t come across as timid or intimidated. She grew up hearing tales of the crusades from her parents and has felt the drive to fight the demons and their followers for most of her life. But it is not just because of the stories, or because her two older brothers were killed by demonic followers, it is because it is the right thing to do. And while others have certainly tried to dissuade her, she has stubbornly clung to her convictions and let their words fall away. She knows she’s not as strong as most soldiers, but her mother is proof that there are other ways to fight. Ways that rely more on quick reflexes than the strength of body and armour. As such, she slowly distances herself emotionally from those who refuse to accept her path, while remaining a caring and good-natured friend to those who have earned her trust or respect. And whenever she has a moment of weakness, she only needs to think of the Lady of Valor and The Acts to be reassured of the rightness of her believes. She knows what she desires, and in due time she will play her part in the crusades.

Background
It was a dark day, although the sun and clouds were not to be blamed for this dreariness. I remember well how the room fell quiet with shock, only to erupt with hasty concern and good intended assistance. Granny Catherine muttered about the young ones needing to leave, but no one paid much attention to her in the chaos. I remember noticing her frown and disapproving stare, and knowing all too well that I was one of the ‘young ones’ who shouldn’t be there according to her wishes. And while it might not have been a nice thing, I also recall the rebellious thought that I should be there to witness the pain, fear and injuries, because someday I was going to follow my parent’s path and this is was a terrible but unavoidable part of it. A thought which vanished very quickly upon seeing my father in the doorway.

He was so very… sad. It seems like an odd thing to notice, but it was very true. More true than I realised at the time. He simply stood there, in the doorway, and stared as his friends and neighbours hurried around to try to make his combat brothers and sisters as comfortable as they could be with still bleeding wounds. I watched him watch them for what felt like endless moments. And when he quietly turned around and left, I all but ran after him.

He didn’t speak a word during the slow walk home, him limping and occasionally clutching his arm, me too concerned to ask anything. Others on the street did, but he didn’t falter until he had reached the doorway of their bedroom. Then, and only then, did he pause and look at me over his shoulder. I stood there, hovering uncertainly in the main room, finely dressed and clean after the temple visit with the others. For a long moment he just stared, sad and much older than when I had last seen him, before he uttered a single sentence. “Your mother was right.” I didn’t know what to say, and he didn’t wait for me to do so, regardless. He simply moved into the bedroom and collapsed on his bed. Auntie Raline rushed inside not long after that and started to fuss around him, so I left the house and wandered the streets, where news was slowly spreading.  

Uncle Than still mutters sometimes that the events of that day indicate that the Gods are slowly forsaking us and that we, all of us, are fools to keep expecting to survive. Others, like sweet but slightly naive Simon, insist that the fact that most managed to escape and return safely into the city is a sure sign that we are not forgotten and that the blessings remain as strong as ever. I do not know. I was not there to witness the slaughter, nor their retreat and journey towards safety. All I know is that my father returned home sad and old, and that my mother did not return.

I matched my father’s silence for a week, only occasionally communicating with a gesture or two, while Rebecca and Ralph visited as often as they could. Probably even more frequently than they could, judging by the open concern on Ralph’s face whenever he looked at me or father. It cannot be easy to provide and look after your own family, when you suddenly also need to support your old family. And despite the many heated discussions Ralph had with father in the past, he never once brought up the foolishness of seeking out danger. Nor did he use the opportunity to try to persuade me to stop training and find a different path for my life. I wouldn’t have listened, of course, but it was nice that he didn’t try. Despite being one of the few in the family who didn’t take up arms, who just never understood the calling, my brother has a good heart.

Even now, two years after that dark day, I still occasionally catch him looking at me with concern. He doesn’t wish to lose me, like we lost Cathal and Tridan. And I can understand that, truly I can. But I am who I am. And I am the one who occasionally brings a smile back to father’s eyes, now that my resemblance to mother no longer hurts as much. And I will not disgrace the sacrifices this family has made, one family after another, by letting their deaths and my father’s injuries scare me away.  And I will not forget my mother’s legacy, nor the quiet words that my father uttered that day.

Sometimes, it is best to end a fight before it begins. Sometimes, it is a good idea to quietly trail behind or ahead of the enemy, to gather information and strike when the chances are in your favour. It might not be as honourable as charging into battle or loudly challenging your foes, but the demons and their followers have no honour. And if killing them quickly results in fewer losses amongst your brothers and sisters, all of whom are more honourable than the most humane of the demon followers, then you are simply being tactical and thinking about the long war, instead of the immediate fight. Sometimes, that is simply the wisest thing to do… and other times you should just dive into battle and let fate decide how it ends.

That was what they frequently bickered about, for as long as I can remember. Usually while doing some chore, or after a warm meal. That friendly argument has ceased to exist. Not just because my mother is no longer there, but also because of my father’s words. She was right.

So I will maintain the training she gave me in stealth and trickery, as well as the more common training of my father, while helping him settle into his new place in life. And one day I will venture out and fight battles I perhaps should not risk. Despite the grumbling of granny Catherine, uncle Than, and childhood friend Menas. And despite the quiet worry of Ralph’s new family, aunt Rebecca, cousin Tremon and some of the neighbours. And not because of the vain hope that mother might be still alive; I know she is dead. Father would have left the city by now if he wasn’t quite certain she was dead, just as the remaining brothers and sisters would have started an expedition to search for her. No, she is gone and I will not be able to bring her back. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t fight.

You don’t fight because it is easy, or because you are certain the Gods will always save you. You fight because you have to. Because it is the right thing to do. And those who cannot, who lack the strength to do so, they should live, do good things and be alive. Because as long as they are alive and trying to do the right thing, we are reminded that there is something worth fighting for.

Description
Eshera moves with quiet efficiency, but prefers to slip through a crowd rather than try to take the direct path. This isn’t because she dislikes going in a straight line towards her destination, but simply because attempting to do so often results in having to push through people and risk bumping into them. All of which seems rather rude at times when there is no urgency, or even when there is urgency but your urgency isn’t more important than the urgency of others. She has several small and mostly faded scars on her arms and upper body, most of which were caused by accidents during training sessions with Menas and Simon. Despite frequent scoldings from her family - and whoever else happened to find out about it - she remained certain that the best way to learn was to practice actual fighting, just not hit things that couldn’t hit you back. Or worse, wouldn’t hit you back because you were just a child. Most of the injuries have long since faded from her memories and with each passing year, they fade a little bit more from her body as well. At least, that’s what she claims whenever someone notices them and comments on their presence. She’s not interested in getting a husband and children anytime soon, so she doesn’t really care how many scars she has or if they are fading.

Beyond that, she often wears practical clothes and spends very little time on trying to look “pretty”. Her hair is usually brushed and free to fall in whatever waves it wants, she makes an effort to frequently wash away the oil, grime and sweat that comes from keeping busy, and replaces her clothes when they need replacing. The only jewellery she wears are a few earrings and a necklace that used to belong to her mother, and which she keeps safely tucked underneath her shirt most of the time.

Current Equipment
Simple but clean outfit, including a white blouse, sturdy belt and relatively new leather boots.
Hide armour (Armour 4, max dex 4, AC penalty 3, walk speed: 20ft)
Longsword
Dagger
Belt pouch with wooden holy symbol, Terendelev’s scale and a set of (normal) dice.
Waterskin, currently a quarter filled.
Thieves’ tools (common)
Alchemist's Fire 2x (Description)
Smokesticks, some (Description)


Not Currently Equipped
Buckler (Armour 1, AC penalty 1, keeps off hand free)
Handaxe
Composite longbow
40 arrows (normal)
Cheap holy text
Hairbrush
Lamp
Gear maintenance kit
Wide cloak with hood.
5 gold
Backpack with bedroll, blanket, mess kit,  flint and steel, iron pot, rope, soap, torches (10), trail rations (5).

All of which are in her bedroom at her father’s house.

Funds
3 gold, 1 silver, 10 copper (carried with her).


Current Spells
Level 0
x