Thorn, Favored of Fahlerene
Female human, Bbn1/Clr1/Drd2: CR4; Medium-size humanoid; HD
4+12; hp 38; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 14 (+1 deflection bonus from enchanted holy symbol, +3 Dex); Atks +4 melee (1d6+3, shortspear/crit 19-20) or +3 ranged (1d4, sling); SA Barbarian rage, spells; SQ Spontaneous casting, rebuke undead, domain powers, nature sense, woodland stride, animal companions; AL CG; SV Fort +8, Ref +1, Will +6; Str 13, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 10. Height 5' 5".
Skills and Feats: Animal Empathy +6, Climb +4, Handle Animal +4, Healing +4, Intimidate +4, Intuit Direction +4, Jump +3, Listen +4, Wilderness Lore +5;
Armor Proficiency (all, including shields), Tracking, Weapon
Proficiency (all simple weapons, scimitar, long spear).
Special Qualities: Spontaneous Casting; Can turn a prepared spell into a
cure wounds spell of the same level.
Animal companions: Thorn is followed by a family of squirrels, 2d4+2 of
which are around at any given time. (She likes squirrels, and prefers them
to the company of humans.) Use the statistics for weasels in the
Core Rulebook III for the squirrels with the following modifications: increase the
squirrels Charisma score to 12 and delete the Attach special attack.
Possessions: Various herbs, +2 shortspear, unique holy symbol of
Fahlerene (enchanted; grants her a +1 deflection bonus to AC), sling and 15 pebbles.
Cleric Spells Prepared (3/2+1*): 0�create water, detect poison, purify
food and drink; 1st�detect undead, endure elements, entangle*.
Deity: Fahlerene. Domains: Plant (three times per
day rebuke plant creatures as though they were undead), Protection (generate protective
ward that grants touched subject a bonus equal to Thorn's cleric level).
Druid Spells Prepared (4/2): 0�know direction, light, mending,
resistance; 1st�goodberry, pass without trace.
Appearance
Sixteen-year-old Thorn is a tangle of wild hair and tattered clothing. On her feet are soft buckskin boots, and around her waist numerous healing herbs dangle on a leather strap. Her sharp blue eyes peer from behind the dark hair that frames her deeply tanned face. She is thin and wiry, and it's hard to tell if she is male or female when she is wrapped in a cloak.
Personality
Thorn is the near-perfect follower of the
Howler; more than one worshiper has even expressed the opinion that she may
be the goddess made manifest in the world. She is hardly ever seen in
settlements but lives at one with nature; she comes and goes when she pleases, yet
somehow always manages to be in the right place to help followers of Fahlerene in need
or to take up arms against farmers or woodsmen who are abusing the goddess's cherished
wilderness. Her ferocious side is balanced by a genuine concern for all living beings;
even those who choose to surround themselves with the trappings of civilization.
She, however, prefers the company of natural creatures and the fey races, speaking
so rarely with others that her language skills remain underdeveloped.
History
Thorn spent her earliest years in a barbarian village in the
northernmost reaches of the Empire. When the community was attacked by
forces of the Lichlords, only Thorn and an aging cleric of Fahlerene escaped
with their lives. The two survived alone in the wilderness for several
years, living close to Fahlerene's bosom as the cleric passed along all she
knew to Thorn. When her elder eventually passed on, Thorn was ready to carry on
the traditions and to take up weapons in the name of the Howler.
An encounter with a group of druids devoted to the Fahlerene showed Thorn
yet another path to serving her deity and she has been walking it more often
in the last couple of years. She recently came to the Far Woods after dreaming of
great trouble in the south, trouble relating to plants that are sacred to
Fahlerene, the vines that scholars refer to as direscents.
Text Copyright � 2002 Steve Miller � Illo Copyright � 2002 Mary Hanson-Roberts
Used under license.