Merrok Shadowstep
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:28 am
First Name: Merrok
Last Name: Shadowstep
Bandit Alias: Lord Ulrich Von Lichtenstein
Appearance:
Race: Tiefling
Age: 24
Height 6ft
Weight: 175 pounds
Eyes: Yellow (very sensitive to bright light sources)
Hair: Black
Facial Hair Style: Usually always has a light stubble (see picture)
Personality Profile:
General Health: Excellent health, peak physical condition, very impressive running stamina
Deity: Worships both Mielikki and Leira, though does his best to keep it a secret
Initial Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Profession: Ranger (guide, tracker), Professional Bandit
Base Class & Proposed Development: Ranger/Assassin
Habits/Hobbies: Enjoys traveling/exploring, drinking at taverns, causing mischief/pranks, stalking, eavesdropping, making dramatic entries/exits, mugging, shapeshifting into a troll (he calls "Smoosh"), demanding tollways over bridges... etc.
Languages: Common, Abyssal (comes naturally to him), Infernal (again, naturally, but not as fluent as Abyssal), Drow (see background below)
Weapon of Choice: Highly skilled with the Longbow, usually firing two arrows at a time
Background:
(Merrok was originally from the now 'deceased' "Moonlight and Shadows" nwn2 server, set around Silverymoon and I decided to re-create him on this server alongside a few other players such as "Dante")
Merrok was abandoned as a baby in Luskan at an orphanage for unknown reasons; he always just presumed his true 'parents' wanted nothing to do with his tiefling heritage.
Fortunately, a half-drow half-moon elf ranger adopts Merrok, understanding well the struggles he would face from society because of his despised heritage. Out on the southern outskirts of the Moonwood, north of Silverymoon, Merrok was raised as a ranger of Mielikki - showing a natural skill for stealth and tracking. But it was also revealed that he had quite a mischievous heart, causing lots of harmless trouble to the neighboring moon elves who dubbed him "Shadowstep" because of his proficiency in stealth, the surname he has now taken up.
Merrok was quite close with his foster father, who indeed loved his adopted son very much though Merrok's frequent mischief caused them to argue regularly. But his foster father had ultimately raised him well - teaching him various combat, tracking and stealth skills used by both elves and the drow, and filling his head with knowledge and lore about all manners of creatures and stories of the Underdark (attempting to teach Merrok the drow language to his best ability). More importantly his foster father had taught Merrok to appreciate life for what it was and prepared him well for the trouble he'd face from others by being a tiefling - always telling him "You can't and won't be able to please everyone, so don't let it trouble you if you aren't". Thus Merrok became incredibly resilient to slander, and very secure and happy with himself.
In his early twenties Merrok had grown to be quite a handsome, skilled, optimistic and egotistical ranger. Enjoying life for what it was and always expecting (usually creating) trouble where he went - usually blaming his heritage with a shrug. He traveled the northern regions extensively; spending most of his time in settlements such as Ten Towns, Luskan and Silverymoon (or on the road between them). One day he returned to his home in the Moonwood to find it mysteriously ransacked and with no trace of his foster father. After weeks of searching Merrok began to lose hope in discovering answers. Fearing the worst and for once in his life feeling quite depressed and truly alone, Merrok (almost suicidally) decides to enter the Underdark in search of his foster father from a cave system he had always mentioned...
...*horrors of the Underdark go here*...
...Merrok, after weeks of prowling the dark and dangerous caverns of the Underdark, is eventually captured and enthralled by a large group of mindflayers and delivered to the Drow city of Menzoberranzan to be sold as a slave. Fortunately for Merrok the drow house "De'Maquis" was in dire trouble and about to be destroyed by another house; a common occurrence in the cruel city. Merrok manages to persuade Dante De'Maquis, a selfish-minded and unusually care-free male drow noble, to free him from his slavery so he can guide him to the surface to escape his family's impending destruction, as he knows the way (a blatant lie, but one he manages to successfully bluff, desperate to get back to the surface world).
So Merrok and Dante escape the city and travel the Underdark together. After a few unproductive fights (their combat prowess quite matched) igniting due to Merrok's obvious deception about knowing the way - their professional relationship slowly develops into more of a friendship; the two sharing many qualities, most importantly they were both equally as mischievous.
Eventually they reach the surface, to which they stand in silence for an hour before eventually laughing hysterically in glee; the bond between them now as strong as brothers. On there journey through the Underdark Dante taught Merrok a lot about the drow ways (including the rest of the language) and also knowledge of his combat style (Assassin levels). In return Merrok taught Dante about the surface world, how to disguise his accent and how to speak Abyssal.
Soon after they arrive on the surface they infiltrate and take over an existing bandit crew and terrorize the region around Luskan; skillfully and dramatically raiding caravans and adventurers alike - motivated by the fun, reknown and treasure. They rarely killed in their raids, not unless absolutely necessary because, well, who would tell the tale?
After many successful raids and an enormous amount of wealth gathered, their bandit group eventually disassociates as a raid goes awry due to poor planning on Dante's part (due to womanly distractions) which leads to heavily casualties. So the two, putting all of it behind them, decided to travel the sword coast together, their first destination: Baldur's Gate....
Goals:
-Find his foster father (By this point he has assumed he has been killed, but has never had confirmation)
-Find out more about his heritage (A Red wizard of Thay, "Qazra", helped him discover he is actually a descendant from a succubus (a demon, hence why the abyssal language comes so naturally to him, could also potentially explain his vanity and rugged good looks 
))
-Get Dante back to the surface so they can cause trouble together
-Have fun, cause mischief and gain profit/fame from whatever situation he finds himself in
-Re-establish his bandit crew, currently on the search for likely recruits (feel free to message me if you're particularly interested)
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas:
-Finds out information concerning his foster father
-Recognised from his days up north (eg. banditry days, elves from the Moonwood)
-Likely to rob people/caravans if given the opportunity
Misc Facts:
-Always wears an eye patch - occasionally switching it from one eye to the other - claiming it's 'magical' or the 'ladies love it', who knows? Either way both his eyes appear fine and he is very protective of it
-Has always had the ability to summon a hellhound he calls "Magma" (a trait he has retained from his demonic heritage), who serves him faithfully as an animal companion. If it is ever slain Merrok is able to 'resummon' him from the abyss after a few days
-Enjoys changing his accent regularly, but has recently decided to stick with a more 'dwarvish/scottish' accent
-Is actually quite intelligent (INT 14), enjoys the illusion of looking 'stupid' to throw others off guard
-Because of his friendship with "Dante" he doesn't immediately treat drow as hostile targets, will tend to hear them out first
-Well educated in creature and Underdark lore
-Respectful and loyal to his friends, as he has no real family left
-Is quite a talented acrobat, very agile
-Socially can be very blunt and off-putting, often coming across as an egotistical arrogant fool, does not really 'inspire' trust in strangers
-Makes no effort to hide and will often flaunt the fact he is a tiefling
-Has respect for nature and animals (and a good initial predisposition towards Rangers and Druids)
Last Name: Shadowstep
Bandit Alias: Lord Ulrich Von Lichtenstein
Appearance:
Race: Tiefling
Age: 24
Height 6ft
Weight: 175 pounds
Eyes: Yellow (very sensitive to bright light sources)
Hair: Black
Facial Hair Style: Usually always has a light stubble (see picture)
Personality Profile:
General Health: Excellent health, peak physical condition, very impressive running stamina
Deity: Worships both Mielikki and Leira, though does his best to keep it a secret
Initial Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Profession: Ranger (guide, tracker), Professional Bandit
Base Class & Proposed Development: Ranger/Assassin
Habits/Hobbies: Enjoys traveling/exploring, drinking at taverns, causing mischief/pranks, stalking, eavesdropping, making dramatic entries/exits, mugging, shapeshifting into a troll (he calls "Smoosh"), demanding tollways over bridges... etc.
Languages: Common, Abyssal (comes naturally to him), Infernal (again, naturally, but not as fluent as Abyssal), Drow (see background below)
Weapon of Choice: Highly skilled with the Longbow, usually firing two arrows at a time
Background:
(Merrok was originally from the now 'deceased' "Moonlight and Shadows" nwn2 server, set around Silverymoon and I decided to re-create him on this server alongside a few other players such as "Dante")
Merrok was abandoned as a baby in Luskan at an orphanage for unknown reasons; he always just presumed his true 'parents' wanted nothing to do with his tiefling heritage.
Fortunately, a half-drow half-moon elf ranger adopts Merrok, understanding well the struggles he would face from society because of his despised heritage. Out on the southern outskirts of the Moonwood, north of Silverymoon, Merrok was raised as a ranger of Mielikki - showing a natural skill for stealth and tracking. But it was also revealed that he had quite a mischievous heart, causing lots of harmless trouble to the neighboring moon elves who dubbed him "Shadowstep" because of his proficiency in stealth, the surname he has now taken up.
Merrok was quite close with his foster father, who indeed loved his adopted son very much though Merrok's frequent mischief caused them to argue regularly. But his foster father had ultimately raised him well - teaching him various combat, tracking and stealth skills used by both elves and the drow, and filling his head with knowledge and lore about all manners of creatures and stories of the Underdark (attempting to teach Merrok the drow language to his best ability). More importantly his foster father had taught Merrok to appreciate life for what it was and prepared him well for the trouble he'd face from others by being a tiefling - always telling him "You can't and won't be able to please everyone, so don't let it trouble you if you aren't". Thus Merrok became incredibly resilient to slander, and very secure and happy with himself.
In his early twenties Merrok had grown to be quite a handsome, skilled, optimistic and egotistical ranger. Enjoying life for what it was and always expecting (usually creating) trouble where he went - usually blaming his heritage with a shrug. He traveled the northern regions extensively; spending most of his time in settlements such as Ten Towns, Luskan and Silverymoon (or on the road between them). One day he returned to his home in the Moonwood to find it mysteriously ransacked and with no trace of his foster father. After weeks of searching Merrok began to lose hope in discovering answers. Fearing the worst and for once in his life feeling quite depressed and truly alone, Merrok (almost suicidally) decides to enter the Underdark in search of his foster father from a cave system he had always mentioned...
...*horrors of the Underdark go here*...
...Merrok, after weeks of prowling the dark and dangerous caverns of the Underdark, is eventually captured and enthralled by a large group of mindflayers and delivered to the Drow city of Menzoberranzan to be sold as a slave. Fortunately for Merrok the drow house "De'Maquis" was in dire trouble and about to be destroyed by another house; a common occurrence in the cruel city. Merrok manages to persuade Dante De'Maquis, a selfish-minded and unusually care-free male drow noble, to free him from his slavery so he can guide him to the surface to escape his family's impending destruction, as he knows the way (a blatant lie, but one he manages to successfully bluff, desperate to get back to the surface world).
So Merrok and Dante escape the city and travel the Underdark together. After a few unproductive fights (their combat prowess quite matched) igniting due to Merrok's obvious deception about knowing the way - their professional relationship slowly develops into more of a friendship; the two sharing many qualities, most importantly they were both equally as mischievous.
Eventually they reach the surface, to which they stand in silence for an hour before eventually laughing hysterically in glee; the bond between them now as strong as brothers. On there journey through the Underdark Dante taught Merrok a lot about the drow ways (including the rest of the language) and also knowledge of his combat style (Assassin levels). In return Merrok taught Dante about the surface world, how to disguise his accent and how to speak Abyssal.
Soon after they arrive on the surface they infiltrate and take over an existing bandit crew and terrorize the region around Luskan; skillfully and dramatically raiding caravans and adventurers alike - motivated by the fun, reknown and treasure. They rarely killed in their raids, not unless absolutely necessary because, well, who would tell the tale?
After many successful raids and an enormous amount of wealth gathered, their bandit group eventually disassociates as a raid goes awry due to poor planning on Dante's part (due to womanly distractions) which leads to heavily casualties. So the two, putting all of it behind them, decided to travel the sword coast together, their first destination: Baldur's Gate....
Goals:
-
-
))-
-Have fun, cause mischief and gain profit/fame from whatever situation he finds himself in
-Re-establish his bandit crew, currently on the search for likely recruits (feel free to message me if you're particularly interested)
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas:
-Finds out information concerning his foster father
-Recognised from his days up north (eg. banditry days, elves from the Moonwood)
-Likely to rob people/caravans if given the opportunity
Misc Facts:
-Always wears an eye patch - occasionally switching it from one eye to the other - claiming it's 'magical' or the 'ladies love it', who knows? Either way both his eyes appear fine and he is very protective of it
-Has always had the ability to summon a hellhound he calls "Magma" (a trait he has retained from his demonic heritage), who serves him faithfully as an animal companion. If it is ever slain Merrok is able to 'resummon' him from the abyss after a few days
-Enjoys changing his accent regularly, but has recently decided to stick with a more 'dwarvish/scottish' accent
-Is actually quite intelligent (INT 14), enjoys the illusion of looking 'stupid' to throw others off guard
-Because of his friendship with "Dante" he doesn't immediately treat drow as hostile targets, will tend to hear them out first
-Well educated in creature and Underdark lore
-Respectful and loyal to his friends, as he has no real family left
-Is quite a talented acrobat, very agile
-Socially can be very blunt and off-putting, often coming across as an egotistical arrogant fool, does not really 'inspire' trust in strangers
-Makes no effort to hide and will often flaunt the fact he is a tiefling
-Has respect for nature and animals (and a good initial predisposition towards Rangers and Druids)