Donovan Arinoch

[Arinoch]

First Name: Donovan
Last Name: Arinoch

Appearance:
Race: Human
Age: 28
Height: 5’ 10”
Weight: 195 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
Facial Hair Style: None/Occasional stubble

Personality Profile:

General Health: Lean, but generally in solid health

Deity: Tymora

Initial Alignment: Neutral Good

Profession: Former sailor

Personality: Generally kind, but with a sarcastic undertone when he decides it's worthwhile, Donovan's currently a man who knows he's nothing special compared to the many wonders of the world. All he wants is to push the boundaries of what he can handle and try to establish himself in the world so he can avoid a life like his parents, as respectable as they tried to be. Curiosity will always drive him, as will his intelligence, which borders on the edge of a magic user but would never quite get him there even if he wanted it.

Base Class & Proposed Development: Rogue to Rogue/Fighter to Rogue/Fighter/Tempest (potentially – dependent on RP, but I’m going back to my roots and combining a few characters I’ve played in my former RP days without the “here’s why I’m super special!” kind of planning. Independent of where RP and DM events could take him, at base he’s just a nice, funny guy who likes talking and exploring)

Habits/Hobbies: Lively discussion, cards, puzzles. Really likes talking.

Languages: Common, Elvish, Chondathan

Weapon of Choice: Rapier/Short blade combo for the speed of it, but he's adaptable (don't bring a rapier to a skeleton fight; don't wear light armor when the enemy's probably faster than you)

Background: Born to merchants, he travelled most of his life, with his father selling things out of a travelling cart. His travels were more centered around the Sword Coast up by Daggerford, with Baldur’s Gate being the southern tip. Donovan’s mother had been a young member of the Lathander clergy before meeting his father, deciding she wanted to travel with him for love and support while spreading the Morninglord’s word along the roads.
 
In theory Donovan was also going to grow up to work with his father, but when business slowed they didn’t have much to go on. His father pushed his mother away and she went back to Daggerford’s temple. Donovan was fifteen by then, so he chose to stay to help his father, which his supportive mother agreed  (at least externally) was probably for the best. A year later his father was making riskier deals to try to encourage profit, finally choosing to help smuggle less-than-reputable goods for less-than-reputable people. After an argument over being short changed, his father was killed and Donovan fled through the forest, dodging incoming bolts either by pure luck or because the killers didn’t care too much.
 
From there Donovan went back to his mother, albeit briefly, to tell her about his father’s death. At this point he said he’d continue travelling because he couldn’t settle down, but he really had no idea where to go from there. A trip to Daggerford’s docks brought him to a chance encounter with Connor Waelan, a captain of a ship specializing in odd treasure hunting-related jobs for clients. Connor had been a cleric of Tymora prior to his life aboard ship, so there was always an exciting air of chance aboard the ship, but also a general good nature. Donovan spent the next dozen years aboard ship, learning to sail and picking up various skills from his “coworkers”:
 
Connor Waelan – Captain – Donovan, who had never really embraced the salesman lifestyle, especially given his father’s lack of success, picked up some of Connor’s conversation style. This man was a captain, and he always held his crew together through bad weather and bad situations. He also had a knack for diffusing situations where employers weren’t so keen on paying their fees. Perhaps embracing this life in part to get away from his previous one, Donovan actually embraced Tymora's teachings far more than Lathander, and while holding a healthy love and respect for Lathander still, identifies to this day as a follower of Tymora.
 
Jerrin – Archer – Able to perform impressive feats with his bow, Jerrin was an elf who came aboard to forcefully separate himself from the forests. Strong-willed, Jerrin was the first elf that Donovan ever spent significant amounts of time with and he helped teach Donovan how to move properly, channeling momentum, finding balance, etc., and applied it to a bit of rapier work as well.
 
Nevec Shi’al – Travelling monk – Embracing the variety of personalities aboard the ship, Nevec was aboard to experience the seas and the mysteries that accompanied them. Donovan, among others, would chat for hours with Nevec about concepts like ethics and philosophy, and just general knowledge from his travels around the world. He also took the time to teach Donovan the Elven language upon request after hearing Connor and Jerrin using it several times. Nevec also participated in Jerrin’s training, enjoying adapting Elven movements and styles to his own. Nevec helped bridge the gap in Donovan’s training with his knowledge of the body, making alternate suggestions when Donovan couldn’t quite match the standard Elven agility.
 
Rhic Tanus – “Archeologist” – Rhic taught Donovan all about the careful traversal of tombs and dungeons, even imparting some introductory rogue skills like disabling traps or opening locks. Though Rhic always labeled himself an explorer and archeologist, rumours of his history were routed in breaking out of some prison for committing, and subsequently being caught, for the theft of something significant. Supposedly he took to the seas to avoid being caught, and Connor was more than willing to let him test his luck whenever they returned back to port.
 
Despite the teachings, Donovan never really had the need to excel because certain other key crew members were so talented. Instead, he helped where he could to avoid feeling completely “carried”, but it still felt like he was following a new father figure in Connor rather than holding any true responsibility himself. Still, Donovan ended up embracing Tymora's teachings
 
Fast forward to now:
 
Connor decided to hang up his captain’s coat after twenty five years of occasionally-dangerous jobs. Deciding that luck had been on his side plenty, he decided to go back and devote his foreseeable future to Tymora once again...unless the winds change. The crew scattered, and Donovan decided to see what he could do on his own on land (for now), meeting new people and venturing out to start making his own way.

Goals: Get some work, make some gold, get supplies...and then find some good old fashioned dungeons to explore and keep expanding the fortune so he can live out his days without a care in the world (though maybe venturing out to the occasional dungeon...) Also don’t get horribly killed by random monsters.

Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts: As I’m several years removed from playing a full on PW, and even then it was the first NWN, I’m just looking forward to trying NWN2 out. I roll with the way the world develops and what DMs want to DM. I’m assuming, in general, I’ll only be playing certain evenings, so I’m just looking to enjoy myself and see what happens.

In terms of "issues" he could have, he's got a deep-seeded dislike/hatred of humans who have turned to questionable means. If a person hurts innocents to get ahead then they probably don't deserve much in the way of mercy. There's a fine line between a bandit and the necessity of bounty hunter/mercenary work, so it's all a bit of a sensitive subject. He hates taking lives, and would much rather talk, but he doesn't hesitate if attacked.

[DM Arrakeen]

Approved. Pending reward.
Just ask any DM online.

[DM Leprechaun]

Rewarded.