Lord Payn Ack-Arthur
LORD PAYN ACK-ARTHUR, level 28
Human, Ranger, Stormwarden, Reborn Champion
Build: Two-Blade Ranger
Fighting Style: Two-Blade Fighting Style
STATISTICS
Initiative +23
AC 43; Fortitude 40, Reflex 40, Will 34
HP 176; Bloodied 88 Surge Value 44 ; Surges/Day 8
Speed 7
ATTACKS
+30 vs AC Tenacious Longsword +6 2d8+17
+26 vs AC Lightning Scimitar +3 2d8+14
+27 vs AC Wounding Longbow +4 2d10+12
FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 24, Con 14, Dex 24, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 13.
Starting Ability Scores
Str 16, Con 12, Dex 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 11.
TRAITS
Height: 5'10" Weight: 180 Size: M
Vision: Normal Languages: Kelevan, Blackspeech Alignment: Good
TRAINED SKILLS
Stealth +27, Dungeoneering +21, Endurance +20, Nature +24, Perception +21, Athletics +25.
FEATS
1: Weapon Focus (Heavy Blade)
1: Quick Draw
2: Human Perseverance
4: Lethal Hunter
6: Expert Tracker
8: Two-Weapon Fighting
10: Two-Weapon Defense
11: Devastating Critical
12: Two-Weapon Ambush
14: Skill Focus (Nature)
16: Bleeding Precision
18: Iron Will
20: Scimitar Dance
21: Rending Tempest
22: Heavy Blade Mastery
24: Fleet-Footed
26: Two-Weapon Flurry
28: Prime Hunter
POWERS
1, At-Will: Twin Strike
1, At-Will: Hit and Run
1, At-Will: Careful Attack
1, Encounter: Dire Wolverine Strike
1, Daily: Jaws of the Wolf
2, Utility: Yield Ground
3, Encounter: Shadow Wasp Strike
5, Daily: Two-Wolf Pounce
6, Utility: Weave Through the Fray
7, Encounter: Sweeping Whirlwind
9, Daily: Swirling Leaves of Steel
10, Utility: Expeditious Stride
13, Encounter: Nimble Defense (replaces Dire Wolverine Strike)
15, Daily: Blade Cascade (replaces Jaws of the Wolf)
16, Utility: Evade the Blow
17, Encounter: Untamed Outburst (replaces Shadow Wasp Strike)
19, Daily: Wounding Whirlwind (replaces Two-Wolf Pounce)
22, Utility: Safe Stride
23, Encounter: Blade Ward (replaces Sweeping Whirlwind)
25, Daily: Tiger's Reflex (replaces Swirling Leaves of Steel)
27, Encounter: Death Rend (replaces Nimble Defense)
ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Tenacious Longsword +6, Serpentskin Elderhide Armor +6, Bracers of Defense (epic tier), Feystep Lacings (paragon tier), Gauntlets of blinding strikes (paragon tier), Ioun Stone of Regeneration (epic tier), Lightning Scimitar +3, Cloak of Resistance +5, Girdle of the Dragon (paragon tier), Ring of Protection (paragon tier), Ring of Invisibility (paragon tier), Tattoo of the Wolverine (paragon tier), Foe Stone (paragon tier), Elixir of Fortitude (level 28), Elixir of Will (level 23), Wounding Longbow +4, Arrows (30), Potion of Vigor (epic tier), Potion of Recovery (epic tier), Elixir of Reflexes (level 23)
Payn grew up in the town of Bestraville, not far from the Hilly Crags in Kelerak. His parents, Arthur (a secret ranger and tomacco gatherer) and Beatrice, instilled in him a strong love for the wilderness, and because of this devotion to the town's namesake, the worship of Bestra came natural to him.
Although not a very large town, Bestraville is a strong religous center, both to the goddess Bestra, for whom the town was named, and also the god Heshtail. Due to this, Bestraville was a natural target of the evil forces during the dark occupation and it was ruled by a Hoth, or Orchish war boss, for many centuries. Because of its religious centricity, the quiet hamlet was also looked on as dangerous to the evil forces, and they molested the physical structures of the town very little. In fact, they were content to rule the populace and let the famous temples of Bestra and Heshtail sit empty for many years. Of couse the fact that the first orcs who tried to enter the temple of Bestra were struck dead may have had something to do with their attitude towards the temple.
Another force that perhaps added to Bestraville's "protected status" was that of the Woodsman. In league with the sect of Druids that inhabits the Hilly Crags, these mysterious rangers flitted from shadow to shadow, acting as a secret police force and slaying any orc or corrupted human that dared to overstep his bounds. The Woodsmen existed for many decades, avoiding all attempts by the Orc bosses to stamp them out. Indeed, Payn's father Arthur was very actice with the ranger group, undertaking his share of secret missions. Because of this, Payn was drawn to the forces protecting this town, The Woodsmen. When he officially joined the secret group, Payn's father rewarded him with a hunting hound to help keep Payn safe while he lived the dangerous life of a Woodsman. Payn called his new beloved hound "Boner."
As Payn grew up, he secretely spent a great deal of time in the woods surrounding the town, often following his father's example in tracking animals, hunting, living off the land, and respecting everything the forest gave, as well as killing any orcs who wandered about alone or in small numbers. Payn and his best friend, Taren ack-Odo, often spent many hours each day treking through the woods, exploring and attaining a deep devotion to nature and the wilderness, hunting animals for food and fur, of course killing orcs and wargs to keep the evil rulers in line, but not harming creatures of the wilderness when unnecessary.
When word came in 8160 F.R. that the Lord of Lust was slain and that Kelerak was rising up against her evil rulers, the Woodsmen were on the vanguard of the rebellion that freed Bestraville. Because of their decades-long pressure on the evil forces, the coup was not very bloody, and most of the orcish inhabitants of the town fled into the Hilly Crags or away to the South. The rebellion was not particularly traumatic for Payn.
A moment that was traumatic, and which was quite possibly the event that pushed him to leave Bestraville in search of greater good, happened just a few months before the fateful meeting with Bartarius and Malcall in Dragonspur, nearly nine years after Bestraville was freed. Payn, Taren, and Payn's devoted pet dog Boner were treking through the woods, following prey that they intended to bring home to their families. Suddenly they came upon a huge warg that was foaming at the mouth, obviously mad with rabies. Upon seeing them the warg lunged at Payn. Boner instinctively jumped at his master's attacker, and a brief but ferocious battle ensued with Boner getting slashed badly with the raging warg's teeth. This, however, gave just enough time for Payn and Taren to react, falling upon the warg with their flashing blades and slicing it to death.
Boner, though badly wounded, was still alive, and Payn took him home to heal. But because the warg was rabid, Boner soon showed signs of rabies, and the healing that Payn could give was not able to cure his friend. Finally, when Boner began to loose his mind, Payn was forced to kill the animal that had so quickly jumped to save him.
This was a traumatic experience for Payn, giving him the belief that he needed to leave the town of Bestraville, in search of a greater good. And since that time, whenever he has been attacked by dogs he has been pulled down. In 8171, Payn was named a Lord Knight and then a Lord of Dragonspur City.
